Tester

I think we are trying to switch the blog back to juliehalpern.com/blog. So this is a test of the Julie blogcasting system. This is only a test.

You're Going Down, Monchichi!

Matt somehow figured out how to fix his blog, but I messed mine up by deleting a bunch of stuff. So for now, the address has changed. I hope that hasn't messed people up and now they can't find my blog. We shall see!

I recently discovered that I distort memories of songs. For example, Matt and I have had this sort of bet going on for YEARS about the lyrics to the old Monchichi doll commercials (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, Monchichi was a monkey-like doll that had a tiny mouth hole that you could put its thumbs into. Why, I don't know.). I always swore that the lyrics were "Yum yum yum! Yum yum yum! It's Monchichi!" Matt claimed they were "Happy happy Monchici!" As you will see from the video below, I was not correct.


The next made-up song lyric came from the freaky old cereal commercial (yes, Matt and I often debate about old commercials. Don't you?) for the cereal Crispy Critters. This cereal is wrong in so many ways (why is it that we wanted to eat a cereal with the name "critters" in its title? And why would we want to eat the cereal after we saw this frightening ad?), but I swore the song went, "The good, nutritious cereal with lots of ca-runch." Matt thought the lyrics went, "The low sugar cereal, with lots of ca-runch." Once again, I am the loser. Be warned: watching this commercial may give you nightmares.

Lastly, when I lived in Australia, I used to watch their daily cheeseball soap, "Neighbours." I LOVED the corny theme song, and sing it to Matt often. However, I learned from watching about twenty different versions of the opening and closing credits (it's insane that people take the time to put this stuff up on Youtube in the first place. Yet I am grateful.), I made part of the song up! I could have sworn that at the end of the show there was a repeat (is that a coda? I can't remember the correct musical term, although if you watch the credits, I don't know if "musical" is the right word) of "Neighbours" where the guy sang, "Oooooh Neighbours." Yet in every example I watched, there was no oooooh! But I swear it was there! I'm chalking this one up to the fact that the ones posted on Youtube are from people in England. Maybe the Brits didn't like the oooooh and took it out. I can't always be wrong, can I?

STOP THE PRESSES! When I was going through the Youtube Neighbours stuff to find you a clip (I swear there are hundreds) I found it! I found the ooh! It really is more of an oooh than an ooooooh (slightly disappointing), but that means I didn't make it up! Take that, Monchichi! Enjoy this clip from the show (with a character named Toadfish-- you heard me right-- followed by the credits). And then try getting the song out of your head.

Julie Gives Back

I have no reason for naming this post what I did, except that I'm watching "Idol Gives Back." I am always amazed at Bono. I was so on love with U2 in junior high and early high school, and I don't really listen to them much anymore, but Bono... sigh. He is a hero. And then there's Fergie... strange looking girl. It totally sucks, though, how everyone kept saying she was pregnant and really it was that she gained some weight. And then she lost it and wore leather pants to show that she lost it (I heard her say that). But now I'm just annoyed with her because Heart is on kicking ASS with "Barracuda," showing everyone how women can rock it out, and Fergie has to come out and skank it all up. Cheap 'ho. Ooh- that hit a nerve, can you tell?

Degrassi Spring Break Movie Recap and Tablecoths

Did you watch the Degrassi Spring Break Movie? While Entertainment Weekly gave the movie only a B-, I thought it was at least a B+, if not A- material. Perhaps it's because the "movie" (hardly a movie if it's only an hour long, which is exactly how long their normal double episodes are) mainly starred my two favorite Degrassi-ites, Jay and Manny. Jay was in top, charming form (and me saying this without him ever getting back to me about my trip to Canada), trying to woo Manny back after making a big mistake. I'm kind of having a hard time believing that they want to actually be engaged now (as opposed to their previous, fake engagement) because how many 18 year-olds want to be engaged? Seems a little silly. But I'll play along. Even the Peter/Darcy plot wasn't painful, and I loathe the two of them. All in all a Degrassi good time.

