Whitney Gaskell: December 2004 Archives

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Hogwarts Hunks

This may be the oddest quiz ever . . .

With Which Harry Potter Male Are You Most Sexually Compatible?

Harry's my man:

Link | 30 December 2004 at 07:51 PM | | Comments (0)

Moving Blues

I dug my way out from under a pile of boxes to let you all know that I'm in my new house (which I LOVE) and back online. Now only 4,000,000 more boxes to unpack, and I can get back to work . . .

UPDATE: Sam just dumped out a box of his toys, so make that 3,999,999 boxes to unpack . . .

Link | 29 December 2004 at 01:57 PM | | Comments (0)

I almost forgot . . .

George gave me an early present -- a kickass pink typewriter (just like the one at the top of my website) for my new office. It's more for decoration -- I make far too many typos to ever give up my spell check -- but it's going to look so very cool sitting on my bookcase.

Link | 23 December 2004 at 02:28 PM | | Comments (0)

Have Yourself A Merry Little Chrismas

Tomorrow's moving day!

I'll back online on Tuesday (if the cable man shows up to hook me up). So until then, have a wonderful holiday weekend. I hope I'm the only one celebrating by unpacking fourteen million boxes.

Merry Christmas!

Link | 23 December 2004 at 08:04 AM | | Comments (0)

The Amazing Race

What the hell was up with the ending last night?

Link | 22 December 2004 at 09:39 AM | | Comments (0)

Most Obvious News Headline Ever

The AP has really been coming out with some groundbreaking stories lately. For example, their recent scoop:

Oprah's Picks Good for Publishers.

Up next:

People celebrate Christmas by exchanging presents.

Link | 21 December 2004 at 07:51 PM | | Comments (0)

Hogwarts News

The new Harry Potter will be out this July!

Link | 21 December 2004 at 07:49 PM | | Comments (0)

Bah Humbug

I'm feeling very Grinch-like today. Four days until Christmas, and I spent the day taking down our tree, packing up all of the ornaments and wrestling a garland of gold beads away from little Sammy Loo Who.

It's all for a good cause, though. This Friday we're celebrating Christmas Eve by finally moving into our new house. We bought it way back at the end of the summer, just before two hurricanes ripped through our new town and tried to blow our house away, and have been leasing back to the sellers ever since.

So it's going to be kind of a crazy, upheaval of a Christmas this year. But hey, what else is new. If everything were calm and peaceful, it wouldn't be my life.

Link | 21 December 2004 at 07:42 PM | | Comments (0)

True or False

For his office Christmas party, George has to come up with two statements about himself -- one true, one false -- and then everyone guesses which one is which.

Here are my suggestions so far:

I like my job.
I hate my job.

I always tell the truth.
I never tell the truth.

I like George Michael's Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 CD.
I like the Spice Girls' Spiceworld CD.

My favorite character in Star Wars is Boba Fett.
My favorite character in Star Wars is C3PO.

(Although this last one is too easy; clearly he has a thing for persnickety protocol droids).

He's taking suggestions, if anyone wants to offer one. The party is Friday. I'm planning on having a sinus infection, and so will be unable to attend, but I will forward all ideas to him.

Update: This is all a bit anticlimatic, but George said they didn't end up doing the questions. The questions he settled on, however are:

While in College, I:
a. Played drums for a punk band called Pablo and the Picassos, or,
b. Wrote and directed a film called Operation Zingo.

I actually don't know the answer. But since George cannot play the drums, I'm going to go with b.

Update: George said that although you don't actually need to know how to play the drums in order to play in a punk band, that I was correct, the answer was b.

Link | 15 December 2004 at 10:21 PM | | Comments (0)

Amazing Race

So who wins the Biggest Ass prize for last night's show? Jonathan, for shoving Victoria in a move that shocked even the normally stoic Phil, or Kendra, for her disgust at how the African people "just breed and breed"?

Yikes.

But all in all, it was a pretty good episode, I thought. The maudlin beginning I could have done without -- they drive past starving children in the street, and then leave roses in memory of those who died over a hundred years ago? -- but the challenges were interesting, and it was fun to watch all of the teams melting down.

