Friday Five:

1. What was your first job? As soon as I turned 14, I went down to the local grocery store (there was only one) and turned in an application. (You had to be 14 to work part-time in Indiana then.) Within a week I was working at the Wolcottville IGA, mostly just as a cashier. We were in such a dinky town that we didn’t even have scanners or accept credit cards. I ended up working there for three years. I started out making $4.25 an hour, and I was at $4.50 when I left. This job also qualifies as the worst job of my life.

2. How old were you when you had your first kiss? First real one? Sixteen. (I was a late bloomer.) As the kissee is now a psychopathic drug-addict bisexual, that’s all I’m going to say about that.

3. What was your first car? What happened to it? It was a maroon 1986 Pontiac Grand Am. My parents and grandmother chipped in to buy it for me not long after I turned 16. I drove it all through high school, and it managed to survive a cracked engine head, alternator trouble, flat tires, and constant overheating. Eventually it was so run-down that we sold it to some Mexican migrant farm workers. (Seriously.)

4. What was your first concert? When I was 16 I saw Bryan Adams in Cologne, Germany when I was there for a summer study program. Forget David Hasselhoff; Bryan Adams is big in Germany. It actually wasn’t a bad show. It was a little weird, though, to look around a soccer stadium filled with 45,000 screaming people and realize that I was the tallest female in sight.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Saturday was designated for Survivor, of course. Afterwards we headed out to see Samson and Sharky at the Nag’s Head pub (hence my drunken ramblings below). Sunday is gym day, as I head off to work through my new weight-lifting program for the first time on my own. Other than that, just vegging, most likely.

Ethan won. Damn. I called that totally wrong. But at least I successfully avoided the spoiler for 24 hours. We actually watched the final episode with Rodd’s friend Kenya, so nicknamed because he is from Kenya. He kept telling us about the wildlife and saying it made him homesick. So that was interesting. I was happy Lex didn’t win. (He’d just spend it all on crack and tattoos anyway.) Brandon and Kelly are the bitchiest two people I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m never going to watch The Graduate in the same way again. And after the episode we went out for many many beers, which explains the rambling nature of this post. Must sleep now. Gym in the morning!

I’m still officially avoiding the big news, but Snookums informs me that web-goddess remains spoiler-free. I just got back from my first session with my new personal trainer and I had to spread the news. It was awesome! His name is Alex and he’s the friendliest, buffest gay man I’ve ever met. He devised a program for me that’s primarily based around weight lifting, and I’m supposed to do it twice a week. We went through all the exercises today and I’m excited to do it on my own (though I’m gonna be sore tomorrow!). I also do 20 minutes cardiovascular, and I might take in a class every now and then. I’m gonna be fit, baby! And Alex is hopefully going to provide the motivation and accountability I need. I have to see him again in 6-8 weeks for a progress report, so I can’t slack off, which is good.

And dude, let me just say how much I love my new gym. It’s rundown, it’s above a grocery store, but it’s full of hot men. Hot gay men. Hot gay Australian men. It’s the best. Today there was a row of about ten of us on the treadmills, all plodding along, when the opening strains of Kylie’s “Spinning Around” were heard. In unison, every person reached for the speed control to bump themselves up to a jog. It was soooo fun.

Yeah, yeah. It’s on. The final episode won’t be shown here til tomorrow, so I’m going to try to be strong. I’m gonna go offline for the next 24 hours and see if I can remain unspoiled. So no calling me up and ruining it, okay?!

Sidenote: I was pretty surprised to see that they’re showing the American version here. I guess all the Aussies got hooked when they did the Outback version. They’ve been advertising a new “All-Australian” Survivor that’s gonna start in a few weeks, though. I’m stoked for it. Do you realize that means I will have seen three different international versions of the show? That must be some kind of record. (Okay, so the Snook has too, but he’s not into it like I am.)

The most beautiful man in alterna-rock is marrying the most annoying female in alterna-rock. I give this union about three months.

Meg wants to know: What do you see around your computer? I see a cluttered desk upon which rests a scanner, a printer, a digital camera, an empty cereal bowl (actually a large cappucino mug; I didn’t feel like washing a bowl), a book called “Latin for All Occasions”, an empty bakery wrapper from the gingerbread man Snookums bought me the other day, a half-full wineglass left over from last night, my gym class schedule, and a couple wadded up Kleenex. To my right are the shelves of our “office area”: CD rack, blank CD-R’s, phone, inkjet paper, calculator, pens, tools, etc. To my left I can see out the glass doors to our balcony, which overlooks a small patch of green grass and purple flowers in front of the office building next door. I can see King Street with all its cafes and shops at the end of the block, and people strolling past enjoying the warm sunshine and blue sky. Behind me, my Snookums lies on the couch reading his book.

What do you see?

(Perhaps you should go tell Meg or blog it on your own site. I don’t want her to think I’m hijacking her discussion.)

Ananova reports that the ‘N Sync scene in Star Wars: Episode 2 has been scrapped, supposedly due to fan outcry. Yeah, right. Fan outcry has never changed Lucas’s mind before, and I doubt it would now. I’m suddenly suspicious about this whole story again. Has anyone actually taken the time to look on the official site? As far as I can tell, there are no official confirmations that ‘N Sync were going to be involved at all, much less that they’re suddenly now not involved. Methinks that this whole thing has just been one big rumor, and we’re all so ready to accept Lucas as “defiler of the Universe” that we bought it hook, line, and sinker. (Ananova link courtesy of anon.)

Done your good deed for the day yet? If not, click on this link. It goes to the comic strip Sheldon, which is drawn by Dave Kellett, another ND alumnus. United Media is considering picking up Sheldon for syndication and will base the decision on how many hits the site gets. Dave used to draw a comic for the campus newspaper called Four Food Groups of the Apocalypse. It was one of my favorite comics of all time. Go give him a couple hits, will ya? (Thanks to Brigita for bringing this to my attention.)

Nigella does bite.
Despite the New York Times‘s breathy adoration, I still do not like Nigella Lawson. First of all, she’s a female Jamie Oliver. Men just find her less annoying because she’s good-looking and she’s posh. The fact remains that she’s famous more for her personality than for her recipes. She also obviously has an oral fixation, which drives me up the wall. In every picture she’s got a carrot stick or something between her lips. (Snookums and I feel this is a big key to her appeal with male audiences.) Lastly, I found her book “How to be a Domestic Goddess” sexist and annoying. I like to bake, but I don’t consider myself more feminine or goddess-like because of it. I don’t think wafting around my house in a cloud of vanilla and ginger is the apex of womanhood. And I don’t think flicking your hair that much in a kitchen can be very sanitary, do you?

While researching my hay fever online, I came across the website of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Of course, judging by the URL, I though it was a site devoted to this guy.