This is the one from three years ago today.

Three years ago I wrote a blog post about getting cyber-stalked…and kind of liking it.

This is what I wrote on September 28th, 2007 [link]:

I went to a concert in Los Angeles last weekend, and I met a guy that was really handsome, and all-around pleasant.

We couldn’t talk too much because the music was loud, but I had the opportunity to drop a couple of details about my life, and I learned a little about him too.

I didn’t give him my telephone number or my email address. I did think about slipping him my business card, but that’s kind of lame. So you can imagine my surprise when I got an email from this tall/dark/handsome cliché of a man this morning.

He did some googling and figured out my name, and found the political blog that I run. His email said this:

Mike: I enjoyed meeting you last Saturday and wish we could have talked a little more. If you’re interested in chatting, email me. Maybe we could arrange to sit together again–this time in a locale that will allow us to get us to know one another better.

Sweet huh?  I feel like a character in some chic-flick.

Every once in a while I like to click back and see exactly where I was one, two or three years ago.  Just another reason I like having a blog.  You should make one, really.

As it turns out the guy that stalked me was totally creepy.  Read this post: This is the one that is a follow-up to the stalking post.  If this was Bridget Jones’ diary, it would have ended better…but I would have been a chubby, emotional woman.  Let’s call it a wash.

This is the one about 44, 45 and 46.

I’m almost there.  Back in January I toyed with the goal of reading 100 books in the year 2010…and when I realized that would require me to read 2 books per week (give or take) I altered that goal to 50 books in 2010.  And I’m getting pretty dang close.

This weekend I finished three books.

The 44th book for 2010 was the first in the Lemony Snicket series The Bad Beginning.  I saw the movie a few years ago, and it’s pretty much the same as the movie.

The 45th book I borrowed from my sister.  It was Tom Perrotta’s Election.  Which also was made into a movie, but I never saw the movie.  The book was funny and dark…everything I expected it to be after hearing about the movie.  If you haven’t read this book, I’d recommend it.

The 46th book I finished this morning over some coffee before work was Cut by Patricia McCormick.  It’s about a high school girl that cuts herself.  I can’t explain why I picked it up…it just looked like a contemporary Go Ask Alice and it fell a little short.  It was a breeze to read, and was written really well.  But the story didn’t really move me the way that I expected it to.

Speaking of books, I’ve been spending some time updating and playing with GoodReads.  If you’re a GoodReads.com member, add me as a friend.  I’ve reviewed some of my latest reads there.

This is the one about BINGO night.

At my place of employment we hold a monthly family night where we invite the families to come hang out and take part in an event.  A couple of weeks ago the receptionist made a big sign promoting the monthly get-together which was a Bingo Night.  Prizes.  Food.  Fun.  And of course, Bingo.

The big sign was hung in our lobby, and I was standing at the front desk pretending to look busy when a six-year-old named Joshua walked by on his way to the restroom.  All of the sudden I heard little Joshua yell, “There’s no F***n BINGO!”

“Excuse me, Joshua?”  I said as I leaned over the counter to give him my evil-principal look.

He was standing next to the big BINGO poster pointing at it.  The receptionist couldn’t find any BINGO related clip art so she made her own.  She used pictures of pool balls, but added BINGO numbers to them.  She added “B1″ and “N37″ and “F17.”  Joshua was pointing to the “F17″ and he wanted me to know that there was “No F in BINGO.”  Not that there was “No F**n BINGO.”

This is the one where I become the mayor of your mom.

I’m moving. On October 1st I’ll be in my new place, and that comes with a few hard choices. Some of the decisions are easy…things like what color my new bathroom should be (answer: earth tones with one strong accent color…probably orange) or what to do with all the money I’ll be saving on gasoline since my commute will be almost 80 miles shorter each day (answer: buy all the Bosom Buddies DVDs).

And then the harder questions…one of which I’m soliciting your help with.  What should I call my new apartment on Foursquare? This is a serious question with serious consequences.  When I become the mayor of my place, it will be broadcast on Twitter and Facebook, and I want to make a real splash.  So I could go with something funny:

Or I could stay serious:

But I feel that that’s too boring.  I need something witty to counter my dry personality.  Maybe something like:

Or perhaps:

Or maybe I could use the location to pimp out my web address:

Or is all of that too personal?  I know some people are critical of Foursquare and other location-based games because it gives strangers access to your comings and goings.  Would this be crossing a line?

I blurred out my social security number so all you blog readers can’t steal my identity.

So…what should I do?  Anyone with a clever suggestion?

This is the one about last night’s Glee.

While watching Glee last night I almost peed myself when Rachel Berry (played by Lea Michele) started singing my all-time favorite showtune.  It’s “What I Did For Love” from the show A Chorus Line.

I was at Drew’s place, and we were on the couch…his head on my chest.  And when Rachel sang the first words “Kiss today goodbye” I gasped and said “Oh god!”  Drew jumped up and thought I had seen an intruder or something.

And since I’m so in love with the song, I of course, have a few points of criticism about the Glee version.  Here’s the video from Glee.

My main point of criticism is that the Glee adaptation removed one of the most moving parts of the song – when the entire chorus line backs Diana up with the chorus.  Here is the version that most people are familiar with from the 2006 revival cast recording (the part I’m talking about is just past 2:40).

Anyway, I totally musical nerded-out yesterday during Glee (a somewhat common experience; does anyone remember the “Defying Gravity” episode…hello?), and I’m so glad the fall TV season is back.

This is the one with three books.

I’ve finished the 41st, 42nd and 43rd books for 2010.

