Thursday, February 09, 2006

New Thing #35: gmail, yo

We've been together for seven years, he and I.

But after seven years of putting up with what can only be described as (at best) a satisfactory relationship...

After hearing from several friends that he refused to relay their messages to me, that he told them their messages were "undeliverable"...

After (get this!) reading an article (that's right--he didn't even tell me about it himself, I had to read an article about it) saying that he might start charging people to get in touch with me...

I finally had enough. I'm dumping AOL.

I would have done this a long time ago if it weren't for the fact that AOL was my first email server and so I felt some sort of nostalgic connection to him, and the thought of switching over to another server always felt like such a hassle.

Those worries are not going to stop me anymore. Hells, no. This is My Year of New Things. Therefore, New Thing #35: I gots me a new email address. In with the new, out with the old.

But first, I'd like to have a moment of silence while we all mourn the passing of my aol address.

(silence)

Thank you. Now you can open your eyes and welcome into the world:

My new gmail.com address. It's the same address as my old address, except now it's @gmail.com instead of @aol.com.

Please update your address books. Of course, I'll probably send you an email with this info too ("probably"? who am I kidding?) in case you don't read this.

Update: I just read the above post and had several conflicting reactions that I thought I would share with you:

Part of me was like, "seriously? You just put your new email address on your blog for anyone to see? Seriously? What if you start getting crazy emails from strangers who want to know more about your thoughts about Derrick from The Real World/Road Rules Gauntlet 2 being like a pit bull?"

And then another part of me was like, "that would rock! I love email. Especially from strangers who want to talk about what a pit bull Derrick is."

And then another part of me was like, "are you REALLY that obsessed with reality TV, Erik? Is that REALLY all you can talk about? Stop talking about reality, TV, Erik. I mean, seriously. Come on."

And then another part of me was like, "oh my god, the new season of America's Next Top Model begins in less than a month."

And then another part of me was like, "American Idol totally sucked last night. I don't think I'm gonna watch it this season."

And then another part of me was like, "no you d'int. You d'int just bag on my girl Paula."

And then another part of me was like, "seriously. Stop talking about reality TV and stop watching it. It's taking jobs away from talented writers like yourself."

And then another part of me was like, "oh, shut up, now that cable exists, there's more opportunities for everyone everywhere."

And then another part of me was like, "I wonder if anyone in the Survivor casting office reads blogs? Wouldn't it be cool if, somehow, someone from thier office read my blog and they decided to make all of my dreams come true. I wish I knew how to upload video onto my blog because it would be really funny to upload my Survivor audition tape, which is three years old, but it just gets funnier with age."

And then another part of me was like, "learn how to spell the word 'their,' Erik."

And then another part of me was like, "what was I even talking about in the first place?"

And then another part of me was like, "that's right--Derrick from "Real World/Road Rules Gauntlet 2...he's dreamy. And he's a pit bull. And if you found my blog after searching the phrase 'Derrick is a pit bull,' you should totally start a conversation by leaving a comment because we're obviously on the same wavelength, if not soulmates."

And then another part of me was like, "stop pimping for comments, dude."

And then another part of me was like, "I can't believe you haven't blogged about the new season of Survivor yet. It's too good. Exile Island? Genius. And Jeff Probst? Hotter than ever. And all of the drama? Just getting started."

And then another part of me was like, "Shut. Up."

And then another part of me was like, "back to the actual post, when you mentioned that you had read an article about AOL proposing an email tax, you should have linked to the article. Well? Are you gonna go up there and fix it?"

And then another part of me was like, "what's for lunch?"

20 comments:

Jesse said...

finally.

Erik said...

I know. It was long overdue. DID YOU UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS BOOK? Do it.

Bonnie said...

*giggle*

Now, I would advise ONE edit to your post, above.

I'd "spell out" the new email address. Like this: dimsumday AT gmail DOT com (or somesuch).

Why? Well, the Internets is the Wild Wild West and there are more bots surfing blogs than reality show producers surfing malls for great candidates. And those bots can find the email address the way you've typed it and those bots add those email addresses to databases sold all over the place.

