Hello, Faithful Readers!
Didja miss me?
:)
I have some REALLLLLLY big (well, 7pounds, some ounces... :) news, and lots of little tidbits and treats, but first I need to actually RANT a little...
- just a little.
I meet a lot of wonderful, interesting and unusual people at my job, seekers of knowledge and amusement, mostly. 'S nice. But I also meet some real... knob-ends. There is one lady in particular who is one of THE most annoying, awful people I have ever met (and that's saying something)*. Her FAVORITE hobby seems to be coming to the library to sit at the front table (which is 22 feet from my desk - I measured), read the papers and sit there and moan and sigh loudly and dramatically at all the bad news. E v e r y d a y .
*sigh* (*moan*, etc...)

ok. I feel a little better.

NOW FOR THE REALLY BIG NEWS.... DRUM-ROLL, PLEASE...
(brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.................................)
SPROUT IS HERE!!!
Sprout = Ariana Caitlin (sp?) Campbell-Cook**!!! She was born on Monday - Jan. 26, during the ice storm, a little while after lunch - 1:20'ish, I do believe. Proud Papa Burt called me to give me the news. Mama Jen (my roomie from 'round this time last year) is still in the hospital, recovering from her c-section. Uncle D. called me to give me the news, too...
When Jen first found out that Sprout was on the way, she called to tell me, and very sweetly said that she wanted me to be there to be Aunt Sam and teach her all about sparkle and "whee!"... :) moo. She said "You have to be around to give her - or him - glitter, ... you know us, even if we have a boy, he's gonna need to know all about that stuff!"*** MooOoOOOOoOoooooOOOooo!
I can't WAIT to see her! Sprout, we're so veryvery happy that you are finally here with us! (ooh, yay, baby at dragon-con!) WELCOME TO THE WORLD BABY-GIRL!!!
(And Jen, I am so happy that you've gotten the "woo" and the "whee!" that you asked for - and boy, HAVE you!... you deserve it, dear.)

In other entertaining baby-news, Andi invited Stewart and I to come see a WONDERFUL film ("Love, Actually" - DO see it) with her and her friend Sonya, and Our Aeryn.
Now I personally think that people who bring their infants (or even worse, toddlers) to the theatre should be publicly caned, but I trusted Andi, and Andi trusted that her (our :) sweet, precious baby-girl would be fine. It was the last night for that film to be playing at the Skyland (which is a small screen, more informal brew-and-view that shows art films) and Andi said that she wanted her daughters' first film to be a Colin Firth (and who can blame her? UHN!)
Well I am proud to say that Miss Aeryn was a delightful patron! The only sounds she made were an occasional giggle (the loudest during Colin's Big Kiss Scene! That's our girl!). She was RIVETED by the screen and watched the whole film intently. We each got a turn holding her on our lap during the movie, and afterwards, the other film-patrons made a point to come by and tell Proud Mama how amazed they were at her good baby, how beautiful Aeryn is, how they even forgot that she was in there during the film - until they heard her giggles, which delighted them.
I know for a fact that if Aeryn had fussed, Andi would have taken her out into the lobby in a heartbeat. We all offered to take turns, too, if needed, so all contingencies were covered. Andi is a serious film and theatre aficionado, and would never take the chance at ruining someone else's good time. I am so glad for her that she could stick to that and still go and enjoy a film and share a special time with her four-month-old best friend. How nice.
Thanks for that lovely experience, ladies. I wish more moms and babies were like y'all.

Oh, and thank you, also for the lead-in to the Bohunk-O-Rama section of today's rant, inspired by Thurs. evening's Firth-fest...
I was surfing the web to find images to update my desktop (currently: aragorn tiled background; replaced the big viggo pic with a new, hot - big surprise, eh? - vin; switched jet for bruce; and switched benicio for colin... hey, i'm NOT fickle. variety IS the spice of life!) and i ran across this very poignant and, um, inspirational quote:
From Premiere Magazine (January 2003)
Question: What do you think makes you sexy?
Viggo: I don't really know how to deal with that question. I'm sure that there's just as many people who think I'm a grizzled hack.
Q: I guess Brad Pitt's the pretty boy type of hunk and your the, you know...
V: ...the grizzled hack version? Do you think we should play brothers or something?
Q: You should.
V: Or lovers?
Q: Maybe lovers. Yeah.
V: You think people would pay to see that?

uhhhh.... ummm... er.... uhn... oh, where was I?

Oh yes, beautiful boys. :)
Well, I can't mention Andi and Colin Firth in the same rant and not pay homage to his image as well... and guys, I'm sorry. You'll just have to be the gentleman that Stewart is and say what he said Thursday night: "I'm a Colin Firth fan fan." :)
(and Andi, I am mailing you a few SPECIAL treats... :)

Here are some of my lovely surf-results. Some really good
fan art: “Acta Firthia”
© 1996 by Karen G. Jollie
A nice colinophilia site (it's more than a bit bizarre how much he looks like a non-samwise- heavy Mr. sean
"Cutie-Pie" astin in that first pic, innit?), with some extra scrummy photos…
and here, too:
and this one is ESPECIALLY for you, Jams... I know how you LOVE The Cheese! ;)

and last but not least, here’s a link to a site showing a video clip of Mr. Darcy emerging from the lake… if you can figure out how to make it play, write me and tell me!!!:

Alright, Ladies and Gents, stay warm, forgive me for my intermittent blogging and slacking on the Baby Announcement. Weather and busy-ness and bad achey-badness have combined to slow me down - but not stop me.
CHUMBAWUMBA!

Much love,
-Miss Sam (Colin Firth fan, Colin Firth fan fan, Colin Firth fan fan fan!)

p.s. shurrUP, Seamus! :) xoxox

*she is worse than the !@#$ porn-star weirdo gum-smackers, but still an improvement over the crazy pee-smelly dog-lady who simultaneously insults and hits on me, just to quantify...
**spelling and proper surname to be announced as soon as i get that info.
***Jen and Burt are harcore members of The Geek Patrol, and are seriously into costuming, gaming, etc...