So it's been a month or so since I last posted, and this is basically a drive-by post to commemorate the return of one of my most hated basketball players -- yes, kids, tonight Allen Iverson (and his momma) returns to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The hype is pretty crazy. I just hope we actually win a game or two now, although I WOULD really enjoy a high first-round draft pick this year instead of getting just far enough in the postseason to get a crummy lower pick.

In other sports news, my Flyers fired coach John Stevens and hired Coach Peter Laviolette, which is a good move. They did get annihilated by the Caps on Saturday, the first game with Laviolette as coach, but I place the blame squarely on Dan Carcillo's shoulders. That was an idiotic fight and an obvious suspension. Way to lose tour spot on the team the first day you meet your new coach. Idiot.

Anyway. That's it.

I have one thing to say:

Tonight's SVU was not only the best of the season, but I'd go so far as to say that it was the best of the past few years, with only a handful of other episodes coming close to it.

Although I was distracted in the final scene by how amazingly tight Chris Meloni's shirt was. Not that I'm complaining, but still. Geez.

Next week looks fantastic, too.

First things first: I got my Droid today (waited on the edge of my seat allllll morning - Fed Ex was SO LATE it's not even funny - he's usually there by 9, and today it was almost 11 before he showed up) and I love it already. I can finally set my own ringtones (Verizon is against using your own mp3s as ringtones for some reason) and now have the monster noise from Lost as my text message alert. I would have the countdown clock alarm if I could find one longer than one second or could edit it to loop. (Ringzoid isn't working, really, for some odd reason.)

I need to make sure that I "kill" my Twitter app, or else it'll be constantly updating and killing my battery.

On to other things, though: HOUSE. ( *Nineteen* eighties, House! )

I have off all day (and night!) on Friday and it's going to be a big day whichever way it goes: I am either getting my new tv or going up to New York City for the day. I'm kind of hoping for NYC, but the tv would be just fine, too. If we do end up in NYC, we may go to Central Park - I've never been there and Johnny said he loves walking around in there. We both want to take pictures, so that's a good place for that. (I am also kind of hoping SVU will be out in the streets filming, but I think Nancy (nsfcl on Twitter - editor on the show) said they're in studio all week.)

Speaking of Johnny, he also knows the guy that was busted for child porn and all day today we walked around work talking about how shocked we both are. We are both of the opinion that he is not going to do well in prison, and we just cannot figure out how he got to the point of needing to look at images of children.

I think it's almost time for bed - I've been super tired in the mornings for the past month and it's driving me insane. It's worse on nights like this when I have off and end up just sitting around all evening.

So a guy that I vaguely know from my old church was arrested for child pornography yesterday. Craziness. I'm shocked - I never would have guessed it - and disgusted, because really? You like 13 and 14 year old boys? Suck it up and ignore it, idiot. There's a whole bunch of different kinds of porn out there, can't you just find the ones where the boys look young but actually aren't? I'm sure he'll see a decent amount of jail time, plus a lifetime of being a sex offender. This guy is honestly someone that I never would have suspected of being into this sort of thing.

In happier news, I ordered a Motorola Droid today and should get it on Monday! I'm so excited! It actually shipped today, about three hours after I placed the order, but I sent it to work instead of home because of the signature requirement.

I was surprised when I went to check on the plans necessary for Droid and saw that I didn't have to upgrade my ultra-cheap "we don't have this plan anymore" plan in order to get it. I did, of course, have to add the $30/month internet plan, but that put the bill right around where I was expecting. Plus we have a slight discount through work, so that makes it even less.

I'm sure that all I'll do Monday is play with the phone.

Johnny and I were tentatively going to go to Delaware tomorrow to buy me a tv - he's my muscle - but he got pinkeye the other day and I'm not sure if we're still going or not. If not, I have some Kohl's coupons that I want to try to use. Mmm, shopping. I don't really need to get the tv yet, anyway - not after I dropped money on the Droid. I do need some more nice sweaters and maybe another pair of jeans.

