It's been a weird year. But nevertheless, there's lots to be thankful for.

Joe Posnanski, who is one of my favorite columnists, and who occasionally still writes for my hometown paper, the Kansas City Star, has taken up the tradition started by former editor Joe McGuff by writing his annual Thanksgiving column. Enjoy: http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/1595073.html.

This is where I would be tonight if I were home: http://www.kansascity.com/934/gallery/1578438.html

And last but not least, if you need a little cheering up today, enjoy WKRP's classic Thanksgiving episode, Turkeys Away, on Hulu.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope you're enjoying it with people you care about.

Well, I know where my motivation went ...... out the door, apparently, along with my job!

Yep, got laid off. Second time in ten years, which when you think about it, isn't too bad, I guess.

Ugh.

Anyone know? Bueller?

I am stuck on a fic that I had intended to have finished last Thursday, can barely be bothered to cook, do laundry; it was a struggle just to get to the gym tonight. What is WRONG with me these last two weeks? I can't even blame it on the rain anymore, cause it hasn't rained since last Wednesday.


ugh.

It's strange to think that it's been that long already. Half my life now. From this point on, she'll have been gone longer than Bryan and I had her with us.

*sigh*

Coming from a long line of "Kennedy Democrats," I would be remiss if I didn't say this:

Rest in Peace, Senator Kennedy, and thank you for remembering that our goverment is elected "for the people, of the people and by the people".

It's truly the end of an era in American politics; I highly doubt we'll ever see an elected official who so thoroughly embodied the ideal "to whom much is given, much is expected." Thank you for working so diligently and effectively to make our world a better place.

Is it really only Tuesday? I feel like it should be at least Wednesday by now, if not Thursday.

Also, what the hell happened to summer? Holy CRAP, a week from today is September 1st.

Damn.

I have a confession to make to the very few of you who read this - I write fanfiction. It's fun, but maybe a teeny bit geeky, so most of my RL friends don't actually know this. I dabbled in the Buffy fandom wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy back in the day, but I never had the guts to publish anything until I started watching The Mentalist. Now, the first season of the show has already aired here in the States, but it's still airing elsewhere, and getting a good foothold over in the UK in particular, which is great for the show - more fans are good. However, the problem is that British fic writers are getting into the fray, and that would be fine, except for one thing - invariably, they will write the characters speaking British English.

This is a bad thing. Why? BECAUSE THE CHARACTERS ARE AMERICANS. (there are quite a few American writers in the Harry Potter arena who actually have the reverse problem - writing the characters as Americans when, HELLO, BRITISH!) I don't care that Simon Baker in Australian, or that Owain Yeoman is Welsh, or that the show was created and is written by Bruno Heller, who is himself a Brit - THE CHARACTERS ARE AMERICANS. And therefore, speak American English. If you're a British writer, get yourself a beta who can help you with the slang and the idioms, because otherwise, you're not writing the characters correctly. Plain and simple. And I, for one, won't read your story if I can tell from the writing that the characters are out of character. Sorry.

To sum up: fanfic. Ur doin' it rong.

One of many reasons I am bummed that I am not currently in San Diego enjoying the awesomeness that is Comic-Con. Not that I had actual plans to go this year - I'm just sayin', one of these years, it's ON LIKE DONKEY KONG. Preferably before Chuck gets canceled, cause it looks like these guys know how to have a good time.




Seriously, is awesome, yes?

It is just after noon ET, 5PM out in Scotland, and your leader of the Open Championship remains TOM MOTHERF-ING WATSON!

He just gave back a shot, unfortunately, but he's hanging on for dear life in very windy conditions. I believe he can do this. It would be awesome to see it happen.

Edit: Round three is in the books, and Tooooooooooooooooom is one shot clear of the field. GO TOM GO!

the G.I. Joe movie looks SO AWESOMELY BAD! Christopher Eccleston is in it though, so you KNOW I'm going to see it. Just not for more than $6.

I hate writer's block.


That's all I have to say, really.

I stole this from annearchy and she stole it from celtic_fish.

( this is the longest, most random questionnaire ever )

Got back from Chicago last night. Bryan graduated from law school on Sunday, and it was an awesome day. I tried sushi and sake at a Japanese restaurant. I saw a zombie love story horror play (no joke). Sadly, I did not make it to either the Museum of Science and Industry or the Cubs game on Saturday, but that's okay.

that movie would have totally PWNED Christmas, if they'd released it on its original date. So awesome, I don't even know where to begin. Great cast, some clever nods to Trek history (especially Scotty beaming Archer's beagle) and some nice J.J. Easter Eggs (Slusho! Grunny!)

Will definitely be seeing it again. Hopefully very soon.

Jeebus, how in the world did I ever survive before I got a laptop and wireless? I am such a Luddite, seriously.

Also? Zack Greinke is 6-0. Just sayin'.

The letters H and P, and the number 802.11n.

For you non-techies, that means I am posting from my shiny hew HP G60 laptop from my living room! Despite a nearly hourlong call with tech support for my wireless router, I am all set.

Hooray!

The MLB standings as of today, Saturday, April 18:

Just got finished with my first go-round on my taxes, and for the first time in a decade (literally, the first time since I started working full-time) the IRS owes ME money, not the other way 'round. Thanks in large part to the First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit (and yes, I know that $$$ is ultimately taken out of future tax refunds) I'm getting a nice refund, some of which will go right back to my Roth IRA, and therefore will count as a deduction for next year. (heh, aren't I clever?)

Next year should be even better, since I will have a full year of property taxes and mortgage interest to deduct. Woohoo!

I'm too old to be staying out until 12:30 watching basketball on a school night. And OF COURSE I had to work the Thrashers game, and OF COURSE it went into OT and then a sudden-death shootout (great game though, totally not complaining) so I didn't get to Taco Mac until the start of the second half. And I didn't get home until almost 1.

That being said ....

GO MIZZOU!

I love March. Not just for the fact that March has a ton of birthdays of awesome people (four shopping days left for you slackers out there!) but it gets nice and warm, and the pollen isn't quite out yet, and St. Patrick's Day, and the tail end of spring training, and MARCH MADNESS! Tipoff is just under two hours away.

GO MIZZOU!