So, remember how one of the few redeeming things about the BSG episode "Hero" was that awesome color sweater Roslin was wearing at the end during her scene where she tells Adama to accept his freaking medal and stop whining?

You know, this one:

I may or may not actually own this sweater.

Oh wait, it looks like I own the entire outfit!

I actually totally purchased that wardrobe from the last cycle of BSG charity prop auctions several weeks ago while hitting a wine bottle a little bit too hard. Luckily, it wasn't actually that costly; it just went for the sticker price of the clothing if I'd purchased the items at the store. And, I'll tell you what, these are not going to function as props I put behind a glass window. I'm totally wearing the damn clothes, because they're awesome.

Next, now that we have determined that I can share clothing with Mary McDonnell, someone needs to let me have Mary's red dress from that one event, you know, the one she wore with the gold shoes, and all of that awesome sauce?

You know, this one:

Yeah, someone should really figure out a way to make that happen for me.

I'm not really sure I understand how pieces of leaves actually migrated into my underpants after an hour of raking. I mean, I could understand up my sleeves, up my jeans, but my underpants? How does that happen?

Today was glorious. It is not often here in the Northeast that we hit 69 degrees in November, but let me tell you, when it does, the entire world seems to be filled with happy happy happiness. I'm on call this weekend, and drove in this afternoon with my windows down. In November. In New York State. Mmmmmm.

Other things I really don't understand: why all funny comedians produce really unfunny Comedy Central series. Well, actually, I do understand it, in that I'm sure 95% of it is due to the fact that writers are brought on board, and things inevitably get lost in translation when other people are suddenly responsible for bringing someone else's stand up to life. Still, it makes me sad.

October new media, a bit late, and very light again this month thanks to all the baseball playoffs:

2009 Movies
40) Sicko (2007). 10-10
41) Nanny McPhee (2005). 10-14
42) This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006). 10-25

2009 Books
28) The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan. 10-5
29) Skinny Bitch, Rory Friedman and Kim Barnouin. 10-6
30) The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, David Kessler. 10-16

2009 TV Episodes
500) Glee: "The Rhodes Not Taken," (Fox). 10-2
501) So You Think You Can Dance: "New Orleans," (Fox). 10-2
503) Parks and Recreation: "Beauty Pageant," (NBC). 10-2
504) The Office: "The Promotion," (NBC). 10-2
505) Say Yes To The Dress: "100 Dresses and Counting," (TLC). 10-2
506) Say Yes To The Dress: "The Blowout Sale," (TLC). 10-2
507) Deliver Me: "No Fear," (Discovery Health Channel). 10-3
508) So You Think You Can Dance: "Salt Lake City," (Fox). 10-7
509) Glee: "Vitamin D," (Fox). 10-7
510) House: "The Tyrant," (Fox). 10-8
511) Parks and Recreation: "The Practice Date," (NBC). 10-8
512) The Office: "Niagara," (NBC). 10-8
513) Simply Delicioso: "Tex/Mex Comfort Food," (Food Network). 10-11
514) Monsters Inside Me: "Sex Maniacs," (Discovery Health Channel). 10-11
515) Diagnosis: Unknown: "Deadly Medicine," (Discovery Health Channel). 10-12
516) Glee: "Throwdown," (Fox). 10-14
517) Parks and Recreation: "Sister City," (NBC). 10-15
518) The Office: "Mafia," (NBC). 10-15
519) 30 Rock: "Season 4," (NBC). 10-15
520) The Jay Leno Show: "October 15, 2009," (NBC). 10-15
521) So You Think You Can Dance: "Las Vegas, Part 1," (Fox). 10-18
522) So You Think You Can Dance: "Las Vegas, Part 2," (Fox). 10-18
523) House: "Instant Karma," (Fox). 10-18
524) Warehouse 13: "MacPherson," (SyFy). 10-18
525) Bones: "Harbingers In A Fountain," (Fox). 10-18
526) Bones: "The Bond In The Boot," (Fox). 10-18
527) Bones: "The Plain In The Prodigy," (Fox). 10-18
528) Bones: "The Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood," (Fox). 10-18
529) Bones: "A Night At The Bones Museum," (Fox). 10-18
530) House: "Brave Heart," (Fox). 10-19
531) Glee: "Mash-Up," (Fox). 10-21
532) The Jeff Dunham Show: "Pilot," (Comedy Central). 10-23
533) Parks and Recreation: "Kaboom," (NBC). 10-23
534) Say Yes to the Dress: "Plan B," (TLC). 10-23
535) Say Yes to the Dress: "Going The Extra Mile," (TLC). 10-23
536) The Office: "The Lover," (NBC). 10-24
537) 30 Rock: "Into The Crevasse," (NBC). 10-24
538) The Soup: "October 24, 2009," (E!). 10-24
539) Monsters Inside Me: "Outbreak," (Discovery Health Channel). 10-24
540) So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 20 Selection," (Fox). 10-24
541) The Jeff Dunham Show: "Achmed's Funeral," (Comedy Central). 10-30
542) Parks and Recreation: "Greg Pikitis," (NBC). 10-31
543) The Office: "Koi Pond," (NBC). 10-31
544) 30 Rock: "Stone Mountain," (NBC). 10-31
545) So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 20 Showcase," (Fox). 10-31