This is my first week back as an usher at work - people are still finding out. I like when they're shocked and indignant, until I tell them that I chose to downgrade myself, and then they're just shocked (and supportive). Most people are asking me why I'm not a supervisor - one guy asked in front of my boss. (Hee. Yay. Fire our "weekend" person who doesn't ever want to work and give me her spot!) Although honestly, I've been getting asked why I wasn't a supervisor for about five or six years now. *g*

I'm really behind on tv due to the World Series and all the events at the Center the past few weeks. I still haven't seen Flash Forward for the last 2 weeks, NCIS, The Good Wife, and So You Think You Can Dance from this week. (I don't want to know who got eliminated! Although I'm surprised I haven't seen it anywhere online yet.)

Speaking of SYTYCD, seems like last season's Janette is dating last season's Jason. I swore he was gay. Guess not, though. He's quite attractive.

I have got to go to bed.

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted.

Life has been a lot like this: Sleep. Eat. Work. Phillies. Sleep. Work. Eat. Work. Sleep. Phillies! Work. Sleep. Eat. PHILLIES!

Oh, with a little bit of "television, I love you" thrown in for good measure.

Since tonight is the first night of the World Series (Go Phillies!) I had to make sure that I downloaded and watched tonight's SVU pre-game. Normally I wouldn't bother, because while it's been quite good this season, it's nothing that couldn't wait until tomorrow evening.

Except for this one. ( Spoilers for SVU 11.06, Spooked. AKA The One Where Elliot [spoiler redacted] Olivia, straight from the editors mouth. Er, keyboard. )
So I actually liked yet another SVU episode! Good for them - six strong episodes in a row, and from the sound of things, more strong ones coming.

House has been... well, House. It's fine, not spectacular. Love the House/Cuddy, of course, and the cute House/Wilson scenes. Am waiting for [spoilery thing] to happen to [original cast member] just to see the fallout. ;)

I've been watching NCIS this season and am quite disappointed in it. It just has not been very strong or interesting, I think. Last season's finale was amazing and caught my interest in a big way, but this season is just dull. And I still do not like Abby.

I love The Good Wife. Julianna Margulies is awesome.

In non-tv news, I have a cold. I took some medicine, which will hopefully allow me to stop sneezing and enjoy the Phillies game and not freak out everyone around me.

It's almost time to head out of here to watch the Phillies! (Speaking of which: we had a rock concert - Kiss - on the night the Phillies clinched the NLDS, and another concert - AC/DC - the night they clinched the NLCS. The NLDS was away, which was wonderful, but everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off about the NLCS game getting over at the same time as the concert. I kept saying that if they won, all 45,000+ fans would not be going anywhere - they'd stay in the ballpark and allow us to exit, which they did end up doing. I think we need another rock concert during game 5 of the World Series.) ;)

There's nothing that I hate more than the words "We need to talk," or some variation of that sentiment. Therefore, tonight while working the Flyers game, when my boss' boss' (or maybe she's even the boss' boss' boss, I'm never quite sure of hierarchy) said "Hey, Michelle, I need to talk to you tonight. No hurry, I'll catch you later!" inside I was like "UM. NO. NOW PLEASE."

So I was like "Oh, okay," and later bumped into my boss and mentioned it to him, and I asked him if it was in regards to the three new PSR's we just hired, and he said "No, actually, but I'll let her tell you." I responded with something like, "Great, now I'm really nervous," and he said "Oh, no, it's not bad."

Well, it wasn't BAD bad, but it's not really great either.

If you're from the Philly area, you know that there are two buildings that Ed Snider owns - the Center and the Spectrum. They're tearing the Spectrum down at the end of October and there has been much speculation about what would happen in terms of staffing at the Center, since essentially there are enough people to safely run two whole buildings and now there's only going to be one single building. Twice as many people vying for hours. Since this is happening, they are understandably not hiring anyone (except 3 for our club level) this fall.

That poses a problem for me, as I am a trainer. Without new people to train, I... do nothing. Well, not nothing. I run errands and I do a few other things so that supervisors can stay on their assigned levels and not have to leave.

Even with the 3 they're hiring, I am not their full-time trainer. We have seven (yes, seven) trainers for three people. Even though they're going to be on MY level, where I've worked for 8 seasons, and the other trainers are all event staff and don't even like being ON the club level.

