Samantha Wilkinson

Jorie started school this past week. I use the term loosely. It's more like daycare. She's going two mornings a week, primarily so she gets some peer interaction. Unsurprisingly, it's a tough adjustment for her, although I wish it would magically not be. She periodically notices that I'm not around and gets upset. I don't normally think of myself as a clingy mom, but I do have the occasional desire to be able to spy on her and see what she's up to/how she's doing. Fortunately that's just whim, not a relentless obsession.

Now to move on to things where my opinion is urgently not sought:

• I'm disappointed that we're getting yet another young, white guy as the Doctor, although Matt Smith himself seems adorkable from the brief interview clips I saw and, for all I know, will do an excellent job as the Doctor.


• I've fallen increasingly in love with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I feel like everyone has some character they don't like, but I actually like all of them. Lena Headey is awesome. I highly approve of the way they write Cameron, and most importantly, it doesn't make me cringe (well, okay, the Riley and Jesse plot does somewhat).


• I'm convinced that some suit decreed that 30 Rock should be the Jack and Liz show, and while I love them, I also love the supporting characters. More Pete, please. And Jenna. And Grizz and Dot Com. And Frank and Toofer. And how does TGS survive with only two cast members since apparently Josh is MIA? I'm also not sure we need so many special guest stars -- except the cast of Night Court. They can stay. Season 3 has been a bit of a disappointment so far.


• The Imagination Movers are quite good. And Matt and I are far too steeped in kids TV for our own good.

I almost put in something about the Gaza situation in here, but thought it would come off as flippant compared to the rest of the post. Let's just say I'm appalled at Israel and the US, while not letting Hamas entirely off the hook.

It has been an astonishingly long time since I last updated my journal, but I'd like to start updating it regularly. I think producing words on a regular basis, no matter how trivial, is a useful exercise for me. Apologies for boring anyone in the process. Anyhow...

Wednesday night was to be our last concert of the season. With only a 30% chance of rain and a mostly clear afternoon, things looked good for our concert. I think everyone can see where this is headed.

After only two songs, we were hit by a thunderstorm. The band and a few audience members ran to cower under the bandstand -- we're too large a group to play on it -- and wait out the rain. Hah! Gusts of wind made this a completely useless effort. I felt like I was taking a chilling shower with excellent water pressure. My clothes were thoroughly drenched right down to the skin. Of course this was the concert I had persuaded Matt to bring Jorie to. I told him to take her back to the car while I waited with everyone else. I had worried about how she would react, but Matt reported that she really loved the rain and thought it great fun.

Our band president had initially had the idea that we would wait out the storm and continue, but by the time the rain had passed -- maybe 15 minutes later -- our audience had fled and the band was soaked, so that idea was abandoned. I helped pack up some of the percussion equipment and chairs and squelched back to the car. At least we were treated to a beautiful double rainbow.

The bag I carry my stand, music, and accessories in was soaked. The music was mostly protected by the folder, but the tops of some pieces got wet. I laid the music out to dry and the damage was minimal. I had made one tactical error, however. When standing with the horn, I carry it with the bell facing up. It flooded with rain. Thursday night was our regularly scheduled rehearsal, and I gurgled all the way through, despite emptying all the slides numerous times. Sunday is the first real opportunity I'll have to bathe it -- yes, I'm going to flush out the water with water -- and I'll take out all the sides and turn the thing over and over until all the water is gone. Poor horn!

Wednesday night continued its poor track record when Jorie rolled out of bed. She was lying between me and Matt. He got up to go to the bathroom thinking she was fast asleep and wouldn't be moving. Apparently she was lightly asleep enough that she went looking for a warm body and went over the side. I heard the thump, saw Jorie wasn't on the bed and leaned over the side and saw her. I went to get her and she started screaming and screaming. I don't blame her; what a way to wake up! We couldn't see anything wrong with her, but she wouldn't stop crying. She was obviously tired, but would start to drift back to sleep then begin screaming again. We thought she might have some sort of injury we couldn't immediately detect. We eventually had the idea of waking her fully to calm her down. This worked. I read a couple of books with her. The downside was, that once she was fully awake, it took a while to get her down again.