Total October scripted TV: 28
Total October unscripted TV: 17

Total scripted TV, YTD: 264
Total unscripted TV, YTD: 280


500 new hours of TV, completed a bit early for 2009! I know the original concept was scripted TV, but I really do feel like unscripted really should count. It's easily half of the television landscape at this point, and it's not as though there aren't stories being told, epic production values being met, etc., etc. But obviously, if this goal is kept all pure, I'm not going to hit 500 scripted hours this year, LOL. No way am I going to watch over 200 hours of scripted TV between now and December 31st.

I stumbled upon the original meme these things were drawn from, and the goal there was 30 new books in a year, so at least I've hit that! I'm not going to hit 50 this year, but I didn't start really doing any reading for pleasure this year until almost halfway through the year. And it's about 25 more books than I read last year, so I consider this to be a win for myself.

Because I thought this was cool, I stole this list of foods a British food blogger said all omnivores should try at some point in their life from Caroline's blog. I too, shall bold what I've actually eaten. (I am not going to come anywhere near what Caro has tried, LOL.)

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak tartare (only the version where they just slice a couple of reeeeeally thin pieces of beef off as an appetizer though, not the traditional one that looks like raw ground beef, heh.)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J Sandwich
14. Aloo Gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle (I am going to give myself this one, even though I've only ever had pieces of it in a risotto one time. It still sort of counts, yes?)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (I tried wine made from apples at Thanksgiving last year. It was delicious.)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper.
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (does goat CHEESE count?)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/€80/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly Pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone (sadly, was quite tipsy on plum wine when I was offered this for free one time at a sushi bar, and do not even remember if I liked it, LOL.)
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (I actually literally JUST tried a 9.7% beer only yesterday, LOL.)
59. Poutine (I have never had it, but my sister-in-law is OBSESSED with it, and she demands that we all roadtrip to Montreal soon so she can have some, and so that I can try it.)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst (I think they had currywurst stands approximately every five feet when I was in Berlin, no lie.)
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain (No lie, every single meal they served my college choir on our trip to Bolivia involved fried plaintains, LOL.)
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess fruit pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (I'm with Caro on this--do Restaurant Week tasting menus count?)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (not since I was very young though, and I honestly don't remember what it tastes like anymore)
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor (though man, I'd really love to try this one)
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
100. Snake

I had said before I started this that I hoped I'd get at least 50%, so I shouldn't complain that my final tally was 53%. However, I still sort of feel like that number sort of sucks for someone who, until just recently anyway, considered herself a pretty adventurous eater.

My attempt at pescetarianism may cut into my ability to try other options on that list that I haven't gotten around to yet, though. (I made it a grand total of two weeks as a trial vegetarian before I decided that life wasn't worth living if I couldn't have lobster and shrimp, heh.) I can't believe it's been over a month since I had any non-fish meat, though! I mean, I think that ultimately, I'm going to settle with being a flexitarian, though, because the thought of having to explain my avoidance of non-fish meat during family holiday parties actually has me twitching with the force of my OMG NO.

