The power of the internet-- I was just cruising the AHS Homecoming pictures posted on tufools.net, hoping on the outside chance to spot my sister in her supposedly very un-Rebecca dress. Lo and behold, there she is, twice. The world just got a little smaller. And that better be soda in those solo cups, or I've got blackmail material.

Standard procedure or freakishly friendly midwesterners?
I went to Buckle for the first time today (apparently, they're all over- including the ATL, but not at my malls). It was cool, and I got a neat jacket, but the sales people kind of freaked me out. The minute I walked in, one of the sales guys complimented my shirt -- because he had one too (a Walmart-bought Wonder Bread shirt-- go figure). Then I picked up the jacket, and another sales guy brought over a sweater which he thought I might like since I liked the jacket. Then a sales girl said that she had bought the same jacket, and paired it with pink and it was cute. Then when I got a fitting room, the sales guy got my name and proceeded to address me by name the whole time I was in the store, and suggest stuff and point out sales.
So, are they working on commission, really motivated sales people, or just freakishly, midwestern nice? The Iowans freak me out sometimes with the niceness, but I don't want to assume.

How lovely! I knew there was another Bridget Jones movie in the works, but IMDb says it's coming out next month. I don't recall seeing any trailers, but the movie site has a lot of charming pictures of Bridget and Mark Darcy. Sigh... I love Mark Darcy (technically I love Mr Darcy of P&P, but it generalizes). He displaced Howard Rourke years ago as the literary love of my life (the love of Rourke was just a teenage rebellion anyway).

I just pray they leave out the stuck-in-a-south-asian-jail lameness from the book.

It's October again, so I'm posting my favorite Halloween song again. (Laura, if you're allowed to talk about Halloween at school, maybe you can pass this classic on to another generation.)

H-A-double L -O-W- double E -N spells Halloween
H-A-double L -O-W- double E -N spells Halloween!

Halloween means ghosts and goblins, Skeletons, monsters and howling cats,
Spooky masks and jack-o-lanterns, Witches and devils and big black cats.

H-A-double L -O-W- double E -N spells Halloween (2x)

Trick or treat gets you candy and apples, Scaring the people who open the door.
Something here that they've omitted, then go to the next house and get some more!

I try to keep linkless comments to a minimum, but I have to brag that I completed my first complete NYT crossword puzzle today without resorting to google, imdb or oneacross.com even once (haha, there's a link).

(This is notable because I never thought I was good at crossword puzzles and only started really trying on them in the last three months or so. My self-efficacy for crosswords is at an all time high.) Woop.