Speaking of Jorie, her birthday was today, August 10th. My baby's a year old. Somehow it took both forever and no time at all. mmcirvin has some pictures up.

Jorie's four-month check-up was yesterday. In four months, nine days, she's more than doubled her birth weight and is now a whopping 15 lbs 13 oz. That puts her in the 85th percentile for weight. At 26 inches (to the extent this measurement is accurate) she's in the 95th percentile for height. Her head diameter clocks in at 50th percentile, making her, as Matt points out, a baby with an average head and an over-sized body.

The pediatrician commented on Jorie's strength. She has great head control, reaches for objects (she grabbed the doctor's sleeve several times), does what I refer to as her ab crunches (seriously, that's what it looks like), and pushes herself all the way up on her arms while on her stomach. I'm ridiculously proud of this, even though it's not like I can attribute this to good parenting or anything like that, unless not stuffing her in a cage every day is your only criterion for good parenting. I'm not ready to set up the display case for an Olympic gold medal yet, however. She seems to inherit the strength from Matt and, to be frank, neither he nor I is especially gifted in the coordination department. OTOH, do you really need coordination to be a weight lifter? Should I go with blue velvet or black for the backdrop?

On the downside, the pediatrician told me she didn't like that I co-slept with Jorie, although she respected my decision. I miss my OB, who was fully supportive of co-sleeping. Alas, we moved in September and her office is no longer convenient. I realize that doctors have to do a lot of ass-covering, but I wish there was a little more acknowledgement of the emotional and psychological factors, not just the physical. Jorie seems to really like sleeping with her mom and dad. I find it reassuring to be able to check up on her easily. And I can feed her without either of us having to fully wake up. As a result we both sleep better. Yes, there's a suffocation hazard, but I'm aware of that and keep bedding away from her face. She almost always sleeps on her back as well, and never on her front. No doctor ever tells a mother not to take her kid anywhere in the car in case they're in an accident. Instead, you take precautions. I'm terrified of something happening to Jorie, but I really do believe that the benefits of co-sleeping outweigh what may or may not be a slight increase in risk. But nonetheless, there's lingering guilt and worry.

More to the point, check-up time means vaccination time. Jorie got four shots yesterday. I almost started crying along with her. She's not used to experiencing pain outside of the occasional mild bump, and it's horrible to hear her cries. She continued to be hurting and fussy today and kept spitting out the Tylenol I tried to give her. Eventually I called the pediatrician's office and got a helpful tip from one of the nurses on how to get the medicine in her. At times she could be distracted, but at others she just kept screaming and screaming. I called Matt late in the afternoon begging him not to work late if he had been thinking about it. He tried leaving work a little early, but got stuck in traffic so that it took him 1 1/2 hours to get home. If her two-month check-up is anything to go by, tomorrow should be better.

I need to go grocery shopping, the dishes need to be done, I have a backload of laundry, and I haven't finished my Christmas shopping. I really hope Jorie feels better tomorrow so I can get one or two things done.

Ah well, at least she's cute.

For those who haven't seen mmcirvin's announcement, we welcomed Marjorie Wilkinson McIrvin into the world at 4:51AM on August 10th. She was born at 7lbs 1 1/2 oz and 20 1/2 inches. In a feat of impressive timing, I went into labor at around 3:30AM Wednesday morning. When I showed up for what was supposed to be our scheduled induction at 6PM, I was already 4cm dilated and was admitted immediately into the hospital.

Adjusting to her feeding and sleeping needs is unsurprisingly a challenge in these initial days, so it will be a while probably before I post more. However, Matt has pictures.

Alas, Marjorie refused to come on time and the doctors, being impatient sorts, think enough time has elapsed already. I would have liked a couple of more days to see if things proceeded naturally, but scheduling at the hospital prevented it.

The upshot is that I'm scheduled for an induction tomorrow at 5PM. ( details cut for those who don't want to know )

Hopefully everything will go smoothly. No matter what, I'll have a baby before the weekend is through.

