Hello lovers! Welcome back for an all new edition of Things We Love. This week, the things we love are getting a little more technologically advanced than they used to be. They’re so advanced, in fact that one of the things we love is learning how to live in this techie world.

You see, here at things we love, we’re usually not all that into the new and improved thing. It always seems like quite a hassle to keep up with because everything is constantly getting newer and improvier. It’s impossible to always have the latest and greatest thing. But when we’re forced to update, we don’t begrudge ourselves with a crazy amount of excitement about it. It looks like we’ve finally caught up with the times for a minute and we’re incredibly enamored with these times. Because these times have led us to be able to experience the wonder and majesty of The Samsung Galaxy Note.

We’d been lugging around an iPhone 3G for. ever. And we were full on members of the iPhone cult. If there was an app for drinking the coolaid, we would have downloaded it. But when we walked into the new cell phone store, something else was staring us in the face. This comically oversized Samsung Galaxy Note was just sitting there, begging to be toyed with. We’d seen reviews of the note and we were curious about it, but abandon our Apple brethren? Never.

But when we placed it into my (our?) hand, it was just so light. When we started learning about the Android operating system it seemed so versitile. When we saw that we would have the ability to write from it, read from it, take amazing pictures with it, make HD movies with it, view entire websites with ease from it’s giant screen, apply for no essay scholarships with it, and sooo much more, well, we just new we had to have it, so we could make an incredibly long, run-on sentence, with tons of commas in it for this blog.

If you’re going to make the switch, we’d highly recommend the Samsung Note. It rules!

Do you have The Note? Do you love it as much as we do?

Single? Pants? Forget about 'em!

It’s true that this isn’t a dating blog or, heaven forbid, a relationship blog. This is a blog where we document all of the things we love. I’m not sure if you know the format, or if you’ve tried to peer inside of the mind of a TWL writer lately, but this is basically how this blog works:

1. A TWL blogger opens up WordPress.
2. That TWL blogger takes one deep breath and thinks about whatever he/she loves at this very moment.
3. That very same TWL blogger starts writing all of the things he/she loves about that thing.
4. The same TWL blogger that we’ve been talking about this entire time, hits the publish button and shares the love with all of you.

That’s basically the gist. We’re very transparent here at TWL and are happy to share our process with you. If you want to become an expert blogger, all you have to do is follow that format and you’ll be set.

So the thing that popped into this TWL blogger’s mind was singledom and how mind-blowingly-awesome it is. There’s nothing better than being single, especially in the spring. It’s amazing. It takes awhile to get used to being single, especially if you’ve engaged in non-stop serial monogamy over the past five years. But eventually you get more than used to it. You fall in love with it. Then the only thing that sucks about being single is that people are constantly trying to tell you that it sucks. Once you realize that it’s something you can love, the single life becomes a cake walk.

Here’s a list of things we love about being single:

• You can listen to your new favorite album over and over again without someone telling you that it’s enough already.
• You can flirt, relentlessly, with all sorts of strangers.
• You can travel wherever you please.
• You can literally do whatever you want.
• You definitely meet more people.
• NSA hook ups! Yes!
• Only shaving on special occasions! Double yes!
• You can have as many friends of the opposite sex as you’d like without having to answer any questions.
• You don’t have to deal with someone else’s mood swings, or bad attitudes in the morning.
• You can stock your fridge with healthy stuff without having to defend your right to do so.

Those are just a few things to love about the single life. What do you dig about being unattached? 

There are many well imaged worlds and characters for you to explore in the vast literary world know as teen-fic, and here are a few authors you should start with.

Kevin Brooks

This English author writes stand alone novels, so if you’re looking for a series, look elsewhere. All of his books are set in England, from the slums of London, to rural marshes and everything in between. Not to miss titles? Road Of The Dead, Lucas, and Black Rabbit Summer.

Eireann Corrigan

She is the author of the novels Accomplice, Ordinary Ghosts, and Splintering, as well as the poetry memoir, You Remind Me of You. Her books are deeply personal, and weave a web of emotions around the characters that you can’t help but identify with, even if their actions are less than savory. Not to miss titles? Accomplice and Ordinary Ghosts.  

