Detail of a Vera Wang wedding dress. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

file under: celebration , reallife , wedding Posted by Jen at 3:19 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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file under: celebration , reallife Posted by Jen at 9:53 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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When a librarian finds a murdered historian in the undocumented vaults of the library, she discovers that magic, unusable for centuries, is returning to the world, and those who once wielded it are returning to take back their homeland.

file under: celebration , fantasy , reallife , writings Posted by Jen at 11:39 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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file under: celebration , muses Posted by Jen at 11:07 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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It's raining out there, but I'm sure we can manage to celebrate somehow...

(via cakewrecks.)

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:49 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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I guess I'm officially an adult: I closed on a house yesterday. I have my very own address. Excuse me while I squee.

--ZOMG keys!--

Ahem. It's small but well proportioned and just the right size for me. There is so much work to be done, but eventually it will look really nice, and be, you know, livable with actual appliances and furniture.

One of these days I'll have a painting party and you can all come. I'll have a reason to use the tiny grill. And for those of you who don't want to get your hands dirty, yes, I believe I'll have a housewarming party too Details to follow...sometime.

I'm excited. My bank account cries, and I'm sore already from lugging purchases and cleaning, but this is a good thing. An investment in my future--a life step, a part of the American Dream. Now all I have to do is write the Great American Novel and I can get out of debt. *wink wink*

file under: celebration , reallife Posted by Jen at 11:38 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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AttS is SEVEN today!

My parents celebrate their anniversary and my friend Kate and my coworker Gordon (sorry I can't be there for drinks) can tally up another year on this day.

Huzzah to all of you.

If you're in town looking for something to do (other than the book fair, that is), head on over to the St. Charles Spring Artwalk. My mom will be displaying her artwork at 222 N Main Street, and there is plenty of parking behind the building. We'll be there all weekend, so why don't you stop by and say hi, and pick up a gift for Mother's Day?

Happy weekend, all

file under: art , celebration , reallife Posted by Jen at 1:24 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Because I'm a geek, here's a list of what I've read this year. I'll keep updating the page all year, so I can finally write one of those "books I've read last year" posts when the New Year rolls around again And if you really wanted to, you could click on the book covers and buy a book from Amazon, and I'll get a few pennies

Check it out.

Oh, and happy half-birthday to me. Tomorrow it's off to a bachelorette party! Whoo! Hope I planned enough fun. I probably don't have to worry...drinks are fun no matter what, and I bet that's mostly what we'll do Huzzah Leo!

  A Kiss Before the Apocalypse, Thomas E Sniegoski
file under: books , celebration Posted by Jen at 5:40 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Have a great new year! Have some nian gao and dumplings.

  Shadow's Edge, Brent Weeks
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 2:18 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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from The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)

Huzzah, Barak Obama. Good luck, Prez.

Also...Moonlight comes out on dvd today. A shame that CBS canceled the show; sometimes networks just don't get it.

More? Make your own Obamicon here.

  Mean Streets, Jim Butcher et al.
file under: celebration , politics Posted by Jen at 9:56 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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I've celebrated Orlando's birthday every year since 2002...nearly forgot this time, but it would be a shame to stop now. Images courtesy ka-bloom.org and sxc.hu.

  The Way of Shadows, Brent Weeks
file under: celebration , orlando Posted by Jen at 5:04 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Because I'm lame and busy and have no time to make a spiffy graphic. This has always been one of my favorite Christmas commercials. Merry merry Christmas to all of you and have a very happy holiday season.

  Just finished The Eight by Katherine Neville
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 3:56 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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I've heard this on the radio recently, and it's a lot of fun. I've just started listening to Christmas music willingly (though I can't find one cd, and it's driving me batty), so even though it's not quite 12 days till Christmas, I thought I'd give you a gift...

  Anathem, Neal Stephenson
file under: celebration , music Posted by Jen at 9:34 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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I did it! 50k in 28 days, boo-yah! Ashley had this silly little idea that since she crossed the 50k finish line on the 24th (and she's 24 this year) that I should try to finish on the 28th (since I'm 28, and man do I feel old). Well, I did. YES WE CAN.

And I'm not done with the story, but I'm close. I know, I know, I say that every year, but this time I think I mean it. I think.

The ending is much better than the beginning. Makes it more fun. That's good when you have to write 233 words in 7 minutes in order to slide in the official word count before midnight...

Now to finish it. (Yes, I quoted A Knight's Tale.)

ETA, whoa. Win No. 5. Five years I've been doing this. Five stories I've wrangled out of my brain. I might actually be a writer someday.

  Marry Me, PotC:AWE Remixed
  Odd Thomas, Dean Koontz
file under: celebration , writings Posted by Jen at 11:59 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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PS: NaNo starts tomorrow! I'm excited to get writing. For a synopsis of this year's story, read on...

Red Skirts

When a girl sees a woman in a skirt of the forbidden red disappear, she leaves behind her corseted life and follows the woman to a brothel where a roll in the hay can be magical and where the mad baron's son may not be dead after all-- much to the dismay of his supposed killer, who's come back to finish the job.

(Thanks to Ash, Queen of the Summary)

  Teardrop, Massive Attack (the House theme song)
  Blood Lite, a humorous horror anthology with a story by Jim Butcher
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 8:55 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Let's hear it for the beginning of the season of pretty trees.

Also, huzzah to the Drumsticks, who capped off their week 22 of 12 with a winning the post-season tournament! Three games, played a week after they were scheduled, thanks to Hurricane Ike's leftovers, one beaned ankle (mine, because I *still* can't field freakish direct-to-the-second-baseman ground balls), and one fake-marble trophy later, you get this.

And happy birthday, Mike. Hope you enjoyed your cake. It is not a lie!

  Inara's Suite, Firefly sdtk
  Hell and Earth, Elizabeth Bear
file under: celebration , getmoving Posted by Jen at 10:29 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Thank you, Michael. You're sweet.

  Saving Josh, Trevor Morris, from Moonlight
  King Arthur's Britain: A Photographic Odyssey
file under: celebration , reallife Posted by Jen at 10:59 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Sometimes I forget how much I love it.

Take right now, for example: I have this idea for this year's NaNo that it will have a quasi-Victorian setting, maybe based on reality, maybe a little steampunk, so I looked up books on Victorian history. For those keeping score, that was when Queen Victoria ruled England, circa 1840-1870. I now own three books on Victorian history, because not only are the books full of information and juicy little tidbits that will pad out my daily word count nicely, but sometimes they're just hilarious. I'm sure that someday people will look back at our time and wonder what we were thinking, because that's what's happening when I read these. And I'm having fun. I like learning. History can be interesting!

But I'm not the sort of person to seek out nonfiction books normally. I have to have a good reason. And research for NaNo is a pretty darn good reason.

This is why I know I could be a professional writer. Because I don't mind the research. It's quite fun to absorb all the bits of information during the research phase then have them suddenly coalesce in a somewhat coherent whole during the draft phase.

Here's to research. May it never get boring.

And here's to me, who got a whole lot of books (and the 2nd season of Heroes), because it's that little thing known as my birthday. Huzzah.

  The Hound and the Falcon, Judith Tarr and Inside the Victorian House, Judith Flanders
file under: books , celebration , reallife , thoughts , writings Posted by Jen at 12:33 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Enjoy your summer.

Yes, I know I'm a few hours late. I was helping my parents get ready for a neighborhood garage sale. Fun!

Seriously, though, tomorrow I'm hitting Missouri Bakery (which you'd have to look up as Missouri Baking Co.) and falling in love with their strawberry tarts and apple cream cheese tarts. I love summer, heat and humidity and all.

  Traitor's Moon, Lynn Flewelling
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 12:22 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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This is a big day.

Happy Anniversary to my parents. I'm so proud of you for staying together and staying in love. <3 <3 <3

Happy Birthday to Kate and Gordon! *party*

And this website turns six. Six years I've been doing this. Six years of very infrequent blogging and not so often with the layout changes...

I really should have gotten a new layout up. I've got one almost ready, but I've been a bit stymied by the changes MT4 made to their default code, so it's...not...quite...there yet. Soon.

Still writing, still reading, still dreaming. Have a great day, folks.

  New Moon, Stephenie Meyer (yes, again)
file under: celebration , reallife , webetcetera Posted by Jen at 10:04 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.
--Erasmus

Also, as you see by the picture, Jim Butcher's new Dresden Files book, Small Favor, comes out today. Normally, I would come in a little late to work, having run by Borders when it opens at 9. But the Borders I normally go to had an underground water main break at the end of February. 18 inches of water on the first floor (which is where the sci-fi/fantasy section is, sob), enough that it buckled the floorboards. So it's been out of commission for a while, which is SO SAD. I'm having Borders withdrawal. Not all hope is lost, though. There is a Barnes and Noble nearby, and a Waldenbooks in the mall. However, I have a 40% off coupon for Borders/Waldenbooks, so I don't want to go to B&N. But the Waldenbooks doesn't open until 10. Woe. So I have to wait until after work to get the book. I guess I'll deal. It's just a book. *goes off and cries, especially since she forgot her lunch today*

Of course, once I finally get the book, that means that the afghan, which currently has ALL 64 FREAKING SQUARES crocheted and two whole sections sewn up, will have to wait. I will finally have a large project to show off! If Mike's cat doesn't claim it all as her own, of course...

  The Blood King, Gail Z Martin (at least until I get Small Favor)
file under: books , celebration Posted by Jen at 9:51 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Thursday was the first day of spring.

Today, it's snowing.

Happy Easter, all.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 9:51 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Happy St. Pat's.

Being that it's a Monday it's unlikely that I'll be able to do any actual partying, but I'll lift my virtual green beer just the same.

And for your Irish edification: An A to Z of Irish Culture, courtesy of author John Scalzi, who is a funny guy and you should read his stuff anyway.

file under: celebration , education Posted by Jen at 9:36 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Enjoy your hearts and flowers, if it applies...and if it doesn't, know there is someone out there for you too.

*kiss*

  3x5, John Mayer

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 11:35 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Gung hai fat choi! Welcome to the year of the Rat.

A Rat Year is a time of hard work, activity, and renewal. This is a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start. Ventures begun now may not yield fast returns, but opportunities will come for people who are well prepared and resourceful. The best way for you to succeed is to be patient, let things develop slowly, and make the most of every opening you can find.

(from here.)

Here's hoping it goes well for you.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 9:42 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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So if you've been reading this blog for a while, you might know that the writer's group that I participate in has written an anthology of short stories based on landmarks of St. Louis. I'm in it, with a modern day faerie tale that takes place at the Muny (the Municipal Theater in Forest Park, the oldest and largest outdoor amphitheater in America, with trees growing out of the stage...)

And by golly, the book is out! You can check out the page at www.toastedraviolibook.com (though there's not much there at the moment) which has a link to buying the book online, do a book search on Amazon for Toasted Ravioli, or (the best way) ask me for a book in person. That way you get a discount and a signed copy and I (or the group) gets more money.

Or better yet, come to our first signing this Saturday (tomorrow, eek) the 26th of January at Legacy Books, 5249 Delmar (at Union) from 12 pm to 5 pm. All the authors will be there, so you can get a full complement of signatures on your new book, and the authors will read from their work. There should also be a Q&A session for the curious.

