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My first step into Sweet Valley was through the Twins. I started reading the books only a couple years after the debuted, so I had a stash of them ready to devour when I got hooked. Once I had worked my way through each and every new book that came out, I took a short sidetrack into the Babysitter’s Club. I stayed long enough to get annoyed with certain characters and skip their chapters entirely, and then found my way back to Sweet Valley through their high school adventures. They were scandalous, salacious, and oh so fun to read… and I loved those characters to pieces. Before our annual summer camping vacation, I would check out 20 or so of these books to read… and would rarely make it through a week before finishing them all! I wanted to be Elizabeth so badly… but wouldn’t have minded being Jessica for a bit as well.

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So with this little insight into my childhood, you can understand why I let out a squeal of delight when I found out the series was being resurrected as: SWEET VALLEY Confidential: Ten Years Later. And even better, yet, the first chapter is online and ready for you to download. I won’t lie… I already read it and I’m marking March 29, 2011 on my calendar. Sad, but oh so true. Especially since the writing is atrocious… but you want to get through it just to know what happens at the next turn.
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Anyone else wants to revisit Sweet Valley?

On June 15th, I managed to secure two reservations for in-store pickups for new Iphone 4′s… one for me here in town, and one in LA for the traveling Mr. M. If I could have gotten through the system and had one sent home… I would have… but the computer gods were against me and all I got was a silly email to head to a store on Thursday the 24th to get my phone.
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I saw the early morning lines on TV. I heard stories of friends who waited 6 hours in line to pick up their “reserved” phone on facebook. I saw tweets and blogs about what people endured to get a phone. And then… after work, I picked up Baby M and headed to the mall to see what the situation was for myself. By 7:30pm, there were 200+ people in the “non reserved” line and over 150 in the “reserved” lineup outside the mall’s Apple store. I went into a few other stores, and the employees told me that those same people had been there all day, and would CHEER everytime a person from their line was allowed in. ALL DAY LONG!!! Luckily, when I joined the end of the line (with my stroller), a nice Apple lady came over and offered me a ticket to hold my phone for an additional day to pick up tomorrow. I jumped at the chance and left the mall the second I had the ticket in my hand. And yet, no one else in the line budged. They continued to stand there, determined to get their phone on release day… even if that meant leaving the mall after 10pm. In my mind, they were crazier than the people who slept out to get their new phones!
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Which begs the question… what type of person are you? Do you have to have the newest/latest/greatest thing in your hands the second it comes out? Do you have to see movies on opening night? Will you just die if you’re not watching a TV season finale LIVE? Or can you wait a few days and just be one of the crowd? Or… maybe you’re the type that hates even being associated with anything that has huge hype and build-up  and avoid things like at all costs?
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It looks like I’m in the “patient but still want it” group, as shown by my efforts yesterday. I didn’t need to be a member of the cool club on the first day… but I still want my goodies! The idea of having a video camera at all times is just drool-worthy (babies make you crazy, remember?) and my OG phone will barely hold a 3 hour charge right now. But do I need it today? Nah… just thought I’d try and get the one I thought I had. But if my efforts fail again, we’re ordering them online and waiting 3 weeks to get them. I mean 1,500,000 people have them in their hands right now…. will I really be THAT special if I get it during the first few days?
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That’s why I’ve had so much fun glancing over Michael Jackson’s April auction house extravaganza. It’s like a tag sale on everything at Neverland, and a peek into just how much stuff he had in there!

Like character heads from Disneyland?

… or a custom made Peter-Tink-Captain Hook scene to sit in your rafters?

Perhaps you’d like to create your own super arcade? Or buy a throne? Either way… you’d be pretty set with the contents of this auction… which are a strange mix of gilded grandmotherly goods mixed with pure whimsy. It also makes you realize that when you buy everything in sight, you might just spend all of your money…

The auction is April 22nd-25th (in the old Robinson’s May building on Wilshire) and you can see the catalogs for yourself, as well as register to bid on that wonderful throne, at Julien’s Actions.

Congratulations!

Your outstanding performance in this season’s Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football PLUS competition has made you the
potential recipient of one of our League Winner Prizes — a championship bobblehead or t-shirt commemorating your
achievement.

WOO HOO!!! Another fantasy football season victory — another BobbleHead doll! My ’06 buddy will be so happy to have a friend, especially after my dismal last place finish in 2007.

Any other fantasy sports champions in our midst? Or cheerful participants?

According to the urban dictionary, a woo girl is: (1) a female who is often found going ‘WOOOOOO!’ in public. This behavior is most often exhibited while in the presence of other woo-girls. it is speculated that this is a mating call used to attract men of less than average intelligence. this behavior can most easily be observed in bar districts, at maroon 5 concerts, or spring break destinations. (2) a girl who shakes her ass and goes “woooo” when she gets a drop of alcohol in her.

So, I ask you, my female readers, to complete the following poll with honesty and sincerity:

In case you didn’t see it, you can watch the full episode here.

[as found in my inbox this morning...in reference to my alter ego Mrs. Lemon]