Sense and Nonsense.

*If you haven't watched the PBS version of Sense and Sensibility yet and you're planning to and don't want to know anything about it, don't read this.

So last night I watched the first half of Sense and Sensibility on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. In case you haven't been able to tell by my sidebar noting the books I've been reading or below in my recent DVD/book purchases or from having ever met me, I am what they call a fan of Jane Austen. I blame my mother. She got me started with her video tape of the 1983 PBS Pride and Prejudice miniseries (which is GREAT) when I was young and then I got all into it. I've seen multiple versions of each of the movies (and in a few cases I own multiple versions), I own all of the books, I've watched pretty much the whole series that PBS has shown this winter/spring, and yes I realize that this along with the knitting thing makes me approximately 150 years old.

Whatever, it's glorious I don't care what you say :)

So, back to the point. Sense and Sensibility. I should preface this by saying that I love Emma Thompson's version of this, for which she won an Oscar (best adapted screenplay). This new version was always going to suffer by comparison. Also, I am completely aware that it is impossible to get every piece of the story in a 3 hour miniseries, it's a long book. Changes will have to be made. And I'm not saying Emma Thompson's version was perfect. But it was pretty darn good.

That being said, I have several issues to raise with the first half of this version:

1. Why why why did Elinor and Marianne keep calling Fanny "Aunt"? She's not their aunt! She is their half-brother's wife! You know what they should call her? Fanny.
2. The guy playing Willoughby doesn't look even remotely like someone anyone would fall in love with. He's kind of slimy and not very nice and the Marianne from the book would never have been fooled by such a phony (because, you know, he didn't fool her, he actually loved her)
3. Even Marianne would know better than to kiss the man when he took her to Allenham. Never happened. Don't put it in the movie, because then you make Marianne silly and easily manipulated instead of just overly romantic and disdainful of hiding her emotions.
4. Starting with the seduction of Beth was weird and a little too sexy for Jane Austen, if you ask me. It's supposed to be this shocking thing to find out about Willoughby in the middle of the story, not presented right up front (especially considering she's not actually a character, just someone they talk about)! What if someone who wasn't familiar with the book was watching? You're already predestined to hate the man, when you're not supposed to hate him until later! (ok, I know it's entirely possible that no one was watching PBS on Sunday night who was not already familiar with the story, but just in case that was an unnecessary spoiler)
5. What was the deal with that little showdown between Brandon and Willoughby at Barton? I'm pretty sure Brandon wasn't even supposed to know about what went down with Beth at that point. He had no reason to think badly of Willoughby other than as the guy who had Marianne's affection.
6. Mrs. Jennings was hardly in the story so far, and she's a pretty major character. I'm just sayin', give the lady her due.
7. This one is a little shallow and I feel bad about that, but the girl playing Elinor should be prettier. Or they could have at least done her hair better or something. Or if not prettier, just make her stand out in SOME way. Obviously she was always going to suffer in comparison with Emma Thompson who was pretty fabulous, but she was definitely missing something. She just sort of fades into the background at the moment, and she's supposed to be the cornerstone of everything. You know, loving sister, pillar of strength, everyone's confidant, economically rational, morally upright, etc. I'm not getting that from this chick. (I know, that's knitpicky, but Elinor is a really great character, and she should be played by someone who can fit that profile)
8. What's the deal with that book Edward gave to Elinor? With the inscription and everything? Way to turn Edward into kind of a shady character instead of a poor guy who made a stupid mistake when he was young that he's paying for. The "real" Edward would never have given a woman something like that which would practically be evidence of feelings that might bring about some expectation from Elinor when he was engaged to someone else.
9. Marianne got along too well with everyone else. She was generally agreeable and spoke to everyone, and only acted badly a little bit (I'm throwing that whole kiss thing out, see above). Ok, Marianne was a COMPLAINER. She couldn't stand being around Sir John or Mrs. Jennings or Col. Brandon (or anyone who wasn't her mother, Elinor or Willoughby), especially after she found out they all wanted her to marry the Colonel. When they first got to Barton she was rude to everyone because she was sad about Norland, then she was rude to everyone because they wanted her to marry Brandon, then she was rude to everyone because she was in love with Willoughby. She didn't ever give anyone the time of day because she thought they were pretty much all stupid or annoying or too old.

