Let's see. Um, I had to scrape frost of my windshield so I could drive home from work at 2am. That was cool. I am 98% done with my Christmas shopping, and if you aren't family, expect a gift card at most, sorry, it's been a tough year and I'm still totally broke from NYC. Only three days until Christmas and when you work in retail those are pretty much the best words ever, except for two/one day[s] until Christmas and then Yesterday was Christmas. It's pretty cold outside, yeah? Hmmm, there's lots of stuff I could talk about but pretty much nothing I'd want to have publicized.

Lately I've "downloaded" some new tunes. The following is a list of groups/artists I've been listening to obsessively recently:

• Andrew Bird. You gotta love a guy who plays violin and whistles, not to mention his amazing voice.
  
• Rilo Kiley. This is a recent one, I only have their latest CD and it is addicting. I must have listened to it 5 times today.
• Yo La Tengo. I have no clue what their name means.
• Cat Power. When I get depressed about life in general I listen to Cat Power. Until that song about how she just hates life and wants to die comes up and then I put on something cheerier, but not too cheery.
• The Decemberists. I have loved them for years now, but I've gotten some of their older albums and also a recent live EP and my love is cemented forever.
• Daft Punk. Now, I know it's "trendy" to be into Daft Punk, but I can't help it, that shizz is catchy.
• Feist. Who doesn't love "1234"?
  

That is pretty much what my iTunes has been playing for the past few weeks. I still adore but haven't listened to the following in a while:

• The Shins. I still love you, but too much is too much.
• Arcade Fire. Eh.
• Belle & Sebastian. My love, I adore you. I know you don't like being called "twee" so I won't, but you're too cute to listen to 24/7.
• Zero 7. I don't really need to be mellowed out as of late, but when I do, you're my "Speed Dial No. 2."
  

1. I would rather listen to music all night than sleep.
2. I told my dad about Pittsburgh and not going to Cal State and he seemed alright with it.
3. No one looks at my MySpace, I linked to this blog and I don't think anyone is that interested in me. I don't blame them.
4. I don't illegally download music, I simply store other people's archive copies of songs on my hard drive, and my iPod...
   

I've been meaning to post these videos that I really enjoy. Just things that make me think, and things that make me laugh.

It looks like there is no way in the world I can finish my novel by the end of the month. I missed 6 days by being conveniently out of town and then when I get back I get sick! Yes, you heard me correctly. I'm sick with Strep Throat and I can't go back to work until Friday. Ohhhhh this sucks. What sucks even more is the fortune I'm going to have to pay because I got re-kicked off of the health insurance, but whatever, when you need antibiotics... It feels like I'm being repeatedly stabbed in the throat, especially when I swallow, which I can't do without making a face like I'm being stabbed in the throat. So, my main characters might just have to continue to live where I left them, 10000 words in, at night, them thinking about each other. Of course, the entire point of my novel hasn't come to fruition yet, I'm still two days from their "date", but what can I do? Nothing. It hurts for me to sit up and type this, no way can I make 40000 words in the next ten days. Oh, well. I guess I'll wait until next year.

I updated my Hate list by moving into the side bar. I also added a Love list. I think my Love List is going to be much longer than the Hate List. Enjoy.

I have nothing better to do than write my novel. I think it's going quite well. My FMC is house-hunting and my MMC is having vivid sex dreams about one of his students. That was difficult to write, it's kind of hard for me to imagine that kind of stuff not having any first hand experience, and honestly, it's not exactly the kind of research I'd really like to do in order to write. The carnal act isn't committed though, I got right to there and stopped. It was a dream after all and how often do we actually finish dreams? It is not sexy in the least, I tried to make it funny. I had one of her girly parts hit him in the face and his boxer shorts talked to him. The greatest thing about WriMo is that you can write whatever you want and no one will judge you. I've been browsing through some of the other authors excepts and some are bad, very very bad, makes mine look like it can win the freaking Nobel Prize for Literature. I got to about 8100 words before calling it a night. I wrote about 4000 today, which is progress although I'm still 2100 behind quota. I hope I can catch up tomorrow and then hopefully bank some before losing 6 days to NYC (YAY!). I'm still considering taking my lappy, after all, I'm sure Alex and Melina would love to go there.

• My ears finally stopped ringing.
• My old friend from school posted another "vlog" and I still couldn't watch it.
• My Birthday is in 2 weeks and 4 days.
• I went to the Valley Plaza today because I wanted to go to Sephora and buy make-up but they close at 6. Stupid.
• My feet are cold.
• NYC in 21 days.
  

New York City is waiting for me. I think of it all the time. I wait. I am excited beyond the physical. Mmm. Jake Gyllenhaal is on Conan right now. Yummy. I think it would be amazing is John Krasinski was the guest when we go. Ohhh, my John is going to be there on October 25th... Lame dash O. How amazing would that have been. I may have just died right there on the spot. New York is probably enough anyway. I was on Yahoo!Maps and looking at various restaurants around the hostel we're staying at and there is this sandwich shop nearby called Lunch Boxes Etc. that can make just about any kind of sandwich you want. We MUST go there. You've Got Mail makes me want New York. Love.

