Adding on to the To Do list

11. Read comments on original July 21 To Do list. Check.

12. Take Melissa's excellent suggestion and add countdown mechanism to blog 81 Days, 4 Hours, 43 Minutes and 2 Seconds prior to book release. Check.

13. Reassure Teri that (a) she is cool and (b) I'm picking up a copy for her. Check.

And now, back to the previously scheduled wait, wait, wait.

My Dog is Sooooooo Cool!!!

A tortured research train that started with something completely different led me the discovery that my little Teddy is an example of one of the 14 'ancient breeds' (meaning that of the 85 breeds tested in a particular study, he is one of 14 with a genetic fingerprint considerably similar to that of a wolf). Cool!

And, furthermore, of the 14 ancient breeds, two additional studies indicate that he is one of the 7 breeds with the oldest genetic patterns (the 7 Ancient of Ancients being the Chow Chow, Shar Pei, Akita, Shiba Inu (of which Teddy is one), Basenji, Siberian Husky and the Alaskan Malamute). Super cool!

Needful Preparations

Working down the list of Things To Do for July 21:

1. Verify continuing existence of Indigo/Chapters Bookstores in Windsor, Ontario, Canada - check

2. Find group of amazing, fun, stubborn (must have UK version) and impatient (now!) Chicagoans to road trip with to Windsor, Ontario, Canada on July 20 - check

3. Add additional amazing, fun, stubborn and impatient person from DC, to be picked up at the Detroit airport on the way to Windsor, Ontario, Canada - check

4. Find place to hunker down together for the weekend and read read read read read - check

5. Place deposit on same - check

6. Reread all six previous books at least once in preparation - check

7. Order and receive appropriate (and pleasing) logo tee to wear while standing in the long, long line waiting for the midnight release - in my case, this one in yellow- check

8. Wait

9. Wait

10. Wait

Pathetic

I'm a fair-weather fan of Gilmore Girls, where the term 'fair-weather' carries the meaning 'the only thing I care about is getting Luke and Lor together'.

I gave up watching for much of Season 3 and 4 out of frustration - I quit watching when the Long Lost Daughter Break-Up appeared on the wall at the Thanksgiving show of Season 6. I'm recently returning to the fold (even when I don't watch, I keep up on past shows via Televisionwithoutpity reviews, and determine whether to watch or not by consulting the TWOP spoiler boards) with hope bright in my one-track heart.

The past two weeks have led to humiliating-in-retrospect episodes of me shouting at the TV - last week, I took the appearance of the troubadour as a sign of hope and burst out into near sobbing pleadings to the inanimate television to 'just make me happy!'

Then, last night, I watched intently during the car-shopping scene (which, of course, I knew about in advance thanks to TWOP) and then, figuring my JavaJunkie fix for the week was concluded at around minute 45, was bustling about the kitchen, cleaning up dinner dishes, with the tv running as mere background noise - when! Luke shows up at Lorelai's house!

Cut to me - streaking across the living room, shouting 'Luke' gleefully, and pouncing onto the couch. And that is only part of the disgusting display.

Yes (despite my best intentions and a week of reflection on the patheticness of watching a show in the hope that it will show me ONE plot event (I no longer care about Rory, who is just a spoiled rich kid at this point (although I'm always happy to see Paris)) I was reduced *again* to shouting at the screen 'make me happy! Just make me happy!' Problematic.

I should note, also, that I get trapped in canon - so alternate storylines? Fanfic, etc? Just don't work for me and so I can't get closure outside the show - I'm completely at the mercy of the writers and their cruel power. (Although, for some reason, I like the whole 'retelling' genre - see The Wide Sargasso Sea, Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Eyre Affair, My Own Private Idaho - and I'm good with that - I'm not sure what the difference is, but, there it is).

The Dark Knight - Here! In Chicago!

Christian Bale is filming in Chicago - there was just a mildly related story on NPR (smoke or something in a building that was being used as a location for the Batman sequel) causing a certain unseemly excitement as I sit here manipulating spreadsheets.

Now I'll have to play the Country Cousin if I see any filming, ditching my usual in-the-know-ho-hum attitude when stumbling across a location shoot. I am maintaining a semblence of dignity in this situation only by refraining from going out *looking* for the movie crew.

Incidentally, word on the Us Magazine street (picked up by IMDB, so please God make it be true for me) is that Maggie Gyllenhaal is taking over the Katie Holmes role - now that is some Same Character/Different Actor action that I can fully support!

Random

While watching the new Harry Potter trailer, the thought went through my head 'I wish I looked like Helena Bonham Carter.' Then I got to thinking how odd it is that, despite really liking being a blonde with hazel (aka-yellow) eyes (witness the money spent to ensure that I remain the former, and my quick abandonment of the colored contact lenses that turned the later into perfectly nice green eyes) there are only two women I would really, really want to look like (as opposed to those I find pretty, beautiful, unique or attractive which is legion) and they are both versions of a gothic brunette - to wit, the aforementioned Ms. Bonham Carter (the fragile, fey, pretty goth) and Angelica Huston (the statuesque, imposing goth).

Don't know what it means - just thought it was interesting. I wonder if other people, if and when they contemplate people they would seriously like to look like, tend also to choose rather opposite types, or go more for glorified versions of their own type?

Numbers Game

I’m currently obsessed with this graphic over at the NYT, comparing all the fundraising by the candidates. It is no secret that I support Obama in this race, and I’m impressed by the comparison of the size of donations between Clinton and Obama - to recap (and, sorry for the disgusting presentation of data - to save my life I can't make blogger understand either (a) charts or (b) retention of tabs/spaces):

Donations
Under $200: (O)$5,384,178; (C) $1,159,011
$200-499: (O) $1,159,011; (C) $596,475
$500-1,499: (O) $4,230,389; (C) $2,643,173
$1,500-2,299: (O) $2,304,437; (C) $1,372,493
$2,300: (O) $12,628,038; (C) $19,173,040
TOTAL: (O) $25,706,053; (C) $24,944,192


It is, then, as some pundits predicted - Clinton has maxed out many of her core contributors during this first reporting period - the ‘well-is-dry’ portion of her intake is about 77% (in dollars) of her total intake, while Obama’s ‘well-is-dry’ portion of total intake is about 49%.

I am, of course, also particularly moved by Senator Obama's 'Under $200' number, of which I am one.

As the twins would say - instersting - very instersting.

The King is Dead, Long Live the King.

Remember when you were reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and you thought you could never hate anyone as much as you hate Rita Skeeter? And then you read Order of the Phoenix and met Dolores Umbridge?

Yeah. Like that. I thought the mantle of All Time Least Favorite Client was secure in the tremulous hands of the Octogenerian Child of Privilege - but no - enter, stage left, the Very Important And Busy Misogynist With Bad Habits Of Projection And Procrastination.

Congratulations, VIABMWBHOPAP - you win.