In other news, we've accepted an offer on our house. It's a big relief not having to worry about keeping the house in showable condition with a new baby. The buyer originally wanted to do an inspection no later than Friday, but we're trying to get it changed to Monday. I'm terrified something will derail the process and we'll be back to square one.

Anyone looking for baby updates over the next few days should check in on mmcirvin's journal. He'll be the first to post any news and photos.

I may have been quiet on LJ, but I have been finding some things to occupy my time. July 8th was our sixth anniversary, and we celebrated by attending a Tanglewood concert (Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for those of you outside of the area). Neither of us had been before, and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, although I had somehow forgotten that nighttime, outdoor concert might mean mosquitoes. Matt went unmolested by them, which I'm sure is unchivalrous in some way.

On the program was Ravel's Alborada del gracioso, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat, K.482, Debussy's Prelude à l'Après-midi d'un faune and Roussel's Symphony No. 3. I was very familiar with the Debussy, which isn't one of my favorite pieces, but hearing a piece live always makes it more enjoyable. I started to nod off during the first movement of the Mozart, no offense intended to the fine playing of Emmanuel Ax. I made more of an effort to stay awake through the rest of the concerto, although I probably could have been forgiven for falling asleep during the last movement, which sounded like any other Mozart rondo. The Ravel and the Roussel were both new to me (in fact I hadn't even heard of Roussel before), and I really enjoyed both of them. One of these days I'd like to pick up recordings of both.

I got a bit annoyed when enthusiastic members of the audience got shushed for clapping in between movements. I don't care what formal etiquette dictates; you should be able to indicate appreciation for something that was really cool. And if not at an outdoor concert, then where?

On the way out to the Berkshires, we took a detour to Webs. Matt was very patient while I felt up all the yarn. I felt one hank of unspun cashmere that was so soft it took an instant for my fingers to even register I was touching something. As much as it hurt, I didn't end up buying anything. I did do a lot of bargaining with myself along the lines of "C'mon. You can get just a little bit of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. You can make a baby hat or something." Ultimately, I just have too much yarn already to be able to justify additional purchases until I use some more up. But, oh, some of it was just so pretty and/or soft.

We spent the night in the Berkshires, had a thoroughly delicious late breakfast -- alas, not staying for a tarot reading from the visiting psychic -- and headed home. Some day we'd like to spend more time out there, seeing more of the area and visiting the local museums.

I had a band concert the evening of the 10th, which meant I would be missing the arrival of my brother and his family, who were visiting from Maryland and were expected around 5:30PM. To my delight and surprise, I got a call around 11:30AM saying they were in Medford and wanted to know if I was free for lunch. I was thrilled at the unexpected treat and was able to show off our new floor and uncharacteristically clean and uncluttered house and enjoy lunch with them at my and Matt's favorite Mexican restaurant. My niece, Jade, is such a delight. She's not even three yet, but incredibly verbal. She loves animals and tried to make friends with Nestor (who was the only one of our cats who didn't go into hiding upon seeing her), but she'd get so enthusiastic, she'd start running at him and even Nestor, who is generally laid-back, turned tail and ran. Especially that one time we were outdoors and she had a stick in her hand. Frankly, I almost never see that cat move that fast.

Except for Thursday, when I stayed home to do housework and errands, I spent the rest of the week visiting family up at my dad's house where they were all staying. I got in some nice pool time which, as I mentioned in my previous post, is quite soothing these days. My sister-in-law insists on making up pool games and competitions, usually with rather silly results, which made pool time a lot more fun and more hilarious than usual. At times like these, you can see why she's good at teaching middle school kids.

Our realtor called me Thursday afternoon to schedule a 9:00AM showing the next day. I consider this uncivilized, but we do want to sell our house. I ended up skipping band rehearsal Thursday night to clean house and try to sleep. Up until last night, I just haven't been sleeping well and keep ending up on the verge of a total meltdown. I felt bad about missing rehearsal as it was the last one until whatever time I feel ready to come back after the baby's born, but I would have been too stressed otherwise. As compensation for having to get up and out of the house early (by my standards), I made Matt take me to breakfast. Alas, cruel, cruel Bickford's forced me to have pancakes by bundling them with their omelettes. And I was even going to be good!