I hope to see you there!

  No Such Thing, John Mayer
  Hood, Stephen Lawhead
file under: books , celebration , reallife , writings Posted by Jen at 12:40 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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...to Orlando. Still the prettiest.

file under: celebration , orlando Posted by Jen at 3:17 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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I got three hours of sleep last night thanks to this wonderful book. Carol Berg stays at the top of my favorite authors list with this one, because it kept me reading from 8 pm until 5 am. Yes, 5 am. Oh, there were interruptions of dinner and a chat with the roommate and Pirates 3 (it was quiet in the apartment, what can I say? I have to stare at Orlando), so I could have finished sooner, I suppose.

Not quite the less-than-six-hours marathon of finishing HP 7, but close. I never wanted to sleep. I begrudged the time it took to shower and get ready for bed. Valen is as real to me as anyone, and I could see him in my mind as he leapt and danced, which is not at all usual (a phrase often applied to Valen in the book). I have a hard time visualizing characters, but my hands are itching to take a shot at drawing what I see for him.

I felt like a bad fan. I knew this book was coming out and I was looking for it, but I didn't know the exact release date, so I was actually a little late getting it. It wasn't until Carol sent out her sweet little email yesterday that I knew it was even available, and you can be sure that the hours I had to wait until I could leave work and head off to Borders were pretty darn long. But I have it now, and I'll be riding the high from reading it for a while.

I had to finish. It was too wonderful to stop, and I honestly didn't want to. Well done, Carol. Words can't express how happy I was to be reading it. It makes me want to write that well, and I hope I come close. I love Valen so much right now. For once, my speculations were right, but the story never made it too obvious.

So nice to read the rest of the story I got a glimpse of during those private readings with Carol at Archon in August. What a fitting conclusion to Flesh & Spirit.

Sleep deprivation will hit me a little later, but it was worth it.

  John Mayer, "Say"
  on to "Iron Kissed," Patricia Briggs, after last night's B&B marathon
file under: books , celebration , fantasy , reviews Posted by Jen at 10:25 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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May 2008 bring you nothing but good things.

I had a thought today that writing is my own personal kind of magic. I can make anything I want to happen, whenever and however I want, exactly the way I see it in my head. I get to shape things to my desire, until the story takes on a life of its own and runs away to do its own thing.

If I can't have magic for real, at least I can do it by writing.

Bonne annee!

  Split Screen Sadness, John Mayer
  Dust, Elizabeth Bear
file under: celebration , muses Posted by Jen at 5:26 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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moar funny pictures

Because I really want to get out of here. It's my last day at work before 2008. Weird, huh? Hope you are doing something fun this holiday!

  Tiny Dancer, Elton John
  The Subtle Knife, Phillip Pullman
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 3:46 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Today is a very good day. Pirates 3 comes out on dvd, Jim Butcher's latest Codex Alera book, Captain's Fury, comes out today, AND I had a 40% coupon for a dvd box set, so I am up to Season 5 of Buffy.

Jen is a happy girl. If only work wasn't in the way. I'll still probably finish Captain's Fury before the day is over, regardless.

And maybe Saturday, a Pirates marathon at Mike-of-NaNo's apartment. Whoo!

  Captain's Fury, Jim Butcher
file under: books , celebration , movies , orlando Posted by Jen at 10:06 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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It's snowing, a little, this Thanksgiving night. Not a lot, and it won't stick. It was in the 70s yesterday, after all. But that's St. Louis for you.

Thought I'd make a note of what I'm thankful for. Even though I'm still about a thousand words behind in NaNo and I don't know when they're gonna get writ. They will though. Oh yes, they will.

Most of all, I'm thankful for my family. I am so grateful that I have parents that love me and that I can wholeheartedly say that I love them back. We have our issues and who doesn't, but we get over them. I love my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents, and thank God so much that we can get together on days like this.

I'm thankful for the friends I have. The number is small and I still get lonely, but I'm working on both those things. Here's to friends new and old.

I'm thankful that I can write. Sometimes awfully and sometimes not so awfully. I'm glad I have a dream, and I hope I never ose it. And I hope that my gift (I have to think of it that way, or NaNo would kill me) will lead to some small recognition.

I'm thankful that I'm healthy, for the most part, and still in possession of a relatively fast metabolism. Though I need a workout buddy.

I'm thankful that I have a job and a car, and (usually) enough money to pay for the things I need. And some that I just want.

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Stay warm and give someone a hug. They say you need 5 hugs a day to stay healthy. I got that today. Hope you did too.

  The Fall of the Kings, Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:12 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Check this out: I have written 11724 words of Forging the Forest (working title, anyway), and I needed to hit 11667 today. Go me! I'm on track and ahead by a few. I believe, in the four years that I've been doing NaNo, this is the earliest I've ever been ahead, if indeed I've ever been ahead before the month was almost over...let's see if I can't stay this way.

My cousin's wedding was wonderful, I got my dress sewn and was complimented numerous times on it (though they're all family, so dunno how much of that was just familial bias or awe at the fact that I actually, yanno, took the time to sew something versus an actual appreciation of the design of the dress), finished knitting the fingerless mitts (though they, and the HP scarf, need to be blocked), and my mom's show went well last weekend. She's got another one this weekend, so if you are in the Lou and need some christmas presents, stop on by...

and I finished Elemental Magic, a romance anthology which includes a short story by my favorite author Carol Berg. So sweet to realize the characters are (SPOILER) characters we (sort of) know. Hers was quite the best in the book. I could be biased, I realize.

I wrote 2400 words today. Not quite as good as yesterdays almost 3k, but pretty darned good. I almost don't know what to do with myself. Guess I'll get a little extra sleep.

What did you do today?

  Why Georgia, John Mayer
  Guess I should return Austenland to the library. Back to Leven Thumps 2.
file under: books , celebration , reviews , writings Posted by Jen at 12:12 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Have a great Pumpkin day!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:37 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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I turn 27 today, the 27th. Supposedly that's the 'royal' birthday, or magic birthday, or whatever you like to call it. Pretty cool, regardless. Happy birthday to me. *cheers* I'll have dinner with family tonight, and I spent the past weekend in Chicago with friends, so it's been a very nice yearly ritual. And there's a full moon tonight, whoo.

To my two cousins who share my birthday: enjoy it! Let's have a good day.

  "Problem Girl," Rob Thomas

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(doo da, doo da)

...but I can't tell you or Carol Berg will kill me, haha. This weekend at Archon I had the privilege of hearing some of the beginning of Carol's next book, Breath and Bone at a private reading. According to her, I'm one of about 7 people who know. Sweet! The book comes out in January, and I'm even more keen to read it now than I was after the end of the first book in the Lighthouse Duet, Flesh and Spirit when it came out in May. Excuse me while I squee.

Archon (the St. Louis sci-fi/fantasy/comics/pop-culture convention that's really in Collinsville IL) was very good. I debated about going for quite a while, because it was so expensive this year. Archon 31 was also NASFiC, since Worldcon was awarded to a non-North American site (Yokohama, Japan). It was, therefore, a national con and not a regional one, and theoretically worth more, I guess. I have very limited con experience, so I can't tell you if it really was bigger than normal (though some of my new con friends say it wasn't). I knew Carol Berg would be there, and I really wanted to see what she had to say. I took at look at the programming and decided that it would be worth it to pay that much, and indeed, it was. Thank goodness I have a car that could make the forty-mile round trip now.

There were quite a few writing panels, and I've got many notes which are going to live in my manuscript folder. It was pretty cool to interact with authors and agents, some of whom I've only encountered on blogs. And it's doubly cool to actually talk with the authors, most of whom are really nice and surprisingly approachable, especially for a shy girl like me (unless I'm talking about myself, sigh. then I seem to run on forever). It was wonderful to actually have a discussion with one of my favorite authors about writing (Carol sat down with me for an entire hour) and get some great advice. I was really intending to sit down this evening and write some on my novel, but the computer thwarted me with its one-two punch of slowness and browser-crashing in the middle of my entry, sigh.

It wasn't just writing. I went to panels on Harry Potter and Firefly, attended a workshop on Irish Ceili dancing and belly dancing, and saw the SFWA Musketeers demonstrate fencing techniques.Saw my cousin Brian, but didn't get to attend any of his panels. The writing panels really made it worth it, even if the days were looong.

I had a couple of mini-epiphanies about the novel while at panels, so that's good. I've just got to get the damn thing going. I can't believe how far I haven't gotten in the story, sigh. The workshops are going to be helpful, though, especially ones like Writing Realistic Violence and Plots that Work. And of course Carol's very good advice. I still can't believe I got to monopolize an author like that. She was very nice about it. I felt awfully stalkerish. Some people want to meet movie stars or sports celebs; I geek out over authors. She had some helpful hints for the anthology which I need to follow up on, and she had a dedicated cadre of fans that followed her around the whole weekend, so I made some new friends. Thank you, Carol, this weekend meant alot to me.

Maybe I'll fit in a little writing before it's time for bed...

(incidentally, this is entry 700 for this blog. Sheesh. I know not all of them are pithy and meaningful, but it seems a large number to me...)

file under: books , celebration , fantasy , writings Posted by Jen at 10:25 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Here there be monsters...

So here you go. After nearly a year, a new layout. Pirates, again. Sorry for the long wait. Things in RL decided to be more important. Besides, I really liked the old layout. This one isn't so fancy, but I had fun with it.

Tonight I get to see PotC 3 with Leah at 9:30. Yay for advance showings! Will let you know all about it tomorrow.

Boo for my poor little iBook which is currently (hoepfully) on its way to the Apple Depot to get a new logic board. Maybe. It has been acting really funny, but of course it acts fine for the people at the Apple Store. I actually stopped in twice, and neither time did the laptop go wonky. I made them take it anyway. It's still under warranty, after all. Here's hoping it doesn't get erased. At least I have my story file.

  "Singapore," from the At World's End soundtrack

file under: celebration , movies , orlando , webetcetera Posted by Jen at 11:15 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Five years ago this day I was down in Georgia, at Emory University, winning the 100m, the 200m, anchoring the gold-medal 4x100m team, and placing fifth in the 100m hurdles. The only time I ever openly celebrated the moment I crossed the line. Beating my "rival" Nyota Pieh, of Emory, who had won every year since in the three I won. Being part of an unbroken WU women's outdoor track conference championship streak. Getting gum on the hem of my dress on the plane ride back.

In a few hours I'll be on the road, once again on my way to Georgia, to cheer on this year's Bears. I'm missing the WU 5-year reunion and a few friends b-day parties, but this will be worth it. I was sorely tempted to try to pick up my golden spikes (no kidding. That was the only color they had, honest) as a rallying point, but that is pretty silly. I don't know where my medals are. I think I got them, unlike the ones from junior year outdoor UAAs...I'll just cheer...and try to be motivational. Life is a journey, time is a river, the door is ajar, that sort of thing...

Here's what I said the day after, all those years ago:
Well, here I am again. No more UAA competition for me.

Somebody up there really loves me.

Let's go Bears!

  something off the Blood Diamond soundtrack
  Karavans, Jennifer Roberson
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My mom is sending positive vibes my way. It's my half-birthday, you see. She hopes that this will be my year...it's about time.

