The Zoo over Ambuscade Street

If this isn't a shining example of everything that's wrong with the world, I don't know what is. Two books might get me from Norfolk to Atlanta, assuming I didn't have to wait long, but going to, say, Tucson requires at least six books. Each way. God bless Bookmans.

And what the hell kind of idiot doesn't know the difference between a book and a book of matches? Nobody I'd know, that's for damn sure.

Ugh - I have to stay at work until probably 10PM, and my head feels like it's stuffed with lilac and jasmine scented steel wool. I loath the scents of jasmine and lilac. I just typed "steel wool" instead of "lilac," which should give you some idea of where my brain is at the moment. God bless Pollen Season in Virginia, which is heralded by a drastic increase in the number of yellow cars on the roads.

Also, trees! Add one more to the list of things that everybody knows and is so common sense that nobody thinks to mention it to me. Trees are expensive. Not just a little bit expensive - really freaking expensive. An 8-foot not-Magnolia is in the ballpark of $150. And that number goes up rapidly with the height of the tree. I was afraid to look at the flowering cherries and the pink dogwoods.

Conclusion? I need more discipline in my life. Which is only slightly related to trees, but if I'm going to start planting them this fall (the Plant Nazi has declared that trees must be planted in late fall), I need to ensure that I have sufficient funding to do so. Yea.

Or, I could go with Plan B, which is probably illegal and almost certainly unethical. Or perhaps it is ethical, from a different point of view. See, there are all kinds of small tangly woods areas all over the place, and many of them have a few of these small ornamental trees tangled in the much larger trees. Borrow a pickup truck, grab a shovel and a couple of trash bags, use the cover of night...you see where I'm going. The trees would be better off, nobody would miss them, everybody wins! Riiiight.

I have a funny thing I wanted to post, and Stacey's newly revised Plan For The Future, but I can't seem to stop staring at the 't' key. It's oddly fascinating at the moment, and that disturbs me. I'm hopped up on allergy drugs, and I didn't even take any allergy drugs, yay!

Ugh...I'm all floaty, except my arms feel like they're weighted down with lead. Kind of a strange feeling, especially when I'm walking. Or typing, really - moving my fingers seems to be taking a distinctly longer time than usual. And I keep falling short of the keys, or not hitting them hard enough.

I may take the day off tomorrow as a "Dani is high off pollen" day. I should have the entire first season of Upstairs, Downstairs waiting for me, and I'm a mere chapter away from finishing This Scepter'd Isle, which I didn't enjoy as much as I could have. I'm not even sure I can pinpoint why. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, but it just...wasn't as fun as it could have been. The writing seemed...heavy? That probably makes no sense to anyone but me. Yay allergies!

Hah! If I take tomorrow off, that means I can return most of my movies to Netflix before the mail comes! They'll get them back on Thursday, and be forced to send me new DVDs by Friday! Ha ha! Take that, Mr. "Your average disc cost was $1.71"!

I still can't believe they actually told me that. Imagine how much lower it would be if Erik wasn't renting anything...I guess this just goes to show that I'm not part of their "increasingly mainstream consumer audience: busy moms and dads in their 30s and 40s".

Because I'm apparently on crack today, I bought a coke with lime when I stopped for lunch on my way into work. I don't like coke. Hell, I don't, in general, like soda. I don't really like lime, unless it is in limeaid form. But, because I'm on trippyhaps, it seemed like a good idea at the time. It...wasn't. But - the stuff has caffeine, so I continue to drink it.

There's a lesson in there somewhere.

I don't think it's just the allergies - this is one of the funniest things I've read in a long, long time. And I can verify the Furby thing, sadly...

Also, Wil Wheaton vs. The Star Wars Geeks amused me greatly. You really need to follow the links to get the full breadth of humor, though. I need one of those shirts. I also need to ensure that I am never one of those geeks, although I won't turn down the title of Alpha Geek. I think Brent wins that award locally, though. ^_^

One friend of mine, upon reading this, concluded that Wil was a sad, lonely person, and then concluded with the unkind cut: "at least he didn't kill himself like that Seaquest guy." Gah! Thou shalt not cast unkind words upon Johnathan Brandis!

[EDIT] The comment about fandom politics? Reminds me of why I have my current anti-fandom stance. Marching to the beat of my own drummer and all that rot. Maybe I'm just a bad fanperson.

Add one more to the things that nobody told me that they really should have...

There's a Rennaisance Faire less than ten minutes from my house! *points* (On an only slightly related note, "varf" is not the best of web addresses)

Gah! Awesome! I guess I'll be buying this sooner than I had anticipated. I was going to pick it up last year, but I only made it to the PA faire once, and I almost didn't make it even then because of work. It's clearly too late to audition for this year, but next is a distinct possibility.

Oooo, I wonder how this would look with the dress...

Heh - I'd bet cash that I know who's doing the beadmaking, too. If this bee thing pans out, I might even get my own booth. That would rock.

This is just about the greatest thing ever. And I mean that.