I spent most of yesterday in BookPeople, all for Alton Brown. He was scheduled to speak at 3pm, and my mom and I got there around 1:15pm. After Mom had bought the books, we got our tickets, and they sold out of the books. We went upstairs and had to walk through a maze of people sitting on the floor. We found a spot where we had a decent vantage point (somewhat blocked by a pillar) and stood until he came down more than an hour later. While we waited: C. called to tell me he wasn't coming after all and I said that was a good idea, b/c it was a zoo!, Mom and I struck up a conversation with a guy who was actually upstairs to buy books from the urban studies section (about Jim Wallis' impending visit), I joked with Leah on the phone that we wouldn't be done until 5:30. Alton came down and I took some pics (to be posted later). He was just as funny in person as he is on the show (if not funnier). He took questions from the audience about smoking meat, Iron Chef America, a show on cooking game, his upcoming show on Route 66 diners, and more. Then the book-signing started. He swore he wouldn't leave until all the books were signed. Mom and I had yellow C48, and they started with yellow A0. We were still there at 5:30. Luckily, some nice guys gave us their B86 yellow ticket, so we were able to get to him before 7pm. There were still tons of people there waiting when we were done. I heard one woman in the restroom saying she and her family had driven up from Houston to see him. Yikes! I think she had a pink ticket, too. So they probably didn't get to him until 9pm.

I would swear I'm not going back to BookPeople for another year, but I have to see Jim Wallis on Wednesday. I can't miss that. I am certain he won't have as many fans, since he doesn't have a TV show.

I seriously never thought I would get tired of being in a bookstore. I think it was the large amount of people there that did it.
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and I just saw Heather from "Real World season one" in an AOL ad. Ran-dom.
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even though she can't get published in the "New Yorker". Who needs them, anyway? She has written step-by-step instructions for How to Query the New Yorker (if you are a Female Writer of Popular Fiction who Does Not Look like Nell Freudenberg). Quite funny. They point out that she is too Philly for such a New York mag, but it seems a lame excuse to me. It's the chick-lit thing, I think. Oh, by the way - go take this test and let me know how you do.
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I have signed myself up to be on my class' reunion committee. Why? You may ask. Well, I am not exactly sure myself. I haven't donated any money to the school since I graduated. Now that I am off the board of MDC, I guess I thought I could donate my time to another "cause". Although - this pretty much decides the fact that I have to go to homecoming this year. I assumed there would be a large bunch on this committee, but there are only six of us! Ah well, I'll do the best I can with my limited resources. I mainly am interested in finding "lost" alums, esp. since there at least two people on the "lost" list that I was quite close to in school (my sophomore year roommate, especially!).

Plus, I figure this way I can guilt Kristina into coming up so I can see the baby! We'll see.
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Apparently Dave Matthews' bus driver decided to empty the vehicle's waste tank over a bridge. Under same bridge, a tour boat that had about 100 people on it were hit with this waste.

I don't care much for Dave Matthews, but this is just funny. Well, unless you were one of the tourists covered with Dave's poo.

Band Bus Driver Charged With Waste Dumping
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My life is now complete. Bringing Up Baby, the best comedy of all time, is coming out on DVD March 1. A couple years ago I e-mailed RKO asking them to release it. They wrote back a month later saying that Warner Bros owned the rights. So I e-mailed Warner Brothers, begging them to release it on DVD. I don't think I ever heard back from them.

Leah just called me to tell me, and I had share with you. It kills me every time I see it, and I have it memorized. Now I can watch certain scenes over and over again! As well as the really cool extras. SWEET!

Amazon.com: DVD: Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1938)
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I watch a fair amount of TV, and here are my current faves:

Monday - I really like this show Medium. I don't care too much for Patricia Arquette, but the guy who plays her hubby was in What the Deaf Man Heard and I like that he can be versatile like that - a Brit who can do a semi-decent deep Southern accent as well as a Southwest accent. I started watching the show because over Christmas I read "The Clairvoyant Countess", which was a very cute book about an Eastern European woman who moves to a fictional American metropolis and can see glimpses of the future. Medium isn't as good as that book, but I like it just the same.

Plus, it gives me something to watch on Monday nights.

Tuesday - When will Gilmore Girls come back? I'm in withdrawal here.

The Amazing Race - love Kris and Jon, hate hate HATE Jonathan and Victoria. Can't believe they haven't been eliminated yet. How did these people make it thru a background check?

I still like my Queer Eye every now and then, but I'm not as into it as I used to be.

Wednesday - I could go without Lost, but I still watch it. Last week's ep was really messed up, so I don't know.

And where is my Alias goodness? I'm a die-hard fan from the beginning, and I just can't get into the show like I used to. I'll still watch, but it isn't a must-see for me right now. I record it for Leah and watch instead. . .

Project Runway. I'm really into this show. I love seeing what they come up with each episode for all the challenges. I have my favorite designers, but will Morgan the model just get eliminated already? She's annoying me with her (seemingly) drug-induced twittering.

