Barb’s Burblings

Possibly the thing I am most proud of is The Gettysburgian. We won the Pacemaker for the year I was editor-in-chief, and it just blew me away. From the first issue of my freshman year (I had a movie review in it) to the last, I kept every copy. But somewhere along the way, I managed to lose the copies from my senior year. I have no idea where they went, and it was killing me. I particularly was missing the last issue, because in the last issue were the senior reflections. All of the seniors on staff wrote short articles–and there were quite a few of us in the class of 2000.
This weekend, Kathy and Robert were in town and we went up and visited Gram who, it turns out, still had a copy of that final issue, and she gave it to me. And I went to my reflection and read it and wow, it’s actually pretty good. I’ve always liked editing more than writing; I get oddly self-conscious about my writing. But looking at it from a distance of 6 years, I really like it.
Check it out! (You need to click it to see the larger image; you should be able to read that one.)

There was a moment a couple weeks back where I didn’t have any books to read. Sure, I had some on my shelves, but they were either a) too big (I knew I had some books that would be arriving at the library soon), or b) required too much thinking (I had just finished a couple fairly heavy books). So I grabbed Pride & Prejudice. Which led to watching the movie (Colin Firth, natch). And to complete the experience…P&P as acted out by dolls. The end of the Netherfield ball is particularly amusing.

And no, it’s not Brian. No no, I’m talking about Damian Lewis. Ohhh, Damian Lewis. So cute. If you haven’t seen Shakespeare Re-Told: Much Ado About Nothing, you should do what you can to see it. It was a great adaptation; I’d say they even improved on the resolution to the Hero/Claudio storyline. And honestly, I could watch Damian Lewis say, “There is nothing in the world I love so well as you” (or whatever the line is; I keep getting distracted) over and over and over. (Plus, he’s wears a totally hot black silk shirt. His hair is bad, but I can overlook that.) Sadly, they cut the, “Against my will, I am sent to bid you come into dinner.” “…There’s a double meaning in that.” But that’s OK. Anyway, go see it. I’m totally psyched for the upcoming episodes; next week is Macbeth, and one episode has Rufus Sewell, who is fantastic.

My horoscope from yesterday’s paper:

Scorpio
You’re attractive–maybe too attractive. Someone’s all-encompassing love is overwhelming. The more independence you exert, the more someone chases you. Rush toward this person and you’ll get the space you need.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
*pause*
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Seriously, I read this last night and am still laughing. Oh yes, that’s my problem–I’m too attractive! I’m being chased by someone who’s overwhelmingly in love with me! Yes yes, this is my life to a “t.” It’s like the horoscope writer knows me.

Since I don’t really have anything worth sharing about my life or the Orioles (I’m still debating how I feel about Javy Lopez going to the Red Sox; on the one hand, good for him, he’ll be getting playing time; on the other hand, ugh, the Red Sox), I thought I’d just share some links.
Defense of using the word sucks
Awesome video–Brilliant use of treadmills

Why do nutjobs manage to find you?

The heat wave bites. Everyone’s miserable because they’re hot and they know that their electric bills are going to be through the roof in the near future. But on the positive side, the heat wave brought us this picture:

Oh, bless you, AP photographer. I think the point was supposed to be “Gametime temperature was 102 and these guys are dying” (there was also a pic of the home plate ump cooling off); the end result is clearly worth whatever motivated the photographer. Nothing like that to perk up my evening. This was before Brian was (very subtly) thrown out of the game for arguing balls and strikes–so subtly that nobody even realized he was ejected until after the inning was over and Chris Gomez trotted out to play second.
Still, I’m happy I went to last night’s game. Sure, the temp was 100, but at least the sun was down. Also, the O’s managed to win.

The first time my alarm goes off in the morning, Colin trots in and starts meowing, in the hope that maybe this morning–unlike every morning before it–I’ll hop out of bed and feed him immediately. Usually he’ll realize that no, today is not that day, and wander off until the alarm goes off again in 9 minutes. Repeat for a half hour. Sometimes he’s more insistent than others; where some mornings he’ll come in, look at me, and walk out fairly quickly. Those are the good mornings. Then there are the times that he jumps onto the bed, meows loudly, and sticks his face in mine. Those are not good mornings.
This morning was not a good morning. He was on the bed, meowing, tromping around. What the heck? I thought. The alarm hasn’t even gone off. So I glance over to check the time, but the alarm clock is off. I’m still not entirely sure what happened; I guess in moving around last night, I knocked the plug out (the plug is kind of loose and is wedged between my bed and the wall).
I was thankful for two things: 1) I still had power; the a/c was on and I was comfy. 2) I freaked out a bit, grabbed my cell, and saw that it was only 6:15. So I am grateful to Colin for waking me up. But no, I didn’t feed him then. I set my cell’s alarm for 6:30 and went back to sleep until then.
Current song in my head:
“It’s All For the Best” from Godspell