So, to cut down on spam at your new email address, I'd advise that you keep the old email address typed out as-is, and then say, "Oh, and my new email address is the same as the old email address except @gmail instead of @aol." Smart people will take it from there and bots will be fooled.

;)

Oh, and congrats. What IS for lunch?

Erik said...

Oh my god. You totally just freaked me out about the bots. I have edited my post as you suggested.

Those bots sound scary!

Oh, and lunch is:

1 Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich (which I made myself)
1 piece of leftover pizza
(which I nuked myself)
and a glass of water.

Healthy, right?

Bonnie said...

*giggle* (again).

Bots ARE scary. Luckily, we humans are smarter. FOR NOW. *insert old time radio sting sound here* ;)

Lunch here: fresh guacamole (Farmers Market organic avocadoes yesterday... yum), corn chips, and fresh organic strawberries (also from Farmers Market), and water.

Water IS the drink of choice! Yay!

I miss gluten.

BACK TO WORK, BOTH OF YOU!

Erik said...

I actually have a glass of water AND a glass of Fanta Orange Soda. I neglected to mention the Fanta Orange Soda because I wanted to sound healthier than I actually am. Maybe because I knew that my PAM would read this and she'd be happy to know I was drinking water. So I neglected to mention the "and also a glass of Fanta Orange Soda" part. But now I feel guilty and I'm coming clean. Sometimes, I'm too neurotic. Sometimes, I'm just neurotic enough. This peanut butter and jelly sandwich is REALLY good. And the water cleanses my palate really well. And then I take a bite of the pizza and the Fanta Orange Soda is REALLY good following the pizza. And then I go back to the PB&J. Yum.

Now, really, truly: BACK TO WORK.

Bonnie said...

OMG, how I loves me some Fanta! Aw... just made my mouth water, thinking about it. Yum!

Best drink: Fanta Limon (can't buy it here, though I'm not convinced that I couldn't find it if I tried hard enough). It's all the greatness of the Fanta Orange with all of the lemonadey love you'd expect. Yum!

You'd like my friend Courtney. She eats "theme meals" and color coordinates them. Seriously. It's impressive.

j-dō said...

Yeah Erik!

aol is so 1990's.
I (heart) gmail.

I need to talk to you about Derrick...

What do you see in him? Is it his lack of a normal length neck? Is it his slightly higher than a typical males voice? Let me know so that I can have some insight into your crush.

Erik said...

Is the Derrick thing weird? I guess it's unusual. I don't know what it is about him that makes me like him so much. if I saw him on the street, he probably wouldn't be my "type," per se, but after watching him on the show, I'm so impressed with him--I feel like he's carrying his team, completely--even though they keep losing, it's not for his lack of trying. Like, did you watch the last episode? With him in the Gauntlet against Cyrus@!? Whoa. And, when he's not drunk, he seems like a really good guy. But I don't know, I'm trying to explain it, and none of the above seems to capture why he intrigues me--he just has this thing. We'll have to talk it through when we see each other at the end of the month.

Erik said...

Oh, and Bonnie, I totally want to meet your friend Courtney and have a color themed meal with her. Sounds like a New Thing...

Bonnie said...

Yeah, but she lives in Georgia, so it'd be a new thing plus travel. ;)

I think your Derrick crush may be along the lines of, "I don't know anyone in my real life like that." At least, that'd come closest to describing my crush on people on RW/RR shows. I know, if I met them in person (in fact, I know WHEN, not just IF, seeing as how I felt after seeing Veronica and Rachel at Dan Tana's one night, seated embarassingly in the star-fucker/posuer booth [which was GREAT for a giggle]), I'd probably not be so enamored as I am, watching them on TV. I'm not like that with actor/stars of any kind, usually. It's the reality show folks--the people who you KNOW you could bump into at any moment--who do such insane things while on TV and have such strong personalities that seem to get us charged the most.

Just a theory.

