every year the hasty pudding club throws a parade (and subsequent roast) for a woman and man of the year but i've never been able to go until today. last year they had charlize theron and the year before scarlett johansson. so who did they have this year? renee zellweger! i'm actually not a big fan. maybe 10 years ago, back during her empire records days, or nurse betty. however, a celebrity is a celebrity, and the idea of seeing a movie star in person was too hard to resist, despite the subzero temperature (in the teens with a strong wind that'd occasionally blow snow crystals into the air). i put on my warmest clothes and headed out to harvard square around 2pm for the 2:30 parade.

the parade route is actually just a stretch of road a few blocks long in harvard square. still, the participants manage to stretch it out to a slow moving 20 minute procession. i found a good spot to take some photos at the start of the parade. it was a sunny location which kept my warm but i was standing on a pile of snow which slowly numbed my feet. the parade didn't start until 30 minutes later, and by then i'd been standing out for well over 45 minutes.

seeing any famous is always anticlimactic. there's a feeling of disbelief followed by disappointment. renee went hatless and gloveless so she must've been freezing, but wedged between two large men in drag, there must've been at least some residual body heat exchange. the thrill of being in a parade in her honor also probably overcame some of the cold. for whatever reason, miss massachusetts always rides behind the movie star, but nobody seems to be paying much attention to her. if her tiara didn't give her away as a pageant patron, then maybe the out-of-season tan might offer another clue. after getting my photos, i walked with the rest of the crowd, following the bentley convertible carrying the guest of honor. i didn't realize it, but my fingers and ears were starting to hurt, and my cheeks were numb. i quickly made my way home to thaw.

both clients N and B came to me with some small fixes. other than those, i don't have any other work lined up. nevertheless, i'd rather play some more god of war than do any work, which is exactly what i did. i fixed the last of my beef noodle soup for dinner along with some rum raisin ice cream.

i never knew this, but entertainment weekly has a service where if the post office loses your magazine, EW will send out another issue free of charge. i'll never have to miss another issue again! elsewhere, in wii news, i checked the status of my broken console. it actually arrived at the factory yesterday, which was a relief, because i forgot to add a notice as to why i was sending it back to them; fortunately i think they already have all that info in their computers. so i was kind of surprised to see that my wii actually left the factory today, and will arrive tomorrow. that was a quick fix! i wonder if they really fixed it or just replaced it with a different one.