Final Pay Per Post total for the month of January: $267.72. Not bad. Not bad at all.

And now I'm going to work on wrapping things up here and getting permission to go home. Stay safe, everybody.

Phaidon Design Classics

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This is a very cool looking book about cool looking things. It's a three volume encyclopedic set of artifacts and modern objects chosen for their intelligent design. The book set itself combines form and function in such away that will look fantastic sitting on a coffee table. It'd make a great gift for any design geeks in your life.

Oh, look. More winter.

It's snowing. The road conditions web site says things are getting slick out there, so I'm probably going to bail soon. Last time it took me two solid hours to drive home, but that was on pure ice and sleet, and this time it's just plain ol' snow, for once. Still, Oklahomans aren't used to quite as much winter as we've been having this year, and they tend to either panic and be overly cautious drivers whenever there's any sign of winter precip, or else they don't care and drive like assholes, giving the overly cautious plenty of justification. At any rate, I'm not looking forward to the journey home, and I'd like to get it over with as soon as possible.

It's maaaaagic!

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Realmagic.net offers some engaging online magic diversions. It's a good way to kill some time, and if you're a real magic fan, for a small donation via Paypal they'll send you alleged secrets to magic tricks performed by well known magicians, such as David Blaine's levitation act. Just be sure to have your pop-up blocker turned on before you click over.

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub

*COVET*

Heeyuck!

Yesterday afternoon exploded with busy-ness, and there was plenty of spill-over into this morning. The big meeting downstairs has their coffee, and now I have mine, and I'm going to sit right here and drink every last drop of it before I do anything else. Then it will probably take the rest of the morning to finish up everything I was asked to start last night. Yip. Pee.

Man. You ever hear somebody laugh, and you have to pause in wonder that anybody in real life actually laughs that way?

...yeah. That's all I'll say about that.

Something for Everybody

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Isn't this compass pretty? It's part of the nautical collection from The Old Gift Shop. They have gifts and collectibles for about any genre that floats your boat, from pirates to military to high fantasy to ancient Egypt. I'm especially coveting this chess set from their medieval collection. The nursery rhyme figurines are also pretty cool, although I gotta say that the "Baa Baa Black Sheep" figurine looks mildly obscene. But maybe that's just me.

I managed to kick my own butt into going. If for "kick my own butt" you substitute "bribe myself with promises that I could sit in the sauna after fifteen minutes on the cross-ramp and then have a cookie when I get back." Whatever gets me there, right? At least my thighs are one day closer to being toned.

Mmm, cookie.

I made a special trip to the grocery store last night just to free up my lunch hour today for going to the gym. But now that the time has come I so don't wanna go. It's cold outside! And I have to go through outside to get to the gym! *whimper*

In here it's warm and toasty and I have a sandwich and uninterrupted internets.

I need somebody to kick my butt and make me go.

Halfway isn't good enough. Apparently.

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Remember all the hullabaloo over the town of Halfway, OR changing their name to Half.com? It was the first dot-com town in the middle of the whole dot-com boom (back before it went bust). That was the work of one Mark Hughes, author of Buzz Marketing, who is now also a motivational speaker. If he can motivate an entire town to change their name for the sake of publicizing a web site, then he must have some powerful motivational mojo going on.

Cuppa Confusion

CAG has the day off, so I'm minding the fort. I got here early to set up coffee for a big meeting (which I then remembered doesn't actually start 'til 10, so, unnecessary) only to be greeted with a voice mail from CAG informing me that one of the senior engineers had a last minute lunch request for ANOTHER big meeting today that I needed to take care of. Just as I was on the verge of panic over having to juggle two catering jobs by myself today, I remembered that said senior engineer is supposed to be attending MY meeting, so I called him to see what was up. Sure 'nuff, it was the same meeting. Why he assumed that this stuff wasn't taken care of long ago by the actual meeting coordinators, or why he didn't just check with me in the first place, I have no idea. I'm just glad that CAG was too rushed to go ahead and place his order before she took off last night.

