Hi! Well, it’s officially fall. School has started, all of our favorite shows are back on (and some new ones have been added—check below for some completely partial reviews!), and some new books have come out (not any of mine, except the anthology I’m taking part in. Which, if you want to see me talk  Read more »

My mom is very excited because Garrison Keiler (best known for A Prairie Home Companion) talked about her (and her boyfriend) today on the The Writer’s Almanac. Here’s what he said (it’s even mostly accurate):

Thanks to everyone who emailed, Tweeted, and sent me birthday greetings today! You’re all the best! Seriously, that was so sweet of you! I was going to celebrate by going see Avatar because I’m the only person in the ENTIRE WORLD who hasn’t seen it yet and I feel like I’ve fallen behind on my  Read more »

Happy Groundhog’s Day! I hope none of you are reliving the same day over and over like Bill Murray…. …or that if you are, it’s a really good day! My birthday yesterday was a day I wouldn’t mind reliving over and over (well, except for the part where I ate something that had peanut sauce  Read more »

Thanks to everyone who sent me happy birthday wishes yesterday! Sadly, it was a working birthday. I’ve sworn to myself that next month, when I’m done with Princess Diaries 10, I’m going to take a week off at a tropical island resort somewhere, and just lay around in a hammock, and do nothing. (I realize  Read more »

For those of you who haven’t figured it out by now: I am spending my birthday week in the town of my birth, Bloomington, Indiana! Well, why NOT return to the place where you were born forty years ago? I mean, it’s kind of dishy. At least I can get into the bars now. And  Read more »

In light of the fact that this is the week I (gasp) turn forty, an age I complained in my last entry that many people seem to consider “over the hill,” a number of you wrote in to assure me that historically, there are many women who didn’t even reach their stride until they hit  Read more »

I am writing this from a secret location to which He Who Shall Not Be Named In This Blog and I have escaped in an effort to avoid any well-meaning but misguided attempts to “surprise” me with a party for my 40th birthday next week. Warning to friends and relatives: Do not attempt to find  Read more »

Check it out. I made the list. Thanks for all the many birthday wishes. Can't write more, though, too many DVDs to finish watching. In the meantime, enjoy this, courtesy of The New Yorker: BEVERAGE NEWSTAB SCAREby Ben McGrathIssue of 2006-02-06Posted 2006-01-30 As if the mainstream media were not beleaguered enough, now comes word that  Read more »

So tomorrow is my birthday, but let's not make a big deal out of it, okay? Because I am going to be 38. And that is just wrong. I'm sorry to any 38 year olds out there that I might be offending with this. But to me, 38 seems old. 37 isn't old. 37 is  Read more »