Way, way, way light, slow month on account of the wedding, excess work, etc., but...September new media:

2009 Movies
37) Sex and the City (2008). 9-6
38) Role Models (2008). 9-13
39) Rachel Getting Married (2008). 9-27

2009 Books
27) Tree Girl, Ben Mikaelsen. 9-6

2009 TV Episodes
473) Warehouse 13: "Regrets," (SyFy). 9-6
474) Mystery Diagnosis: "The Woman Who Couldn't Stop Burping," (Discovery Health Channel). 9-7
475) "Primetime Family Secrets," (ABC). 9-8
476) So You Think You Can Dance: "Los Angeles," (Fox). 9-9
477) Glee: "Showmance," (Fox). 9-9
478) Grey's Anatomy: "No Good At Saying Sorry (One More Chance)," (ABC). 9-10
479) Grey's Anatomy: "What A Difference A Day Makes," (ABC). 9-10
480) Warehouse 13: "Breakdown," (SyFy). 9-12
481) Man Vs. Food: "Pittsburgh," (Travel Channel). 9-12
482) Man Vs. Food: "Honolulu," (Travel Channel). 9-12
483) "Growing Up Tiny: Kenadie's Story," (TLC). 9-13
484) So You Think You Can Dance: "Phoenix," (Fox). 9-16
485) Glee: "Acafellas," (Fox). 9-16
486) Parks and Recreation: "Pawnee Zoo," (NBC). 9-17
487) The Office: "Gossip," (NBC). 9-17
488) Community: "Pilot," (NBC). 9-17
489) Warehouse 13: "Nevermore," (SyFy). 9-20
490) House: "Broken," (Fox). 9-21
491) Mystery Diagnosis: "The Bearded Lady," (Discovery Health Channel). 9-21
492) Mystery Diagnosis: "The Girl Who Gagged," (Discovery Health Channel). 9-22
493) Glee: "Preggers," (Fox). 9-23
494) So You Think You Can Dance: "Boston," (Fox). 9-23
495) Parks and Recreation: "The Stakeout," (NBC). 9-24
496) The Office: "The Meeting," (NBC). 9-24
497) Community: "Spanish 101," (NBC). 9-24
498) House: "Epic Fail," (Fox). 9-28
499) So You Think You Can Dance: "Atlanta," (Fox). 9-30

Total September scripted TV: 16
Total September unscripted TV: 11

Total scripted TV, YTD: 236
Total unscripted TV, YTD: 263

So, my little brother is married. This is sort of crazy to me as an entire concept. The wedding, however, was off the hook. I was not really sure how the wedding would wind up going, but I had a blast. I was in a bizarre, extroverted, "get this party started" mood throughout the whole night, though. Very uncharacteristic of how I usually behave, but it worked out well for everyone. It's also resulting in hysterical pictures of myself showing up on Facebook, but my general feelings about that are that as long as I'm fully clothed, and not shown with any illegal paraphernalia, I'm cool. (Um, also, as long as they are flattering shots, for I am shallow and vain.)

It's...80 degrees right now? Very confusing when that happens after the leaves have started changing.

They're filming yet another movie here in the area (this marks the fourth in a year!), which has everything shut down and traffic nightmarish again. However, since it's "only" Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg here this time, people are a lot crankier about it than they were when Angelina Jolie showed up. President Obama also visited the college I got my ultrasound degree from on Monday, so in short, I have no idea about any current events at all when I turn on the news. It's all, OMG THE PRESIDENT CAME HERE and OMG HOLLYWOOD IN ALBANY. Mostly though, I'm just about to die of traffic. Let's not have any more prominent public figures come here for a while, okay? Okay.

Okay, so, when on call, one is always subject to bizarre phone calls from hospital floors that generally have nothing to do with you. This phenomenon only increases when it's a holiday weekend. I've been on call for approximately 2.5 hours so far, and my pager has gone off three times, as a result of the same exact floor wanting to know why I won't give them the okay to discharge a patient. Um, where should I even start when answering this? (I'm tempted, if called a fourth time, to just say "send him home!" and see if the system on A5 in Ellis does indeed fail this much.)

So, another thing holiday weekends are good for? Super special TV shopping network extravaganzas! I'm sort of completely fascinated by TV shopping network call-ins. If there's nothing on and I'm channel surfing for some background noise, it's a good bet that I'll pass a TV shopping network channel and get sucked in for a bit by callers who are claim that watching HSN or QVC somehow singlehandedly ended their lifelong depression, allowed them to buy presents for themselves on behalf of their dead husbands, or gave them the friends they never thought they'd have in life by watching and spiritually bonding with the late night show hosts. I mean, I can usually only tolerate listening to it for about four whole minutes, but they are four pretty damn amazing minutes. And with it being Labor Day weekend, I'm sure some of those four minute diversions of mine will be even more epic than usual.