Yea. So. This all led to a conversation with my mom on whether or not the person who wrote the screenplay has actually ever read the entire book. I'm going with no. She agrees. If you're going to tackle a very famous piece of literature that lots of people love, do your homework and work on at least capturing the true spirit of the story and the characters. People will notice.

To be fair, there were some parts that I really enjoyed. I liked how they had little Henry in there, just munching away and not being all that stellar with his mother fawning all over him while John Dashwood was trying to decide what to do for his sisters; I like the girl playing Margaret (though why do they keep calling her Mag or Meg or whatever? I can't completely distinguish what they're saying); I like the guy playing Colonel Brandon (I'm trying to avoid unfair comparison with Alan Rickman, who is pretty great); and shady book-giving aside, I do like the guy playing Edward.

*sigh. I had such high hopes.

Whatever, you know I'm going to watch the 2nd half when it airs on Sunday, because I want to see how much more there will be to complain about (all the while hoping something happens that will redeem it). :)

***I realized later that "Beth" is actually "Eliza" Oops. Where did I get Beth?

Mr. Creepy

So it turns out it's 2 for 1 day here on Jessie! Enjoy.

This morning as I was walking into work I decided to allow myself a breakfast sandwich from Dunkin' Donuts. Generally speaking I start my day by eating a mutligrain bagel with butter (mmm, birdseed in your bread, delicious...). However, this morning I ordered a ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich on a croissant to change it up a little (aren't you glad to have all these food stories today? Yea, you're welcome).

The first thing you need to know (in case you've never been to Boston) is that Dunkin' Donuts is like a religion out here. It was started in Massachusetts and you can find one approximately every 50 feet on the street. Well, maybe not 50 feet, but you can definitely always find one within a one-block radius of wherever you're standing. And they're always packed. For example, there is a cop stationed at the Dunkin' Donuts on the way out of my town every morning to direct traffic because it's the last one for awhile and people can't handle the possibility of getting into the tunnel without their coffee so someone needs to be there directing people out of the drive thru lane. I'm completely serious.

The second thing you need to know is the DD in my building is a marvel of inefficiency. The setup is not what I would call functional, helpful or ideal. It really can't be described in any kind of positive language. It's a tiny little place where you stand behind a little rope barricade thing to form a line and wait for someone to yell "next!" The problem with this is that there is one person at each cash egister and another person helping the cashier by making the coffee. Now let's say you have someone who doesn't order coffee (like me and surprisingly I am not the only person in Boston who doesn't drink coffee, despite what you may have heard), the helper person will just yell for the next person in line, but you still have to wait for the cashier to be ready for you, and this creates a sub-line. Meanwhile, other people are trying to get to the other cashiers, so you could have up to four lines in there at once. And just in case you didn't catch it the first time, this place is TINY. It's basically a mini hallway about 5 feet across. Not really enough room for the 12,000 people trying to get their coffee/breakfast in the morning. Oh, and if you order something that needs to be toasted (like a bagel or a breakfast sandwich)? You crowd around the door people are trying to walk in and out of to wait for your food to be ready. Really, it's brilliant.

Anyway, I placed my order, paid for my stuff, got down to the food pickup area and was standing patiently waiting for my order to be called. When the guy called "ham-egg-cheese on croissant!" I raised my hand and said, "right here!" (which is standard operating procedure when there are that many people standing around waiting for their food) at which he stopped, put the bag down at his side and stared at me. Stared straight into my eyes. I wasn't sure what was going on so I gave him a "thank you for my breakfast sandwhich, kind sir" smile and sort of inched my hand forward to grab my bag. He did not make a move to hand it to me, he just kept right on staring. It was a weird stare, too. One that contained what I perceived to be disapproval or malice (or like I was a ghost or something). At this point I started looking around to see if there was someone behind me because I really couldn't figure out what the deal was, but he was definitely looking at me. He never said anything, just kept staring. This went on for a full 60 seconds before he finally handed me my bag and I ran away.

