the tigers come at night

I feel like a total blogger cop-out every time I do one of these random lists of unrelated nonsense posts, but...ya know, it was an exhausting day at work, I don't feel great, and I can't think of any one entertaining thing to talk at length about...and yet I feel like blogging...so, it is what it is. So yee-haw, here we go!

1. Did you hear this story about the couple in Houston who are auctioning off a rare baseball card in order to fund their (third and probably last) IVF? If not, you should read it. It made me do that teary smile thing. Like...teary because a) ya know...infertility...b) they've already had 2 failed IVFs...c)...infertility...d) they'll have to part with this incredibly rare, incredibly valuable card (not that I care at all about such things, but as you can tell from the story-- THEY DO, so it's a big deal for them...but not as big a deal as having a chance at becoming parents). But then I smile because a) it's a unique, creative way to raise money...b)Barry Sanders (half the duo on the card) is aware of it and excited and raising awareness for them...c) they're getting tons of publicity, which probably means they'll get a great price for the card PLUS donations on the side as well. And they just seem like a neat couple I want to root for. I hope the media keeps us posted on how the auction and subsequent IVF go.

2. I didn't get to see the debate last night and I honestly kind of regret it now. Based on Twitter (my main news source) (just kidding, kind of) there were a surprisingly huge number of funny one-liners. I think I've watched clips of all of them by now, but still. I wish I'd seen them live. 

3. In an act of pure and selfless love and devotion to his wife (ME), my husband is reading Les Miserables (all 1463 pages of it) so that he will be mentally, emotionally, and intellectually prepared for the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE (December 25, 2012) when the new movie is released. He is also on a strict regimen of listening to the musical score so that he will be fully prepared to compare and contrast all musical aspects of the film. He is also being reminded on a daily basis that popcorn will be required for me at this event, lest I find myself (out)singing the actors. For the record-- Fantine has always been my personal favorite (and the one I would choose to play, should I ever have the opportunity), but good Lord have you seen the actor playing Marius?? I could be singing a different tune (literally...) come 12/25. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

4. I've noticed, while perusing my book ratings on Goodreads, that I am very liberal with my five-star ratings. I give almost everything I like a full five stars. And then I stare at all my five-star things and can clearly say "well, that was WAY better than that"...and yet they both earned five stars? For some reason, though, I just feel really guilty giving stuff less stars, if I really liked it. There should be different scales for different genres or something. Like...a five-star classic (such as the aforementioned Les Mis or maybe East of Eden) deserve a STRONGER five-stars than The Nanny Diaries-- which I LOVE!!!!!! and truly think deserves five stars!!!!!-- but...stars of a lesser caliber. :) I'm sure this makes total sense.

5. I'm wavering on my devotion to NaNoWriMo. Already. I knew I shouldn't have gotten so super excited so super early. Now, even though I have some good ideas, I'm feeling lazy...like...who wants to write 50k words in a month? Maybe people who get paid to write...ha. 

6. I started listening to NPR last week. It had never occurred to me to listen to it before, but after some girls at Ladies' Night last week all mentioned being regular listeners, I wanted to jump on that bandwagon. I must say-- I'm really enjoying it, despite the fact that it's their "fall fundraising drive" or whatever and all they do is beg for money 90% of the time. The news and stories I have heard, though, have made me feel like a smarter and better-informed person, so...that's always good, right? When I get tired of the begging for money, I switch back over to the Les Mis soundtrack. That's how I keep myself well-rounded.

7. With a mere two weeks to spare, I think I have decided that I will vote in the upcoming election. And who I will vote for. Now all I have to do is figure out if I am even still registered to vote (??? I know I haven't voted since we moved 3.5 years ago...and we moved to a different county, so... how can I figure this out?) and if so, where to do it. Oh, and see if I can get time off of work to do so on Nov. 6. So in retrospect, there are actually still a ton of barriers to me voting, but I'll see what I can do. Now you can all pat me on the back for being so patriotic and caring an appropriate amount (but not too much, because I still can't stand those people. Ha). 

Seven is a great number, so I'll leave it there and get back to my regularly-scheduled reading and DVR catching-upping. Au revoir! (The French is in honor of Matt sitting next to me, still chugging away at Les Mis...which is like half in French, despite supposedly being an English translation...???) (And dudes-- I, a non-French-reading-or-speaking-person, first read the book (BY CHOICE) in high school. BEFORE GOOGLE TRANSLATE WAS INVENTED. I cannot believe no one gave me some kind of trophy for that.)

PS. First person to name the source of the title for this post wins...ummm...a really...valuable...prize.