There is a fine line between needing to study and needing to write. One is something I have to do, and should do, and the other is something I dearly want to do, and feel like I can be good at. Eh. Silly classes. And here I am entertaining the idea of pursuing a master's.

  Van Halen, Right Now

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laissez les bons temps roulez, and all that. Wear your green and gold and purple (which one do you think I chose to wear today?). Eat a king cake. See you on the flip side.

  All At Once, The Fray

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Happy Chinese New Year! 2007 is the Year of the Pig and also the end of the 12 year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac. I's supposed to be a prosperous year, though apparently Pigs and Monkeys don't get along so well...

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 4:10 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you have someone special to share it with. Here's hoping that next year, so will I.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:50 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Happy New Year!

It might bode ill that I'm already too tired/lazy to make a graphic for this year, but you know I'm wishing you the best...

Good luck in 2007.

  singing Auld Lang Syne

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:18 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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(pic from here)

  Amendment 2 debate on the am station

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:39 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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The St. Louis Cardinals are the World Series Champions!

all together now:
We are the champions, my friends...

Party in the Lou!

  Cardinals World Series Postgame show

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:38 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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The Cardinals are going to the World Series! Sweet! Funny parallel of two years ago...Game 7 was last night, and I had a biochem test. I remember in 2004, I had a similar night of testing for organic chem, and hoping that the Cards would have a better night than I had...let's just hope they don't get swept in the series! Go Cards!

[this is good]
etoiline.vox.com

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file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 12:11 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Happy Birthday to me

  , Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 4:48 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Celebrate your independence! Or, for my friends and coworkers across the pond, enjoy your weird day off. May you have lots of fireworks, Gandalf, and barbeque to your heart's content.

*salutes* Land of the free, home of the brave!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:55 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Aside from the stuff I have to do at work, these things happen today, all of which are pretty damn cool.

30 years and still going very strong. Here's to many, many more. Thank you for staying in love. You have no idea what it means to me.

yes indeedy, four years ago I went a little crazy and ordered my very own website. Think it's any different? Seems like so long ago. In a sort of weird coincidence, I'll be going back to campus next weekend for WILD and get to feel all student-y again, four years and a few days after I finished my last final.

Last but certainly not least:

Enjoy it, babe.

Wish me luck on the last A&P test, which I haven't really studied for (hey, I claim the MCAT had bigger designs on my time).

  Cavanaugh Park, Something Corporate
  Furies of Calderon, Jim Butcher (again)
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 12:45 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Opening Day 2006: The Cards come home to a new stadium. It sure looks cool. I hope they win today, and I wish that I could head over to the rally before the game starts. As it is, I came in early so I could get a little more work done before I see a prospective apartment. Man, I really hate the idea of moving, but I suppose it's a necessity.

I have my red on, including a hat, so they better win.

PS: 12 days to the MCAT. Anyone know how I can force these stupid equations to stay in my head?

  Endless Night (the Lion King broadway show)

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 8:26 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Sláinte, mabuhay, gom bui! (You too can toast in many different languages!) Go have some Guinness, and don't forget to wear something green...else I'd have to pinch you for not wearing my favorite color.

  Riverdance (gotta have the Celtic spirit, now)
  The Malloreon, Vol I, David Eddings
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 12:52 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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(get it? party until the cows come home?)

Hope you get to party. Me, I've got to get up early and then stay up for the writer's meetup later in the evening. Joy to all!

  How I Go, Yellowcard
  Blood Rites, Jim Butcher
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:03 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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My dad turns 60 today. Happy Birthday, Daddy! I love you!

Here's hoping for many, many more.

  Josh Groban; Canto Alla Vita

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 11:00 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Gung hai fat choi, my friends. Happy Chinese New Year! Thus begins the year of the Dog.

People born in the Year of the Dog possess the best traits of human nature. They have a deep sense of loyalty, are honest, and inspire other people's confidence because they know how to keep secrets. But Dog People are somewhat selfish, terribly stubborn, and eccentric. They care little for wealth, yet somehow always seem to have money. They can be cold emotionally and sometimes distant at parties. They can find fault with many things and are noted for their sharp tongues. Dog people make good leaders. They are compatible with those born in the Years of the Horse, Tiger, and Rabbit. (from Chinese Culture Center of SF)

And for those of you who *must* know, read on for my new look...

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 2:30 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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May the coming year be good to you

  This Road (live): Jars of Clay (on a new iPod )

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 2:39 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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It's 57 degrees outside, and it's two days till Christmas. I just love St. Louis weather. But since it is such a nice day, I think we (the family, together for Christmas for the first time in a while, yahoo!) will go to the Wild Lights at the Zoo and the Titanic exhibit at the Science Center. Whee!

Funny-ness for you:

My parents' answering machine is very good at garbling even the most clear of messages, so it's not much of a surprise that my cousin's message about tonight's activities was a little misunderstood.

My mom called her back, asking, "Did you really say 'Let's go to the tight-fisted boobies' on that message?"

"No, it was lights at the zoo."

I guess it's a little funnier when you hear it, but I laughed. Here's to leaving early on Fridays. Enjoy your holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Whatever your method of celebration, make sure you have a good time.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:10 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Say hello to Artist of Heaven. 50723 words and counting. I'm almost done with it, and I'd like to think I'd finish it tonight. Done just a few hours earlier than last year I'm happy with this one, it's got some gaping plot holes and some inconsistent characters, but it all worked together quite nicely.

Now all I have to do is study the massive amounts of muscles in the human body for the quiz tomorrow...

file under: celebration , writings Posted by Jen at 8:18 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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...so I'm only a day late. Hope you all had lots of turkey and mashed potatoes. Sooo much food, as usual, at my grandparents' house.

Since it is actually the 25th, Happy Birthday Mom! I love you.

And in writing news...you knew there was going to be writing news, didn't you? I'm three-quarters (well, 76.76%)of the way finished, with 6 days left. Let's see if I can write 11k + in the next week, shall we? All while learning the numerous muscles of the body. Oh dear.

Family is in town so hopefully we'll get to do lots of fun things and I will avoid spending too much money, because unfortunately rent is due soon. Can't wait to see RENT in theaters and Wicked! this weekend. Whee!

Somewhere in there I'm going to have to figure out when to write. Wish me luck...and let me know who you think should be the winner of a fight between the archangel Gabriel and the Devil.

Sleep!

  Ben Jelen, Give It All Away
  Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
file under: celebration , writings Posted by Jen at 12:17 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Yay! I got my iBook back yesterday instead of today (or later in the week) and it was just fine. They said the main logic board had failed, and was replaced, and since it's still under warranty, it didn't cost me a thing! Sweet.

Of course, the silly thing is, even though I got the laptop back last night, I still only wrote about 730 words. Unfortunately that's less than half of what I needed. Behind already. Alas. But I'm working on it. I have more ideas still! I was just busy studying...you know, for that class I'm taking? We have a quiz tomorrow with twice the questions that are normally on the quiz, and that means I have to know all the parts of a skull. I'm screwed.

Oh well. I'm just glad that the comp is back and in working order. Of course it came back fine, but I don't trust my luck enough to not worry about it. And man was it weird to not have access to one for the weekend.

This week starts off a very busy month at work...lots of important studies going on. Unfortunately I can't take off work the day that the fourth HP movie comes out, nor can I attend a midnight premiere the evening before. Because while I can live with three hours of sleep, it's probably a bad idea the night before wielding sharp instruments. I might be able to finagle it so I can leave early and catch a matinee showing on opening day, but that night I have to help my parents set up for the big Parkway South Craft Show. Saturday I'll be at one of two craft shows, if my mom gets into the second one, so I might not be able to attend that day either. Sigh. I know that it's silly to be attached to a fandom like this, but I really do want to see it, and I hate waiting. Did I mention how I'm very much pro-instant gratification?

Wish me luck on NaNo. Bad idea to fall behind on the first day, but at least I've got the time to make it up I must remember to actually cook something for dinner tonight, though. It's been too long. Pasta here I come!

  The Lunatic Cafe
file under: celebration , webetcetera Posted by Jen at 9:34 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Enjoy your day of required costuming (or not) and don't eat too much candy!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:35 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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So I had my first A&P test last night. The prof gives us two answer sheets, one for him and one to keep, and he puts out the answer key right after the test. And I checked said answer sheet, and unless I mis-circled an answer on the turned in answer sheet, I got all of them right. Hot damn! I think that might be the first aced college test I ever had. Hopefully the rest of the class will go so well. Will have a take-home test in lab this week and then a practical next week. The overall grade is the average of the class and the lab...so far doing much much better in lecture than lab, which is odd, b/c usually it's the other way 'round for me.

(we'll just forget about the part where I was too sick to study for this test, shall we?)

And GO CARDS! They won the first game of division play, though it got tense at the end. Went from an 8-0 shutout to an 8-5 win with the tying run at bat...but yay. Let's go Cardinals!

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the (at least) 6th time
file under: celebration , education Posted by Jen at 5:20 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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...that's what I did this weekend.

I helped my parents set up the Parkway West show on Friday, then went home after being with my parents for the night. Thought I might try to make it to an "interactive" Pirates of the Caribbean showing (in the style of Rocky Horror Picture Show) but it was at midnight and there was no way that was going to happen, especially if I was going back to that same place at 10 tomorrow morning...

because I spent Saturday at Archon, the "St. Louis" sci-fi convention (it's actually in Collinsville IL, but close enough). All day. I was there (well, at Bob Evans for breakfast) at 9ish, then the show opened for the day at 10. Was there until the masquerade was over around 9:30 pm. Looong day.

It was expensive, though only because of the entrance price. I didn't buy anything there, which is sort of surprising for me. It's too bad that I didn't know I was going until the week before; the writer's group I'm in met on Tuesday and we all talked about going. I'm glad I did, because I had a lot of fun. Saw some art, some dealers, went to some panels, watched a D&D game (that I could have played in, but decided not to. Fun to watch though) went to some more panels, and then watched the masquerade. I wore my Harry Potter outfit. I was asked for two picture poses, so that's cool. I only actually met one other "student" from Hogwarts, which I thought was odd, considering that the fourth movie is coming out in november. I'm glad I went, and especially glad that I was able to go with a group, even if said group didn't exactly stay together for the whole day. It would be nice to go all four days, but a) that's expensive and b) I don't know if I would be able to last through all the parties, hah.

Speaking of parties...

Cece's birthday was on Wednesday, and she invited me to go out with her Saturday night. So I didn't even stay for the masquerade winners announcement, I just headed back home so I could catch a ride with her crew and not have to drive (since there was going to be drinking!) I made it in time, unfortunately with a pounding headache from not drinking enough water at the convention and only eating some gummy snacks and chips during the D&D game. But I was not going to let that deter me, no. Water and spaghetti were downed quickly and off we went. To the Landing, friends! We fit ten people into a 6-person truck (all in the cab, too!) Five people in front and five in back It was an interesting ride, but not that uncomfortable, all things considered.

