Clean smelling city

After I went to work and work part two, I walked home to a city that had a fresh smell and a clean glow. Three days of rain had washed away some of the city grimness that can cling to thins when the sun isn't out (and even when it is). I like the city after rain--it feels reborn, and then I feel reborn, like anything is possible, and I have only to act and who knows what the possibilities will be.

I actually accomplished something tonight. I sewed up some tears in my light winter jackets, and I thought about cleaning up my room. But I did nothing on the room cleaning front. It was just too hard to bear thinking about. This weekend will be crazy too. I want to wake up and run tomorrow. Then I have a shift at Pier one, then dinner with Holly and then Em's play. And then I work what is almost guaranteed to be a whole shift at Pier One, followed by some more running. But John comes back and brings Chris with him next week, and I get some real time off.

I am planning a co-ed wedding shower for a few weeks from now. The guests will be a bunch of rowdy UI theatre folks almost exclusively, so does anyone at all out there have ideas on fun themes or games or really anything to do? I have some ideas, but I am fishing to help me get serious on the planning end. Plus I am calling my sister, the wedding planner.

Blech

It has been gray, drizzly, and rainy here, and it just kind of sucks the life out of me. Although this weekend I am going to go see my friend Emily (yes, once Gann) in a play, so that should be fun. And next week John is back and Chris Plummer is coming with him.

Thanks to Lauren

Okay, so everyone should go here and watch the clip and read this post and the next one. For all of you who read this who are artists or fans of art in anyway, I imagine it will hurt your heart as much as it hurt mine. But for all of that, it is also inspiring, especially the artist's reaction to the event in the aftermath.

I was going to write more today, but after watching that I am now just stunned. (Although there is always room to Heroes talk in the comments.)

Pretty on the street

Today at the bus stop on the way home, total strangers told me, "You're really pretty!" They were some late teenage girls and their boyfriends (?) in a car stopped at the light where the bus stop is, and they think I am pretty. It was a little strange, and very flattering (especially since it was t-shirt, jeans, and hardly any make-up day at work--although it was get bored while watching a movie and give yourself pin curls night the night before, so my hair was stellar). But it was a nice little cap on the day.

Other then that, nothing much interesting. I need to make myself bigger lunches for work though. I get way too hungry.

Beautiful Weather

That is what we have here in Chicago. It is literally hot when I walk to and from work, and I have had no need of a coat or even a sweatshirt. It is however also windy, in a dirty and a little bit gritty sort of way.

My flex shift was canceled today, so I went to work for a five hour shift, had some Chipotle and came home. Now I am blogging, recharging my ipod, listening to the latest Grey's Anatomy podcast, and thinking about the shit I should be getting done. Later today I plan to run a little (the cold weather has nixed that for the last few weeks), get some stuff at the local drug store, finish some blockbuster movies (so I can get another), pay some bills, and call it good. Oh and shower (that goes with the running).

I wish I had more interesting things to talk about. Well, I have other things to talk about, but I don't want to put them out in the blogoshpere since really all it is is whining. I don't really want to be whiny, even though it seems almost always to be inevitable. Whining happens, especially when you can't do too much about what you would like to fix, and I am stopping now before I get really going at the whining.

OOOOooooohhh, new Heroes tomorrow (for the first time in nineteen freaking years or something), and my house is a little worried about the Peter Petrelli "death" because I live with two very big, very committed, very passionate Milo Ventimiglia fans, and his impending 'possible' doom is kind of worrying them. However, I bet he can fix himself with his Claire powers. That is my prediction for this week. (Also the name Ventimiglia always makes me think of the 'venticelli' slow news day episode from Sports Night where they talk about the little winds that bring good news).

It has been a busy week.

A very, very busy week. Although I am not sure what I actually did. I worked, I lived, I got mocked at work by April and Renee. You know, the usual. I also had an awesome sandwich at work on Friday. It was fresh mozzarella cheese, marinated artichoke hearts, lettuce, and tomatoes on big crusty Italian bread, and it was awesome! Who knew, artichoke hearts could be a sandwich all on their own?

Busy working all weekend this one. Probably next one too, but then I take a bunch off in a row for a wedding shower, a trip to Pennsylvania, a trip to St. Louis (for Ken's wedding), and it will all be tons of fun--even if not so much with the tons of sleep.

I don't have curly hair

Apparently. I was on a website called curlygirls.com because, well, it has great advice on product and salons and all sorts of stuff for curly-headed types--it gave me this awesome recipe for a scalp exfoliant involving your usual conditioner and brown sugar. It also has a typing/descriptions system for what kind of curly hair you have (actually it types straight hair too, but it only has one type, 1). There is wavy hair (types 2 a, b, and c) and curly hair (also types 3 a, b, and c)and a fourth type of hair that I don't remember much about (mostly it seemed to be actual afro hair).

Anyway, it turns out that I have wavy hair; I am a 2B. That means my hair is wavy and medium to coarse textured--like Sandra Oh. Yeah, my hair is not curly. I guess (although I think some sections of my hair are actually type 3B--essentially curly, medium to coarse textured hair). This means that my hair does not truly coil. It is an s-curve (loosely) and it can lie flat against my head. Truly curly hair stands up, and my hair does not stand up from my scalp--even when it is short.

It weirds me out. I mean, I always thought I was naturally curly, but it looks like I am not. But, it actually means my hair is more manageable then people who really have naturally curly hair. Who knew? Wavy head.


Also, totally different story. WHAT THE FUCK??!! About Vtech. Oh my God. I am watching a Dateline episode about it, and it is so stunning. I can't believe it, and I can't believe that I didn't hear about it until I got home from work. Wow. My heart breaks for those students, teachers, and their families.

Love and Life

I read a review of a book the other day--a book I have heard of or come across many times in the last few weeks--and it got me thinking about sex and love. The book is called Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love, and Lose at Both by Laura Sessions Stepp, and the reviews describe it as a screed against the hook-up culture and the damage purely sexual relationships have on the psyche of American young women (getting quite a bit of flack for using data only from 9 young women she interviewed). I haven't read this book, and I don't imagine I will, but it got me thinking.

