Tuesday morning check-in

Lovely day yesterday. Had lunch with STM, with whom I used to work at WizKids. Over Thai food we discussed the progress of her conversion to Catholicism, how much kids actually grok when they are given religious instruction, the vagaries and frustrations of dealing with convention committees, and the ridiculous cost of a set of Sharpie markers at Office Depot.

Then trekked over to the home of shellyinseattle and the_monkey_king to spend the afternoon and evening, and to meet the premie addition to their household, Miss littleelfhat. While shellyinseattle walked the dog, Miss littleelfhat and I had an important conversation about how I'm the cool aunt, and that though frabjousdave will supply bail money when necessary, I'm the one she should come to if she decides running away is a good idea. I tempted her with shopping sprees at the Fremont Sunday Market and all the cool thrift stores in town. No need to disappear into the wilds of Capitol Hill or to cross the border to Vancouver. She said that she'd bear it in mind but, in the meawhile, she had to suck on her fingers. Very important business.

I stayed late enough to introduce my hosts to Ghost Hunters about which I will blog later.

In the meanwhile I should note that as of this morning, I have two interviews scheduled, one for tomorrow and one for next Thursday, and have a line on another job as well. It's an auspicious start and I'm pleased to find myself in so advantageous a situation. Fingers crossed.

Edit: Can I just say that I hate writing cover letters for resume submissions? Deep, deep hate.

TV Blogging: Ghost Hunters

Last night was the season premiere of Ghost Hunters. For anyone who doesn't watch the show, basically, it follows the investigations of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), based in Rhode Island, as they attempt to disprove claims of hauntings. These guys aren't die-hard believers; I don't think they're the die-hard skeptics they insist they are, but they do work hard to find every reasonable explanation for the phenomena people claim to experience—or that they themselves experience or capture via instruments—before being willing to accept a paranormal explanation. That's why I like the show; these guys are debunkers, not evangelists. They ask tough questions and don't take everything at face value.

Grant and Jay took the TAPS team to Waverly Hill Sanatorium, formerly a tuberculosis hospital, now a majestic abandoned ruin in Louisville, Kentucky which is apparently notorious for its haunting. The place is so huge that the team investigated for two nights, something I haven't seen on the show before, though it may not be uncommon practice with other cases they investigate. The place is plenty spooky all by itself with halls full of doorways and windows without glass, but the team caught an apparition on an infrared camera (which was pretty damn cool), and one of their stationary cameras caught a light phenomenon.

The other tension in the show was that at the end of last season, Brian, a TAPS member who had been basically fired for lying and being unreliable, was allowed to return to work with the group. He appeared in this investigation, though I can see the potential brewing for him to get himself kicked out again; this guy just doesn't know how to respect the rules the group sets for itself in terms of how it functions for its own safety and for the integrity of an investigation. He does it over and over again. I was surprised with Grant and Jay took him back. Wonder how that's going to turn out. I was also surprised at all the giggly flirtation between him and Donna; eeeiw! She could do so much better! Anyway . . . good ep; good investigation. Love the spookiness of it all, and it pushes all my buttons when it comes to exploring the unexplained. Cool stuff. This ep will be rebroadcast next Wednesday night at 8 PM before the new ep at 9 on SciFi, if you're curious.