I am on book two of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Not only did I purchase this book in Barnes and Noble yesterday, I purchased this young-adult FANTASY book, which is kind of unprecedented for me. (I read only one Harry Potter book and that was because it was assigned to me in an Adolescent Lit course.) I have to admit, I was downright embarrassed when I had to shuffle over to the customer service desk and ask where these particular books were stashed—"I already looked in Science Fiction, Romance and just regular Fiction, but I can't find it and can you please respond in a whisper so no-one hears this conversation?"—and then the very loud-voiced, couldn't-manage-a-simple-whisper customer service workers answered with, "Oh! Twilight! It's right there! But, I think Eclipse, the third book, isn't available in paperback, but New Moon may not be either. Which book are you actually looking for? I can take you right to it, if you'd like." I resisted the urge to shush them frantically and managed an, "I got it covered, thanks!" but not before dying. On the spot. I was an English major! I spent an entire month of school dissecting and falling in love with Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. I wrote a twelve-page paper on the symbolism of the English countryside in Remains of the Day. Just this year I read Pride and Prejudice and cried when it was over because has anyone ever loved another person as much as Mr. Darcy loved Elizabeth Bennet? But I picked up Twilight (the first book) on a whim, after seeing the trailer and—OH MY!—I'm hooked. Edward and Bella? I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF YOU TWO. A vampire loving a human loving a vampire. All the self-sacrifice and resisting the urge to suck your girlfriend's blood all the time (totally brings me back to early Buffy). I'm actually heading to Los Angeles tomorrow to attend a pretty large trade show for the book industry where there will be a ridiculous amount of free books for me to snatch up. I will have more reading material come Sunday than I'll know what to do with and all I can think about is does Bella ever become a vampire? Does Edward ever break down and nibble on her a little bit? So, anyway, what are you reading these days? And does it have you as obsessed as these books have me? AND ARE YOU TOTALLY JUDGING ME FOR MY CHOICE OF READING MATERIAL? (I plan to read Water for Elephants after this series if that redeems me at all.)
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So, today I received some interesting spam. The subject line read "what a stupid face you have Jennifer." And although I was kind of taken aback—has Devland Ching even seen my face? If so, have I seen his/hers? That's a name I'm sure I'd remember—I was even more intrigued at this person's marketing strategy. Insulting your audience, that's a new one, and I work in marketing. Perhaps there's someone out there who is just insecure enough to click on the e-mail to see how to make their face look smart or quick or witty instead of stupid and, really, I will say it's a vast improvement over sending me an e-mail with nine typos (intentional or not) in the subject line alone. I'd rather you insult me with adjectives than incorrect grammar.
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Like I said above, I'm leaving town tomorrow—leaving the DVR in my husband's care and taking far too many shoes since that pesky baggage-check fee will be covered by my company—and I've left this site in some pretty capable guest-posting hands while I'm away. So capable in fact, I'm almost giddy about having their words on my site. There may be printing and framing involved when I return. Anyway, enjoy them while I'm gone.
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Now, I want to share with you a dress I have in two colors and I love so much I wore it both Saturday and Sunday (around mostly different crowds; NATALIE YOU SAW NOTHING). It really is the most comfortable, well-fitting, inexpensive summer dress, and IT'S ON SALE. I have black and berry chutney and the only reason I don't have wheelbarrow (which, come on, is just gray) is because it wasn't in my size. Dress it up! Dress it down! Pair it with flip-flops or snazzy espadrilles! It really is my new favorite find and when I woke up on Monday, I was actually sad I couldn't wear one again. Mike said that would be pushing it and also kind of gross.
$20 online! (Although, oddly enough, I got the black on sale for $14.50 over the weekend. Apparently Old Navy is slashing prices and then rethinking things, hoping no-one will notice. Interesting.)
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Finally, Top Chef is on tonight! Come on Spike! (I, personally, think Richard is taking this season, but you really never know which is one of the reasons I absolutely love this show. The other is all the food.)