laceblade

Yes, I am behind on that meme and also on comments and also many things. I have plans for blog posts, though!

That said, I’m going to be spending the month of April in England. [My partner's employer has a retention problem that they combat by giving a month-long paid vacation anywhere the world for employee and a +1 every 5 years they work there.]

Do you know of any books, comics, or manga that are published/available in the UK that are not available in the US? Tell me about them, ;)

I’m also going to be looking into anime. While I understand that DVDs there are a different “region,” for a while the UK had the Studio Ghibli movie “Only Yesterday,” which was only finally released in the US LAST YEAR. WHAT IF THERE IS MORE. I’m willing to nose around a little, but if you have thoughts/knowledge on other forms of media you think I’d be interested in, I’ll take that, too.

Firstly!
OMF, Antoine starts his job today! Did I mention here that Antoine got a cool job, after quitting grad school? Well, he did. Go Antoine!

A Pwn-tastic weekend
This weekend, I went to Chicago. Saturday morning, Antoine, Chad, and I drove down in my car. Usually, the way it works is that I drive until we get to Illinois, and then Chad takes over (if I knew exactly where I was going in Chicago, then maybe I could handle it - I can handle Madison! But still, the highways and city-driving there are frightening). So, we did this. Also, we (and by we I mean I) grooved to the 12-or-so songs that I have downloaded to Chad's iPod for just such an occasion.

We picked Kristy up downtown, and then checked into the Radisson in Schaumberg (a suburb) that we were staying at. Saturday was spent shopping at the rather large shopping mall there, and then going to IKEA. I performed pretty decently this weekend, not buying too much. I did get a nice sweater and a tank top. At IKEA, I got a nice wooden cutting board. I don't know how to cook many things, but most things that I cook involve cutting up vegetables. So now I have my own cutting board, and it only cost me $3.99! I also got some wooden hangars. By the way, IKEA is an amazing store.

Actually, I lied. After picking Kristy up, but before driving to the hotel, we ate lunch at Kroll's, the Chicago-branch of a popular Green Bay restaurant. It was yummy, but the waitress sucked at keeping our water filled. Whenever any one of us asked for more water, she only filled that person's glass. I DON'T THINK SO.

After IKEA, we went out for Mexican food for dinner at a restaurant called Chevy's, and it was one of the most delicious meals I've ever had. Apparently, they mix their salsa fresh every hour, and it was SO GOOD.

On Sunday, we went back to IKEA (it was that awesome!). I enjoyed breakfast for $1.99 (amazing!) and we shopped around some more. The only thing I regret is not being able to find a lamp, but there really wasn't enough time to get one. Oh, well! I think I have two matching small ones that my sister gave me, and are waiting for me in my closet in my parents' house, so I can try to use those effectively in my space.

We walked around downtown for a while, and it didn't rain on us very much. We eventually met up with Steph and Gordon (who drove down on Saturday much later than we did) for lunch at a Panera-esque restaurant. Then, Kristy caught her train back to Indiana, Steph and Gordon set off for the Art Institute, and Chad, Antoine, and I made our way back home to Madison. We did get caught up in traffic, but Chad booked it and we made it back in about three hours. All in all, an excellent weekend!

Looking Ahead
Chad's parents picked him last night to take him home, and now I am here alone in my house until Thursday, when I leave for my parents' house. I am really excited to go home this time. I tend to mostly affix the faces of my sisters' children to my homesickness - probably because they are small and cute. My sister and her family has moved into a new house since the last time I was home, so I would like to see it.

Also, my father and I will sit down to do my taxes, which I am very much looking forward to (....you know, or not).

This Thursday will be a new episode of The Office! Will Roy really kill Jim?! PLEASE GOD, NOES! Holy crap, I love that show.

Last night, I didn't even unpack once I got home. I spent the rest of the night until 11:30pm finishing up the essay exam for my online class (19th Century Scandinavian Fiction).

I have a very long list of things that I would like to do today, and not much of it is homework. This hasn't happened to me in a long time, so I am understandably excited.

An interesting story from this weekend!
In the mall, Antoine and I meet up with Kristy and Chad outside of J. Crew. "Come inside," says Kristy, "I want you to try on these two dresses."
"I can't afford dresses from this store, Kristy. I'd like to see the price tags before I try them on."
"Just do it for me, please. I might be asking you to wear something like them." (Kristy and Chad are getting married in July 2008)

~~Much swearing and cursing on my part later, and I find myself in a dressing room with two dresses, both of which have halter tops. For those unaccustomed to such terms, it means that while the waist-down is skirt-like and full, there really isn't a back, and instead there is fabric that covers my front and thins down into two wide straps that are tied at the back of my neck.~~

So, I know what my body is like in clothing since I've now spent over 20 years struggling to find clothing that will fit on it. I weigh a bit more than I should, but I am not really overweight. However, I am, shall we say, "well-endowed" and while most people would blush and titter to describe themselves this way, I have no qualms in doing so because mine are so large that they are a curse. Cute, well-cut shirts that I would like to own do not fit me because I am too large in one area of the body. Shirts that are able to get on my body often hang in awkward ways because they fit one part of my body well, but are too big for the rest of it. One of the reasons why I "suck" at fashion is because my body doesn't fit well into it. If I can find a shirt that fits me, I really don't care what it looks like, and I'll buy it.

Anyway. Back to the story. I think Kristy really didn't believe me or something, because when I made her come into the dressing room (those-who-aren't-my-close-friends), she was astonished. I was pleased that from the waist-down, the skirt was attractive and flattering to my figure. I point to the fabric covering the things-in-front-of-my-chest*. Visible on every side of the things-in-front-of-my-chest* due to there not being enough fabric is that-thing-girls-wear*. I point to the fabric and say, "Yeah. As you can see, halter tops don't work with Jackie. And as much as it inhibits the dress options, you really don't want to see how much worse the situation gets if I take off that-thing-girls-wear*."
"This dress would make you look like a porn star," said Kristy.

*Normally, I have no problem using words such as these, but I am very conscious of the fact that mothers of my friends (like Kristy!) read my blog. Also, so does my sister, and this is probably the one post out of 4,000 that she would mention to her.