My mom and Christine (my sister-in-law) went with me to my weekly doctor's appointment. Apparently the office had lost any record of my appointment, but the doctor was able to fit me in. She and Christine had an interesting discussion about adoption as both had adopted their children. One of my doctor's kids was originally from Guatemala, which is a place Christine is interested in adopting from, if she can talk my brother into something other than China (where Jade is from).

Saturday my family held a baby shower for me and Matt. We were able to fill in the remaining gaps in our supplies with a diaper pail, baby carrier, some additional sleepers, and a breast pump. We also got an assortment of things like shampoo, laundry detergent, rash cream, wipes, first aid supplies, etc.

We had an open house Sunday (with dismal attendance) and went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 to pass time. Both Matt and I found the movie highly entertaining. It had its flaws but didn't disappoint in the way X-Men 3 did. Sunday evening, my band gave a concert as part of the Godspeed Sail Landing Party Festival held at Fan Pier in Boston. I don't know if it's because we were the last act on a Sunday evening or if it was because tourism was down due to the tunnel ceiling collapse not far away, but the concert was sparsely attended. Oh well, I can't say that's never happened to us before. Going home was a pain as apparently the MBTA is still working on the signal system on the Orange Line and we had to take a shuttle bus instead of the train. I whined bitterly as healthy-looking young people cut in front of me to get on the bus. After playing a concert in the heat and walking back to South Station, there was no way I was going to stand on the bus. We did manage to get seats, but in the back, where it was hottest. Still, it was better than standing.

Last night was my first good night's sleep in a while. I did of course have to get up to pee, and Niobe woke me up with her loud purring around 5 or 6 AM (Matt slept through this -- is this a bad sign?), but I was able to fall asleep again, which I haven't always been able to do lately. And now I am typing this LJ entry. The enb!

I am allowing myself to not feel bad about any grammar or spelling errors in this post. People who happen to be my husband should feel free not to point them out.

So, as of today, we're at T minus 2 weeks. I had my last band concert last night (well, last for me -- there's one in August I'm not playing at). So now I have no committments or obligations until the baby is born. My doctor is going on vacation for the first two weeks in August, so we're hoping the baby comes before then, but that's statistically unlikely as first babies are usually late. Alternatively, my father-in-law has joked about an August 5th as that's his birthday. More plausible, perhaps, but somehow I doubt the baby's going to oblige any of us.

Barring a couple of minor things, we're all set with baby stuff. I hate the idea of just sitting around and waiting. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of energy. I need to find more things to do that aren't mentally or physically taxing. I've been spending time knitting dish cloths, reading baby books, watching TV, and playing mah jongg against the computer (not the tile matching game - real mah jongg). Spending time in my dad's pool is fun and helps take some of the weight off for a while, but it's an hour drive to his house. I had this idea that I could spend this month doing some creative projects or maybe updaing the Teaspoon help info like I've meaning to forever, but I'm not sure I entirely feel up to it.

Overall, I'm doing well considering I'm eight and a half months pregnant. Everything seems to be going by the book - no complications. Everyone claims I'm carrying remarkably well, but I've got to say, from my perspective, I feel huge. Matt read someone somewhere claiming that when the baby comes, we'll be nostalgic for pregnancy, but I'm having a hard time imagining feeling nostalgic for the lack of energy and discomfort trying to perform physical tasks -- even stupid stuff like vacuuming. I wish the ground weren't so hard to reach.

On an unrelated note, my sister-in-law suggested that we try putting out dog training pads for Nestor to pee on. They remind me of thin, disposable diapers. So far Nestor is willing to pee on them, and they make clean-up much easier, which makes us much happier. A win-win for everyone but the environment.

We had horn sectional scheduled for tonight. I was really looking forward to it. We had finally gotten some new music for band, I was hoping to squeeze in one or two horn quartets for variety's sake -- we hadn't played any chamber music in a while -- and all for once all four of us were going to be able to make it. Things didn't turn out quite as expected, as I showed up to find out that it was all a front for a surprise baby shower thrown by members of the band.

