*flop*

[cleolinda]

So it's been a couple of days now, but I have been Teh Busy. I got through Friday the 13th with minimal damage, although it did piss down rain for about four hours. Saturday, though, was the day that nearly did me in--we ran around town from eight until one, dropping the dogs off at the vet for baths; buying groceries, including all of the food for today (homemade vegetable soup, sandwiches, croissants, crackers and so on) plus for the rest of the week; hitting Sam's for DVDs (IT'S A BUSINESS EXPENSE SHUT UP!) and, uh, chocolate; swinging by the post office and the pet supply place; going to a second grocery store because the infidels at Publix don't have sliced apples or marble rye, apparently; getting a Clinique refill at the mall for Mom, although of course they are unable to find the perfectly ordinary and common shade of foundation she wants, which means we have to circle the counter for fifteen minutes while they search; buying birthday presents and cards; getting free coffee at Books-a-Million because by God Mom had some kind of coupon (it was...streusel-flavored?); picking up drycleaning and alterations; going to get lunch (Zoë[']s Kitchen. You can manage the umlaut but you can't handle a simple possessive?); and picking up... booze. (What? You had my mom's job, you'd be driven to drink, too.) Because, you see, yesterday was my grandmother's birthday, and today was her birthday lunch. And after five straight hours of errands, I came home and passed out for about two hours. And then today Grandma actually came over and the soup was hot and the dogs were fluffy and we all ate ourselves stupid. The dogs too, because the remaining cold cuts had to go somewhere.

Speaking of not updating for a couple of days: you "nudge" me and I will smite you. Granted, I don't think I'll ever go a whole week without some kind of entry--I don't know that I've ever done that in the history of my keeping a Livejournal--but how rude can you get? If you're "concerned" about my wellbeing, leave me a comment or frickin' email me, don't poke me between the e-shoulderblades and demand new content.

Miscellaneous linkspam:

Socialist Bachelet to be first woman to lead Chile after electoral triumph. 

Student Shot by Police Pronounced Dead. Let me clarify, because this otherwise-inflammatory headline assumes you've been keeping up with the story: an eighth-grader brought a pellet gun to school that had been painted black so as to disguise the "Hey, this is just a toy" markings. When the gun was set side by side with a Beretta, no one could tell the difference. He then took out the gun and menaced several students, claiming that he wanted to kill himself or die trying, and was in fact shot in an attempt to disarm him. Other students reported that he had frequently said that he was unhappy and wanted to kill himself and/or die; you have to figure that he was trying to get shot because he didn't have a real gun. It's sad, but the multiple headlines making it look like the police shot him unprovoked have been pissing me off. The boy was kept on life support after he was brain dead so his organs could be harvested, which is at least something.

Also in Florida: Fla. Teens Surrender in Homeless Beatings.

New N.J. Slogan: "Come See for Yourself." Am I the only one who finds that sort of... ominous?

Legal TV Dramas Influence Real Jurors.

Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks at Them.

Man Solves Rubik's Cube in 11.13 Seconds.

Susie Bright recounts her strange pseudo-relationship with JT Leroy: "Then, that peculiar day in October, JT wrote and asked me to help fundraise for his son’s private French immersion school, Lycee Francaise La Perouse— the most prestigious and expensive secondary school in San Francisco.... All the money from JT’s work has gone to Emily’s family, a corporation in her mother’s name. Emily certainly does have a son in private school, which explains why 'JT' acted more conventionally bourgeois and maternal about “his kid” than any teenage homeless runaway I ever met."

More lulz from eBaumsgate, including this delightful YTMND. (The sound is from that dramatic reading of the C&D ("LOL!") that I mentioned the other day.) Roll, Lindsay, roll! (Also: Catch it before it's legalesed out of existence.)

corkdorkdan: "Umm, did you know a vampire is running for governor of Minnesota (replacing wrestler Jesse Ventura)? He announced his candidacy today." This one is a vampire and a former wrestler, actually.

I may switch to Library Thing instead of BookCrossing, because I think LT is what I wanted in the first place--a way to catalogue/flaunt my books (I'm kidding on that second part. Mostly), not give them away or "loose them into the wild" or whatever.

Release date of the last Lemony Snicket book (according to the lemonysnicket.com newsletter): Friday, October 13.

The White Witch Winter Enchantress custom pony is back up. Seems like the Lewis estate (!) was the one giving the seller problems.

Superuberawesome 12" Aragorn figure from Sideshow Toys. Okay, I cracked. I do already have the Toy Biz 12" Aragorn, but he's Fugagorn, the Fug of Men. I got advance emails from Sideshow, as one of their longtime suckers customers, and Eowyn!Doll looked over my shoulder and said, "Buy him for meeeee!" Now, given that I have two Arwens, two Galadriels (one Toy Biz, one Barbie), an Anna Valerious Dollerious and a Sleeping Beauty in addition to the Eowyn, and only one male doll in all of Cleodom, you can see that we have a bit of a Y chromosome shortage. "And the one you've got? His sword is totally crooked," added Eowyn. I didn't even want to ask if that was a euphemism for anything or not. The real reason I cracked, though, is that the Sideshow Anna Dollerious is, quite simply, the most awesome movie replica doll I have ever seen. It's got buckles, it's got corsets, it's got corset-lacings, it's got tiny peasant-blouse embroidery. The hair is a bit out of control--a bit more Anna Valerifro than I wanted, and not the awesome long curls in the prototype picture--but other than that? Gold, all the way. So I'm pretty much committed to any Sideshow doll of a character I really like. If they start putting out Arwens or--God help us all--Galadriels, I am screwed.

More Harry Potter Tonner dolls. Oh my Lord, the Ron doll. And the Hermione is hugely off--Emma Watson's face is much thinner and pointier. The Harry doll head without hair or glasses, though? Terrifyingly like Daniel Radcliffe. (Wait, are these dolls anatomically correct?)

doroc_sabah on JournalFen: "[This icon] redeems everyone in the wank or who has ever seen it from all sin." It's true, y'all.

And, since I already have this journal *and* my linkspams are getting a little overlong: the movie spam!

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Cleolinda!

1. Cleolinda can smell some things up to six miles away.


2. The international dialling code for Cleolinda is 672.


3. Cleolinda has 118 ridges around the edge.


4. Cleolinda was first grown in America by the grandmother Maria Ann Smith, from whom her name comes!


5. Cleolinda can pollinate up to six times more efficiently than the honeybee!


6. Cleolinda can last longer without water than a camel can!


7. Cleolinda can drink over 25 gallons of water at a time.


8. According to the story, Pinocchio was made of Cleolinda.


9. The air around Cleolinda is superheated to about five times the temperature of the sun.


10. Cleolinda became extinct in England in 1486.

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