That baby's ready to tend bar.

Hmm. Con: I am married to someone who has seen neither The Usual Suspects nor The Untouchables. I asked, "Are there any other 'U' movies you need to tell me about?"

Pro: The very bestest husband in the whole world bought me a Garmin Nuvi for xmas. I want to lick it, marry it, have children with it. If you know me at all, you know I cannot find my way out of a mall parking lot. No, wait...you know I cannot find my way out of a public bathroom. I get turned around with such embarrassing ease that I am no longer embarrassed by my shame.

It not only guides me everywhere (and that bossy American chick is soon to be replaced by a saucy Australian or UK man) but I can tell it restaurants I want (or it will find some for me), nearby gas stations, entertainment, anything you could possibly want except perhaps where I might find an empty parking spot downtown on a Friday night the weekend before Christmas. But picky picky.

I think the pros have it, especially considering the cons simply mean I get to watch both of those movies again. And best of all, he has somehow made it this far with no one having spoiled The Usual Suspects for him. Weird.

I can't talk to that guy. I went to private school.

Wow, so we're getting ice for the second time this year already and it's not even Christmas! This is weird. We don't normally see winter til January.

I would prefer it if my husband were also home already, as even on my ride home (I brazenly went downtown after work to indulge in fettucine alfredo and Shiraz) the bridges were accumulating black ice. I-35S was fairly lucky, but I-35N seemed to have at least 3 severe accidents in the 10-minute time span that is my drive. What can I say, Texans love to drive on ice.

But now that I am home, I am snuggled up in my hot delicious spa with a big fat cup of Earl Grey and the first disc of season 4 of Cheers on my laptop. Even if I bombed the fuck out of my test and don't ever go to law school, by god, I will have that spa.

And this clip totally made my morning. I giggled on the way to work thinking back on it. Thanks, dad!

Yoko Ono...to see the apartment!

Well, that's over with. Omg, that was a very big pooch-screwing on my part. I almost sort of freaked out at one point it was so catastrophic. But then the first section after the break was so comically easy I wondered if there was something wrong with it. Sadly, one section does not five great sections make. At least one of two particular sections is experimental and won't count. I have a section in mind I'm totally praying doesn't make the cut.

The Cayuga White from Cornell is fucking spectacular, however. Goddamn.

And I am defusing by decorating my tree and putting up lights inside. As Triana knows, you just can't have too many Christmas lights and they really do make everything better.



Also watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which is still pretty damn perfect. And now? Jeffrey. Seriously, I have yet to encounter the grumpiness that Jeffrey cannot remedy. Ahhhh.

Good morning! Welcome to another day of higher education!

So I was making a fire last night out of one of my old high school yearbooks (which had nothing to do with not having newspaper and everything to do with wanting to burn those fuckers). I was getting a lot of joy from the tearing out of pages and whatnot when I, perhaps due to some obligatory masochistic impulse, still felt the need to read the signed back pages. And then I found an entry that totally floored and confused me.

Not that my friends weren't witty or funny, but those yearbook entries always tended to lack intriguing content. It was startling, like finding filet mignon in a strawberry ho ho. Except not gross.

And I had no idea who "Rog." (the signee) was. I was appalled I might not recall who this infinitely cool person was. The Al Pacino reference really caught me off guard, as I did have a friend who was obsessed, but her handwriting was atrocious, so I ruled her out.

Sweet Spank,

I already miss you and your toffee-sticky fingers and shapely knees. Even though we'll still share the same city, I'll no longer see that flash of your dazzling smile in the hallway. Life's a bitch! Well hey, if anyone ever tells you to "kiss my [squirrel]" like I did when we first met, you just do to them what you did to me; what a reaction. But don't take them on any parking lot trysts; repetition is death. And I'd be jealous. I'll never forget all the guys you scoped...and tackled...and if you ever find the right one again, THIS time find out his name in the morning.

Please never forget Big Al's words of wisom..."When in doubt...*" So just go out there, my little sugarpop, and start your own teddy bear factory and never look back. (And never sleep in leather.) Please try to get over your desire for callipygian young men--there just aren't enough to go around, you know, and I'm afraid you'll steal mine. Or at least the one destined to be mine. Or whatever. But anyway they're simply all merely tentiginons and thelyphthoric, so to hell with 'em. But hey, "I'm supposed to be doing promotion here." Blah. Yearbooks always make me sob and I'm only wearing my tweed briefs (nothing to wipe my nose on) so I'll sign off now. Good luck, sugar pop!

Your comedy partner,
XXX
XX Rog.

*In Scent of a Woman, Al Pacino advises his cat, "When in doubt, fuck."

But anyway, there you have it. I was stunned. And I'm sure it's because I was stressed and tired and thinking in high school mind-frame, but of course I still know the very witty person who wrote this.

My sister Alex! We did have an overlapping year together in high school, but I have no doubt this was written at home in a full-on tonuge-in-cheek-fuck-this-yearbook-shit gesture. It stood out from the tripe then and it really does now.

The handwriting was obviously familiar, and of course "squirrel" totally seals the deal. Ok, that and the Pacino line. But whew! It just confused me to read something that made me laugh hysterically in my own yearbook, it was so gloriously out of place.

(And hey, Alex, just for you, this is post #666, wewt!)

Scared? Hell, no. I'm looking FORWARD to it. My only regret, Carol, is that the plan isn't more violent.

Yes, I'm pretty sure the hot bartender just saw me snap my fingers at my computer (a gay finger-snap, in case you need clarification) while he was collecting my pizza remnants.

For the record, one glass of wine is really more than enough, I don't care if your therapist's appointment is that night.

That's my mom's most favorite piece!

Ok, wtf. I'm at Uno's and normally they are so on the ball. But apparently if you come in before 5 it's just to drown your sorrows in beer and wine? Cause I have a glass of wine and NO ONE has checked on me in 20 minutes. I'm all, hey, I've got a doctor's appointment to get to, y'all wanna feed me maybe?

And I didn't even read this whole article that Emily sent me cause I heard it on the news this morning and it's fucking depressing. Just MORE INCENTIVE to get the fuck out.

Speaking of which, I went to check out my LSAT test center cause I have no sense of direction and I'm the sort of person who needs to stake out the room beforehand. (Yes, I pass it nearly every day on my way to booze it up, but bite me.) Apparently as soon as you enter the building it's anal-patrol time security-wise, so no worries about not being able to find the room. But they were all, "Hey, were you the one whose husband called about being taken to see the room?" In retrospect I should have been ALL INTO THAT. "Maybe, or no, but can I see the room?" I know I could have, but who cares really. I am amused that someone is that...um...troubled?...that her husband has to call about getting her "in" to see "the room." Word, woman.

