Loud Neighbors are no fun...

...loudness makes me want to hurt someone!

Okay, I like Taylor Swift and "Johnny and June" as much as the next person but really! Must it be blared? Must you sing along loudly? At all hours of the day and night?

Okay,I know I made it sound like I have awful neighbors. I don't. They just sporatically burst into random loud song. It is a bit amusing and I could have worse neighbors. Right?

Have any of you ever had loud, annoying neighbors? Worse than mine? I need to hear your stories!

Blackout

So, this blog is supposed to be about my college experiences, right? Yeah, I guess I went off on a The Office tangent and forgot that...oh, well. I'm back.

So, my roommate's phone kept going off every(what seemed to be) ten minutes or so for no apparent reason. That didn't bother me so much but because it was about 6:30 in the morning it kind of did. And then the power went out (didn't learn this until later) and my printer started to make queer noises (due to loss of power but I didn't know this cuz it was dark and I was trying to sleep). And then it came. The lovely fire alarm at 7 o'clock in the morning...I don't need to be up until 8. Only a lost hour, not really a big deal...Anyhow, fire alarm. Stand outside in the cold in your PJs. It's a fun time. Get back to my room, lights still out. Oh, did I forget to mention that I had to walk up 9 flights of stairs? early in the morning?

Oh, well. I'm not complaining. I used to wake up this early anyway, right? But that was back when I didn't stay up as late. And I really didn't mind the nine flights of stairs like I thought I would. I guess I'm in better shape than I thought(ha ha ha, yeah, right). The lights came back on in about a half hour, no fear! The many joys of campus life! Oh, my alarm clock just went off...

Oh, in a little twist of irony, My roommate and I saw a commercial telling us to unplug your phone chargers when you aren't using them. So, we were talking about preserving energy last night before we went to bed. We were talking about all of the energy we waste by keeping all of our things plugged in...and then what happens? The power goes out. Perhaps someone up there is trying to tell us something?

Unplug your plugger thingys if you aren't usin' em!!

Oh, and don't forget your key when you go out for the fire drill. I say this from observance not from my own experiences. Thank goodness!

The Office: Creed, Meredith, Oscar, and Kevin

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The Office: Phyllis (Lapin) Vance and Stanley Hudson

Phyllis (Lapin) Vance is a sales representative at Dunder Mifflin. She is married to Bob Vance of Vance Refridgeration (which has a nearby office to DM). She is often shown to be quiet, polite, and friendly. Michael often insults and embarrasses her by making comments about how old she looks even though her and michael were in the same class in school. Until recently, Phyllis was just a member of the office's Party Planning Committee. She has since taken over Angela Martin's position of being in charge of the PPC. She was given Angela's position after witnessing Angela and Dwight "acting inappropriately" after Angela's engagement to Andy Bernard. Phyllis never liked Angela and gloats about her victory and having this information to use over Angela.



Quotes:
Phyllis: [at the Christmas party] Hi, guys. Does everyone know my boyfriend, Bob Vance?
Kevin: [introducing himself to Bob] Kevin Malone.
Bob Vance: Bob Vance. Vance Refrigeration.
Stanley: Stanley Hudson.
Bob Vance: Bob Vance. Vance Refrigeration.
Ryan Howard: Ryan Howard.
Bob Vance: Bob Vance. Vance Refrigeration.
Ryan Howard: [Kevin, Stanley, and Ryan all smile to themselves] What line of work are you in, Bob?

Phyllis: Well, for decorations, maybe we could - it's stupid, forget it.
Angela: What?
Phyllis: Oh, I was just gonna say maybe we could have streamers, but that's dumb, everybody has streamers. Never mind.
Angela: No, yeah, I think that's a good idea. What color do you guys think?
Phyllis: Well, there's green... blue... yellow... red.
Pam Beesly: How about green?
Angela: I think green is kind of whoreish.


Stanley Hudson is also a sales representative. Michael often refers to his sarcastic, grumpy comments as clever and sassy. Stanley believes that he is underpaid and frequently says so. He also does little to hide his dislike of Michael. On a couple of occasions, Stanley, who is usually pretty laid back, has gotten angry and has yelled and threatened other members of the office (Michael and Ryan Howard). He is often called the "Crossword Puzzle Guy". He has a wife, Terri
(appears on "Casino Night"), and two children (his daughter Melissa is from a previous marriage who appears on "Take Your Daughter to Work Day").
Quotes:
Michael Scott: How can I get you to stay?
Stanley: Money.
Michael Scott: Tell me why you're really leaving.
Stanley: Money.
Michael Scott: More money, more problems, Stanley. You of all people should know that. Let me ask you this; if I were...
Stanley: Money.