I still don't know who I'm rooting for. The dad and daughter team is pretty cool, but I don't think they have a chance in hell of making it to the Final Three. Hellboy and Rebecca also won't last much longer, nor will the wrestlers. Which leaves all of the model/actress/eye candy teams, and they're pretty much interchangeable to me at this point. Just as long as awful Jonathan doesn't win . . .

Link | 15 December 2004 at 08:53 AM | | Comments (0)

Rhythm Is A Dancer

Sam's latest trick . . . dancing! I had on my Charlie Brown Christmas CD last night (which I highly recommend), and he boogied down to Linus and Lucy. Apparently, the boy has got the beat.

Now I have to go dig out my Abba CD. After all, it's never too early to teach your children about their cultural heritage.

Link | 14 December 2004 at 01:55 PM | | Comments (0)

Web Goddess

Hellooooooooooo? Is anyone out there?

Not one single comment on my Christmas List post. Do you have any idea how long it took me to upload all of those photos? Huh? Do you? Especially since I messed it up, and put them all in the wrong folder, which meant that George had to spend an hour sorting it all out?

And. Not. One. Single. Comment.

Hmph. Since I'm obviously underappreciated, I'm now contemplating a blog strike. Which means no more funny stories about the frogs that live in our sink, or my son who is obsessed with stashing the dog's leash in the shower, or the rather disturbing New York Times story I read about the woman whose husband thought she was too fat to sleep with, so she went out and began a correspondence with a woman she met in the "Women Seeking Women" personals, only to have the personal-ad chick she met there reject her for being too fat, which prompted her husband to console her and tell her that she was too good for the personal-ad chick. But clearly not too good -- and still too fat -- for him.

I'm not making this up.

Anyway. I've been busy updating my recommendations page. I've only gotten around to the books section, but the music is pretty much the same. If it's 80's New Wave or Jazz or Christmas Carols I like it, if it's not . . . I don't.

Link | 12 December 2004 at 09:52 PM | | Comments (0)

So This Is Christmas

In London, police were called in to break up a gang of brawling drunken Santas.

From the news story:

The battle of the Santas followed a 21/2-mile charity run involving more than 4,000 people dressed as Father Christmas. Some of them are believed to have overindulged in alcohol after crossing the finishing line.

I'd say that was a safe bet.

Link | 10 December 2004 at 02:56 PM | | Comments (0)

My Christmas List

In case anyone was interested. Do you think Santa is on-line these days?

1. A Mini Cooper - possibly the world's coolest car. And although it's not exactly practical (no room for Sam or his car seat), it is a choice ride, and therefore belongs at the top of my fantasy list.

2. A swank mid-century modern credenza to house our TV, DVD player, DVD's and stereo equipment. Because I'm all about the swank.

3. A Barcelona chair in cream leather. Although since they look better in pairs, better make that two. Please.

4. A Paul Smith rug from The Rug Company, size 8 x 10. This is so ungodly expensive, The Rug Company doesn't even list the price of the rug on its website . . . always a bad sign.

5. A new set of plates, like this gorgeous Martha Stewart "faux bois" set that I've been coveting for over a year now.

6. And finally -- because I don't want to be accused of being grabby, I thought I should keep the list fairly short -- some hip framed photographs for the new pad.

And that's pretty much it: a car, some new furniture, a wildly overpriced rug, some new dishes, framed photographs. That should do it.

As Sally said on A Charlie Brown Christmas, "All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share."

Merry Christmas to me!

Update: George just e-mailed me that he thought my Christmas List post was "funny." Hmmm. Not quite the reaction I was hoping for. Maybe if I'd left off the baby-unfriendly car he would have taken it more seriously.

Link | 09 December 2004 at 01:33 PM | | Comments (0)

Amazing Race

It was about time for an elimination round to pop up (that Phil, he's such a tricky trickster . . .).

That oldster couple must be packing some rabbit's feet . . . this is the third week in a row that they've managed to squeak past elimination. Don't get too attached to them, though. I predict they'll be gone soon, probably next week.

As for Wacko Jonathan, there's something wrong with that guy. Seriously wrong. And his wife would be advised to lay off the Botox.

Line of the night goes to Rebecca:

"When I met Adam, his mother was still clipping his toe nails. I told him I would only go out with him if he started clipping his own toenails."

Ewwwwwww.