As with any gathering of musicians, there was lots of food, especially of the sweet variety. I got stuck with most of the leftovers, but someone cleverly suggested that I bring the cookies to Thursday's rehearsal. That just leaves me with the cake. They also went way overboard with gifts. We've now got a ton more baby things as well as some gift certificates. I was thoroughly overwhelmed and touched, as well as caught completely unawares. Apparently there were a few close calls that almost gave the game away, but I completely missed all of them. My mighty powers of obliviousness saved the day!

I was moved that everyone went to all this trouble for me. It was the perfect kind of shower with good friends, good food, fun conversation, and absolutely no party games. I feel really lucky right now.

Of course, once I got home, Nestor took advantage of the fact my arms were full to run out of the house. He's a brown-black cat and it's dark out, so finding him is extremely difficult. It's over an hour later as I write this, and he's still outside. I went out to call him, and he eventually came up to me, but then bolted off when I tried to pick him up and bring him in. Any time I would approach him, he'd take off. And Radka started chewing on the curling ribbon attached to the basket some of the gifts were in. When Matt tried to stop her, she thought it was a game and ran off. Hopefully she'll just throw it up and not choke on it.

I'd quite like to go to bed now, but can't until Nestor is back in. And to think I probably have bigger worries in store...

Our house is on the market now. There was an open house today, but apparently not a lot of people showed up. Our realtor said, FWIW, that other realtors were reporting the same thing; it just wasn't a good day for open houses. She did say that another broker wants to show the house tomorrow evening, so that's something. I'm still marvelling at our house. It looks even better than when we moved in. We've decluttered a ton, fixed a few things that were carried over from before we moved in, and had laminate flooring installed in the downstairs on Thursday. Our house feels like a bit of a stranger right now, but, if I'm allowed to say so, a pretty damn good-looking one. I need to take some pictures.

We've been so focused on getting our house in viewable condition and organizing everything for the past 2-3 weeks, that I find myself at kind of a loss today. We did go to a BBQ at a friend's house where I almost broke down and cried because I was so tired and hungry and couldn't face waiting for my turn at the grill. I realize how stupid this sounds, but I haven't been getting enough sleep, and even when I haven't been actively working on the house, I've been thinking about it. Not to mention that since I entered my third trimester I need to eat a lot more and just can't go without food as long as I used to. Fortunately, after eating I felt a lot better and was able to socialize.

We're at home now and I'm trying to decompress, but I still feel like I could so easily start crying. I also can't shake the feeling that I should be doing something: laundry, mortgage shopping, writing up a list of things to check before a showing, anything. I need to remind myself I can take a couple of days off to recharge without feeling guilty about it. I just need to be able to turn it all off. That and get a couple nights of solid sleep.

On a more cheerful note, I'll be 32 weeks along as of tomorrow. Matt and I start pre-natal classes on Tuesday, which I'm looking forward to. I've got some of the usual complaints: acid reflux, ankle swelling, awkwardness moving, and getting tired more easily, but it's nothing I can't live with, and overall I'm feeling pretty good. Playing is becoming a little more difficult, as I run out of air more quickly. But really, in comparison to what a lot of women go through, I'm sailing through this pregnancy. Which doesn't mean I won't be grateful to move on to the next stage (cue everyone telling me that I'll be nostalgic for pregnancy when the baby's born).

On second thought, if Matt decides to go to bed early on Doctor Who night knowing that we have to be at my Mom's at noon for Easter dinner, then it's his fault if I watch the episode without him, right? Actually, I don't think he knew about the noon part. BTW, Matt, if you're reading this after 10AM, can you wake me up? Also, I'm sorry I have no self-control in these matters.

( Brief comments on the episode that probably make no sense as I am tired )

I am unjustifiably annoyed with the person who has not yet returned the library book I want to borrow. The book was due Friday but hasn't been brought back in yet. As someone who has a dubious track record of returning books on time, I probably shouldn't point fingers. This doesn't stop me from harboring a low-level resentment. Clearly I have failed to take advantage of this opportunity to learn a valuable life lesson. Not that it matters too much. I still have some books left to return next week. Hopefully the book will be back by then.

