Yay! Beach!

My vacation so far:
Woke up, 2 hours late on Saturday, feeling like hungover crap. Called Sis, who was supposed to have been at the house by this time, got packed (!) in 20 minutes, and drove to Hilton Head. This is the view that greeted us when we arrived:

Man, I love the ocean.

Sunday, Sis and I went to the pool, then the beach, where I saw more conch shells (inhabited by whatever mollusk lives in them - conch, probably) on the shore than I ever remember seeing before. And we've been coming to Hilton Head every year since before I was born. Anyway, I also saw a few people collecting them as souvenirs, which really bothered me because they're animals, you know? And all they're doing is taking them and killing them and then bleaching their homes so they have something pretty for their desk back home. Grr. Anyway, it's now my last full day here, so Mom, Sis and I are out shopping, and then we'll be going back to the beach, then the room for a tradition beach dinner of...spaghetti. Huh. Then it's just two days til Jersey! :)

Yay! Star Wars!

My work friend, Stella, has been giving me her Star Wars toys from Burger King. So far I have a pod racer, chibi Chewie, a Jar-Jar Binks that squirts water, and a General Grievous that winds up and waves two lightsabers. It's interesting to watch the progression of the character of Grievous. He was pretty scary in the Clone Wars cartoon series, but in the movie he wasn't really that intimidating, at least imo. But the toy version? Is downright cute:



And to make this post completely Star Wars-related, here's a "news" article that JoiseyBoi told me about. Too funny.

Now I'm off to trivia, and then I'm going to watch Episode III. Again. Good times. Everyone seems to enjoy it more the second time, and to get more out of it with repeated viewings. Here's hoping...

Oh, and if anyone has any book recs, I'm going on vacation next week (yessssss!) and I'm almost done with The Hours, so I'll be heading to the library for new reading material. I know I want to pick up Heir to the Empire and Eragon, but if anyone has anything else that might be good for beach blanket/in-flight reading, please let me know.

I'm sure only girls will find this interesting...

After finishing The Red Tent earlier this week (which was completely amazing, btw), I found myself without reading material for my lunch break. So on my way out the door, I grabbed He's Just Not That Into You, a book my mom bought me for Christmas last year (I think - hope - as a joke). If you've ever seen Sex and the City, you've heard the phrase -

"After the Sam-shaped cartoon puff of smoke has evaporated into the air, Mir describes the rest of her date: they kissed at the door, he declined her invitation to come up to her place, they kissed once more, and he said he'd call. Carrie thinks two kisses is "promising." Char says it shows "respect," and that he wants to take it "slow." Mir asks Berger what he thinks. He pauses and says ominously, "Honestly?" Here we go. Mir says she "wants a man's opinion for a change." Okaaaay. Berger drops it, with no "sugar-coating. He's not that into you." Carrie squeak-gasps, shattering glass throughout the tri-state area. Mir wants more elaboration. Berger says that if the guy was into her, he would have come up. Char screeches, "Don't LISTEN to him!" Carrie says there can be extenuating circumstances, like an early meeting. Char adds that guys don't want to be hurt, and Mir reaches even farther with "sometimes they're freaked out, by their own feelings?" Oh, please. We're talking about men. Feelings are so low on their list of priorities. Berger says that all this is "code for 'he's not that into you.' If he's into you, he's coming upstairs."

Mir lets this sink in. "He's just not that into me!" Sam tells her not to listen to Berger, since he doesn't know what he's talking about. She says to him, sotto voce, "You're fired." Berger tries to backpedal his way out of the canyon by saying, "If the guy's not into you, he's obviously a weenie." True, that. But still. It probably stings a little for Mir. And again -- she's just figuring this out? Has Mir never subscribed to the "get while the getting's good" rule many men (and women) live by? Dude. Mir, finally, says, "I love it! It is the most liberating thing I've ever heard! Think of all the time and money I could have saved in therapy had I known this before!" She didn't know? Oh my. Is this what the show will do in its final season -- drop anvils and S-P-E-L-L dating truisms out for everyone? Oh, right." - from Television Without Pity's 6.4 Sex and the City Recap

Apparently, the writer and consultant for the show came up the idea of a self-help/dating book based on the episode. It's actually one of the most enlightening things I've ever read. I passed it on to Fran, along with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but I think any female would benefit from reading it. I am NOT a fan of self-help books, but this one is funny, and it makes a lot of sense. The only part I don't like: girls are supposed to let the guys do the chasing. That includes letting him ask you out. If I waited for guys to do the asking, I'd never have any dates! But I'm willing to give it a try, for the sake of completely un-scientific curiosity. And I've already found the perfect victim test subject, as Rich has decided he wants to set me up with a friend of his from the comic book store. I've never been on a blind date before. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever been set up before. I usually do the setting-up for others. Anyway, it should be interesting.