I've been reading a lot of books lately, most of them by one of my new favorite authors Michael Crichton. I started with Jurassic Park because I love the movie and was pretty much addicted. I went to Barnes and Noble and bought two more: The Lost World and Prey. I read Prey next and could not put it down. I literally sat at my desk upstairs and read the last few chapters when I was on the clock because I was in such suspense. Then I read The Lost World, Timeline, Rising Sun, and now I'm finishing up State of Fear. I have The Andromeda Strain/Terminal Man in my bookcase for my next book. After that I will read Sphere, Congo, The Great Train Robbery, Airframe, and then Next. I am really looking forward to Next and although it's already been published, I'm waiting for it to come out in paperback because I carry my books around in my purse and hardback books are heavy. I have to wait until November for that.

The reason I like his books so much is because of the way he can wrap you up in the story. With Jurassic Park I recall being huddled on my bed during the scary parts even though I knew the story. I also enjoy the obvious research he puts into these books, it's not often you read fiction with a bibliography several pages long in the back, also, footnotes referencing real journal articles and studies. State of Fear is about global warming, and I feel like I'm learning while enjoying a well-written thriller. Prey was about nano-robots (but not government-created killer nano-robots) , Jurassic Park and The Lost World was genetics, Timeline was time travel. Fascinating novels built on the backs of strong research and obvious intelligence. The only thing that bugs me, albeit slightly, about these books is that sometimes he goes too far into the sciency stuff and seems to be thrusting his own personal opinions onto us. But I forgive because the stories are so good. Also, the main characters are almost always male, and are usually normal, somewhat knowledgeable, are kind of dense, and always find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Also, lots of people die. Lots. I learned to not get too attached to one person because they'll probably die. I think in State of Fear maybe only one main character has died but they talk about him all the freaking time so he may as well be alive. No wait, I take it back, the first 4 chapters concluded with a death. So much death.

I still totally love these books though.

My family is doing a lot of redecorating of our house. The entire family room/living room is in it's final stages (thank goodness considering we started 4 months ago) and I recently started to slowly clean out my room in hopes of moving out sometime in the next decade. I decided that I'm going to use Van Gogh's Starry Night as my inspiration and color palate. So far I've painted one shelf. I also replaced my light switch by myself! I am so proud of the fact that I can do basic electrical work. I should be able to considering that my family has renovated more than one house (two) in the past 10 years and I've spent months and months (spread over 8 years) painting and installing various house things. I am also cleaning out all of my books, which, sadly, means I will be getting rid of a lot of books. I don't want to give them away, although that would be charitable, I really want to sell them and get some of my money back. I also packed up a lot of things from my childhood (awards, dolls, etc.) into a storage container which is now in my closet with a bunch of clothes I need to actually give a way. The major phase of my room renovation will start next Sunday, the day my parents leave to go on a 9-day cruise to Mexico. I will clear my room of everything and paint it. I'm still undecided on the color but as long as it's not the stark white as it is currently I think I'll be OK.

1. SpongeBob SquarePants
2. Nancy T. from work
3. Needles
   

I probably watch more TV than I should. The following is a list of shows that I watch:

• The Office- Hands down one of the best shows on television. Perhaps EVER. I watch this show religiously. I know most of the lines, all of the characters, their stories, and I'm a little bit in love with Jim Halpert. (NBC, Thursday, 8:30pm)
  
• Ugly Betty - This is a close second to TO. I have seen every single episode (mostly online) but I don't obsess about it. It's very funny and smart and sometimes heartbreaking (I totally cried at the end of both the season finales last season AND the season premiere last night). (ABC, Thursday, 8pm)
  
• Jeopardy - I love trivia shows, I don't watch Jeopardy THAT often mostly because I'm at work at night, but, when I can watch it I will.(ABC, M-F, 7pm)
  
• Project Runway - I vowed to never ever watch PR again after last seasons devastating finales wherein the WRONG PERSON won. That guy is ridiculous, but I know that this season I will not be able to control myself from tuning in. Tim Gunn is my hero. (Bravo, Wednesdays, 10pm)
• Lost - When this show returns (in freaking January) I will be either a) totally into it or b) completely uninterested. This is the risk the showmakers need to take in order to avoid what happened last season which was a lot of reruns and a 9 week hiatus. I would rather have a 30 week hiatus and then get 16 weeks in a row of new episodes. It should keep the continuity going. Hopefully.
  

Those are my current/returning shows. The shows I want to come back so desperately but aren't are: Gilmore Girls (totally my guilty pleasure), Arrested Development (which will live in infamy in my DVD plater), and Will and Grace (there needs to be more gay people on TV, honestly). But I'm realistic and know that even in a perfect world, all things must come to an end.