August new media:

2009 Movies
34) The Reader (2008). 8-1
35) Burn After Reading (2008). 8-2
36) The Wrestler (2008). 8-29

2009 Books
11) Dress Your Family In Corduroy And Denim, David Sedaris. 8-2
12) And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. 8-2
13) A Log's Life, Wendy Pfeffer. 8-2
14) Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt. 8-2
15) Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson. 8-2
16) Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris. 8-7
17) Stone Fox, John Reynolds Gardiner. 8-7
18) Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle...and Other Modern Verse, Eds. Stephen Dunning, Edward Lueders, and Hugh Smith. 8-9
19) Akimbo and the Elephants, Alexander McCall Smith. 8-9
20) Four Miles to Pinecone, Jon Hassler. 8-12
21) This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, Daniel J. Levitin. 8-14
22) A Day No Pigs Would Die, Robert Newton Peck. 8-14
23) The Man Without A Face, Isabelle Holland. 8-15
24) Singularity, William Sleator. 8-25
25) The Slave Dancer, Paula Fox. 8-28
26) Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Oliver Sacks. 8-29

2009 TV Episodes
425) Dexter: "The Dark Defender," (Showtime). 8-1
426) Dexter: "Dex, Lies, and Videotape," (Showtime). 8-1
427) What Not To Wear: "Bailey," (TLC). 8-1
428) Dexter: "That Night, A Forest Grew," (Showtime). 8-2
429) How I Met Your Mother: "The Platinum Rule," (CBS). 8-3
430) Dexter: "Morning Comes," (Showtime). 8-3
431) Dexter: "Resistance Is Futile," (Showtime). 8-3
432) Dexter: "There's Something About Harry," (Showtime). 8-3
433) So You Think You Can Dance: "Finale," (Fox). 8-6
434) So You Think You Can Dance: "Finale Results Show," (Fox). 8-6
435) Dexter: "Left Turn Ahead," (Showtime). 8-6
436) Dexter: "The British Invasion," (Showtime). 8-6
437) Nurse Jackie: "Ring Finger," (Showtime). 8-8
438) What Not To Wear: "Alexandra," (TLC). 8-8
439) Mystery Diagnosis: "The 13 Year Stomach Ache," (Discovery Health Channel). 8-9
440) Mystery Diagnosis: "The Breasts That Changed Color," (Discovery Health Channel). 8-10
441) Dexter: "Our Father," (Showtime). 8-11
442) Dexter: "Finding Freebo," (Showtime). 8-11
443) Nurse Jackie: "Pill-O-Matix," (Showtime). 8-11
444) South Park: "Eek, A Penis!," (Comedy Central). 8-13
445) What Not To Wear: "Tara," (TLC). 8-14
446) What Not To Wear: "Lisa," (TLC). 8-14
447) Dexter: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," (Showtime). 8-15
448) Dexter: "All In The Family," (Showtime). 8-15
449) Dexter: "Turning Biminese," (Showtime). 8-15
450) The Colbert Report: "August 13, 2009," (Comedy Central). 8-16
451) Dexter: "Si Se Puede," (Showtime). 8-16
452) Dexter: "Easy As Pie," (Showtime). 8-16
453) Warehouse 13: "Burnout," (SyFy). 8-16
454) Keeping Up With The Kardashians: "What's Yours Is Mine," (E!). 8-16
455) Keeping Up With The Kardashians: "Double Trouble," (E!). 8-16
456) Mad Men: "Out of Town," (AMC). 8-16
457) Dexter: "The Damage A Man Can Do," (Showtime). 8-16
458) Dexter: "About Last Night," (Showtime). 8-17
459) Dexter: "Go Your Own Way," (Showtime). 8-17
460) Mystery Diagnosis: "The Woman Who Saw Pink," (Discovery Health Channel). 8-17
461) Nurse Jackie: "Season Finale," (Showtime). 8-18
462) Dexter: "I Had A Dream," (Showtime). 8-18
463) Dexter: "Do You Take Dexter Morgan?," (Showtime). 8-18
464) The Daily Show: "August 20, 2009," (Comedy Central). 8-20
465) What Not To Wear: "Disa," (TLC). 8-21
466) Mystery Diagnosis: "The Girl With Holes In Her Jaw," (Discovery Health Channel). 8-24
467) Warehouse 13: "Elements," (SyFy). 8-28
468) What Not To Wear: "Teresa," (TLC). 8-28
469) Warehouse 13: "Implosion," (SyFy). 8-29
470) Warehouse 13: "Duped," (SyFy). 8-29
471) "Your Kid Ate What?" (TLC). 8-30
472) Mystery Diagnosis: "The Woman Who Went Crazy," (Discovery Health Channel). 8-31