Obi-Wan is so hot...

How excited was I about seeing Episode III? So excited, I changed my outgoing voice mail message: "This is Jessi's inspirational thought for the week. 'Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.' Leave a message." Not only paying homage to the original trilogy, but my new favorite TV show as well (Veronica Mars, in case you were wondering). The reactions to the change have been mixed. Liz giggled and told me that she felt inspired to go out and change the world, Roger demanded that I change it back because it was "stupid," and Rich just said, "Yoda, man, that's awesome."

Moving on...

I was so excited, I requested Thursday off so I would have enough time to recuperate from the midnight showing. Unfortunately, we're in the midst of a big move at the store, and I could only take the first half of the day off. I was really tired, but it was worth it. Kinda.

I was so excited, I went to Burger King for dinner, specifically to get a Star Wars toy with my meal. When the guy told me my total was less than $5, I thought that was strange but it wasn't until I left the drive-through and was on the way to Jeff's house that I realized it was because he hadn't given me a toy like I asked. Or charged me for one, so I guess that was ok.

Jeff, Matt, Fran, Jay, Kevin, Adam and I were so excited, we met up at Jeff's house to watch the Clone Wars before the show so we would be prepared. Actually, Fran and I made Adam watch the clip show of America's Next Top Model while we were waiting for the others to get back from the store with supplies for Jell-O shots. (Which, fyi, are not nearly as good when I make them as when Liz makes them. Sad.) We didn't actually make it through the entire Clone Wars by the time we left for the theater. Oh, well.

I guess the one thing I learned was that, no matter how many fanboys praise a movie, never get too excited. Which is not to say that I thought Episode III was bad. It was good. Much better than the first two (which, granted, is not saying much, but still...) It was also really long, and a bit slow to begin. And the schmaltzy dialogue (excuse me, "dialog," apparently) between Padme and Anakin made me roll my eyes constantly. But I liked it, and I'll probably go see it again - not at midnight, since I was so tired, I kept drifting off - just to get a better feel for it.

After the movie, we went back to the house to play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit: the Saga Edition. Kevin and Matt totally hosed everyone else, but we had a lot of fun. Oh, and that one spoilery question we read a few weeks ago? Was so wrong. There were actually four, not six, beasts pulling the cart. I think we all counted when that scene came on, cause that was one of the first things we talked about as we left the theater. We are so geeky. :)

I'm in Athens, visiting Chris for the weekend, and I have commandeered his computer to check e-mail. It's been a very interesting week. There's a big move going on in the store, which has taken up most of my time and energy. I finished reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, a completely awesome (and very long) book. Fans of Harry Potter should check it out - it'll give you something to read until HBP. I've now moved on to The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant, which is about the life of Dinah, Jacob's daughter and Joseph's sister. Fiction, obviously, but still interesting from a Religious Studies-minor's point of view.

So, last night I came to Athens so that Chris and I could celebrate the end of his first year in law school and my newly-reacquired singledom. We ended up walking around downtown before heading over to Tasty World to see The Whigs, a local band (not to be confused with The Afghan Whigs, an early-to-mid 90's alternative band). I ended up getting completely drunk on screwdrivers before the band even started. To be fair, there were two opening acts to sit (and drink) through, Iron Hero, another local band who were really good, and Taylor Hollingsworth, one of those skinny indie guys that Chris wanted to buy a sandwich. I did manage to take two really blurry camera phone pictures:



So, yeah, that was a fun night. I passed out on the futon as soon as we got back to Chris's place. I was semi-falling asleep at the show, since it didn't end til 2 and I'm used to being in bed by 10 or so.

Fangirl time: I am beyond excited about Episode III. And super-sad about the season finale of Veronica Mars. But also? Super-glad that it's coming back next year! And the first season will be out on dvd soon. I would put SQUEE! in there, but I'm still groggy and slightly hungover.

Damnit, who was my flax?!

This is the awesomest game ever! Fran brought it to Jeff's last night for Board Game Night. Sorta like a cross between Uno and Go Fish, but much funner.

We were also gonna play the new Star Wars Trivial Pursuit Saga Edition, but when we started reading some of the questions we discovered that they had spoilers for the new movie. The big one that really upset me was: How many beasts pull Padme's body during her funeral procession? Answer: 6 (Highlight to read) That was something I probably could've guessed was going to happen, but still, I didn't want to know!

Another fun thing: playing "Assassins," which basically devolved into us running around the house, shooting each other water guns. So, so awesome.