November 2007 Archives

From a 5-star Amazon user review of a wooden Hogwarts Express (platform 9 3/4) sign: i was very impressed with the speed in which i received this purchase. it was in great condition and my son who is in college loved it. he hung it above his door so that everyone who leaves his dorm room will be heading for platform 9 and 3/4. I ordered several Harry Potter items for my son for his birthday. He took them all to college withhim and his friends have designated his dorm room "The coolest room" in the hall. it is "the" room to hang out in. thanks for helping me make my sons birthday a huge hit! I bet...

Note, coming much too late, for anyone who hasn't clicked this link yet: The photos are disturbing. The man's extremities are covered in root-like growths. It is an unbelievable and, apparently for some people I know, nauseating sight. Just look at this poor guy. Apparently he's featured in a show on the Discovery Channel tonight at 9. I'd like to watch it... but my stupid Thursday shows are going to get in the way. I've always had a fascination with medical mysteries. Especially ones with happy endings.

Had a lovely Saturday night/Sunday early morning with Anna and Dave (who was in the city for a short visit). Dave and Mike and I got off to a fairly early start with the drinking, and after having a Frenchy dinner continued the theme by going to a bar called Dirty Pierre. We didn't stay long though, since we had to intercept Anna on her way from the subway to our place, so we ended up booking it down Austin St. It's cold -- I got a bit of lung burn from walking fast and gulping cold air. Mike made us his new specialty: a drink he calls "Red-Headed Stepchild." He created this drink a few days ago when we were partying by ourselves. It's quite similar to our Famous Dwaynes, except for Heightened Taste Sensation. Just combine vodka, triple sec, grenadine, orange curacao, a splash of orange juice, cranberry-grape juice, and Red Bull. Yeah, fruity, but don't knock it till you've tried it! I pulled out the Super Nintendo, and we all played Mario Kart and (when Mario Kart kept blacking out in the middle of races) Super Mario Bros. 3. So, basically it was a flashback to college. This went on till roughly 3:30, and we were all pretty tanked. It was oodles of fun! Last night Mike and I went to bed at 9:30. It was splendid. And yet I still wanted to sleep more this morning. You know how David Copperfield is being charged with rape? And you know how it's come out that his assistants would, at his instigation, interview and photo audience members that he was interested in, then invite them to his islands in the Bahamas? And you know how some women have come out saying that he ogled them at shows and that his assistants would try to get them away from their husbands/boyfriends for the purposes of interviewing/photographing/luring-them-to-the-Bahamas? No? Oh. Anyway, Mike and I tried to get tickets to David Copperfield when we were in Vegas. And all I can say is, thank God it was sold out. Because what would have happened if we had gone? What if David Copperfield had seen me? What if he had seen me?

And the prize for Best-Named Bygone (I Think) Chicago Theater Company goes to... the "Dinglefest" Theatre Company. They have an ad in an old journal series I'm deleting from our library holdings. I thought it was amusing. In other horrific news, I had a cringe-worthy encounter yesterday morning. I'm blind as a bat without glasses or my contacts in, so when I take my morning shower before work, my surroundings are nothing but fuzzy colored blobs because a) I can't put in my contacts when my eyes won't open at 6:48 AM (okay... 6:57 on most days, 7:06 on others), and b) it's silly to wear glasses in the shower. I started the water, as usual, got in once it was hot enough, and noted that the hair trap (or hair-trap-shaped blob) looked dark. "Ew," I thought, "I must have not cleaned it out when I washed my hair yesterday. I'll have to do that before Mike yells at me." I continued doing what I was doing. Two minutes later, my eyes caught movement. I looked down and saw a rather large dark blob emerge from the center of the hair trap and start moving rapidly towards my feet. I yelped and dove out. No, my leftover hair had not become mobile and vengeful. It was a cockroach. About an inch-and-a-half long. My eyesight is so bad that I had no idea the darkness in the hair trap was in fact a huge-ass bug. I threw a towel on and literally ran to the kitchen to get the Raid. Then I sprayed the fucker. It ran in circles around the tub, trying to get away from the flaming stream of death I was raining down upon it. Then it finally died on its back, and I had to get rid of it. I used about four paper towels. And then I sprayed down the tub with Lysol. I was shaken for a while after. I've started checking the tub very closely before getting in.