Sex gets blamed for a whole lot of wrong in our culture. I am not saying sex doesn't have its share of pitfalls but so does ice cream (if you want to get real picky) and we let little kids eat that. But I feel that a lot of the blame that gets heaped on sex, is really more about lying. People lie to eachother--about their feelings, their experience, their past, and even their present (because no one I know has ever told anyone that it felt better then it did)--and they lie to themselves. Oh lordy do they (really we) lie to themselves! They build a sexual experience up in their mind to be the gateway to something else, and it can be, but isn't a one-night-stand more likely then not to be something else? Isn't that how it got its name? So, let's not blame that let down on the sex.

Blame it on the person who convinced themselves sex would automatically lead to something more emotional, something more attached. Let's blame this let down on Hallmark cards, Valentine's Day, and the buttoned-up society we grew up in. This mother culture tells us that sex is special and only for the one you love, but, as many people I know have experienced, the corollary isn't also true. Having sex with someone doesn't magically make them into someone you love who (more importantly) loves you back--except when you have sex in the hot tub of love in Sims2, a couple rounds there=true love, but let's not start to get into all the ways why the Sims2 and real life are not the same--also it is the hot tub of LOVE.

Sex is a physical experience, love is an emotional one. Yes, it can be very, very nice when the two join forces like all those little kids with their magic rings on Captain Planet, but let's not kid ourselves into thinking that the two are mutually exclusive--the kids all had separate live on Captain Planet too, they could only do their magic as a team, but they could still live without each other. Sex doesn't need love, and there are many, many kinds of love that require no sex (lets just start with filial, paternal, and maternal love for now, because seriously, seriously!). I can say from first hand experience, that you can have good sex with someone you don't even like, forget about love, and I love many people who I will never have sex with (not to mention a few pets).

Sex is about the quick, chemical spark between two sets of hormones. Love and commitment are as much about friendship, admiration, respect, agreement, promise, willpower, and trust. The best marriages (legal and otherwise) that I have ever known are between two people who have agreed to tread the same path together no matter what it takes. It helps that they are both a little ga-ga over each other, but the main point is that they share an emotional connection and bond of trust that makes it worth it to ride the sometimes rocky road. Yeah, they probably have some good sex too--again with making the rocky road worth it.

A hookup isn't necessarily some sort of life destroying, soul eroding experience. It is if you are always expecting it to end with a knight in shining armor or big diamond engagement ring. It is if you aren't being honest with yourself or your partner about what you actually want out of it. And it is if you keep pursuing it as an activity, if what you are really looking for isn't sex but someone to love and someone to love you. Temporary worship at the temple of orgasm ain't a marriage(or necessarily the best road to one), but it can be a nice holiday for a marriage to take (as often as possible)

Of course I say all of this being happily single and recently celibate (because, well, no one has been worth it lately). So maybe my advice on what makes a good marriage or a true love is all bullshit? My sister might say I am making this argument to justify some of my own personal lifestyle choices. Maybe she is right, but I also happen to believe in all of the theory I just spouted. . . . So there.

First things First

I have already said this Sara, but I need it to be known to everyone who reads this that my intention was never, ever to hurt Sara Jo's feelings or to make fun of her. If that is what happened, I am sorry.

My tone was puzzlement because I know that Sara and I have a very small amount of overlap in our taste in movies (we both love cheesy romantic comedies--even the high school variety--and we both enjoy deep serious dramas with big start acting turns, after that not a lot is the same). But Sara knows we never like the same things, and I somehow mistook her prodding to come and hang out with my friends as prodding to come and see a movie I was not interested in (and quite frankly probably would've openly mocked in the theatre). If my tone did not come across the way I intended it to, that is something I need to work on as a writer.

Also, it needs to be pointed out that they were seeing the movie at a super discount little neighborhood movie house, and it was $3 a ticket. No one paid anything remotely near full price for this film. It also was probably the most interesting thing playing at the cheap movie house. The choices there can be anemic sometimes.

Spring is starting to return

I must have scared the weather into submission with my angry rant. It is not ridiculously cold anymore, but it is pushing mildly cold at night. Whatever. It won't be that long until I am hiding from the weather inside my wonderful air conditioning, so perhaps it is best I just shut up.

Sara Jo called me today. She invited me to go to a movie with her and Angie. Normally I would totally go--I love those girls, I love movies, what could go wrong? However, this time there was no way I was paying money to see what they were seeing. I almost said it was a movie I 'might' rent, and then I caught myself and said, "No, there is no way I would even rent that movie." The truth is, I don't even think I would watch it if it were on TV. Maybe, just maybe, I would watch it if it was really the only thing on, also if the remote control was very far from me, and I was wrapped in a warm blanket on the couch in a cold house. Maybe then I would watch it.

The thing is, when I said that there was nothing at all about the movie that appealed to me, and I didn't know why she thought I would want to watch it, Sara seemed stunned. I think she really thought I would like it. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not the movie snob I once was. I am pretty open-minded, and I do love me some trash and some ridiculous in my movies, but it is a very particular brand of trash. Will Farrell as some odd profession tends to tickle me in the right place, and I am a sucker for romantic comedies, even when they are very, very bad (see "Because I Said So" or actually, don't, don't see it). So, I didn't mean it like my taste is soooo much better then hers or anything. I just didn't see what about this movie seemed like something I would want to see.

The movie? Wild Hogs. Yeah this movie. Do you think I would want to see it? Informal polling happening now in the comments.

FUCKING APRIL!!!

It was snowing today. Not just, oh look as flake or two of snow in the oh, remember how it used to be winter(?) sort of way. Not even, wait was that a snowflake? Not even snow that becomes water as it hits the ground. No, we had motherfucking SNOOOOW, snow! It accumulated. Now, I don't know about the weather where those of you out there in the internet ether live, but if you also had motherfucking snow, I am sorry.

