Danni's Doorstep: Programmer

Programming this new remote looks easy

Said no one ever

Are you smelling what I'm stepping in?

Danni's Doorstep: Creative Halloween Costumes Part II

So I said that I would share my Halloween costume and here it is, along with Tracey's and another one one of my friends!

The Mozilla Firefox Symbol

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Leela and Nibbler from Futurama

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Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty

Danni's Doorstep: Underestimating

People underestimate the enjoyment value of bunny ears.

Danni's Doorstep: Creative Halloween Costumes

As we get closer to Halloween, one of my favorite holidays, the age old question of, "what am I going to be?" pops into my head. Fed up with being Hermione again, or reusing my Legends of the Hidden Temple costume from last year (as awesome as it was!), I felt I needed something new and something cheap if my wallet has anything to do with it.

So I went to work scouring the web for creative or funny homemade costumes. There were some really good ones, really bad ones, and some that I just didn't get. Here are some great costumes I saw:

Your favorite commercial character. 

A loofah.

Russell and Carl from Up!

And we know that we will get our lady gaga's, draculas, any member of the Jersey Shore, and of course the age old sexy kitten, sexy nurse, sexy _____ (fill in blank with any generic female role). But I never want to be those age old characters I want something new, something different, something out of the box!

After hours of searching, I have an idea for this year. If I can pull it off, I think it will turn out really well. (Check back after Halloween to see what I went as)

So now I want to know: What are you planning on being? What are some of the most creative costumes you've seen?

...Do you smell what I'm steppin' in?

Danni's Doorstep - Life is Good Festival

Sometimes it's the little considerations in life:

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Maybe I do want to parachute into the concert. I do see how this would create a problem though.

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This just reminds me of Inspector Gadget and it makes me giggle.

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These are on the directions page for the Life is Good Festival in MA. It sounds like a great time but unfortunately I will be headed on vacation. I know poor me...

...Do you smell what I'm steppin' in?

Danni's Doorstep: My Childhood Was Better Than Yours: Legends of the Hidden Temple

Times were much simpler when I was growing up. Our clothes were age appropriate, we didn't have cell phones, and the promise of dessert was all that we needed to get us to do our chores. TV for kids was also extremely different.

The best example of this is Legends of The Hidden Temple. It was one of the greatest game shows for kids other than GUTS or Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? (more on those later). The show combined two things: physical activity and trivia about world mythology. Essentially this game show masked exercise and education as fun and let me tell you; we fell for it!

Never having been one for a lot of exercise, I was amazed that I wanted nothing more than to don one of those brightly colored shirts, gold helmet, yellow mouth guard and make my way across the Nile (a pool) on wobbly rope bridge to reach the steps of knowledge and solve the mystery of The Missing Scepter of Cleopatra. With the promise of Space Camp or a year's supply of whistle pops in my sights, there was nothing I couldn't conquer. My fear of heights? Minimal! My fear of drowning? Nothing! My fear of failing? Impossible! All the while I learned interesting facts about different myths from around the world. What could be better!

Nowadays children's programming has very little substance. There are very few shows encouraging kids to get up, off the couch and to move and aeven fewer encouraging them to learn something other than how to stalk boys or pull stupid pranks on girls. Hopefully kid's TV will go retro and we'll go back to a time where there where kids were actually kids and not spoiled rotten miniature adults.


So until that day, I'll put on my purple parrot t-shirt and gold helmet that I ordered online for Halloween and dodge and duck and roll around my apartment and yell out answers at trivia night at the local bar (helmet not necessary).

Kids of this generation don't know what they're missing!

Danni's Doorstop: That Thing

Have you ever had a day that was just...blah and then that thing happens and it completely turns it around. It could be anything. Some random person says hi, you find $20, or maybe your favorite celebrity crush calls you and asks you to marry them. Anything!

I was in Stop and Shop after an extremely long week and I just wanted dinner. As I walked dejectedly into the produce section, trying to figure out the layout of the store (because apparently I've never been in that store before SIDE NOTE: Yes I have.) and what it was exactly I went in there for, when I stopped and that thing happened to me.

"I never had a dream come true  
Till the day that I found you  
Even though I pretend that I moved on  
You'll always be my baby
 
I never found the words to say 
You're the one I think about each day  
And I know no matter where life takes me to  
A part of me will always be with you"

I froze. Was I really hearing the melodious tones the the British pop sensation that I ran home to watch every afternoon after school? I exclaimed, "Oh my god! S Club 7!" to anyone in the immediate area (unfortunately there was only a produce guy, around 17 years-old, who looked at me like I was crazy). When no one joined in my extreme excitement, I immediately proceeded to drop my basket and rummage through my purse for my phone.