Dude, it's like they're afraid of me here. ASK ME IF I WANT PIZZA, BITCHES. I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU.

Anyhoo. GUESS WHAT! GUESS who I'm gonna go see! No, you'll never guess. It's too awesome. Totally. Well, Alex and I (and my hubby) are going to go see (assuming the ticketmaster site doesn't screw up or hate us, you never know)...oh yes, wait for it...goodness me, ROBIN FUCKING WILLIAMS, ohmygodyes. It's like the time I was dirt-ass poor in Austin and then Paul Simon came to town. It's not "Can I afford it?" it's "What can I sell besides my body? Unless I have to and then that might actually be an option?" Anyone who wants in on that action should say so by Saturday, baby.

I smell ice cream.

For the record, my eyes are broken and can't even READ anymore. Fuck this noise.

I bit myself shaving.

It's Wednesday and I can feel the crazy oozing out a little here and there. My big test is Saturday. Did you know they fingerprint you for this test? You can bring your #2 pencils, a juice box and snack (but don't even LOOK AT IT unless it's during the ONE 15-minute break), and your prayers and that's it. Oh, and your test ticket and government-issued ID.

I had to register with LSAC's site (well, I didn't HAVE TO, but the law schools PREFER IT) which was $117. And the LSAT test itself is, I forget, maybe $120? It's just like Leo says, man, they fuck you at the drive-thru.

I have 5-7 schools in mind for applying, which should come in around $350-500.

So I thought I'd drink a little.

Just kidding. But I will be doing quite a bit Saturday night. I figure after my test (it's probably going to run around 5-6 hours?) on Saturday I'll hit the Flying Saucer around 2pm (the test is right across from the Water Gardens, so I'm five minutes from FOOD and more importantly, BEER) for a VERY unhealthy lunch (say it with me now: CHEESE FRIES) and then I'll head home to defuse with some xmas decorating, if there's any left (we're getting the tree tonight). And I am then making my way up to my roof to drink my Cayuga White--the wine made with grapes grown at Cornell. There may or may not be a cigar involved. I would almost smoke something else if a girl was hip enough to have such connections, but oh well.

Then Sunday? My ass is going to (assuming I'm not incredibly fragile from the previous day) hit the theater ALL DAY LONG, BABY. The Spirit Award nominations have me itching to see Rachel Getting Married. (I have a secret crush on Anne Hathaway but don't really seek her out since she tends to be in CRAP.) Gonna follow that up with The Changeling and Australia, in whatever order suits the times. They're all at Grapevine Mills, so anyone (Alex?) wanting to is more than welcome to join!



Kinda want to save this one for last because I'm a little precious that way.

I want you to take away the hope because that's the thing that's killing me.

So there is this girl at work who is new and she actually reads. It's weird, I know, but work with me here. And she reminded me that Denis Leary's new book is out and she thinks it's hysterical. So let's take a moment here.

A) There is a girl at work who reads.
B) She likes Denis Leary.
C) The name of the book is Why We Suck.



So this girl is okay by me. And she's from Seattle, so that seems to be a good thing if you ask me. I was looking at schools in that neck of the woods (Washington and Oregon) but all the write-ups were trying, as kindly as possible, to say, "Well, it's a good school and all...look, it's good for getting jobs in the area." Like, "He's nice, but I would only take him to the Chinese take-out place near my house after sex." Like that.

Anyhoo. So I made a request at the library (they had it!!) and I'm #3 in line. I hope I get it before Christmas, it seems appropriate.

Especially after trying to get home Sunday. I was trying to merge onto the highway in Denton to get to Fort Worth and it was wall-to-wall traffic at the merge. So this douchebag mothercuntstain would NOT let me in. I honked at him and he was ON THE PHONE but he managed to honk back. So no big, whatev, fuck you, I'll just cruise along slowly here on the shoulder and get in behind you. Beautifully, so choice, so in-the-holiday-spirit, the shit-stain of a loser behind him? Yeah, he wouldn't let me in either. I was half a second away from getting out of my car and gesturing wildly to everyone around me. So I was reconciled to driving on the shoulder for a good little while til they managed to pass.

Gotta love it.

This is why I need to read a very not-so-subtle Denis Leary book this time of year. To keep me from pulling out my mutherfuckin' shotgun.

Oh! And I saw Milk this weekend. It's at one theatre here (the arthouse I used to work in, naturally), but I'm over it, I can attend. It was really fucking good. My sister and I had only mild disagreements about its approach. First of all, it's a Gus Van Sant film. And I was SO GODDAMN PROUD to find that he is still capable of making yes, a LINEAR AND COHERENT film. Someone get the man a goddamn cookie.

It is, full stop, all about the acting here.



Everyone is FABOO, especially Sean Penn, and I am really not the huge Sean Penn fan. He is just SO SERIOUS. This role was so different from ANYTHING I'd ever seen him do, and honestly? He was ADORABLE. If he brought me to that line of thinking in the introductory scene alone, we can just say he's gifted, okay?

And Josh Brolin? Seriously. I simply cannot recall the last time I saw someone with so many fingers in so many pies. Go him. As long as he is keeping my woman, Diane Lane, happy and rolling in dough, I will totally support him.

Alex and I discussed how linear and by-the-numbers it is. It is a fairly standard bio-pic. I really enjoyed the cinematography but she felt it only added to the distance felt by the audience. That whole moment-captured-in-amber feel. And I agree with her, but I like that sometimes. While I don't normally go for standard and formulaic, I also really don't trust Van Sant to know a happy medium. He only does extremes, from what I can tell.



And considering the topic (most certainly in light of the timing--I will join everyone and their dog in saying I really, really wish this had come out before the vote on Prop 8), I am totally happy not to be swayed by its simplicity. I found the performances more than enough. Every once in a while, I am really quite easy to please.

And I say that Milk was easily one of the best of the year (not that I've seen much), due entirely and exclusively to performances and the topic. That is pretty hard to do--I honestly didn't think the screenplay or the director did anything terribly noteworthy. And I could be talking out of my ass, but for what it's worth, I say go see it: it's a good fuckin' time. Totally cute, entertaining and to no one's surprise, quite sad and depressing.

It's going to be easy - like peeling a turtle.

However much of a hard time I give him, Bourdain is incredibly perceptive. (I should take a moment to clarify that I am speaking of my cat, not the chef. Though if you read this and assume I'm speaking of the chef, it would certainly make for a very colorful event...)

I left the carrier out all day so he wouldn't freak out when I brought it out tonight (he hides). I came home and shoved half a pill into some tasty tuna. This is a very hit or miss method--half the cats I've ever owned chomp away, the other half eat around the goddamn thing. Bourdain, true to his namesake, apparently is enough of a tuna connoisseur to know when someone's been tinkering with his tuna. He left that spot untouched.

