Kat with a K

Friday Night Random Observations

* Watching Studio 60. (Thanks for the push, Cate.) Wow, much better than I'd expected. And how had I never noticed before how much Matthew Perry resembles Tom Hanks?

* Other TV thoughts: Heroes was enh. Brothers & Sisters has potential. I have mixed feelings on the Gilmore Girls premiere. 7th Heaven premiere was about as ridiculous as I expected. And I adored the Veronica Mars premiere, which I'm sure totally shocks you all.

* Cold Stone has pumpkin ice cream now. Yay.

* My landlord says he's going to make a dryer appear in my apartment, to go along with the old washer he gave us when we moved in. This is exciting.

* I hate the MBTA. Also drunken baseball fans. Especially when they're on the T with me.

* Yes, I'm writing such trivial things because I'm just a wee bit stressed and can't come up with anything else at the moment.

* But I now have a big bulletin board hanging in my living room covered in color-coded index cards holding lists. This is making me feel very slightly closer to in control.

Veronica Mars alert!

The Veronica Mars season three premiere, which will air on the CW next Tuesday, is now available to watch on MSN. Wheee!

(No spoilers in the comments, please.)

License plate update!

I went away this weekend and saw some new plates, so I think it's time for an update...

SRP Final Standings!

Sorry for the delay, all. Here at long last is the final list of SRP winners, first by books read, then by pages read. As you can see, Tiffany is our big winner on both lists, with Nancy, Chris, and Peninah in a clump just behind. The four of them will all get prizes. (So send me your addresses, ladies!)

Over the next week or so, we'll raffle off some prizes among the other winners. So this is your last chance to tell me if your numbers look wrong or if I accidentally skipped over you or something.

74 Tiffany
60 Nancy
57 Chris
54 Peninah
33 Liz
30 Amy K.
28 Unbashdsentimnt
26 Laura P.
23 Mrspao
22 Lisa H.
21 Aisling
20 Jenny
16 Kate B., Kristy
15 Alison, E-Liz, Vickie
14 Amy M., Beadslut, Sprite
13 Christine, Colleen, Erin L., Lola
12 Jessie, Kathy, Natalie
11 Cynthia, Rita
10 Kate D.
9 Jessikah, Samantha
8 Erin G., Jen, Laura W.
7 Liza
6 Frances, Sara B.

Tiffany (23,741)
Peninah (17,731)
Nancy (17,402)
Chris (15,849)
Beadslut (10,189)
Liz (9612)
Amy K. (9416)
Laura P. (9266)
Mrspao (8313)
Lisa H. (6993)
Aisling (6712)
Unbashdsentimnt (6164)
Jenny (6042)
Colleen (5130)
E-Liz (4883)
Kate D. (4834)
Alison (4366)
Jessie (4213)
Amy M. (4202)
Kristy (4175)
Lola (4122)
Kathy (4002)
Christine (3935)
Sprite (3890)
Cynthia (3800)
Erin L. (3624)
Kate B. (3622)
Natalie (3560)
Vickie (3450)
Jessikah (3123)
Laura W. (2864)
Samantha (2858)
Liza (2511)
Jen (2453)
Erin G. (2174)
Rita (2132)
Sara B. (1936)
Frances (1211)

Randoms? Actually on Wednesday?

Will wonders never cease? Hmm.

First a quick summary: Work is stressful. School is fun but stressful. Social things are fun but stressful. Going away this weekend, which will be very fun, but is currently stressful in preparation.

And OH. Attention Cate. And other Doctor Who fans, but Cate is the one who implied that I'd be in for a serious guilt-trip if anyone missed anything. In case we weren't all aware, Doctor Who Series Two (Tenth Doctor) starts on Friday, September 29. Details here.

Knitting? What knitting? Actually, I am almost done with the green baby blanket, finally, so that's something. Not feeling terribly inspired on the knitting front these days, though. Suggestions on ways to get out of the slump? I'm feeling like I seriously need to knit, but just... can't be bothered. Or something. Help?

I was in a reading slump too, but then I started Snow Blind by PJ Tracy. I've loved all her (their, actually) other books, and I'm about 100 pages into this one and not disappointed. And hey, it has snow, so it's even better. (No, I don't want to discuss the fact that it's due back at the library tomorrow. Maybe no one else has requested it and I'll be able to renew. Right. That'll happen.)

My closest friend at work is leaving. Today is his last day. I'm trying not to think about it.

Also, I realized earlier today that I'm really, really angry about a work thing. I'd known I was annoyed, but no, apparently I'm pretty close to furious. It's nothing I can actually affect or change, but at least now I've recognized how I'm feeling, so that must be somehow helpful, right?

Inhale. Outhale. Inhale. Outhale.

In better news, fall TV is coming. Yay. Teddy TiVo has big plans. Now if I only had time to watch all these shows.