*breathes deep* I love the smell of crossed wires in the morning. [/sarcasm]

Another road to free money: high yield savings

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I think I've mentioned here before that, after my highest-interest credit card is paid off in a couple of months, I'd like to take a break from paying down the debts long enough to set up an emergency savings fund. Rather than stuff cash in envelopes the way we do for target-specific savings goals, I've been looking into high yield savings accounts and thinking about opening one online. I tend to do a better job keeping track of online accounts, or at least accounts with online access, than accounts that exclusively use paper statements. Another advantage of online investing is that online banks and savings firms often offer cash bonuses as signing incentives. That would be a lot more helpful than the tool kit I got when I opened my checking account (although the took kit has proven its usefulness over time). I found a good place to shop and compare the various online savings options and all that they have to offer: MoneyCentral.com aggregates info on online savings options as well as credit unions. Helpfully, it even has a special section on bonus incentives. I think I know where to go when I'm ready to make my first deposit.

PSA: Opt-out Info

Wil Wheaton linked to a NYT article that's chock-full of links to various online forms that let you remove your contact info from telemarketing and junk mail lists. I just spent a whole five minutes blocking telemarketers from calling me and credit card and insurance companies from sending me "pre-approved" offers that I have to shred. I've done so before, but offers are starting to trickle back in and it was a nice reminder that I needed to re-register my new phone number and my married name. No more life spam!

An interesting life is a curse, anyway.

I didn't get any of the eBay stuff photographed this weekend. I was about to, when Matt was all, "Come and watch Sopranos with me. Just for a couple of hours, then I'll go do homework and you can take your pictures then." Which sounded plenty reasonable, but then of course once we were done with Sopranos we remembered we still had a Nip/Tuck DVD we needed to get watched to send back to Netflix, and once we were done with that, it was time for my shows on SciFi.

Speaking of which, still feeling let down by Dresden Files, although it is showing signs of improvement. As long as I don't compare it to the books and tell myself that these are not the characters I already know and love, but simply unrelated characters in an unrelated universe who just happen to have the same names (something I've had plenty of practice doing with Smallville), then I can enjoy the show and admit that it is, at least, an entertaining hour of television. So I'm just going to leave it at that.

And then there's BSG. OMGLaura! So scary, with all the talking--no, screaming of airlocking Baltar! Eeee, that was awesome! As for Karleedeeanders--WTF-ever. Seriously. It's becoming my fondest wish to see Dee and Sam hook up and live happily, functionally after and leave Kara and Lee alone with their whiney-ass loser selves. I can't believe they cut an entire interrogation scene between Laura and Caprica for their self-inflicted melodrama. Bah.

As for the rest of my weekend...

- Hugo's: I meant to take a picture of my breakfast so you could see for yourselves how much food they give you, but I got all mesmerized by the mountain of forbidden carbs before me and forgot until I was halfway done eating. Lordy, that was good stuff.

- Pan's Labyrinth: Good, but slightly overrated, much as I'd feared. It was a very well done, engrossing movie, but it didn't really move me the way all of the praise being heaped upon it led me to expect. Matt felt the same way. He doesn't even really like the whole fairy-tale genre, but he was disappointed that the film didn't spend more time in its own fantasy world. It also reminded us both a lot of Devil's Backbone, which we rented not too long ago, and we both suspect that maybe that's why we weren't blown away by it, since we'd both already been exposed to that whole "real life is scarier and more cruel than anything the supernatural could throw at you, especially if you're a little kid" sensibility that it had going on. I did like the ambiguous ending and the way it was left wide open for interpretation, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

- I knitted several little projects over the weekend, making up my own patterns as I went. I'll go into more detail about them over at the knitting blog later, but I think with a few pattern adjustments and embellishments these will make good projects to sell.

- I went all day yesterday without any caffeine. It wasn't by design, it just sort of happened that way. I thought about trying to see if I could repeat it today, but then I woke up with a headache that only coffee could cure. Oh well.

Today is all about getting back on track. I'm still caught up (mostly) at work, I've eaten only healthy things so far today, and I power-walked a mile and a half at the gym. I also wrote a little this morning, and I'm going to try to finish out the chapter I'm currently working on today. If I'm happy with it I might even post it, but I'm going through a really self-conscious phase right now when it comes to my writing, so we'll see.

My life is comfy and dull.

Pod People

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Are you considering getting into this whole business of podcasting? Now you can get one giant step closer with Free Podcast hosting and bandwith from MyPodcast.com. Personally, this goes against my grain, being that I'm a much better writer than I am an orator; but I might need to give Matt a nudge in this direction. I think he could put on a hilarious show.

Caught up!