James Dashner

This is the author of the best selling Maze Runner series, an amazingly realized post-apocalyptic look at mankind trying to save itself in the years following a major disaster and subsequent accidental release of a biological weapon that threatens to destroy everything. Dashner proves himself a master storyteller, creating a shockingly violent world in which you literally feel as if you were standing next to the characters.

Patrick Ness

Author of The Chaos Walking series, Ness paints a fantastic world that he builds all around you throughout his books. The beauty and chaos he imagines, along with a wonderfully original take on settling an alien world cannot be missed. You’ll laugh, cry, and fall in love with this series.

If you have never seen yourself as a teen fiction fan, I challenge you to give these authors a chance. Already a fan of teen fiction? Who are some of your favorite authors?

We’re only releasing the metaphorical cat. And our metaphorical cat is comic books. How did this get confusing this early in the post?

If we’re in a library, you best bet we’re going to side step that whole classic literature aisle and dive right into the teen fiction or comic books section. That might make us losers and not extremely well read, but hey, it’s what we love.
There’s nothing that we love more than comic books (except for writing in the first person plural, of course). Today, we came across a little number by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim, called The Eternal Smile and figured that we could take a quick break and read one of the stories. It was such a quick read that we got the whole thing down in a half an hour.
It gave us the idea for a new series called the hour long read. Because there’s nothing that we love more here at Things We Love than squeezing an entire work of fiction into an hour. Sure, most of these are going to be graphic novels. Nothing reads quicker while packing the same artistic and creative punch.
This was a fantastic hour long read. It’s perfect for a lunch break, study break, or applying-for-scholarships break. Gene Yang is the genius behind The Prinz award winning graphic novel American Born Chinese. The other dude wrote something that I added to my reading list called Same Difference and Other Stories. They got together to create three brilliant little stories that focus on the themes of delusion, imagination, reality and the broadening of perspective.
Like Yang’s other works, the style is sharp and playful and the language fits that bill as well. Since it’s technically a teen book, the language was simple and easy to speed through without making the stories simplistic. Don’t get scared off by the fact that it’s shelved in the young adult section. There are plenty of themes that adults can relate to.
Do you have any one hour reads that you’d like to share?

Comic: xkcd

Welcome to this week’s addition of things we love where we will be talking about our mom and “your mom”!

Even though Mother’s Day is still three months away, there’s no better day than today to talk about having some mama love. But first, let’s talk about your mom.

There’s nothing better than when a stupid joke is told too much, becomes adored by Bro’s and Duchebags for several years, and then finally dies, never to be told again. “Wassssssssssup!?!” Case in point.

Well, we just lied. There totally is something better than that. There’s that magical time, after a joke that has been told so much that your ears bleed on hearing it, dies a slow and painful death. You begin hearing it less and less and then you hear that it was last spoken by some punk middle school turds in the early 2000′s. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, it is magically resurrected. Like a phoenix, the joke is reborn to live anew. Suddenly, this stupid quip has transformed into something both ironic and nostalgic. “Your mom” is that joke.

“Your mom” has never been a flawless comeback. As a matter of fact, it was commonly used by folks that weren’t clever enough to come up with a quick comeback. However, now it has become a throwback to a time and place when comebacks and smack talking were common place. It brings you right back to your K-12 experience.

“Your mom” commonly known as the “suburban ‘Yo mama’” was used in response to all sorts of high school teasing. But now that you’re in your twenties, no one seems to tease anymore. Now you can throw “Your mom” in wherever you please. It’s a glorious time we live in.

For example:

Boss: “Do you want some coffee?”

You: “Your mom wants some coffee.”

Boss: “Hahahhaha! You’re a genius!”

Now, we’d like to give a shout out to our moms, who we love and adore. Even if there aren’t any silly cards out there, with glitter glued in the shape of a heart around the word MOM, it’s the perfect time of year to say it.

Have you told your mom that you loved her lately? Have you told a “Your mom” joke lately?

Hello Lovers!

