I have got to say, I'm not entirely the lost cause I think I am. Or, maybe it's just that I wasn't the lost cause then that I think I am now. But I was in a complicated place wrt to my Geico reimbursement cheque, involving the DMV and banks that are out of business, and a company that wouldn't take Geico's call because they're not allowed to speak on a line that might be recorded.

But I kept knuckling down on what went into my to-do list, with strict deadlines, and I only missed one by thirty minutes. And even then, it was one where I'd set the deadline way early.

As part of the research I needed to do, I went and grabbed the file folder labelled 2003 off my shelf, and it had all the info I needed for the letter I had to write. Score! I had no idea I still had that info around, or that 2003 was where all the documentation was.

However, I have a mega-shitload more research to do about thousands more dollars and defunct accounts. But I've given myself a week on that, not a day.

Kat, thanks again. It was a pleasure to let my grocery shopping slide until tomorrow as I ate your food for dinner--as long as I do my grocery planning and list making today, I'll still be honest. It was a relaxing cap to a way overworked day.

I have a vivid memory of the day I heard Jim Henson died.

Oh god, me too. It was during a really surreal week, one that was remarkably cool, and we couldn't believe that this sadness was actually happening.

I have a vivid memory of the day I heard Jim Henson died.

In a car with a fellow creative writing major and a Spy magazine intern (I still remember exactly which one of the Spy 100 that year was his work), on the way to Rhinebeck to see Day 2 of the Spike & Mike Twisted Animation (or whatever the name of its predecessor was) Festival. Listening to NPR, naturally; and all three of us shocked and heartsick and whispering, "No. What? Did you hear that? Did they just say that? Did they? He... no. NO."

amyth and smonster made me happy. And I get to see the movie tomorrow, too! I might actually get out the DVDs tonight.

I have a vivid memory of the day I heard Jim Henson died.

I don't, oddly. But I do remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when Jerry Garcia died. I also clearly remember waking up at my friend's house after a sleepover on the day John Lennon died, and her older brother was a wreck.

I don't have a vivid memory of that or the shuttle explosion. I have a vivid memory of the day River Phoenix died, oddly.

I remember the shuttle and the day Reagan was shot, too. I was home sick both days, which was weird.

Good work on the book proposal, Allyson.

I have a vivid memory of hearing the news that John Candy had died.

I remember Reagan getting shot. Ditto the pope.

I think my earliest memory (hazy though it is) of anything newsworthy may have been of the last moon landing. I remember it being on television, and my cousin explaining to me what was going on. Of course, it could have been a rebroadcast of Apollo 11, but the fact that a man was walking on the moon stuck with me.

I was just reading an article on the Curiosity rover. It has inspired me to write a piece called Yahoo Comments, in which I answer the dumbest fucking responses, which are most.

Wate of money!

They will likely loose it before it gets there!

And we wonder why we're trillions in debt!

Apparently, public education is a wate of money that creates loosers who think the paltry space budget has destroyed the economy.

ETA: I had a hard time misspelling the words.

I have a vivid memory of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's wedding, as I was home from school and had just had teeth pulled.

I "remember" Reagan and the pope, but not very clearly. I do remember Reagan being on the news for having polyps in his colon much more clearly-- weird.

I remember when John Lennon died, because I had no idea who he was. Jamaican TV used to do this thing back in the 70s/early 80s where they'd just air a picture of the deceased with a relevant soundtrack on loop, instead of the test card (programming didn't start until, like, 4pm).

They looped Woman over and over and over again, and me and my best friend were debating back and forth who the dead white guy was. It was years before I put two and two together and even got a number. But I did have the song stuck in my head for a long time.

Well, I've been schooled. I've just been told that getting a tattoo is silly because I can't know that I'll like something when I'm older that I liked in my 20s. Then why am I still wearing clothes I bought in the 80s? Just because you're embarrassed about your previous choices, doesn't mean I have any shame at all. At all.

I've been looking at tickets home for Christmas, and as usual, it's really hard to find tickets that don't have huge layover waits. I'm searching with reward points, just in case, and when I put in "Business Class" (why not? It's not like I'm clicking 'purchase') I do actually get tickets that span around 12 hours or less. But when I put in "Economy" they're closer to 24. Why is that? I mean, why is it always that, no matter how far ahead I try and buy tickets? How early are people really booking? Shit.

Thing is, I don't have enough points for Business Class, just Economy. But if I clear out my rewards account and spend $300 more--I get the decent flight, and Business/First...why do I feel like that's frippery?