So I got out the pill popper. I LOVE this thing, this $0.05 contraption has made my life so much easier I want to marry it. And it did the trick today. But Bourdain knew he was in trouble when he didn't finish his food and I headed off to the bathroom for it--he headed for under the bed.

And got really scared. And started farting his little head off. I can still smell farts on me.

But I pulled him out and cooed to him and popped it down his throat. I then went about my business and I can tell he thinks that's what all the drama was about, as he is now licking his privates in the middle of the room.

He has no idea.

Yes, baby, I made you take that pill so you can go...in the car.

He typically fights the hell out of the drugs and it's still a fairly unpleasant ride, but jesus. At least he doesn't SHIT and PISS and BARF during the one hour trip, which yes, he normally manages all three if we do this undrugged. Last year I tried just leaving his ass at home for ONE DAY all by himself (the other cat came with me, as he is a very seasoned and happy car traveller) and holy jesus. He hid from us when we came back, acting totally betrayed and abandoned. Like I just didn't love him. And I hope that is the closest I ever come to knowing what it's like to have a girlfriend...

And I still smell like goddamn cat farts. I'm going to have to change.

But Darius is a dancer. He's in "Cats."

OMG, I LOVE YOU FED EX! And I loooooooove that I hadn't gotten in the shower yet when you rang the bell--I love that I was even home.

I ordered this Sunday night:



and have it in my paws Wednesday morning. Holy shit.

And it just may be the most gorgeous thing in the world. Sleek, sexy, purple.

Did I seriously say I was going to wait until test day to play with it? Fuck that, I'll buy myself a cookie afterwards or something.

Bizarre what some men find attractive.

So props to the dude who crossed the room as I was getting ready to leave, who stopped me and said, "Hey, before you pack up, I really just wanted to let you know that you really carry yourself very well. You're very beautiful and you seem really intelligent and I just really wanted to let you know that."

Ok, first of all. Thanks. Second of all, now I feel REALLY awkward. Thirdly, how the FUCK did I seem intelligent surfing the net and sucking down ale? And baby, I even ate cheese fries. So maybe not the time to choose, "You look intelligent," but whatev.

Also, it was not one sentence. It was several. There was, no shit, even something about my posture in there. He was pretty eloquent, all things considered (like, it's Fort Worth and it's a bar), and I was the choad who initially responded with a comically high-pitched, "Really?" But I let him know I thought it was very nice to hear and that I was married (met with, of course, "Oh, I didn't mean to hit on you, I just really appreciate a beautiful woman...") but I basically gave him a nice kthxbye.

Good on him, but it also makes me want to hide. I don't do compliments well, especially when I assume they may be brought on by an alcoholic binge.

The only proper authorities I am aware of are my commanding officer Colonel Nathan R. Jessup and the Lord our God.

Vaguely crappish work day, but the evening is obviously meant to be. Pulled up in front of the Flying Saucer to find an open spot exactly across the street at Schakolad (the best chocolate shop in the city, but more on that in a mo') and walked in to find exactly one table left all by itself. Not only is it nice and warm inside, the table is completely isolated from douchebaggery and right next to the menu of new winter ales.

Ah.

And I wanted to stop at Schakolad anyway for Thanksgiving. I got a 1/2 lb box and filled half of it with mint truffles and half with milk caramels. Now let's see if it makes it home to the family! It's a very affordable truffle shop and the quality is the best I've ever had, comparable only to Vermont Chocolatiers. Their mint truffles are really something...I picked out two that would go well with eggnog, red wine and tea. Not everything can have alcohol in it, I suppose...

Yesterday was nice...I drove back to my house from Denton and actually tidied up a little and made dinner while starting Mad Men. Only one episode in, but I can see it has potential. While I was watching it, my friend J called wanting to discuss season 4 of BSG, which I have not watched yet, and he had just started Mad Men as well, though where I saw potential he had doubts. It's very hard for me to choose which of his opinions to take under advisement; we definitely agree more on drama than comedy. Then again, he occasionally unwinds by watching Cheaters, meaning everything coming out of his mouth is suspect.

But for dinner I tried a new recipe for macaroni and cheese from Fine Cooking; it had a lot of similar ingredients to my mother's famous take, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Hmm, says I. Not even close. Too wet and not spicy enough. But I also made their French Onion Soup recipe, which I have made a few times before. First of all, cooking onions is just about the absolute bestest smell the kitchen can offer (that and those sweet potato rolls mom makes), but then eating it with bread and cheese melted on top...borderline orgasmic. Very much a cold weather dish, sadly. (Being a Texan...)

But speaking of trying new things, I'm sipping on an Anchor Christmas, which I only tried at the waitress' insistence...



I never would have, had I realized it was a dark ale. But holy shit is it good. It has a bunch of spices going on, including ginger. Not unlike the French Onion Soup, winter helps.

And yesterday, I ordered my LSAT present for myself, a new purple ipod Nano. Because I cannot afford the iTouch and besides, the iTouch is not purple. I haven't taken the test yet, but I wanted to have it in my hot little paws the second I get out of that goddamn test center and I wanted it engraved. So as you can imagine, ordering now was prudent.

What sucks is that Apple will not let you put whatever you want in your engraving. Who the hell are they to censor my little purple ipod? So sadly, it shall not have my favorite Streets of Fire line, "Everywhere I go, there's always an asshole." I wrestled with many a movie and line all the way home on my drive, but in the end, considering it's going to be purple and well, mine, I went with a line from Bridget Jones:

"I choose vodka. And Chaka Khan."

Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin.

I giggled less than I expected, though that line was one of them. I know it's even in the book, but someone saying it out loud definitely made it giggle material.



First of all, Twilight was sold out all night, so it was the last show of the night to which I barely snagged a ticket. And it was a surprisingly diverse crowd, ethnically speaking. Mostly women, yes, but I assure you they dragged many a male along.

And you know, it wasn't bad at all. I can't imagine wanting to watch it without having read the books, but the movie actually seemed to take it down a notch. The books are so overblown with angsty romance I have to not roll my eyes or sometimes even fight the chunks. The film had those moments, but far fewer, and it was pretty good to the material.



And all the people were great. I especially thought Kristen Stewart made a great Bella. I think the weakest link may really have been Robert Pattinson. Sure, he's easy on the eyes, but he lacked that vampire charisma somehow. You know, like Kiefer Sutherland in Lost Boys, Gary Oldman in Dracula (that one may be a stretch--that movie loses something for me every time I see it now), shit, I'd even go so far as to cite Louis from Interview With a Vampire (yes, it's a little different, since he always seemed to be working that whole victim thing). But you get my point. Pattinson's good looking and all, but I didn't buy anyone being uncontrollably drawn to him. (Yes, I realize a billion screaming girls may disagree with me here.) He still did a great job, I'm just being picky. People in the crowd were still quite, uh, audible, when Edward made his first appearance.