I had a nicely productive afternoon. It was chock full of administrative minutiae, but I managed to catch up on my filing and get that out of the way. Not to go and jinx myself, but next week should bring with it plenty of time to write, or at least to type up what I've written longhand so far. *knocks wood veneer*

This weekend I'll take pictures and catalogue stuff for eBay. Once I'm done recovering from breakfast at Hugo's, that is.

Happy Friday, everybody.

'Cause Knowledge is Power!

The following is a sponsored post. In case it's not obvious, my opinions are not necessarily those of the sponsor, or vice versa. As usual.

You already know I'm not a fan of credit cards. I have three, all of which carry a balance, but I'm working hard to pay them all off. What makes it so difficult to do so is that sometimes credit cards are a necessary evil. That's why it's good to be educated about them before using them. This guide to credit cards UK is a one-stop info site for UK readers. It does offer opportunities to apply, but it also has advice, comparison shopping to help you find the right card, the latest credit card news, and info on 0% balance transfers, something that can be extremely helpful in the process of paying down your debts.

Jean's Day

Friday is Jeans Day here at the office, and I'm wearing the fancy pair I bought to wear on my honeymoon, before I gained all that cruise smorgasbord and holiday weight. A couple of weeks ago I couldn't wear them at all, but after a couple weeks of finally getting mostly back on track with my eating habits and getting myself back to the gym this week, I can get them buttoned and zipped and everything. They're a bit tight--tight enough to cause some gut spill-over, but my shirt covers that up. Otherwise they're looking pretty good, and doing really kind things for my hinder.

Today will mark the fourth time I've been to the gym this week, which is four more times than I managed to go in the last few weeks. I normally do really good to go three days a week, and was considering skipping it today, but then last night my husband announced he'd like to take me out tomorrow morning to breakfast and a matinee of Pan's Labyrinth.

He wants to do breakfast at Hugo's, this country diner that is either yummy, yummy breakfast heaven or artery clogging, cholesterol raising hell, depending on where you're standing. Last time we ate there was also our first time, and I, not knowing any better, ordered their equivalent of a Denny's Grand Slam, having no clue yet about their portion sizes. Dear Lord in Heaven. Their pancakes covered my whole platter, barely leaving any room for the sausage and eggs, and the single biscuit with gravy that I ordered on the side took up the entire bread plate. I did NOT eat it all up, but I got as close as I could without 'sploding like that guy in that Monty Python bit. The good news is that neither one of us got hungry again until well into that night, so that was practically the only meal we ate all day. Tomorrow I'll exercise a little more restraint in placing my order. As for today, I'm definitely hitting the gym.

Ink me.

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Are you like me and tired of waiting around at office supply or chain discount stores for an associate with the right set of keys to show up and unlock a cabinet so you can get new ink for your printer? Or of having to make a special trip to get your cartridges refilled? Sure, refilling saves money, but it can be a hassle, and the quality of the cartridge degrades so that you have to shell out for a new one eventually to ensure print-outs that are totally streak free. That's pretty important when you're printing your own pictures.

I don't know why it never occurred to me before to shop for ink online. There are plenty of options for doing so, but I found that Databazaar.com has a printer cartridge for just about every make and model of printer currently on the market. Their prices are low, with even bigger discounts for multiple quantities, and shipping is free. I don't know about you, but the convenience of being able to ink up my printer with only a few mouse clicks from the comfort of my ergonomic office chair, without having to shell out extra for shipping? I think I'm in love.

More fan geekery

Neil Gaiman's been posting pictures from the Stardust movie in his blog. They look gorgeous, and I think it bodes really well for the film that, if you've read the book, you can look at each still shot and instantly recognize which scene it's from.

Dear Mr. Kripke:

Can Ben Edlund please write more episodes? I wouldn't even object to having him write ALL of the episodes, but I understand that's probably a bit too much to ask. So, probably, is getting him to turn Dean and Sam into puppets, but I wouldn't mind that either.

This show keeps getting better and better. Please keep it up.

Love,
Jean

What To Wear

Commercial alert.

Belisi has moved off of typepad and launched a new blog, Being Belisi. Fashion designer Peter Belisi still offers advice for both women and men on how to look your polished, pulled together best. Find more info on Belisi's "What's Beautiful To You" campaign and its concurrent essay contest (prize: a $100 gift card for Belisi merchandise), links to the new sister blog (no pun intended) on women's fashion, and detailed, illustrated instructions on how to tie a Windsor knot. There's plenty of celebrity fashion talk to be found, too, if, y'know, that's your thing.