When I got to my office I pulled out my mirror to make sure I didn't have anything on my face or that my bangs hadn't slipped to form some sort of obscene symbol or something (I didn't and they hadn't). I'm not sure what it was that was so offensive about me today, but it sure must have been something. I might have to stop going into that particular Dunkin' Donuts if Creepy McStaresatyou is going to be there. Which is ok, there's another one on the corner. :)

Garbage Plate

First, FYI I've been trying to get this post up since Monday. Work seems to be totally getting in the way of that. Work and the fact that I didn't sleep essentially all last weekend and I am an old woman who cannot handle things like that and have been a crazy zombie all week. :)

Last weekend in Rochester I was introduced to the wonder of something called the garbage plate. I use the term 'wonder' as loosely as possible. Basically, it's a plate about half covered with pasta salad (or mac salad, to use the lingo), and the other half is covered with french fries. On top of that they layer either two cheeseburger patties or two hot dogs (your choice) which they then smother with, if you so desire, onions, mustard and hot sauce. You can then add a side of bread just in case that's not quite enough for you and of course they provide as much ketchup and steak sauce as you could possibly want. It's hard for me to relate the disgustingness of this concoction in words, so I took a picture.

Right? Nasty. I would also just like to state for the record that this was not my meal. I ordered a grilled cheese and then was somehow forced to turn that into a plate (I blame the fact that I was sitting between two individuals who create what I like to call the Vortex of Bad Judgment) but I only ate the grilled cheese and then dumped the rest of the plate onto someone else's. At any rate, it was an interesting gastro-intestinal experience. Also, there was a rather large LINE of people waiting outside the restaurant to come in and get one of these a heart attacks on a plate. So gross.

And as previously stated I've been like a zombie all week so this is pretty much the best I can do. Happy Friday!

ella ella ella (or why I am completely ridiculous)

Sometimes I'm pretty sure I could just change the title of this whole blog to "Reasons I Am Completely Ridiculous" and it would be pretty fitting for most of what I've been talking about recently. Anyway.

I have this problem with umbrellas. It's actually a three-pronged problem:

1 - I generally don't own an umbrella unless someone sees that I don't own one and, in extreme exasperation, gives or buys me one (this happens more than I care to say)

2 - When I have one I never remember to carry it unless it's definitely not going to rain, despite having the handy kind that fit in your purse (I once bought a purse that came with an umbrella inside it thinking that would solve all my problems, but it didn't work out that way)

3 - If I do have one and I am carrying it, chances are I will either break it, leave it on the bus or simply forget to use it when it's raining.

One other quick thing: I never ever check the weather before I leave my house in the morning. The only time I'm ever prepared for what the weather is going to be like is if someone happens to mention that it's going to rain/snow/be freezing the next day. This explains why on Tuesday I wore a jean jacket and flip flops when it was 30 degrees outside because it was sunny when I woke up so I figured it was like spring outside. Very scientific.

Now then. While HG was staying with me, he was very good about checking the weather and before we left my apartment in the morning he would say, "where is your umbrella!?! It's going to rain today!" and I would grab my umbrella and all would be well. Aside from the fact that my umbrella is apparently not good enough (for him). It's yellow, and it is very tiny (it's cute, my mom sent it to me, and it came with a little bag) and he made fun of it every time I carried it. Well, I brought the yellow umbrella into work a couple of weeks ago when it was raining and then it stopped raining by the end of the day and I forgot to take it home. One umbrella in the office.

In a strange twist of fate I actually had a backup umbrella for probably the first time ever, and yesterday when it was raining I brought it with me. It's kind of broken and so not entirely functional, but it was fine in a pinch. Two umbrellas in the office.