And I do see what one reviewer meant when they said the cinematographer shoots Edward "like a sex god." I actually felt less uncomfortable than I anticipated.

Oh, and I thought Jacob Black was totally meh. I really wanted more for that character. Oh well.



It did feel kinda long to me, though it was 125 minutes. I don't see that being a real fault since they did a great job picking what to shoot and how long to spend on various things, so the pace was fine...must have just been me.

I did laugh when my friend J (who was running projection) said, "My god. You've found a vampire movie that D doesn't want to watch!" (In all fairness, I'm sure he would have if I had really wanted him to see it with me.) But he was closing last night anyway.

Anyhoo. If you're going to see it at all, I do think it's one of those few movies where seeing it with the crowd of tittering fans does kinda help...there's something you'll almost never hear me say!

"I strenuously object?" Is that how it works?

I am back at Mangia (who says I'm not original and adventurous?) for one last pizza before I hit the road. My feet ached and I just didn't feel like fucking around with downtown parking.

I was slightly adventurous this morning, however, and tried a place called Torchy's Tacos for breakfast, as they are supposed to have the best queso in Austin. Yes, I ate queso before 10am, lick me. I also had a Democrat (it's a taco), which was not really all that. But I like my cilantro in minute amounts. They do have a pretty cool menu and reputation, so I do recommend. And the queso was pretty damn fine.

I also like the first few reminders that I'm back in a city with personality. They had a sign attached to their trash can that read, "PLEASE! Do NOT throw away our baskets!! WWOD? What Would Obama Do? He would not throw away our baskets." Hee hee.

Normally I always hit El Sol y La Luna for breakfast, as it's attached to the Austin Motel, but they are always closed on Mondays. I knew this going in, but booked there anyway, why not. And I was SO SAD to see the restaurant is moving downtown! That BLOWS! Their SoCo location is ideal--who the fuck wants to be downtown anymore, it's too crowded. And it was easily half the reason I stay at the Austin Motel! Sniff. Oh well.

Anyhoo, the tour and class at UT was great. I especially loved the class, it was Criminal Law. I mean, we kicked right off by discussing the technical difference between "deviant sexual acts" and "fornication," oh yes. And then it went on from there and (it was a small section, 25 people) there was much debate about what should or should not be deemed criminal (homosexual conduct vs. incest) and if so, how can it be, if it can't be proven that it's harmful (incest can be harmful insomuch as children could be produced or coersion may be a factor, but what if it's two adult twin brothers? This was an actual example). The point is, at that point you get into what's "morally" right and wrong and it gets complicated.

So it was quite an interesting class and the teacher had much personality, so that made it even better. All the people were very friendly--I was there with two other people, one of whom I just can't find anything nice to say, so I shall say nothing here. But we all also sat and read some of the personal statements from successful candidates. Some of them really made me wonder...and there were far too many that discussed their personal relationship with God and/or Jesus in a little too much detail for my taste.

It's much larger (in so many ways) than Cornell--it's really a complete opposite, in a way. From being in such a bustling city to the fact that they accept a much larger class (400) than the small schools (fewer than 200). Which I see as both a plus and minus. I think I would probably rather be somewhere larger, though, if that's all that mattered. Otherwise it might just be too tight, y'know? I don't want to know everyone's name. I quite value some anonymity once in a while.

But I'll be on the road soon, just stopped in for a little pizza in my greater plan to miss the bulk of Dallas rush hour.

This man and I have some unfinished business.

Well hell, I thought it was fun.



I definitely prefer Casino Royale, but Quantum of Solace was good, nonetheless. The opening wasn't as huge as they've tended to be lately, but it was still very cool. With a nice laugh. And Alex disagrees with me, but I really didn't like the editing style on most of the action--it was all tight close-ups, no wide shots or really much scene-setting. To me, that always reeks of cheating, plus it's just not as impressive-looking.

Daniel Craig was perfection, as always. The bad guy was nice and creepy, too, A+ on him, ew.

And now I'm in Austin waiting on my deep dish Mangia!



Jesus there's a fuckload of construction! Everywhere I want to go it's one lane. I haven't scoped out the law school yet, I'll wait til tomorrow morning. I'm getting a tour before the 12:30 Criminal Law class. Good times.

I wish I was going to be here for more than one night, I love this place. And the Austin Motel is so cute, I'm always excited when I get a room there.

But for now, I'm getting off the internet and starting New Moon. How embarrassing...and hey, speaking of embarrassing, I think the film of Twilight comes out this week. Let the shame parade begin!

And remember: the passion for destruction is also a creative passion.

Ha ha, I almost forgot I'm supposed to drive to Austin tomorrow. I remembered yesterday morning, with just enough time to book a room at the Austin Motel. I'm sitting in on a Criminal Law class Monday morning. So I will spend tomorrow evening shoving either deep dish Mangia or Scholz Garten BBQ in my face while doing yet another practice LSAT.

I searched images of "UT Law" and this nice pic came up third...



and sadly, this one came up fourth.



It's a very serious school, you see.

Actually, it might be; perhaps this poor bastard has just finally snapped.

In any case, it's time to pack up and head for Denton for a little Quantum of Solace break. Yum.

I've got a little itch, down there. Would you mind?

I think this is from Tuesday or so, I just never got around to finishing...

Damn. It's really raining out there! Me? I'm having deep dish cheese pizza and wine. A smart girl would be at home, but there was no food there. Well, there was some microwave popcorn, maybe some pickles...milk...I think there is some leftover tomato bisque from election night...so, no.

And it's just windy enough to make me nervous. My umbrella is my Very Super-Sexy Mitsukoshi Umbrella, and you've got another thing coming if you think I'm letting that thing get blown inside out. What's a little water? I'll get soaked before I let it get ruined. It's not that I don't mind an excuse to go back, but those fuckers are pricey. (My mom and I caught a sale a couple years ago...)

Anyhoo. Long day, same stupid shit but nothing interesting enough to actually merit a place here (unlike my titillating food and umbrellas stories).

So my friend J and I have already been bitching back and forth about this year's Bond and whether or not it will suck. He sends me some review--published on Fox News, which already sends my eyes rolling--shitting on it. This reviewer is apparently all put out that Bond is mourning Vesper. The reviewer claims Bond wouldn't give two shits and neither should we--infact, who among us recalls who the fuck that was?

I beat my head against my desk. I'm so sorry, please go seek out your old school '60's Bond if you want him to slap some twinkie's ass with a wink and a, "Run along, honey, man talk."



(And hey, I don't know about you, but I'm watching Quantum of Solace for its artistic integrity. Hmm...is it weird that the one on the left does way more for me? Ok, anyhoo.)