Despite all the above, I am getting very excited about NaNoWriMo. Yeah. LIke I have time for that. It's such a... big thing now, though. I don't know. Sort of like knitting blogs, actually. Hmm. Maybe a more coherent post about that, um, sometime.

I am feeling smugly well-prepared for class tonight. My written assignment and my reading were both done by Monday night, the required handouts are printed, and I don't even have anything I have to do on campus before class. Now if the T could be sane and reasonable for once, it might be a fairly okay evening.

Thirteen days until new Veronica Mars. Just in case anyone was wondering.

What do I want to pick up for dinner? Hmmm. Other than ridiculous amounts of caffeine?

Thanks, Cate.

She doesn't know it, but Cate just totally saved my sanity. I was at that point. You know that point. The one where actually doing work is out of the question, and the only way you're coping is by listening to the Veronica Mars soundtrack really loudly and designing complicated cable patterns in your head? See, I knew you knew that point.

So anyway, I was at that point, and checked Bloglines, and there was Cate (who I think has seen a lot of that point recently herself) with this link, and whooosh, I felt sanity begin to creep back. Seriously. Just click it. Then go thank Cate.

So don't you worry 'bout me...

Seriously, how did I survive for so long without the greatest hits of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on my iPod? I don't think I realized until recently how many of my favorite songs from childhood were by them. On Saturday, we were playing it on the overhead at the store, and I had to buy it. (An aside: it is so not supposed to work that way. I mean, yeah, we're trying to get customers to buy the CDs. But employees should be immune, darn it.) So so good.

Just barely Random Wednesday!

(Just barely still Wednesday, I mean. Very random.)

Oh, hi! You're still here! Yay! Thank you for those of you who have e-mailed or otherwise asked if I'm okay. I am. It's mostly just beginning-of-semester busyness combined with something of a knitting slump plus a lack of sleep that's making anything at all creative seem way too much work. But. Here I am! Just in time for randomness!

I know I've been going on and on about how I want it to be autumn, but sheesh, that happened quickly. A week ago today I noticed that the leaves were turning. (I meant to blog about it at the time, but apparently that didn't happen.) A few days ago, my apartment was 54 degrees when I woke up. This afternoon when I left my office, I swear it smelt like snow. Now, even I am not delusional enough to expect snow in mid-September, but it was still exciting. And tonight I got home to find that the L.L. Bean Christmas catalog had arrived.

I'm loving my class this semester. Great subject - organization of information - and awesome professor. It's a lot of work, though, and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed already. I'm keeping up with the schoolwork, but my housekeeping routines have almost totally disappeared in the week since school started, and that's really frustrating. I'm trying to keep up with social commitments, and... something's got to give, I guess.

There are also suddenly a whole bunch (well, if about 2.5 counts as a bunch) of cute boys around making my life complicated. Or at least taking up a lot of mental energy. Odd.

Extreme Veronica Mars addiction continues. I now own both seasons on DVD (found at really good prices, I must say) as well as the soundtrack, which is addictive in and of itself. I think I've seen about through disc one of season two so far. My adorable new cell phone Pluto has a Veronica Mars wallpaper and ringtone. Yeah. I've become one of those people. I'm sorry.

And as evidenced by the fact that it is now 12:20, I am finding it impossible to get to bed before midnight recently. And if I do get to bed, I can't sleep. Bah. Must restart yoga routine. Yeah, now to find the time...

Oh, I haven't forgotten about the SRP, by the way. It's just... lots of data. Look for the final results on Sunday.

And Princess Aaralyn, of boring baby blanket fame, is now walking! Awww. I miss her.

Knitting? What knitting? Well, there's been a little. Haven't finished anything, though. Considering taking a break from the WIPs and doing fingerless mitts of some sort this weekend. Hmmm.

Okay, I should be attempting sleep, so to sum up: I am here, just busy, and a bit scattered and stressed, but what else is new? In general, I think I'm doing better than I have been in... quite a while, actually. So. Random enough for ya?

I <3 Veronica Mars

Dear Rob Thomas, You're a genius. Marry me?

Dear Veronica Mars pushers, Thank you. I think. Boy is this addictive. (You know who you are.)

Dear casting director, Thank you for finding so many pretty boys for this show. I'd love it anyway, but the eye candy certainly doesn't hurt.

Dear Netflix, Thank you for facilitating the beginnings of my addiction. Please be as forthcoming with season two.

Dear Target, Thank you for deciding to have season one on sale for $18.99 this week. That was thoughtful. Of course, if you really loved me, you'd have season two on sale as well.

Dear Teddy TiVo, Thank you for your patience. I know I've been neglecting you. I promise I'll be back soon. In a season and four episodes, to be exact.

New toy!

I've been wanting a toaster oven for a few years now. Isn't it cute?