Then I went to the funeral of a friend’s mother and cried my heart out, even though I had never met her. Seriously…if you want the perfect funeral service guest, hire me. I sit reasonably close to the front, I follow along with songs/prayers, and I will absorb the grief of the room and sob.

When I came back to work something really neat happened which I can’t share because, hello, coworkers! I know things that you don’t. And you know stuff that I don’t. And we never blog it. Ever. But thanks for reading!

So now I’m home and exhausted from the rollercoaster of emotions. Which rhymes with oceans. Which is today’s Friday Five subject! Look how tricksy I am!

(crickets chirping)

Erm…here we go!

1. When were you last in ocean waters?
Not since I went to the beach with my mom last June. LAST JUNE! I only live an hour away – I used to go every weekend without fail. But it’s become so crowded there that getting back and forth takes forever.

2. When did you last fly over ocean waters?
The flight path from Philadelphia to Orlando (and Walt Disney World) takes you over the Atlantic for a bit of the way. So that would be last May. LAST MAY! I used to go every year without fail. But alas, it’s the Summer of Cheap. “Recovery summer” my butt.

3. What ocean sports activity seems like the most fun?
Parasailing is a LOT of fun, though it’s not really a sport. Is surfing a sport? That seems fun if I were 1) 15 years younger, 2) 40 lbs thinner and 3) on a coast where you’re not torn to shreds by the broken shells all over the ocean floor.

4. What are your thoughts or feelings about public aquariums?
They’re okay, I suppose, for a once-every-15-years trip. I usually get bored about halfway through. Ooo, fish. Ooo, more fish. Oooo!! Shark!!! Hey…more fish. One fish. Two fish. Red fish. Blue fish. How much did we pay for these tickets?

5. What are your thoughts or feelings about sushi?
I can’t do it. I don’t like the texture of raw fish. I will, however, enjoy California Rolls.

When can I get back to the beach? Grr…I need some aspirin for this headache.

I'm sorry, Sully.

And Facebook wants them to be even more so.

1. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat an apple?

WM makes the most amazing baked apples. It’s an alchemical work of art. He uses oats, butter, brown sugar and honey and ohmygoodness they’re divine. Best of all…it’s fruit, so it’s healthy, right?

2. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat berries?

Take a bunch of berries — but not raspberries because they’re vile — and chuck them into a blender with some sugar, a squeeze of lime juice, ice… and rum. Lots of rum. Then you end up with a fruity berry drink…perfect for the patio or poolside. Best of all…it’s fruit, so it’s healthy, right?

3. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat a banana?

Split a banana open lengthwise and put it in a bowl. Top it with ice cream and chocolate syrup and pineapple and whipped cream and caramel and eat it with a really long spoon. Best of all…it’s fruit, so it’s healthy, right?

4. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat a peach?

Tucked deep into a warm bubbling pie, surrounded by brown sugar and syrupy stuff and topped with ice cream. Best of all…it’s fruit, so it’s healthy, right?

5. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat a pineapple?

Longtime readers will remember that one of my favorite indulgent restaurants at Walt Disney World (hang in there, Mickey, I’ll be back eventually!) is ‘Ohana where you can eat all the skewered meat you can handle. If you’re man enough, you can order a dessert at the end of the meal. But even if you don’t, they serve you a bunch of pineapple chunks with a bowl of warm caramel. Eating pineapple and caramel is supposed to settle the stomach after a big meal. I don’t know if I necessarily buy that reasoning, but it’s decadent.

Seriously. Buy some pineapple. Melt some of those teeth-ripping Kraft caramel squares, dip dip dip and hakuna matata!

Best of all…it’s fruit, so it’s healthy, right?

RIGHT??!?!?

I received this at work.

What’s the best part?

• The subject line that’s definitely aimed to a female reader coupled with the VERY male-oriented message

• The misspelling: Upgarde. Maybe spammers would get better responses if they proofread.

• The last name Dill, as in pickle, which is fitting considering the message

• The html file which I didn’t open but am SURE was riddled with links to crap.

• The intriguing To address: Agency 025-154. I want to work there! I bet they have flexible weeks and Fridays off in the summer!

