Barb’s Burblings

London: 4 November
Covent Garden
The Complete Word of God (Abridged)
Liverpool: 5-6 November
The Beatles Story
Bonfire Night
Magical Mystery Tour
London: 6 November
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bath: 7 November
Jane Austen Centre
Jane Austen Walking Tour
Upper Assembly Rooms
Museum of Costume & Exhibit on costumes from Austen movies
Sally Lunn’s
London: 8-10 November
Cabinet War Rooms
The Monument
Britain At War Experience
Imperial War Museum
Ladies in Lavender premiere
Jerry Springer: The Opera
St. Paul’s
Millennium Bridge
Hay’s Galleria
Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason premiere
Sweeney Todd
Pictures to come…

I’ve safely returned from England. It was loads of fun, but right now I’m pretty tired. I’ll fill you in later. But for now, I just want to say…
I saw Colin Firth. In person. Squee!

I’m in that crazy hectic place. Today has just been insane. But I have to say that I’m really happy to be fleeing the country. I have a meeting at 4 which I’m praying doesn’t run long, particularly since I have no idea what the Metro schedule will be like (thanks to the train collision this afternoon, whee!). I’m just trying to calm down, but knowing I have to be at the airport in 3 hours…and now I’m at work? It’s all just surreal.
Add to the franticness the fact that I am, legitimately, scared of where this country is heading. I’m really looking forward to just getting away from it all.
See you next Thursday.

Feel like you can’t take living in the country with Bush as president for another 4 years? The Canadians want to help us out, setting up a website where Canadian citizens can pledge to marry an American. I, of course, plan on finding a nice British boy and settling down in England, but this is a good backup plan.

So today during lunch I got my hair cut. I was originally just going to get a trim, but I thought I’d be wild and get my hair layered. So I got quite a few inches taken off and the hair is layered and I’m getting used to it. It’s cute, but takes adjusting. Anyway, so I got back to work and everyone was saying how cute it is, etc. Later, another coworker walked by my office and poked her head in my office. “You got a haircut! I always notice these things,” she said, nodding wisely. “I mean, it’s just like bam! I can’t miss it.”
Wow. Just…yeah. If she hadn’t noticed, that would’ve been evidence of a major lack of observation skills. I certainly wasn’t impressed, as I think I was meant to be.

The polls in Maryland opened at 7 this morning, and I left my apartment at 7 to drive to my polling place. I arrived at maybe 7:05. I found a parking spot at around 7:25. One of the workers at the polling place said that there were around 300 people waiting when the polls opened. So I proceeded to wait in line for about an hour. We inched our way toward the door. At first the temperature wasn’t too bad, but standing in 55 degrees got a bit chilly after a while, so it was good to get inside. Where I waited more, and found myself wishing that my last name began with H-O, as there were so few of them that they kept getting to jump ahead. The room where the booths were was tiny and all the lines kept getting mashed together, but it all worked out in the end. I voted and arrived to work a mere 90 minutes late.
I think some people may have gotten discouraged by the parking situation, but I didn’t see anyone leave the line to get inside. It was really cool seeing such high interest.
So if you haven’t already…get out there and vote!

You should drop whatever you’re doing and read these two articles in which a guy describes what he does with his Sims. I laughed until I cried, which was kind of a challenge, as I read them at work.

Friday was a banner day as we finally sent The Book From Hell to the printer. What a relief. Of course, I still have another book on an insanely tight schedule (due out in mid-December) and one on a slightly less insane schedule (due end of January). But it’s nice to know that the one is gone. Whee.
For some reason my bills ganged up on me this month. I got 4 or 5 that are all due during the week I’m going to be gone. But since my next paycheck isn’t until Thursday–when I’m already gone–I had to pay them using my last paycheck, which also had to go toward the rent. I’m grateful for birthday money, which is the only thing that enabled me to pay some of these bills. Which is kind of sad. But at least I get paid on Thursday, which means I can use my debit card without fear of running out of cash in that account. Thankfully.
And another November 1…man. I still think about her a lot, even after 7 years. And it