(as I have to buy plates and napkins and tablecloths for a baby shower we're throwing at work this week. Somehow I'm always on our school's "social committee," I guess because the whole goal of the committee is to make people get along and be happy, which is sort of one of my all-around goals. I have hit a snag, though, in that I was supposed to get purple and turquoise tablecloths (as determined by some members of the committee), and, alas, the place I went to has discontinued their turquoise tablecloths. I'm going to a different party store today, so let's hope I have better luck there. It would just be a horror if I couldn't find the turquoise! And what color should I buy instead? This kind of stuff stresses me out SO much, probably because, as much color as I wear, I'm not exactly one to feel adept at picking colors for other people. I'll let you know what happens. Better get shopping.

Podcast Contest

It's time for a Get Well Soon giveaway contest! I hope all of my blog readers don't already have copies of the book, but here goes. The contest involves you posting a comment about podcasting. I have started to try and listen to two different Harry Potter podcasts: Mugglecast and Pottercast. I'm not sure how I feel yet. I suppose podcasts are like talk radio, which I don't often listen to, and I can't decide if I like it or not. I feel like I should always be doing something else while I do anything, so just sitting at my computer and listening to someone talk feels odd. I know I can download it to my ipod and listen to it while I drive to work, but then it's not interesting enough to keep my mind off the annoying landscape trucks that are extending my commute by twenty minutes (bastards). So the question(s) is this: Do you listen to podcasts? Why or why not? Which ones? The comments I get before Friday, April 11 will be placed into a hat (or perhaps a bowl), and I will draw the winning name. The winner will receive a signed copy of Get Well Soon, plus maybe another surprise book (but not super exciting, so don't freak out or anything), plus some Get Well Soon frowny face buttons.

Links of Me

Two Julie links today. The first is a newspaper article from a local newspaper. The second is the new Macmillan Get Well Soon page that includes the video clip I made about what to pack when you go to a mental hospital.

Speaking of clothes, my two library coworkers and I have been planning our outfits together all week. It started because we all had on green on Monday. My assistant, Dan, decided we should all wear the same color again. And again. Each day we choose a different color to wear the next day. It's fantastic! Our best day was yesterday, which was purple. Today was red day. The best part about it is that it makes it so much easier to get dressed every day, while also being creative. Plus, I choose things I don't normally wear just so they fulfill the color requirements. Dan won't be at work tomorrow, so Katie and I have made up a rainforest theme (don't ask), but we have all decided on light blue for Monday. Other teachers in the school are getting in on the action, too, and some even feel left out when we don't tell them what we're going to wear! How trendsetting we are in the library.

Video on B&N!

So I was doing my weekly Yahoo! search for my name and book title, and I came upon this video at the Barnes and Noble website. It turns out the book-obsessed person they are interviewing this week happens to be the mother of the "Ken" that the Ken Book Award I will be receiving in May was named in memory of (did that phrasing make sense?). She talks about her books and the importance of the collection, and then she speaks specifically about a few titles, including mine and how it made it in the awards! So amazing to hear someone talk about my book that way. Had to share.

Snackin' in the Air

So this post is going to be about Midwest Airlines, as promised in my list of blogging items. We flew from Milwaukee to Toronto. Midwest Airlines promises freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on their flights, which we have joyously experienced firsthand, but our flight was at 7:40 in the a.m. Would they serve hot cookies then? The answer is no. However, they did give us Quaker Chewy Baked Apple granola bars. How many airlines give free food anymore? That almost made up for the nasty, crusty pleather seats left over from someone's rec room circa 1974. Oh well. I'd definitely fly with them again. Maybe a little later in the day, though, so I can get me some cookies. I wonder if they have some weird baking situation, since recipes sometimes say you have to adjust things according to altitude. Oh, the mysteries of Midwest.

Instead of posting the Canada bookstore pictures here, I'll just give you this link to Matt's blog where he posted the pics and made cute comments. Let me know what you think! I haven't heard from anyone in a while :(