Saturday, September 27, 2008

Weekly Summary

Since I am the queen of blog slack, I will just summarize the highlights of my week today:

-I went to the dentist for two fillings and didn't use any novocaine! This was after being inspired by a woman I work with who told me she doesn't even get pain reliever when she gets root canals! Don't think I'm too brave though; it didn't hurt at all. I guess it doesn't when the cavity isn't too deep. Plus, my deathly fear of needles sort of balances out the bravery aspect of the whole thing.

-I attended the first meeting of my middle school's Metal Club (the one I work in, not the one I actually went to. That would be weird). I can't decide if the other two members thought I was a total tool for being there, or if they enjoyed my insight and wisdom on the subject of heavy metal. I really hope it's the latter.

-I helped run the Dance Off booth at our school carnival. But we only got two entries, and one of the them happened to the members of the Metal Club who asked if they could put on Metallica. So that would suggest that they do enjoy my participation in their club, since why would they come to my booth and want to play music if they didn't think I'd like to hear it? Or maybe they don't even think of me at all considering I am their 33 year-old pregnant librarian? I just don't want to annoy them and overstep my boundaries. But, really, I do love talking about metal!

-Um, I can't remember anything else that happened. Matt and I are going to register for some baby stuff today, which I'm excited about because it's like shopping without buying anything! That was my favorite part about getting married: registering. Not being married, of course. No, that is a joy all in its own (no sarcasm! I swear! We've been married five years!)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Paul Feig Pics

See previous two posts to get the story...
Matt (who thought the picture was already taken), Paul Feig, and me!


Paul signing our book!

Extra! Extra! Julie Meets Paul Feig! Part Two!

See previous post for the beginning of this story.
When Paul finished speaking, I wanted to be the first one up there for autographs (mostly because I should have been, since I was sitting there for over an hour before everyone else, but also because the sooner we went, the sooner we could start the long drive home). The Borders crew seemed a little clueless, and they were like, “OK, we’ll go row by row,” and I swear they were going to start from the back row. As if! So Matt and I were up first. I was very sincere (as I usually am. One of my best and worst traits, I think), and told Paul how far we drove to see him, and how we loved the show, and, basically, everything I wrote in the previous blog post. He was genuinely touched that we came that far for him. It was awesome! It’s just how I would have wanted it to go! And almost right away, Matt pulls out a copy of Get Well Soon, which I brought to maybe give Paul. The thinking was that if I give it to him, then maybe he’ll want to get in touch with me again someday. I don’t know. I had some other thinking, too, but it feels cheesy and embarrassing to mention. In any case, he took the book and told me to sign it! So cool! So I wrote, “To Paul, My Hero!”, and then he signed our two books in the nicest way. One he signed to my students, and wrote, “Keep up the great work! You have an amazing librarian!!!” an in our book he wrote, “Matt and Julie, You guys are the best. I can’t thank you enough for being so cool and driving so far to see me. It really really means a lot!” See. Genuinely touched, right? I wish there were a million hours to chat about funny things and what Salem the cat was like (when he worked on “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”) and how tall Stephen Merchant really is. Ah well. At least I got to meet him, and it was a fantastic experience. Now I made the mistake of making him a Facebook friend (for which I am usually very picky. Ex-students often try to friend me, and I usually say no because I don’t think I want to see what they’re up to. I try to use MySpace for the masses, and just use Facebook for the close ones. So if some day you try to friend me and nothing happens, please don’t take offense. I like to keep it neat. I’m weird that way. I’ll shut up now). That shouldn’t be a mistake, but there will always be a part of me that when I log on and see the little number next to my inbox messages, I’ll hope it’s from him. Why must the internet make everyone so accessible? It’s nothing like the days of sending fan letters and just assuming that you’ll never hear back (but checking the mailbox every day just in case. Wait. I guess it is kind of like those days, then). I will stop writing about this to the point of over-analysis. Stay tuned for some pictures from the momentous event!

Extra! Extra! Julie Meets Paul Feig!

I had an amazing night last night [Um, I started writing this post on Friday, and now it’s Sunday. So pretend you are reading this post on Friday.]. But first, I will just tell you that I passed my glucose test (by only one point!), which means I don’t have gestational diabetes and I don’t have to worry about having any more blood tests. Joy! I did, however, get so hopped up from the combination of the glucose drink and my fear of blood-taking that I spent $466 on maternity clothes when I really only meant to treat myself to one Juicy hoodie. This weekend, I’m going back to the sister store at a different mall so that I may return the items. I hope it’s not one of those things where you can only get store credit. I feel like such a sucker. They got me in my vulnerable, sugary state.