Total episodes of August scripted TV: 30
Total scripted TV up to this point: 220
Total unscripted TV up to this point: 252

My stepcousin is getting married this evening, and it may be the rainiest, dreariest wedding I'll ever attend. Seriously, the Northeast, in its on-going quest to give us the worst summer on record, has transitioned back into its non-stop rain, only now it's complete with unusually October-ish high temperatures. A late August wedding, with a high temperature of 65 today? Who would ever have guessed that? We all have to dig out jacket things now, because all of us bought summer dresses for this affair. I really hope they move their ceremony indoors, because as late as yesterday, the bride was claiming on Facebook that they wouldn't let a little bit of rain stop them. This, however, is not a little bit of rain. It's pouring, quite hard, in fact. If they actually attempt to have their ceremony outside anyway, I'm staying in the car.

Honestly, I've been unusually emo about the weather this summer. I truly do spend all year looking forward to this time of year, and it really messed with me to just not get it in 2009, aw. I say this every year as fall approaches, but I really do wonder sometimes how healthy it is for me to continue to live in a place where the weather stresses me out this much. (It's just that on the flip side, I can't justify moving when the weather is the ONLY thing about my locale that I hate.) I was driving home yesterday, when it was also rainy and 65 degrees, and just staring at the leaves on the trees, emo-ing out about how desperately I did not want them to start turning and falling off so soon. And if we really do get a whole week of high 60s temperatures, it's going to happen earlier than ever this year. All that life, falling away earlier than usual? Very sad. Bare trees and dead outdoors life makes me so melancholy, heh.

Last night was incredibly fun! I went to see the final performance of the Philadelphia Orchestra at SPAC with my aunt. It was actually her birthday gift to me. As it turned out, I picked a good evening for us to go, because a lot of what they played was music that would be easily recognizable by almost anyone. Stuff like the William Tell overture and Suite No. 1 from Peer Gynt. (Otherwise known as the theme to The Lone Ranger and the music every Warner Brothers Saturday morning cartoon used to signify daybreak.) But it was an astonishingly good show, and I think I'll be attending again next year. The Philadelphia Orchestra sets up shop in Saratoga every August to play a whole slew of shows. I've never actually gone before, but now I know what I've been missing!

Ugh, I've got a Netflix movie sitting on my bedside table, collecting epic amounts of dust. I've been really bad about using Netflix this month. I've been sitting on a movie here since the beginning of the month, and every time I sit down with the intent to finally watch it, I decide to "quickly" read something or "quickly" check my e-mail, and then two hours have gone by, and I don't want to watch a movie anymore. There's something that seems impossibly daunting lately about sitting through a movie. Though I certainly don't seem to have any issues sitting through two episodes of TV in a row, so it can't just be a quantity of time problem. I feel like I get into these ruts where I just don't feel like watching movies at all, and I'm definitely in one right now.

But reading's been more fun, anyway! Julie lent me a dozen or so books from a children's literature class she took in college. I've got four left, and today she saw me start reading one of them, and immediately told me that it sucked. I said, "Really? Why's that?" And she said, "Oh, I didn't actually read it. But it's about like, black holes and crap, and I hate that stuff." Indeed. Funnily enough, I'm about thirty pages from the end right now, and it seems to me that it's definitely more about sibling dynamics than "black holes and crap." I'm not sure what amused me more about that--her immediately asserting that something she never read was a bad book, or the fact that she skipped a college class assignment because the book's title is Singularity.

I sort of worried that Julie's less-than-stellar eating habits would rub off when she moved in with us, and LO AND BEHOLD, it has! I have to figure out a way to kill this, because I don't think I've ever eaten as much take-out as I have in the last month. Perhaps this is contributing to my general feelings of blech. I'm not sleeping well, I feel sluggish all the time, and I'd be willing to bet that this is why. I'm having a lot of trouble actually executing more restraint, though. I'm quite good at eating healthy if nutritionally bankrupt foods just never come into my house at all, but it's a whole other problem when I come home to find these foods there, because if I see it and smell it and know it's there, I'm going to eat it.