Welcome to/back to Things We Love. The blog where we (I) talk about things we (I) love, in first person plural! Perhaps this post should be titled “TWL: Netflix Suggestions.” That’s how Peep Show landed in our lap… laps? I/We only have one lap (first person plural gone wrong). Or perhaps it should be called, “TWL: The Dude I’m House Sitting For, Because He Likes Nerdy British Comedies and Netflix Knows It.” Or maybe, we’ll just stick with Peep Show, because that is the love-worthy thing that we want to share with you today.

Peep Show is this great, addictive, nerdy British comedy filled with great characters and an interesting perspective. I flew through seven seasons in a few weeks. It’s given me a nice little fake British accent. I’ve been thinking in it, dreaming in it and sometimes letting it slip out when I’m talking. It’s pretty embarrassing. I mean, if Madonna can’t pull it off and she at least lived in the country, explaining it away by saying that I just watched too much of a Brit com is quite lame.

At first, I didn’t really think it was going to be my thing. The first person camera angles (this blog post is going full circle) seemed pretty campy. I thought it might end up being one of those cheesy sh*t coms with a cheesier twist. A few minutes into it, I realized that the characters looked pretty familiar.  ZOMG! It’s Mitchell and Webb from that Mitchell and Webb Look. If you’ve never seen that show, do it! It’s sketch comedy done the way only the Brits can do it.

Once I saw that those guys were behind Peep Show, I was ready to get invested. And boy howdy, am I glad I did. Seven seasons later, I don’t know anything about anything, but I was pretty amused. Follow the follies of a poorly adjusted office drone and an unsettled, club drug loving, free loading flat mate. Watch them chase love in every form as they fall for an office manager, a posh twat and many, many more. It’s on Netflix, so check it out. We/I declare it to be a thing we/I love!

TJ and Dave: Improv Geniuseses

There are a lot of things that we love here at things we love, but there’s a huge one that we can’t hold in any longer. Improv! We love us some improv in any form.  Whether it be a friend-of-a-friend’s free improv show (count us in) or checking out some of the most talented improv performers in Chicago (let’s get tickets!), improv is one of those deep seated loves that gets deeper every day.

There’s a lot more to improv than you would think, and that’s what I’ve been learning at The Second City in Chicago. Even though I was too terrified to leap right into an improv class, I decided to take a comedy writing class there. I’ll work my way up from cheap recipe blog writer to stand up genius. Hey, baby steps, right? Not right. Improv is about leaping in whole-heartedly. It’s also about saying yes. You see, an improv scene only really works if everyone in it says “yes!” An improv scene works really well when everyone in it says, “Yes! And…”

But hey, we don’t have to be improv legends, or even students, for it to be one of those things we love. We can say “yes” to catching an improv show. That counts. Improv is one of the reasons that it’s so great to be in the lovely city of Chicago right now. You’d be hard pressed to go a night without hearing about some new comedy stuff going on around town. There are shows, sets, open mics and comedy clubs everywhere. You can’t throw a rock in this town without hitting some improv.

Last week, a friend and I went to see improv legends TJ and Dave at Improv Olympics. The caliber of comedy you can get for five bucks in this town will knock your little sockies off. These guys put on a flawless one hour improv show that is so well developed and hilarious that you’ll leave thinking, “Wait? That was just two dudes on a stage.” Yes… and no. It’s so much more than that. I’d highly recommend catching one of their shows, at least once, if you’re in the city of Chicago. But make sure to get your tickets ahead of time. All of their shows sell out on a regular basis.

Is improv one of those things you love?

If you’re a first wave Battlestar Galactica nerd (don’t be offended, those words just go together), you’ve probably already seen it all, from the 80′s series right down to Caprica. Perhaps you hate the revival that SyFy did and perhaps you didn’t dig Caprica either. I think we all know what it’s like to be a fan of something, and really look forward to the continuation of that thing and when it finally happens, it’s a huge let down (Jar Jar Binks).