Plus, let's all please recall that this is setting up Bond to be Bond. This is why Bond is who he is. Seriously, the film might totally suck balls (there were rumors aplenty when word got around that it clocks in at around 1:45, don't ask why), but let's not say that it sucks balls because "Bond doesn't have any." Kiss. My. Ass.

In all fairness, the review also said A) the theme song sucks donkey nuts b) there is no bad-ass opening...and beyond that, I just don't recall. Those may be valid complaints, and I'll letcha know.

But this was a totally endearing look from The New York Times at Daniel Craig himself (thanks, Alex! *drool!*).

...and now it's Friday and the Bond is out. J saw it the other day and said something along the lines of, "Yeah, craptastic. It was just non-stop action and a nonsensical plot."

And I was all, "Fucking A!"

This really isn't his sort of flick to begin with, but now I think he's just missing the point altogether. And he isn't ogling Daniel Craig, either, so there's very little in it for him.

In any case, plans are on for tomorrow night, so fingers crossed for LOUD, HOT ACTION! Rowr.

All right, all right I'll ask her. Miss, miss! Do you know where the high school girls hang out around here?

I'm trying not to take this the wrong way:

Waiter: "Has anyone helped you?"

Me: "Well, someone took my drink order."

Waiter: "Was it a margarita?"

Me: "Yes."

Waiter: "I remember you."

I mean, a lone girl with a laptop is surely more memorable than some chick who orders a margarita at a Mexican restaurant, right? And sure, it ended up being three margaritas, but it's not like I did a table dance after the third one, jesus.

PFG, Carter. PFG.

See? I wasn't making it up.



Even worse, as I'm pulling up my car alongside to take a picture, I notice the owners' neighbors are out and about in their yard. Shit, might have been the owners for all I know. Did I care? Hell no (I mean, look at it), but I only took the one picture...

Again, this is parked on the street perpendicular to mine, so at least they aren't my neighbors. (Did they lose a bet? Seriously.)

Yeah, but see, that's it. Somehow they know not to come back til you really forget.

I am LOVING CNN's post-election coverage and their choice not to bother mincing words, choosing ones instead like, "thumped, crushed, hammered..."

I am also loving waking up to hearing the news on the radio and hearing the words, "President-Elect Barack Obama." It's taking me a while to get used to it, but in that good I-can't-fucking-believe-it way.

But I am so proud of myself. I met up with D last night and a work friend of his, C. She brought her roommate/friend with whom she is not involved but is more like a big brother. He was quite cool, and I think he's fairly liberal. Well, she's hardcore Republican and a huge sports/NASCAR fan. But she's awfully cute. Anyhoo, she's from New Orleans and was showing us pictures from her recent trip. Many of the pictures were of parts of town that are completely uninhabited because there is still a ton of damage by Katrina.

We had just been discussing--or rather, agreeing not to discuss--the election. I was incredibly proud of myself for being completely silent while going from subject A) politics, to subject B) New Orleans and looking at her Katrina pictures. It was almost like when we meet up with our gay Republican friends. You just hafta fight that shitty urge to go, "But WHY?!?!" I did notice Louisiana resoundingly voted for McCain, but their map kinda looks like ours: totally red, with a blue blot right on New Orleans and our blue blots in Austin and one in Dallas.

Anyhoo. Leaving work a tad early today so I can come home and change. We're heading off to Dallas' Meyerson Symphony Center!



And we'll be in the nosebleed section as pictured below...



I am somewhat irked to note NOW that it's considered "Casual Friday," but fuck that. I'm going to goddamn dress up and they can all just go fuck themselves. Also, there's a piece that's not included tonight; since it's "Casual Friday," there is no intermission. I find that totally lame, but you bet your ass I made sure the other nights' tickets were indeed more expensive. Still, LAME. If you're going to go to the fucking symphony, who wants it to be CASUAL or truncated? FAIL.

Speaking of FAIL, I was looking at Fail Blog last night, because it has been way too long. One of them struck me as quite relevant for the holiday season. Veloute always sends cookies, but one year I was living in a shitty Denton apartment and I have a feeling why they never showed up...



Luckily, we have an enclosed porch now. Those are MY goddamn cookies! Some stoner bastard in Denton totally ate my cookies one year, I know it.

He's just not that into you.

Did anyone else just hear John Oliver call the state of the country a "shitburger" on live TV? Good times, love it.

Mr. McAllister. Mr. McAllister. Somebody's torn down my poster. It's not fair. Can I get an A? Can I get a recommendation? Can I? Can I? Fuck them.

Omg. What is this? Is this joy? This emotion is so...foreign to me. These tears...they're tears...of joy. Not...pain!

We got Ohio. Even the CNN dude is trying to figure out HOW McCain can possibly win at this point, which is, frankly, total salt in the wound. It makes me giggle.

Colbert and Stewart are on in 2 minutes. I bet they were hoping it would be at least a little closer than this...the hell are they gonna do for two hours? Oh, that's right, make me laugh. SWEET.

Your whole campaign is like some Dr. Seuss nightmare - One Fish, Two Fish, Dead Fish, We Fought The Good Fight Fish.

Oh my god, this is almost too painful. I mean, it's great and I'm loving every minute of it, but 174 to 49?



God this is great. I can only hope it stays the path!

New Rule: You can't run on a mistake. Franklin Roosevelt didn't run for re-election claiming Pearl Harbor was his finest hour.

Today is going to be too damn long, isn't it? I wish I could vote again.



And tonight will be even worse watching the results on TV. Hopefully it won't be tense because it won't even be close. (Not that they won't try to milk it.) But fuck it, I'm starting to actually get my hopes up and be optimistic...despite what the past two elections brought...especially that first one, goddamn.



EIGHT. LONG. YEARS. Had better be over soon.



I refuse to even consider the thought of McCain winning. So there.

Trent, the beautiful babies don't work the midnight to six shift on a Wednesday. This is like the skank shift.

So despite a fairly shitty work day, I'm still in a pretty good mood. Guess I just don't care. And remember (thanks, mom!):



Also, this helped...quite possibly the world's stupidest cat...is it wrong that I laugh? (thanks, Cute Overload!):



Anyhoo. I have really been craving Swingers lately. (As you can perhaps tell from the subject line.) I think my mom and I initially had the exact same reaction--the first time we watched it, (completely serparate from each other), we shut it off within 15 minutes. I mean, it's obnoxious. (Maybe it's easy to mistake the asshole nature of Vince Vaughn's character for the attitude of the film itself? Who knows.) But somehow we gave it another chance and boy did it turn itself around.



