Sorry, I'll stop being so babbly soon. But I wanted to thank bradycardia and lanyon before I forgot! B, I got your card today! Thank you for thinking of me and for donating to Oxfam. Lindsey, your package actually arrived 2 weeks ago, but I was out of the state and then the leasing office wasn't open. Hooray, new music!

Didn't I write up another "about me" post? I've got some new friends of late and I wanted to point them in the right direction, but I thought I'd tagged it with something and now I can't find it. That is, assuming I wrote the thing in the first place.

So, new friends, I'm trying to introduce myself to you. Part of the problem is that I lost everything in April of 2009. I've been on LJ for eight and a half years, but my posts only go back to April. Yay hackers!

Oh, hey, check it out, it's called "About Me" and it's in the upper right corner. Observant, I am.

I'm still compiling the Best Movies of the Last Decade list, and debating whether to whittle down the Best Albums list to 10 or just suck it up and make it 20.

I'm wearing my purpley-pink tights today. Maybe I'll take a picture later with my built-in webcam (one more thing to love about the yet-unnamed new compy).

I watched Star Trek 3 times last week (once with commentary). I managed to not watch it again last night, but I will probably watch it a few more times this week. I'm just sharing my insanity with you.

ALSO, Netflix, hurry up with the BSG DVDs, I need to know who the last Cylon is. This is not a plea for someone to tell me, in fact, if anyone hints at it, he/she will be disowned. I'm merely expressing my anticipation.

So my first Top 10 post will be about books from the last decade. I expect some of you will disagree with some of my choices, which is awesome because it means we're not the same person, and some may wonder why such and such a book is not on the list. The likely reason being that I haven't read it yet. ;) At the least, hopefully you'll come away from this with some new books to check out, but I also encourage discussion and recommendations of books for me to check out.

( Top 10 Books from 2000–2009 )

I had the hardest time finding boots. I started referring to my search as the Quest for the Holy Grail of Boots. The requirements: brown (preferably light brown, toward the "tan" side of brown—I already have black boots, I didn't need another pair of dark boots), cute, weatherproof/waterproof whatever the kids are calling it these days, under $100, and needed to fit my US size 11s.

I think that last one was the killer. I had found that pair at DSW.com that I liked but when I tried on a size 11 shoe by that company in the store (they didn't have the boots), they were too tight. I literally went to every shoe store I could think of in Fort Collins, and I finally found a pair that I will be happy, but not ecstatic, with: Weathermates boots from Sears. I tried on the size 10 in the store to see if they would come up too high (because in addition to too long feet, I apparently have too wide calves—who knew?), and the size 10s were just a bit too snug, but the tops hit at a comfortable spot, so I just ordered the 11s.

I also ordered Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince special edition and Coraline 2-disc special edition from Amazon, and my camera bag from Adorama. I need to deposit some of my cash into my bank account, but I still have some monies left over from Christmas, woo.

Anyway, I'm going to use this time to post my "for real" goals, resolutions, whathaveyou for 2010. They are fairly simple and straightforward and occasionally silly.

1. Avoid layovers when traveling as much as possible. I don't have a lot of plans for travel this year, but it does seem that this year, my family and I will be going to London for about a week. My mom's already looking into non-stop flights for me to Florida. She's on the same page as I am.

2. Utilize forgotten and overlooked words, such as "cur", "rapscalion," etc. Just for fun.

3. Knit 6 garments for me. I've started 1 and I've got the other 5 picked out. I just have to follow through and not get distracted by socks. But this goal gives me 2 months to knit each garment, and that is totally doable.

4. Read and sort through the books on my bookshelves. What I mean is, read the books I have and decide whether to keep them or try to sell them to used bookstores or donate them to the library. This would be easier to do if I'd stop checking out books from the library. So I'm not allowed to check out books from the library for 4 months. I will be slightly impeded by the fact that my knitting group meets at the library and I'm planning to start volunteering for the library, if they'll have me, but I can resist!

5. Set aside money each week for the aforementioned trip to London.

I'm re-naming MacBooks to CrackBooks. This computer is the shizz. I just have to think of a name for it now.

• Despite the fact that I know it's technically not a new decade*, I keep wanting to refer to this as a new decade. I think I'm tied to this idea because I want to do a "best of the decade" recap of albums, movies, and books.

• I'm going to do this recap even thought I know it's not a new decade, and we'll just call it "unfinished business." This will give me time to check out some albums that came out this year (while I was apparently living under a rock) and make a complete, final list sometime next year.

• Also, if a decade is merely a period of ten years, I can name any decade I want. Right? Right.

• I had yet another adventurous trip through the Atlanta airport yesterday. The highlight of the day was being rushed onto the plane, because we'd been delayed 2 hours at that point and they wanted to try to make up time and save some face, I guess, but then we got to sit on the plane for 2 more hours while we waited on a pilot to show up.

• My new year's resolution is to avoiding having layovers whilst traveling whenever possible, and if this is unavoidable, do not connect in Atlanta. It seems to be the perfect storm for crappy travel conditions. (Laura, I hope they've ironed out their issues by the time you fly next week.)

• My other new year's resolution is to reintroduce exceptional and overlooked words into the common vernacular. So far the list includes "cur," "rapscalion," and "rapacious." Possibly "scallywag," too.

• Oh, and my toiletries remained in my suitcase (the liquids were in a quart-sized baggie, but they were in my suitcase) and no one said a damned thing. I did however, have to run my suitcase through the scanner twice, because I forgot to take the laptop out the first time. So liquids, in the bag, twice, not one word. CONSISTENCY IS ALL I'M ASKING FOR.

• Time to flip through the books I may buy (sitting in Barnes and Noble to use their free internets) and make decisions, so that I can go buy a casserole dish and waterproof boots. I live the glamorous life.

*In case your confused, like I tend to be—there having been no year 0, decades, as we know them, technically begin with the number 1 at the end (so, 2011 = new decade). But if you're use to a 0–9 numerical system, it's confusing. Of course, it could just be confusing to me.

So ... I'm making ginger tea. I do a google search for the recipe, and find a six step one. Oh, goody! I think. An elaborate recipe! Something that will be far better than my simple boring version (which is basically, put the ginger in the water and boil, and then add stuff--I add chamomile and mint, along with lemon and honey) which is rather boring. Yay, I think.

Because in every cookbook I've ever read, six simple steps usually involves sifting, separating eggs, and using pastry knives or candy or meat thermometers or a bunch of other gadgets I don't really have, even though the recipe keeps saying how simple and fast everything is. But I digress.)

It was actually *less* complicated than mine. One of the steps was, I'm not even kidding, "Boil the water".

Oh, internet. I love you, but seriously. Sometimes, you make me wonder about how stupid you think we all are (No, don't answer that.)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone on my flist! Love, peace, and best wishes of the season to all of you who have listened to me whine, offered virtual hugs (and in person hugs) when I've been down, and have cheered me immensely by your funny, thoughtful, and interesting posts. Merry Christmas! Hope it's awesome :-)