Marsters and Ackles in one place? *dies* Also: Hi, we're twelve.

My fellow Supernatural junkies might want to check out this interview with the show's creators. It's vaguely spoilery, in the way that they speak vaguely of what's to come without going into any specifics. Here's some non-spoilery highlights:

- Singer would really like for James Marsters to guest star at some point. That might be more pretty all in one place than I can handle. But I'll do my best if it ever happens.

- DC and Wildstorm are doing a prequel comic that will follow Daddy Winchester and how he became a demon hunter.

- Kripke confirms that Tessa the Reaper was indeed based on Death from Sandman. Like there was ever any doubt.

~~~~

I'm about halfway caught up on my filing, no thanks to my dear husband. I should have added "no text messaging" to yesterday's list of no-nos. I killed about thirty minutes this morning with the following exchange:

Him (randomly): Flash! Ah-ah...

Me: He'll save every one of us!

Him: Well I spoke to Flash, and he said he can get me out of this, but he's pretty sure you're fucked. Ha! Ah-aaaah!

Me (more randomly): Juno [from The Descent] was the native princess in "Jeremiah Chrichton" and the meds smuggler in "The Great Raid."

Him: Huh. And I didn't even recognize her.

Me: Your special powers of actor recognition have failed you! Now who's fucked?

Him: Weeeak.

Me: :p

...

It's good that I married a fellow twelve-year-old.

Our pets can always be healthier, too.

Ad alert!

Petwellbeing.com is a homeopathic vitamin store for your pets. They have several products that I'm considering getting to try out on all of Fizzgigg's various aging puppy ailments to help ease him into old age. They've pretty much got the whole spectrum covered, from allergies and arthritis to skin and tummy troubles. I've been giving him fish oil, which is helping, but more help would be good.

They've got the cats covered, too. Mine are both pretty healthy for the time being, thankfully. If, that is, you don't count Niblet's obesity or her propensity to vomit twenty times a day. That's an exaggeration, but not by much. My friend Tess had the same problem with her cat, which turned out to be diabetic, so I know I need to get her checked out. In the mean time I've put her on diet food and I'm trying not to cave every time she demands food. That's harder than it sounds, what with her tendency to terrorize us by knocking whatever she can move off of the shelves until one of us fills her bowl, because that's the kind of spoiled little turd she is.

ANyway. We love her, nevertheless, and want to keep her and Sasha both healthy. We're aware that cats are susceptible to about as many different kinds of cancer as humans are. ES Clear for Cat Cancer is an all natural herbal supplement which claims that it "may" help reduce tumor growth, purify blood and strengthen the immune system to help fight off the cancer. They also have a formula for dogs. We lost a dog to cancer when I was a little kid, and even as little as I was I can remember that it wasn't pretty. Anything that can make that easier for your pet and increase her chances of survival, or at least decrease her suffering, is definitely worth the money.

Falling behind again...

Tomorrow: No writing, no blogging, no g-mailing, no Google Reader-ing, no Pay Per Posting, no Craigslisting, no eBay researching, and absolutely no 'net-surfing of any kind until my filing is all caught up.

Site Review: Loan.com

Although it will be a few more years before we're ready to buy a house of our own, I've already started educating myself about Mortgage Loans. This seems like a smart move, seeing as how I have not the first clue about them. I'm pleased to see that Loan.com is an educational site (currently in beta) that doesn't aim to rope you into filling out any applications. Instead it simply provides education via its Get the Truth center. It has several calculators to help you understand how much you're eligible to borrow, how much your interest and payment rates should be, and why. It also has a loan analyzer to help you review your current loan to see if you're getting the best deal. Best yet is its Borrowers' Bill of Rights that exists to help you ensure that you find an ethical lender, something that's hard to be certain of in this age of online applications and instant approvals. Beware the animated loan officer who guides you through the site, though. She's a bit unsettling.

I went for a drive on my lunch hour, just to get out into the sunshine for a while. I was actually on my way to Wendy's to get some chilli when an impulse took over and got me to turn onto a residential street to see what kind of houses were back there. Eventually I ended up by the river, near where I used to live when I made a genuine stab at inedependence that one time, so I decided to go check out my old neighborhood.

They completely rennovated my old apartment complex, y'all, to the point that it was almost unrecognizable. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It needed some updating. But for some reason they took down all the balconies. Including my old balcony, where I used to hang out with Mitzi the wonder chihuahua and Vanilla the persnickity ice cream kitty. We'd mock the squirrels and gawk at the other wildlife that gathered in and around the pretty little stream that ran past below.