I was also disappointed to learn today that UKNova will not be hosting Doctor Who series 2 as the DVDs are coming out so quickly (the first one, with The Christmas Invasion and New Earth on it, comes out May 1st). While one of the reasons I like UKNova is that they have some scruples (they won't allow anything that's available on DVD), which makes me feel like I have some scruples, in this case it's damned inconvenient. Demonoid has closed membership currently. I may end up at Pirate Bay, which I used last year. Yeah, I could buy the DVDs as they come out, but I'd rather hold out for a nice, full-featured box set.

I've got a cold, and my band has a joint concert with the Tufts University Wind Ensemble tomorrow night. I hate playing while congested; I feel like I can't breathe. I sounded like utter shit practicing this evening, but I'm irrationally hoping that I got it out of my system today and will sound better tomorrow.

As a final irrelevancy: I haven't got any help emails for Teaspoon in five days, and I'm starting to feel paranoid that they're not getting through. Not that a lull isn't nice; it means I don't have to hate anybody! Not that I'm in the habit of hating people, but there have been a few in recent months that have tried my patience.

From indefatigable42:

Go to Wikipedia, and enter your birthday with no year (e.g. "May 26") into the search function. Choose three events, three births, and three deaths that happened on that date.

Events
1835 - A mentally ill man named Richard Lawrence attempts to assassinate President Andrew Jackson in the United States Capitol -- the first assassination attempt against a President. Both of Lawrence's pistols misfire, and Jackson proceeds to beat his would-be assassin with his cane.
1948 - Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. Another Gandhi was assassinated on Matt's birthday. Sorry, Gandhis.
2005 - Amid violence and threats to boycott the results, Iraq holds an election for its National Assembly, the country's first free election since 1953. I probably don't get much credit for remembering this, do I?

Births
1882 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd. President of the United States (d. 1945)
1941 - Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States
1951 - Phil Collins, English musician
1974 - Christian Bale, British actor I threw him in as a bonus, because we were also born in the same year. He got all the hunkiness, the bastard.

Also, my Fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Skelton, but I don't know what year she was born. For some reason, Wikipedia doesn't see fit to chronicle my personal memories.

Deaths
1649 - King Charles I of England (executed) (b. 1600) Nothing like an execution to liven up ones B'day
1948 - Orville Wright, American aviation pioneer (b. 1871)
2006 - Coretta Scott King, civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927) I didn't realize she had died right on my birthday, because apparently I are stupid

I went in for an ultrasound today. Everything looked normal: correct number of limbs, organs, etc. The only thing the tech couldn't see were the baby's lips and nostrils. She said we may need to come back for a follow-up ultrasound to see them when the baby's more developed. The baby was moving around a lot, kicking, waving her arms, and opening and closing her mouth. A couple of times I thought that I felt something move while the baby was kicking on the screen. This has been happening a lot of late (minus the ultrasound), but I don't know if it's wishful thinking or really the baby.

The tech seemed pretty confident when she said it's a girl, but there's still a part of me that will believe it when the baby's actually born. However, that part may face an uphill battle against all the other parts that figure that the ultrasound evidence is good enough.

If anyone cares, and I honestly don't expect you to, I've even got photographic evidence that there's a humanoid life-form growing inside of me.

( Profile shot of generic-looking fetus that happens to be mine )

Today I started to wonder if I looked pregnant. This would be distressing if I weren't actually pregnant. Up until now, any baby bump has been camoflauged by my natural paunch, but I think I'm now getting to the point where I look pregnant rather than just overweight. Matt seems to think so, at least. I don't know if I would appear the same way to an objective observer. I can still fit in my roomier jeans, but I have to say, aside from the pair of stretch jeans, sweatpants are more comfortable.