Stanley: I wasn't really planning on leaving; all I wanted was a raise. How on earth did Michael call my bluff? Is he some sort of secret genius?
[laughs]
Stanley: Sometimes I say crazy things.

The Office: Kelly Kapoor and Ryan Howard

Kelly Kapoor is the customer service representative. She has a bubbly personality and is very talkative. She tends to annoy whoever is nearest to her. She often talks about her desire to get married and have children. She enjoys shopping online, gossiping about celebrities, and Ryan Howard.
Ryan Howard is the "temp" who later becomes Vice President of the North East region and the director of new media. Unfortunately, he was arrested for fraud (reporting his sales twice). When Pam leaves for Art School, he fills in as receptionist. He aspires to "get back on top" and even threatens to make Jim and Kevin "sorry" when he does.
Ryan wanted only a casual relationship with Kelly while Kelly said many times that she wanted to marry Ryan and have his children. They had a very troubled on-again, off-again relationship until Ryan gets promoted and dumps her. Kelly tries to get back at Ryan for dumping her by dating Darryl Philbin, the foreman for Dunder Mifflin's warehouse. Ryan merely seems mildly uncomfortable about this.
Darryl Philbin is a fairly relaxed, fun person but doesn't like Michael's unsafe antics in the warehouse.Darryl accuses Kelly of only being affectionate towards him when Ryan is around and tells her that he likes her but she needs "to access [her] uncrazy side".

Kelly says this of him: "Darryl Philbin is the most complicated man I have ever met. Who says exactly what they're thinking?"

When Ryan returns after his arrest (in the episode "Weight Loss") he shows that he has renewed interest in Kelly. He then witnesses Darryl and Kelly making out (with Kelly openly checking to make sure Ryan is watching).

Oh and you can watch the new episodes on NBC.com for free!

The Office: Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly

Jim Halpert: We've already discussed him in some detail. Jim is a good salesman. He is very smart but unmotivated. He spends a great deal of his time playing pranks on Dwight Schrute. He often got Pam Beesly, the receptionist, to join in on the fun. In early episodes, Jim had an obvious crush on Pam who was at the time engaged to Roy. Jim was part of the reason that Pam ended the engagement. And Pam was the reason why Jim took the job at Stamford. By the time Pam realized that she liked Jim too, he had already started dating Karen Fillipelli, who he met when he worked at the Stamford branch. Jim finally broke it off with Karen and began dating Pam. He proposed to Pam in a recent episode and, of course, she said 'yes'.

Some quotes from Jim:


[Michael reads off complaints filed by Dwight]

Michael Scott: OK, so Dwight, in your own words: "Someone replaced all my pens and pencils with crayons. I suspect Jim Halpert."
Michael Scott: Everyone has called me "Dwayne" all day. I think Jim Halpert paid them to.
Jim Halpert: [to camera, laughs] Yes. Five bucks each, and it was totally worth it.
Michael Scott: This morning, I found a bloody glove in my desk drawer, and Jim Halpert tried to convince me I committed murder. I think he may be the real murderer.
Michael Scott: Jim Halpert said there was an abandoned infant in the women's room, when I went to save the child, I saw Meredith on the can.
Michael Scott: This morning, I knocked myself in the head with the phone.
Jim Halpert: [to camera] That actually took a while. I had to put- uh, more and more nickels into his handset until he got used to the weight, and then I just took them all out.
Michael Scott: Every time I typed my name, it said "Diapers".
Jim Halpert: [to camera] Just a simple macro. You know, these actually don't sound that funny, one after another. But he does deserve it, though.
Michael Scott: By the end of the day, my desk was about two feet closer to the copier.
Jim Halpert: [to camera] Yeah, I just moved it an inch every time he went to the bathroom, and that's how I spent the entire day that day.


Pam Beesly is the receptionist as I mentioned above. Pam enjoys art. This is brought up several times throughout the series. And in the latest episodes, Pam goes to Pratt Institute to study for three months. Pam is nice and modest. In early episodes she seems timid and hesitant to speak her mind but later, after breaking up with Roy, she decides to be more honest and outgoing.


Some quotes from Pam:


Pam: Dwight mercy-killed Angela's cat. It's very complicated. It's caused a lot of unpleasantness between Dwight and Angela, who are already prone to unpleasantness.


