the end of an era

i'm only sort of looking forward to this saturday. july 21st, the day i go to the borders in braintree and pick up my preordered copy of the last harry potter. i remember last time, when the sixth book came out, how i laughed and cried and needed a hug when it was over...what will happen this time?

i'm not ready for it to be over.

but in other harry news, my cousin was in the hartford courant. she's the one that went to the premier of i can't remember which harry potter movie in new york with "i love alan rickman" painted on her face. here's the pic of her, on the left:

"RICHARD MESSINA ( July 11, 2007)
KATE HOLLYWOOD, 19, left, and Amanda Ryder, 18, have read the Harry Potter series since the first book, and have aged along with the book character. They both are huge Harry Potter fans now, and are photographed in Kate's bedroom."


you can read the article at courant.com

well, i hope you are all enjoying my new spate of posts. i'm nothing if not inconsistent. :)

mid week update

well, first of all, i'm sure you are all wondering how my phone is doing. luckily, it's pulled through and recovered to perfect condition. and, for those who like to think ahead, my computer and my camera are doing well. they seem to have averted any aqueous accidents....knock on wood...

but i really wanted to update because pete (and rich...and paul...) have finally moved into their beautiful new home in north andover. for those who don't know the story, and those with short term memory issues, the three guys up there are house sitting for a family that had to move to amsterdam for two years and felt like letting them live there...rent free...

i know, how cool is that? the house is lovely, 4 bedrooms, lots of rooms downstairs, huge yard....but the decor leaves a bit to be desired. unless you really like lots of floral wallpaper, cow figurines, and cheap prints. and for some reason the boys aren't up for it. they have been told that they can paint, hallelujah, and they can move any of the tacky stuff up to the attic...which is good. i helped. i turned one of the floral curtains around so the white back can be seen instead. which, in hindsight, just exchanges bad decor for kooky decor. oh well. we'll see how long it goes before the boys change it back.

otherwise things are going well. working at the bridal shop..."the altered bride"...and babysitting a bit for the boy who lives upstairs from my apartment. life is good.

water wonderful

this WILL NOT become a trend...despite the recent evidence to the contrary:

1. i got a new ipod nano for my birthday. well, with birthday money. thanks, grandma. actually, don't tell her that's what i got. she will, as we all know, mildly disapprove.

well, the other day i ran out of clean clothes and decided maybe i would wash them. we have a washer/dryer right in the apartment here in south boston...fancy fancy...

do we all see where this is going?

as i pulled my clothes out of the washer and into the dryer, i reached for the one last thing left.

it looked like a sock.

it was not.

there was my beautiful little silver ipod, with the headphones still attached.

clean as a whistle.

i panicked (of course), and tried to turn it on. i saw a faint glow in the background, but mostly i was distracted by the cloudy, swirling patterns in the foreground. and the thought racing through my mind of how much my parents were going to be upset that i ruined the most expensive music playing device i've ever owned two weeks after i got it.

sidenote, i wonder if i'll always be worried about what my parents will say? probably. oh well. here's to you, mom and dad.

so anyway, i left the ipod on my windowsill, hoping to dry it out. the buttons weren't being particularly responsive, but i could at least get it to play music. i left it alone for a little while.

a few hours later, the screen looked much better, but not perfect. i went over pete's house, and brought it with me. when richard saw it, he was like, "what the heck did you do to this?"

"washed it."

"no way!" he seemed excited. well, i'm glad to make his day.

by the next day, however, the screen was completely back to normal! no one would ever know the journey my sweet ipod had made.

well, until i told you all.

2. water is not my friend.

last night i was sleeping peacefully, when my phone alarm went off. i don't actually own an alarm clock, i've been using my cell phone since i went to syracuse. it's small and movable, perfect.

though this morning, i noticed that the alarm was much quieter than normal. and when i grabbed my phone, i noticed something else. it was soaking wet. when i glanced at the spot where it had been resting just moments before, i saw what the problem was. there was a puddle. on my windowsill. in front of my window. which was open. and through said window, i could see the ground. also with puddles.

so, i guess it rained last night at some point. into my room. onto my cell phone.

it was too early in the morning for real panic, so i tried to press some buttons, noticed they weren't working too well. and then slept for another half an hour, which meant that when i woke up, i knew i was going to be late for work, so i had to run around like a crazy women to get to the shop at a reasonable hour.

oddly enough, the phone actually was working ok....but then suddenly stopped working, almost. almost because i can turn the phone on, but then none of the buttons work. or if i can get one to work, i can't actually do what i want it to do. like i press the menu button, and the ring volume screen comes up. and the power button doesn't work once it's on, so i keep having to take the battery out and in to try again.

it's very sad.

i think i can actually receive calls, but i can only make them if i'm really lucky.

i hope it all works out. i hope the insides dry up all nice and don't give me any more problems so i don't have to live without a phone for an undetermined length of time. cuz it's not like i have a land line. that would be silly...who has a land line these days? i could theoretically skype, but that costs money, unless it's to other skype people. and i'd need my computer and internet for that to work.

so i've decided that i prefer my water in a glass, or a tub, or a pool....not anywhere near my electronics. are you with me?

it's only temporary

today is my second, and final, day at a lovely temp job i had this week.

why so lovely, you may ask. well, i really am enjoying answering the phone, getting to say all perky, "good morning, j calnan and associates." until the clock strikes twelve, when i then say, "good afternoon, j calnan and associates." and then people tell me who they want to talk to, and i transfer them, using the nifty transfer button on my avaya phone (if you're wondering, they were pete's competition, but he holds no grudges). and sometimes they ask more tricky questions, like can i speak to accounts payable, and then i have to ask for what project, and then i have to look it up on my sheet, and then i can tell them the person who is in charge and then transfer them.

and sometimes faxes come in, and i have to staple them together and figure out who they go to, because it's not always to the person that it says it's going to, because people try to be tricky.

and then when the mail comes i have to open about two hundred envelopes with my letter opener and then i stamp them with the date stamp and then i staple the sheets together and then when i have all of them open i figure out who they go to and then put them in their respective mail slots.

speaking of the date stamp, i am not very good at it. sometimes the date doesn't come out at all, or only half of it does, so i have to stamp a few more times, and they usually end up looking like a kid was messing around on them. but all i'm thinking about is when the judge calls me for the trial and i have to say that i received the letter on july 5th, just like the stamp says, and keep everyone from getting in trouble for shady business ethics. not that i know there's anything shady going on. but i'm prepared if there is.

i also have a job at a bridal shop, doing the least fun things that can be imagined done at a bridal shop. which basically means stuffing envelopes and addressing them and stamping them and then sending them out. lots of envelopes. but i'm enjoying myself there too. i'm surrounded by pretty things, and the seamstress lady is very nice to me. and i got to take a taxi to the cleaners with a big puffy dress, which was fun. and boston is lovely, especially on boylston where i am, near the public gardens.

and i guess it does feel good to do something again. i had my month off. it was good. i relaxed, i traveled, i read a ridiculous amount of books. i am now willing to use a small portion of my brain again in exchange for a bit of cash money. or check. i'm not picky.