The other day brought multiple Ron Livingston references and I decided it was a sign for a re-watch. First, a Berger episode of Sex and the City was on the TV in the break room...god, he really plays a douchey loser on that show...and then, while I was trying to study at The Flying Saucer ("study" is kind of a strong word, but I was actually quite into my stuff), while trying to deter three guys from chatting me up, I replied to one of their questions of,"What do you do?" with "Nothing. I do nothing." Only one of them got it and even then I had to spell it out.

So I think that may be getting a view tonight if I get my chores done!

Um, btw, if you google "Swingers" for an image on google, you might want to specify, like, "Swingers movie," or include the actors, year, whathaveyou. Just sayin'. Word to the wise...

And before I forget, Skyler's Dad had a great post the other day called If The Candidates Were Trains. Great shit.

Completely unrelated to anything, I have been harboring a profound desire for the symphony for EVAH and by god, I'm finally gonna go. And yes, I'm making D go. Classical music is not his thing, but he has never seen it live. I'm hoping the atmosphere, the music, the...you know, mood and ambiance will all be enough magic to make him like it. (It's ok if he doesn't.) But by god, I haven't been in one fuck of a long time. (Quite possibly due to the hideous expense. Did you know you can sit BEHIND the stage? Sadcakes. I refuse to settle for that.) But that's what I have going on this Friday night, woot!

He's got a shit coming on. It's overdue.

SQUEE!!! I am so excited. I saw a wine bar up on Camp Bowie a few weeks ago, but I was driving and didn't get a good look. A little internet research tells me that it and every wine bar near it (still delighted to know there are ANY) happens to be CLOSED on Sunday.

But then I found Brix Pizza & Wine Bar! It's on Hulen, across the street and up a bit from my massage place. Best of all, it has both internet (obviously) AND outdoor seating. Though it's a little warm today, it's shaded and gorgeous. I plan on trying the calamari. I used to think you couldn't fuck up calamari, but Cafe Aspen (also here in Fort Worth) proved me wrong, so I will let you know...

I spent the better part of the morning painting the kitchen and watching the rest of Cold Mountain. You know, it was actually pretty decent. I was expecting to hate it, and I didn't.



Seriously, there is a REASON Rene won an Oscar. I was contemplating turning it off when it she showed up. God did she save it. (Well, and a little Philip Seymour Hoffman never hurt anyone.) But oh holy jesus, someone needed to pull both Jude Law and Nicole Kidman aside and just say, you know, your bad accent is almost so distracting, it would probably be less distracting if you just spoke in your native accent, yes, it's that bad. And yes, it was getting cheese and spooge and goo everywhere with its MELODRAMA (seriously, a little emotion in a film should be treated like rosemary or cilantro, kwim?) and DESPERATION. But the events and plot (predictable though it was, and no, I don't mean in regards to the Civil War itself, thanks) had me watching, even while I was painting (the paint peels right up off the kitchen tile, fyi).

I mean, Anthony Minghella directed The English Patient, which is way more melodrama than I care to admit to liking, but somehow, that film really pulled it off. This one? Eh, not so much. In its defense, it didn't pull punches and it was certainly not dull (after Law went off to war and Zellweger showed up).

Also tried to watch Repulsion, and rather than offend any Polanski fans--I mean, I'm sure it's great and I can often dig the whole minimalist thing, especially when involving insanity--I'll just say clearly, I was not in the mood. I was especially not in the mood for Catherine Deneuve's (whom I have quite enjoyed in the past, like maybe in Belle du Jour?) sad sack of emotionally limp French goddess pouty wussiness. I get that she's sexually repressed (the character) but again, just not in the mood, I guess. (No pun intended.)

Started Scanners, which is perhaps the only Cronenberg I have never seen. And yes, I get that's like saying, hey, David Lynch is a great director, but I have just never seen Blue Velvet! Ok, it's not quite like that, but you get my point. How did I ever miss Scanners? I know so many scenes of it well, from retrospectives, horror homages, previews, etc. You know, like the exploding head scene.

So I had a good morning of painting and films (a strange mix of films, in retrospect, but hey, that's me) and now it's break time. The cats were being needy and whiny and someone even has a brown spot on his tail. Ahem.

Ooh, and in a fairly rare move, I actually went clothes shopping yesterday. Express had a grand re-opening at The Parks and I had two huge coupons. Plus I kinda love winter clothes. I know, I know, I live in Texas. You think I don't know that? But I tried on a ton of stuff and bought a few items...let's just say that I saved $72! (Ok, I spent $125.) But I got some NEAT stuff and only one item is a hardcore sweater. Even it doesn't have long sleeves, but it's still bulky and warm with one of those cowl turtleneck cuts. Very cool. For the record, I don't care where we live, sweaters with tiny cap sleeves are WAY THE HELL STUPID. It looks like ass and it's just...well, it's stupid. Fewer things I have to try on, at least.

They had way more cute stuff but most of it fit me awkwardly. And no, not because I'm fat, but the sleeves had shoulder puffiness going on or the arms were a little tight (ok, that might be me) or you know, they do kinda gum up the fit sometimes. But again, I always breathe a sigh of relief becaues it's one less decision I have to make.

Anyhoo, now let's see if it lasts, quality-wise.

And speaking of fat, I have been changing up the routine at my gym lately. I've been doing more swimming than running/cycling (I used to mix it up) and have been able to really see a little more progress with myself lap-wise. And it finally dawned on me that my gym has both a sauna and a steam room. I have yet to try the steam room, but the sauna is wicked. Weirdly, upon first entrance it always reminded me of the old school Denton Chuck Wagon. It's just that dry heat, who knows. Is that weird? In any case, I keep going back! I'll try the steam room this week...(I try a lot more new things when it's dead, tbh!)

Any for what it's worth? The calamari is bitchin'.

Whoa, whoa. You better watch what you say about my car. She's real sensitive.

So on Halloween, we often wander down the street (it's a tiny street) where the neighbors are having driveway parties. There is one house in particular that is always very cool. I'm not saying anything about the Christmas decorations that may appear, but the Halloween stuff is great. This year...



There was a mad scientist with lots of "experiments..."



And this is just a sampling of their yard offerings.

Though our house is at the bottom of a cul-de-sac, the neighbors who are sort-of across from us are usually quite strange, too. It's the kids. There is either a boy or girl who lives there, but the boyfriend/girlfriend is always there, too, so who knows who lives there. At least, I hope that is their relationship, as they are often in the driveway at night with a guitar and they seem to be on fairly intimate terms.

Anyhoo. Last year they had a ventriloquist/dummy thing going on and this year, they were toys. When I got home, we saw people stringing up Barbies and dolls in the trees and especially in the daylight, it seemed desperately sad. But in context, much better! (Especially the teddy bear strung from the tree...)



In the dark, it looks much cooler. D also took a pic with the flash...



And you can see a lot more detail.

But not everyone had a scary yard!