If I worked for Agency 025-154, I’d have to learn to have shifty eyes and politely demur when asked what I do for a living. Because the first rule of Agency 025-154 is, you don’t talk about Agency 025-154.

Yesterday morning as I walked the dogs I realized that the home button wasn’t working on my iPhone. I was listening to Buzz out Loud so I didn’t really need that functionality. I just thought it was weird.

When we came inside I plugged the phone in to sync it but the phone wouldn’t recognize the charging cable. Well, the cable did have a few stray fangy chompmarks on it (glares at dogs) so I figured I’d charge it at work.

No dice. I tried to do a soft reset, but that sent the phone into a sad cycle of turning itself off and on. Without the ability to charge it, I knew it’d be gone in hours. (I blame the Farmville app.)

So the decision I was mulling on for a while had to be made. I decided to go for the $99 upgrade to the iPhone 3GS. I went to the mall during lunch and after waiting behind …

1) An elderly couple with limited English skills
2) a guy in a wifebeater shirt whose AmEx gold card would not go through (“call them, they’ll tell you it’s okay”) and
3) A college-age girl who had no idea what phone she wanted.

… I got my brand new iPhone 3GS. I had the old-school $20 unlimited package, which I switched to the $5 for 200 texts and $15 for 200GB of data so my monthly bill won’t change. I bought a snazzy green case so I can find it in my bag.

My concern about not being able to think of a new name for it (iDrink and iSettled being two suggestions) was eliminated upon first sync, when it pulled in all of my old info, including the old iGypsy name. Which is good.

There’s already such a great difference between the 1st gen and the 3GS that I don’t feel behind by not having the 4. And by the time I’m ready for a better phone, maybe the iPhone 5 will be out!

But now, for the matter at hand.

***
Friends, we gather here today to thank iPhone for its years of … mediocre … service as we send its spirit back to Cupertino. (Or China.) Instead of the bad times, let us remember how excited we we were when it first appeared in our lives, full of promise and short on “bars.”

First-gen iPhone opened our eyes to all that could be done with a phone. Games! Internet surfing! Photo-taking! Of course, we could do that all with the prior phone (including video and MMS) but iPhone did it with style, panache, and the added bonus of being able to abruptly end phone calls with only a soft touch from a smiling cheek.

For your final journey, we have given you the case and protectors we used to keep you from shattering at any given moment.

Go, go with Jobs.

(Wandering Minstrel takes aim at the bier with a flaming arrow)

Step 1: Touch the app’s icon to start it up. Wait a few sections as the screen loads.

Don't forget to mute the phone unless you want to hear the music.

Step 2: Duck and cover.

Blow up the county? There's an app for that!

I ‘m gonna need a bigger phone.

(Also posted at World of Warcraft Wanderings)

1. Oh my goodness! You have to run out the door right now and you haven’t eaten! Before dashing out, what do you grab to wolf down on your way?

Because I cherish my morning sleep, I do this every day & have breakfast with my coffee at my work desk. So I’m always sure to have a bunch of yogurts, fiber bars, or bagels ready to grab and go.

2. What’s a popular breakfast you dislike?

Around these parts, scrapple is huge. It’s a block of scrap meat. I’ve tasted some before and while it’s not as horrible as it looks/smells, it’s not my thing.

And it has the word “scrap” in it. (shudder)

3. You’re going out for breakfast anywhere you want, and someone else is treating! Where do you go and what do you order?

Thanks for the offer! You’re taking me to Walt Disney World, where I will have a Mickey Waffle at any restaurant that’s open for breakfast. No, it’s not high-end, but in this case it’s about atmosphere more than the contents of the waffle batter. What? We can stay a week? YAY!!!

4. What do you have when you need a simple, healthy (or healthy-ish, for those of you who just don’t do healthy!)
breakfast?

Oatmeal. WM introduced me to Irish Oatmeal and I love it. I call it “magic oats” because after eating it I can seriously feel a rise in energy. It’s filling, high in fiber and low in calories.

