I was IMing Katherine just now, I heard so many people talking about schlepping boxes, or suitcase, or whatever since Saturday that I no longer remember the verb I usually use. I think I usually "drag" around suitcases and "lug" or "haul" boxes. But, I could be wrong.

I am so tired. I think getting back to my house woke me up just a little bit, but I am weary to the bone. _

Beth March is the one that surprises me the most on this list of most hated characters in fiction. How do you hate Beth March? You might find her dull, but... _

Was given serious grief this evening by someone because I had left the milk (Kosher certified) chocolates out on a table despite the meat (Kosher certified) meal that happened to be served at the same time.

Some things make you seriously consider breaking a 15 year vegeterian diet to eat bacon. _

When I go away, I always always pack extra underwear "just in case." I don't know what might happen that I will run out of underwear and not be able to do laundry. But I always do.

Also, since the Christmas where they lost our suitcase on the way out, I always make sure I have a change of underwear in my carry-on. This is less of an issue now that my goal is to not have to check any luggage. But. Still. I was greatful I had a change of underwear when my flight to Turkey wound up being delayed overnight.

Yes, I did just blog about underwear. _

I watched the first episode of Moffat's Sherlock last night. I enjoyed it immensely, but now I am vaguely bothered that all super smart people on TV seem to be socially inept, kind of asperberger-y. Sherlock, Bones, House, all the Big Bang Theory guys. (It's actually why I stopped watching The Big Bang Theory, I was sick of the stereotypically bad-dressing entirely socially inept nerds. That and they moved it to a new time slot that was during something else I watch.)

Sean from Psych, perhaps? He might break the anti-social mold. _

Pronounciation of foyer foy-er instead of foy-a (long a) has always annoyed me. But, apparently, it is considered correct. Who knew. _

I have this cookbook, The Spirited Vegeterian, that I was given for Christmas a few years ago. I hadn't ever really looked at it before, but I was flipping through it the other day, and there was a recipe for polenta where you replace about half of the water with white wine. I tried it today, and it is delicious. I generally like polenta, but the wine definitely added another layer of flavor.

Also delicious, steamed artichokes. But that's nothing new. _

Someone hired a temp last week to "clean up the registrations" without talking to any of the IT people. I have been working on cleaning up the registrations since August. I have been doing it in our database, which is where it ultimately matters. They had the temp do it in the registration program, which means that now, in addition to the >100 new registrations I know have to reimport and reclean the 700+ people the temp "fixed." I nearly burst into tears when I realized this. This is a lot of work. So much time and effort and eyestrain has gone into this. I am spitting mad, and I want one of my various bosses to explain to the person who decided to hire the temp just how much extra work he has created for me. _

Trying to parse bad grammar and turn it right...a coworker walked by and said "those are them." Should it be "those are they?" That sounds weird too. And now it's niggling in my brain. HELP! _

It amuses me to no end.

I have determined Anne Elliot to be an Old Crone. _

This is one of the saddest things I've ever read. I mean, on the one hand, at least kids are reading. But there is such a limited window when kids read picture books, why push them into chapter books early? _

This morning, I hit the bottom of the staircase (at a run) in the subway station as the doors started to close. The conductor saw me, and the doors beeped and opened back up. We looked at each other and grinned. Totally awesome. _

We are now coming up with ideas for Poe themed cupcakes. Decorate them like floor boards and bury red hots in the middle. Paint ravens on them, or red masks. Slash their tops for The Pit and the Pendulum. It is unfortunately the wrong time of year to find the liquor filled chocolates...What would you do for The Fall of the House of Usher? _

This is why I love the Main Line, there is a road called Lllandrillo Road in Bala Cynwyd.

I think there are too many "l's" in that first word, but who knows. _

IM Conversation with Katherine, we are both rather bored at work (apparently) and got excited about the idea of my idea of fortune cupcakes, and making literary themed food for Moss and Julia's Halloween party:

me: So, the internet suggestion, for fortune cupcakes is to write the fortune on regular paper and wrap it in tin foil
Katherine: , hmm, I would think the crinkliness of tin foil would be a problem in making it stick to the batter
me: You put it in after.
Katherine: What about folding up a cupcake wrapper like an envelope with the fortune inside?
me: You might stick it up straight like it were the label on a Hershey's Kiss
I'm not sure I follow.
Katherine: I was thinking of the kind baked in
me: What if you held the wrapped fortune up in the cupcake while pouring the batter?
I think that would work.
Katherine: I think so too - esp if you used a thickish batter
me: Let's make fortune cupcakes!
We'll have so much fun!
Katherine: yes!
And there can be some in code!
book codes!
me: Like they did in WWII!
Katherine: and maybe the cupcake itself can be a clue to the book in question!
(I get kind of carried away)
me: (That is when I stopped reading the Wimsey WWII book, when they went into extreme detail about how literary codes worked.)
There could be marzipan books on top!

  _

I mentioned to Cassie that I had gone to see The Town and she hadn't heard of it. I asked Tracy, and she was only familiar with it because it was referenced in xkcd last week. So, is anyone actually paying attention to this movie outside of Boston?

(By the way, I saw The Town. It was good, but the violence was so realistic and gritty that it disturbed me more than, say, Inglorious Basterds, the last hyper-violent movie I saw. I wonder if part of that is that it was largely filmed in Charlestown, where I lived until May.) _

So, on my desk at work, I have this...thing...that has pencil/pen cups, and more shallow cups for things like a white out roller, thumbtacks, etc. It also has my tape dispenser. Someone just came to my desk, because I am sitting closest to the room where they are meeting, and asked for some tape. I handed him a piece of tape. He said "no, I need the tape dispenser. I'll give it back after the meeting." "No, I said, it's attached to my whole thing, you can't take that." So he grumped off to his own desk (15 feet away from mine) to get his tape. And snotted "let me know if you use it in the next two hours." Um...right. All of my pens are in it. _

Does anyone else watch Parenthood? Did they talk over each other quite as much last season? Or is that a new writer thing? _

My new trendy book rule: don't read it until the hype has died down. And then ask someone for their honest opinion about whether or not it's worth it.

If I had this same theory with TV, I would have never wasted my time on Lost. Fucking Lost. Or Heroes after the first season. _

What goes around comes around. My friend Lyndsay was complaining about Harry Potter withdrawal in Facebook, having just reread the series. So I suggested to her that she reread Diana Wynne Jones, who I used to read at her house when we were little... _