Last night, I got my Sexy Back

If anyone wants to bum my CD to burn, just let me know.

Don't Get Too Comfortable

I just joined the Friends of the Library and think I'll attend this - anyone want to go w/ me? $30 for members, $40 for non-members but that does include fancy apps and you get to visit the library at NIGHT!

An Evening with Author and Humorist David Rakoff at The Friends 31st Annual Meeting

Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall
Tuesday, October 3, 2006, 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM

Reservations required $30 per person, includes reception with sumptuous edibles.

7:00 PM: Reception with savory appetizers, sumputous edibles, and cash bar
8:00 PM: Brief Friends Board Election followed by Talk from humorist and author David Rakoff.
9:00 PM: Booksale and signing with an indulgent dessert buffet.

David Rakoff has written for major American magazines such as GQ, Outside, Vogue, The New York Observer and Salon and is a regular contributor to Public Radio International's This American Life and The New York Times Magazine. Also working in theater and movies, Rakoff has collaborated with the siblings David and Amy Sedaris and can be seen in the movie Strangers with Candy, starring Amy Sedaris, and in the film Capote, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.

His first book, Fraud, established him as one of today's funniest, most insightful writers. In his new collection of essays, Don't Get Too Comfortable, Rakoff takes us on a bitingly funny grand tour of our culture of excess. Offering an incisive portrait of contemporary America, he explores "the Indignities of Coach Class, the Torments of Low Thread Count, the Never-Ending Quest for Artisan Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems."Please join humorist and author David Rakoff and The Friends for an evening of outrageous humor and memorable conversation.

Minnesotans don't like Bush - amen.

Creepy Craigslist of the Day

47 SWM seeking group of college girls to watch Grey's Anatomy with (Blaine)
Date: 2006-09-21, 2:01PM CDT

This is strictly a plutonic thing. I want to watch Grey's Anatomy with a large group of college girls at my house. Group should arrive 30-40 minutes prior to the start of the show. Drinks and appetizers served promptly 15 minutes before start of show.

All guests will be asked to leave 30 minutes after the end of the show, unless chosen as my "Meredith Grey" for the evening. If you are my "Meredith Grey" we will watch 2 more episodes under dim candle light and then you will be asked to leave.

Next week I will pick my "Izzy Stevens". Details to follow. If interested, please email.

WARNING: Spoiler alert

In theory, all my shows are sitting on my DVR box at home, excitedly waiting to be watched. Thus, it will *not* be a TV spoiler I'm posting... It instead will be a if-you're-a-person-like-me-you-could-spoil-your-workday-by-playing-on-this-website spoiler.

Babynameaddicts.com is great. People vote on their impression of this name, the most important being "What weight do you envision for a person with this name?" to avoid naming your baby a "fat" name. Full results for Laura are here.

Netflix fun facts

• Netflix members say they rent twice as many movies per month than they did prior to joining the service.
• If Netflix members, instead of receiving movies by mail, drove two miles each way to a rental store, they would consume 800,000 gallons of gasoline per day and release 8,800 tons of carbon dioxide emissions daily or more than 2.2 million tons annually.
• Netflix ships about 17,000 tons of DVDs each year. If placed side by side, the discs would form a line about 30,000 miles long.
• If you stacked every DVD we ship in a single pile, the stack would grow by 4,500 feet each day and would be taller than Mt. Everest within a week.
• New Netflix members say they are immediately more satisfied with their home-entertainment experience than they were prior to joining Netflix. Their high level of satisfaction tends to increase the longer they remain with Netflix.

Dear Michael Krans,

I'm glad we talked after your summer vacation to Turkey and Greece, and I got to see pictures of it. Because of this, I was able to properly respond to a man I met last night at a party when he said he was from Turkey.

Him: Blah blah blah.
Me: So where are you from?
Him: Turkey.
Me: Oh -- here a mosque, there a mosque, everwhere a mosque mosque.
Everyone else: What?!?!
Him: That's right.

Platform 9 3/4?

Train to Cambridge leaves at 8:50. Hopefully, we're on it :) :) :)

It's no Watercolor Challenge but

Countdown is my new favorite UK TV show. The show consists of rounds of "how large a word can you make from this letter jumble" and "can you get to the target # using a series of numbers and manipulating them with various mathmatical functions" followed by an anagram round. It's one of the longest running shows (4000+ episodes in the last 25 years) in the country, but I've only seen it twice. I likey.

PS Sadly, Watercolor Challenge ended in 2002. I guess I have to be thankful for the hours of Watercolor Challenge I was able to take in...

If this doesn't make you laugh

something's wrong with you.

This Denver blogger's story about unexpected visitors to her front door while she was shirtless makes me giggle. A lot. Enjoy.

Reporting live from London

I'm glad to report that all is well in the land of Harry Potter. The biggest issue in my first 36 hours in the city is...