The 41st was a quick read called Quickie by James Patterson.  Typical Patterson.  A woman thinks that her husband is having an affair so she has an affair.  Then her husband kills the guy she’s having an affair with…hilarity ensues.

The 42nd book was a Dave Eggers book called You Shall Know Our Velocity. I haven’t been able to really get into anything Eggers since A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.  I read his stuff on McSweeny’s and I read his novel adaptation of Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are, but I’ve tried twice to read Velocity and I’ve picked up What is the What and put it down right away on multiple occasions.  But there was something right about Velocity at this point in my life – the main character Will is traveling the world on a non-religious sacrament.  The journey includes a lot of soul-searching and healing.  And booze and prostitution.

The 43rd book was a repeat for me.  I love Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays and I re-read it just for kicks. “What makes Iago evil?” some ask.  “I never ask.”  I LOVE that first line of this novel from the dazed protagonist, Maria Wyeth.  Maria is pretentious, incurious, zoned out, and ready for bed.  There is something Bell-Jarish about this novel, but I’d say it is more biting.  Here’s another favorite quotation from the book:

Maria made a list of things she would never do. She would never: walk through the Sands or Caesar’s alone after midnight. She would never: ball at a party, do S-M unless she wanted to, borrow furs from Abe Lipsey, deal. She would never: carry a Yorkshire in Beverly Hills.

Just a few more books this year and I’ll be at 50.  I’m pretty sure I can make it to 50.

This is the one where she has a sense of humor.

I got an email last week from a woman named Rebekah Roberts [read it here] that was intended for some other Mike Lawson somewhere and it even had  a photograph of the Mike Lawson she was trying to contact.

I posted it, of course, and asked people how I should respond.  Derek had a good suggestion and said that I should ask if she was from the future and she accidentally emailed Mike Lawson of the past.  So here is how I responded:

Oh my god, Rebekah…are you from the future?  Is that what I’m going to look like?  What year are you writing me from?  Was it a good choice to skip the 401(k) and put all my money in a shoe box behind the stove?

Sincerely,

Mike Lawson (The 2010 Version)

I also, for kicks, included a link to my blog so she might click-through to see that I get a bit of mail for other Mike Lawsons. [Here is the archive of all the posts I've written on emails intended for other Mike Lawsons]  And guess what?  She wrote back!

Ah, Mike, so you got a glimpse of the future that awaits you due to an email misdirection … Yes, who knew that you’d be living in England and tapping on people for a living??  The future’s bright for you and you’ve got many happy years ahead of you.  Live in the moment and remember to spend that lottery win wisely when it arrives!

I’m glad that she has a sense of humor.

This is the one where I introduce you two 2 Drews.

I haven’t blogged too much about my bf…mainly because I didn’t want to jinx anything.  It’s kind of like a woman not telling people she’s pregnant until the little fetus really takes hold.

Now that there is a story that I want to tell you guys, I have to take the chance and throw this up here.

So I’m dating Drew.  He’s wonderfully smart and caring with a little touch of nerd.

Bethany and I have conversed about how personal our blogs should be…and she has decided to exclude some of her life (mostly things about her daughter) and I’ve decided to exclude nothing (except maybe a story or two about my bowel movements).

So this is Drew…but I have another Drew in my life.

My new roommate is named Drew too.  How fucking confusing, right?  To be completely honest, I had second thoughts about moving in with Drew because of his name.

And then I kind of fell in love with the apartment.  The fake wood floors, the in-unit Washer/Dryer and the 6 mile commute to work (as opposed to my 50 mile commute now).

So now I have two Drews in my life.  I’m sure nicknames will emerge.  But until then, you’ll just have to figure out which one I’m talking about.

This is the one with my 12 of 12.

On the 12th day of each month bloggers from all over the world take 12 photos of their day.  The 12 of 12 project was Chad’s idea, and you can go to his website to see the links of all the people who participated this month.

And you can see all of my 12 of 12s by going to my 12 of 12 page.

Here are my photos from September 12, 2010.  I accidentally forgot my digital camera at my office, so these were taken on my cell phone.

This is my traveling insulin/meter…I keep old syringes in here because I throw them away in my sharps container at home.  Needless to say, it’s been a while since I’ve cleaned this thing out!

I forgot what game we were playing this morning, and I had to pull out my calendar to check.  Trivial Pursuit (spelled incorrectly).

Brian…the blogger at CheapBlueGuitar.com and the podcaster at GameNightGuys.com.  We’re recording an episode of Game Night Guys…and I may or may not be hungover.

My blood glucose level was really HIGH.

This is my new hair.  Every few months I have a bad hair day and just shave it all off.

Chloe.

On our way to Breakfast/Lunch I snapped this one of the Westward Ho…this building in Downtown Phoenix was in the opening scene of Psycho.

We did Breakfast at the 5th Avenue Cafe…which is a cheap and yummy place to nurse a hangover.  That’s Drew; he didn’t know I was taking his picture.

OH. EM. GEE.  This is the first time my Google Reader has been cleared out since March/April.  Wow.

Returning a Redbox movie for my parents.

I’m deep into Dave Eggers You Shall Know Our Velocity, and I’m actually really enjoying it.  I’ll blog about the book once I finish it.

I’ve been high all day (not in a good way)…and I finally came down a bit right before bed.  Thank god.

This is the one from Rebekah Roberts.

I got an email today that says “Hi Mike, Here’s the pictures of you and Karl that you wanted.  We’re on holiday this week so apologies for not getting them to you sooner.”

And then this picture is attached:

I have no idea who either of these people are.  And I do know that one of them is a Mike Lawson (I’m hoping it’s the more handsome gentleman on the left).

As you may remember, I often get emails intended for someone else.  Any suggestions on how to respond to this one?