So Linda pulled me aside today and told me that she loves me as a trainer, I do a good job and write good reports, but this is what they're going to do: instead of sending trainers back down (to be ushers), they want to assign only 3 trainers per event. (Today there were four event staff trainers -- that I saw, there could've been more! -- and myself.) There would be one on the club (me if I was scheduled that day) and two on the other levels.

Since there are seven of us, and only 3 would be on each event, I would essentially be losing half of the events, since I currently get scheduled for every single thing that's in my building. (And it's not like I can pick, like, "Oh, I'll take Flyers games and you can do Sixers." No, it'd be random.)

So I would lose half of my money, and half of my work - and I actually love being there.

Or I can take the demotion (voluntarily) and give up $2 per hour, and also have to pay union dues again (which comes to $20-something per month), BUT I would get scheduled for pretty much every single event. I would also be able to pick up early posts and late posts (extra hours). However, I would lose my freedom - right now I can go where I want to go and do what I want to do - and I'd also have to staff the elevator (which I actually enjoy) and also executive doors, which I hate.

My boss did say that he'd let me go back to doing what I used to do for Flyers games - my awesome spot would be mine again, which is a good thing. I know the people that sit there would enjoy it. (And I'm not going to lie, when I say it's an awesome spot, I really mean it. *g*)

I did ask if I could get promoted again to supervisor, and she said she'd love to do that for me but there's no openings right now, but she'd keep me in mind if one does come up.

It really feels like the premium level is once again getting shafted again, though. I understand that I'm the low man on the totem pole of trainers, and that if she had to cut one it would be me anyway, and she's trying to keep me as a trainer, which I do appreciate. But to have six event staff trainers and zero premium trainers isn't quite fair to the rest of the premium staff. I know things that the event staff trainers don't know. They've never even worked up on our level for any length of time.

Gah! I think it's pretty clear that most of me has already decided what I'm going to do, but I want opinions. What would you do?

Phillies clinch the NL East with a decisive victory over the Astros... and the Marlins beating the Braves the last two nights didn't hurt, either.

NL East Champs three years in a row! I guess Charlie Manuel is a good manager after all. ;) Uncle Chuck knows his baseball!

This one's for you, Harry!

Guys, today for dinner I made the best chicken pot pie EVER, and it was so easy! All I did was buy pie crusts and two cans of cream of chicken soup, boil some potatoes, brown some chicken, and add frozen peas and carrots. Baked for about 45 minutes at 375, until the crust was done, and wow, was it so good. I forgot the corn, though. Next time I'll add corn.

I watched Seven Pounds tonight. Will Smith is a pretty darn good actor. I really liked the movie, even though I knew exactly what he was doing from the get-go. Okay, except for that one thing, with the brother and his job. Yeah. Is that vague enough?

I enjoyed the Bones premiere last night, but don't have much to say beyond that. Booth and Brennan are too cute.

I saw a Snakes on a Cane logo spray painted on the sidewalk near the Phillies ballpark the other day. It made me happy.

You know what else makes me happy? The Phillies. An 8 game lead over Florida and 8.5 over Atlanta. Our magic number dropped to 9 or 10, I believe... I think 9 with 16 games left to play. I would really, really like to be up by 7 or 8 games with 6 left to play. That would be really nice - a slight breather before October baseball begins. I think I'm beginning to know how Yankees fans feel - the expectations, the feeling that real ball doesn't start until September. It's a nice change.

In other sports talk, what isn't a nice change is McNabb being out for Sunday's game against the Saints. I think we'll see Jeff Garcia in the second quarter. Kolb is just terrible. I hope I eat my words Sunday afternoon, but I don't think I will.

Tomorrow I'm going down to DC to visit with Amy and Walt and to meet Daniel, their son. I am quite excited, although I did refrain from buying him any Phillies gear. Maybe I'll get him an Ibanez shirt, Walt? (Oooh, low blow. This article made me think of you and the conversation we had the last time we talked.)

I think it's just about time for bed.

So, uh, Ellen DeGeneres judging on American Idol week after week? Really? She was not so great on So You Think You Can Dance, so what makes them think she'd be good here?

I really, really want to see the Chris Meloni/Mariska Hargitay TV Guide photos and I cannot for the life of me access the mariskahargitay.org photo galleries, even with a new username and password. Yes, this bothers me.