IT'S HOT

Heathrow was sweaty, the Tube was sweaty, the club was sweaty. Apparently the city freaked a bit this summer when it was super hot heat wave, and it's continuing into fall. London hot and sweaty is just about as much NOT FUN as NYC in the summer. Yech.

Tim, Missy and I have hung out, I'm almost done w/ jet lag, and I've already visited North Star and had a Strongbow. So far so good -- Missy heads to class from 9-5 Mon-Th and Tim leaves on a 10am flight tomorrow so for the rest of the week, I'm chillin' like a villian by myself in the city.

Free entry to museums

I meant to blog about the free museum passes you can check out of the library... MN Speak already wrote the article - so read it here...

Again???

Typo #2 of the day is courtesy of the Rake Magazine e-newsletter...


Please tell me that's a typo, not a new type of music. Right? As a bonus, I also found a missing apostrophe.

Did they fire mechanics AND proofreaders?

Dear NWA,

I know times are tough, contract negotiations are bugging you, profits are down. But it doesn't exactly restore confidence in your airline when I see that you can't correctly spell city names:

Did you catch the error? Savannah ends w/ an H. I'm a nerdy proofreader and these things jump out to me, but come on... Before you email me a personalized "Hi Laura, NWA #XYZ" email please double check it, will you?

Primary time...

I decided to check in and see who the candidates are on my ballot for Tuesday's primary. To my surprise, I found out Mr. Alan Fine is asking for my vote in order to become the rep from the 5th district of MN to the US House of Representatives. If you live in Mpls, Golden Valley, St. Louis Park, or Richfield (plus a few other cities like New Hope and Fridley) you'll have the chance to vote for Mr. Fine.

I took one class from him, and did not so well - should his inability to teach me MIS mean he doesn't get my vote? Or will he not get it b/c he's a Republican? TBD which reason I'll use...

PS It's wicked easy to look up where to vote at this State website -- even if you won't vote in the primary register now for November. If I have a new address by Nov, I'll have to reregister to vote there...

$20 at The Local gets you free parking downtown?

I've parked at the old Dayton's lot knowing I would spend $20 at Macy's/Marshall Field's/Dayton's and gotten a free parking voucher to "do the town" with my purchase. I didn't realize that a load more businessness do this -- including:

Retailers
Avant Hair & Cosmetics
Badiner Jewelers
Banana Republic
Barnes & Noble Bookstore
Crate & Barrel
FedEx Kinko's - Minneapolis
G Allan Jewelers
GameWorks
The Gap
Hubert White
J.B. Hudson Jewelers
Men's Warehouse
Nick's Sports World
Polo Ralph Lauren
Regency Athletic Club
Williams-Sonoma
Restaurants
Cafe Northstar (Crowne Plaza Northstar)
Dan Kelly's Bar and Grill
Gluek's
Ichiban Japanese Steak House
Krona Lounge (Crowne Plaza Northstar)
Kieran's Irish Pub
McCormick & Schmick's
Murray's Restaurant
Northern Shores Grille (Minneapolis Marriott)
Sawatdee Bar & Cafe
Taxxi American Bistro (Hyatt Regency Minneapolis)
Shopping Centers
City Center (including Marshall's)
Marshall Field's
Gaviidae Common (including Off Sak's Fifth Avenue Outlet and Neiman Marcus)

Tennis / country club party attire

So I might be going to a "tennis / country club" party in London - packing for London will be tough but adding clothes for a theme party is a lot of work. However, I am still down with the idea BUT looking for ideas of what to wear. Clearly, my inspiration shall come from google imagine searching tennis party and country club party... And the Karpen girls' comments on my blog - they seem to be the best commenters as of late.

I think there are lots of ideas here from somebody's tennis party from Aug 05, but will avoid this woman's Dunster Country Club party "style" from November.

Your advice? What can you suggest as my "best look" for this theme? ie do not say short shorts

Why Alicia avoids the State Fair?

As read in Overheard in Minnepolis...

8 year old boy at the State Fair: The only people you see at the State Fair are babies and fat people.

Dead to the world

I have dropped off the face of the world in the last week or so but hope to be back soon... Last week, I was wicked busy w/ work and had no free time for blogging. Strange - I guess this is what busy people like Missy and Michael feel like all the time. I DON'T like it.

I spent the weekend in the Hudson Valley of NY taking my grandparents on vacation to visit my cousin Adam who's a junior at West Point. It was super fun and lots of memories were made - we also squeezed in a trip to Cooperstown which was a great addition to the trip - and we saw Bob Dylan who was performing there that night.

After getting into my apt after midnight, I was up bright and early this AM to fly to Tulsa, OK. Ye Haw. I'm driving from here to Joplin, MO for work but have officially touched down in the Sooner State, which I've never been to - yeah, pin wall!!!

I'll be working long hours but at least have internet at night... Next week I'm around, then on the 15th I skip across the pond to see Missy - if we're lucky we'll talk prior to my arrival but I'm not setting my expectations too high - she's called me twice and both times I missed her intn'l call. I suck.