Pictures, YouTube linkage, and more

This icon is dedicated to the customers I had to deal with this week at work. Sometimes there's no response better than to simply bitchslap someone upside the head with a briefcase, know what I'm sayin'? One of the situations involved catching a son who stole his father's credit card and identity, and another involved a non-profit organization who fell off the face of the Earth and sold our printer online to some unsuspecting person for $700 immediately after joining our program (which involves allowing a customer to own a printer for free after three years of printing a certain quota every month & purchasing supplies through us, which this customer hadn't even begun doing yet). So, yeah. Bring on Brennan and a briefcase to the face.

Anyway, now that that's out of the way, onto the main purpose of the entry. Which is to picspam you all with new pics of my nephew and niece. I know I said I was going to upload pics of my recent vacation to Pittsburgh, and I still plan to, but I don't have those uploaded to my computer yet. So in the meantime here is a bunch of disgustingly cute pictures of Jayden and Isabella to ooh and ahh at.

Before I post those though, here's a few other tidbits of things I wanted to write about today as well:

1. I gave in and finally bought season 1 of The X-Files on DVD. I still have all the episodes on VHS, complete with lots of commercials circa 1997 (I recorded them back when they used to rerun everyday on F/X. Anyone remember that? Plus the marathons they used to do every Thanksgiving? I miss those), but my VCR isn't even hooked up right now and my DVD collection felt so unbalanced having only seasons 2-7. Plus I had a sudden and unstoppable urge to rewatch the show from the beginning recently, and it could not be denied. (don't you like my excuses for spending money? I know I do) I mean, I've watched random episodes from the series here and there over the last year, but this is the first time I've watched each episode from the beginning in order since at least 2004/2005 or so. I can't get over the giant cell phones and ancient computers, not to mention the wardrobe. Haha. Oh, Moose & Squirrel, I've missed you and your flashlights and your trenchcoats and your crazy drawn-out sexual tension. Welcome back.

(Also: My X-Files rewatch inspired me to find & rewatch the classic Bree Sharp ode to David Duchovny the other day and I still can't stop laughing over it. I totally used to know all the words to that song. And if you are unfortunate enough to have never seen the video, get thee to this youtube link immediately. Like, right now. Like, do not pass go, do not collect $200. It is a thing of beauty. And as a bonus, here's an ode I found for Scully in my search that I'd never seen before. Oh YouTube, I heart you. Now if I could only find a vid online to that "Agent Scully" song from the '90s then I could link to that here as well. I may have to just upload that one myself because it needs to be shared with the world, for real. Heh. If you've never heard it, I hereby give you one of its lyrics: "Agent Scully, I wanna lick your gun." 'Nuff said. Hee.

2. While on the topic of YouTube, you all have got to watch the vids this music teacher from NYC posts. I've known about him for a long time, but I'm constantly blown away by the talent he draws from these kids. He is seriously the coolest damn music teacher I've ever seen in my life. He has his kids sing everything from Tori Amos b-sides and Bjork songs (bear in mind I was obsessed with both of them as a teenager) to Fleetwood Mac to Coldplay to Lady Gaga. And yes, you heard me, Lady Gaga. It's like watching a real-life version of "Glee." They even have their own cover of "Don't Stop Believing" and everything.

3. On a recommendation from dosidella, I read "Friday Night Lights" and finished it this last week. Definitely one of the best books I've ever read. And I don't even give a crap about football, so that's really impressive. I'm going to have to watch the movie & try to rent some of the DVDs from the show. Like I need another show to be obsessed over. Heh.

4. Frank McCourt died this week. He is one of my favorite authors of all time, and "Angela's Ashes" is quite possibly my favorite book (certainly in the top 5). The fact that I'll never be able to look forward to another memoir by him is very sad indeed, but his life is still an inspiration. Here's to you, Frank.

5. I saw the new Harry Potter movie this weekend and enjoyed it. I've never read the books and only saw the first couple movies, but I was mostly able to follow it. I think I should go back & watch the last couple movies I missed though to get more out of it. I had the most annoying family in all the universe sitting next to me though. The mother especially. Like as in see above, re: "briefcase to the face"-annoying. She was draped in her seat all at an angle practically with her head in my lap, laughed like a hyena at every joke, and talked non-stop with her children (who had to go to the bathroom every minute, which inspired her to announce to me "I'm sorry, my son has diarrhea" one time as she passed. TOO MUCH INFORMATION, LADY). Then when there was a suspenseful moment she screamed so loud I nearly jumped out of my seat. After we left, my sister and I were like "I WANTED TO HURT HER."

( But enough with the blathering, onto the pictures! )