What April Showers Really Bring...

There is nothing like springtime in New England. I shot these photos of a forsythia bush at my parents' house when I was visiting for Easter.

Twilight... with Cheeseburgers

This made me laugh out loud... and kind of hungry!

Safety first

I noticed this morning while driving into work that the bike lane on Comm Ave at the BU bridge has been painted green.

While that is all well and good, I think that it would be nicer if the City went outbound on the street about a mile and half and patched the road instead. Driving Comm Ave between Harvard and Washington Streets is one of the most stressful things I do lately, as I am convinced that I am going to pop a tire.

The cyclists might have an easier time of it if the cars weren't driving on a slalom course of potholes.

Exit, pursued by a bear

Happy Shakespeare's birthday! (and death day.)

Don't Go Breaking My Heart

I honestly don't know why I watch TV programs. The ones I like invariably are not what mainstream TV viewers want to watch and get canceled. (Sorry, "American Idol" fans.) My newest love lost: Joss Wheedon's "Dollhouse". It took a while for me to get into the show, but now I think that it is very entertaining. I guess the ratings aren't there, but what young hipster is really watching TV on a Friday night at 9pm? I DVR it, as I suspect a large number of people are also doing. (But I DVR it mostly because I end up falling asleep around 9pm on a Friday.)

It is very character driven, which is typical of a Wheedon show - yes, there is plot and action, but the characters are what make the show. In particular, I LOVE Olivia Williams as the queen bitch operations manager of the Dollhouse!!! She is such fun to watch. And, of course, the fantastic Amy Acker from "Angel" and "Alias".

I will not get my hopes up that this show will be around for a second season, but I do hope that FOX will keep the show on through the complete first season and not take it off the air until it is over, unlike what they did with "Firefly". I would have thought that after FOX butchered "Firefly", Wheedon wouldn't have gone back to them with this new show, but maybe they are the only ones willing to take the chance on something outside the realm of the same old/same old. Personally, I think that this show would be perfectly paired with "Fringe", which I keep forgetting about because it is on with "Idol", which I have never seen.

Future's so bright, I gotta wear shades

I loved the sunglasses that Michelle Ryan is wearing in photos for the new Doctor Who episode, "Planet of the Dead". I wonder where I can find me some.

Customer Service or the Lack of It

I had a problem with my B*ank of Ame*rica credit card last week (I had my card declined at two vendors, despite the fact that I hadn't come close to reaching my balance.) When I called BoA to find out what was going on, I was told that my card wasn't activated - this is a card I have had since 2001, mind you. The problem was eventually identified when the BoA representative realized that their fraud department had put a hold on the card after I had tried to buy my new television. (I ended up using another card to make the purchase.) Oddly enough, despite the hold, I was still able to buy stamps at the post office, books at Amazon.com, and food at Trader Joe's - so much for the fraud alert, about which I was never contacted.

I tried calling today during my lunch time to talk to someone at B*ank of Ame*rica about my unhappiness with the situation. I waited on hold for 26 minutes and still didn't have my call answered. (Fortunately, I was able to use my headset, and I was able to do some filing while I waited.) When I realized how long I had been listening to the classical music, I finally hung up, completely frustrated.

Twenty-six minutes of hold time on top of the errors they made with my account is entirely unacceptable. At the least, they could have customers enter their phone number in the automated system and have someone call them back, like other banks do. (There is a reason that I refer to BoA as "Satan's Bank"; lack of customer service is a big part of it.) The irony of this situation is I had to listen to several pre-recorded adverts about the embarrassment of having one's credit card declined and how one doesn't have that with BoA. Yeah, riiiight.

I am going to make that call again tomorrow. Except now I am not going to call to complain; I am going to call to cancel the card. And take my business elsewhere.

And they call it, Puppy Love

Sully the puppy is quickly becoming one interesting little bugger. One of Sister B's friends compared him to The Pokey Little Puppy!! Don't you think that he looks just like him??

My brains are going into my feet

Dear mother of God, there were creamy buttermilk ranch potato chips (kettle style) in my bag o'lunch from our event today. I didn’t know such things existed. I wonder if you can buy them in bulk?

Also, three of my favorite people hung out today (HOORAY!!!):

(Prince Philip was there too, but he's a snooze.) Look at Michelle and the Queen rockin' the pearls. Nobody smiles like Barack. When he smiles, I feel better. Michelle is such a stylin' First Lady.

I finally watched Twilight, but I didn't find it as entertaining (crackolicious) as the books. However, if you listen to the audio commentary, you will soon realize that RPattz is crackolicious (and possibly just cracked.) At one point, he totally started babbling about something, and the director ended up channeling Joan Cusack, straight out of Sixteen Candles: "uh, yeah, Rob". He also started talking about things he loved that aren't actually in the movie. WTH? I laughed and laughed. I also came to the conclusion that Twilight isn't as good if you aren't snarking it. I may have been spoiled by the excellent Cleolinda, who also makes me laugh and laugh. She does the TwiSnark so well.