It is April. April is a spring month. Not a month where spring starts, so okay there could be some winter. It is a spring, spring month. When I awoke this morning, in between tidbits about two strangers and a wedding, I heard in the forecast that it was snowing and raining today. I thought that was pretty shitty, and I could hear that it was wet out (my room is close to a busy street a little below street level), but I never imagined it would be anything but snow that becomes water. It might be really slushy snow that becomes water, but it couldn't be more then that; anything more would be against the laws of nature, this is April after all (spring!). But when I opened the front door to leave my house I saw a sight so horrifying I had to close the door again, retreat, and regroup before I actually left. There was snow on my stoop, and snow in my front flower bed. Not like little speck of snow, but snow. A blanket of snow. It covered things like a blanket. There was no dirt to be seen just snow. I could not believe my eyes. I gasped, there was gasping.

Later, when I had steeled myself enough emotionally to face it, it piled up on my sleeves like it does in a winter snowstorm. And I didn't walk from the bus stop to work, I trudged. I had too! There was too much snowy slush accumulated merely to walk through it. I had to trudge.

This is completely unacceptable. I want my spring, and I want it now. This is bullshit. We should not still have to have our heat on. Heat should be a luxury we turn on only because we want to, not because we have to! I want to be an imperialist dog using my heat to keep my apartment only marginally warmer then the temperature outside--not because I have to use it or my pipes might fucking freeze!!!!!!

I am sorry for the profanity in this post, but I just cannot take it anymore.

Drunk again

Okay, really only tipsy. Which is good because as I stated before, I am too old for this shit. Easter was a big Idaho Vandal shindig at Angie and Sara's. They were there, plus me, the Brians, Anna, and two of Angie's transplant Vandal friends. It was great fun and great food and great friends. It was good to see Turpin again (it's been almost a year), and it was good to see Bush again too. I had almost felt estranged I had not seen him so long (although just a few months, not even a record).

I made a salad. There was ham, and cheesecake and awesome deviled eggs. What more do you want from Easter?

I am too old for this shit!

I am. I am too old to be going out drinking and drinking so much more then I ought that I make myself sick. Usually, I am a pretty self-aware drunk, and I know when I am approaching my limit, so I stop. Then there are the times when I go out with new people, and they can't believe I am as much of a cream puff as I am, so they keep buying me drinks, and I get drunk enough that I think still drinking is going to be fine, and then I wind up where I was last night--lying on the floor of my bathroom with my head in the toilet.

But I am a trooper, six hours later I was at work being nice to customers and selling shit. We did however have a wonderful time at all three bars we went to. Well, Delilah's was great fun. Ravens was too crowded, and the blues bar we ended up at (Kingston Mines) was awesome. It was a very fun evening out with friends. Well, barring the puking and Anna Schlegs encouraging a quite old and not so much with the cute man to flirt with me at Delilah's. Although in her defense she was really mocking him to get him to go away, and he somehow thought that was encouraging.

Quote Day

Today, instead of stories, I give you quotes. My roommate Renee is in charge of the first one, "I think I have found my type," she says to me, "Someone who wears more black then me. That is my type." She said it with such conviction and sincerity that I had to laugh at her, even though she may well be right.

I am the source of quote number two. I walked outside of work today and was dioriented slightly by the fact that the ground was wet but even more so by the fluffy little things floating in the air, "Are those bubbles?" I asked of the sky full of light snow. Not bubbles, no--motherfucking snow in April! Plus a wind they call an arctic blast. Last week I wore shorts.

Idaho

Sometimes it is known as the land of potatoes and hate, but lately, for me it has been known as the land where weddings meet regrets. Maybe not regrets but uncomfortable and unexpected confrontations with one night stands.

Many of you recall last years eventful February wedding in Weiser, Idaho. I went to see my cousin get married, and I had all manner of fun with my family. Oh yeah, and I noticed half way through the ceremony that I had deflowered the best man at ACTF a few years ago (see James D. Clayton and any mention of "The Devirginator"), and did I mention that the best man was the grooms older brother? Yeah, so there was that. Apparently his family finds the women in mine irresistible.

This summer I am going to Idaho to see Sarah Jo and Johnny B get married. Twin Falls here I come! And I was very, very excited that my friend (and theirs) Laura Yaz will be making it in from NYC. She asked John and Sara if she could bring her ex-fiancee and good, good friend with her, and they said sure. This means that my second wedding in as many years in Idaho will have a guest appearance by a one-night stand.

Now these stories might make it seem that I am some sort of ho. That I have some long list of one night stands otherwise why would they be constantly streaming out of the woodwork, but you would be wrong. These guys make up about half, or actually more then half of all the one-night skeletons in my closet. There aren't a whole lot more, and I am still friends with another one of them, so I wouldn't call him surprising. Technically, depending on how you view the Luke insanity, you could maybe even count two one-night stands as guests at this coming wedding. They multiply.

But then it hit me. This all happens in Idaho. Idaho. I - da - ho. All right all ready (looks skyward) I get it dude. I get it. You work for my mom or she for you or something. Hahaha, you are sooooo funny. And, now that I think of it, this is your time of year to have some practical jokes at my expense. Not so good Friday is just around the corner. Seriously? Idaho? (Shakes head sadly).

Don't ask, don't tell

My family has a don't ask, don't tell policy about sex, and I feel that if I had more time and wasn't so damn tired I would write a story about it. But right now, I am just putting it in my blog in the hopes that I will remember it later.

Two jobs today. Kind of delirious right now. Wish that I could just find myself a couple more hours in the day, and I would sleep through them. Good night!

After a Break

Okay, so I have been kind of busy at work and either tired or spending time with people rather then the computer after/in between work. So I have a little bit neglected the blog. I also have only had two days off in all of the month of March, and my next day off is April 8th. Yeah, so there is that. I was kind of horrified when I discovered that at work. Although, I brought it on myself, and I have actually been doing a lot more stuff with people and out and about then I did when I had more free time. I can't really explain that, but I have been enjoying myself. Plus, it looks like I will be making $500+ a month more at the two jobs then I was with the Pier 1 job. This is good.

