wisteria

1. Per the suggestions on last night's post, I dropped by Old Navy and was surprised to find a swimsuit that fits fine, if not perfectly. And if it fits *me*, then that's further proof that ON sizing is screwed up. ;) Even better, I found out at the register that it was 30% off. That's the third time in as many days that I've gotten a surprise discount at checkout. I'm on a roll!

2. I finished another summer sweater today -- my fifth one since January! Funny how I never liked knitting sweaters because I didn't have the patience or the money for all that yarn, yet now they're all I want to knit. ( Collapse )

3. I had fun watching the two World Cup matches today, though I had to keep it on mute for much of the time due to the incessant buzz of the vuvuzelas. I'm not really interested in the soccer itself, but the sheer breadth of the worldwide competition is really neat.

4. AMC has released a video of the "zombie school" for The Walking Dead. It's such a pity that I won't be available for some of the dates in the casting call for extras here in town, because it looks like SO much fun to learn how to, well, stumble around like a zombie.

5. Day 11 - ( Collapse )

While in the checkout line at the grocery tonight, the woman behind me unloaded her cart then ran back for one more thing. The cashier must've thought it was my stuff. He gave me a friendly (non-creepy) smile and said, "Got big plans this evening?" I smiled back and said "Nope, just heading home." And that's when I realized that the next thing on the conveyor belt was the woman's huge box of condoms.

Why is it so hard to find shoes that I like? I decided to order summer sandals, so I went over to DSW.com and Zappo's. When it comes to shoes, I tend to be pretty conservative: brown or black, in a simple tailored style without any embellishments. Maybe a more rugged look to wear with jeans. Unfortunately, most of the sandals I found at both sites were either too flimsy or full of frou-frou detailing. Sigh. For what it's worth, I ended up with these (in tan) and these.

Anyway. Linkspam?
-- Instant CSI! (Make sure your speakers are on.)
-- A very clever person has created Twitter choose-your-own-adventure.
-- Vulture tells the story of Fesh, about a guy who wins an unusual contest. Plus, a really interesting post about how Spoon creates their concert set lists.
-- In May, I plan to follow the lead of this Barbadian centenarian and celebrate the sixth anniversary of my 30th birthday.
-- I've developed a strange, sudden addiction to Peeps. Check out a Peeps film festival.
-- MonkeySee thinks that $20 for 3-D movies is ridiculous, and hosts a rather snarky Twilight book club.
-- Web Designer Depot picspams some gorgeous satellite images of Earth.
-- And a NYT theater critic bemoans the difficulties of Americans doing British accents and vice-versa.

1. Wow, thanks for all the snowflakes! Seeing them lined up on my profile page is a lot of fun. :)

2. ( Collapse )

3. Was quite pleased to discover that my school library has The Ask and the Answer, the second book in Patrick Ness's trilogy, which means I don't have to buy it -- I liked the first book, but not quite enough to splash out when money's so tight. The downside is that a student currently has it checked out until 12/17. I'm resisting the urge to track her down and wheedle ask nicely for her to return it!

4. Last week I ordered some sweaters from the Women's Plus section of Old Navy (because I am a Big Girl), only to discover that one of them had a hole in the arm seam. ( Collapse )

5. Yesterday I discovered that season one of Legend of the Seeker was available via Netflix On Demand (another reason why I love having a TiVo.) So, I got sucked into marathonning the first 9 episodes. It's a fun little show, and beautifully shot. I have a mental block against fantasy -- sorry! -- and it's not pinging my meta jones. But so far it's been great background viewing while I do something else, and I plan to finish S1 and download the aired episodes of S2. Oh, and I wish they'd let the actors keep their Kiwi accents instead of forcing American ones!

6. I fear I may never finish all my Christmas knitting -- SO much of it! -- which is not a good thing given how many of my gifts involve yarn. And why do I keep starting fingering-weight scarves that take forever? They always seem like such a good idea at the time, but I'm quickly bored out of my mind.