Meanwhile, I'm on my twentieth consecutive listen of "So Much Life" since last night, because I feel so melancholy anyway that it's totally worth emotionally desensitizing the hell out of that sucker right now. I've been inundating myself visually with as much happy, hysterically funny stuff as possible, because I am Pavloving myself out of the sad response. It's just SO PRETTY, and I want to listen to it all the TIME, but I just don't want to be SAD all the time. Hence, why I watched a South Park episode with this playing in the background last night, heh. That, not surprisingly, sort of did not blend very well, LOL. But the process totally has worked on the whole. I'm listening right now, and my only thoughts are, "oooooooooooo preeeeeeeeeeetttty," and not so much bursting into tears. Win!

Aw, the Perseid meteor shower viewing was supposed to be the best last night. So naturally, clouds rolled in at about 10:45 p.m. We'd been doing so well with the clear skies these last few days, too! Sigh. I actually really, really enjoy meteor showers, so the fact that I did not get to see anything last night makes me very sad. I mean, I know I should have expected this to be the case this year, but...

:( :( :(

I have decided that it is time for a new iPod. The one I have now is about four and a half years old, and the battery life is starting to fail on me. And hell if I'm going to pay to send it out for a new battery when there's been such a massive, massive explosion in iPod technology over the last couple of years. Specifically, I really want an iPod Touch. Internets that can fit in my purse!

Honestly, I've been sort of waffling about whether or not I wanted a Blackberry this year, and as it turns out the answer is, no. I don't. I want what a Blackberry can do on a device that is not my damn cell phone, is what I want. And the iPod Touch does not require that you pay a monthly fee to access the internet, so, even better. I was about this close to just picking one up yesterday, until I realized that Apple always shoves a boatload of new products and upgraded stuff out every September. Now I sort of think maybe I should wait to make sure there's not going to be a massively improved toy before I get one. Eh, we'll see. Once I decide I want something (since it so infrequently happens that I crave a toy), it's usually hard for me to not just get it RIGHT AWAY.

Something magical is occurring this week...

...in that it hasn't rained since Sunday. Unbelievable! I'd forgotten what multiple rain-free days in a row felt like. Unfortunately, this means that all of the Cullens have to go back to the Pacific Northwest. We cannot hide your sparkle here anymore.

Ugh, I busted my tooth up even worse last night. This is the one that was bugging me months ago. Nothing was ever done for it then, because the dentist I went to insisted that I needed a crown, and my insurance company insisted that there was nothing structurally wrong with my tooth to warrant such a thing. And that dentist refused to just fill the painful spot, on account of...god, I don't know. However, the pain has now progressed to the point where it's triggering headaches, shooting into my damn ear and making me all semi-vertiginous, and this is no longer an acceptable condition to be in, I don't think. So I'm going to see another dentist, who will hopefully agree to fill the damn spot that is bothering me, rather than insist that my only option is a $1100 procedure when my tooth is not, in fact, broken all the way through.

So, Julie asked me to take a quick shopping trip with her on Saturday. Which, no problem. I have a $10 off coupon for JCPenney that needed using. (I always just find something that costs as close to $10.01 as I possibly can when I have these, and usually wind up purchasing either a pair of earrings or a shirt for about 70 cents.)

However, this is not the point of this story. The point of this story is that, when I started my car on Saturday, instead of my multi-function odometer/gas mileage/driving mode/miles to empty/temperature screen on my dashboard immediately popping up, what popped up was, "Birthday soon: 08/08."

My car knows when my birthday is?!?

I'm assuming there must have been some function that the dealership programmed in for me when I bought the car, but I gotta tell you, that was one of the stranger, scarier, "the machines are coming ALIVE" sort of moments in my life. I actually turned the car back off and restarted it again to show Julie, because she didn't believe me, and hadn't been paying attention when I first started it. And yes, it's done it every time I've started it since then.

I sort of hope I find a reason to start my car this Saturday, because I now want to know what it's going to do when it actually IS my birthday. Will it sing me a song? Will clowns pop out of my trunk? (I suspect it will just say "Happy Birthday!" on the multifunction screen, but a girl can hope.)