Thursday - I love me my Without a Trace. Period. It's still good, acting-wise and writing-wise.

Friday - I'm over Joan of Arcadia.

Sunday - I love Arrested Development, when I remember to watch it. The Simpsons is disappointingly stinky this season. Desperate Housewives - love it.

I watch Extreme Home Makeover or whatever it's called when I'm in the right mood.
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I finally bought Kim Richey's eponymous album (again) after having it stolen three years ago from my car. I really missed it! I've been listening to this song over and over.

That's exactly what I mean - by Kim Richey and Tia Sellers

I feel a cold snap comin'
Frost is on the windowpane
Trees are green and bees are humming
But I'm freezing just the same
Can't put my finger on it
Where did we lose the flame
We'll both end up broken-hearted
If we don't find that fire again

Lately we've been missing something and
Love is wearing at the seams
You say, "Baby, ah, it ain't nothing," and
That's exactly what I mean

Come every winter season
Most birds, they fly away
It's warm down south
They got no reason
Why they should wanna stay
When we take love for granted
We wind up empty handed

[Repeat Chorus]

Baby, turn off the TV
Come here and hold me tight
A little heat is all we need
To bring love back to life

[Repeat Chorus]

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sidenote: Hanson released "Mmbop" when I was a freshman in college (1997). The college guy also commented on going to an N'Sync concert at the age of 12 - their first album was released when I was a sophomore in college. I was not a fan of either of these groups. Kristina did buy the N'Sync album our senior year of college with "Bye bye bye" on it, and we played it for laughs. I did buy a Backstreet Boys CD my senior year of college, but that was because we saw their video a gazillion times in Rome. It brought back fun memories!

Now if the younger guy had mentioned New Kids on the Block - that would be closer to my time. But I was still not a big fan. Does anyone remember "They Guys Next Door"? They were a total ripoff, but had their own Sat. AM TV show. I thought they were cute.

But really - Debbie Gibson would be more apt. "Out of the Blue" was my first real tape. I LOVED it. That was back when I had all my birthday parties at the roller rink. Oh yeah - good times.
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I was walking to the nearby bakery to pick up lunch today. My short route is in front of a couple of very pretty houses, and somehow I remembered the most memorable quote from Unbreakable: "I like your house. Can I come in?" That line in the film is supposed to menacing and evil, but it just made my friend Renae and I crack up at the time. Loudly. And we were watching it in the theatre! Afterwards, we were walking back to her car, repeating the line darkly to each other.

Now the radio station I listen to sometimes is playing Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator". One summer I was working as a jr. counselor at a camp and my pal Carol and I played the song pretty much every day.

Man, it's like old home day or something!
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Thanks to Elenamary, I've totally gotten into OKCupid. It's pretty fun, if you like taking silly personality tests and answering questions like, "What does the word 'wherefore' in 'wherefore art thou, Romeo' mean"? I do like it better than orkut and friendster. So far. I've gotten Leah into it, at least.

I wish I could post more often, but I've been keeping busy. I've had more scheduling to do at work, and I've also been doing some volunteer grant review work. I can't say whose grant applications I read here, but one was excellent, and one was pretty damn awful. I spent Sunday afternoon and evening poring over the two applications, and then scoring them. I would have put it off some more, but the scores were due yesterday. This evening, I have a conference call wherein I get together with other people who graded the same applications and we talk about them. Fun fun fun! I remember it being more interesting last time, when I had more applications to read.

Soon I will go back to my story. I don't know where I am going with it. Maybe I'll have more time later this week to work on it.


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Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

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I started writing this morning, and here's what I have so far:

Fingernails bitten to the nib
Dirty blonde hair
Hazel eyes


She chewed her fingernails, a disgusting habit for a sort of scientist. Well, for anyone, actually. She chewed them down to the quick, leaving the surrounding skin ragged and peppered with blood. It only got this bad in moments of high stress.

Currently, she was stuck in a traffic jam. She adjusted her glasses on her face and rolled her window down. The sun beat heavily down on her and everyone else stuck on Mopac this warm May day. A small breeze blew strands of her dirty blonde hair into her eyes.

Too late, she heard the traffic report on the radio. Damn, she muttered to herself. She picked up her cell and dialed her officemate Juan. "Hola, hey."

"Hey, Julia - Que pasa? Where the hell are you?"

"Um," she hesitated to admit her tardiness to her friend and co-worker. "It looks like I'm going to be late getting back to work. You're going to have to do my presentation for me."

"What?! I know nothing about your work with the city of Amarillo. How am I supposed to do a presentation on it?"

"Please, please. My notes are on my desk and the Powerpoint presentation is on a CD on top of them. I'll owe you big. Whatever you want . . ." Her boss had warned her about her constant lateness. She knew she would fare better if Juan led her presentation than if no one did. The car in front of her turned its hazards on. Jee-zus.

Juan pondered her offer for a moment, then answered. "Okay, I'll do it. You're lucky I have a light workload today. Hopefully I can pull something out of my ass. You owe me, for sure. I'll think of something for you to do to repay me. Maybe next time Patty and I want a night away from the kids, I'll call you instead of a sitter."

