Tuesday, November 20, 2007

1:15 AM - gah! I am writing about mainstream entertainment product.

Heroes on NBC...

...has officially jumped the shark. I was secretly believing that the writing was going downhill since the middle of last season, and there were definitely some scenes already this season that came directly from an Acting 101 textbook. However. I now believe that the writers' ability to craft a plot and develop characters is in such dire need of remedial attention that the producers at NBC would be better off hiring some Livejournal Yaoi fanfic authors than waiting for the strike to end.

You think I'm kidding, but so far we've seen: 1) shirtless Peter Petrelli in handcuffs, 2) shirtless Peter Petrelli tied to a chair, 3) shirtless Peter Petrelli sprayed with an industrial hose, and 4) shirt-optional Peter Petrelli in prison receiving playful electric shocks from a girl he later kisses. Clearly Peter Petrelli is a submissive bottom who was working out between seasons.

Thank my lucky stars for the twin saviors of Project Runway and Project Runway Canada.

Did I mention that I do not own a television?

Friday, November 09, 2007

10:01 PM - I think I finally understand why old people talk about old things.

missed it by that much

As I may have mentioned once or twice, I sold all of my furniture when I moved to Vermont so I don't own very much. Even though I've been in my place over 4 months now, it's still pretty empty and disorganized because many of my things are still in boxes and there isn't much real furniture around.

Today, as part of an attempt to remedy the situation, I went to a big furniture sale at a warehouse in Bayview. This was a way to keep with my No Ikea rule while still having a chance to get some things for my apartment. Usually when I go shopping, I shop for one specific item, or I give myself a very short "allowed to buy" list. However, with prices at 60-90% off, and with me feeling some of the oxygen of being gainfully employed, I gave myself a rather long "allowed to buy" list.

I had a leisurely morning, had some breakfast, and made my way to the warehouse in Bayview. I parked the car at about 11:30, half an hour after the sale opened. Two things happened next: 1) my body immediately decided that it needed to find a bathroom and b) I got into a line that stretched around the block. It took me almost 2 hours to get through the line (but thanks to Yelp.com, I was prepared with an iPod and a new book.) For those of you who like to keep tabs at home-- there was no bathroom available at the warehouse.

I stood in line for two hours and made it into the warehouse (even though I was paranoidly convinced that I was going to get shut out for some reason), and shopped as efficiently as is possible for me. The furniture was very hit or miss, with a significant scratch and dent section, but the pristine overstock section was what served me best. I found a low bookcase that I really liked, and I decided to buy it (casting away a few other pieces of "maybe" furniture, because I didn't love them). I made it through the sales line, payed, and got my pick-up receipt at 2:50pm, 10 minutes before the deadline for same-day pickup.

I was faced with a dilemma: bladder or bookcase? It couldn't possibly be too big for my car, right? So I stood in the (slower than it looked) line for someone to get my bookcase out of the warehouse. They did, we signed some "don't return this to us under any circumstances" paperwork, and I wheeled it to my car, and.... it was enormous. Enormous. Didn't fit in the trunk, didn't fit in the back seat, was too wide to fit anywhere.

It's now almost 4 in the afternoon, I am standing on the street in Bayview with a box that I can't return and is too big for my car, and I've had to pee since 11am.

And finally, after all of these years of self-loathing about my adolescent entertainment products, playing World of Warcraft finally paid off. I summoned Niloc, who had a roof rack on his car, had appropriate cabling, and was able to interrupt his Friday afternoon relax-at-the-café time to come rescue me. (For those of you who play World of Warcraft, this is further proof that Priests are always the first ones to the summoning stones.) Thank you Niloc!!

In any case, once I got home and unpacked the bookshelf (after pausing briefly to use the facilities), I found that the bookcase was ingeniously designed so that it came mostly assembled but was designed with hinges so that once I took it out of the box, it simply unfolded into shape. Neat! But the important part about that was this: even if I had taken the bookshelf out of the box, it wouldn't have been any smaller or fit into my car any better.

For the first time since 2005, I have unpacked my books out of their boxes and put them out in the house. I was surprised at how deeply I was moved to see my books out again. They stretch back to at least 7th grade and give a pretty good scope of the things that are really important to me. Seeing them out in the room makes me feel more like I am at home again than I've felt in a long time. I am actually eager to start having people over now, just to see how they react to my quirky book collection.

(Visitors trying to find the 7th grade book will have a bit of digging to do, though: the 2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, while an accurate memory of 7th grade me, is dorky enough that I have stashed it behind one of the panels that hide the first couple of books on each side.)