Jim: Do you remember what you said to me on my first day of work, just before you walked me over to my desk?
Pam: Yeah ... 'enjoy this moment, because you're never going to go back to this time before you met your desk-mate Dwight.'
Jim: That's when I knew. You?
Pam: You came up to my desk and you said, 'this might sound weird, and there's no reason for me to know this, but that mixed berry yogurt you're about to eat is expired.'
Jim: That was the moment that you knew you liked me.
Pam: Yep.
Jim: Wow. Can we make it a different moment?
Pam: Nope.

The Office: Dwight K. Schrute and Angela Martin

Dwight Schrute is the Assistant (to the) Regional Manager. He wants to be Michael's right hand man. Dwight always wears a short sleeved button-up shirt of a mustard color and a tie. He is Dunder Mifflin's best salesman. He greatly dislikes Jim Halpert, who often plays pranks on him, and often asks for permission to fire him. Dwight always takes the responsibilities that Michael gives him and goes to the extreme with them. He seeks control over the other employees. At one point he even plots to take Micheal's job. I highly suggest reading the wikipedia article on Dwight Schrute. Especially the part about his family and childhood. It is very amusing and will give you some insight into all that is Dwight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Schrute

Jim Halpert has played many great pranks on Dwight. Jim often puts Dwight's stapler in Jello. Here are some quotes:

[Jim put Dwight's wallet into the vending machine]
Dwight Schrute: Where's my wallet?
Jim Halpert: Oh there it is, 'J1'.
Dwight Schrute: I don't have any...
Jim Halpert: Here, have some nickels.
Dwight Schrute: [putting nickels into vending machine] 5, 10, 15, 20, 25...

Dwight Schrute: (After he didn't tip the sub man) Why tip someone for a job I'm capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones.

Dwight Schrute: And how big do you want this robot?Michael Scott: Lifesize.Dwight Schrute: Mmm no. Better make it two-thirds. Easier to stop if it turns on us.

In one episode Jim dresses up like Dwight:
Dwight's first reaction, once he realizes Jim is impersonating him, is to say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" and then as Jim places a bobble head on his desk (similar to the one Dwight has of himself) Dwight says " Identity theft is a crime, Jim! Identity theft hurts thousands of families every year!"

In the latest episodes, Dwight has been having an affair with Angela Martin who is currently engaged to Andy Bernard. Angela originally broke up her (secret) relationship with Dwight after he killed her aging and sickly cat, Sprinkles. Angela is an accountant at Dunder Mifflin. Angela could be described as being uptight, cold, and judgemental. She is very prim, proper, and modest. Her favorite song is the Little Drummer Boy.

Andy Bernard is the Regional Director in charge of sales. Andy is a graduate of Cornell and likes to brag about it. He enjoys making up nicknames for coworkers. In the earliest episodes that he was in he had anger management issues and was sent away for awhile. He returns to the office, requesting to be called "Drew" but everyone continues to call him Andy. Andy carried the ring he gave Angela around in his pocket for 6 years because as he says "you never know when you'll find the right girl". He is also a devoted member of an a Capella group. He brings his hobby of singing to work with him on several occasions.

As always, if I've left anything out or messed something up, let me know with a comment!

The Office: New and Old Characters

Toby Flenderson: He was the Human Resources Representative from Corporate (Seasons 1-4). Michael dispised him. He once refered to Toby as "everything that is wrong with the paper industry". Toby was a nice guy and he always put up with Michael's obvious hatred of him. Toby had a bit of a crush on Pam Beasley (to be discussed in detail later) which might have prompted him to leave Dunder Mifflin and head for Costa Rica. Toby is a divorcee who has a young daughter named Sasha.Holly Flax: She is new to Dunder Mifflin. She is replaced Toby Flenderson at the end of Season 4. She is, as I said in a previous post, much like Michael. Because she is new not a whole lot is known about her. It seems that she does like Michael in return though. So far, things are going well between Michael and Holly and that is thanks to Jim Halpert.

Karen Fillipelli: Karen worked at the Stamford branch of Dunder Mifflin (along with Andy Bernard). Karen and Jim Halpert had a relatively short relationship in past seasons. She now is the branch manager at the Utica branch.

Others you might hear of:

Todd Packer: "friend" of Michael Scott. He is a traveling sales representitive for Dunder Mifflin. He is a bit rude and vulgar.

David Wallace: He is the Chief Financial Officer. He rarely appears.