It was very different. I think it went up last year as well.

And finally, our house, both at night and in daylight...



D set everything up; he gets quite excited. He carved the jack-o-lantern--I didn't have one this year.



This is Skully, whom you can kinda see in the first one in the way background. He has green eyes and smokes, it's very cool. And in this too-dark pic, you can kinda make out some new spiders D picked up. There's a great rat, too, but he's on the ground. I call him Templeton.



A closer look. What you can't see is the lamp behind Tom (the ghost). Cuts from Halloween play and the CD player is connected by a box to the lamp, so a red light flickers with the creepy music. It's actually a really cool effect. And of course, there's a (crappy piece of shit) fog machine.

And in daylight...



That's Head. He guards the house.

Speaking of pics, I have YET to see the Jesus Car again lately. Maybe it didn't live there? I still keep an eye out, though...

Mrs. Brewster! My God, the phone lines have been cut.

What a fantastic holiday.



So one little kid (she was very tiny and very cute) wouldn't even come up the driveway. She was so cute. We wandered out with our big bowl of candy but they had moved on. Most of the smaller kids hang out at the porch entrance until their parents catch up. And one time, I had the fog just awesome, so the older brother came in but his sister wouldn't. The dad laughed that we'd devised a great way to deter kids and he'd have to remember the trick--I said we had a scorecard inside. It's so much fun to scare the shit out of little kids.

Infact, I can't help but recall Dooce's post about the bedtime scary story, that was hysterical. And I TOTALLY remember that story!

But anyhoo. So we deck out the porch (pics to come) and then I work the fog machine and D mans the door. Our guest room window is very low and I lie down to peek out and watch the little bastards while I work the fog machine (I made a CD from the best cuts off the Halloween soundtrack) which plays and makes a red light flicker behind our hanging ghoul (whom we lovingly call 'Tom' after Mr. Cruise). I love watching their reactions and hesitations, it's so cute. They all hang back for at least a couple beats. I still don't want any kids, but that doesn't mean I can't terrorize yours.

So we kinda monitor the street and in the meantime, throw up Fright Night or Clownhouse (Sam Rockwell's first movie, fyi!) for background entertainment.

Our favorite kid of the night is a little vampire girl who is totally frickin' cute. She has brought three different groups by at this point--I think it's because I told her she's had the best costume all night. She only had her pumpkin the first time, but we keep making her take more candy. But second place easily goes to the dead cheerleader who is, no shit, maybe 7 years old? I love it, but it's a little odd. And she just held her bag open and never tried to close it or leave at all! She got quite the haul from D.

Our cul-de-sac is quite neighborly, and we usually go mingle after we're all trick-or-treated out. I can tell when I've had enough wine to talk to other people without dread, because I start petting our fake spider-webs. And you know, I may be at that point right now, but I'm still feeling a little anti-social. Time for another glass...

I was having fun on this job! You had all this energy, and all these crazy ideas... and you kept taking your pants off.

In keeping with the squirrel theme...



Again, let's all just assume this has nothing to do with ACORN, k? (And really, I guess this could be a pro or con poster, but it made me giggle and I like to think of it as a pro. After all, I don't know about you, but I want the animals on my side!)

So I had this nightmare last week that I messed up my vote. Where I vote, it's only electronic. But in my dream, everyone was telling me that I was also supposed to fill out a paper one at the same time, but I hadn't! So I had already voted but it wasn't going to count. I like to think of this as a variation on the whole fucking-up-a-college-exam-dream that still haunts me from time to time.



But the tension is starting to kill me. Normally I'd assume it's in the bag, but then again, I once went to bed thinking Al Gore was president, so by god, I refuse to even get too hopeful. So this weekend I'm volunteering. The nearest place for me is at the South Dallas Café, and they're basically trying to help the campaign in battleground swing states. It's mostly getting in touch with Obama supporters who've never voted (but somehow they know they're Obama supporters?) or whose polling places have changed, helping people figure out where to go. I'm not going in til 1 pm if anyone wants to come with!

Well, I'm sure as hell not flying to Ohio, but apparently they're happy if you want to!

I also noticed Zach & Miri Make a Porno is finally coming out this weekend. Fingers crossed it's one of the good Kevin Smith movies. I haven't heard much yet...



This seems to be a post all about How I Have Learned Not To Get My Hopes Up.

Anyhoo. The 2nd installment in the Twilight trilogy is finally on hold for me at the library. Gonna get my fluff on. Right now I'm alternating between Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency by Barton Gellman and Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. They're both very good. The first one kinda scares the shit out of me. I always knew Cheney was evil (and Jon Stewart's Cheney impression will never not be funny) but it's a scary read about the details of what he managed to pull off. I won't get into it at the moment (not quite halfway through), but so far I highly recommend it.

And The God Delusion is also an intriguing read. Dawkins is a pretty hard-core atheist, and while I'm not really on his bandwagon, I do love that he doesn't mince words and has some really great arguments--plus it's just interesting. I saw Dawkins on The Colbert Report a while back (I think, rather than TDS...certainly seems like a great Colbert guest) but had completely forgotten until Veloute loaned me the book recently. Many thanks!

Living in an amoral, pharmaceutical kind of way.

Well, I'm still totally in love with Dar Williams (who I did not realize is perhaps even one inch shorter than myself, we're both wearing pretty high heels in this pic...)



And she still gives a rocking show! She did play a ton off her new album, and though I may have pined for (unplayed) old favorites, there really is something to be said for seeing new music live. I have an appreciation for the new stuff now I didn't before. Plus, she always has these bizarre humorous intros that wrap around and sometimes barely seem to even come back to a point (but they're so charming). The subject line came from one; she was talking about growing up reading both Bible stories and Greek mythologies and being very surprised at the latter--after all, they don't really have morals and they're fucking strange.



The show wasn't quite as crowded as I would have liked for her. On the other hand, I got to meet her! (And she signed my songbook--I had her sign on Are You Out There, even though she didn't play it!)

And the guy who opened was fucking great! It was Shawn Mullins, and neither Alex nor I recognized him til the very end (though he did remind me a little of Darden Smith or James McMurtry, but definitely different), when he played his "monster smash hit" Lullaby. I always liked that song fine except the radio raped my ears with it on an hourly basis and I eventually wanted to die. Plus, I realized I'm kinda biased about artists I hear on Clear Channel Dallas radio. I guess I assume they're all wanky, soul-patch wearing (to steal from Alex) douchenuggets. This guy was so cool!

(Side note and case in point: Both he and Sara Bareilles get radio play on their respective big hits Lullaby and Love Song, and though both songs are good, they are so much better in context with the rest of the album--not to mention just being heard live. And in Mullins' case, the intros and backstories really added something. I just bought his newest album Honeydew last night and it's wicked.)