Once I found it, I immediately called TraceyEvidence (and got her voice mail) to tell her my exciting news.

"Oh my god Tracey! I'm in Stop & Shop right now and...wait am I in Stop & Shop?...yes I am. That doesn't matter! Anyway you'll never guess what's playing on the overhead! S CLUB 7!!!!! Made. My. Day. Okay that is all. Bye"

TraceyEvidence being the proper best friend that she is, responds with the following text:

"Best vmail ever. Write that down and put it in the blog."

So I did.

...do you smell what I'm steppin' in? 

Danni's Doorstep – Celebrity Twitter

I will be the first to admit, that yes I have a twitter, and yes my tweets aren’t always that interesting, but there is one type of twitter user that drives me crazy.

The self-promoting celebrity.

The aspect of twitter that I like is that it’s kind of a level playing field. Anyone can follow anyone. There is no friend requesting, no ignore button (yes, you can block someone but I reserve that for complete creepers), no one is better than anyone else.

For some reason there are some celebrities who feel the need to only repost their fans adoration of them. I get it, they get a lot of mentions about how much people love them, but if I wanted to know what @toriboo151 thought about Single Ladies, I would follow toriboo not Romeo Miller.

People should take a page out of Josh Groban’s book or Kanye West. It’s good to know that the people we pay money to see on stage at a concert or on the big screen are human beings just like us. I think it's hysterical that Kanye West “hates khaki cargo shorts” and personally I agree.

It gives that connection between the superstar and the everyday mundane. It gives people the feeling that “I have these dreams to one day be where that person is and guess what, I can, because Josh Groban and Kanye West aren't superheroes, they’re people just like you and me.”


                                                                                                         Do you smell what I’m steppin’ in?

Danni’s Doorstep: On/Off

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Being a child of the 90’s, I grew up with minimal “technology” in my earlier years. Phones had cords, Super Nintendo was new, Beanie Babies and boy bands were the only things worth caring about.

As I grew up and advances in technology were made, I just like many in my generation, learned to adapt. It appears as though we were the only ones alive in the 90’s that thought to adapt.

There have been so many times when I’ve had to explain if the iPod is charging, why the extension cord isn’t powering anything and why the attachable keyboard for the iPad isn’t working. It amazes me that in 80% of these situations the solution isn’t that we need to refigure the data chip to ensure that everything is properly syncing or to preform a complete scan for all malicious files, but that it’s simply…Did you try turning it on?

I was talking to a co-worker who used to work in the IT department and she said it was amazing as to how many times turning the computer off and on again solved the problem. It’s almost as if today, the roles have reversed. Children have all of the answers and the adults are the befuddled toddlers.

A word of advice to any “technologically illiterate” person from a great British TV show called the IT crowd.

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…Do you smell what I’m steppin’ in?

Danni's Doorstep: As Seen on TV...Not: Clean and Clear

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TV and Advertising are riddled with inaccuracies and some of them bug me more than others. One of the types of commercials that bugs me the most, are the face wash commercials. Really it’s only one part of the commercial that makes me angry and it’s the part where they splash the water in their face.

I’m sorry but there is no way that you can do that and not look like a drowned rat. I’ve tried!

What ever you’re wearing ends up getting soaked. Most of the time it’s your shirt but sometimes, depending on your enthusiasm, it can look like you’ve peed your pants. You always end up getting water all over the floor and generally you’ll need to blow dry your hair afterwards because it completely impossible to not get your hair wet when washing your face. Unless you’re wearing a shower cap but really, who where a shower cap when washing their face.

Below is what I believe to be the worst offender: Clean and Clear Morning Burst

Now this is nothing against the product it’s self. I use Clean and Clear products and I love them. But the commercial looks absolutely ridiculous. No one is that excited when washing their face and she didn’t have a speck of water on her clothes or hair.

Now I’m not saying the advertising companies have to make people covered in water in their commercials, but they could make it a little more realistic. Have their hair be a little wet and have them toweling off their face and looking refreshed. Or instead of having the girl afterwards in the same clothes as before look exactly the same except she more awake, have her dressed and ready for the day.

Have any of you ever been able to wash your face and not flood the bathroom?