Or do you have Derrick types IRL? I don't.

Okay, back to the work. *sigh* It NEVER seems to go away, that work stuff!

the shorter story... said...

fanta, fanta..don't you wanta fanta, fanta...you look hot in all that plaster, drink that fanta...faster, faster!

for your own well being, i will digress...

however, i am forever thankful to the creators of that song for getting that effin' song stuck in my head FOREVER!

oh, and congrats on the new e-mail...i need to change mine too, but i hate the whole "notifying everyone thing"...and then i was like "i gotta get over it" ;)

Erik said...

Bonnie, re: Derrick.

True--reality show type crushes and actor type crushes are very different beasts. I think because I know lots of actors then I know I'm not seeing the real person up on the screen, so even when I fall in love with characters, I can separate that from the person--whereas with the reality TV folk, I know I'm watching the person who isn't playing a character (or if they are, they're playing a larger version of themselves), so the crush feels realer and bigger, and if I met them in real life, they would probably be too much "larger than life." Is this making any sense whatsoever?

Erik said...

Jessica, (quick reprieve),

DO IT. Just bite the bullet and DO IT.

Erik said...

When I was a kid I hated peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. How weird is that? I would only eat tuna sandwiches.

Anonymous said...

Courtney's theme meals remind me of something that has always puzzled me--why are so many "comfort foods" beige or yellow? Macaroni and cheese, kugel, apple pie and vanilla ice cream, mashed potatoes, rice with milk and butter and sugar, oatmeal, noodles with butter and bread crumbs, tapioca pudding, scrambled eggs, toast. What's up with that? Erik, thanks for fessing up to the Fanta Orange soda. I was really moved by that.
PAM

Bonnie said...

Oooh, PAM's on to something. Comfort foods aren't BRIGHT RED or SHOCKING GREEN or anything like that. Ooooh. There has GOT to be a master's thesis in this somewhere.

Quick--who's in school for foodology or somesuch?

I'm fascinated.

Perhaps I will always know what mood I'm in (without even checking in with myself, emotionally) just by the colors of my food.

Ooooooh.

That's deep!

Gina said...

oh my gosh Erik, I totally remember your love of tuna fish. I have never tried it but I know that i don't like it. (ew.)

In high school, you ate tuna fish almost every day for lunch, or at least it felt like you did. Back in those days, when we dated(and you kissed girls) we'd do the "big hug" afer lunch, instead of the "big kiss." Now you know why "big wink."

And I have to make a comment about Derrick. I always thought there was something sexy about him but I was afraid to say it out loud. Well, after watching his bout with Cyrus I'm afraid no more. Derrick is a sexy bitch. He's so determined. He's an awesome captain for his team, and when he toppled Cy 3 times, bam bam bam, I was literally drooling all over myself. He's a pit bull and angry and has a very short neck, but some how he makes that very attractive. I want him to win this whole dang thing. p.s. please tell me you despise Beth as much as I do.

SO excited for ANTM. I always read the description of the episode and then try to guess who their talking about. Oh, did you know that Nigel is married and has a baby? I thought he was gay?

Bonnie said...

Beth is soooooo see-you-next-tuesday! She worked for me at one point in my reality show days. Ugh. Bleh.

But I have to say, I don't mind seeing her be captain. It's actually NICE to see her DO SOMETHING for a change. Such a breath of fresh air from the years of watching her just stir shit up for others and never do a damn thing but sit there and complain, then leave the show over some drama that she created.

Sweat looks good on her.

BTW--where did her mole go? Hmmmmm.

Erik said...

Gina, first of all, you can't be disrespecting the tuna fish sandwich. Second of all, I suppose I should have invested in some breath mints back then.

And thank you for backing me up on the whole Derrick thing.

And Nigel is totally not gay at all. He's super married with kids.

And Bonnie, I agree with you--it's fun to watch Beth as the captain. As annoying as she can be, she kinda serves as the "villian" on the show, and if she wasn't there, we wouldn't have nearly as much drama to get riled up about. I think she's good TV.