Just in case you require further proof of my umbrella issues, I give you the following:

On Tuesday we ran out of fax toner at the office. I ordered more and expected it on Wednesday morning. Clearly it didn't show up so I ran to Staples yesterday afternoon to try and get one. In the rain. I did not take either one of the umbrellas sitting in my office. I knew it was raining, and that it would be unpleasant outside. I just completely forgot about them despite the fact that one is bright yellow and they're sitting right next to my desk. So I got completely soaked (and the Staples by my office didn't even have the toner I needed. They carry the fax machine but not the toner. I hate Staples).

Yesterday evening as I was leaving work I once again left my umbrellas in my office. This time I pretty much did it on purpose because the black one was broken and therefore not much help and the yellow one is a little on the small side plus I was meeting HG for dinner and did not want to be mocked. I had to run to CVS anyway (I spend an amazing amount of time and money in CVS. It's like the poor man's Target) so I decided I'd just pick one up while I was there. You know, a "grownup" umbrella. Not tiny and cute, and not emblazoned with a Lansing Lugnuts logo (and is broken). Though I did opt for periwinkle instead of the typical black or navy. I ask you, who wants a depressing colored umbrella? If you have it with you it's already gray and rainy out, why not carry something brightly colored to counteract it?

Which brings us to today. I now have three umbrellas in my office. However, in what I hope the future will prove to be excellent planning ahead, I threw away the broken one, I have the new one in my purse/giant bag I carry everywhere and I will keep the yellow one in my office in case of an unforeseen weather situation in the future. Good plan, huh?

This weekend I am headed to Rochester, which I'm pretty excited about because it includes taking Friday afternoon off and who doesn't love that?

well rested

Have I told you how much I love a three day weekend? Oh, I have? Several times? You're sick of me rubbing it in? Okay then.

Houseguest moved out this weekend. He left early Saturday afternoon for a boys' day/night out and didn't get home until after I was in bed, then Sunday I left before he was awake to hang out at Alisa's all day. He called about 5:00 and asked what I was doing because Sacha was gonna be there soon. I asked him, "what, are you moving out today or something?" and he said, "well, actually, yea" then told me I should come see his new place around 6. I must say it caught me rather off guard. When I got home Sunday night my apartment felt HUGE. I'll miss having someone around a little, but I love having my space back.

So Sunday night we went to dinner at this little restaurant that I have no clue as to the name of (we just happened upon it) and the food was extremely delicious (Italian. Chicken Marsala. My. Favorite.) but the service was quite possibly the worst I've ever seen. This little man had absolutely no idea what he was doing. There were probably about 10 tables in the whole place, so there was only one waiter. He took kind of a long time to even notice we were sitting there, and he kept running back and forth between his station and each table putting his glasses on and taking them off again (I don't know why he couldn't just leave them on!). He never ever brought our wine, which is kind of ok (I mean not really, but this guy was seriously having issues) except he still put it on the bill. Then he took it off the bill, then he charged the credit card the original amount, then he charged it the correct amount but we do not have confirmation that the original was ever refunded. Now, picture this same scenario going on at every single table in the place. I'm not exagerrating. There was an issue with the bill of every table. It was insane.

Anyway, I did a lot of knitting over my three day weekend, including much work on these:

As well as Amy & Todd's wedding blanket (no pictures taken).

Finally, Thursday night I went to the New England Spring Flower Show and took some lovely pictures, so here are some flowers (and some kissing frogs) to get you thinking spring. :)

I have the hiccups.

Every time I go to take a bite of food. I think this could technically be a choking hazard.

Do you think it's grounds to take the rest of the day off and play outside in the sunshine?

Probably not, but at least I have a three day weekend coming up! That's right, St. Patty's day is a full-blown holiday out here (and ok it's technically called Evacuation Day) but either way you shake it I don't have to work!

And no, I am not planning to go out this year. Last year I drank for 9 hours in South Boston and let's just say it wasn't the prettiest end to an evening I've ever had (cause this girl doesn't drink beer so that's 9 hours of liquor - I'm sorry you had to read that, Mom).

The year before that I was in.... Ferndale? I know I was at B Dub's, I was with Marie and Jenny and there was a lot of tequila involved (again, sorry Mom) but I don't remember the exact location. Either way I'm sitting a year out. You know, unless something comes up.