Link | 08 December 2004 at 03:07 PM | | Comments (0)

My To-Do List

1. Vacuum house -- status: Done! Yea! Snaps for me!

2. Chase Sam around with the vacuum pretending it's a monster that's going to suck up his toes -- status: Done! Excellent start to the day!

3. Exercise -- status: I tried, I really did, but all of my running clothes are dirty. Does #2 (see above) count?

4. Wash running clothes -- status: Almost done.

5. Go to the swishy lampshade store -- status: Done. Gulped at the price of lampshades. Left without buying one.

6. Go to Target, and buy laundry detergent, fabric softener, paper towels, tissues -- status: Done. And I got a lampshade on sale, so yea me again! But I forgot the laundry detergent. Gah.

7. Buy grandmother a Christmas gift -- status: Shit. Double shit. I knew I was forgetting something . . .

8. Go to Grocery Store, and buy foodstuffs for dinner and wine for sanity -- status: Done!

9. Outline fourth book -- status: Not done. Humph. Don't think I like this list thing. It's just reminding me of everything I have to do, when all I really want to do is curl up with my new Kate Atikinson book.

Link | 07 December 2004 at 02:01 PM | | Comments (0)

She, Myself & I

Since some of you have written to ask me when my next book is coming out, my third book, She, Myself & I, is tentatively scheduled for release in October 2005. I finished revising the book last week, and everyone who has read it seems pleased with it, so I'm really looking forward to its release.

Link | 06 December 2004 at 01:02 PM | | Comments (0)

Babyproofing Christmas

Flu (or cold or sinus infection or whatever the hell it is that's still plaguing me) be damned, we put up our Christmas tree yesterday.

Sam's fascinated with Christmas lights and tree decorations, so to keep him from dismantling the tree and/or choking on a wire ornament hanger, we only decorated the top two thirds of the tree.

It looks really weird.

It also seems to be missing something. This year, I decided to go with a Florida-inspired shell theme, but the tree just looks really bare. And not nearly sparkly enough. I suggested we add tinsel, but George accurately pointed out that Sam would devote the next three weeks to grabbing and eating every last strand of tinsel on the tree, even if we did only hang them on the top (Sam's very enterprising . . . I've caught him several times attempting to MacGyver his way out of his play yard by stacking and then scaling up his toys).

Link | 06 December 2004 at 12:46 PM | | Comments (0)

Thoughts On Being Sick

1. It really is true, being a mom means you don't get to take a sick day.

2. When sick, I look eerily like one of the before women on Extreme Makeover. Speaking of which, did anyone see this show last night? When that asshole boyfriend proposed to the chick with the frizzy hair by saying, "All you dreams are coming true! I've decided to marry you!," I was yelling at her to throw something heavy down at him from the balcony. What a tool.

3. Because of the flu shot shortage, I decided to be altruistic and not get one so a more needy person would be able to have it. So I hope whoever it was that got mine is freaking grateful, because I feel like shit.

Link | 03 December 2004 at 08:36 AM | | Comments (0)

Amazing Race Bummer

I can't believe the sisters lost on AR last night. The early rounds are usually where the weak links get picked off. Like morons who can't count, even when they're given a pen and paper to help them out.

In fact, the first few weeks are usually the most amusing, as you watch teams running around in a panic, making the same stupid mistakes year after year. Like driving off in the wrong direction. Or putting regular fuel in a diesel tank.

But last night, the sisters just had horribly bad luck when they weren't able to pick a hay roll that had a clue tucked into it. Ugh, it was painful to watch. Kudos to Phil for not making that poor woman unroll any more, after she'd spent eight hours working at it.

And what was up with Jonathan last night . . . was he really about to hit Victoria? Because it sure as hell looked that way. What a slime ball. I didn't know it was possibly for me to like him any less.

Link | 01 December 2004 at 08:26 AM | | Comments (0)

Quiz Show

After winning $2.5 million on Jeopardy, KenJen lost last night.

I think he threw it.

The Final Jeopardy question: Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.

The correct answer was H&R Block. Duh. Even my mommy-addled brain figured that one out.

Ken answered, "Fedex."

Which makes absolutely no sense. Why would anyone -- much less the brainiac who'd been sweeping round after round for months -- think that Fedex's white collar employees work only four months a year?

I wonder if Ralph Fiennes will play KenJen in the movie Quiz Show II.

Link | 01 December 2004 at 08:20 AM | | Comments (0)