Books Coming to Life

For any Harry Potter fans in the Greater Boston area, you will be happy to know that Harvard Square in Cambridge is being transformed into Hogwarts Square for the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on midnight of July 20th. Another event going on in the area is "Potterpalooza" in Coolidge Corner in Brookline all day on July 20th.

I just hope that I don't have to wait in too ridiculous line from hell to pick up my copy this year! Support your local bookstore!

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted...

I am on vacation from work this week, which isn't the same as the week in York that I was SUPPOSED to be taking this week until the exchange rate decided to ruin all my hopes and dreams FOREVER (okay, maybe not forever, but probably until the war is over, which seems like forever.) But I do have seven days off from work, and hopefully, I can finally relax after one of the hardest weeks of work ever. And let my leg heal after pulling a series of muscles in it when I nearly fell down the stairs carrying my air conditioner.
(Note to self: make Sauce or future husband carry all heavy things from now on.
Note to EP: not a blood clot; utterly annoyed; not wearing leg cast anymore either. That thing was uncomfortable and ugly.)

Just visiting my parents at the moment. Mom and I plan to hit the local musuem this afternoon and that will be very fun, while AT & I hit the streets of Manhattan in search of good art and theater. Thursday, we go to Newport...in search of Robber Barrons, or something like that.

I am looking forward to Newport a lot; I love spending time by the sea. Plus, Newport always makes me think of the time my college friends and I visited for a long weekend, the six of us crammed in my Saturn, driving along the Shore Road.

Don't Get Caught Watching the Paint Dry

My friend Mike Philbrick (and I don't mean "friend", like I read his articles, and we are BFF through the magical powers of the internet. I actually KNOW this man. I went to his wedding in fact...) :-) is a writer for ESPN Page 2.

Recently, he has two really cool articles which I would like to recommend to friends. The first is an interview with Bruce Willis/John MacLean where he asks insightful questions, such as "How does it feel to be Nick Lachey's hero?" and "Who deserves a lower circle in hell -- Internet predators, lawyers or the paparazzi?"

The second article is even better. In fact, it is truly awesome. It is a commencement address given by Rocky Balboa, Norman Dale, Carl Spackler, Roy Hobbs, and the voice from the cornfield in Field of Dreams. How could this happen? Only through the genius of Michael Philbrick, who has written an inspirational commencement address using only lines from sports movies. I HIGHLY recommend that you check this out, especially if you are the kind of person who cried at the end of Rudy. This speech was made for you and me.

Penmanship

I suffer from Repetitive Strain Injury, which basically means I have chronic tendonitis in my right arm from using the computer too much (curse you, Excel spreadsheets!!), and, in addition to causing me pain, it has effected my ability to hold things. Therefore, it has effected my ability to hold a pen, and therefore has changed my handwriting over the course of the three years I have had this condition.

Today, I wrote up a fax and signed my name to it. The way I wrote "Melanie"looks just like my dad would have written it. It is kind of cool that my handwriting is starting to look like dad's and actually quite horrifying at the same time because my dad is left-handed and his handwriting is not terribly legible. I e-mailed my sister to tell her the news because it concerned me, and I made a photocopy of the fax so that I could show her.

This is her response: "Lol that is BAD. But it means that you also have the same handwriting as Santa AND the Tooth Fairy!!!!"

Somehow, that just made things a lot less dire.

Computer Savvy

I was asked by a colleague to send him an e-mail reminder of a project which needs to be completed for my office next week. Being the "oh so witty" person that I am, I decided to send the request to him in the form of an invitation.

Who: You
What: Writing X,Y, & Z
Why: Because they go in the mailing and you asked me to send you an e-mail about it.
When: No later than Friday, May 25 because that is the mailing date.
Where: Room 123, baby!
How: Preferably in English, on a computer. ;-)

Cute, right?

This was the reply I received: "You could have used evite...."

I kind of deserved that, didn't I?

A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends

I don't think that TV programmers actually WATCH TV. My favorite TV show has just had the rug pulled out from under it by corporate types who think that people would prefer to watch a farmers' dating reality show. I am not even kidding.

It is utterly disappointing to learn of the cancellation of "Veronica Mars." It was a show with a smart and sassy young woman (if Veronica were my age, she SO would have had a subscription to Sassy) as the lead character, with a lot of fun pop culture references. Veronica Mars was a role model for young girls in an age where young girls have the Britneys, Parises and Lindseys of the world setting the trends. Veronica is bright, confident, friendly, helpful and law abiding (mostly anyhow.) Plus, she has a terrific relationship with her father... Heck, who cares about the young girls? I feel better watching Veronica save the day on Tuesday nights!

The CW could have been a real leader here, but instead they chose to give America the next Pussycat Dolls. (Because there aren't enough young women out there with body image issues.) There is a constant discussion about the "dumbing down" of America, and it looks like the future programming of the CW is following along in those footsteps. I hope that they are embarrassed. More importantly, I hope that they lose a lot of sponsorship because, clearly, the bottom line is all they care about. Supernatural fans, if I were you, I would be concerned because you and Smallville are all that's left before that network becomes All Reality, All the Time.

Life, or Something Suspiciously Like Life as I Remember It

I haven't posted anything of real significance in a while, mostly because I have been averaging 50 hour work weeks for the past five weeks. This is the first "normal" week I have had at the office in a while, and I have to admit it is marvellous, although the pace of the past month or so is really starting to catch up with me. There was a LOT of missed sleep, and 10:00pm is becoming my new regular bedtime. I have spent the past few nights at BJs, the grocery store, Target, and, tonight, CVS, replenishing my household stores. There is something so nice, so comforting about having a ready supply of food and laundry products and toiletries rather than replacing the necessities on an ad hoc basis.

I need a haircut. I am basically sporting a mop on my head, which I have to keep pulling off my face in one of the most unflattering ponytails on the planet. It has been two months since my last one, and while the shape of the cut is still really great, the length is too much for my short hair sensibilities. Plus, neither my head nor my profile were made to look good in a ponytail. (And don't even get me started about my inability to be bothered with makeup on a daily basis.)

My parents are in London this week, sans moi. Hopefully, they will do some of the activites I suggested and bring me back the stuff I requested. They are usually pretty good about that stuff so I am not really worried, although I am rather jealous. Right now, it is suppertime in London, or just past tea time, depending on which you have.

It is springtime here in Boston, which means that is is warm and sunny, and it is allergy season. Thank goodness for the lovely processed air in the office. I am using my office for its allergen free air, and I am not ashamed to admit it.

The Niblet (son of Punk Rock Mom) turned 8 at the end of March, and I still hadn't found him a good birthday gift. (I always buy him books.) Fortunately, I recalled a book I had LOVED which I think will really appeal to his imagination: Bob Fulton's Amazing Soda Pop Stretcher. It is about a young boy who invents a formula to turn one soda into fifty, which is a great way for him to save his allowance. Unfortunately, international spies find out about the formula and want to obtain it for their own dasterdly notions! The book has been out of print for a while; fortunately, I was able to locate a pretty good used copy on Amazon.com. It is a bit old for him, but if his mom helps him (as she is known to do,) I think that he will really enjoy it a lot. I love that, while at this point in life I don't have kids of my own to whom I can pass on the wonderful experience of books, I can pass them on to the Niblet and know that he will really enjoy them! (Last year, I got him Dominic by William Steig, and both he and his mom really liked it!)