First stop was Morgan Street Brewery. No cover, yay. And I didn't have to pay for drinks either, since Cece's bf was being nice and put everything on his tab. Rum and cokes and Jagerbombs, wow. Dancing, whoohoo. And then off to Fat Tuesday's and 190 Octanes and dancing and Cindy (I think her name was Cindy) from Canada who is getting married in two weeks. My God I was drunk. Came home and felt ok, but this was at 4 in the morning, so straight to sleep. 21 hours awake, eek. But the next morning was not happy, in fact the whole day was pretty bad. See, I had intended to get up, study, help take down the Parkway show, come home and study some more (as the first A&P test is tonight) but none of those happened except for a little studying. My head didn't hurt, but man, anything I tried to put in my stomach came right back up. Sigh. All day. It was so bad and went on so long that I was worried I wouldn't be able to make it into work. But when I woke up this morning, I felt ok. Some twinges, but it's amazing what a few extra hours of sleep will do for you. Hope Cece is ok. Wish me luck on the test, I'll need it. Shame that the first test won't get its proper due of studying, since this is supposed to be the easiest both in content and ability to get a good grade. Sigh. I love the way my life works.

And for something completely different...

Sunday was the final regular-season home game at Busch Stadium. Soon the arches will be no more. I hope that the Cards make it far in the post season, perhaps even making it back to the World Series so they can make up for the rather poor four-game sweep by Boston last year. Oh well. Regardless, congrats to the Cardinals for winning 100 games for the second year in a row. Hard to believe that Busch is coming down...doubly weird to see the new stadium going up right next to the highway, in front of the old. Busch has always been there, and soon it won't be...eh. I'm sure the new one will be good too. I just hope that somebody somewhere saves one of those arches. Going Out in Style.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 9:50 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Finally, the blog is back up again. You might not have noticed, since the index page was still up, but I had to go back in and reinstall everything before I could get the entries I made last week to show up. So yes, I'm still here, but just now had time to download and reupload everything. Cross your fingers that things continue to work.

Tonight is the writer's meetup for the month and I feel bad. I did very little writing, and I can't claim the MCAT as an excuse this time I do have a story idea for this year's NaNo, but it would involve me learning about religion, which I don't know if I would feel comfortable doing. It's not that I'm not religious; I just don't want it shoved in my face for a month. If that's not it though...I need a new idea.

And I shouldn't be thinking about that anyway, since med school application should take precedence. But I'm sure you all know how good I am with precedence...Right now my problem is knitting/crocheting. I learned how to knit sometime last year, but the very first project I did (forgive the link, the gallery isn't working correctly right now so the picture links are crucked. Just saving the place for future reference) was lost, so I wanted to try to make another hat out of the same yarn, with a matching scarf. Turns out that they don't make that color yarn anymore, so I'm going to improvise and make a hat and scarf with fuzzy trim. Yeah. And I got a free pattern for easy crochet, so I'm trying to do that too. It's darned hard to keep the number of chains right. In knitting you can usually clearly see where the next stitch is, but the yarn that I'm using for crochet is very bulky, which is usually good, things go faster. But in this case it obscures where the next loop is...so I've got a very lopsided scarf begun as I try to increase and decrease...I've got a shawl in the works too. Maybe if I ever finish you'll get pictures.

Since I couldn't post here for the past week, I put an entry on LJ asking why YOU think I should be in med school. So far the only response I got (feel free to add to this here ) was from my loverly friend Punz, who contributed the following:

Subject: Why Jen Should Go To Med School
1. because she wants to
2. because she's clever
3. because she has lots of medicalistical/sciencey experience (ie labortaory work)
4. because she's compassionate and cares about people
5. because she listens well and would therefore have a great bedside manner, and because talking about bedside manner can lead to silly jokes about in-bed manner, and so on, and who would want to pass up that opportunity?
6. because she knows she wants to and isn't just like hmm maybe?
7. because she's worked in a related field thinger for a while and has proven her gumption and ability to stick it out. even though med school is hard.
8. because she's awesome and [insert school here] would be goshdarn lucky to have her.

If only the med schools were nice like Punz. I doubt she would charge me $160 to send an application, either. Help me out, huh?

I think I'll get a credit card sometime soon, because I sure don't want to have to pay all of these application fees at once. And I suppose it would be good to have something for Vegas. We'll see. Seems like I'm venturing into realms unknown quite a bit lately. I hate the feeling ouf floundering, being out of my depth, but I think I just might have to get used to it.

At least I can fix my MT installation and finally get Thunderbird (Mozilla's answer to Outlook Express; download it now!) to work on both my home and work computers. Silly strange plus sign in username. Now if I could only get the old gallery links to work.

Off to work.

file under: celebration , webetcetera Posted by Jen at 10:45 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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So, I went to my last game at Busch Stadium (well, the original Busch Stadium, anyway) last night. I think it was my first game at Busch in about seven years. I'm sure I've told you how every time I actually attended a game in the past, the Cardinals (bless their souls) lost. Even when I went with my dad on Father's Day and got to sit in the Post-Dispatch box, they lost. It was sad. And then when I stopped going to the games (because they stopped giving me free tickets for getting straight A's...ah, the days of high school when I actually got straight A's...) and just occasionally watched the games on tv, they lost. It got to be that I just didn't want to pay attention. It was like if I ignored the games, then they'd wiin. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. Though of course last year when they went to the World Series and majorly flopped against the Red Sox (wonder how that movie Fever Pitch is selling in our town, since it's got the ignoble loss of our Cards to said Sox in it) and I was paying attention...see, they lost.

So, last night I went with my parents, they'd gotten some free tickets for the terrace (read: highest level) along the left field line. Good seats, as it turned out, because it rained a little last night during the game but since we were so high up, we were underneath the distinctive arches so we didn't get rained on at all. Yay! I got to see two home runs (Edmonds in the 1st and Molina [Yadier? His first name is really Yadier?] in the 2nd), which was glorious, but unfortunately there were no fireworks, since I think they're trying to save money. Oh well. The Cards were winning until the 7th inning even though they had only gotten 5 hits (vs the Pirates' 17 or something like that) when the Pirates tied up the game. Boo! The Cards went through three pitchers that inning, and alas that Chris Carpenter didn't get his 22nd win. He pitched well until that inning though, so go him. Finally the Cards got some hits in the 8th but no runs...so onto the 9th with a tie. We held 'em til it was our turn, then Hector Luna gets on base and steals 2nd, to be in scoring position...and then Eckstein made a nice base hit that ESPN termed a 'bloop' but allowed Luna to score, so yay! We won! And I was there! Yahoo! I just hope they can keep winning.

The magic number is down to two. If the Cards win today they'll have a tie on the division championship...if Houston loses they'll be the champs! Go Cards! I would really love to see you be able to play the World Series at Busch one more time (and make a better showing than last year!)...

So, softball stuff and biking stuff now.

The softball tournament was last weekend, but it was rather shorter than last year's marathon. We won one, we lost one. I don't even know what the scores were other than we won the first by at least 10 and we lost the second by at least that much, since both games ended in the 5th inning because one team was ahead by at least 10. Let's hear it for odd little league rules. The first game we figured was a lock, since we'd played the Thursday night version of the team, and they weren't very good, and yes, we won. Nothing spectacular, I did get to cross homeplate a few times, and the lady ump was almost hit by a couple of bats (by someone on the other team) and she wasn't too happy about that. I can't remember if it was a shut-out or not. Bad Jen, not keeping track of scoring. [Side note: I looked at the scorecard for that game and was utterly bewildered. It's been a long time since I've scored a ball game, and I don't remember any of the little conventions.]

The second game was against a team that we've never beat (except, my teammates told me, last year in the tournament when we barely won and royally pissed them off. So I guess this was payback). They really shouldn't be in this league. They're way too competitive for the rest of the teams that they play against, and they've obviously got people who play softball for actual teams (or at least more than just one night a week during the summer). They win a lot of games because of that 10-run rule, and it just seems like they should find another league that actually tests their skills instead of letting them beat up on other teams. Not bitter I am, no. Anyway, we weren't getting any breaks against them...neither of the fields had been dragged (or mowed) so there was grass all over the infield. Two grounders came my way and they hit a patch of grass and bounced clear over my head. It didn't help that it had been pretty dry and hot so the ground was hard as a rock. Stupid field. I really don't like SB7. If you're ever at Tower Grove Park and you want to play a ball game, use BB1 instead. Usually. Unfortunately both fields were in dire need of dragging and mowing, but since I don't even know if we actually scored a run at SB7 I suppose I can't lay it all on the field. Oh well. We figured we would lose that one. Luckily we had already had our end-of-season bbq (with yellow jackets and mosquitos, natch) and we were prepared for a long one, so it was nice to be able to go home and sleep, which I did.

On Sunday, I helped Kate relearn how to ride a bike, since she wants to have the proper experience for her practicum. Go Kate! I'm proud of you! She's a little bit shorter than I am, though, so we had to adjust several things so she could ride. But ride she did, all along the nice flat parts of the Forest Park trail, and I rollerbladed with her. So yay for working out. Then later that night we watched Hello, Dolly! (well hello, Dolly!) and saw the Anheiser Busch clydesdales (which never meant much to California-girl Kate before, lol) and I saw Almost Famous for the first time. Good stuff! I'm hopeful for Elizabethtown, since it's the same director and in a similar style. I've read some bad reviews on it, but of course I'll still see it, because Orlando rocks my socks and I don't care what you think about that The week ETown comes out will be a good one, Orli-wise, since Kingdom of Heaven comes out on DVD the tuesday before the movie opens.

Wish me luck on the Anatomy & Physiology class. Looks like it will be interesting to take but not easy to learn.

Go Cards!

  Elizabethtown Soundtrack & Switchfoot's new one: Nothing is Sound

file under: celebration , getmoving , muses Posted by Jen at 9:32 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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...that will surely show up now that I have a digital camera. Yay for my mother, who is very nice and said she would get me one for my birthday. Alas, neither of us could decide on which one to get before my birthday, and there were no sales, and there was no(t alot of) money. So we waited until after my birthday, until today, Labor Day (thank goodness there is a holiday after the Queeny Park show!) when there was in fact a sale of sorts and a helpful salesperson named William at Sears. I did end up paying the difference between a 2 year and a 3 year warranty, but it will probably be worth it with all the things that I hear can go wrong with said cameras.

We went to the mall near my parents' house, since my mother wanted to drop off some film (at another place, which was unfortunately closed, being a holiday) and we had tried Best Buy &c, so we figured why not give it a try. There was a nice selection, and the aforementioned William actually owned the camera that's now sitting beside me on my bed *pets* so that turned out to be a good thing. Hopefully he wasn't full of bs and being a slimy salesman like some of them are. There was a whole weird thing with checking out and when we finally did they didn't have any in stock, so we had to drive to another mall to get one that was. Well, we didn't really have to, but I wanted it today, so we did. Eventually I will install the software and have lots of pictures to show you all. Eventually.

But I promised myself I would look at my A&P book tonight, so this is me signing off...

file under: celebration , miscellany Posted by Jen at 9:58 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Happy Birthday to me. Yes indeedy, I am 25 today. Two and a half decades. Egad. I feel so old compared to most of my friends. I know that there are people out there my age, but where did they all go? Eh. Happy thoughts. Friends coming into town, parents bringing fondue for lunch (who needs the Melting Pot when you've got parents with a fondue pot?), probable drunkeness tonight, and a new futon. Whee!