Regardless of how I look, I can definitely feel my uterus in there. I find the whole process strange and undignified. I'm excited about having a baby, but there's a distinct lack of glow going on here. I think my mom's more sentimental about the whole thing than I am, but I'm incredibly grateful for her professional advice (she's a perinatal nurse and certified lactation consultant).

I'm due July 31st, but if there's any karmic justice in the world, the baby will be several weeks late, as I was. Fortunately, I believe in an inanimate universe.

I've been moved by more of Michelle Kwan's performances than by any other skater. As far as I'm concerned her legacy isn't the least bit tainted or clouded by the lack of an Olympic gold medal. I'm grateful to have been a skating fan during her era.

Is there anything I can do to bribe the UK-contingent of my friendslist to vote for Stefan if he skates at all well? He clearly needs the help.

Also, here's hoping that Sean and David skate better than last week (I think Pam may be back). And if Kelly keeps getting passed by her fans, I hope someone figures out how to harness her strength and aggression rather than trying to pretty her up. I just ain't working, and there shouldn't be anything wrong with a jock style.

edithmatilda may be the only person who cares, but apparently Pam O'Connor is out of Dancing on Ice. I feel so badly for her; she looked to be in so much pain last week. I'm sure her celeb partner, David Seaman, feels horribly guilty since it looks like she sustained the shoulder injury when he fell on her in practice.

As an aside, I keep wanting to call him David Seaborn, probably because my subconscious mind is trying to protect me from the obvious jokes.

I'm not sure who he'll be skating with. The article I linked to says maybe Jayne, but someone over on FSU says it's a reserve professional, a Russian from Hot Ice. I think the latter is more plausible.

Also according to FSU, Seaman was a replacement for Paul Burrell, which may explain the height discrepancy between him and Pam. I have no idea who Paul Burrell is, but assume he's shorter than 6'4". Doesn't explain the lack of height difference between Sean and Marika, however.

On a tangent, John Barrowman's partner on the show, Olga Sharutenko has posted a few times in the same FSU thread linked to above, under the name Olgdancer. She's just created her own website. It's kind of bare bones right now, but does talk a little about Dancing on Ice as well as her professional career. She says on FSU that John is "lovely to work with" and "very dedicated and really wants to understand what is happening with his blades."

I woke up this morning with a desperate urge to play Heroes of Might and Magic III. No, I don't know why. I blame hormones, because they're a convenient scapegoat. I scoured the house and endured a sneezing fit from the dust, but couldn't find my copy. This is why I became a packrat, so that when I got the urge to play the game I hadn't so much as looked at in five years, it would be on hand. Decluttering your life is for crazy people. I did find Heroes of Might and Magic II, but it wasn't enough to feed the craving.

Out of desperation and impulse, I bought a copy online. I only hope that when it arrives, I'll still want to play it.

I should probably be embarrassed or something, shouldn't I?

I was talking with my sister the other day about Dylan Moran. Lindsey had just gotten the Series 1 DVD of Black Books, which I hadn't even known was available in the US. I had just recently purchased the full Series 1-3 boxset from the UK. Anyway, I mentioned to her that I was bemused by good-looking people who are willing to make themselves look unattractive and undignified in the name of comedy. Dylan Moran obviously cleans up pretty, but looks like a dishevelled, hungover crank 90% of the time. I don't know why I have this weird idea. I mean, attractive scientists, teachers, accountants, what have you, are all plausible because they're jobs with some dignity, but attractive comedians? I guess I had this subconscious idea that humorous characters should be played by funny-looking, or at least average-looking people. Apparently I'm really shallow and biased.

I mentioned this conversation to Matt and asked him what other comic actors were also really good-looking. He quickly (perhaps suspiciously so?) mentioned Catherine O'Hara, particularly in her younger days, although she's no slouch now. I later thought of Amy Sedaris, who, while not jaw-droppingly hot, is pretty cute and radically alters her appearance in to uglify herself. I've always thought of Janeane Garofalo as pretty.

I dunno. Who else is out there that's willing to sully their fabulous good looks in the name of their art?

As an aside, I'm mildly baffled by the way the addition of stubble has transformed Hugh Laurie from a goofball to an international sex symbol in the eyes of so many.