Julia inwardly groaned. Was it common knowledge that she had no social life? She did love Juan's girls, luckily.

"Okay, thanks. Hasta luego - well, whenever I get out of this awful traffic!" She hung up and sighed. She was safe from firing - for now. Sometimes she really disliked her job. Intensely. Coworkers like Juan, however, made it somehow easier.


Juan looked around the room at officemates, bosses, and some higher-ups while launching into Julia's PowerPoint presentation. Julia and city workers had combined forces on setting up alternate sources of energy. She was supposed to presenting the current results (so far) of same collaboration. However, she had gone somewhere for a long lunch. She hadn't exactly explained why she hadn't gotten back to the office in time, but he trusted her reason to be a good one. He just hoped that Tricia, their boss, wouldn't can them both. She was the only one there who had expected Julia to present her work herself.

When he was halfway into explaining Julia's work, she came into the room and sat next to him, breathing like she had run all the way from her car. He handed her notes off to her, as she said, "Thank you, Juan. Are there any questions so far?"

She hoped her suit was professional enough, and not completely stained with the sweat the Austin humidity had caused her. She was slowly getting her breath back, and was able to finish her talk without a hitch.

Tricia came up to her afterwards, saying through the smile on her face, "My office . . . 10 minutes. Commissioner Hernandez! Always a pleasure!" She left Julia in a disappointed state. She was sure that what she had done was copasetic. She sighed as Juan walked up.

"Oh, Juan, thank you so much."

"It's okay. Your notes were pretty clear, and I think I got your point across. Don't count on me doing it again, though. Why did you cut it so close?"

"It's a long story," she assured him, hoping he wouldn't ask again. "Pardon me, but I have go prepare myself to meet Tricia." And start sending out resumes, she thought to herself.


That night she sat in her rented house replaying moments of her "conversation" with Tricia. Tricia had sat on the edge of her desk, a somewhat chummy and close position, yet not so much. She had basically confronted her, saying, "Your work is terrific, Julia. That's not the issue here. The problem is that I just don't think you can be trusted to represent our department. You are consistently late, you had to have Juan - who doesn't even deal with your region - cover for you before the commission members, and there's more I could add."

I don't need this job! Julia had wanted to yell. But sadly, she did. She rented a quaint ranch-style house in a rather infamous part of town, lived quite frugally, but needed her money for other reasons.

The discussion had not gone well, and now Julia felt very unsure of herself. She needed some positive affirmation. She flipped open her laptop and

- and that's all I have so far. I have no great plan for this, but it is going better than any of my other attempts lately.

edited: because punctuation in Word doesn't translate.
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I wasn't going to blog again tonight, but I had to note this. Reading my statcounter results, I discover that my site comes up as 8th on yahoo when you look up "where to elope in texas". I'm not kidding, folks. See for yourself.

If someone comes here looking for that, they will be mighty disappointed. But it is good for a laugh!

P. S. Melissa gave me Ace of Base's "The Sign" tonight and I'm loving it. I almost bought it at Half-Price books, but she told me not to since she already had a copy. She also gave me an import of Take That's "I Want You Back". Early Robbie Williams. whoo hoo!
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Okay, I'm a little late. I kept pretty busy this past weekend. What I did:

New Year's Eve - went shopping. Clothes shopping. Leah gave me a JJill gift card for Christmas, so I wanted to use it, but I couldn't find anything at their store. She bought some really cute corduroys. We went to Sephora and Ann Taylor, and I actually found some shirts at Ann Taylor that were decently priced (read: on sale). Went to a small get-together that night, where we rang in 2005 playing Apples to apples. I was winning for a while, but I got some sucky cards near the end. I'm going to blame my loss on that.

New Year's Day - bought calendars on sale (it's a tradition), as well as Hoopla. Melissa came over so my mom could teach her to knit. We started playing Hoopla, and Leah and I love it. We are now Hoopla addicts. Melissa went with Leah, Dad and I to Half-Price Books where we thought a sale was on. It wasn't, but we bought stuff anyway. I bought a book that I realized later I've already read, as well as CDs by Heather Nova, Suzanne Vega and Seal. Melissa left after the Rose Bowl started. The family went out to dinner to eat our black-eyed peas. We caught the last great moment of the Rose Bowl, then went back to our apartment. Leah's friend Sarah and her guy-friend came over to play Scene-It. I (and later my teams) won all the games. Sarah's pal admitted that he was in film school and was amazed that I was doing so well. I watch too many movies to lose at the game, I guess. We got them to play Hoopla with us, then we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Sunday - I had to relax and do laundry.

This week is kinda crazy. We switched offices at work, so I am no longer at the front desk. I have my own office!! One would think this would give me better time to blog, but no such luck yet. I promise a more filling blog entry next time.

special note: tonight - THE WAIT IS FINALLY OVER!!!!! I can barely remember last season (most of this is on purpose), and I am hearing good things about this season. Whoo hoo! I'm so excited.
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