I'm a little surprised that I didn't get more cards in the mail (the only one is from my grandparents who sent it last month ) but maybe more will come today. Or maybe not. I don't guess it's all that big of a deal. I'm old enough that presents/cards shouldn't matter, right? (But come on. It's still a lot of fun to get mail...) I'm hoping a package of perfumes that I ordered will come today, that would make a nice birthday present. It's not a digital camera, but hey, it smells good and that makes me happy.

I hope you all have a wonderful day. I'll tell you about the MCAT and Amanda's wedding and etc etc, later.

  Elizabethtown soundtrack, courtesy of Etown.com

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 12:29 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Happy Birthday Leo!

My childhood friend Jennifer is getting married this weekend. That means I'm one of the last Jens from school that's not married/engaged yet...anyway, they're predicting t-storms until Monday, so I hope that we get a little break so her dress isn't ruined. I feel sad, because my mom talks to her more than I do, and she's been in town since high school as well, teaching in West County or some such like that. How is it that we manage to lose track of people so easily? We were such good friends. Ah well. She looks great now and she was always a little chubby, so I'm envious, too. Of course, that doesn't have anything to do with the fact that she's actually getting married, which was precluded by having a boyfriend for quite a long time. And this is turning into a rant, so I'll just stop there. Good luck Jennifer and Adam, I can't wait to see the dress!

The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it. (Harry Emerson Fosdick)

So, work is going fine, I guess, still just in the learning phases of the "new" job. Not too much to do yet, but I've been assured that will change soon, so I was actually told to enjoy the free time. Whee. Some kits finally came in for Luigi/Mel/Ted so I've got those to do, and someone that I'll be working with has come back to town, but I haven't met him yet. Next week I'll have my first "meeting" with my boss I guess to go over plans, which is a little scary, but necessary I suppose.

Here's a question, what sort of doctor do you think I should be? I'm having a damn hard time trying to figure that out. And it's a pretty big step to be taking without a clue.

Tuesday I started studying for the MCAT (read: going over the first few chapters and determining that I'm going to be screwed when it comes time for the test) and did half of a pilates abs dvd. I even have a yoga mat with a cool sundial print. Spent too much money over the weekend, and tomorrow when I get paid I guess I should sign up for the MCAT. Stupid $200 test. Please tell me why, if every single prospective med school student has to take this test, it is so freaking expensive? And boy, did gas jump since I filled up on Monday. I paid $1.98 at the station near my apt, and when I went to the 'rents yesterday it had gone up to $2.15. Geez.

Maybe I'll break my no-Harry-Potter-hardback-books and sign up for the Left Bank Books Book 6 release party. It sounds like fun, and I do have part of the robe patterned...it's probably the wrong pattern, but still, at least it's been started...what do you think? I really need some fantasy-loving friends. Or rather, friends that like it as much as I do and don't just put up with my eccentricities And that live in town.

Excited: new roommate, trip to see Alex & Leona next weekend, wedding this weekend *crosses fingers for cute, unattached guys but knows is sort of a fool's hope*

   A Storm of Swords: George R.R. Martin
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 9:42 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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yes, it's true, this site has been around for three years. Amazing. I remember that I had just gotten back from the outdoor conference at Emory (where I won gold! Which I still find amazing.) and finished my last class, and I said, dammit, I will have a website, and it will be etoiline (dot) com, and yea verily it was so. I'm sure you remember how I had totally forgotten that it was my parents' anniversary. And last year I realized it was Kate's birthday. So many happy things going on today!

unfortunately I will have to spend most of the day studying. I might try to head over to the track to see the finals of some events on the track (ironic, isn't it, that this is the weekend of conference, right here at WU?) but then again, I might not.

Spend the evening at Kate's after spending far too much time at lab (which I'm still worried about) and catching some of the prelim events at the track with Alex. At Kate's there was good food and friends (some of whom might see KOH with me! Yahoo! And re: KOH, have more pictures. A layout is forthcoming, I hope!) and Mystery, Alaska, a hockey movie that was surprisingly good and had rather sweeping music by Carter Burwell of A Knight's Tale fame. Will have to put that on my list of soundtracks to get on Tuesday

Wish me luck with studying. I shall need it. And I do hope that I remember to spend time with orgo lab! Dear Lord help me through this week, please.

  Dave Matthews Band: Pig

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:54 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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You know I had to commemorate the holiday where everyone is supposed to wear green.

Hope you all have a pint of green beer. Or dye your hair green like my cousin did.

So this morning on the news I saw a guy I knew in college...he was in BME like me, but he was always the odd duck. Did I never tell you about the guy in my freshman physics class who, after a certain incident, decided that skirts were more comfortable and going shoeless was a norm? Once in said physics class, during the spring semester, he was warm and decided to take off his jacket. Then a few shirts. He apparently had a bag full of clothing because he was going to a theater class later. Then more clothes came off. Finally he ended up sitting in the chair, hopefully not with his bare bits right on the seat, but wearing only a coat. Someone thought it would be funny to toss his clothes around the lecture hall, which it was, and the entire class was watching this little drama aside from the teacher. Who was totally oblivious, I might add. Every time the laughter would get too loud, he would finally turn around, but no one would move. Clueless.

Someone else thought it would be hilarious to leave early with all of this guy's clothes. So when class got out, we all walked outside to see his clothing up in a tree outside the hall. Luckily he had a skirt for that theater class, and he wore that. Like I said, an interesting duck.

Anyway, his father was on the Today Show this morning, and he's apparently a famous cancer researcher. But you can see where he got it from; his father's apparently the very model of an absent-minded professor, who occasionally forgets whether a red light means stop or go. It was kinda cool to see where he went after Wash U...Johns Hopkins. Wow. He's got a brother, and they introduced the two of them by saying one is a budding biomedical engineer and the other is studying neuroscience or somesuch. But they showed the brother as the BME son, which I laughed at.

Nice to know that someone from WU in BME is doing well. Wish things were going so for me...

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:33 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Thus ends my year, the year of the Monkey, and so begins the year of *ahem* all those other wonderful people who were born the year after me

Happy Chinese New Year. Eat a dumpling

(I realized, after I typed Leo's name that she is, in fact, a young'un, and is *not* a Rooster...but she got to it first. So now you've got me all confuzzled. Ah well. Here's a shoutout to my buddies Alex and Leo and Kate, since they're all around somewhere and will, eventually, have their year, as that is the nature of time...

  Dido: Here With Me
  a really stupid romance novel
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 12:43 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Hope you're wearing your green, gold, and purple. I've got the green and purple, but not a lot of gold...too bad. Have a drink for me!

PS: I think the orgo exam went ok, I finished early. It was one of those where you worry that you finished so soon, because was it that you really did know the stuff, or you just thought you did and ended up getting it all wrong? at least other people left early as well. And I checked a couple of answers with one other girl afterwards and we had gotten the same thing...hopefully that bodes well. There was one reaction that I just could not get...I knew what it was called, but I could not for the life of me remember what it did. I put down an answer that I knew was totally wrong but I didn't want to not have anything there...ah well. That's the way it goes.

Have a good time tomorrow...and don't forget, Chinese New Year starts tomorrow!

  Rhapsody, Elizabeth Haydon, again. So good!
file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:46 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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And purple, of course.
The official colors of Mardi Gras were chosen in 1872 by the New Orleans crew Rex, the King of Carnival:
Purple stands for justice
Green stands for faith
Gold stands for power.

I heard once that St. Louis has the best Mardi Gras outside of New Orleans. Of course, that could just be my bias speaking. Anyone going to be in town for this? It would be fun to be able to go to a MG party for once. I do have to work on MG though, which is a PitA! ah well. life sucks sometimes.

Mardi Gras Inc. 2005 - Events

Read on for a bit of bitching about the job that turned out ok.

So a couple of months ago the lab got a new postdoc, who is really nice, if hard to understand sometimes (he's japanese). He's the one who let me borrow his digital camera for the pictures of the knitted hat I made. Before he came I was usually the only one using the tissue culture hood with any sort of regularity, so I had everything where I like it and where it was most efficient to be. But he came in and started using the hood and incubator more, so things got moved around. I've realized that while I don't mind change, I absolutely HATE change that I'm unaware of until the last minute. I want to know if people have moved my stuff BEFORE I go to use it. But most of the time I could figure out where things got moved to and it was ok.
Then he started using the freezer (of the great freezer debacle you might have read about) so they needed the key, which I kept, since I was the only one using that freezer. So I gave it up, but it has a way of staying out of the drawer it was in and in the pocket of the postdoc. Which is also ok, if annoying, to realize the key is not where it's supposed to be or where it's been for the past few months.
And I guess it's not totally his fault...one of the other people in the lab had it in his head to clean out the fridge that I keep my media in. Some of it got tossed. Which, of course, I didn't realize until the moment I needed it, since it's supposed to stay in the fridge as long as possible. So I spent a good while searching out another lab that would let me borrow some of this stuff. It's no problem to order more chemicals here, but they don't appear instantaneously. We actually had some stuff that wasn't made up, but it turned out to be the free acid form versus the calcium salt form...now that probably reflects poorly on my organic chem knowledge that I don't know what the difference is, but there surely is a difference.

Regardless, I was able to get some from another lab and finish the experiment. But man, I hate it when that happens. Does it sound silly that I don't want people moving my stuff, especially when I've been there longer and have the positions set in my mind? or that I don't want people throwing things away without asking first, even if they are old? Bah. At least it worked out ok.

I really should do orgo homework tonight. Yuck.

Funny how this entry started out all happy about Mardi Gras and then I had to tell you the depressing part of my day. Oy. At least I'm happpy about the scents I'm getting.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 5:50 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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So, yeah. I have pictures of the hat! And me in the hat! And I found out that my saturday orgo lab doesn't start until the 29th! Whee! Hah. I CAN go out partying after the AHS show!

and me in the hat...

Found this little gem of php over at Lost-dreaming and I'm very grateful for it. Yay for a quote script!

PHP: rotate your quotes

By now, you may have noticed the rotating quote I have above this content column. Previously, I achieved the effect by using Javascript, but after all, PHP is more convenient and fast.

Copy and save the following snippet of code in a file named quotes.php.

<?php

?>

Replace the example1 to example6 codes with your quotes. (One quote per line.) To accomodate more quotes copy and paste the following code after example6.

$quote[] = "example";

To include the quote paste the following code where you want it to appear.

<?php include('/quotes.php');?>


file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 11:16 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Best wishes for a wonderful 2005. I hope 2004 was good to you and that 2005 will be even better!

  Top 98 Party Songs

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 2:31 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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THE CARDS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES! Yahoo!

I luff my hostee Sara. Yay for Californians cheering for the Cards!