I have a lot of memories of those particular beloved pets that are set on that balcony. Like how I fixed it up with plastic chicken wire all around so that they could go out there and sun themselves without falling through the railing, but then Mitzi was too afraid to walk out there because she could see through the deck slats to the ground. Or how they both freaked out and went nuts when a family of racoons invaded our balcony to steal some dog treats I'd left out there. Hours spent just sitting and reading and watching nature with Mitzi in my lap and one watchful eye on Vanilla to make sure she didn't try to make a break for it over the railing.

I've been talking up the possibility of moving back there to Matt, in case we can't find a house that we're both happy with in our price range; but I realize that what I really loved about that apartment was my little balcony. Now that balcony's just as gone as those pets are. When I saw its absence I almost cried.

I wish I had a pink phone.

Ad alert!

Wirefly announces the Top 10 cell phones of 2006. The RAZR makes the top three (one for each of the top three providers). My little T-Mobile Nokia picture phone didn't even make the list, but for a free phone I've been pretty happy with it. Still, I sometimes wish I'd shelled out for the RAZR. Li'l Sis has one, all sleek and shiny and pink, and every time she whips it open I'm overcome with envy.

Motorola pretty much rules the list, the only exceptions being the Sony Ericsson z520a/z525a video phones at #4, and the T-Mobile Samsung T309 bringing up the back of the list.

Because just making ends meet is a bucket o' suck.

This controversial Pay Per Post thing I'm doing is already about to net me $200, and there's still a week and a half to go this month. Can I just say? Whee!

We've discussed how we're going to use all this extra wealth, and have decided to apply it all to debt, except for the months when we have annual or semi-annual fees due on things like AAA and car insurance. This will free up portions of my regular pay for trifles and frivolities such as car repairs and wisdom teeth removal and getting to leave our home to watch movies sometimes and saving an actual emergency fund and what have you. Yes indeedy, we've got it made.

But I'm greedy, and I want more. I want a computer that works, with high speed access. I want to go on some kind of summer vacation with my husband this year (maybe take that foodie road trip up to Chicago that we keep threatening to do). I want to be able to furnish my new house after I move into it. I want to be able to hire people who aren't me to do all of the heavy lifting when we move. And, gosh darn it all, I want to do all of this without incurring more debt.

So I've been going over my options. I've already got a whole queue of things to hawk on ebay, including a couple of first edition Phantom of the Opera ornaments that have been fetching a penny pretty enough to round out the rest of our "first month's rent and deposits" fund. After that I figure we can rid ourselves of enough clutter through that giant virtual garage sale to cover the necessary moving costs.

But what to do for extra spendy stuff once the clutter's all gone? Inspired by this article at Get Rich Slowly (which, by the by, is a pretty good personal finances blog), I've decided it's high time I started marketing my marketable skills. I don't quite think I have any that would make for a good consultant (maybe after I take that web design course next semester), although I am considering putting an ad in the paper to offer private knitting lessons, emphasizing my locality and the fact that those in my home town wanting to learn wouldn't have to drive all the way to Tulsa to take classes, so long as they're willing to meet me someplace public and well lit.

Mostly I've been pondering putting my relatively newfound crafty knowhow to work, and what I can make quickly cheaply and sell for profit. So far I've come up with:

~ Handmade knitting needles. These are ridiculously simple and inexpensive to make, in addition to being cute and nifty, and I could make a dozen in a weekend.

~ Handmade stitch markers. See above re: knitting needles.

~ Needle cases. Another simple-to-make item that tends to sell for a lot more than it costs to make. I'm not sure about the hand-sewn variety, but I bet I could whip up a felted knit version that would be teh cute.

~ Purse accessories. Speaking of felted cute things, I can knit a business card holder in the space it takes to watch a movie with my husband. Ditto a cell phone cozy, a glasses case, a check book cover, a key fob....

~ Bridal veils. These are not so much with the knitting, but I made the veil I wore in my own wedding for under $20 and in less than an hour -- and I didn't even know what I was doing.

~ Ceramic beads. Not really my area of expertise, but my mom used to be into ceramics, and my aunt owns her own kiln. With their help it might be doable.

