ABC's "Desperate Housewives" stole the Sunday 9 p.m. slot from the network's other hit show, "Alias," which is due to premier in January and run straight through the end of the season (no annoying out-of-sequence episodes to mess you up, since the script is probably the most complicated in primetime television). General blog and viewer comments suggested it might take the place of "Boston Legal," on Sundays at 10 (and IMHO a very stupid show), but that was not to be. The success of DH has mov...

Okay, this is JU specific. These are the people on JU that I'm thankful for--and they're off the top of my head, for the most part, which means I'm likely to leave people out. Don't be offfended--I have a terrible memory. Also I think I have all these genders straight, and if I don't, I'm terribly, horribly, no-good, very badly embarrassed about it. *ahem* I'm thankful for... BlueDev, 'cause he's a medical student and a helluva funny guy, even if he is a bit of a points cow. I like...

Conversation with Minimally Successful Retail Chain store clerk: Hi, yes I found everything just fine, thanks. What? No, I do not want your store credit card. No, really, I don’t want it. Seriously. QUIT ASKING. Yes I want to save 15%—see what I’m buying? It’s from the SALE rack. But I don’t want another credit card when I have one, and only one, that works just fine. What’s that? Sure, I want to save 15% on top of what I’m already saving by shopping frugally. Just give me the 15% ...

You know there's always an unexpected twist (or two or three) with reality shows. That's what makes them...uh, real. Right? In the manner of a train wreck (yeah, that's the analogy everyone uses to describe their [morbid] fascination with these kinds of shows), I watched about a half hour of NBC's 25 Million Dollar Hoax tonight before H decided that we could be doing better things. In that half hour, I see the girl spending all the money on herself and not her family, as per the producers'...

Dear friends, I've never been quite so angry as I was last night. It was nothing personal and I certainly won't hold it against you in the long run. But let me explain some things: Just because you don't like Bush doesn't mean he's wrong on every move he makes, every person he appoints, every time he takes a breath. You don't have to criticize every little thing he does every day of every fucking month for the last twelve or fourteen months. I know this has been an awful election season...

If (and I do mean if, as I have no present plans to do so) I were to find myself e-jected from my blog, the following is my pre-mortem directive to be conducted post-mortem. An unnotarized copy resides with my legal counsel (a friend who hasn't been able to pass the bar) and in my fire-proof, flood-proof, bomb-proof, idiot-accessible safety deposit box. Just in case. (Note: Most likely my death would be a fast and painless suicide. I have little interest in drawing it out or taking people ...

If (and I do mean if, as I have no present plans to do so) I were to find myself e-jected from my blog, the following is my pre-mortem directive to be conducted post-mortem. An unnotarized copy resides with my legal counsel (a friend who hasn't been able to pass the bar) and in my fire-proof, flood-proof, bomb-proof, idiot-accessible safety deposit box. Just in case. (Note: Most likely my death would be a fast and painless suicide. I have little interest in drawing it out or taking people ...

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 I feel the need to indulge in a fantasy world where life is more fixable. I picked up vol 3 of Harry Potter and started reading.... Then, to be more productive, I googled the sixth book and started wondering (if you haven't read book five, there are spoilers here; ye be forewarned): Who is this "half-blood" prince? J. K. Rowling has said it's not Harry or Voldemort, who are both half-bloods (both Muggle and Magical parentage, generally, though the term is also used to describe the ...

Does adding the tag "just kidding" to an insult make everything better? I give you my sister-in-law (SIL): She's in college and has a severe case of what I call Youngest Child Syndrome. Basically, YCS means you get away with a lot of crap the older kids wouldn't get away with--you're more independent and opinionated. And then there are those who get away with it unchecked for so long that they don't know the difference between politeness and rudeness. My in-laws may call SIL "independent" and...

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? ...