Mose Shrute: (seen above ^) Dwight Shrute's cousin who works and lives on the family beet farm. He has few if any speaking roles. He is usually seen being awkward and timid in the background.
Roy Anderson: former fiance to Pam Beasley. He worked as a dock worker at Dunder Mifflin. They had a very long engagement (which irked Pam). He finally decides to set a date but shortly after they break up. Roy tried to fix things but in the end he encouraged Pam to date Jim.

If I have left anything out or anything needs to be explained feel free to leave a comment!

The Office: Michael Scott and Jan Levinson(-Gould)

Michael Scott is one of the main characters on NBC's American version of the office. He is the boss at Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, P.A.

Michael is a friendly guy but he is socially awkward. It is kind of hard to explain him. Michael views himself as being extremely politically correct but...he isn't. He tries to be though, so, I guess that is all that matters. Michael thinks that he is a great comedian. He even takes acting lessons in which he portrays his alter ego, Michael Scarn. He even wrote a screenplay staring Michael Scarn which employees at Dunder Mifflin found and read out loud one day while Michael wasn't there. The employees do not take Michael very seriously.

Quotes by Michael- so, you can understand him a little better:

Michael Scott: My proudest moment here wasn't when I increased profits by 17%, or cut expenditure without losing a single member of staff. No no no. It was a young Guatamalan guy, first job in the country, barely spoke a word of English, but he came to me and said "Mr. Scott, will you be the godfather to my child?" Didn't work out in the end. We had to let him go. He sucked.

Michael Scott: Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate, so he's really not a part of our family. Also, he's divorced, so he's really not a part of his family.

Michael Scott: Attention everyone, hello! Yes, I just want you to know that this is not my decision but from here on out, we can no longer be friends. And when we talk about things here [the office], we must only discuss work associated things. And uh, you can consider this my retirement from comedy. And in the future if I want to say something funny, or witty, or do an impression I will no longer, ever, do any of those things.

Jim Halpert: Does that include "That's what she said?"

Michael Scott: Mmm hmm, yes.

Jim Halpert: Wow. That is really hard. [Michael almost says it] You really think you can go all day long? [Michael nearly bursts trying not to say it] Well, you always left me satisfied and smiling.

Michael Scott: That's what she said!

The latest with Michael is that his ex-girlfriend, Jan, is pregnant. But not with his child. They had a terrible relationship. Jan manipulated and abused Michael all of the time. At one moment, she would say that she wanted kids and then the next she would change her mind...causing Michael to get several vasectomies and then have them reversed again. Anyway, Jan used to be Michael's boss until she got fired for her bizarre behavior. Anyway, back to the baby. Jan went to a sperm bank behind Michael's back and it was revealed that she was pregnant in the season finale last season (4). Michael is very excited about it because he has always wanted a child.

Alright, and now this season (5), it seems that he has met the perfect girl, Holly. She is just as dorky and awkward as Michael (more on Holly later).

Okay, if I've left anything out or if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment!

Don't knock it til you've tried it

Nearly every time I ask anyone if they watch The Office, they tell me that they think it is weird and not funny (well, only when they don't like it). I understand this. It is a situation comedy. You have to know the characters and the situations that they are in for it to be funny. So, before you make any judgements about it, you have to watch more than one episode. And I'd suggest starting from the beginning. Avoid starting with the newest season. It will not make sense.

Obviously, I am in love with The Office. It is amazingly funny. I can't help but die laughing every time I watch it. And I naturally want everyone in the world to feel the joy that I feel in watching the Office.

If you don't want to start from the beginning, I'd be willing to post a blog describing all of the characters and some important stuff that has happened on the show. I'll add pictures and everything! If two or three people leave comments requesting this, I will do it. (Are there even two people that read this?)If not, I will not force it on you.

I have a poll on my page asking how many people like/have watched The Office. Please answer! I'm curious.

Oh, and for those who are wondering...The Office is on every Thursday at 9 on NBC! Oh, and on Tuesdays on TBS at 10 there are older episodes!

I think I might be a bit biased...

...but my bf is the best in the world. I'm pretty sure of it.
and speaking of pretty...I think this is the definition of pretty:

Trenton, you are too good to me!

Check this out!

For my art class here at Harvard, we had to go to this quilt exhibit. Here is a piece that really caught my attention. It was amazing. This is Fraser Smith's "Calypso". I saw it in person and seriously...it looked like a real quilt!

Are you curious? Check out this website to see what this thing is really made of!

http://www.gofraser.com/index10.htm

Oh, and while I'm talking about the things that my art class has exposed me to, check out Julian Beever. He is also amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOV1srK0hhg