22 Jun 2003
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Hoping for a repeat of three years ago, I stolled into my local bookstore around 11:55 pm Friday to pick up the new Harry Potter book. However, this time the entire store was packed. I waited in line for 50 minutes and got one of the last of the 300 copies they had in stock. The next day I found out Walmart put it on sale at 11pm for $2 cheaper.
But is the book any good? I think I’m more aware this time of the limits imposed by the young adult novel format. I wanted to slap Harry upside the head for being such a whiny little brat throughout the book. But then an amazing amount of backstory exposition was squeezed into the last chapter, so I’m now of course eagerly awaiting the next novel.
P.S. - why the hell is the original novel being released in Latin? What next, Esperanto?
20 Jun 2003
Images of “Matt” on Google
Images of “Matt” on Google. Following Bob’s lead, I’m pleased to discover that my picture shows up on the first page of results for “Matt” on Google’s image search.
17 Jun 2003
Third time’s the charm.
The airline called today to inform me that my flight to New York tomorrow (for a job interview) was canceled. My options were either leaving today at 4:22pm (it was 1pm when I got the message) or tomorrow at 4:22pm instead. This is now the second time that a flight to NY has been canceled on me. A more superstitious person than I might think some higher power is trying to tell me to give up on the idea of living/working in New York, but I chose instead to believe that this third scheduled flight to NY will be the one to work out.
Fortunately, I was able to rearrange my plans (I’ll meet up with Mike on Wednesday instead of Tuesday) and I’ll arrive tomorrow at 10pm instead of 4:45pm. I wasn’t planning on doing any sightseeing anyway — I want to be focused on giving the best interview I can.
15 Jun 2003
Visiting a Room in Show Tune Heaven
Visiting a Room in Show Tune Heaven. Yeah! The “Original Cast Recordings” exhibit at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has been extended to September 6th. If I get the job in New York, this will be the first thing I plan to visit.
14 Jun 2003
American Idle
American Idle. The art of faking cultural knowledge by claiming you’ve TiVo’d a show for later viewing and then just reading up on it via weblogs. And any TiVo owner who says they’ve never done it is lying (via joannou.net).
14 Jun 2003
TiVo’s running a promotion now where your friends and family can get a $50 discount on a TiVo (with the creepiest Flash animation ever). So they piped this lame, super low budget infomercial about it onto our machines — which was redeemed only by an amusing portrayal of the ultimate TiVo fanatic couple, whose house is completely decked out in TiVo paraphernalia.
Anyway, if I ever have a front yard I’m going to trim my hedges like this.