But if like many burgeoning BSG fans, you probably came into the game late and caught the new series on Netflix or SyFy. So you might be hitting Caprica about right now, like I am, and I’m sure you’re feelin’ it. Caprica is awesome. I’m only three episodes in, and it’s already weaving in and out of the layers that BSG laid as a foundation without being heavy handed or cheesy. If it’s possible to have a crush on a TV show, I’m shoving perfume scented notes into Caprica’s locker after the fourth period.

The performances are space soap opera quality (I’ve heard BSG called that in the past and think it’s a pretty fitting way to describe it). I don’t mean to imply that the acting is anything short of amazing, but it’s a drama and the acting is full on dramatic. Maybe the phrase ‘space soap opera’ isn’t a good choice if you’ve never seen the show. Don’t worry there’s no plot line involving twin brothers, separated at birth. One doesn’t turn out evil, and the other one, good. But there is one about the birth of the first conscious Cylon, built by a senior software engineer who’s trying to ressurect his daughter from the dead. So it’s got that going for it. Now that I think about it, scratch the whole space soap opera comment, because cinematography and graphics put All My Children to shame.

All in all, if you’ve just finished Battlestar Galactica and you’ve watched The Plan, you’re going to love Caprica. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you might want to start with BSG so when (spoiler alert) the one dude says “Our last name was Adama,” you can gasp along with every other nerd on this planet.

Modern Warfare 3

The Call of Duty franchise, regardless of the developing company (meaning Treyarch and/or Infinity Ward), has always been a far favorite. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was no different. Logging in 1.5 million preorders on it’s November 8th release, in addition to sales made with no preorder, this Call of Duty installment was no exception to the franchise’s long lasting success. Though it seems to be the last of the Modern Warfare games, it is positive that Call of Duty will continue to dish out games every winter or two.

Battlefield 3

Military first-person shooters are one of the best selling games on the market today. Battlefield 3, along with the rest of the Battlefield trilogy, has created quite the buzz in the gaming community. It’s reputation as one of the most immersive games around has generated a large following. That large-scale multiplayer and genuine campaign makes it both realistic and creative.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The following generated by fiction-fantasy games is somewhat disturbing, especially if the game is called World of Warcraft. Skyrim, however, is quite the intriguing work of art. Chasing Dragons and collecting Battleaxes is not my definition of a good time but, for some, its freakin’ Mardi Gras. The sales for Skyrim, including preorder, proved that fantasy video games will not soon die off. Basement gatherings for dungeons and dragons, on the other hand, probably won’t make a come-back.

Madden 2012

Winter season may be video game season, but it is also football season. For some though, it is a combination of the two: Madden 2012! The NFL has a large gathering of followers and may be the most popular sport in North America. Ever since Madden’s very first endorsement on an NFL game, sales have soared. With every year comes new gameplay, more realistic features, and new players (of course). Madden has always been a fan favorite and is sure to remain that way in the season’s to come; unless we hit another lock-out.

The winter season isn’t over yet! Keep an ear out for new hit games, or just play the ones you got and beat ‘em! I always shoot for 100%.

What this article is actually meant for is to show appreciation for a little website called AppSumo. AppSumo, which works much like Groupon, can hep give you the tools to create a online presence for your company. They offer deals for Search Engine Optimization tactics, Web development, and products/services for pretty much anything. In some cases, you can download entire video-courses which work just like taking an online course at any university.

The trouble with creating an online presence for a company, whether you are starting out or trying to push an existing company, the tools for effectively doing so are not openly available. With deals on AppSumo, you can learn more about what it takes to make it in a digital world.

Even though AppSumo may not give you all the tools to become a full-blown web-developer, you can be sure that you’ll get great deals on some really great packages.

The AppSumo service is one that I find extremely useful, even as an individual without a startup business. Whether you own a business, run a web-marketing website, or like to dabble in the intricacy of SEO or HTML, AppSumo can offer a plethora of goodies.

Boost your online marketing, create a marketing strategy, and learn how to get your foot in the door of social networking; all with the help of AppSumo!

Only one criticism… their tagline: “All your software in one nice, little burrito.” Uhm, I thought Sumo wrestlers were an asian thing? I’ve never eaten an asian burrito.