7. One bit of fandom news: nicole_anell has been posting some fun and detailed writeups from the recent London con with BSG and Firefly actors. Start here then just go to her main LJ page for the other two. :)

I was very amused that the new This American Life had a story about Chick-Fil-A. Speaking... this morning I swung by my usual location to get breakfast on the way to work. (Yeah, I know, fast food breakfast, but chicken biscuits are so very good.) For some reason, the drive-thru took over ten minutes, twice as long as usual. I asked the manager at the window, and she just shrugged. Definitely not the usual CFA service! When I got to work I sent a complaint via their online form. Said that I didn't need coupons or a personal note from the store manager - I just wanted to let them know. Then, of course, I felt guilty for being one of those people who only gives negative feedback. Ah, well!

I also got annoyed with UPS today. On Friday, I ordered several sweaters from Old Navy, using the free shipping option. I was quite impressed to check the tracking this afternoon and learn that they were already on the truck for delivery. Quite fast for the "slow shipping"! Got home, but no package on my doorstep. When I checked the tracking number, it said that "Recipient declined delivery and requests reschedule." Huh? I wasn't even here to decline anything! I called their 800#, which just took me through an automated tree, so I called a local UPS Store to see if they had any suggestions. They told me to call again and say "Agent" at each prompt (a helpful tip for any of you who also have problems.) The woman I finally spoke with told me to put a note on my door to leave it at the leasing office tomorrow. Sigh. In the past, they've always just left packages on the doorstep and never required a signature.

In sillier news: I learned today that the hot items on my 6th grade girls' Christmas lists are Guess? jeans and neon-colored clothes. Yes, this neon, the kind that was popular... when I was in 6th grade. My god, it's 1985 again.

Anyway. Linkspam?

-- In sad news, The Onion informs us that The Office Ends As Documentary Crew Gets All the Footage It Needs.
-- Slashfilm asks, is it illegal to watch bootlegged movies online?
-- The AJC has a neat story about a local couple who adopted five siblings.
-- Salon asks us to respect celery, plus some recipes.
-- Techblog has a very cool video of what the Earth would look like if it had Saturn's rings.
-- Patrick Stewart has written an amazing essay about growing up with domestic violence.
-- Some interesting meta on the nature of film criticism and how Michelin stars are awarded.
-- When the world ends, you might want the ten best post-apocalyptic survival vehicles.
-- Even though the grammar is technically correct, I giggled at a CNN story unintentionally implying that Obama is a cannibal.
-- Making the rounds: a new blog listing every phrase written on Bart Simpson's blackboard.
-- Here's a new website with as many palindromes as you could ever want!
-- And as a cartography aficionato, I got a big kick out of this gallery of unusual maps.

P.S. I have now posted every day this month. Yay, NaBloPoMo!

Just got up out of bed. Oh, I haven't been there all day, or anything! I got chicken for dinner, and although I thought I ate a decent-sized portion, but it all sat in my stomach until I had to lie down for a bit. I still feel rather blech, but functional. Still, it's nice to be able to lie in bed and do some reading. Only three more weeks of summer vacation, and I'm hitting that point where I wish time would pass very, very slowly -- a weird shift after spending the school year wishing it would speed by.

Speaking of school ... today I bought the first set of supplies at Target. They had packs of markers and colored pencils for 50 cents. It seems so early, but then the schools here in GA start earlier than the rest of the nation. (And yeah, we have same 180-day calendar as everyone else. Personally, I prefer it this way.) The next month will be tough on my finances. In the past, the state gave teachers $100 giftcards to spend on retail school supplies, and I also got around $75 from my school to order things through them. But the massive budget shortfalls means no state prepaid Visa this year, and my school might scale back our individual allotments. Add in the fact that my salary is going down by around 2.5% next year thanks to the shortfall, and ... ugh. I can probably make do without a cabinet full of new things, but it's always tricky in low-income schools like mine, where many kids come in without even the basics like paper and pencils.

Well, that was depressing! On to happier topics, like yarn. ( Collapse )

A question for Americans who write in British (or Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, etc...) fandoms, and vice-versa: using proper colloquialisms is always important, but do you extend that verisimilitude to spelling? I'm writing a story set in present-day London. A friend has offered to "Brit-pick" for me (hi, elzed!), and I'm not too concerned with that aspect of the writing. I'm just wondering whether I should carry that over to the actual spelling, or if it even matters.

