Our Lady of Syntax

How Copy Editors Blow Off Steam

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/014103.html

Metrosexual guy: If I was some fish...
Girl, not looking up from her bus schedule: Grammar just cried.
Metrosexual guy: I don't follow you.
Girl: Good, because if you did, I would have to have you arrested.
Metrosexual guy: I am so confused.
Girl: Do the words 'you are an idiot' confuse you?
Metrosexual guy: I hate you.

--28th & 5th

Hmm, it would appear that my watch does not acknowledge leap day. Will have to remember to fix that on Saturday.

I'm pretty sure that I completely forgot today was the 28th, which means I signed everything I finished and passed to the managing editor with yesterday's date. Oops.

I will be inordinately pleased when this week--and, by extension, this month--is over. Dear February 2008: Way to karmically bitchslap me for the awesomeness that was February 2007. You suck.

In other news, I just learned that Jerry Orbach was the voice of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast. You know, Jerry Orbach of Law & Order and those creepy eye donation subway ads? For some reason I find this to be utterly bizarre.

Ugh, why am I up past my bedtime again? What the hell.

I blame this post entirely on theuglyvolvo.

See, today she posted this entry concerning her uncanny knowledge of Disney movies, and in this post she extensively quoted the lyrics to Beauty and the Beast. Now I, being a female in my mid-twenties, am part of the generation that grew up thinking that The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King were the pinnacle of cultural achievement. Beauty and the Beast, with its bookish heroine, was my all-time favorite. (Though, for the record, the soundtrack to The Little Mermaid is the first cassette tape I remember owning, followed immediately by New Kids on the Block. Yeah, I was the coolest second grader ever.) I still remember pretty much all the lyrics to pretty much all the songs in that movie, and to this day I occasionally get verses from "Gaston" stuck in my head for no readily discernible reason.

Now, thanks to Raquel, I have had the entirety of "Belle" running through my head for the past several hours, and I know from experience that the only way to exorcise these earworms is to listen to the source. Accordingly, I have been afflicted with a sudden, unreasonably strong urge to acquire and watch Beauty and the Beast. This would be easily accomplished, except for one problem: Beauty and the Beast does not currently exist on DVD. Disney has this obnoxious habit of releasing certain films for a few years and then yanking them from the shelves to create artificial scarcity, which means I can't go to a store and buy it and I can't get it on Netflix. Ebay and Amazon both have used copies...that cost upwards of $40. NYPL has 13 copies with more than 160 holds on them, and BPL doesn't own it at all. I could (and probably will) look up the individual songs on youtube, but it's just not the same.

So, my question to you, O El Jay Hive Mind, is, does anyone, preferably anyone local, have a DVD copy of the Best Disney Film Ever that they are willing to loan me? Please? I'm even willing to pick it up from you, or pay for shipping if you're not local.

Anyone? Anyone?

Bueller?

Does anyone know of a semi-decent mobile news feed that will allow me to sneak peeks at primary results on my cell phone while I'm stuck in class tomorrow evening? Please and thanks!

Two great links that taste great together!

FAIL, via Reddit

and

You're doing it wrong!, via theotherjay

ROFLCon, April 25-26, Harvard

Pretty much everyone awesome in Internet-land is going to be there. The creators of icanhascheezburger, LOLSecretz, xkcd, A Softer World, Questionable Content, Dinosaur Comics, Homestar Runner, Chuck Norris Facts, the guy who traded a paperclip for a house... all together in one place, talking about Internet culture. Is it just me, or does that sound like approximately the nerdiest, awesomest weekend ever? Plus, I've never been to Harvard.

This was just kind of a whim at first, but now I'm thinking I actually want to go. Tickets are only $30 for students if you register by March 1st. Would anyone, in all seriousness, be interested in going with me?

I am currently talking to two friends on IM. One is in Australia, the other is in Botswana. It is tomorrow in both places. So either I am talking to two people in the future, or they are talking to me in the past, or both at the same time. It's all very confusing, and also kind of magical.

Also, I just now finished the Monkey Socks That Would Not Die. Pictures forthcoming as soon as I figure out a way to tastefully photograph my own feet. The cat really needs to work on evolving opposable thumbs so she can help me out in these situations.

ETA: Sock pix are up on Ravelry, for the five of you with accounts. I'll try to remember to post them on el jay for the rest of you when it is not almost two in the morning.

So, my ancient toilet appears to be fuxx0red. The last couple times I've tried to flush it, the water level in the bowl has risen near to overflowing, then slowly drained back down to a normal level, but nothing's been flushed away. Now I've got a toilet full of brownish water and toilet paper and I'm not sure how to proceed. My knowledge of toilet mechanics is minimal at best--is this something that I need to call my landlord about, or is it simple enough to fix myself, and if so, how? (Keep in mind that I am hopeless when it comes to these things--if there's an obvious solution to this that anyone with the slightest shred of intelligence would know, please assume I haven't already thought of it.)

Please and thanks!

I am seriously starting to think that if I had enough money to go to yoga every couple days, I'd never need to get laid again.

I'm very pleased with my week thus far. Knitting, giggling with an old friend and making a new one, dinner with my favorite person and a selection of her favorite people, more knitting (this time with new!people: hello to caitlincentric, prop_tart, and potatomistress!), my first weekday evening yoga (man, going twice a week improves my flexibility like nine hundred percent! Though next time I should probably eat something other than a gigantic cookie and a yuppie espresso drink first...). Tomorrow I'm going to some kind of interview/discussion/performance thing featuring Nicole Atkins and Eoin Colfer with two of my favorite people. Friday is thus far planless, but based on the awesomeness of the rest of the week, I assume I'll come up with something. And if not... there are worse ways to spend a Friday night than with epic fantasy and knitting and a snuggly kitty.

Sweaty inner peace, guys: can't recommend it highly enough.

...this is one of my favorite music videos ever:



This is right up there with "Year of the Rat" by Badly Drawn Boy and that treadmill choreography video by OK Go! when it comes to videos that make me smile when I'm in a bad mood. Thanks to cheesegimp for reminding me of its existence.

***

In other news, today I impulse-bought the hottest cool-weather coat ever. I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever purchased something on impulse for more than about $20, but I've still got a little money left over from my Christmas bonus and it was half off, so I don't feel so bad. I guess even amicable breakups require a little retail therapy.