I have an office at work. I share it with someone else, but I have a key. There are not a lot of real offices at my job, mostly just a big open room. The CFO has an office off that, so does the general manager and the production manager has a big office/art/screen filing room that she shares with the night production manager and her assistants. The boss has his own office off the conference room, and accounting has an office. My shared office. I felt very important when I got to use my key to open it the other day.

I have also been a little totally lazy on the running, but Sara Jo may start going with me. She is supposed to come over on Monday and run with me.

Oh the running

Well, I do think that I get some points for running in a wee bit of wetness and a much colder temp then ever before, but it was way less fun. I did it though, and I will do it again-wouldn't want to ruin 'my girlish figure' with a giant attack of the office ass.

New job started today, so I have my own phone and my own half of an office. It made me feel much more important. I also got a raise (one whole dollar more an hour) which was great and kind of crappy because Renee (my roommate who they promoted when I started working there) now gets less money then me for a job that is at least as demanding and difficult. Somehow no one ever bothered to raise her pay grade to match her effort. I did tell her that she should have talked to someone about it when we both got the same paycheck, but she isn't entirely sure who her immediate supervisor it. Fortunately for me, my immediate supervisor is very clear, and she is in charge of payroll.

The new job seems like it should be easy enough in the bare bones sort of way. I am sure that there will be complications and confusing questions, but you know there is with everything.

Plus they took my computer apart and stuck more ram in it today, and I get a big kick out of watching that happen--even when I mostly have no idea what the heck is happening.

An Addendum

Tonight, after dinner, my roommate stabbed me, with her fork. That's right. Not accidentally poked me with her fork as we loaded the dishwasher, but she deliberately stabbed me with her fork. (She claims I deserved it--whatever). That's my Renee.

Also, quote of the day goes to Renee for saying, "I would throw you a party if you and Jeff dated." That was in reference to a guy at work it seems I might have a crush on. Whatever again.

("Oooooooh, hoooo," you say, "Heather has a crush?" Well, don't get your panties in a bunch, he has a girlfriend, so mostly I just find his accent really cute and leave it at that.)

Spring, spring everywhere

I spent the day training my replacement, and if it was boring when there is only one of me, well. . . yeah. Not bad, just weird.

Also, was listening to the podcast of "This American Life" today, and I was at the restaurant they talked about/used in their experiment. I was there on Saturday night. It is pretty fabulous, and I would reccommend it, but it was strange to hear about it like that. I also think that I may be the mean friend at ACT, and that my own personal meanness to stupid teenagers made me the cool sub. I was not nice to them, and that made me awesome. Go to thisamericanlife.org and listen to the lure of the mean friend, or you can download the podcast on itunes for free. I don't think that I am the mean friend in any way other then as a teacher. The rest of the time I think I am not aloof enough to be in any way mean. This makes more sense if you have heard the podcast.

I was going to write a whole lot more today, but it is gorgeous out, so instead I am going to go check out my neighborhood and jog and whatnot.

A whole mile

I ran a whole one without stopping tonight. It wasn't the plan, but I hit the take a walk for a bit portion of my run, and I thought, "Hey, I feel good, why not run a little further and see what happens?" And I kept running until one mile, and then I did the cool off walk home. My mile was by no means impressive time wise, but I ran the whole thing.

I also worked an entire eight hour shift today at Pier 1. Which was kind of a bummer because the weather was so beautiful.

Also, my roommate is watching the third "Bring it On" movie (which I think may be called "Bring It On Some More").

Crazy Dream

So I had an insane dream last night (after a little drinking and staying up late). I dreamed that Chris Plummer and I and I think Chrissy went to see a drag show, but it was sort of the worst drag show ever. There was a skinny, goofy really-ugly drag queen who couldn't sing and didn't really look like he had put that much effort into looking like a woman, and he was actually trying to sing rather then lip synch. The other main performer was a very hairy man in a ball gown who might have been a good drag queen if he had shaved his excessive body hair, but who also had a big reddish-pink still healing bypass surgery scar across his chest which you could blatantly see.

Chrissy and Chris start to heckle the shitty drag queens, which is fine for a while. Then the drag queens start heckling back, and then there is yelling and suddenly the drag queens are pulling guns and then suddenly Chris and Chrissy are pulling guns and then we have to run out of there in the middle of a gunfight, and when we finally get out (unscathed) the dream is over.

My advice would be to make sure that Chris and Chrissy are unarmed when you go to a drag show with them.

Oh shit Gray's Anatomy!!!

I admit when I discovered that George and Izzy did it, I was kind of disappointed and confused, not sure that this was in any way a direction I wanted the show to go. Then I saw the episode, and I actually thought they handled it quite well and believably. You know, sometimes when you are best friends with someone of your romantic preference, best friend can rub right up against lover. Add alcohol, and well, shit happens. But I was mad at them.

Now I am two thirds of the way through the after episode, and I am shocked to find myself cheering for them. Excellent job TR Knight and Katie Heigel with the acting in a dialogue free scene in the linen closet. They broke my freaking heart. This is good TV. Oh shit. Good TV.

New responsibilities

Today is the day that I got an email for work. My very own email with my name--actually two emails that are routed to the same place, the highly technical hkinion and heather @ my work. This means I can send out info on behalf of the company and ask for stuff which means people will respond to me and expect me to have answers. This is where it gets tricky because although I have some answers, I am still new enough that I really, really don't have some other answers--even really obvious ones.

The good news is that I have a lot more to do each day. Today I only spent about two hours reading stuff on the internet and blogging and reading my book as compared to six and a half yesterday. Having more to do is actually nice. It seems like it would be more fun to have nothing to do all day and get paid for it, but when you can't leave your chair (well, you can but like to go to the bathroom or drop a note off and not much more), it gets less and less fun. Plus everyone else is working, and somewhere between 2 hours and six and a half hours of goofing off it goes from fun to uselessness.