Right now I'm watching The Closer, and it reminds me of a game I play with shows that I generally like except for one thing. ( Collapse )

1. After dropping off two boxes of clothes donations at the women's shelter today, I felt the siren call of IKEA two blocks away. I am powerless to resist its song, even though I really don't need more stuff. I am also powerless against my addiction to reusable shopping bags, and IKEA has the absolute best shopping bags ever. ( Collapse )

2. On a related note, I also got some of their new hair conditioner just for the hell of it. The front of the bottle is making me laugh. ( Collapse )

3. In addition to linguistics, I am totally geeking out over this huge architecture picspam. Just like poor Gaeta, I spent most of my childhood designing floorplans for truly awesome buildings, though none of them were shaped like food. I wanted to be an architect until I realized that all my buildings would fall down because I hate engineering. I just love looking at architecture, even if I know very little about it.

4. I'm also giggling at the guy who is being a wee bit wanky about who gets to listen to his exclusive Sufjan Stevens song.

5. Yarny friends: don't forget that Saturday is World Wide Knit in Public Day! Looks like I'm meeting some friends at Park Tavern at noonish.

6. Recently I decided to stop bitching about it taking over the world and finally join Twitter. (Not posting my screenname here because I have some RL friends there.) This afternoon I asked a friend there if she wanted to do the Knit in Public thing at a nearby bar, and within an hour that bar's Twitter acct had started following me. I'm not upset or creeped out -- hey, it was a public post, though I've since made my feed private -- but it's still a bit funny and disconcerting!

7. Thanks to the news that Katee Sackhoff is joining the cast of 24, last night I dreamed that the equally-as-awesome Franka Potente was also joining the cast. Starbuck and Lola together? Excellent. Then I woke up. :(

8. I've posted a couple of ficlets for oxoniensis's massive Porn Battle, and I'm toying with a couple more that might not get done before the deadline. Scrolling through them is mind-boggling just for the sheer breadth of all the different fandoms, including some I've never heard of. I grinned when I saw that someone has written for Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, my favorite play, but I can't quite see Thomasina and Septimus getting naked. ;)

ETA: Just turned on Globe Trekker, which is doing one of their best-of clipshows. One guy made me do a double-take. I looked closer, and... yup, it's pre-fame Bradley Cooper with really floppy bleached blond hair. HEE!

This afternoon, I met a friend for lunch, and then we went to Trader Joe's. I was quite cash-poor last month, so Monday's paycheck was a huge relief. It feels SO good to be able to walk around TJ's and get whatever I want without having to do mental math and put stuff back on the shelf. Yeah, I'll be back on my budget soon, but a splurge does wonders for my mood! Tonight's dinner was one of their prepared meals: Moroccan chicken with spiced carrots and tabbouleh. Ah, I remember grad school, when I thought that tabbouleh with tofu made me so hip. (It's still delicious, just not quite as exotic!)

Luxury grocery shopping aside, I'm really starting to see the impact of inflation. My income and bills have only gone up a small amount, but lately I've noticed that I have far less once they're paid. Plus, my daily commute has tripled, which means paying more for gas. I didn't think groceries and such were more expensive now, but apparently so. While I know I'm quite fortunate compared to so many other people, it's still frustrating.

So now I'm watching the season premiere of Friday Night Lights. Yay! ( Collapse )

P.S. Don't forget that Tina Fey will again be playing Sarah Palin tonight on SNL, and apparently Queen Latifah will play Gwen Ifill. Ooooh. That's just about the only thing that could make me tivo SNL anymore. ;)

1. Much sadness today when I learned that Shoemakers' Warehouse closed. It was an indie shoe store here in town, quite similar to DSW but with a far better selection -- especially in my size 11. So I headed to DSW. Ugh. I swear, they used to have a decent selection in 11, but today I hardly found anything, even in brands that I know make an 11. The store manager cheerfully asked how I was doing, and I told her that I was disappointed by the selection. She said the manufacturers don't send them many. I call bullshit. If anything, more designers are making 11's now. She did suggest I visit their online store. Maybe that's why DSW doesn't carry them at their locations.

2. Speaking... any suggestions of online shops where I can find good, affordable shoes in an 11? I want a tailored Mary Jane style (to show off my knitted socks) in brown or black, similar to these Soft Soles that I tried on today and really liked, but they were too loose at the heel. I'd prefer something around $50, but I can go up to $75. Thanks in advance!