Anyhoo. I also didn't know, but he was one of the songwriters they asked to send in a demo for the theme for Scrubs. While his was not picked (I guess it's not quite the upbeat number they wanted), they did use it in the background of one show. And it's still really great, here it is:

Joe! She's written 65 songs... 65. They're all about you. They're all about pain.

*Droooools excitedly about seeing Dar Williams tonight*



I love this song, The Christians and the Pagans. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I found Dar Williams while working for Austin City Limits and I was still young enough that I rarely discovered new musicians on my own that I really liked. I was so blown away by how many of her songs were political, and they're mostly my favorites (Are You Out There, The Babysitter's Here, Teen For God, The Pointless Yet Poignant Crisis of a Co-Ed). Even her songs about love are weird and witty with an infectious beat (The Blessings, Closer to Me, It Happens Every Day, Another Mystery).

I admit I'm less familiar with her more recent albums, though I do own them. Mortal City and The End of the Summer are still easily my favorite albums and I think it could easily be because I played the shit out of them the year I was in Austin. If they had been tapes they would be battered and dead.

Diane Court doesn't go out with guys like you. She's a brain.

VERY excited about Dar Williams tomorrow night. Squee! She's still not all that well-known, so videos are kinda tricky to find, but here's What Do You Hear In These Sounds, a really great song about therapy...



(I found As Cool As I Am, but it may have been the worst video of all time. Please, don't ever put WORDS into your video, especially the lyrics. It's just a little too Sesame Street or something...and I also found her newest video, It's Alright, but it looks like they spent $8 on the whole production...and even that was for--quite likely--the world's ugliest outfit that even Goodwill probably wouldn't take.) But her music's great!

I'm enjoying your blouse this morning.

I'm home! First things first...Wednesday's concert with Sara Bareilles was fan-fucking-tastic. I had a great seat. When you have reserved seating at House of Blues, you can just text them and they'll bring you a beer! I never had to, as they went up and down the aisles often enough.

I wish she had more than one album, but this is another great song of hers (and kind of an odd video...)



Two artists opened for her, the first I loved and the second left me totally cold. Raining Jane is a group of four girls is from L.A., and my favorite one plays the cello. Hot! A different girl sometimes plays the sitar--it was amazing. You should watch this one, it's a great song and while it's mellow (and involves neither the cello nor the sitar!), they can do rock just as well. I bought a shirt from them and Sara Bareilles.



Then there was Marc Broussard, who just really didn't do anything for me, but the girl next to me was apparently there only for him. She missed the first set and left before the headliner. To each his/her own... It was like really bad white R&B.

The next morning I got up around 4:30am (jesus) and we hit the airport. Smooth sailing and Vel picked me up just in time. We found our B&B, which was about 20 minutes away from the university. It was off on its own but it was quite cute. A little small for my taste in that there were only two rooms, making it almost a little too...well, I like a tad more anonymity, you know? I like the coziness of a B&B but there is such a thing as too personal. But our host was incredibly nice and made very delicious breakfasts, both a salmon frittata and a bread pudding number that was very tasty.

The tour of the law building was great, but it was very Hogwarts. Because they've added onto the original building, there are staircases in some very random places! And it is SO EASY to get lost! But was a great building. As I mentioned in a previous post, you can live there your first year, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about that. Getting away from the building might be nice. Sunlight, you know.





The class was interesting, they were discussing whether or not damages should have been awarded for mental distress in two different cases and talked about how anyone goes about trying to establish it. There was one other girl sitting in with us, and she's related to a professor who teaches that same class there at Cornell, only apparently he's really scary (as a professor). I made a mental note about his name!

Had a mediocre pub lunch and then got very lost trying to drive away from Cornell. No reason, we just couldn't seem to get off campus! We finally did, however, and went back to the B & B for some late-afternoon wine and Will & Grace. Dinner was at the Boat Yard, one of the more popular restaurants with a view.



On the way there, we saw two deer on the side of the road (it was night, the pic above I took the next day as we passed it) and I guess I flipped out a little too much, as Vel turned to me and said, "You are so not from around here."





I was in the mood for steak but reconsidered, since I didn't think a Texas girl would get anything she was hoping for in upstate New York. I settled for a peach-chicken dish that was quite tasty.

The next day (Saturday) we drove up highway 13 til it became 89 and stretches out along Lake Cayuga. It was gorgeous--this was one view along the way...



They have a number of vineyards and wineries in the area and we hit two. The first was small; we did a tasting and moved on. The second was much larger, Americana Vineyards, and offered a sampling of all 12 of their wines, plus local fudge plus a cafe full of delicious nibbles. We spent pretty much the rest of the afternoon there. I buckled (you would have, too) and bought three bottles of wine (it was so reasonable--I spent $35 on all three bottles) and just prayed they survived the airline's batterings. (They did!)

Americana Vineyards...



And more fudge than you'd ever know what to do with...



We ate at their cafe, selecting two appetizers to go with the Apparition wine, which was the clear favorite for both of us.



I brought one bottle of it home, along with a Rosie (which I don't normally like) that makes their fudge even more succulent. The third is a Cayuga White, made with grapes from Cornell. I'm saving that one for LSAT day. (Uh, after the LSATs.) And the food was nearly as good as the wine...



We had to stay somewhere else last night, as the B&B (and every other B&B in town) was fully booked for Saturday night due to it being Family Weekend at Cornell. We stayed at an incredibly dodgy-looking hotel that I had booked online. As we pulled up, Veloute said, "Great. This is going to be like one of those weird motels they stay at in Supernatural."

And then we thought, cool. Sadly, it did not have one-eighth as much personality.

Really, other than the tub (shudder) it wasn't that bad. I think we had a larger suite; it had 2 windows that actually opened and you could get onto the roof from one of them (once you pried the screen off). Someone may or may not have had too much wine and gone out exploring.



(Do not demonstrate "jazz hands" while holding your hair clip, as you might accidentally fling it across the roof. Just fyi.) And don't worry, I'm laughing, not puking.



For the record, apparently I also do a great demonstration of "opera hands," meaning we're looking at the pics later and Vel says, "Yeah, I don't know what's up with your 'opera hands!'" Me, neither.



A little fudge, some more Will & Grace and some sucktacular Chinese takeout later, it was bedtime! And we got up at a reasonable hour this time (more like 7am instead of 4am) for my flight and her drive home.

And completely unrelated, there was the coolest diner we had to pass every time we went to and from our B&B and hotel, and yet when do we finally get a picture? On the way to the airport, and I barely wrestled my camera out in time. I give you Manos Diner!



It's an MST3K joke and we so wanted to at least get coffee here. Next time.

Damn. Back to studying and trying to write even a passably decent personal statement that doesn't make me yak my lunch all over myself.