It's freaky quiet in the office today. I've been here ten minutes and I'm lonely. Hellooooo?

I've been here ten minutes and I'm lonely. Hellooooo?

It's not quite as quiet here as I expected. Sadly, they are not giving us 4 hours off at the end of the day as they usually do on a long weekend. And I wouldn't be allowed to take it if they were, as I'm now a contractor, boo.

Seriously, my boss just walked in (late) and I shouted, "oh, thank god you're here!"

Outside of book conventions, my only celebrity encounter IRL were the two times I've met John Mahoney in Oak Park (IL), where he lives and where I lived several years ago. I helped him in the Oak Park Library back in 1990 when I worked there (I found him a copy of Uncle Vanya through interlibrary loan), and then in 2006 we were both getting our cars washed at the same place and time. I'd been playing it cool even though he was sitting on the bench right next to mine, but my mom couldn't stand it anymore; just as my car was finished, she doubled back and told him how much she loved his work on Frasier. He was very gracious and thanked her.

Same here but two years with Harrison Ford and Calista.

Funny thing, then Burrell and I go bump into them in LA.

Pretty quiet here too. When I walked in late, the next most senior guy exclaimed "Oh! You're here!" I'm the most senior (though not the most experienced) person in the office of our team. Which ain't saying much.

He isn't wearing socks, and I'm wearing my Batsymbol belt. We're rebelling in our own ways.

And now for another brownie cupcake.

Funny thing, then Burrell and I go bump into them in LA.

true dat. But the bulk of my celebrity encounters are like that one. I see people, usually when they are doing ordinary things like eating dinner and shopping. I don't end up hanging out with famous people or chatting them up, etc. I guess I leave that up to ita and Scrappy.

I guess the exception would be Aimee Bender? Just by dint of where we both work and a few friends in common.

My grandfather lives across the street from Chris Cooper's sister, and I saw Steve Zahn waiting outside a restaurant here that I had just eaten at (Irene's).

Nora, do you get the NOLA Ready emails? They sent out a list of streets likely to flood and recommending checking your storm drain to see if it's clogged. It is quite nice outside, though.

Root canal ~ma to you, Teppy. It sucks but it's better than dying of a brain infection.

I prefer to think of it that way, too.

Also, mah mouf ish numb.

It wasn't painful; just really long. The oral surgeon was really hesitant to prescribe painkillers for me, and kept telling me I could take ibuprofen. I finally told him, "Look, I will be more comfortable knowing I have pain medicine if I need it, because this is a 3-day weekend. If I have pain over the weekend, including Monday, when YOUR OFFICE IS CLOSED, I won't have anything. I don't think it's unreasonable to need pain medication after an invasive dental procedure on a tooth that's been having serious pain for close to 8 months."

He relented and wrote me an Rx for Tylenol w/codeine. I may *not* need it; lots of people have told me that they didn't need drugs after their root canal. But like I said, I'd rather have them and not take them, than need them over a 3-day weekend when I can't get them. Jesus. He acted like I was asking for an 8-ball or something.

I think I am going to have a mooshy lunch, bake cookies, and then take a nap. God knows I ain't going back outside when it's already 95 degrees at noon.

Glad it's over and it wasn't painful. Hope you get a bit of rest, Steph.

I have 2 damn more appointments for the crown to finish it off, so it's not totally over, but the part I was dreading is over.