Remember that Mastercard commercial where Red Sox fans say what they'd give for the Sox to win the World Series? Mastercard decided to collect...(from a Comedy Central commercial)
Jerry Orbach, most famous for Law & Order, died of prostate cancer. He was also in Dirty Dancing, of course, but started his career as a song and dance man on Broadway. Among other roles, he created the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago. A sad way to end the year.
I'll write a longer entry later, but I had to post this article about Brian's Christmas memories. My mom saw that he had bought his parents a flat-screen tv and surround sound, and she said that I could marry him. Heh.
Scared of Santa
(I don't think I ever visited Santa as a child, but I'm sure that if I did, I would have had a similar reaction to many of these children.)
The Most God Awful Christmas Displays Ever
(My favorite of these is the fire hydrant catcher. I have no idea how it relates to Christmas.)
My heads hurts. And I'm tired. I think I could easily spend the next hour staring at a wall and be perfectly content. I can't believe I have to tutor tonight; I am going to be totally useless. Then I have to pack and get Colin to go into his carrier. I plan on spending both legs of my trip to Oregon sleeping. And then I'll get to Oregon and...sleep.
I'm really looking forward to getting out there. You can't run away from your problems or the things that trouble you, but it'll be nice to go somewhere that involves someone else cooking and where I don't have to work. Or think.
Current song in my head:
"Schadenfreude" from Avenue Q
On that same trip to Hecht's, I noticed a nice sign up by the formalwear. A tuxedo was on display in front of a large sign that said "Inauguration 2005." Only in DC.
I had time to kill before my book club last night, so I wandered around Hecht's for a while. I went to the pajama section and found the best pajamas ever, with Super Grover on them. I got really excited until I realized that they didn't have them in my size, at which point I got really sad. Because those pajamas were adorable. And I love Grover. Similarly, Target has a Super Grover t-shirt, but never in my size. It's a curse.
Book From Hell is done; we have completed copies and it's shipped to the 1200 people who ordered it. Book From Hell II: The Rebookening is at the printer; I only have to check the blueline. But I am finding a complete lack of motivation to work on Book From Hell III: History of Hell. Maybe it's the fact that my vacation starts in a week. Maybe I just spent too much energy on the first two books from hell. And the worst of them since the first, Book From Hell IV: Bookinator, is already driving me insane. Prospects don't look good. At least I have Happy Fluffy Fun Book to keep me sane.
The teaser for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is now available online. Johnny Depp looks kinda weird, but the movie looks good.
Yesterday evening I was on my way home from seeing The Diary of Anne Frank at the Round House Theatre in Bethesda (it was really good, by the way), when my phone rings. It's Carrie, telling me that the fire alarm is going off in our building, though there's no sign of smoke. The fire trucks have arrived and, after three trips in and out of the building, she can't get Colin out from under the bed. (He doesn't like loud noises.) The firemen don't seem too concerned; they're just sort of wandering in and out of the building. By the time I get home (maybe 5 minutes later), the alarms are off and the firemen told us we could go back into the building.
Colin finally emerges from the bed maybe 10 minutes later.
Well, this did kind of freak me out. I had a dream last night that I was at the Orioles opening day game, and for some reason I had brought Colin with me. (I also had really good seats; it wasn't at Camden Yards, though, but it was definitely the O's home opener--dreams, go fig.) And not in his carrier, either; I was just holding him. So he kept running off and I would periodically go and look for him. The whole thing was odd and stressful. (Plus, Brian wasn't batting leadoff; some guy whose name was vaguely familiar was. I was really upset about this.)
I guess the moral of the story is that now I'm freaked out about losing Colin. Poor kitty cat.
Current song in my head:
"This Love" by Maroon 5
Congrats to Jon Stewart and the folks at The Daily Show! Their book, America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, was named Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly.
I am such a dork. Yesterday, Becca and I spent the afternoon in Georgetown, and there was a part of me that, on the way there, wanted someone to ask me where I was going so I could be all, "Oh, I'm just meeting a friend in Georgetown. La di da. Just a typical weekend for this 20-something in the Washington area." Just because it sounded so cool and metropolitan. I had similar thoughts when I met Jody for brunch in DuPont. Like, look at me! I'm so cosmopolitan!
Only not, as evidenced by the rest of my weekend. I watched some incredibly bad television movies. I did a bunch of work. Carrie and I decorated the apartment. So, pretty quiet.
But Georgetown was fun. Nothing incredibly exciting, but it was nice wandering around. We got free hot chocolate and watched a bunch of (what looked like) Secret Service agents waiting outside the Baby Gap. They finally took off with a man who looked to be in his 60s; my theory is that he's a Senator. But who knows. And I got my mom's birthday present, which means I'm done with my shopping! Whee!
Current song in my head:
"Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul, and Mary
It turns out that kids in abstinence only programs are being taught "false, misleading, or distorted information"
Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy," a congressional staff analysis has found.
Of the 13 curricula being used, 2 are correct.
God, just thinking about this makes me depressed. Here, read the whole story so you, too, can be bummed.
In three weeks, I'll be happily ensconced at my parents' house in Oregon. I'm so looking forward to it. And we'll have almost a week of the family all together, since Kathy and Robert are flying in Tuesday (same as me) and don't leave until Monday. I can't remember the last time we've been together for that long. The last Christmas we were all together, I think it was for maybe 4 or 5 days. So that'll be nice. Plus, I'm mostly done my Christmas shopping; I only have my mother left. Whee! And hurray for online shopping!
It'll also be nice to get through the next few weeks of work. It's another Book Hell, which seems to be more consistent than not lately. Though, it does make the days go faster. On the negative side, it means I'm bringing work home pretty much every night. But I can leave that all behind for my week in Oregon.
I just hope that I don't then spend the rest of my break doing work. Which is a possibility. (Other than a break for New Year's, of course.)
But when I'm feeling down, I can just go to the cutest website ever.
Current song in my head:
"We Need a Little Christmas" from Mame