I almost got to play softball today - a guy from the Center asked if I knew any girl who'd be able to play on his team this evening and I said I'd do it, but then the game got called for rain. They might play tomorrow, but I think it's supposed to rain tomorrow, too.

At least I got my lawn mowed (even if I didn't get to trim the edges and stuff) before it started raining tonight. Also, my lawn mower broke, so I had to fold down the top half and bend over and try to push a tiny lawnmower. That was not fun at all. ( See? )

Neal Baer is revealing a lot of SVU info on twitter, the latest being ( the return of... )

I am so ready for the new tv season to start, but first I get to go down to DC and visit my friends and their not-so-new-anymore baby! Yay!

Speaking of friends, a few are coming over for a House season premiere mini-party, since one of them likes House but doesn't have a tv and I feel bad making her wait 8 days to see it online. Should be fun. I also really, really want a Snakes on a Cane t-shirt.

That is all, for now. It's almost bedtime. Hopefully tonight I won't dream about DiNozzo and McGee from NCIS (a show that I don't even watch regularly!) playing volleyball inside my house.

I know it's been way too long since I last posted, and this is yet another drive-by posting to tell you all that I had the weirdest dream last night. I know, I know, people hate reading other people's dreams (except for my infamous "Shannon, fetch me my favorite key!" dream that Amy always liked), but seriously, guys.

Last night I dreamed about Rod Stewart. For real. He was doing some sort of mini-concert in the middle of the road a few blocks from my house, right out front of the local high school. And not only did I walk right up, but I climbed up next to him on the piano (it was a big chunky piano, like a butcher block table, only a piano - and there were others up there, too) and talked to him and took pictures.

SO. WEIRD.

I saw Britney Spears tonight. Let me just say that not only can I lip synch better than she can, I think I can actually dance better, too. She just kind of waltzed around and humped things (poles, chairs, boys) and half-heartedly threw her arms around.

My favorite part of the night was the girl at the end who walked up to the club level and was so smashed (and also high) that she didn't know where she belonged and didn't have a ticket, and was speaking so disrespectfully to the event staff guy that happened to ask her for the ticket... I'm amazed I didn't laugh in her face. She eventually asked us (another female supervisor and I walked her away from the event staff guy) if she was getting arrested, and when we said no, she asked us if we could do that, anyway. Like, "Will you arrest me?" And then "I'm sad. Michelle, look at my sad face." I mean, really. It was hilarious, and also annoying and time-wasting.

In about a week I will have a kitchen table! I will no longer have to make sure I don't walk into the light hanging from the dining room ceiling, and also can eat somewhere besides the coffee table like a civilized person! Woohoo! Pictures to come.

Have you all seen Neal Baer's (executive producer of SVU) latest bubbletweet? High comedy hour, I tell you! Here. Watch. Enjoy. Love the look on Meloni's face.

I think I need to get to bed.

I saw the coolest thing today... an unassisted triple play to end the Phillies/Mets game! Very, very cool, and Brunlett totally made up for his error and then crummy fielding which lead to the two guys on base.

I feel really, really good about our team as we head into the fall. *crosses fingers*

I have other things to say, but instead I'm going to go watch Body of Lies. Mmm, Leo DiCaprio.

You guys, I am on vacation in North Carolina, sitting at the table on our deck, looking at the bay, stealing wireless internet from our neighbors and checking LJ. Life is awesome!

Except for the part where on Friday afternoon I got a text from Johnny that said "Hey, if you haven't heard yet, Jason's youngest kid died sometime this week - his wife fell asleep and rolled over onto her and she died." I don't know if Jason was home at the time and they were sleeping with the baby in bed with them, or if his wife was trying to get her to nap and fell asleep herself, but really, I just cannot imagine how she feels right now. She had some mental issues two years ago and hopefully they won't come back after this. I've never wanted to go to a funeral so badly before, but obviously I won't be able to make it.

But other than that sadness, things are good. I read almost the entire book "A Thousand Splendid Suns" over the past two days and will definitely finish it today. I don't like it as much as "The Kite Runner" but it's definitely a good book and terribly sad story. It's jarring to realize that some of this book takes place in 2000 - they mentioned the Titanic movie, and you sit there and say "Wow, women are really treated like this RIGHT NOW." Crazy.