Because

...because I can't just run over and borrow my mom's when I want to read them anymore.

...because you know there was no way I was going to get this from Netflix and not immediately want to buy it.

...because I'm always looking for something fast and easy.



...because it's just so pretty.

It's official, I'm an old lady.

And one more.....

...because Houseguest couldn't believe I would wear flipflops on March 6. (he took the picture)

this weekend's accomplishment (hopefully)

This is the first one, finished (sans woven ends) and I'm through the first band of the cuff on the 2nd one...there's a slight possibility I could finish these today! Hooray! That way I can say "this weekend I finished a pair of socks" instead of "this weekend I went to a cocktail party, drank too much wine and didn't do anything of use until I cleaned my apartment on Sunday" :)

two lessons I just can't seem to learn

There are some things that it seems like no matter how old I get or how much life experience I obtain, I still can't seem to get through my head.



The first one is: The oven is hot. If you touch something that has just been in the oven or is part of the oven it will be hot, you will get burned and it will hurt. Seemingly simple lesson, right? Something most people learn at a very young age. I'm unclear as to why this is hard for me. Just about every time I cook something, I end up touching something I shouldn't and something along the lines of "ow! #%$^@! #%&#!" comes out of my mouth. HG remarked that it's possible I should stay away from the oven/stove area, and I politely told him to be quiet.




Tuesday I felt a pressing need to make some brownies, and I had to sort of make due with a not quite right sized pan which resulted in a sort of brownie mountain. Anyway, while trying to get this mound o' brownie out of the oven (which took some maneuvering) I knocked my arm against the top rack. So this is pretty:




You know, maybe I shouldn't be allowed to use the oven after all. At least they were delicious brownies.




The other lesson I cannot seem to learn is that despite my delusions to the contrary, I am a low-maintenance hair person. In reality, the only thing I'm going to want to do to my hair on a regular basis is quickly dry it and run out the door and have it not look like crap. A low maintenance haircut is usually the best option, but I always talk myself out of it. Even when I know it's not a good decision.



Case and point yesterday. It had been a disgustingly long time since I had gotten my hair cut (like, 3 months. I know). My bangs were so long they were basically just a layer, the color was faded, the roots were grown out (thankfully not as noticeable as when I used to get blond highlights), and I was feeling rather blah about it. Usually when this happens I just chop it all off and sort of start fresh, but Toni had talked me out of that about a week ago. After discussing my options, I decided that what I really wanted was MORE layers. More dramatic! More face framing! More more more! What I failed to think about was the fact that all this would translate into MORE work I'd need to do in order to make my hair look reasonable. No longer can I just quickly run a hair dryer over my head and let the pieces fall where they may. I will have to spend actual time and take actual care. The chances of this actually happening day-to-day are slim to none. I have been learning this lesson repeatedly for approximately 20 years and I still can't get it right. Oh well, here's hoping, right? Maybe this time I'll make the effort (today doesn't count. Today I was unprepared) and I'll actually take time to get ready in the morning and make sure I look nice.



You know, and maybe the Lions will win the Superbowl this year.

10 Things That Creep Me Out

The following is a list of things/people that make me want to stop whatever I'm doing, go home and take a shower because they're creepy and gross. In no particular order:

1. People who eat on public transportation. For example: the woman sitting by me on the train last week who was scarfing down on some sort of strong smelling glazed pastry and then proceeded to take a gallon of milk out of the shopping bags she had with her and just start chugging. I wanted to throw up when she pulled out the milk.

2. People with excessively long hair who don't keep track of it. Another train story (which I don't think I've told before, but so sorry if I have). A woman with hair approximately down to her bottom sat next to me on the train one day and apparently was not at all bothered with the fact that her ridiculous mane of nastiness (it was not well-cared for hair) was now all over my shoulder, my arm, touching my neck (I am gagging just reliving the memory). I made an exaggerated shift to try and get as much of it off me as possible, and she noticed (admittedly, it would have been hard not to) and moved her hair back to her person. With an exaggerated sigh as though this was a huge inconvenience to her and I was being unreasonable. I don't care if you have to pull it back, tuck it in your coat, or cut it off, but just keep it off me, lady! I would also like to point out that the same process was repeated at the next stop when someone sat down on the other side of her. It's not just me.