Cardinals at Boston, Saturday. I really want a Cardinals shirt now. Sweet! The hometown team is going for the whole show. Rock on, Redbirds! I guess I avoided the 'no watch and they win' bit tonight since the AHS drama rehearsal was tonight and they 'happened' to have a tv in the room, so it was on while we were singing. I was holding my music up in front of my face so I wouldn't stare at the screen. I saw the replay of Edmond's (ouch!) diving catch that probably saved the game (and was incidentally the cover photo of the early edition Post-Dispatch that was printed up sometime around the 7th inning, before they knew we'd won. I love that my dad works for the newspaper. You learn the most interesting things.) and I was the only one who noticed that we got that first one. Not so good for 'not watching the game,' eh? lol.

But I guess it was a good thing the rehearsal was tonight, even if they decided that we really do need weekly practices instead of just monthly if we're going to be the slightest bit ready for this celebration, even if they decided to do every other tuesday/thursday so I'll miss more tv (I know, I know, tv should not be so important to me, but hey, it's not like I've got anywhere else to go, so I've gotten attached to it...), even if they want to have the next rehearsal this coming tuesday when I was finally going to get to go to a Writer's Meetup before NaNoWriMo started (which I think I'll go to anyway, just because I really do need to get whatever kind of jumpstart on the 'novel' that I can, and I already know how to sing "America" from West Side Story), but I got to go home and 'watch' the last few innings of the game with the 'rents. My dad is so happy. He really gets into the games, and I know how much he would like to go to one in the stadium, especially since Busch is being torn down this year...*sniff* Tickets were something on the order of $125 for bleacher seats. Ugh. Would be cool to go though. Unfortunately I don't trust my record of watching games to even think about jinxing a World Series game. Superstitious? Who, me?

I realized that I don't think I've ever had a Cardinals jersey, and I'm about at my limit of red shirts, although my mom pointed out that I still have a Fredbird head that I suppose I could wear if I wanted to freak out my coworkers (Apparently I went through a phase when I was three or four when I absolutely loved Fredbird, the Cardinal mascot. And my mom [whom I love] made me a Fredbird costume. I worry about myself sometimes). I really want a Cards jersey now, perhaps Rolen (27, my favorite number!) or Pujols (5...that vision of Pujols really pulled through! For those of you who don't know, my dad is a very accomplished artist who did a painting of Pujols for an art show recently. It was really good. ) or Edmonds (15, after that spectacular catch). But I'd settle for one of those Band of Sluggers shirts.

Heh. I didn't even realize it, but this morning, I chose to wear RED SOCKS (or at least white athletic socks with a red puma) instead of my blue socks of the same type...and the Cards are going on to play the RED SOX...

It had to have been the rally beads. And the hot dogs that my dad made. And me not watching. I'm so proud of my hometown team. GO CARDS!

I guess I should get to bed. Even though it seems like it should be a friday night, it's only friday morning, and I have to be at work in eight hours. Sheesh. See you on the flip side. Yahoo! Rock on, Redbirds!

file under: celebration , getmoving Posted by Jen at 1:02 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Well, I guess we did, in a way. See, the Drumsticks (my softball team) played the end-of-summer-league softball tournament on Saturday (and man, can I feel it...seems like soreness from the very first track meet all over again) and we managed to make it all the way to the finals. We didn't win, in fact we were pretty well out of it (don't know the final score but it was something like 16-9 or such) BUT we did manage to barely beat the team that won the tournament last year and in fact several years before that in the second round. The were on the top of the league, undefeated I think, and since they had a bye the first round we beat them 5-4 in their first game. They took it really hard, which we didn't understand until one of the other teams told us about their winning status. Whee.

We totally surpassed my expectations...I figured we'd at least make it to second round, maayyyybe the semi-finals, but certainly not the finals. Well color me wrong. It was a LOOOOONG day. First game at 10, then one at 12:30, then one at 3 and the final was at 5:30. All this when we normally play at 7 on thursday nights. Needless to say everyone got a little sunburned. I have a rather interesting tan since I wore a tank top and couldn't quite get the back parts of my shoulders. But that's ok. I think it was worth it, even if we didn't really 'win' anything...just the satisfaction of getting as far as we did. And we most certainly have a winning season under our belts. I like to think I helped out with that My only big bummer was that I managed to get the very last out of the game. I had a great hit, it just happened to go right to the second baseman who caught it. Ah well.

Dawn from the Cat's Meow (the team we beat) asked if she could play the rest of the games with us because she didn't get to play in the tournament last year and then of course this year, she was only in one game. She didn't get to play much but she was darn good at cheering. Whenever I would come up to bat she'd say "Let's go, Speedy!" The coach of their team was really serious about the game, she got our entire lineup and kept score for both teams. And she would keep track of what player did what last inning, like "He was a 6-1 last time!" (Which I think means he hit to shortstop who threw to first for the out). And when I came up to bat the first time against the Cat's Meow I beat out the throw to first So they said, watch out, she's got legs. Unfortunately there weren't too many breaks like that. We had to play hard against them. But haha, we won!

Per the email our coach just sent out, the scores were 12-1, 5-4, 16-10 (us) and 13-6 (the Ballers). Too bad we didn't win, but we went so far past everyone's expectations that you just have to feel good about it. Of course, my *body* doesn't feel good about it, but that's just the way it is. Gotta have a few times a year when you remind yourself how out of shape you are and that you really should get back into something athletic with some sort of regularity. We'll see how it goes now that it's approaching fall and the cold season...So that's the wrapup of the Drumsticks' season. Here's to next year!

And here's something to squee about for the next year or so: 'Lord of the Rings' exhibit will visit the Midwest... in 2005.

And since at least one of my vote supporters loves me:

  The Lion King (Broadway Musical): Endless Night

file under: celebration , getmoving Posted by Jen at 1:38 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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So you say it's your birthday...

Yes folks it's true, I've achieved the ripe old age of 24. Just a penny short of a quarter-life crisis. We're going to dinner tonight at the Olympia restaurant, you know, Greek food in honor of the Olympics being held in Greece...then maybe we'll head out to the City Museum, after I check in at REI and sign up for the Moonlight Ramble. At least Alex will go. Why does no one around here want to go biking?

On the Today Show this morning there was someone with a sign that said "Happy Birthday Jenni" (close enough) and a guy who Al Roker introduced as having a birthday today (just one of the crowd). Yay! Us 8-27'ers are cool. Right, Dave-of-the-fellow-birthday?

For something completely difference, I've wanted to do a portrait of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter for a while now, but didn't have enough motivation until the fanart contest came up at Hogwarts Challenge...might've submitted too late since I thought the deadline was noon today instead of midnight last night, ah well. At least it's done. And finished on my birthday to boot.

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
And you can see my attempt at Orli as a character from my story if you check out the next page...

  The Calling: Things Will Go My Way

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:23 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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I can't believe it's July already! And Independence Day is this weekend...seems like the year has gone by awfully fast! All of my Three of my movie premieres have gone by! Here's to King Arthur and I, Robot.

So that entry I posted a few days ago about the title of the 6th Harry Potter book is true. It will be called Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, who is neither Harry nor Voldemort for those of you curious. I can't wait to read it...hopefully, hopefully it will be out soon. Too bad JK Rowling doesn't keep her readers quite as updated as LK Hamilton...

No softball game tonight, in honor of the holiday, I guess. So we're going to the batting cages near my house, which is an odd coincidence. I mean, there've got to be many batting cages around, but they choose Tower Tee Then we'll go to Fortel's Pizza Den, which will mark the, oh, fifth time in a little over a week that I've had pizza for dinner. Maybe I'll just skip the pizza and have toasted ravioli. Yay St. Louis treat!

Have a good one if I forget to blog tomorrow. Celebrate your Independence! And yay holiday on monday

  Josh Groban: Remember Me (Troy Soundtrack)

file under: books , celebration , getmoving Posted by Jen at 5:12 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Today is Love-in 2004, where you go around to blogs you like and show your love. Hopefully there will be some love shown today... Alex and Leo I'd love to comment on your sites but I'm not going to get a Xanga. I love you anyway...But I'm going to try to head to other sites and send some love.

Even though the link says 'snazzykat' for some reason that site is down, so I'm referring you to the site that told me about it...

ETA: Take a look at this. It's now three hours later and I still haven't gotten around to giving love. Sigh. I'm working on it. As well as individual entry templates, the linkme page, and that bookshelf blog...

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 11:39 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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"One leaf for HOPE;
the second for FAITH;
the third for LOVE;
and the fourth for LUCK!"

Because Lord knows we all need a little luck.
Four-leaf Clover

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:04 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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This is one of my favorite holidays because a) you're supposed to wear green, and that's my favorite color (in case you didn't notice ) and b) it's on the 17th, which happens to be one of my favorite numbers. So it's a good thing. But this day is going to suck, really. I'm about to start on two isolations...and I have to pick up two bloods...can't mix up the plasmas this time...and I have to try to finish early enough to head over to the DMV because some jerk stole my tabs...and I have to call my dad and tell him that the car needs to be worked on (smoke from the hood is generally a bad thing) and that means that I should probably fix the airbag and the windshield wipers...

but then I get to go out tonight. That should be good. As long as I remember to tape Survivor

So happy St. Pat's ... I hope yours is less busy than mine!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 9:56 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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was yesterday and that I celebrated with him. I just thought I'd mention it here. You know, because not everyone shares a birthday with Abraham Lincoln.

Are you superstitious? It's Friday the 13th

Did you hear that after 43 years Barbie and Ken are breaking up? Apparently she wants to pursue a more independent life, and go out with Blaine, an Australian boogie-boarder. Yeah. And what was Mattel thinking?

It's really cold here. But not snowing! Sigh. This always happens. I'm somewhat unprepared for the cold weather and snow then I get prepared and it doesn't snow again. Bleh. Snow! I want to go sledding again! Of course, our local groundhog was too scared to even come out on Groundhog Day much less to come out and be scared of his shadow...so it looks like winter is gonna be around for quite some time.

Kate (Leo & Alex's friend) wants to do something for Valentine's Day as we're the single ones in the bunch. Maybe we'll go out and get drunk. I don't know. We don't really have plans yet Any ideas? Happy early Heart Day

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 9:31 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Gung hai fat choy! Happy Chinese New Year! I hope you wore red and can grab yourself a bite of dim sum...click the link for all sorts of goodies on CNY.

Chinese New Year Goodies

This year marks year 4,701 on the Chinese calendar! Those smart chinese people...they figured out exactly when the seasons are gonna change...as opposed to us Julian-calendar-users who just fumble through with fixed dates...lol.

And remember: If you are in a hurry you will never get there. (Click the fortunes link above for more proverbs )

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 9:29 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Auld lang syne, anyone? What a night.

Spent New Year's Eve at Forest Park for the big 04Eve celebration. LOTS of people. They had estimated maybe 30,000+ people might come...today's estimates have over 100,000 people thought to have streamed through the park. As you can imagine logistics was a pain, but overall I though it quite grand. Lots of activities, all free (what more could you ask for?) and the most wonderful seat for fireworks you could wish for. Jess, thanks for going, sorry you had to leave early and glad you got home ok. It was nice to meet you Marty, thanks for the champagne and of course you are gay. The couple of gay guys I've met have all been pretty cute, funny, and they like me...I'm just not their type

In case you were wondering, yes, drunkeness occurred. Strange how nights at Alex's always end interestingly.

