Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent.

image found here

Twice this week, I've had people ask me to do them a favor (i.e. not something related to my actual job or tasks I should be doing, anyway - true favors).

Both times, I had to say "No."

Both times, I had valid reasons for why I had to say no.

And both times, they wouldn't accept it, and tried to guilt-trip me and asked me several more times.

Guess what? My answer's still "No," but this time, I'm a little ticked off, and way less likely to ever say yes the next time you need something from me.

What makes people think that after you've given your answer, just because it's contrary to what they want, they can talk you into what they want by asking you again or (in one instance) actually getting angry at your refusal? Do they think their persistence and harassment will make me magically change my mind?

"No" means no, people. "No." Means. NO.

Somebody That I Used to Know

Ashleigh discovered this video by the band Walk Off the Earth over the weekend.

How cool is this? I don't think the whole "everybody playing one guitar" would ever have occurred to me.

And I'm really loving this song (originally by Gotye). Doesn't the guy's voice singing the chorus remind you of Sting? And how awesome is the girl's hair? Perfect mix of punk and pretty.

Somebody That I Used to Know - Walk off the Earth from LeeHS on Vimeo.

Bestest Comedy Ever

When I was 14, my dad took my sister Holly Jo and me to see one of the most underrated and hilarious movies ever - "Clifford."

No, not Clifford the Big Red Dog - Clifford the Martin Short character.

Short plays a ten-year-old boy in this black comedy who comes to stay for a few weeks with his uncle (played by Charles Grodin) and slowly drives the uncle literally insane. What makes it so funny to me is that Short is actually playing a ten-year-old - not playing a 40-something year-old man who thinks he's ten. He actually embodies how a kid acts.

Here are some of my favorite moments from the film. If you like it, go rent it. You will not be disappointed. And you might name a future pet "Stefan."



"Look at me like a human boy!"



"San Francisco!"

February Reading Recap

1. Austenland by Shannon Hale

I honestly didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I was totally prepared for full-scale hokey-ness, but I was really pleasantly surprised. I, like pretty much every female in the world, have a thing for all things Jane Austen. This story, about a many times jilted single girl from America (appropriately named Jane) who is given an opportunity to spend three weeks in a make-believe Austen-themed wonderland in England, read exactly like my favorite kind of movie. I wasn't at all surprised to read in the afterward that the book had originally started out as a screenplay. I even found myself fist-pumping the air after some particularly breathlessly romantic moments for Jane.

I just saw that they're making it into a movie with Keri Russell as Jane - I'm totally stoked to see it.

2. The Land of Later On by Anthony Weller

This was a pretty intriguing plot - Kip, a 40-something jazz pianist who has been afflicted with multiple sclerosis, decides to kill himself in order to escape the pain of missing his girlfriend, Lucy, who had died four years earlier from leukemia, and also because he can no longer play his beloved piano. He doesn't believe in the afterlife until he literally wakes up there, and then he makes it his mission to find Lucy. With extra characters like Walt Whitman (didn't see HIM coming) helping him on his quest, this was supremely entertaining.

My only gripe is that the ending felt unbelievably hurried. It was almost as if Weller didn't know how to wrap it up, so he just ended the book. I would have enjoyed a little bit more of the story.