Is this not the stinkin’est cutest design in the history of ever? Last year my “Christmas card” was such a dullsville design. This blog design is so freakin’ adorable, I’m going to post my 2008 review here. No, I haven’t written it yet, but when I do, I’ll post it here as a page (not a post). Well, maybe I’ll post it as both.
In other news, I’m spending much of today cleaning out my bedroom. The condo folks have been reroofing the building and on the first day of work, one of the workers stepped in a weak spot and poked a hole in my ceiling. He wasn’t hurt, but I have a hole in the corner of my bedroom. Fortunately, the roofing company is very honest and they’re going to be fixing the hole this coming Friday. Which means I have to clear a path for them to get to the work area. Which means getting rid of a (very, very old) tv I never use; get a bunch of books, magazines, paper & other crap off the tv stand; break down the tv stand, bag up a boat-load of clothes for Goodwill; and most fun of all, cart it down 4 (well, really just 3¼) flights of stairs to put in the (brand new) car (which already needs a washing).
The nice thing is I have a week to get it done. But I do want to make a trip to Goodwill tomorrow. So it’s time to get off the computer & get back to work.
(And if you’d like to read other stuff I’ve been up to, you can check out my brand new blog. Yeah, I need another blog like I need another hole in my head, but I have my reasons.) 
I was raised on used cars. Used Chevy Impalas to be exact. Not the generic Impalas of today, but the classic ones. The 1959 with the gorgeous tail fins (ours was white), and the family/muscle car of the mid-1960’s. In fact, that’s the car I learned to drive on. This is important because the 1967 4-door Impala has become a bit of a cult object, what with its status as the “third character” of the tv series Supernatural.
I bring up cars (and may continue to do so this month), because I’m getting a new one. Of my last three cars, two have been used, and one was a dealer demo. I don’t regret any of them. My present car is a 2000 Lexus ES300. I bought it when it was about 4 years old. And when people ask me about my car, I always have to tell them that the car is used, lest they think I have the money (or am willing to take out a gigantic loan) to buy a new Lexus. Still, even used, the Lexus cost me more than the new car I’ll be getting some time this coming week.
I’ve had the new car itch for about a month, and for some reason am interested in an SUV. I checked with Consumer Reports and the top rated SUV is the Subaru Forester. I test drove one last week. The only problem is that I was initially interested in the 2.5X base model, but the 2.5X Premium really caught my eye. While it has some things I can do without, it has some significant pluses. But I didn’t think I could swing it. Turns out I can swing it. So I called the dealership, and they not only have the color I want with the all-weather package I want, it has an iPod interface (to control the iPod through the stereo controls on the steering wheel). And something else I wanted but didn’t want to pay extra for. Oh yeah! The auto-adjust rear-view mirror with compass. The only thing it didn’t have that I want is side molding. But the dealership will be putting those on for me. (Which is the reason I don’t have it yet.)
In all the car excitement, I forgot what the “stars” was about.
I’ve really worked myself into a whirlwind for November. First, I thought about signing up for NaNoWriMo, even though I’ve never written fiction in my life. (Just not that creative.) Then I find NaBloPoMo, which is exactly what I need. So I announce I’m not going to do NaNoWriMo, and my friend Natalie (a published novelist, I might add), shames me into it. Ok, the shaming was in jest, but still, I did feel responsible. :) So now I’ve started some half-assed attempt, but it’s really going to be crap. But at least I’ll be there to cheer Natalie and jade_kadir on.
I rented a Frankenstein movie to watch on Halloween. But by the time I’d finished rewatching True Blood (so I can write my review for SciFi Chicks) and Supernatural (except the final 2 scenes, which irritated me), and watched Life on Mars, it was relatively late. Still, I put the movie in the DVD player, and find the bloody thing is 3 hours long! (I think it must have been a television mini-series.) Out of all the Frankenstein movies available, I picked this one because it’s purported to be the closest to the book. Anyway, I didn’t watch any of the story last night, but started it this afternoon. Michael Sarrazin plays “the creature,” so it’s not very scary. At least not yet. I don’t know if it’ll become more frightful, since I’ve never read the book. Guess I’ll try to finish watching it tonight.