So last night Matt and I drove all the way to La Grange, Illinois (minimum of an hour and a half drive from my house) to see Paul Feig speak at a Borders. For those who don’t know, Paul Feig is the creator of the fantastically wondrous TV show, Freaks and Geeks (Judd Apatow gets way too much credit for this show, since Feig is the heart behind it and wrote all of the best episodes). He also directs episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, and Mad Men. He has two humorous memoirs out, and now he has a new YA novel out called Ignatius MacFarland: Frequenaut!, which is why he was at the bookstore in the first place.

I am such a huge fan of Freaks and Geeks. I watched it the first time around when it was actually on TV, and since I have watched it twice all the way through on DVD. I watched it again this summer and thought to myself, I would really like to meet Paul Feig. We have so much in common. I mean, he writes Dungeons and Dragons plotlines, and I run the D&D club at my school, not to mention that my new novel (coming next fall!) has a D&D plot. And I thought we had other things in common, too. Or just that we’d get along really well. Anyway, when I saw he was going to be at this bookstore, I had to go, which is weird for me because I am usually not up for going anywhere on a school night, let alone some place that is insanely far away from my house.

Matt and I arrived way early, and were the only people there for at least an hour. To pass the time we grossed each other out with the latest edition of Guinness World’s Records (Matt couldn’t believe they didn’t include Kenny G.’s amazing record of holding the same musical note for the longest amount of time using circular breathing). The reading started at 7:30, and people started arriving at 7:15. I would guess there were about 30 people there, but since we were in the front row, I didn’t really get a good estimate. Paul came out (“out” being a relative word, seeing as he spoke next to the cafĂ© and the CD section [and some total freak had the nerve to walk over right next to him and use a listening station while he was speaking. Who does that?]) in a nice suit and wowed the crowd with a reading from his new book and stories about his life in the biz. He answered questions about the writing process, working in comedy, and a bunch of Office and Freaks and Geeks questions. Then it was time for us to get autographs! Stay tuned for the next post (in about five minutes…

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Sheesh

I know I haven't been blogging. School has been crazy and being pregnant has been crazy, and I'm just trying to balance everything. I used to be better at balancing. And today I have a blood test, where they are testing for gestational diabetes, and I have to drink this crazy sugar juice and then wait and hour and then have my blood taken. Nightmare! I can't wait until it's over, but it won't be over for a while because I have to let my special protein breakfast digest and then I can drink the evil concoction and then wait. Ig. People who say that blood taking will get easier the more I do it are full of crap. You all have your phobias, and this one is mine. And it sucks. And it doesn't go away, no matter what I do (um, tried hypnosis, thank you very much), so it's more just finding ways to cope. I found a great blood taker who is so nice to me, and she'll be there today. I called to make sure.

In less bloody news, the audiobook of Get Well Soon is available for download at iTunes! That's pretty cool. I wonder when the actual hard copy of it will come out. I'm on my last revision of my next novel, btw. I just have to make some small changes, and then it goes to the copywriter! I think I will read it again, though, when I get that revision back. I just never know if my brain was a little off this summer due to the pregnancy. Can't hurt to comb it over. Am I even making any sense? I don't feel like it. Oh, glucose test, why must you torture me so?

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Hallo-wha?

I'm trying to figure out what to be for Halloween. I'm pretty sure I will be a giant pumpkin, because my preggo belly will fit into the poofy costume. I found this awesome wig in the Oriental Trading catalog, but I read a review somewhere that said when they received it in the mail it didn't look anything like the picture. I can imagine. Oriental Trading has some crazy stuff! I was thinking of getting these for the windows of my library, but I think they may be a bit much (and I'm not talking cost). I showed them to Matt, and he thought they were waytoo much. I most definitely have to get this, though. How creepy and gross! It better live up to the promise of the picture. Now if only I could find a funny pumpkin costume that doesn't require me to just wear tights underneath.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Rock Me Sexy Jesus!

Matt and I saw Hamlet 2 yesterday. There was only one other couple in the whole big theater! Actually, there was one other guy, but he left early on. That's OK. I wouldn't want any haters ruining the thing. I thought the movie was cute and funny. There was a part of me that kept looking at the other couple to see if they, too, were enjoying it. I hoped they did. The grand finale of the musical was just great. I think this movie would make a nice pairing with Be Kind, Rewind, in a cute, funny, and quirky but not pretentious film festival. Enjoy this sing-along of the hit tune "Rock Me Sexy Jesus":