made in the 80s.

i was born in the 80s. however, it was the latter end of the 80s; insomuch, i grew up in the 90s: the days of power rangers and the birth of cds and tucked-in shirts and pogs and poofy bangs and skip-its and "i know you are, but what am i?" et cetera.

most of the time, i'm glad i grew up in th 90s and not the 80s. i just don't think that i could pull of some of those fashions. while side ponytails are super duper fun, i'd just rather not tuck my pants into my socks.

but there are a lot of things that i love that came from the 80s. a LOT of things...

movies like girls just want to have fun, neverending story, better off dead, the goonies, bill and ted's excellent adventure, the labyrinth...

cartoons like transformers, strawberry shortcake, teenage mutant ninja turtles, care bears...

and the music, oh the music!! i can't even begin telling you how much 80s music i love. so i won't.
that list is extremely extensive.

but, i'm pretty sure that the best things that came out of the 80s were those music videos. oh my stars, i wish i lived in the 80s just so i could enjoy the good ol' days of mtv. "back when mtv was fun", my mother says. apparently we used to watch mtv as a family all the time. do i remember those days? unfortunately not. but i have a small connection to those days: my family taped an...episode?...airing?...a portion of it. i used to watch that tape all the time, before it got worn down to pretty much nothing. what a sad day...

but i'm pretty sure that's where my love of all music videos come from.
that particular tape included the music videos for
come on eileen -- dexy's midnight runners.
rock me amadeus -- falco.
99 luftballons -- nena.
somebody's watching me -- rockwell.
cars -- gary numan.
mickey -- toni basil.
safety dance -- men without hats.
i ran -- flock of seagulls.
too shy -- kajagoogoo.

all of which i highly recommend.
so, thanks to those good ol' days, we now have dvds of music videos, for such great bands as inxs, peter gabriel, the fixx, and, of course, michael jackson.
but we don't have dvds of my most favorite 80s music videos.
HOWEVER.
thanks to a recent exploration of youtube, i have rediscovered my favorites and made new favorites.

and i very strongly advise you to do the same.
ESPECIALLY if you're bored.

boredom buster of the day: go on youtube and look up some awesome 80s music videos. quick.
don't know any?
well, i made a list above. you should check those out. go indulge in some of the delights of my childhood.
also, here's a list of some of my favorites:

take on me -- aha.
you spin me round -- dead or alive.
love is a battlefield -- pat benatar.
we belong -- pat benatar.
love you tender -- danny and armi.
the different story -- peter schilling.
are we ourselves -- the fixx.
saved by zero -- the fixx.
in a big country -- big country.
every little thing she does is magic -- the police.
we'll be together -- sting.
total eclipse of the heart -- bonnie tyler.
don't change -- inxs.
shock the monkey -- peter gabriel.
sledgehammer -- peter gabriel.
games without frontiers -- peter gabriel.
beat it -- michael jackson.
money for nothing -- dire straits.
land of confusion -- genesis.
dancing in the street -- david bowie and mick jagger.

and, though technically it's not from the 80s...

pop! goes my heart -- hugh grant (from the movie music and lyrics).

the list definitely does not stop there. but i can't think of any more favorites at the moment. if there's a significant amount that i have forgotten, i shall add them. and if you come across some that are stellar that i haven't listed, pretty please share them with me.

in the meantime, this might be my all-time favorite:

men at work -- land down under.














PS: if you haven't seen it yet and you get the chance, please go see HORTON HEARS A WHO. i saw it the other day and i LOVED it. when you see it, please watch for the character named katie. she might have been my favorite part of that movie. i'll tell you my other favorite part, but you have to see it first. :D

personality test.

i took a personality test on similarminds.com. this is my "trait snapshot". it made me laugh, so i'm putting it here so i won't forget it. don't mind me. :)

i recommend you check that site out, by the way. it's pretty fun.




trait snapshot:
introverted, secretive, messy, depressed, does not like leadership, somewhat nihilistic, observer, does not make friends easily, unassertive, feels invisible, feels undesirable, hates large parties, does not like to stand out, leisurely, suspicious, submissive, abstract, unpredictable, intellectual, likes rain, likes the unknown, negative, weird, not a risk taker, unadventurous, avoidant, strange.