3. The mouse running around the ceiling of my office. There is construction across the street right now and the weather is warming up (kind of) which means there are mice in the building (it's the city, this is a fact of life). I can hear this one's little feet scratching as it runs back and forth across my ceiling. The reason this creeps me out is because I'm afraid it will fall through the ceiling one of these times and land on my neck (much like the spider that caused the Mailbox Incident of 2000). The chances of this actually happening are quite small, as the mice in this building are TINY (I've seen them) and definitely not big enough to cause a ceiling tile to fall, but I still cringe every time I hear those tiny feet. Luckily we have an exterminator who comes in once a week so this will be short lived. I hope.

4. The inside of a bag of chips. I love chips. Particularly tortilla chips with taco sauce (I don't like salsa because I don't like the chunks, so I substitute). However, I don't like to reach my hand into the bag because it's next to impossible to get the hand all the way in to the chips and back out again without getting chip residue on the back of it. Because of this, when I'm eating the little single serving bags you get with a sub or something, I cut the front of the bag off Parent Trap-style (the old version, with Haylie Mills, the skirt at the dance?) in order to keep my hands as clean as possible. When I'm eating out of a larger bag, I'll cut down the top as I go so that there's enough at the top to fold over and re-close the bag, but not so much that I have to really go digging for the desired chip.

5. Things that have been refrigerated for longer than about two weeks. For whatever reason, when something hits that two week mark, I really have to force myself to eat it. I've gotten better about making sure that something has actually gone bad before I throw it out, especially since I (theoretically) live on a budget and it's not good to just throw away food willy-nilly. Along this same vein, if I have leftovers in a tupperware for too long and the leftovers are not good any longer, chances are pretty high that depending on what it is (i.e. how liquidy), I'll throw away the leftovers and the tupperware. I'm kind of weird about food. I also don't like eating stuff out of the fridge if the floor is dirty.

6. Deli meat that's been sitting out just long enough to get that slightly slimy feel. You know what I mean. When you're at a deli buffet kind of thing and you pick up the tongs and you can just feel the tiny layer of slime. Gross gross gross.

7. People who treat public restrooms like their home bathroom. There are times when I can overlook this one because I've been guilty of it, if I'm going out after work and I have my going out clothes and stuff with me (though I always try my best to be considerate of other people and/or only do it if no one else is in the bathroom). But it grosses me out when people come in and spread their stuff all over the counter, the floor, etc, and leave it there while they go about their business. This is not your house. Kindly do not get your makeup dust everywhere! And stop looking at me as though I'm going to steal your things! If it's a concern, don't leave them laying around everywhere!

8. People who cough and hack all over the place without covering their mouth, especially on the train. Yes, it's cold season. Many people are sick. Maybe you have a job that absolutely requires you to be there, even if you're on your death bed. But seriously, didn't your mother ever teach you to cover your mouth when you cough? You're spreading germs EVERYWHERE.

9. Men with really long fingernails and/or toenails. I always want to ask, "Why do you have those? What purpose do they serve? Cut them!" Yuck.

10. People with a really strong personal odor who touch my stuff. I used to work with a guy who had a REALLY strong (and kind of unpleasant) personal smell. And then he would touch my stuff and the smell would linger on whatever he touched after he left. I remember one day he came in and I was eating lunch and he just stuck his hand in my bag of food and helped himself. I had to throw it away, it was very sad. And anyway, who just goes around touching other people's food without asking permission? That is a definite level of friendship violation (but that's a whole other post)

Wow, it was a lot harder to come up with 10 of these than I thought it would be. And I know that later I'll get home and think of about a billion other ones that I couldn't remember now when I was trying to actually document them.

Anyway, what creeps you out?

I am the absent-minded professor

Last night I lost my house keys for 30 minutes.

