I do. Repeatedly. Every time I have to say my name to someone on the phone who doesn’t understand it. Not only do I have to make the sound Dori slowly and repeatedly, I also have to renounce the other party’s assertions that what I am actually saying is Laurie, Lauren,  Dora, Dorin and so on. And it’s not that they didn’t hear me make the sound Dori or didn’t understand me. It is that they can’t possibly grasp the fact that Dori is, in fact, my name. Once they finally get it, they tend to then ask what Dori is short for. Why is it so hard to believe that my name would be Dori!

So the answer to your question, dear searcher, is me!

Excellent question! I wish I could help.  I try to guage my neighbors by walking around wearing my shirt with the below logo. My friend Jonathan got it for me as a goodbye gift — even though he was the one who was leaving! Anyway, when your neighbors see you in this shirt and run away, that is a pretty good sign that they might be raptors. Also, it is currently up for debate as to whether or not raptors can pick locks. So be careful.

I am adding a brand new feature to this blog — Unknowing Questions from Readers.  As you might have read in an earlier post, I like to read what search terms people use to find my blog. Now I will use this information and answer the searches that are in the form of questions. I am an advice columnist to unknowing lost souls!

Today’s question: Is it okay to eat outdated oatmeal?

Well, internet searcher, the answer is a resounding NO. It is not okay to eat any outdated food at all. Sure, there’s a chance the food is fine — after all, what is the difference between oatmeal on December 25 and oatmeal on December 26. But, the date was chosen for a reason, and for the sake of your tummy I think it would be best to stick to that date!

And I would like to thank you, searcher, because your question inspired me to check my old boxes of Oatmeal for their expiration dates. I was saving them for when my stomach got better, but I realized I should give them to my friend Melissa who would eat them up.

As it turns out, all were expired except for the best - SMART BALANCE. They have until January 16, so I will be sure to get them to Melissa before then!

You might have read about the man who tried to pay a bill with a drawing of a spider: http://www.27bslash6.com/overdue.html. When I read a news article about this, I immediately fell in love with David Thorne’s sense of humor. I began to read his website, and the more I read, the more I loved David.

Use the left nav to go through the entries David has written.  I’ve got some favorites, like http://www.27bslash6.com/jason.html.

People like David Thorne make me happy the intertubes exist. Thanks, Al Gore!

The best “first dance” ever. The fun starts at 1:32 and it just keeps getting better. Enjoy!

http://video.aol.com/video/comedy-evolution-of-the-wedding-dance/2147896

Click here.

Sorry I’ve been MIA for a really, really long time. Sorry that the last thing I left for you was a picture of ducks. Don’t judge me.

In the meantime, check out www.MarcZawel.com for an 80 day travel adventure by the best writer I personally know — and now best photographer as well!

And for those who are a bit more lude, might I suggest the Ranman’s new, yet consistently updated blag? http://ranmon.wordpress.com/

Thx,
dm

(trying out the initial thing. i think it makes me seem cooler)

I am the proudest big sister of all time. My brilliant little brother is publicly recognized for the computer genius he is. Listen to him sharing his expertise on a podcast (he starts at about 38 minutes and goes through the end): http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=316.

Matt Matt discusses MSDN Code Gallery and his time as a baby intern at Microsoft. He is mucho funnies.

And as if I couldn’t possibly be prouder, the top blogger at Microsoft wrote about my boy! Read this short and very sweet entry right here: http://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2008/02/20/matt-my-dev-on-dotnetrocks.aspx

If you ever want to read more about Matt’s work and computer interests, read his blog. It’s really interesting and extremely helpful to web developers: http://blogs.msdn.com/matt/

Here is a picture of the cute one:

I find it absolutely fascinating to look at the stats of this blag and see what people are typing into search engines that lead them right here.

Of course a bunch of you google “Dori Manela” — which makes me wonder who googles me and why! I wish I knew! Some google “Dori Manela blog” — aww you guys are looking for this! One googled “Baruch college sucks” (and found my blog, love it) and another, “My roomate Dori” (roommate spelled like that) Who’s roommate is Dori and why are you googling that phrase — what did you expect to find?

Anyway, I wanted to touch on a VERY ALARMING SEARCH that led to me. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely, positively adore IHOP. I have always preferred breakfast foods to all others, and IHOP is just delicious. They have so many types of pancakes that are all delicious and lots of yummy syrup flavors! Plus, everything you order comes WITH pancakes — so you never have to choose between an omelette or pancakes, because you get both!

Anyway, I was very hurt to find that some asshole found my blog by typing in the search phrase “IHOP sucks.” Yeah, yeah, I know that exact phrase DOES appear in this blog (quoting someone else who had said it) — but I am the #8 search result for “IHOP sucks”! Nooooo!! I should be #1 for “IHOP RULES” and “IHOP IS THE BEST EVER.” So next time someone searches “IHOP sucks” I hope they see this entry and see that I LOVE IHOP. I tend not to get along well with people who don’t like IHOP. In fact, I can think of a couple of people who’s entire friendship with me is based solely on a shared love of IHOP. It brings people together.

Anyway, to keep this list going. Not gonna go through them all, just a couple of my favorites. One person searched “why the us is better than england” and got me. And 2 of my most favorite people I’ve never met and never will meet found me by googling “xkcds” — YES!!! I am #2 in xkcds! Randall Munroe, if you are reading this. . .please love me.

I’d like to end this entry by trying to bring up my result in “IHOP rules” — which I will officially work into every entry I write going forward. So…

IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES! IHOP RULES!

Thanks to my precious little pumpkin Matt Matt, I finally have my very own blog — well, not counting a MySpace blog and Blogspot and LiveJournal accounts. So actually… I finally have my very own fourth blog! Woo hoo!