Back to work, everyone have a banana on me.

Bananas

I think I heard a story today to rival some of my usuals, and--for the record--it has nothing to do with me. One of my coworkers at my new gig only recently learned how to peel a banana correctly. I assume that most of you out there peel your bananas from the top (because it has the nice easy piece that breaks away), and it may not even occur to you to peel them from the bottom. He however had spent his whole life peeling them from the bottom (don't ask me how it never occured to him to use the other side). He is 24 and he only learned the new way a few weks ago when one of his siblings saw someone peel a banana (dare I say) the right way on a cooking show. This begs the question, why would you work so hard for so little payoff?

Solvency

It is a heady feeling to have spending money for the first time in more then a year. Well, spending money that isn't specifically earmarked for a particular outing or event. I have some money in my wallet that I could just use on anything I wanted to without first thinking, "Now if I buy a big gulp and a bag of chips, I can't go to the movies with my friends this weekend. Do I really want the big gulp?" I could buy a pop in the vending machine here at work, and it really wouldn't hurt anything. I could also afford to order lunch all week, every week--not that I actually would do that becuase I am kind of cheap bastard when I could just bring my lunch as leftovers or pb&j. I can afford to go to the movies this weekend. I can afford to actually start paying off my credit card debt, and I can still have spending money when I do that.

Okay so the debt paying down will happen very incrementally, and I mean very, teensy tiny increments, but I will be paying it down instead of watching it grow, or merely holding it steady. I had been living such an austere life for so long that this is kind of a rush. I feel like I ought to be cautious not to run out and buy any and every little thing I want. It is a concious choice on my part to stay out of shoe stores and cute boutiques, until the initial rush has passed and I can shop without the overload of a sorority girl and her first vibrator.

It is a relief. I like having the freedom of choice that a little solvency can brings and just in time for the fair weather Chicago.

Tired

The Wire is so good it makes me watch it even when I should be going to bed. Although, I am through season 2 now. Season 3 should start arriving soon from netflix.

I ran three quarters of a mile today. Well, jogged, and I did it in a time that wasn' too bad since my goal was in no way to run for time. More I just wanted to see how far I could jog before I thought I would die, and it turns out that a half mile is just fine with me, and three quarters of a mile is where it gets rough. Although since I haven't run in literally years, and I really haven't run on open ground and not on an elliptical in even longer, I find this impressive. I may be able to pick up this running thing, and at the same time maybe lose a little of the squishy around my waste, and if it means I happen to go home this summer looking fabulous and getting my mom to shut the hell up already about my weight, that would be okay with me. More then okay really. We shall see.

Very confused

I feel like the past two days have taken up roughly three days of my life, which is, I guess, what happens when you put in twelve hours of work at two jobs and then go spend four or five hours at a friends going away party (which when you add in commuting time, sort of swallows your whole day). Then I woke up bright and early (okay, so just at 9:30) to go see the river dyed green, people parade, and lots and lots of people act like drunken jackasses in the middle of the morning.

The green river will always make me a little happy inside my heart, so that was cool. The parade was kind of boring, as it always is, and we did not stay long. The most exciting part of the day was trying to get back home without getting stranded on a train full of drunken tourists, so we took the bus. That was a brilliant idea because apparently tourists fear buses.

Then I napped like the dead, and then we went to the movies. We saw "Because I Said So." Which was fun because it only cost three dollars. And it is decided, if my mother were ever to do that to me I would fucking kill her. Also, I need me a Johnny. That would be fine. Could someone arrange that please (just not my mother).

Day 13

Of thirteen straight days of work at one job or another. Two of those days I had five hour shifts only, and two of those days (including tonight) included both jobs (giving me a 14 hour day with commuting). Tonight after work (part two) I have a big going away bash for my friend Kristy and her husband Mike which I wouldn't miss for anything. Then I might die.

Actually, it hasn't been too terribly bad. I mean I have had bouts of the tired, and nights of being in bed before ten, but I have also had late nights out. I have even gone places and done things not related to work (jobs 1 or 2). Plus, this isn't as exhausting as the nannying/pier 1 from the summer. There are no toddlers involved and no dirty diapers either. Plus one job involves lots of sitting, so I am not even running around all that much.

The bash tonight may be another story entirely. It will probably kick my ass, and I should probably do some celebrating on Saturday because I am freaking Irish in Chicago for pete's sake. So, maybe I will die on Sunday. Sunday night. After work part two.

Okay, part of me is tempted to leave Pier One, but the money is kind of awesome with two jobs. I could use me some making enough money to start paying things off instead of just floating in debt and fighting off interest. I could use making enough money to afford to go home a little more often, and to afford to go visit friends and have vacations and trips and feel like a vital member of society instead of urban poor. And I only have short shifts at Pier One, and short weekends shouldn't kill me. I can ask for some of them off in advance if I want. No one would hold it against me. I wouldn't be in trouble or get less hours--I hardly get hours there at all, and I help to bolster their very few all the time sales associates. I am going to give it a real test drive before I decide to up and quit. At least that is the plan this week. (I know I know I sound more like I am convincing myself then convincing you, but so what).

Building my willpower

Last night my roommate Janna and I watched a TLC show about seriously, horrifyingly overweight people--people who weigh more then five and six hundred pounds, including one man who weighed MORE then 1,000 pounds. These people cosumed upwards of 15,000 claories a day--one man eating 36,000 calories in an average day. Mostly they get this from eating crap, and then it occurred to me: I eat crap! I do. I have a raging sweet tooth and devour ice cream and jelly beans and dark chocolate M&M's (especially dark chocolate M&M's). I keep a stash of candy in my desk, and I eat it steadily all day.

