andy gillette

This is the first of what I intend to be a weekly feature.  The idea is to provide a distillation of the various random links, pictures, videos, etc. that make it onto my Tumblr blog over the course of a week.

So, here now, without any further ado, I present the week of 2/8/2009:

On Monday, my little brother ate himself stupid.  We chatted about it:

Joseph: against my better judgement, i went out with the boys last night for beer and chicken wings. so i went out, had a couple wings, a couple PBRs, and then proceeded to eat a massive french dip sandwich, a plate of fries, more beers, and some mozzarella sticks
i was SO HONGRY
and then
then
me: GROSS
Joseph: i know
but it was delicious
hold on
so we get home
and i go straight to my bedroom
and like
fall over
on the floor
like
me: hahahaha
Joseph: squirming
i was so bloated and confused

Read the whole sorry tale >>

Monday also saw a couple of posts about my 16th great grandfather, Thomas More.  His contributions to the world of modern thought are indisputable, and he coined the term ‘utopia.’  This is a heavy burden for me.  Read some here and also here.

I found this little gem on Tuesday:

And it snowed this week (in Tucson!). You can read the forecast here and I have proof that it really happened:

I stumbled across the eyeball clock on Wednesday:

And I read a great essay about ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ on This Recording.

So, look, what I’m saying is there is no reason for anyone to see this movie ever. If you are going through a breakup and a well-meaning friend tries to make you, email me instead and I will burn you a copy of Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space so you and Justin Pierce can get through this bullshit together.

Beyond that, my week in Tumblr can pretty much be summed up by reading the Skittles vodka post from Thursday.

There’s a lot of stuff to blog about today.  Lincoln and Darwin are both celebrating birthdays from the grave, and intelligent people everywhere are celebrating the anniversary of the publication of ‘Origin of Species.’  And more pedestrian bloggable phenomena like Google joining the ranks of companies laying people off and the Republicans trying to derail Obama’s stimulus package, make for all sorts of newsworthy writing.  But I don’t want to talk about any of that.

Last night, after having my mind blown by L O S T (again) and before watching Joaquin Phoenix being a total dick on Letterman, I was making Skittle vodka (as followers of the Tumblr already know).  Tonight they are all ready, and I’m ready to start my taste test.

A couple of things before we begin: I have already been drinking for a little while (surprise!) and I normally hate sweet and/or fruity drinks.  When I’m drinking liquor I pretty much only ever drink vodka soda, which is about the least flavorful drink you could imagine.  So I’m thoroughly expecting to not enjoy this experience.

First up: Strawberry.  Most notable right off the bat is how smooth it is.  It’s not nearly as sickly sweet as I anticipated.  In fact, it went down way too quickly to note much else.

Next: Grape.  Though it’s very similar to the strawberry, it is remarkably different enough in flavor.  I have always kind of suspected that Skittles (or most fruit-flavored candies, for that matter) were “flavored” in the same way Kool-Aid is.  That is, it’s a lot more about a different color than a different taste.  But these first two were definitely recognizable as their respective flavors, which, oddly enough, in no way resemble the flavors of the fruits they represent.  I’ve always wondered about that.  Take watermelon, for example.  The flavor of watermelon candy is like a universally agreed upon thing that has absolute nothing in common with the flavor of actual watermelon (yeah, I’ve been drinking, what of it?).

And finally: Lemon-Lime.  This is the only combo in the line-up, featuring equal parts yellow and green Skittles.   This one is decidedly more intense.  As soon as I opened it the smell of lemon-lime with almost overwhelming.  So is the taste.  It’s also got a kind of chemically aftertaste that definitely leaves something to be desired.

Ugh.  Okay, I’m off.  Going to go get proper drunk.  I’ll come back tomorrow to finish this post off.

[post-script: I did not come back to finish this post off.  I slept ALL DAY yesterday.  I may have gone a bit too far after the Skittles thing.]

Last night, I fell asleep with my shoes on.

I don’t remember falling asleep.  Last I recall, I was chatting with Molls because lil brother told me that she is friends with the other blogging Molly in real life.  I was trying to get this confirmed or denied when I apparently stumbled to the couch and passed out.

A Visual Aid:

1. Got 3 (THREE!) mosquito bites on my FACE (pictures not likely)
2. Got drunk
3. Saw lots of Italian/Spanish/undetermined Latin/Central/South American titties
4. Got robbed (while “sleeping” on the beach [see number 2])
5. Got rained on
6. Peed in the ocean
7. Broke at least 3 laws
8. Saw dead people
9. Saw thongs (male and female), lobster-skinned tourists and an unreasonably fit old man
10. Had (unlikely, improbable, inexplicable) amounts of fun