More later when I'm not quite so tired from a) walking nearly the entire western part of Forest Park and b) staying up waay to late the last few days. Happy 2004!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 11:55 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Since it's late I'll just mention that I'm happy with what I got this year (no keyboard, but then again, I wasn't really expecting anyone to get me something that expensive) and I did clean up on the LotR stuff. Whee! LotR Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly, a Legolas&Gimli on horseback toy, a HUGE calendar, and a Weapons and Warfare book. Also some books Dad got at auction at work.

Finally got Mom a copy stand, pasta maker, and smoothie blender...and I hope Dad likes what he got. He liked the flipbook of Albert Pujols anyway...

Hope your Christmas went well! Enjoy your gifts/day off/just plain day. And happy Boxing Day to the British

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 12:54 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Grown-up Christmas List from Amy Grant's Home for Christmas album

Do you remember me?

I sat upon your knee.

I wrote to you with childhood fantasies.

Well, I'm all grown up now,

But still need help somehow.

I'm not a chile but my heart still can dream.

So here's my lifelong wish,

my grown-up christmas list,

not for myself, but for a world in need:

No more lives torn apart,

and wars would never start,

and time would heal all hearts.

Ev'ry one would have a friend,

that right would always win,

and love would never end:

This is my grown-up christmas list.

As children we believed

the grandest sight to see

was something lovely wrapped beneash the tree.

Well, heaven surely knows

that packages and bows

can never heal a hurting human soul.

No more lives torn apart,

and wars would never start,

and time would heal all hearts.

Ev'ry one would have a friend,

that right would always win,

and love would never end:

This is my grown-up christmas list.

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth?

Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth!

There'd be...

No more lives torn apart,

and wars would never start,

and time would heal all hearts.

Ev'ry one would have a friend,

that right would always win,

and love would never end:

This is my grown-up christmas list,

this is my only lifelong wish,

This is my Grown-up Christmas List.

God bless us, every one.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Cor 13:13

O star of wonder, star of night,

guide us to thy perfect Light.

Merry Christmas!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 2:20 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Well, color me surprised. It is actually snowing! I believe this is the first official snow for the StL area...or at least that's reached the ground. It's not sticking, of course, because it's been around 50 the last few days, but still. Snow! Whee!

This is cute: Newsweek's Mail Call, with letters from readers about their recent LotR article.

I'm so happy that I got rid of some spyware thing that was making any url I typed into IE change to some stupid search page. Thank you Spy-Bot. Free is good.

I hope it keeps snowing. I can't wait to go sledding on Art Hill. We could practically walk there. Yay snow!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 4:25 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Well, my mom is officially 50. I wish I could have gotten on yesterday and posted, but y'all knew already, right? I spent yesterday with her. Whee! It's good when your parents love you. She seemed happy with my gifts, which makes me happy, and we had some wonderful food, including this really good chocolate mousse cake with funky ruffled chocolate on top. Mmm. So,

a little late.

It's my MyPoints anniversary today...I like this thing because you literally check your email and they give you points. You never have to buy a thing. Of course, it takes a lot longer to save for anything, but I'm waiting for my $50 gift certificate...check it out, and if you decide to sign up, tell 'em JLSHEW sent ya.

The Haunted Mansion and Timeline come out today, both of which I want to see and neither of which I'm likely to see until after thanksgiving. Ah well. I have so much to do tonight...clean the bathroom, take out the trash, dishes, pack for the trip...sigh. When am I gonna watch my shows? lol. Yes, I know I'm obsessed. Although not quite as obsessed as I am about LotR. The official soundtrack site was finally updated so I bought my Internet-only special edition...I can't wait! I've heard clips and it sounds wonderful.

Got the Matrix Revolutions soundtrack and Sarah McLachlan's new cd...I'll let you know if I like them.

I can't wait for Pirates on dvd! I'll have to find out how much it's selling for...I'd like to have it on 'the day' if possible If you find good prices let me know!

Yay for holiday breaks. I'm so happy. Whee turkey!

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I am a Metal Monkey, which I already knew, but read it and see if you think it agrees with what you know about me.

What a motley crew we will be, a Canadian, an Asian, and a renaissance girl/elf. Don't you just adore Halloween?

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 4:02 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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It's here I love days when I get to dress up. And I might get to dress up doubly because there could be mucho partying going on this weekend. Yay! I'll get to wear clothes I made Renaissance festival tonight, elf tomorrow. Whee fantasy!

to Peter Jackson, visionary director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Thanks for making life exciting

And congrats to Dr. Holloszy who finished writing a grant yesterday and so took us out to lunch. Yay!

Isn't it absurd how much fun it is to dress up?

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 3:19 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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From Sara

Thanks, dear. I'm glad you understand.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 7:19 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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What a way to spend a birthday. I mentioned yesterday how my uncle might not be able to use his front row tickets to the Lion King playing at the Fox. Well, the reason for that was because my uncle's father-in-law's daughter had a heart attack. She was only 46 and had no history of heart disease or the other risk factors. I came back to the lab after doing some running around for Luigi and had an odd message waiting for me...the woman had died, and my uncle was definitely not going to be able to use the tickets as they were heading down to be with the father-in-law's family. Now, it may sound callous, but I didn't know this person even though I've probably spent at least a few Christmases with her...Alas. My sincere sympathy and thanks that you died. Agh. Sounds horrible...but once I sat in the darkened theater waiting for the really cool opening curtain to go up, I had to thank God. Remember how I'd said just once I'd like to be able to go up to the front without having to fight for it? Well, here it was. We were front row slightly left of center, on the aisle...we literally got brushed by some elephants and wildebeest, and some bird puppets (I want one of those)...we were close enough to see the makeup and all the fine details. Wow. The opening Circle of Life sequence made me tear up. Seriously. What's funny is the Lion King cartoon was the only movie I ever cried at (when Mufasa died...:sad: ) and now the musical. It was just so magical and harmonious and they were right there. The songs were very well sung, and I loved the puppets. There was shadow play like traditional chinese theater shows, which delighted my mother (my dad elected not to try to go, as we only had two tickets and he would have had to sit in the way back for half the show). The puppets were amazing. Instead of covering up the actors' faces, they were headpieces or part of a costume so you could still see the expressions.

All the emotions of the movie were there, with that added kick that live shows get. I liked the new songs on the whole. The scenery was spare but gave the impression of the lush jungle with just a few well-placed props. Gorgeous lighting and special effects. A simulated drought,

(and now we pause for a random question. If drought sounds like 'drout,' why doesn't draught sound like 'draut?' Or trough 'trou?' That bothers me because I remember reading 'draught' when I was little and thinking of drought and going, oh yeah, I know how to say this. Now back to your regularly scheduled gushing post.)

There's much more where this came from...and birthday gifties!

rainstorms, nearly-nekkid guys playing grass...lol. Some great acrobatic dancing. We were seated near one of the two drummers situated on either side of the stage, so we really got the percussion...and we could practically see into the orchestra. Wonderful sound.

After we had found our seats this old couple came to sit in the row behind us, and the woman said, "Let me see if I can see...oh, this one's got a lot of hair..." I don't think she was talking to me as I believe she ended up sitting behind me, but I thought it was funny how she didn't seem to notice that everyone in front of her could hear her...

My mom said she didn't want the curtain to come down. And it's true. It was a spectacular show. There'll be one extra ticket if we give ours to my uncle, but my mom said that they hadn't even really wanted to see this show, so maybe the three of us family will see it. My dad doesn't think he'd want to see it, but I think he'd appreciate the production. Who knows.

Maybe we'll go to Macaroni Grill tonight, but late last night when we got home we had Strawberry Cream pie...oh, thank you Sara Lee I have to remind my mother to give me that Legolas statuette that she bought me over the summer. lol. TTT and a statuette...what more could a girl ask for! Aside from a LotR-loving boyfriend, of course If you get a chance to see the Lion King I highly recommend it. It's worth the money. Failing that, try the soundtrack and get a taste.

Thanks for all your birthday wishes! Look at these:

From Jem
and

From Kate.

Thanks! I wanna go home and watch TTT again

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 5:01 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Happy Birthday Etoiline From Wizards Quest

Lookie! My friends at the Wizard's Quest gave me some gifties Feel free to sign the birthday book!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:00 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Yes folks, it's true. I'll be 23 in a few hours. And wonder of all wonders, it rained a little today (isolated showers, of course...not on our house) so it's a tiny bit cooler. Still supposed to reach the upper 90s later in the day.

Yes, I got TTT last night (thank you Alex) and yes, we watched the whole thing. I managed to persuade my parents to go for the whole stretch instead of waiting until today...I'm sure it will get watched again very soon, regardless. Only watched the RotK preview and the TTT SE dvd preview...man, I can't wait for nov/dec. I got an Aragorn pin from the nice lady at the grocery store. Too bad it wasn't Legolas, lol. I swear I will get the Realm fixed up sometime soon. I've got to put all the new members on the new fanbase!

I'm dressed up today...wonder if anyone will notice. As far as I know, no one at work knows it's my birthday, which is a little sad, cause I bet someone would have brought cookies. But no big deal.

I'm quite excited cause my birthday gift from my parents is tickets to the Lion King at the Fox Theater in a few weeks. I've wanted to see this for a while so I'm very happy that it's in town and we get to see it. However....Due to some very unfortunate circumstances that I don't wish to go into today my uncle got some free front row tickets for tonight, and he may or may not be able to use them. Realize the tickets we bought are VERY expensive and not refundable, and as much as I hope I like the musical, it's probably not worth seeing twice in such a short period of time. But it's the front row!!!! Agggh. Maybe things will work out and my uncle will be able to use them and spare us the dilemma. Maybe I can sell ours on eBay if we do go. We'd be missing out on Macaroni Grill if we go as well. (lol. not that we can't go out to eat any time, but I've been waiting for some of that Macaroni's bread for ages)

It might be a pretty busy day, which is a little sad. I'm almost sorry to say I want to spend it on the computer messing with my forum...I upgraded it and lost all the modifications I'd made to the previous version (I knew it was going to happen that way so no worries) but who knows what's going on today. Gotta get my Sesquicentennial shirt from WU...how nice. they're giving me a gift on my bday! lol. Maybe I'll go out to lunch. Feel free to send your birthday wishes!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 9:38 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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An automatic paper towel dispenser was just installed in most of the bathrooms on the med school campus. Now, normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but the particular dispenser in the bathroom I use is at just the right height that you have to gesture at it rather forcefully to get the sensing mechanism to spit out a towel. Now, call me crazy, but certain times, it seems like this gesture would be perfect if you were casting a spell. Silly, I know. But you wave your hand, and voila! une serviette!

Ok...we've finally gotten to the point where in 24 hours I will be in California. Whew! I can't believe it's finally here. Seems odd that all the work I've been doing over the past year will finally be good for something. Hopefully people like our skit. Sympathy laughs are bad. And I can't wait to see all the famous people! lol. There's me, the Midwesterner, who never sees celebrities in the flesh. And isn't it sad how happy I am that I'll be seeing Pirates again Needless to say I'm excited. I wish I could stay longer.

I'm mostly packed. I think. I'll go home and stare at the suitcase for a while to make sure. I've got to get pictures of it...then run out and find a suitable one-hour place to develop them...erm. I still haven't decided...wig? hmm.