i'm old, i guess.

i am nineteen years old. that's not terribly old, right? i didn't think it was old, until today, when i saw how much the times have changed since i was a child.

this thought was brought on by what i saw today when i was driving back from taking my sister to drumline. i saw a tiny girl, looking no older than five-years-old, pulling a little red wagon -- and talking on a cell phone: a sight which baffled me and made me laugh simultaneously (a very interesting emotion that i highly recommend).

then i suddenly went into pensive mode and began to reflect on how life was for me at that age. when i was 5-years-old and trotting around the neighborhood, towing a little red wagon in one hand, the other hand most certainly was not holding a cell phone...i was likely sucking the thumb of my other hand (or perhaps it was up my nose...). i didn't get a cell phone til i was two months away from eighteen.

this also raises the question: what do five-year-olds talk about on their cell phones? a very large part of me hoped that she was arranging plans for a lovely tea party with her other friends and stuffed animals. or, if she was like i was when i was a kid, she was plotting a grand doorbell-ditching scheme. or a power ranger-style rumble against the boys. i was a mean little girl. :)

i just hope she wasn't calling a friend to play. hopefully that's not how kids ask each other to play these days. i have fond memories of running bare-foot over to my friend's house, knocking on the door and asking if they could play. there was always the element of surprise in that approach -- maybe they could play! but maybe they couldn't...or maybe no one's even home (or maybe they were hiding). i would only revert to calling ahead in the direst of circumstances; such as the friend living too far away or the friend having older brothers that scared me.

i'm just glad she wasn't texting. can you imagine a text from a five-year-old? when i was five, i was just learning how to write! in fact, i just had a flashback to when we were learning how to write...on the lined paper that had a dotted line in the middle...and having the strokes numbered. does anyone still write the way they learned how to in kindergarten? i can tell you that i sure don't -- my "4"s are now radically different.

but anyways. calling...on a cell phone...and asking your other five-year-old friends if they can play...or sending out a mass text? what fun is that?? that's what college kids do! enjoy your childhood while you still can!!

conclusion: kids are growing up too fast. i may be old, but i at least enjoyed my childhood. that's leagues better than being young and grown-up all at once. agreed? good. let's go play red-rover.





boredom buster of the day: go do something that brings you back to your childhood. please. for the sake of today's children, go tow a little red wagon around your neighborhood, go blow bubbles in a park, go doorbell ditching, ANYTHING!! we must remind children that they shouldn't be in such a hurry to grow up.

I'll have you all know that i am currently blowing bubbles in my chocolate milk -- and boy, does it feel good.

no, i do not have a peter pan complex.
at least, i don't think so . . .

a blog of collective nouns.

i am a huge fan of words. i collect them. in fact, there are a lot of little things about the english language that i absolutely adore and hoard. for example, i collect different ways to say "vomit" and "goodbye". i'm pretty sure i'll blog some of those accumulations later.

today's caboodle is a cache of collective nouns. isn't that lovely?

for some reason, that's all i could think about today; collective nouns. you might be asking, what the grunt is a collective noun? well, i'll tell you.

collective noun: in linguistics, beautiful linguistics, a collective noun is a word used to define a group of objects, where "objects" can be people, animals, inanimate things, concepts, or other things. For example, in the phrase "a pride of lions", "pride" is the collective noun.

so all of you out there who detest english, let me show you just how fun it can be!
here's a list of some that i've stumbled across that have brightened my day:

an army of caterpillars.
an atlas of maps.
a brace of orthodontists.
a buttload of proctologists.
a cackle of hyenas.
a cloud of gnats.
a dropping of pigeons.
an embarrassment of riches.
a float of crocodiles.
a glitter of generals.
a hug of teddy bears.
a mask of raccoons.
a prattle of parrots.
a souffle of clouds.
a wisdom of owls.


the list could go on forever!!!

boredom buster of the day: google "collective nouns" and start a collection of your favorites by writing them down. a lot of my list came from http://www.ojohaven.com/collectives/.

or, an even better boredom buster: make up your own! and share them with me!!

here's a short list of the ones i've made up:

a briefcase of lawyers.
a giggle of girls.
a compact of valley girls.
a party of rockstars.
a tackle of football players.
an injury of boys. (this and the previous are actually interchangeable)
a gossip of old women.
a wrinkle of old folks.
a pocket-protector of nerds.
a swimsuit of sand.
an ammon of arms.
a pimple of teenagers.
a slice of emos.
a chunk of athletes.
a puzzle of preteens.


et cetera.

so party on! and please share. :)

things i have learned at the mall.

seeing as this blog is in its infancy, i shall post something that i wrote a couple years ago. (yeah, i don't really know how that logic works either.) i wrote it for my english class my junior year of high school. hope you like it.