Does anyone know how to page down on a Macbook? I can't figure out any keystroke combination that will let me do that and it's driving me crazy. Also, is there a way to right click?

Time to finish on the computer and go do something beachy.

So, uh, I moved last weekend. It went well - it did not rain, it was hot but not unbearably so, and it only took about an hour and a half to get all my stuff over here. I only needed a few friends - Fran and Nicole came and stayed all day and Johnny came in the morning to help my dad move the big stuff.

I am mostly unpacked - some boxes of junk, and knick-knacks and the like are still floating around, but other than that... DVDs are on display, books are on display... you know, the important stuff. ;)

It took the cable guy three freakin' hours to hook up my cable, tv, and phone (cheaper to get all three), plus he was three hours late. Also, my cable box is making a terribly annoying whining noise, so tomorrow I'm calling Comcast and hopefully Wednesday I can take it to the local Comcast place to exchange it. I think the noise is the hard drives, but it just should not make the noise at all. I thought that recording the SVU marathons were killing it, but today I was watching (and not recording) Bones and had only been watching for an hour when it started.

My friend Kayte is moving in with me next week. I'm not sure about this, for a few reasons (monetary), but also because the upstairs is really, really freaking hot. I got those screens that you can leave in the windows to keep the windows open and the bugs and rain out, so we'll see if that helps. I also got a big box fan to put in one of the windows. Johnny is going to give me his old futon, so Kayte will have a bed to sleep on, which is always a good thing.

We go to North Carolina for a week starting on August 7th - I'm quite excited. Should be a good time as always.

Thursday I'm supposed to go to the Billy Joel/Elton John concert at the ballpark... if Billy Joel isn't sick and doesn't postpone this one like they did one earlier in the week. Fingers crossed, although I certainly would rather they postpone it and he not perform while he's not 100%.

Last night was the first night I really had trouble sleeping here - I think it was just too warm last night, even with open windows and the ceiling fan. (My fans are awesome, just so you know. Harbor Breeze brand from Lowe's, if you're in the market for fans.) I also think it's because my bed is tilted a little bit - the head is a little lower than the foot because it's not on the carpet. I got furniture pads but don't think I can do that by myself. *g*

Pictures to come! Pinky swear.

I am moving tomorrow morning.

Nothing like deciding at the last minute!

Anyone else catch that House promo during the All-Star game intro? (The 45 minute intro, gah.) Looks awesome! I'm not too crazy about Hugh Laurie with a shaved head, although I will take a two-hour premiere in exchange.

That's all I've got.

For the past few weeks, ever since two prominent SVU fic writers announced they were pulling their stuff (which still hasn't happened yet, thankfully) for real-life complications, I've been going back and saving my favorites from every fandom, even stuff I don't read anymore, like Gilmore Girls.

I've been wracking my brain to figure out who wrote a certain piece of GG fic, and I logged in to Black and White and Read, the GG fic archive, to find it, but still couldn't, because I didn't have it in my favorites, for some reason.

Today I finally found it, and it's by none other than jesouhaite47. How embarrassing, that I'm friends with her and couldn't remember that she wrote it. (The fic was Labor of Love, by the way. And it's still great, all these years later.)

I'm still going crazy trying to find another one - I'm fairly certain it was two or three parts, and it had to do a lot with Luke's Dark Day, and the last part ended with him out in Lorelai's garage fixing his boat and she comes out to talk to him and he ends up crying, and she says something like "How strong did you feel holding it all inside?" and he admits that he didn't feel very strong at all. Does ANYONE know who wrote it or what it is, and where I can find it? It's driving me INSANE, I tell you.

The internet is a wonderful, magical place. I wanted to know which pitcher had the lowest ERA ever, and darn it, I found it. (Ed Walsh, career 1.82 ERA) I was pondering this because during the Phillies game tonight, the broadcasters were saying that you don't necessarily need to look at wins, but rather at ERA and innings pitched. Which, uh, duh, isn't that why they use ERA to begin with? Can we continue to state the obvious?

Continuing to speak of baseball, the All-Star game next week is starting to look like a Phillies game, what with Utley, Howard, Ibanez, Victorino, and now Werth playing. Utley and Ibanez will start, and I think Werth will, too. Our entire starting outfield is in the All-Star game.