I knew I'd had them Saturday night, because we managed to get in the apartment (Houseguest put his key in one of his 24632324 jackets and can't remember which one - yes, he's still here, the apartment didn't pan out). I didn't leave at all on Sunday (I had a very busy day of staying in my pajamas and alternately napping, reading and movie watching) so they had to be there somewhere. Also, ever since Houseguest came to stay (24 days ago) I have done my best to keep the place as neat and clean as possible because it's not the biggest place and the addition of Houseguest and all his belongings did not exactly make it any bigger.

They had to be there somewhere.

I do tend to lose my keys approximately 5 times a week, for about 30 seconds each time. When I first noticed they were missing, I wasn't terribly concerned. However, when I reached minute 7 keyless, my anxiety level started to rise. My imagination started running through all sorts of possibilities, #1 being that I had accidentally left them in the front door when we got home Saturday night and some crazy neighbor had taken them without saying anything and was secretly plotting when he could come in and kill us in our sleep (I know, I'm a freak, and yes this was an actual concern though where I live is very safe and I doubt anyone actually wants to kill me). I started pacing through the apartment faster and faster, looking on every surface and moving stuff around in order to find the missing keys.

During this time, HG was laying on the couch/his bed lamenting the fact that he still hadn't found an apartment (and his life is so hard, nothing ever goes his way blah blah blah blah blah) until I explained in the friendliest, most patient way I could (I know what you're thinking, and you're right) that his time could be better spent helping me find my keys, particularly if he didn't want to quickly find himself homeless. We searched through and overturned everything in the apartment. I checked the front door. I checked the mail table downstairs, I checked the bathroom cupoards, the refrigerator, every drawer in my bedroom. I emptied every purse, bag, wallet that I own. Then HG checked everything again just to be sure. I had just about lost my mind and resigned myself to the fact that we were going to get murdered by one of the crazy neighbors (my money was on the grouchy guy downstairs who was kind of annoying and helpless when my shower was draining into his apartment the first weekend he moved in. As if it were my fault that the plumbing is crap and he didn't have a phone yet) when I heard the familiar jingle and breathed a pretty big sigh of relief. The keys were finally found in the middle of a pile of clothes on the makeshift clothing shelf situation I built a few months ago (actually folded into a shirt, I believe). I have no idea how they got there.

Thursday I left my apartment without my cell phone (this can be blamed on HG, who had the TV on and didn't turn it off when he left. This distracted me to an unbelievable level. I can't handle the TV in the morning. Plus, I like to blame pretty much everything on HG) and I felt as though half of me was missing that day.

Saturday evening I lost my purse for about 2 minutes, because it was sneakily sitting in the middle of the floor. Who would have though to look there? I think it was disguised as a rock, like those magic cloaks in Lord of the Rings [sidenote: Saturday night we watched 300 over at Sacha's. This was the first time I'd seen it. The narrator's voice was very familiar to me, and then when they showed him, I said, "Holy crap, is that Faramir?" All three of the boys looked at me as though I were totally insane and that's when I realized that I'm a way bigger nerd than any of them. I'm pretty sure they've never read those books or seen any of the movies. And yes, I own all the books and all the movies]

Imagine my happiness when I got to work this morning and discovered that I was missing my building ID badge. It turned out I'd left it on my desk Friday afternoon so it's not lost (because that would have been the second one in as many weeks), but all morning I've been repeatedly looking all around me to make sure I still know where everything of importance I carry with me is. As though at any moment all these objects are going to make a break for it.

Oh well, at least I remembered my cell phone today, I am fully dressed and have my contacts in, I have makeup on and am wearing matching shoes. For the time being, we'll put Monday in the win column.

you wouldn't like me when I'm angry

OK seriously.

My replacement disc of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was cracked. Yes, ANOTHER cracked disc. I gave up trying to watch that movie.

I got Season one of Sex and the City on DVD because I'd like to try and watch all of it before the movie comes out in May. Instead of disc 1 and disc 2, however, I got two copies of disc 1. One of the envelopes contained the wrong movie.

I am getting close to losing my good natured-ness about all the screw ups. I just want to put that out there. :)