Happy Friday, all. It’s been a long week, hasn’t it? I don’t know about you, but yesterday was one of those days that really felt like a full moon and wasn’t, but stuff was just weird! On the other hand, I can report that since my Glee post I’ve had a nice chat with an editor, scheduled a podcast interview re: the mourning work, and have just remembered that I totally need to email someone else about an interview.
Today, having already produced a report on coverage of wealth disparity in the US media, I need to bang out a couple of emails, an abstract regarding Torchwood, and a couple of scenes for Dogboy & Justine. I also need to go pick up a package from UPS, which is slightly hilarious.
Like many New Yorkers, I live in a building without any sort of doorman or concierge and you can’t just leave packages on the porch here (can you do that anywhere? I don’t actually know how things work with houses). So I have to go to the UPS center in the Bronx to pick up a couple of shirts I ordered on sale from Trashy Diva, purveyor of all things Jack Harkness would wear if he was doing drag. Yes, my brain is very possibly not like your brain.
The last time I had to go up to this UPS center was when I ordered the Snape coat from Kambriel. I needed it for an event the day it arrived, but when I got to the UPS center the truck it was on (it wasn’t supposed to be on the truck!) hadn’t come back yet, and the center was totally closing. So, I… um… lied and said it was something I needed for my wedding that weekend. And then hung out drinking bad hot cocoa from a machine with the UPS guys until the truck came back and I got my Snape coat. Awkward. And now you know. So that should be fun, right?
Next week, I’ll be up in Boston on Tuesday and Wednesday, hence the move of my Public Relations for Creatives 101 class at Trade School to March 31 at 8pm.
And circling back to that Glee post from last night for just a moment, the clip of the Warblers doing “Raise Your Glass” is now off-line, which leads two things: 1. Anyone have a new link? and 2. Fair use and Internet discourse – it’s really annoying to write half a dozen fairly serious paragraphs about a two-and-a-half minute clip I can’t share with you. Same as it ever was I suppose. But super frustrating.
Meanwhile, for those of you who enjoy the Patty report, we still don’t know when she’ll be home, but we’ll know soon, once she gets to Puna early next week. It’ll certainly still in that first half of April as far as we can tell. Logistics are complicated, especially in her field and current location and it is what it is. I did get to speak to the woman who’s flat she’s being staying at today though, and that was incredibly charming. I thanked her for taking such good care of Patty; she thanked me for letting Patty be there so long visiting her. On Sunday it is Holi there, and people throw colored water and powder on each other to celebrate the season change. Patty is excited about it, and I think I will maybe go to this event for it in New York, so it can be like we are doing something together.
Letters from Titan 
I get things left on the porch of my flat all the time, although sometimes they’re hidden under a tarp for two days before I notice!
What is meant by a day that feels like a full moon?
A day that is full of unusual events. On full moons, sometimes it seems like everything is a little off kilter. When I worked at a state hotline, full moon days meant extra strange calls and lots of emergencies.
We have packages left on our porch, but I suspect that the placement of the porch makes delivery drivers more willing to do that. (Our front door doesn’t face directly toward the street, and so our porch is on the side of the house and out of view of most casual passers.) I suspect for the homes on the street that have more exposed, open porches on the front of the house that they have to pick up their packages.
Seattle data on package dropoffs: In middle-upper class urban or suburban areas where there’s less foot traffic, I’ve had packages left on the porch of houses; most of the people walking past are affluent dog-walkers. In Smalltown USA (including the town of 50,000 where I grew up) it’s considered pretty typical for anything that’s not too valuable. I’d require a signature for a Snape coat, but have them leave a couple books from Amazon.
Near the Park&Ride transit stop freeway exit, I wouldn’t leave a post-it out if I wanted to see it again.
I don’t know if you’re in the mood for more news about death and the Cold War, but remember that urban legend about recordings of cosmonauts’ last words that you posted about a while ago? Well, there are real ones, too: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/03/18/134597833/cosmonaut-crashed-into-earth-crying-in-rage.
The article also includes a photo of a memo prepared by William Safire about the deaths of the first people to land on the moon, just in case they never came back. Haunting stuff.
Glee link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ39bU3bqRs
I just get packages through the school. It’s massively convinient, and I’m actually a little sad that I won’t be able to do it next year. On the flip side, address that I keep for more than eight months, so…yeah. Acceptable trade-off.
~Sor
Ooh, ooh, ooh, Trashy Diva! I was in New Orleans this weekend and actually went to their store! Came home with a Doris dress in cobalt that’s just lovely.