You know what would be really funny? If all of this "The Phillies are going to sign Pedro Martinez!" crap was a smokescreen and we signed Roy Halladay instead. That would be sweet, because I hate Pedro and don't want him on my team.

Joe Blanton is pitching tonight, and he pitched the game I went to on Sunday, too. So far tonight he's gone seven, and Sunday he went seven. I'm glad the rotation is starting to settle down a little bit. It's a good time of the year for that.

Our broadcasters crack me up - Sarge (Gary Matthews) and Tom McCarthy were mocking Larry Andersen's shirt (LA does radio, Sarge and TMac do tv) and LA saw himself on tv and took his radio headset off and stood up, and then disappeared from the radio booth. TMac was like, "Uh oh, he's coming over here!" and within seconds, there he was, and they gave him a headset and he's all, "Are you mocking my shirt?" and they're backpedaling and he's saying "My daughter gave me this! Do you feel bad now?" and they're like, "No, no, we like it, we do!" and LA goes back to the radio and Scott Franzke, the main radio guy, is all "WHAT WAS THAT AND WHERE DID YOU GO?"

Well, it amused me. *g*

I have two more things to paint at my house and I can finally be free of that awful task. Yes, I'm still painting. I'm a slacker AND I work a lot. ;) All that's left are the front door and the back door, and the woodwork around them. I'm going to do that tomorrow.

I ordered my tv and internet - I went for the Comcast Triple Play; tv, phone, and internet for $99/month for two years. I'm not even going to use the phone, but $50/each for cable tv and high speed internet is a great deal. The guy is coming to install it on the 18th, so I have to have some of my stuff over in my house by then. That's my goal. I'll finish painting tomorrow and then call the carpet place to find out where the heck my bedroom carpet is, and then I can move on in.

There's a huge sale tomorrow down at the Spectrum - they're advertising Flyers jerseys usually sold for $225 on sale for $50. I want to go, but I think it's going to be insanely crowded. They're selling discontinued Flyers, Sixers, and Phillies gear. Maybe I will go. I don't know. Decisions, decisions.

As soon as this game ends, I'm going to watch Taken. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Oh, Mariska Hargitay, I love you.

You and Chris negotiate as a team. Would you have returned without him?
Absolutely not.

What do you want for Benson this year?
I want her to have some personal fulfillment. She lives a very lonely existence, so I would love for her to have a little bit of light and joy in her life. The only light she has is Stabler.

And he’s married to somebody else.
Right. So that’s really hard. I would love to see her life become a little bit more balanced.

From TV Guide.

Meloni talked to TV Guide, too. He just didn't say anything as awesome as "Stabler is her light."

So in real life news, one of my close friends at work got canned yesterday. It sucks, because we can't figure out what exactly he did to warrant it. We do know that lunch will now be insanely boring without him there to entertain us and we're hoping that he'll be allowed back into the building to visit, since he didn't get fired for stealing or anything that crazy.

I am very close to moving into my house, finally. All I really, really need before I move in is a rug for the bedroom. I can finish the woodwork after I move in. Yikes! I guess I need to call Comcast and get tv and internet soon. There's a decent deal out there - cable, internet, and phone for $99/month for two years. It's slower internet than I'm used to, but it's insanely cheap. I don't need or want the phone service, but if it's bundled, I guess I'll just pay for it. I doubt they'll take that out, but I do need to call and find out.

I love that TNT added an extra hour of Bones - it's been on from 5 until 8 lately. It's quite enjoyable, since USA hasn't had SVU on at 4 lately.

My friends and I have Phillies tickets for Sunday's game against the Mets and are having a really rough time finding a fourth person to go with it. Crazy, right? It's the METS! Hopefully we'll find someone and won't have to eat the last ticket.

Yep. That's about it.

Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay re-signed on to SVU... for TWO YEARS! (Assuming the show gets picked up for its 12th year, which of course it will.)

This gives me ample opportunity to go up to NYC and stalk the set. I really, really want to try to do that this season before the weather turns super cold.

I'm oddly excited for season 11... it's probably a little crazy, but I'm hoping the added accessibility to Neal Baer and a few writers on Twitter will make them realize what the fans really want.

Wait, now Billy Mays died?

This is just weird.