Customizing Templates

Does anyone know how to do this? Ian is offering to cheat and help me out, I've been trying on my own...I've seen a million other blogs on Blogspot with customized fonts, layouts, etc, other than the basic 20 or so layouts they offer. I switched my layout to another, but it's temporary. Lots of other stuff I want to do here, have to figure it out.

Eastern Promises

Talk about edge-of-your-seat flicks. This was an excellent, tense film from beginning to end. Viggo Mortensen completely immerses himself in this character, or as Ian put it, really (literally) throws himself into the role. Not for the faint of heart. Definitely worth seeing if you get a chance. Story resolved bit different than I expected it to, but that's ok, still good ending.

A Trip to the Library

I went to the Forest Hills library today, which had been closed for some time for renovations, to get a book for one of Amanda's assignments. It now has a room of computers for internet access, new floors, DVDS are now on alphabatized shelves, but more interestingly, you can now check out your own books-slip your card in a slot, and place your items on a small surface-all at one time, that scans em in, print out your receipt, and that's it. Bags are free now, too! If this is ancient news, and I've just been out of the loop, I apologize.

On the way out, I saw a book called "Life on the "Refrigerator Door: Notes Between a Mother and Daughter." I liked the premise, so I took it. I didn't think to thumb through the book-it is entirely comprised of refrigerator notes. I was skeptical that the book could offer much, but a very short read away, it made me cry. I realized that the brevity of the writing suits it, kind of like the situations life can throw, sometimes there's no time to react.

Gossip Girl

Did anyone catch it? I admit with shame that I did, strictly out of curiosity for the hype, (I am the media whore, after all) and I love the song that they kept playing in the commercial, "Something to Believe In" by Aqualung.

So, aside from the fact that it's not my age range, and I never ran with the rich or popular crowd (more Freaks and Geeks), Serena is sort of a likeable character, made a mistake, tried to clean up her act and is back in town. She has a streak of being genuine, amidst all the phonies. The phantom Gossip Girl that narrates I can do without, EXTREMELY annoying. Lose her! Let the characters gossip. Then again, I guess that would mean losing the show's premise, and deviate from the books the show is based on.

I know some critics are talking about how shocking it is to see sex and drugs, in a high school scenario, on tv, but I remember sitting in a class once in junior or senior year and a group of the popular/druggie kids giggling, having a discussion about who gave who crabs. This stuff goes on, not only at the rich uptown schools.


There's a cute guy, Dan, who played the 'geek' guy in "John Tucker Must Die" (I thought was way cuter than John Tucker, anyway), except this time he's got really short hair instead of his curly locks.

There's a despicable character who tries to date rape or screw anything that walks, including a 14 year old girl, that was disgusting. Luckily her brother Dan and Serena come to the rescue.


Anyway, don't expect substance here. I don't think I'll watch that closely, but it can't be worse than watching 'reality' television on VH1 or anything...

The Glass Castle

For those that love memoirs, Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle is an amazing read. She has been a gossip columnist on !E and a contributor to MSNBC, just recently resigned to continue with her writing. The book is an account of her childhood (she is one of four) with brilliant but troubled parents-her mother an artist and her dad, a genius at math and engineering, but a drunk. Neither can hold down a job. They live in the dessert, in Vegas, Phoenix, and Virginia in shacks, shantytowns-in some places with no plumbing. They give their children so much yet so little at the same time. One Christmas when they were little, they didn't have any money, so their dad gave them each a star; Jeannette chose a planet, Venus. Years later, their dad steals money three of the kids had been saving to move to New York, to go out and get drunk. I strongly recommend reading this book. Walls' pluckiness will make you laugh your ass off and her candor will make you cry at the same time.