So I'm only half a day late now, which is a bit of an improvement right?

Ingrid Michaelson's new album Everybody - Yay! I have been waiting for her to put out a new album forever. I have listened to it multiple times and, I don't LOVE every song, but mostly like them all and LOVE many of them. I can't wait to see her in concert in Philadelphia with my EEB next month.

Jamie Cullum - On the music track, I am also lately a fan of this guy. He has a really great voice and I love his style. I got a couple random tracks from an old roommate and liked them enough to track down a full album at the library. Now I want more! I really like his music.

My parents' fancy electronics - One of the perks of living at home. My dad has the equivalent of Tivo, and a DVD recorder. So I have been recording and saving all the So You Think You Can Dance episodes from this past season. Then this week when I had the time I went through and recorded just my favorite routines onto a DVD so I can go back to them whenever I want. It's great!

Flip n tumble bags - I don't remember howI found out about these bags but I love them. They are more expensive, cute reusable bags. I bought a couple for me out of curiosity and one for my mom as a Mothers' Day present to ease her into the reusable bag idea. (since it was her favorite color it really helped). They hold a lot, have a comfortable shoulder strap and are just fun.

Dinner with dad - My birthday is this weekend and my dad will be out of town. Tuesday we both didn't work so we spent the day together and it was a lot of fun. We went to Lincoln with the dog and took his boat on the lake and swam. Then he took me out to The Olive Garden for an early birthday dinner. It was delicious food and very enjoyable day. Thanks dad.

sheer anticipation - I am just getting so excited for my trip in September to see my EEB and go to NYC. The plane ticket is my birthday present, which is a huge help. I need a break so bad. Steph and I have so many plans, I don't know what will actually happen. But we are going to NYC for the weekend to squeeze in as many Broadway shows as we can, we are going to see Ingrid in Philadelphia on the way, we want to go camping for one night, and then the two of us and my old roommate Audrey have to get together to commemorate our Birthday Bitch Bashes from last year. I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait.

Side note: I forgot to mention this when I was playing catch up, but I never reported back on my July monthly goal and I never made an August goal. My reasons were twofold: I still haven't finished my July goal and I had no ideas for my August goal. No good ones at least. So the new plan is to have that blasted journal finished and up-to-date before my trip out east in mid-September. Then I will hopefully have some new ideas to put into play and start that whole thing up again in October. PLEASE PLEASE give me suggestions, or a dare or something.

I have been a bit remiss in blogging lately, partly because I started working more on Thursdays and partly because I haven't felt like I had anything to say. Right now my life consists mostly of work, which I hate, and books, which I love, with a few other things sprinkled in here and there. Here are some points of interest:

New work shoes - GOOD - Finally! I have to wear all black slip-resistant shoes at both of my jobs. The pair I have are going on a year old and while they are very comfortable, the top layer is peeling off and there is zero slip resistance left on the bottom. I ordered some shoes through work and they FINALLY came this week. They are designed to look like Chucks, but all black and meant for work. I love them. They are so cute, and they are fairly comfortable too.

$5 on $50 - BAD - Now I try hard not to do any waiter rants on my blog. BELIEVE ME, especially lately, I could go on and on. With the deteriorating economy people are cutting back, I get that. But more and more people are leaving less than 10% when they had a problem-free meal, choosing to cut back on just the tip instead of cutting back on the bill first. I get paid $2.13 an hour people, which barely covers my taxes. What I've noticed is for some reason, people who spend around $50 are the worst. I don't know why. With $40 I can usually count on at least 15%, quite often 20%. The higher the bill, the more it varies; that's when you see things like $2 on $60, $15 on $70. But something about $50 and the nicest family feels inclined to think $5 cuts it. It's a strange trend.

Fire by Kristin Cashore - GREAT - I was lucky enough to get to borrow a copy of the ARC from Becky *thanks again* and I think I might have loved it even more than Graceling, but both were equally amazing and I can't wait for Cashore's next book. She is a very talented writer. We have to discuss this book at some point Becky and Christina.

The Time Traveler's Wife movie - GOOD - I loved this book, and I was curious to see how it would be handled in the movie. The stars were Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, both of whom I like, so it was looking promising. I thought all things considered, they adapted it pretty well. It's not the book of course, and they couldn't fit everything in, but I enjoyed the end result. I didn't love it, but I liked it. Definitely worth seeing once Nicola.

Top Chef - GOOD - The new season just started, and I haven't even gotten a chance to watch the first episode yet, but it is recorded and waiting for me to watch on Monday. I love this show, don't ask me why. I can't cook at all, and I wouldn't eat most of the food they make, but I love it anyway (I've even played the computer game, which is quite fun).

Bad people associations - BAD - I am only mentioning this because I want to know if anyone else has encountered this. I used to work with this girl a couple of years who really just got on my nerves. She didn't have the best work ethic and frustrated me to no end. At present, there is a girl I just started working with who is the spitting image of her. Same height, hair cut and color, voice and even the face to a degree. Enough so that everytime she talks I can't get this other girl out of my head. And now I have this irrational dislike of a girl I don't know because of a bad experience two years ago. I feel bad, because it's not her fault. And I'm not mean to her, I just kind of avoid her. Anyone else ever have this problem?

Cat stalker - UMM... - My sister headed back to college for the fall. She left her cat behind again. Who has decided that without Lindy around she gets to be my new shadow. She scratches on the door (both bedroom and bathroom) if I close it on her. She sleeps on my pillow every night and generally just sheds all over my bed. She's lonely and I feel sorry for her, but she's NOT my cat.

And ... that's all I remember. I had a mental list but those always disappear. And this is long enough as it is. I work another full day this coming Thursday but I will try to turn in something.

Holy crow, I can't believe it's Thursday again already. I would have completely forgotten were it not for noticing Becky's post. This is going to be a relatively short list this week, but happy Thursday all!

• Friends who know just what to say - I was feeling a little blue earlier this week, letting myself get overwhelmed. But after I spent about an hour on the phone with one of my best friends I just felt so much better. Problems are still all the same, but talking to her just calmed me down and made me happy. I hate that she lives so far away and that I haven't see her in over a year and a half. I miss you Chelsea!

• Continued BEDA buddy bonding - I still love these three girls o' mine. We've been trading book reviews, and lately books. One of us got an ARC copy of Fire by Kristin Cashore which is a companion to a book we already all love and we've been passing it amongst ourselves. I am also planning hopefully to go see Becky who lives only a few hours away from here so we can both catch the Rent tour.

• New phone - I got a Samsung Glyde a few months ago and my excitement quickly dwindled as I realized how awful the phone I was stuck with was. The poor calibration alone made it a daily nightmare. But my sister let me use her new phone credit to get an LG EnV Touch which I already absolutely love. Thanks sis!

• Unexpected radio play - I rarely listen to the radio of my own volition. But at work they keep it on satellite radio. Last night was a bit of a frustrating night, but at one point I realized they were playing Ingrid Michaelson's latest single, "Maybe", which I hadn't heard on the radio yet. It got me all excited and happy.
  

And ... that's all I can think of. If more comes to mind I'll add it before the day's out.

This was an interesting book, very different from what I was expecting when I picked it up. These are a couple of quotes from this book that struck me - one observation from the beginning of the book and one from the end.

"She could never go undercover, the lovely Lila, and because of that she had my sympathy. Boys watched her constantly. Girls watcher her, too ... She was defenseless against her own beauty. She could never show up anywhere and just be." p. 22-23

"Beauty is a cruel deception, true. But the greatest tragedy of all is letting invisibility win. It's choosing to give up the thing you want because you think you don't deserve it." p. 245