5. You’ve been invited to a breakfast potluck. What are you most likely to bring?

Two gallons of milk and a bunch of those wee cereal boxes you see at buffets. They are adorable and always make me think of hotel breakfasts and vacations!

1. What are your movie-snacking habits and preferences?
Buttered popcorn, water and Sno-caps. Gotta have the Sno-caps. But much to my dismay, our local movie house doesn’t sell them anymore.

2. What are your late-night snacking habits and preferences?
Heh. The thyroid issues have made put the kibosh on late night snacks. I’m usually fast asleep before late night. But back in the day (and hopefully again real soon*) I was a Pocky girl.

3. What are your sports-watching snacking habits and preferences?
I don’t snack when I watch sports, unless I’m physically AT the event. Then it’s popcorn and peanuts. MAYBE cotton candy.

4. What are your lonely, rainy afternoon snacking habits and preferences?
I’m never lonely anymore. But if it’s blue and rainy I like either pizza rolls or crab rangoon. (drooooooool)

5. What’s your favorite carnival/fair snack?
Kettle Corn and fresh-squeezed lemonade! A sweet & light combo for a (hopefully) sunny and warm day at the fair. I don’t go for the deep-fried-stuff much anymore because it’s so heavy. And I don’t remember Kettle Korn existing when I was a kid so it’s a special treat now.

I think I’m a popcorn girl.

A few months ago, I decided to start it up as a scrapbook of little things that make me smile. There’s nothing deep or pithy there. (Well, there’s nothing deep or pithy HERE either, I know)

Just some pictures, videos, quotes and links.

I call it Kimblr.

Hi, I'm Sssssssteve Jobsssssss...you need thisssssss new phone.

Believe it or not, I still have a $100 Visa gift card from Christmas. I was going to get the 3GS for $99, but getting the iPhone 4 for only $99 after gift card is a pretty sweet deal.

All of the “should I upgrade?” articles I’ve read compares iPhone 4 to the 3G or 3GS, not my trusty (not) 1st-gen.

Pros:

>> A better camera. It stings that this iPhone I currently have takes worse pictures than my old beloved Samsung did. I loved posting photos on the go to Flickr and the blog, but my pictures look like mud unless I run them through one of the CameraBag filters first.

>> App-switching. I do like to hop between Safari and TweetDeck and weather and such.

>> 3G. Even though I really only use the phone when Wi-Fi’s availalble, I don’t have this now!

>> Video. Think of how much more of my banal suburban life I could share if I could take video of it!

>> AT&T. I’m already with them (From back when they were AT&T Wireless, then Cingular, now back to AT&T), so I’m used to the level of suck. Plus, no $18 upgrade charge!

Oh AT&T, thy generosity slays me.

>> iTunes. I’ve already bought a boat-load of songs from the iTunes store that work so nicely on the iPhone. I use the iPhone for my MP3 player at work so if I bought another brand of phone that didn’t support Apple’s .mp4 files, I’d have to bring both my iPod and my newPhone around with me.

>> Longer battery life. I can’t blame Apple for this one, this seems to be the case with all older phones. I charge my phone and get the fully green battery indicator. I take it to work and by the time I get there it’s at half. Then if I don’t charge it again, it runs out the NEXT day while I’m at work. I have all pushing and fetching turned off, too.

Cons:

>> Call quality. I’ve had trouble in the past with my phone dropping calls. Will this phone be better? Most of the presentation had to do with the non-phone stuff, but the longer antenna might help, right?

>> No keyboard. I never got used to the touch-screen keyboard. I typo more on the iPhone than I ever did on my late, beloved Samsung. I swore that my next phone would have keys again.

>> Stupid proprietary Apple earphones w/microphone. Although I hear better with these than I do the hardier bluetooth models, I’ve gone through 3 sets of these with just normal usage. They just don’t hold up to being tossed in my purse. If I go with iPhone4, I’m stuck with buying more headphones for the next 2+ years.

>> Stupid proprietary Apple docks/chargers. My current phone works with the charger & dock that my current (read: old) iPod does. WM’s iPhone 3G does not work with the docks. So I’d have to, at the very least, buy a new charging dock for work.

***
Ugh. I’m totally going to end up buying this phone.