Can you identify this piece of underwear?

Prior to moving to Germany, I bought the most wonderful sports bra that I have ever worn off the rack in a cheap chain megastore. After several months of picking through European sidestreet stores and AAFES stock I am unable to find anything that fits quite like it. I'm forced to search online stores and mail-order catalogs for the same model of bra.

Here I get into difficulty, because there is no little embroidered manufacturer's logo on the bra itself. To further complicate things, the label that tells you the model name, manufacturer, and size for the bra is faded beyond recognition. It (and I'm not sure if "It" is a manufacterer, model name, or size) begins with an "X". I know the care instructions, and the material, but I don't know who makes the bra or what it would be called. I also don't remember which cheap megastore stocked it on the rack. I have only two of these bras, and neither label is decipherable. They are beginning to show signs of wear, so in my hour of need I turn to the wilds of the internet.

With pictures.

Front:

Back:

Here is a close-up of the label:
Pardon the lens flare, but this was the best I could manage. I'm no catalog photographer. You can at least make out what I can: an X and space for maybe five letters after.

The material is 88% polyester and 12% spandex. The non-mesh parts are double-layered solid fabric, white on the exterior and black on the interior. The black exterior parts are mesh.

Please, if you recognize this bra, contact me in the comments. Any information that can lead to the purchase of another one of these sports bras would be greatly appreciated.

Haiku Tunnel

Haiku Tunnel is a Damn Good Movie.

It doesn't involve anyone wearing spandex or leather, or flying, or shooting lasers from their eyes, or explosions, or any of the things I normally seek in a movie. But it was still a Damn Good Movie, worthy of Capitalization.

I picked it up in the rental store because it had a strange name. The cover had a picture of the starring comedian -- Josh Kornbluth, Neurotic Adventurer -- up to his nose in paperwork, with "An Office Comedy" stamped across his face in black ink. I'd never heard of the movie, or Josh Kornbluth, but I was feeling experimental so I figured "What the Hell?"

It was definitely worth renting. It features neither Tunnels nor Japanese Poetry (Though I'm sure we could find Haikus if we dissected the dialogue). It chronicles a hopeful novelist as he moves from being a Temp Worker to a Permanent Secretary (or "Perm"). He does very well his first day, as a Temp, and then everything kind of spirals out of control. There are many fine "Thank gawd I'm not That Guy" moments as you watch his priorities crumble in his inept hands.

It seems to be based on my ex-boyfriend's life. The last man I dated looks (except for the hair, my ex has a full head of hair, and a somewhat fuller stomach) and behaves precisely like the main character in this movie. He even had the same job -- Temp. Only he went onto permanent work at a charitable organization. Our Mr Kornbluth works for the Prince of Darkness, a Partner at the law firm Schuyler & Mitchell (S&M).

I didn't realize this parallel until halfway through the movie, when I stood up and yelled at the screen "Hey! I've dated that shiftless, lying bastard!"

This wasn't an abrupt change for me, as I had spent most of the movie yelling at the screen. In fact, as the movie wore on, I found myself yelling progressively worse insults at the main character:
"Stupid!"
"Why don't you just mail the stupid letter!"
"Idiot!"
"Lazy moron!"
"Deceitful jerk!"
"Yuppie-Spawn!"
"Aspiring Writer!"

It naturally enhanced the overall experience to leap to "Ex-boyfriend!"

But, of course, that's my idea of fun. (This is why, when I lost a bet a few years ago, my friend Joe was able to sit next to me at the A-Con Hentai Festival, without losing any body parts. Because the entire night was just an excuse to yell rude things at the screen).

To be honest, the only thing more enjoyable than yelling at the show, is throwing things at the show. If you see me in the Audience at a live performance, Enter at Your Own Risk.

But, of course, this is Frowned Upon In Polite Society, so I tend to stick to rentals. And occasionally, I find a funny one.

And this was a beautifully funny one, blissfully devoid of sappiness and moralizing -- without sinking to the crude level of Frat Boy Entertainment. A refreshing film in today's comedic landscape. And, just when you think there's no possible way for the movie to be better -- A They Might Be Giants song!

I think I'll watch a second time. Coincidentally, this DVD contains a preview for the Tao of Steve, which was also a surprisingly good movie that I picked up on a whim in the rental store. However, that one didn't feature any character types that I myself have dated.

My Sister Will Not Be Surprised.

(In case you're curious, I was linked to this via The Absorbascon)

the Prankster
(42% dark, 38% spontaneous, 31% vulgar) your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | LIGHT



Your humor has an intellectual, even conceptual slant to it. You're not
pretentious, but you're not into what some would call 'low humor'
either. You'll laugh at a good dirty joke, but you definitely prefer
something clever to something moist.