Don't forget to vote for ATTS today please? Thankee kindly!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 4:30 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Only 4 days, now.

And check this out. Joss Whedon! Stan Winston! Eliza Dushku! The producers of Smallville with special guests! .... and Andy Serkis! Holy Cow this is going to be great More I could list, like Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie...

must finish accessories!

Have a great Independence Day. Feel free to take the graphic if you're so inclined.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:10 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Eeeggghhh! Six days! Pirates in six days! Arrr! Why can't I buy tickets yet?

Underworld looks exciting, yes? Doesn't it sound a lot like Decadence? I swear I started writing that before I ever knew there was such a movie...

I painted the peacock on the quiver last night...now I have to figure out the strapping! I have slightly yellow-tinged fingers on my left hand from spilling the leather dye...and there's probably a patch of dead grass from same...but at least I got the belts dyed without too much other damage...Majorly confusing strappage. What I wouldn't give for a digital camera. I really would post pics of my progress, but I'm too lazy to do it with a conventional camera. Besides, our scanner is too old to be hooked up to the iMac so we can't scan anything anyway. Doesn't that suck? We'll probably have to get a new scanner, even though the old one wasn't inexpensive...course, that was five years ago, but it's still expensive to my dad.

Mmm. Back to data entry. Silly DSL kit...my EIA isn't working! Don't mind that last sentence...if it made sense to you, you're a science nerd like me

Six days!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:56 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Alex finally got me to go to that kareoke bar he's always talking about. It was his birthday yesterday so I decided I might as well go. It's out in St Charles which is a heck of a drive from my house, and on the way there, Leona and I got caught in the lovely traffic jam that stretched from the onramp of 70 past the airport (I know this means nothing to most of you, but rest assured it's a long way). Lots of people wanted to sing. Which is cool. There weren't too many glasses broken because of off-key notes, but there were some doozies it's been a very long time since I sang kareoke. I think it must have been back in high school with TREND at the conference, and there were nine other people on stage singing 'Lean on Me.' This time, after waiting two hours, it was just me and Vanessa Carlton's 'Ordinary Day.' I didn't get the prompting at first, so the beginning of the song sounded like crap, but yeah. as long as I closed my eyes it was just like singing to myself

So, happy birthday, Alex. I hope you liked it.

Go visit Sara's blog. I just set up Greymatter for her And I got my first fansign! Check it out

file under: celebration , music Posted by Jen at 5:22 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Thanks for stopping by. As of the weekend I'd had 6999 distinct visitors...a thousand for every layout change, lol. *lifts champagne glass* I'm glad I can make you happy...I really love it. Here's to many more years.

Happy 27th, Mom & Dad!

Yup, that's right, my parents have their 27th wedding anniversary today. I find it extremely amusing that I managed to buy my domain on my parent's anniversary. I remember being so happy to be out of school and done with finals that I bought it about 1 am the day of and then when I got into the control panel I was like, hey that date's familiar. lol. At least I'll always know when I have to renew...Congrats, I love you, Mom & Dad.

file under: celebration , webetcetera Posted by Jen at 11:25 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Feel free to take and post. I'm sorry I can't email you all.

Remember why this is celebrated. And be sure to not smear icing from the bunny cake all over your new dress.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 12:54 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Remember to wear your green. or you'll get a virtual pinch! If I wasn't so lazy I'd make a graphic for you, but alas, I am. I'd hoped to get a new layout up for this lovely holiday, but again, alas. Foiled. I'm attempting to make a portfolio site using php. Don't know if it works as cannot upload it yet...egad but I miss ethernet. How do you do rollovers in php if you're supposed to use absolute positioning? If you know, tell me. otherwise, smile and nod.

Hot Lips the Fish....yes, this past weekend for the St Patricks Day Parade, I had the honor of being a handler for the Hot Lips the Fish balloon with the track team from Wash U. It was odd being among old teammates and odder still to do it while holding onto ropes attached to a giant yellow fish. We even had mini workouts as the crowd shouted for us to "SPIN IT! SPIN IT!" apparently it's great fun to see these large balloons spinning about. I just worried about losing my hat. And what was funny was the people who asked the loudest happened to be the adults. Not so funny when you consider the fact that they're the ones who were drinking...

I have to say, in theory, this is one of my favorite holidays, just because you're supposed to wear green, and as you all know, that is my favorite color. Perhaps I should have been born Irish as now have a strong urge to learn Irish dance...Graham Academy of Irish Dance is somewhere in St Louis, so maybe I'll check that out. lol. That or get back into tap dance. I miss activity in my life so much.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:07 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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(courtesy of The Cowell Family)

And it's not belated, cause I wished him happy birthday on the right day, but Happy Birthday Daddy! He's 57. He shares a birthday with Lincoln. Two great men born on the same day

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Welcome to the Year of the Ram. May peace and prosperity favor you in the coming year.

Today is the Chinese new year. So shoot off those fireworks (virtual ones, anyway) wear red, eat some take-out, do some calligraphy, enjoy yourself. And say hi to me on the way

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 3:09 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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"a very curious number and a very respectable age for a Hobbit."

Thank you for bringing so much joy, fantasy, and mystery into the world.

Can you imagine what life would be like without him? There would be no Legolas! Gasp! Kidding.

Raise a glass at 9 pm tonight.

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A belated happy birthday to Shiri Appleby and Jason Behr. (Dec 7 and Dec 30, respectively) Can't believe I forgot Jason's, as is on same day as cousin Nick's. The (not-at-all) little buddy is 17 now! Gaah, I feel old.

Happy is me for internet is back up at work. Maybe temporarily, but it's up. Whahoo.

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Wonder of all wonders, it is SNOWING on Christmas Eve! It's been quite a long time since we've had a white christmas, and last year it didn't snow nearly enough, and certainly not enough to sled. But this...this is nice wet packing snow, several inches of it, enough to make driving very treacherous and wishing that someone I know was in town so I could take advantage of the incredible snowing conditions! sigh. We might go out later, if you can still see...the moon's only three-quarters waned...

Merry Christmas, my friends. All the best to you

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 4:53 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Thanksgiving was good. LOTS of food. We were eating most of the time. Early mornings though. Almost worth it with the oatmeal. And the stuffing was good as always.

I shot my grandpa's hunting bow for a bit. I started off kind of wobbly...those compound bows are nothing to be scoffed at. I don't know how much poundage it took, but there was this cute little puller gizmo that saved your hands and made the release much smoother. I did manage to kill the pig in the first three shots, but I got better Mom said I was channeling Legolas. I laughed. It was embarrassing.

Thanksgiving day was Grandma's 75th birthday. And she's still very pretty. My uncle and aunt made a powerpoint presentation of memories of and feelings about her. It wasn't as sappy as it could have been. Did you know she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up?

Started a pattern for the silver frock. Luckily Grandma is a really good seamstress and she had some muslin so we didn't go about cutting into (and most likely screwing up) the pretty dupioni silk. Learned some nice things about sewing that will be put into good use, eventually.

Corey said she might be able to make the buckles for me, and the closures. I'd just have to pay for the silver. Or nickel. Or something. And Grandpa gave me an antler for the long knives. I'm much closer now course, I'd have to figure out how to make the knives...somehow I don't think they'd like it if I brought actual long knives into the convention...or live arrows...hmm.

Watched the Very Merry Muppets Christmas. Cute. You can never go wrong with the Muppets. Kermit is still the cutest frog.

Alex says I have to wait till Tuesday to see if the theater we want to see TTT at will have a midnight premiere. Well gosh darnit they better! I want my TTT! lol. Not obsessed. See, my coworker is leaving for Slovakia (christmas break, you know) on the 18th, so we *have* to see it at midnight so she has time to pack before her flight

I feel like there's more I wanted to say but I can't remember it. I'll try to have a sneak at Chapter Five of TMC up when I get to work. No promises, and it will be in caldir so you'd have to let me know if you want to read it.

Back into the semi-bigtime at the WQ, so please remember to vote for me this week...link is just after the post. Thanks!

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 12:15 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Mom is 49 today. But she's still got a year left before she's 50, and you better believe it... I got her two cds, hopefully she'll like them. It's nice that she has a stereo now, cause that means I can get her cds...sad but true, I am a fan of easy shopping.

Why does no one believe that I carved that pumpkin? Yes, I did use a pattern, but I carved it myself, I even have the stains on my shirt to prove it...

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 5:32 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Something new

1. What anniversary or milestone have you recently celebrated?

well, I suppose the most recent would have been my 22nd birthday, aug 27th. Although I have now been working in this new lab for a month. And I finished an interlude in my story.

2. What did you to do celebrate? I went to a DMB concert on my birthday, bracketed by a horrible drive...and I didn't celebrate either of the other things, so there! I'm boring. I wish I had something to celebrate.

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 1:33 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Please keep voting...

yeah, so my PCR didn't work. Erm. Doing it again with other dna samples. faugh.

Watched a history channel special on Braveheart: 'History vs. Hollywood." So some of my illusions were shattered, but I learned some things too...for instance, did you know that a typical Scottish claymore was 5'6" long? Good grief. Taller than me.

Waiting for midnight so I can download the hi-res version of the TT trailer I am such a dork :look:

file under: celebration , lordoftherings , movies Posted by Jen at 11:25 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Just in case you aren't an avid Lord of the Rings fan like me, I thought I'd remind you (even if it is a little late) that today is Bilbo and Frodo's birthday Yes, I know I'm obsessed. So what?

In other reality news, Jodie and Dan got married today. None of you probably know them, but they were founders of the showchoir I joined in college. Said showchoir is now I believe defunct, without the superior leadership of said couple and the glorious voice of yours truly; I am not modest and never said I was Now I have to say that I almost never tear up at things, I never cry. Even romantic movies don't move me to tears. But the ceremony did. I guess it's just that I knew them so much better than Kristi and Nathan, who invited me to the only other wedding of friends I've been to. But I really got choked up, when Jodie walked down the aisle (she looked so beautiful in her dress) and when they read their vows. There was a reverend and a rabbi, cause Dan is catholic and Jodie is jewish. They really love each other, it's amazing. A very emotional ceremony.

Makes me want to get married. Too bad I have no guy. It also makes me jealous, much as I hate to admit it, cause they've been together so long, every one knew that they'd get together in the end, and they're so in love. I'd like to be in love again. Or maybe for the first time, considering.

I miss romance in my life so much...

file under: celebration Posted by Jen at 10:14 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Well, if you haven't gotten the subtle hints I've dropped the last few days, it's my birthday. I'm 22 today, and my present to myself is that I'm seeing Dave Matthews Band with Hallie. I got an impromptu birthday singing just after I brushed my teeth (of course), and my cake was a fortune cookie. My fortune was "an absent friend will visit you" or something like that, which is true, being that I haven't seen Hallie all summer. There was another fortune in the cookie... written on the same paper as sits by the phone for messages it predicted a bright future. I love my parents. It's my parakeet's birthday as well. Happy birthday Sapphire! He's 9 this year. Hard to believe I've had him since I was 13.

Need gift ideas? Look a couple entries farther down have a good one!

PS. this month's kanji character (look to the left) means beauty. Of course it does! Great word, great month.

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