I'm already not writing on the weekends (bad Jean!) so I could work on this stuff then and not have to feel guilty about taking away from my writing time. I started out thinking I'd sell them on eBay, but the market is pretty saturated for some of this stuff (especially the bridal veils), so I'm considering opening up shop on Etsy. They both have their pros and cons. ebay is the average user's go to online shopping bazaar, but as such the competition is stiff. Etsy is more obscure, but there's less competition, as well as fewer fees. Also their seller pages just look prettier. That might sell me on them right there. What can I say? I'm a girly girl.

As for eBay, even without getting crafty there are ways to keep using it to make money. Coupons, for instance. Did you know that people actually buy and sell coupons on eBay? I had no idea that this was happening. Not for a lot of money, but considering how easy it is to come by coupons for free (I always get them from my mom, who gives me her inserts from the Sunday paper), it's pure profit. Awesome!

So that's the plan. If any of this actually works, most of the extra income will be thrown straight at our debts, because the sooner we're rid of those, the better. After that... well, that would be putting the cart before the horse, wouldn't it? I'd better just focus on putting the strategy into action for now, and see how that goes. But I'm optimistic. Every little extra bit helps, you know?

Belatedness

I forgot and missed my 7th bloggiversary by three days. And here I was planning to do a commemorative essay and everything. Oh well. Guess I'll just save it for number 10.

Smells like new car loan.

The following is sponsored by Rate Genius, but the opinions contained herein are my own.

Now here's something for us to consider. We still haven't bought our new (used) car yet, but we're in the process of getting all ejumicated about car loans and such. Our understanding is that it's a good idea not to finance through the dealer, but with the current state of our credit, we might not have much choice. This is where a Car Refinance opportunity would be a good idea. If necessary we can trade up our sucky dealership loan for one with much better terms that will save us a lot of money in the long run. Sounds like a plan!

Brrrzzzzzzzzz....

Dammit, I hate this time of year. I'm always cold and always sleepy and I have, as usual, eleventy-million things to do and I can't snap myself out of this lethargy long enough to get them done. I never feel like I get enough sleep, no matter how much I get. I just want to curl into a cocoon and hibernate until spring. Why don't humans hibernate? Well, some do, but that's certainly not the norm. Too bad. Hibernation sounds nice.

It's not that I'm depressed, although the frustration over all this tiredness is pretty depressing. I'm eating right (mostly), I'm exercising (semi-)regularly, I'm spending plenty of time in the sunshine, on days we have sunshine. I've got my supplements again, although not having them generally just makes me spacey and unfocused, not tired. I'm going to bed early every night. I'm doing everything RIGHT. And I feel as peppy as a three-toed sloth, the kind that has green fur because it moves so slowly that it can't outrun algae.

Well, there is the one thing. I've had on my to do list "Make appointment to see doctor about thyroid condition" for about three months now. I keep putting it off because I don't really have a doctor. I could go to my old GP, but I haven't always been pleased with his medication choices, and I'm definitely not amused with how he would only prescribe outrageously expensive blood pressure medication for my mom, despite her protests that she couldn't possibly afford it. I could go to the newer, younger doctor in that same office, but that whole office staff tends to be irritatingly slow about everything, and kind of snotty about it, too. I could go to the new GP that my mom started seeing after a blood vessel in her brain popped and, thankfully, spewed out of her nose instead of turning into an aneurysm. He prescribed her meds that only cost her twenty bucks a month, and she seems to like him so far. I could go to my husband's GP, but we can't really stand that guy and he's considering finding a new GP anyway. I could go to the one he's considering switching to. But if I switch then I have to go to all the hassle of getting my records transferred, and the slow, snotty office staff in my old GP's practice charge a stupid amount of money to copy your records and then make you pick them up in person, and how do I have time for that?

The indecision alone is exhausting.

This is all to say that: I'm cold, and also very tired, and I would like very much to go home and go to bed. But wouldn't we all like that best?

Dammit, I hate this time of year.

I'm Just a Doll

Commercial alert!

Dress Up Games is a fun little diversion. Make your own avatars for use in instant messaging, forums or blogs. It's virtual paper dolls for the Bratz set. You can make your pictorial representation out to be anything you want. It can be a pretty pretty princess…



An anime goddess…