You
probably like well-thought-out pranks and/or spoofs and it's highly
likely you've tried one of these things yourself. In a lot of ways,
yours is the most entertaining type of humor because it's smart without
being mean-spirited.


PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Conan O'Brian - Ashton Kutcher



The 3-Variable Funny Test!

Halfway Through Management Training

How evil are you?

Reflections at 9 AM

Background Music: "Daysleeper" REM

I miss Brunching Shuttlecocks. Archives just aren't the same. No new material. And I really liked that site. I also miss the "Dysfunctional Family Circus," and "It's A Dysfunctional Life" sites. They got me addicted to the internet

(Excuse me, I must forcibly remove the cat from the hamper)

Anyway, went to an Astrology worshop last night. Learned the neatest way to research. Unfortunately, it means I have to actually ask people what their signs are. (Excuse me again. *Turns and yells in the direction of the hamper* "KNIGHT!!! Rotten cat, first he slays my Dragon figurine...") Then I get to figure out what they have in common with each other.

It's actually a really fun game, though Aquarius fell flat, as only two of us knew any Aquarius. By wierd coincidence, both people had Aquarius fathers both on Jan 20. Wierd.

Other than that, it worked out really nicely. Even comparing people who seem very different from their Sun Sign description, we found they had common traits that matched the basic Sunsign idea. All of our Scorpio examples (And the group had 2 Sun-Scorpios, a Moon-Scorpio, and a Jupiter-Scorpio!), for instance, had a "Scorpio Nitro Button" which would cause the Scorpio in question to vomit Zeal when pressed, no matter how pleasant as the person seemed initially. We delineated them down to a basic phrase, summed up thusly: Still waters run deep... and muddy... with big alligators.

We did some exercises with observing the four elements, too.

Air was okay, but unremarkable.

I nearly burned my hair off with fire, but that didn't sour me on the element. Fire is bright and exciting.

And I have to tell you, water is one creepy element. Do what what we did. Get a bowl, fill it with water, and stick your hand in it. It's cold, and after a little bit of resistance, overtakes your hand as much as it can. It clings, and feels like its sucking you in. It distorts space and time when you look, because your hand is at such an odd angle from where it is above the surface. To your eyes, your hand seems to leave the water just a split second after you've actually taken your hand past the surface. The universe seems to be warped by water. It's really scary when you think of it.

And then you realize that there are people who are like water.

My personal favorite was Earth. We passed around a large rock we found outside, about the size of 3 hands. It was nice, felt comfortable in my hands. It had a good rough texture and a reassuring weight. The Rock had personality. It was old and simple and dropping it and chipping a piece off didn't hurt it or cause a wierd reaction.

There are people like earth too. Solid and dependable, and who don't get hurt by little accidents. Earth has personality, too.

I think people forget that sometimes.

That's all for now. Maybe next time I'll regale you with my revelation that John Stewart must be a Virgo.

Maybe not. We'll See.

This is My Sister's Fault

My sister, Kim has been bothering my to create a blog or live-journal or something like that for several months now. She basically wants more links to her site.
Click here to make my sister happy

I resisted because I didn't want to share my thoughts online, but I've earned a lot of free time. You see, I'm a vampire. I don't drink blood, mind you, or have particularly sharp teeth -- and I have a sunburn on my shoulders. But I'm beginning to believe that I will burn up in direct sunlight.

I blame work. I am working on Mid-shift -- that's the Graveyard shift for you civilians, and so have not had the opportunity to see Amaterasu's face on a regular basis. I find myself slipping into bed as she's peering over the ridiculously low Midwest Horizon, and I'm usually in the bathroom as she bids us farewell in the evening. It's becoming disconcerting.

I used to be quite a social animal. I was never a drinker or a dancer, but I was out every night -- playing games, talking to my friends, watching TV at my ex's house, chatting it up at the comic book store, chatting it up at the New Age shops in town, volunteer work at the School of Metaphysics... *Sigh* That's pretty much petered off with my new schedule. Everyone else is going to bed when I hit my stride, and I don't get cable TV. So I find myself killing an inordinate amount of time on the internet.

Lately, I've gotten back into message board posting due to DC Crisis on Infinite Wallets crossover, and I got the itch to do my own reviews after Morrison's Shining Knight #4 (Which was unbelievably awesome!). So, here I am -- For all the Internet to see.

No, I am not going to take my top off.