Now I recognize that it is a leap from some candy in my desk with limited portions of breakfast, lunch, and dinner (not diet portions but just a normal amount to make me feel statisfied and not stuffed). I am not fluttering on the verge of weighing 180 pounds much less four hundred pounds, but I did find it disturbing that I shared with these people an inability to say no to the things that I like when they are readily available or in front of me. Since I have candy in my desk, I am going to eat it, and I am going to eat it because it is there, not because I crave it, just because I like it and it is there.

So today, instead of just not eating candy or taking it out of my desk. I am going to test and build my willpower by putting a cap on the amount of candy I allow myself. Right now I have two coconut creme filled hershey's kisses sitting on my desk. They have been there for an hour and a half, and I have not eaten them. One of them is for the eleven o'clock hour and the other is for the twele o'clock hour. From nine until ten, it was really hard to see them and not eat them. Really hard. I wanted them, and the greedy, small child in me had to have her hand smacked by the reasonable grown-up in me in order to not gobble them up by 9:15 or 9:30 or 9:35, etc.

However, as I passed the ten o'clock mark, I gained a feeling of accomplishment and staisfaction. I am in charge of my sweet tooth. I can indulge in it without being ruled by it, even if I have been ruled by it pretty fiercely this winter (with some snugger pants to show for it). I am still going to eat my candy, but I am going to be better about the concept of moderation. I will moderately enjoy my favorite sweets. I enter on this plan, here, now, today.

Today I was just this much too fast

I had plenty to do, but I got a big pile at the start of the day and worked really hard to get through it fairly quickly--in anticipation of more work later. But then I didn't get any more work. Oh well.

It has been freaking gorgeous weatherwise for the last few days. Although I can see through the glass door that it is no longer gorgeous. It might not be cold yet, but I can see the colder weather rolling in. Somehow, I don't really mind that much. I know that the worst of the winter weather is now well behind us, and this will be temporary at best. We might have even turned off the heat for good at our apartment. Yeah, take that. Actually if it gets cold enough tonight, I bet we will all wuss out and turn it back on. I don't like to be really cold.

Promotion

That's right. I got a promotion after four days at my new job. Really it is more like an adoption. The accouting department likes me, and I am smart enough to figure out the little tasks they give me, and the junior half of accounting is being promoted to purchasing leaving a hole. They decided that they would love me to fill the hole, if I was interested, and they actually asked me if it was anything that I would be interested in, which was nice. It is however hilarious to me, especially when I really thought that I was about to be busted for possibly leaving the door unlocked when I left yesterday (although I am pretty sure that I did lock it, just not 100% positive). No, not busted, promoted, and they wanted to tell me before I heard rumblings of hiring a new receptionist.

They did say that I shouldn't expect to be a receptionist for very long, and I guess five days is not very long. Although I will be a receptionist until they find a replacement. If anyone here in Chicago is looking for a new gig, it is a fun office and an easy sort of job that still keeps you busy all day.

Yeah, now I get to go to my other job which I may have to leave for good when I actually have the promotion go through.

Weird part 2 (the way less weird sequel)

So Sara called me back, and apparently she has two friends named Heather in her phone (with no last initial), so she called us both to get the other one. Apparently no one thought I was in Moscow.

I am however loving being in Chicago when the weather is nice and people are out with their dogs and their kids. The sun was shining down on me, and my ipod was adding a fabulous soundtrack, and life was grand.

For Jim's perusal: there is a right and wrong amount of flirting from a married man. Good flirting is funny silliness. The kind that maybe is angling for a good deal but really is about enjoying life and shopping. Just a little being nice to strangers in a fun way. This kind stops short of anything important. No touching or contact, no risque content, nothing past genial fairly neutral appreciation. That is fine, that makes the job more fun. It probably makes shopping more fun too. ATF guy had that down. It was way fun to help him out because he made it fun. Anyone who has anything to add to the flirting conversation should feel free to speak up in the comments.

So much to blog, so little time

Thanks for all the wishes on the new job, so far so good. I seem to be liked and appreciated already, and the people I work with aren't too shabby themselves.

Second job/old job has me all weekend which is kind of exhausting. The sweet little high schooler who works there thought something was wrong with me today because I seemed so 'mellow' which is apparently a drastic change from my usual hyperactive psychosis, or something. I found that cute. I was mellow though. I am kind of tired, and it translates to mellow. I did however have a customer that reminded me of an old crush. He sounded exactly like the crush and had a similar energy, and then he was one of those fun customers that make working retail better. He was funny and joked/flirted with me just a little bit (the exact amount that would be acceptable/appropriate for the wedding band on his finger) in a non-creepy way, and I kind of had a little mini-crush on him before I helped him check out where I saw that he had a big fancy badge in his wallet and a DC ID. At this point I got a little excited in my head and hoped he was a G-man or CIA or something, but when I helped him put his furniture in his car (which had DC plates and was very shiny and black and imposing for a sedan--totally a G-man car) I saw some of his gear (lights for flashing and making cop car like stuff) as well as a packet of ATF labeled stuff. He was ATF which was kind of exciting for me today. Him with his tough talking cop-ness. It was a fun part of the day. It left me just a little bit tickled.

Yesterday on the other hand was a whole different thing. I had what turned out to be the weirdest bus ride ever (not to be believed but Anna Schlegs was there with me, so I didn't make it up in my head). More on that later. Before that Angie, Sara and I were stuck in a mini-traffic jam on a one-way street because someone fell asleep in their car in the middle of a side street, but since it was one-way and there was parking on both sides, no one could drive past them, and there were five cars, stuck. My favorite part is that the driver of the car who started this mess was 'asleep' which is the best euphemism ever for strung out on some drugs. Sara Jo got out of the car and started to call 311 (the non-emergency number) to see if they could send us a squad car, but then the driver finally 'woke-up' and we got the hell out of there.