Thanks to a most enlightening visit to the mall, I have decided to compile a list of fascinating things I learned there, both life lessons, and . . . well . . . not life lessons.

1. Shopping is one of the most tiring chores known to humanity. I don't fancy it very much.

2. While your little brother is half an hour at that one glasses place getting his frames fixed, a fun place to rest is by the fountain. Sitting there is almost like watching a parade; you see lots of interesting things pass by.

3. While you're sitting there, watching the parade, you see patterns developing. For example, when you see a flirty group of teenagers tromp by, five minutes later, you see the miniaturized version of the same thing in ten year olds.

4. You find that though there are various fashions that gross you out, others are pretty funny. Sometimes, when you see a well-groomed young man saunter past with his t-shirt emblazoned with the American Eagle symbol, you'll see a middle-aged man with that same eagle tattooed into his shoulder.

5. While you're pondering his tattoo, you begin to notice that a lot of people have tattoos and then you begin to wonder about the whole idea of tattoos.

6. Sometimes when you're entrenched in thought like that, you discover that thoughts are easily interrupted by the sight of a little boy on a leash and you wonder if he's had his rabies shot yet.

7. While you're deciding whether to laugh or cry about the little boy, you often notice the great amount of coins in the fountain and you wonder how many are tossed in each day and how many are wished upon. Then your little sister decides that would be a great place to find change when you want a gumball.

8. When you're sitting on hard fountain marble, backsides tend to go numb. This is a good time to get up and walk around.

9. While you're walking around, you wonder why stores were named what they were. Victoria's Secret for example. That Victoria doesn't have any secrets. Or Shea's Clothing. Did Shea die and now his clothes are for sale? And that spelling of Shea is masculine. Why are they selling girl clothes?

10. My father is easily embarrassed. Heh heh...

11. My fourteen year old little sister doesn't know how to respond when complete strangers hit on her. She's certain they were hitting on me, but um . . . I'm not.

12. Walking through the men's cologne section makes me go weak in the knees.

13. According to my dad, I'm not allowed to buy underwear anywhere in the mall. I can only buy it at the Distribution Center.

14. They don't sell root beer in vending machines.

15. You always see somebody you know when you look embarassing.

16. Finally, after all this madness, I realize that the only reason worth going to the mall is those big soft pretzels.



boredom buster of the day: go somewhere and just watch people. it's unbelievably amusing.

wow. what are you doing here?

hello friends and family.

i see that you are bored. otherwise, you wouldn't be here.

i'd like to say welcome. and that i'm sorry you're bored. boredom is not fun. have you ever looked up the definition of the word "boredom"?

boredom: the state of being bored.

what kind of a boring defintion is that?

so we look up the word "bored", which defines the word "bore" before it defines the word "bored"... and we see how "bore" means to put holes in things. which is neat, i guess. but after scrolling down some, we find my favorite definition of the day.

bored: tired of the world.

i don't know why, but i just love that. it makes me giggle a bit. and with that definition, we arrive at the purpose of this blog.

the purpose of this blog is to bust your boredom, to find reasons to not be tired of the world. and so i, liz sanderson, shall come up with ways to bust your boredom and/or attempt to entertain you as i write about little things that amuse me during the day. if then you are out of your doldrums, i have done my job. if you yet remain blasé, then i invite you to get up and do something -- in the most loving way. :)

and so, henceforth, if you find yourself bored, just type the magic words:

iamsuperduperboreddotblogspotdotcom.

and then you will find yourself here: a place where an easily entertained young woman writes about that which enthralls her with the hopes that you will also be amused.

and that's all. hope to see you soon.

love you, bye.