Or you can take a slightly more down-to-earth approach and create a more accurate depiction. My little emo avatar below is a pretty decent representation of yours truly, give or take (okay, give) about 25 pounds.



The main thing is, I had fun dressing her up, and when I'm done with this post I'm going to go goth her up a bit. Rest assured, gentleman readers, there are boy versions too, as I'm sure your overcome with relief to know. Or maybe not – the girl avatars start out naked and curvy enough to keep your inner perv entertained for a decent amount of time.

The doll factory application takes a while to load, so be patient. If you've got a few minutes to kill, this is a fun way to spend them.

So, Dresden Files.

I'm not permitting myself to form a solid opinion until I've seen at least three episodes. I'm also doing my best to compartmentalize and separate the show from the source material and judge it on its own merits. As long as I'm throwing out caveats, I might as well add that I'm violating my own rule of watching something at least twice before I try to watch it critically, because I simply don't have time to watch it again, which is exactly why I hardly ever write intelligently about TV anymore. But as much as I went on about looking forward to this show, and as much as I tend to go on about the books on which it's based, I can't very well get away with NOT talking about it.

With all of that in mind…

The Good: Paul Blackthorne is indeed a cutie. He has pretty good tragic hero potential. For what humor there is, he has a deadpan delivery that's perfect for the character. He and Valerie Cruz as Murphy had some pretty decent chemistry and hints of the requisite UST. I liked the flashbacks to Harry's childhood and his stage-magician father, and the hints dropped about his mother and his uncle laying the groundwork for a major story arc. Terrence Mann's Bob is so note perfect that I don't care that they turned him into a ghost. Bob is awesome. The end.

The Bad: I know I said I'd try to compartmentalize and not compare, but a certain amount of comparison is inevitable. I'm concerned that people will assume that the show is just like the books, but so far it's a pale reflection of the vivid, imaginative and humorous world in which Harry lives on paper. I've noticed reviewers unfamiliar with the books comparing it to Angel and finding it lacking there, too, which is sad and a little unfair in light of the fact that the creator, Jim Butcher, is such an unabashed fan of the Whedonverse that the books are laced with humorous winks and nods to Buffy and Angel and the obvious fact that he drew inspiration for his world from those shows. Far from ripping them off, though, he used that inspiration as the foundation on which to build a rich and complex world of his own design, peopled with characters that feel every bit as real and worthy of our attention and caring as any of Whedon's.

Yeah. So far I'm not getting that from the show.

I'm sure a lot of it is a matter of budget. The sets, the monster makeup, the effects… all of it left a lot to be desired. The writing wasn't half as witty as Butcher's tends to be, and the actors don't yet feel comfortable in their roles. It feels like it's teetering on the brink of falling into camp – not just camp, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing by itself; but camp doesn't know it's camp and takes itself too seriously. But then again, it could also totter the other way and get better. I expect that it'll have to go through some growing pains to get there, but it has the potential to be something good.

The Indifferent: Harry's waitress girlfriend. Melissa. The diner standing in for McAnnaly's pub. The Jeep standing in for the Blue Beetle. I'm going to wank that the timeline here is some time before Storm Front, and we're building to some of the events of that book, and some of the more charming and familiar aspects of Harry's existence simply aren't yet in place. There was no Mister simply because Harry hasn't gotten him yet, not because he's been omitted. Ditto his signature rod and staff. I hope. At any rate, I'm willing to wait and see.

The WTF?!: The lack of Harry's difficulty with modern technology. That's a fun complication in the book that forces Harry to do things the hard way. He can't simply jump on the phone or a computer to get the information he needs because his magic energy will kill them dead. It's an instant obstacle that always makes things more interesting. I suppose I can understand from a production standpoint why it would be more economical to leave that little tidbit out, but from a storytelling standpoint, it just seems like a really lazy choice.

Murphy's daughter? Why? Maybe they're combining Murphy and Michael into one character and they want her to have a family to serve the same purpose Michael's serves in the books. I can live with that, but still, that made me pause. As for Murphy herself… nothing against Valerie Cruz, but she doesn't have the incongruity thing happening that helps to make Murphy one of my favorite characters. Again, dragging the books back into this, one thing I love about Murphy is how physically unlikely she appears to be for a badass cop. Much like Buffy, she