My Affair Is Back On

Over a decade ago, I wrote about being unfaithful in a relationship. Instead of being in a monogamous relationship with the Fairfax County Public Library system, I got a library card from the Arlington Public Library. Throughout the 2010s, things went smoothly and I checked out books from both library systems. Everyone was happy. I mean, maybe one or both of the library systems were unhappy, but no one said anything. And then my dad passed away and COVID-19 happened.

Starting in March 2020, I stopped reading. I was too busy balancing family and work and attending online religious services daily. I didn't have the focus to read books. In addition, I rarely visited Arlington for well over a year, and the Arlington library branch I frequented closed for renovations. When I slowly got back into reading, I either purchased books or used the Fairfax County library. 

Last week, I learned that my old Arlington library reopened. My library card expired, so I visited the branch and renewed my account. The librarian mentioned that I had a book on hold from February 2020 which had been "frozen." He asked if I wanted to unfreeze the hold, but I had no recollection of having a book on hold. When I asked the name or author of the book, he replied that it was by Jessica Simpson.

Yes, I wrote an entire blog post just to share that I've had Jessica Simpson's autobiography on hold for over three years!

Sean on Pop Culture

I like to think that I am not only aware of but knowledgeable about pop culture. For example, Jessica Simpson let me know that she is pregnant (again!) before announcing it to the world. I also subscribe to Entertainment Weekly which I enjoy for the pictures, I mean, interesting articles. However, based on EW's recent Best & Worst of 2012 edition, there are a few things that seem to be missing from my pop culture world.

- Channing Tatum appeared in approximately 129 movies in 2012. I saw none of them.

- Carly Rae Jepsen is 27. 27! She doesn't look like she can drink legally, even in Canada with a lower drinking age. In case you're wondering, Jepsen is older than Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Robert Pattinson and Lindsay Lohan.

- Frank Ocean may have been the top musical artist in 2012 and he's nominated for 6 Grammy Awards. I don't think I have heard one of his songs.

- The Master and Zero Dark Thirty are both strong contenders for Best Picture at The Oscars. I don't know anyone that has seen either of these movies. (Yes, I realize that Zero Dark Thirty just got released nationwide recently.)

- The Lumineers are from Denver. My guess was that they were from Ireland or the UK.

- I have not seen The Avengers or any movie featuring any character from the movie including the Iron Man films.

- Calvin Harris is from Scotland. My guess was that he was from Denver.

- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was one of the biggest books of 2012. Again, I don't think I know anyone that has read this.

- Finally, it took me a long time to realize that Downton Abbey was not Downtown Abbey. Maybe I'll start watching this show in 2013.

Forever Jessica Simpson's Ex?

Congratulations to Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo on their recent engagement. You may know Nick Lachey as a member of the band 98 Degrees, the host of NBC's The Sing Off, or the co-star of MTV's Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica. Of course, to Yahoo and many other people, Lachey is known as Jessica Simpson's ex-husband.



So is Nick Lachey going to be known as Jessica Simpson's ex-husband for life? It seems to me that Lachey has had just as much professional success, if not more than Simpson over the past five years. He's certainly had more personal success than Jessica.