* When I was little, Antoine de Saint-Exup?©ry's "The Little Prince" was a staple in our household, along with this book of Italian folktales by Italo Calvino and the movie "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen." Anyway, when people mention any of those things, which, like, never happens with Calvino's collection of folktales, by the way, I'm totally taken back to those childhood memories, so this recent story about how a German pilot, Horst Rippert, believes he may have shot down Saint-Exup?©ry's plane during World War II really got to me. I mean, to be totally honest, I didn't even know there was a mystery surrounding the author's death, I just liked the story about the little prince all alone on his planet, which, actually, is also kind of sad, so before this whole post gets too sad, I'll mention that one of the great things about my new job is that I'm constantly learning. Learning that a German pilot may have shot down a beloved author of children's books, for instance. Wait. Now it's sad again. * It appears that after renting for my entire adult life, I can't quite get used to the idea that we own our new house. You know, own it, as in, it's ours. While talking on the phone today to the contractor who is doing a little work on our place before we move in, I found myself asking if we could stop by sometime? Like maybe Sunday? Would that be ok? He told me that, yeah, we could stop by anytime we wanted. Oh yeah, right! That's right! Because it's our house.

* I'm assuming that you're getting ready for March 24 with the same enthusiasm that I am. What? What's that? What's happening on March 24? Ok, people. This is me you're talking to. It's ok. I used to claim I hated "The Hills," too, even as I watched with rapt attention. I'd say things like "Oh my God, this is so fake," and "How can these people respect themselves?" and then before I knew it my comments were more along the lines of "This is the best show ever created by humankind," and my sister-in-law had bought me the first season on DVD for Christmas, now a cherished possession. So, it's cool, if you want to pretend you're not going to watch the third season premiere on Tuesday, whatever, but if you want to fess up to your obsession and discuss the intricate details with me the next day? I'll definitely be up for that.