The bus ride was its own adventure. Guess which of the following things we saw: two transvestites, a flasher, a two-part car accident involving the jaws of life, and drunk frat type people. If you guessed all of the above, you are correct! There were two separate trannys on the bus. Actually, it is possible that one of them really was a woman, possible but unlikely. And in the flasher's defense, he did not actually flash us, but he was wearing a big long coat (in the first warm weather in months) and kept his hands way, way inside it and kept walking back and forth past our seat in the aisle of the bus. We were almost flashed. We drove through the two part accident. Literally through it. No one was rerouting traffic, so the bus just stayed on its route, and there off to the side were a bunch of firefighters and the jaws of life. Very horrifying, so horrifying that the bus passengers all talked to strangers enough to decide as a whole that we thought it was horrifying. Definitely, the weirdest bus ride ever.

On the subject of weird, I got a phone call today from Sara Menssen in Moscow because she heard I was in town and she thought I should come over. I am definitely not in Idaho, and I won't be until July 21st when I go to Sara and John's wedding. Very funny to me. I am wondering who was telling people I was around?

New Job

All right two days in, and I think I like it pretty well. I mean the people are great at work. Most of the people who call are fine. I get some bitches. I just sit there and answer the phone. I also talk to people who come in the door (often speaking only Spanish) and want to fill out applications. That is pretty much it.

Obviously that is not a ton, so I also do some filing, enter bills into the computer, fax things, stuff envelopes and other general office type stuff. If I get too far ahead, it gets boring. So far. I imagine I will be getting more stuff to do as they realize that I am not a lame-o.

I also took a test run of the bus system to get myself from new job to old job (for when I start doing that next week), and it rocked. I totally have time to pretty easily get between the jobs and maybe even grab some food. So, while I was over there I picked up my new glasses, and they look good and very, VERY different then my old ones. They are very light and open up my face a whole lot. It also throws me off to have this much visible peripheral vision. This weekend when I buy some batteries I will post some before/after glasses photos.

Chrissy and I are geniuses

We have created in our im conversation, the world's most awesome kooky lounge act. It stars us (a la Kiki & Herb--or Chrissy & Heath as you will), and there will be songs and stories and monologues and lots of hair. We will be huge in Amsterdam and Thailand. We will tour little rock clubs and county fairs. There will be 'Honky Tonk Be-Donk-eh-Donk' (forgive my spelling) done ironically as a poetry reading (with cowbell and finger snaps). My 5th Beatle song stylings will make appearances as will us singing the song from Annie 'Together At Last.' Chrissy will be the master of the violin (that she is) as well as an ipod with little speakers. Part torch songs, part comedy, all hair.

Come out and see us when she moves to Chicago.

First day at the new job. It is way different then the old job. I think it will be fun. The people there seem pretty great, especially the people at the top (well the way they set it up and are with their whole team is great). Most of them are also nice and funny and fun. I answer phones and type stuff. It is a lot more sitting in a chair then I am used to. I like it so far. Although tomorrow I am a lot more on my own.

The black ratings

. . . for "The Black Donnelley's." Their ratings were even worse then for Studio 60, which is good for the S60 fans because if they were bad enough, maybe 60 will come back. At least to finish out the episodes that had been ordered.

I can hope.

Something is about to change

I just realized today that my life is in for a relatively big change. The day after tomorrow, I start a new job, in a new place, with new people. Instead of having my nomadic hours that wander all over the schedule and can be tugged and prodded certain places if I want them to be, I will now have a set (very, very set) schedule. My waking up weekdays will be routine, will need to be routine to catch the right bus. I will be commuting again and walking much less. There will be lots of riding the bus. And I will have to meet strangers and break them in (which means the process of other people being allowed to slowly discover I am weird has to happen again). I have a bunch of all new stuff to learn--just when I was getting good at this job.

I am not really scared of this change. I think I've been ready for something like it for a while, but it just didn't occur to me until today. Here we go. I guess.

[In a completely unrelated note, the boy who is the lead in 'The Black Donnelley's has a ridiculously sick body. It doesn't even make sense, but they showed LOTS of it in the episode this week, and that was all I watched. Just had to talk about it. His body is that beautiful--if really, really pasty.]

Astonishingly Unuseful

That was me. There was just being bums all day yesterday at my apartment. Later, Anna Schelegal came over and joined us, and we drank and stayed up until 4am. That was perhaps not the best plan, but it was great fun. It is her birthday tomorrow, and we are getting together then too.

Today, I made it up and out for work. It was a bright and shining day out, so it was a wonderful walk.

Then I took a nap that went too long and I didn't get to go see my friend Sabrina's improv show. I feel bad about it. I should never have napped in the first place because I had a suspicion that I would be difficult to wake up. That suspicion was right. Well, shit.

Super Saturday

Or slow Saturday, or something. I am washing some blankets and towels right now (hoping to banish the last of the smelly boy smell from our living room). I also All Fabric Refreshed all the furniture (so now it smells like we covered our furniture in freshly laundered fabric).

Later (or soon) I am going to the post office and the grocery store. I must buy stamps to mail bills, and then I will buy taco seasoning to make tacos secretly while Janna is gone (she's taking a mini-break in Ohio to see her boyfriend). We have to make them secretly because Janna strongly disapproves of the amount that Renee and I will eat tacos. She thinks once a week is MORE then enough, and we could pretty much always eat them. I mean, I like food variety as much as the next person, but I also could eat tacos about half of the week and be totally happy.

I should also do some taxes and some adjusting of the student loan info today. To get that all out of the way. Plus I was thinking of some fixing of clothes and maybe cleaning out my closet. There is a bunch of stuff in there that needs pitched or altered since I am not too busy right this weekend. Plus, I could always use more room in the closet.

Next week, really tomorrow it all starts. It is possible that I will be working for 15 straight days between both jobs. That will be a shock to my lazy little system that is used to a break every two or three days. However, it will lead to a very healthy bank account. In fact it could lead to me having a savings account for the first time since sometime back in grad school. Maybe my debt will start to go away to (although very, very slowly). We can hope.

