Everything About This Deal Clip from PubLunch Makes Me Want to Quit Publishing

"NYT bestselling author Angela Knight's sixth MAGEVERSE novel, in which King Arthur and his immortal vampire Knights of the Round Table try to save modern humanity from self-destruction, to Cindy Hwang at Berkley, in a three-book deal, by Roberta Brown of the Brown Literary Agency." ... I mean, seriously. Ew. And I like vampires. And magic. And Arthurian legend.

The Search Continues ...

The Frye boots were a wash (though I was sad about it--they were made of the most beautiful, buttery-soft leather. However my bank account sure looks better without them). Here's the next two possibilities: Too studded and rocker-y? I liked the plainness of the Frye ones better, and I sort of think that if they didn't quite fit right, this sure-to-be-poorly-made shoe from Aldo isn't going to either ... but hope springs eternal. (Although, come to think of it, I do have one pair of boots from Aldo that I totally heart. But they barely wrap around the lower, normal-sized section of my legs and can only be worn under jeans. These babies look more substantial in the calf.) And then there's these: Yes, I know I was talking about comfy flat boots. And black ones. But. I sort of like the brass studs on these, and I do love the caramel color which women seem to wear with whatever color tights/skirts they want (I'd originally thought, you know, you can't wear dark brown boots with black pants, but people are all over that this year. So caramel has to be better, right?) And the heel is pretty chunky, and they seem like a fairly classic style ... right? These are from a beautiful UK site that does specialty calf-fitting boots, so I know I can order a size that will fit. I've lusted over this site weekly in the past few years, and almost (SHOULD HAVE) bought a pair on mad sale last winter (of course, I was unemployed, so ... that was probably the right choice). Now that the pound sterling is at a multi-year low (seriously--the current exchange rate just about matches what it did when I went to London in high school. Don't even get me started on being there last year, when the exchange rate was basically like opening my bank account and asking them to take what they wanted). The only thing is that returning them if I don't like them is ... expensive. Sigh. What to do. ... what? what's that you say? "With what money"? Why, my child, WITH THE MAGIC OF CREDIT!!! Haven't you seen the trailers for Shopaholic?

How I Feel About This Week

YES.

I'm seriously almost crying, and I wasn't even that big an Obama supporter (I was a Hillary girl in the beginning). But it's like this huge release of tension. And seeing the huge crowds of people screaming and cheering is incredibly moving--did you see the celebration in Kenya? My friend in Morocco told me they had a screaming celebration when Obama took Ohio, and are having a huge one now even though it's like 4 am there. And I'm still a pragmatist and a realist at heart, so I still know and believe that it's going to be a hard road and many of those who see Obama as The Answer are going to be incredibly disappointed in the long run, but, but, but--how can you not look at all this and not feel something akin to hope? There're a lot of things that have become associated with America over the past years that we have not felt good about, but this is something that fills me with pride: the fact that we have a working democracy; that we as a people can look at something in our government, make a decision on it, and if we want, as a people effect change. I loved standing in line with a million other tired, yawning people this morning, stretching in a long snake around the block around some public school, each waiting our turn for our two minutes behind that plastic curtain with the polling machine. I loved being one of the faceless many, being a part of the whole. We didn't know each other, but we were all there for the same reason: to take our turn to say what shape we wanted our country to be, no matter what our opinion on that shape was. I am always so proud to be an American during the Olympics, when I see how racially diverse our athletes are compared to those of other countries. I've loved that our country espouses such a ingrained belief in meritocracy, whether or not it's always been true in the day-to-day practice. I've loved that we have always been a people who have gone into the world with the conviction of the right of individuals to have a determining say in their own futures. And though often these things come off terribly wrong or arrogantly or just plain FUBAR in practice, I'm still so proud that all of these things have come together tonight to show that we practice what we preach in our own nation, that we believe in our own ideals. Of course, it's easy for me to say this now. My candidate won. But just look at him. I defy you to tell me that who he is--his background, his story--doesn't embody some of what is good, much of what is best, about America. My dad called me at 11:03 when CNN called it for Obama, and we both just sort sat there on the phone saying "this is amazing" "this so, so amazing" to each other for awhile. Then he said with this sort of catch in his voice, "You know, I'm a lot older than you and I've seen a lot more. And I didn't grow up in racist country, exactly, though there was a lot of that around, but this ..." And he sort of trailed off, and floundered for the right word, and then he said, "This is something. This is truly something." And by God, it is. **Note. I realize that I only got 3.5 hrs of sleep last night, plus I'm PMSing (or as Grey would say, bleeding from my bajongo), which may explain the somewhat delerious and overly emotional nature of this. BUT. Even though tomorrow I'm sure I'll be embarrasse dby it, I'm still going to leave it up. I tend to be a glass-half-empty kind of girl, but tonight: GLASS HALF FULL.

Should I?