Nobody deserved to get our dorm fridge (that we had in our house in addition to a regular fridge) as a hand-me-down. Nas-tee. I can still smell it in my nightmares.

I am failing at being a good significant other. I can't figure out what to get Bob for his b'day which is Tuesday and I have no time btwn now and then to shop. No ideas! ARGH! And it shouldn't be that hard. He has many interests.

Jessica, you're welcome to come over any time and clean up the rat's nest of cables behind me TV and computer.

Right after I take a nap. Endorphins gone, crashing now.

smonster - they might try reaching out to Habitat Int'l in AMericas, GA. I know I had to fire volunteers when I worked for them in NM and it was not easy, but sometimes it absolutely has to be done.

Meara-ing…

I mentioned in February that I had proposed a member support program at my gym. After being turned down by the local GM, I went to the VP, who it turns out, loves the idea. The dotted line has been signed, my membership is now gratis and I have a great way to get my name out in front of a whole new coaching audience, learn cool new stuff AND get motivated to work out now that my personal trainerbff has moved out of town.

Wow, Bonny! Very nicely done! I need to contact some yoga studios and see if I can trade some editing/writing work for a weekly class.

British spellings – Hmm, I always use “grey” and “theatre” – I would prefer to use “mediaeval” since I think it looks cooler, but I had it trained out of me, studying medieval lit in a US uni. I really love the “ae” diphthong, and am a bit wistful about its loss over here.

I'm not sure why my accent is so much more fragile than my spelling. I don't know if traveler will ever look right (and mustache is an abomination, and not in the cute way), but I hate when I hear how I talk. I haven't sounded like me in a while, but I miss it.

Hee. I spent four days mainlining British shows a week ago, and my 6 months in London came roaring to the front, and I spent the next two days teasing Dan with an horrid Brit accent.

I am an accent sponge; if I spent more than a couple of hours around someone with an accent, I start to mimic it. I’d love to see what happened if I spent a weekend with an Englishman, an Irishman, a Jamaican, someone with a strong Deep South accent, a Spanish speaker and a Frenchman. (-persons, I mean, but it’s a pain to write.) That would be some crazy mélange. P’raps it wouldn’t do atall, non? Que? Fookin’ ‘ell.

Dana, don't feel bad, I say "please" and "thank you" to my dogs. I have said sorry and excuse me to trees, a toaster, and walls. @@

Sarameg, those shoes are supercute!

In fact, she still wraps all of her brother's Christmas presents for them (like the ones they are giving to their kids!) except the middle one, who just got married and his wife does it

My dad is the most meticulous wrapper I know. He and my mom always spilt the Xmas wrapping duties. Dan wraps presents, and it’s very cute.

I am horrid; people are lucky if I stuff it into a gift bag – maybe 10% of the time, the gift bag includes tissue paper, and many, many times I have just ordered people to close their eyes and hold out their hands, and I plunk the gift right in ‘em.

My friend Paola always wraps gifts exquisitely, with ribbons and a little flower or geegaw, and I love it. Hmm. Perhaps I will make a concerted effort to wrap things more prettily, as a courtesy.

In honour of Ryan's birthday, I've decided that I'm going to rewatch the entire series of David Attenborough's Life of Mammals. Because it was the birth of a mammal, and I was there.

Hee, bt! You are so damned cute.

Flat screen TV, Target futon, cheap full-length mirror, Target Target Target. And I'm about to see it all end up in the trash next week (sorry, I get a little snippy around move-out time).

Er…smonster, pick up some of those flatscreens, and send one my way, mmmk? I’ll pay shipping and a special handling fee for you.

I need to contact some yoga studios and see if I can trade some editing/writing work for a weekly class.

I wash towels for my yoga studio in exchange for free classes. It's a pretty sweet deal. They also have have people to work the front desk or deliver things between their 4 studios in exchange for classes.

Dear Dean: Do not call me on Friday afternoon 20 minutes before I leave with a big research project that you need tonight. Your needs do not trump my nanny's. Better luck next time!

Thanks for the tip, msbelle.

Jerome Ponette Wrecks Six Cars After Getting 86'd From Strip Club

Wow, helluva night at the strip club for 40-year-old Jerome Ponette. First, he got kicked out of Mirage Cabaret on West 34th Street for allegedly being drunk. Then he got behind the wheel of his Mercedes Benz and went all Mallachi brothers in the parking lot, and before his impromptu demolition derby was over, he had smashed into four cars and pissed off some pretty dangerous dudes.

Ponette finally peeled out of the parking lot and headed down TC Jester. Two bystanders had not approved of his vehicular temper tantrum. They gave chase, and each of them fired numerous shots at Ponette's car. In the course of eluding these hunters, Ponette crashed his bullet-riddled Mercedes into two more cars.

Luckily for everybody involved -- not least Ponette himself -- the cops got to him first.

Police found him at a gas station at TC Jester and the North Loop feeder road, battered from the car crashes but somehow unriddled by bullets. (The two guys who had been shooting at Ponette melted away into the night.)

Ponette was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where more than just a thick sheaf of bills awaits him. He was charged with aggravated criminal mischief, and according to court records Hair Balls dug up, was already on community supervision for a second-degree felony charge of possession of 4-200 grams of cocaine. (His record also includes a bust for carrying an unlicensed weapon, assault-bodily injury and driving with a suspended license.

lisah - U R NOT A BAD SO!!! Anything in the form of an experience (tickets, dinner, game) he would be into?

Oh, I saw the cutest little Brit minishow on Netflix streaming last week, and it seems like it would be completely up some Buffistas alleys. (Not in a dirty way!)

It was called "Lost in Austen" and it starred Jemima Rooper; if anyone watched Hex, she played Thelma. I loved her character in that show, and she is just as charming in this. It was, IMHO, pretty charming and clever. Light and fun. I quite enjoyed it.

Here's her speaking of the miniseries to the Guardian:

I guess the best way to describe the programme is that it is about a modern-day, young woman living in London who is slightly obsessed with Pride and Prejudice. She loves the idea of the Georgian lifestyle - the etiquette and morals of it - and is very dissatisfied with her life. Her boyfriend is a bit crap, she's tired of the hustle and bustle of London life and people being rude on public transport - she is feeling a bit lost.

Then she thinks she is going mad because Elizabeth Bennet appears in her bathroom (I know it sounds strange, stay with me here) and she is shown through a door that leads her into this weird house that turns out to be the Bennets' home. She starts to meet all these people she has imagined vividly for years and realises she is in the beginning of the novel - and her presence is sending everything off kilter. Lizzie is not there to meet and fall in love with Darcy - Mr Bingley is paying Amanda a bit too much attention - so she is ruining the novel she loves most in the world. Does she go for Mr Darcy herself or is she keeping the way open for Lizzie? That's the big dilemma.

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