Weird Places to Answer the Phone

Is it just me, or do some people answer their phone in weird places? A few weeks ago, I went to the bathroom in Target and heard one half of the phone conversation of a girl a few stalls down. It happened pretty frequently when I lived in a dorm my freshman year, too. Today I was trying on jeans at Kohl's when I heard a girl answer her phone in the dressing room across from mine.

It's always interesting when the person calling finds out where their friend answered from. In my experience, either they find it terribly amusing or really strange. "Yeah hahahaha I'm in the bathroom hahahaha," I heard the girl in the stall say. "Yeah I'm in the dressing room right now...no that's not that weird! I just thought you were calling for something important so I answered..." Brilliant reasoning right there. Just brilliant.

When I worked at the Off Campus Bookstore, I always hated it when people answered the phone while checking out. It's frustrating when I'm trying to tell someone what their total is and they proceeds to tell their friend to "hang on a second" and then ask me to repeat what I've just said. Checking out can be a quick process when you actually pay attention to the cashier. And you can always call them back--that's one of the benefits of cell phones.

You Know You've Had A Good Weekend When...

• ...You work on your article over the weekend and come Monday, your hard work has paid off and your story runs in the Red & Black.
• ...You go home to see your sister's play (You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown) and she rocked. And you got to see your brother and grandmother too, since they're in town for the same play. And there are pictures.

Aww look at Catherine...she played Sally. And she was great!!

My dad and my sister

Catherine and Charlie Brown (aka Derek Chamberlin)

Catherine and Lucy (aka Rachel Templeton)

• ...You go visit one of your friends as she walks in the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. And there are pictures from this one, too.
  

Alison!

I like this one.

• ...You're not that bummed about the weekend ending because Fall Break starts Wednesday afternoon. Faaaantastic.

*Bill Bryson*

I write this post today in honor of Bill Bryson. If you haven't read him before, start now. As in I'm giving you permission to stop reading this post right now if you feel the need to run out to your local Borders and purchase one of his many fabulous books.

I was first introduced to this man and his brilliant writing skills when my brother gave me "Notes from a Small Island" for Christmas last year. Bryson grew up in America but lived in England for a substantial portion of his adult life. Before returning to America, he decided to make one last trek through the whole of England, detailing several funny anecdotes from different towns along the way. I carried that book around and read it whenever I got the chance. Since then, I've also read "A Walk in the Woods" and started "Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting it Right." I own a few other Bryson books, but I haven't started them yet because I have this Dark Tower series to finish first (I'm on book 3 out of 7, in case you were wondering)...

And now Bryson has come out with another book for our reading pleasure. Just the title alone makes you want to buy it and add it to your bookshelf-- it's called "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid." Doesn't that sound cool? I can't wait to get this book. Here are a few quick reviews of the book:

“Bill Bryson’s laugh-out-loud pilgrimage through his Fifties childhood in heartland America is a national treasure. It’s full of insights, wit, and wicked adolescent fantasies.” –Tom Brokaw, NBC News

“While many memoirs convey a bittersweet nostalgia, Bill Bryson’s loving look at his childhood in The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is genuinely sweet. Framed within young Bryson’s fantasy of being a superhero, it matches the author’s sparkling wit with his vivid, candid memories of 1950s America. Adding a healthy dose of social history, Bryson tells a larger story, with vignettes that reveal the gap between America’s postwar glow and its underlying angst. Bryson also touchingly recalls his father’s career as a sportswriter, his mother’s awkward experiments with cooking and the outrageous adventures of his infamous traveling companion, Stephen Katz.”–Publishers Weekly, Fall Preview

So I must thank my brother for recognizing that I'm an anglophile and giving me a book by another anglophile for Christmas. And now I pass my love on to you, reader. Pick up a Bryson book and read. Now.

Lack of Updates

My apologies, avid Claiderbaider Methodology readers, for not updating recently. Turns out I'm allergic to tests and papers and quizzes, which have been prevalent over the past week or so (and which I believe have caused my slight sickness as of late). I'll update soon...

In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures I took a while ago when I went bowling with the OCBS crowd...I miss these guys...

me, Maran, and Tyler

Laura Milner, Maran, and Jeanna

the quintessential tyler picture

awww Sakeenah and the baby

tyler looks intense