Probably thing thing I miss most about JU is my anonymity. It's the reason I have a handle (Angloesque) and the reason not one of my friends or family members has the URL to this place. Back when I was a regular and checked my JU blog from any available computer, I compulsively deleted my history. (My parents probably thought I was looking at porn.) But I've given that up: I've started anew on a simple Blogger URL, and every link on my sidebar is someone I've known for years. But it's cons...

I've returned just in time to see the detritus of another soap opera fiasco. Hmm. So sorry to have missed it. For the last couple months I've been blogging elsewhere. I don't have the anonymity I had here, but I'm not bombarded by idiots, either. Then again, I don't get the variety of perspectives. Call it even. Anyway, cheers all. -A.

So the world as we know it ends and I'm left to share the wealth of knowledge with the hordes. Oh what a sad day, &c., yes it's true. But anyway, there are a few useful things I could share: 1. How to make a perfect pina colada with just the right amount of rum. Mmm. Rum. 2. How to properly distinguish misplaced modifiers—and where you can stick them. 3. Speaking of grammar, proper punctuation marks go outside quotation marks. ("Well that's silly", you say.) 4. The implications for mank...

Taking a cue from Shadey's blog , here's a general update as proof that I'm still alive. 1. Yup, I'm now an official freelance writer, in addition to my day job. (Would it be lame to have a business card that said, "Anglo P. Esque, Freelance Writer"? Probably.) Nothing exciting or earth-shattering, but some nice portfolio material. If only it were on glossy instead of dirty old newsprint...but I'll get to glossy eventually. And then the kind that's actually bound with something besides ...

I'm in a bad mood tonight. I could blame my job, my cooking, my husband, the weather, the price of oil, but it's not really any of those. Rather, it's one of those more nebulous, everyone's-an-idiot kind of days that's just gotten to me. I can't shake it. It started with getting up late. Never a good way to start the day. Then at work, one of my "overworked" coworkers won't let us help her, but we still have to sit there listening to her whine about how busy she is (she's actually just slo...

Hmm, this title is intriguing, let's see what's inside... *click* Blah blah blah; silly illogicalisms, unsubstantiated claims, sexist, ageist, racist, stupid tripe Ahh, crap! I don't want to waste me time on this. Unclick! Unclick! Dammit! Will the back button save me? The page hasn't finished loading...will there be a blue flag in the forums when I refresh? *refresh* CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP! /story. And that's how I feel tonight.

And like most crimes of that category, it's by someone I know. Someone who knows me. Someone who knows my husband. Someone who will probably read this, and to whom I say, leave. Leave now. You're not a JU and never have been, you're not interested in the site, you're not brought here with referrals or any simple curiosity or altruistic reason. You're come here to keep tabs on me and report to others what I say. Others who have no business in my life, like yourself. To my JU friends, I don'...

My aunt (in law) sent us a Christmas package--very sweet of her. In it, she included candy, a little sled knick-knack, and some wooden blocks with letters and pictures on them, the idea being that they're supposed to spell out "Merry Christmas." They don't. Hence the blog title (they do spell that). * This began promisingly: A few minutes ago, H was tugging my pants down around my ankles on the living room floor. There was some biting involved. Perhaps a few rugburns. Alas. He doe...

H got a bookkeeping job here in town--yesterday was his first day. The business is in disarray and he's quite pleased about helping them get everything organized and back on track. I would die if I had to do it, but that's what he's good at. Ironically, the dream job H applied for and did not receive was for Marsh & McLennan, the embattled insurance company who announced today that they're laying off 3,000 workers. And he probably would've been one of them. Funny how things work out in way...

Today is a good day. Today I lined up two interviews and H lined up one, and I heard of what may turn out to be a freelance writing job. Today we're happy. There will be days that aren't like today, days where we'll cry and feel let down, feel as though the bottom has gone out from under us. But not today. Today we're hopeful. Another Forum-Free Post

These are mine, in no particular order: #10 Canterbury Road -- Oxford, England This is where I lived the semester I attended Oxford. There were 20 of us Americans squashed into three upper floors; our resident director Greg "Grendel" lived in the basement. We shared a kitchen, three bathrooms but one shower, a common room, a computer room, and a payphone in the lobby. It was grand. My two roommates and I lived on the top floor and we had one of those windowboxes/balconies, the kind that...

1) ...click on a blog with an interesting title, then wish you hadn't when you've read its contents? Wish people would stop commenting so the little blue flag would go down in the queue? 2) ...just want to write and not want comments, so you mark it as "private"? 3) ...wish some bloggers would get off their high horses or come out of attack dog mode? 4) ...misspell something egregiously and correct it before anyone can notice, except you weren't quick enough so they make fun of you? ...

Was phoning my former bosses, a married couple, for whom I worked as a rafting guide for several summers. They're listed as references for many of the jobs I've been seeking. We've become good friends and they came to H's and my wedding this summer (we scheduled it especially for their availability). Good people, they are. The three summers I worked for them were the best in my life, hands down--if I could make a living as a rafting guide, I would. Er, anyway, I was phoning them: In the ...

I love tea. It's something I picked up from my brief stints in England. I love the teapot, sugar and cream, the cup--and mostly just sitting for a few minutes being contemplative. I love McVities Hobnobs and the caramel biscuits to munch or dip as I please. Sometimes I read a book. Sometimes I just look out the window. I never blog, and I never watch TV during teatime. Simply, I enjoy the time and don't want to be upset or excited, which makes me wonder: If I were to sit down for tea with ...