3. Two interesting articles in tomorrow's Times: Malwebolence - The World of Web Trolling, and The Urge to Merge - Making It in the Battle for a Lane. The second one struck a nerve. That sort of thing drives me crazy! Common courtesy has become antiquated.

4. I read EW's cover story on Lauren Conrad and The Hills and realized that I am totally out of the loop when it comes to her and that show. That's not a slam against reality TV, mind you. I just never had any particular interest and haven't turned on MTV in years. When I look at these articles, it feels like they're speaking an entirely different language. Huh.

5. Any BSG drabble requests? I'm stressed out this weekend and could use a distraction! (Jo, I'll try to write yours tomorrow, now that I have some distance from my previous death-fic. ;)

Apparently, bring my own shopping bag means that I have to bag my own groceries. ( Collapse )

On the way home, I stopped at Panera and ordered a Smokehouse Turkey sandwich, which I'd eaten yesterday for the first time and really liked. ( Collapse )

Anyway! Will be spending much of tomorrow on a plane. I rigged my DFW layover such that I have six hours there, so Mom, Sis, and Nephew are picking me up for a tex-mex lunch and tons of baby-cuddling. Yay! And then it's off to Vancouver, followed by a train to Seattle on Tuesday evening. I'll be hanging out with dionusia until Saturday (we get to watch the BSG season finale together!), and then back to Vancouver for a few more days with elly427 before flying home on Tuesday the 17th. This is the longest trip I've taken in six years, so I'm quite excited. I'm mostly done with packing, and I've loaded up my iPod. And yeah, I'm bringing my laptop, so I'll probably post fairly often while there. :)

Don't really have enough for a linkspam right now, so I'll sign off and finish packing. Gotta force myself to go to bed much earlier than usual; last thing I need is to miss my flight!

ETA: Oooh, just turned on the new L&O:CI episode on USA, and the guest-star is Dean Winters!!!

More shopping fun today. For those of you who are also attempting the whole "bring your own bags to the grocery store" thing, I'll once again highly recommend IKEA's bags. ( Collapse )

I also brought a legal pad and worked on the fic while sitting in the cafe. Writing on paper often helps break the good ol' block, though it's increasingly rare. Do many people even write longhand anymore? I usually just take my laptop with me, but it often proves too distracting. Even if I don't have a WiFi connection where I am, I can still spend hours playing Spider Solitaire.

A silly question, while it's on my mind! When recipes say "reduce heat and simmer", to which level are we supposed to reduce the heat? I usually turn the stove dial to "medium-low", and I haven't had any problems -- but I'd like to know something for certain. :)

I was going to talk about my current knitting projects, but I think I'll wait until this one is done. So, I'll move on to the linkspam portion of this big ball of randomness.

-- daybreak777 has a very cool post on fandom in general: What Kind of (insert fave character) Fan Are You? And croakvegas has done a HILARIOUS (and very snarky) three-part picspam of Lee Adama in season three.

-- In WGA strike news: the LA Times has an interesting grid of where production stands for many series. Slate jokes about TV writers scripting their strike. And I just discovered this interview with Phil Klemmer, late of VM and now writing for Chuck. Fascinating stuff about what being a TV writer is really like.

-- The Chicago Tribune lists the Top 25 Worst TV Shows Ever.

-- I've already seen some critics and blogs embed clips from Hulu. (More info about it here.) Must say that for a corporate site, it looks very, very neat. From what I can tell, you can embed and stream entire episodes of a ton of NBC and Fox shows; a couple of critics have already streamed BTVS's "Welcome to the Hellmouth". Cool! I added my name to the beta waiting list. If I'm approved, you know I'll be having fun with it.

-- From Lifehacker: Put your short-term memory to the test (wow, I need that one!), and ten ways to defeat brain drain. And on that topic, Wired has the winners of The Saddest-Cubicle Contest. Many people tell me that they're not cut out to be a teacher. *I* am definitely not cut out to work in an office.

-- And news of Planet Earth: a gorgeous picspam of satellite images of weather changes.

On that global note, I think I'll curl up and watch the season premiere of The Amazing Race. Yay!