Tornadoes

I am hoping that the many readers of this blog who are from the tornado-y portion of this country are all safe and secure and so are all their peoples. We just got weird rain and then not rain and then rain again (and back and forth all day), but I see this business about tornadoes, and it makes me worry about my peoples. So, I hope you are all wonderful.


In non-sad related news, I got a new pair of glasses today, or I ordered them. They are similar to the glasses that the character Danny on CSI:NY wears in that they have a thin light metal top frame and are rimless on the bottom. My favorite part is that they are the same prescription, so that means I can alternate them with my current glasses as I feel like it (a thing I have always wanted but have never been able to achieve as my prescription has always changed). So starting sometime next week, who know what I will look like at any given time! I cannot wait.

No More Boys

They are gone. They left. Only three of them stayed the night at our house last night. They were quiet when they got here and went to bed. That was better. Also, they cleaned up after themselves. We actually believe there was vacuuming and maybe some swiffer wet jet.

I know, right? Now you vacuum. Strange boys only clean your house when they know they are in deep, deep shit. Oh well, I have my house back and it is cleaner then when the boys left. Although, tomorrow, I am washing all of the blankets that hang out on our couches. Hopefully this will make them smell like nice clean, cleanness instead of stinky boy.

Still Boys

So, it is a little after noon on my day off, and I have barely left my room because there are many hungover and passed out boys in the common areas of my house. There is even a girl. I have no idea who she is and what the hell she is doing here, so that is weird. Definitely going to tell Janna about that (she is the liaison to the band of boys). I was going to get some food, but there are people still asleep in the kitchen, and I didn't know how to get stuff out of the fridge with them in front of it. I also am not sure why I am being so polite and sneaking around them. It is my apartment. I pay rent. But there are a lot more of them, and they are mostly strangers or people I barely know. The nice ones are all still asleep or in the shower. I want the nice ones to wake up and make the others let me have my own food.

I have been watching tv on dvd in my room all morning, which is what I would've been doing even if the band wasn't here, so I can't really bug them about that. I actually may have run errands, but I don't know when they are leaving, and I am not sure which one of them has my key (since I didn't work today, we sent my key out with them last night--but with two nice ones who are responsible, not just anyone). I don't want to leave and take too long and be locked out of my own house. Although I could probably run down the street to the mailbox and the mexican food joint and bring back food in a short time and mail my netflix. Hmmmm. . .

This is weird. I want my house back.

Boys everywhere

Normally you would think that was a good thing, but really it means there are many smelly, drunk punk rockers taking over my house. They get points for letting us watch our shows, but they are still boys--seven of them!!!

Right now they are at the bar around the corner celebrating one of their birthdays. They will probably close it down, unless they get kicked out for being too drunk (which is totally possible). Tomorrow night they have a show, and I will probably maybe go. Who knows. I am going to hide in my room for a while tomorrow (watching some of The Wire) before I head out to go glasses shopping.

So many boys. Not that I dislike boys (these in specific or in general), but this is a little ridiculous.

Also, I cannot begin to express how much I love Mythbusters. It is possibly one of the best shows on tv, and definitely the best science show on tv (and Bill Nye can just suck it).

Oscars Part XVI

That is correct. There have been fifteen commercial breaks since the top of the official pre-show on ABC. Holy dear Jesus! I feel like this is taking longer then yesterday's movie marathon event.

Ryan Gosling is funny! I kind of adore him. Yes, she is getting Penelope's dress! Awesome!

Reese is on in a nice dress that is perhaps a little too severe for her, especially with those bangs. I really need to see the Ryan Gosling flick, and the Peter O'Toole flick. It is nice to see some people really in love like Will and Jada. Forest Whitaker is the biggest badass teddy bear in that audience. Best Actor is of course Forest Whitaker. High fives to Leo and Ryan for being really, really classy and giving him a standing 'o.' I love Forest for really having his moment of Oscar. Beautiful speech by Forest. I really like that actor.

Here are three big guys in film! Lucas, Spielberg, and Coppola are giving best director to Marty! That makes me happy. I thoroughly enjoy his movies, especially "The Departed" although I may like "The Age of Innocence" more (it is a much more me movie. I have to give a shout out to Paul Greengrass though because he is awesome. Marty gives quite a decent speech.

"The Queen" is so good. I really think everyone should see it.

Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson get the honors for best picture, and shockingly she doesn't look terribly weird in her formal gear. She is however way, way too excited at this point in the evening. Yea! They liked my favorite. I really love this movie, so I am very glad that it won. I am also really glad that the show is all but over. Although someone will bore us with their producer speech--although yea that dude for giving a shout out to all sorts of people.

And we are done! Thank God. But there was confetti, and a second ago, one of my roommates came out of her room and said, "It's still on!" But now it isn't. There are only credits. Just shy of four hours folks.

Thank you for all who read along at home before or after. It was fun for me, even if Robyn and Sara are the only ones who read any of this.

Oscars Part XV

Now that was a funny joke. Or not because there is still a shit ton of show. And now Ellen is in blue.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman is here, so we are doing best actress now. He seems really tired. My question about Penelope's clip is whether or not she is actually singing for herself. Conversely Miss Mirren is good at the grand and the small performance. WTF is Meryl wearing as jewelry ?!!! Kate Winslet is so freaking cute!!!! And the winner is Helen Mirren, general babe and fantastic actress, plus she gives a good triumphant speech.

Anyway you slice it, that gun is freaking cool!!!!

Oh, now it gets interesting? What were the first three and a half hours for?! Okay, this show keeps getting longer and longer and it is losing all of my goodwill. I did hear that itunes is going to have the short films up for purchase tomorrow which will be cool. I really want to see the musical.

Oscars Part XIV

Will Smith is here, and can I say the man has a distinguished air with his gray hair. Obviously this telecast is starting to go on way to long as I start to rhyme shit.

No we are not watching another random film montage. We are not. I disbelieve it. Although I do love me some dear little baby Jesus funny! I would probably like this montage if it weren't a time sucking hole right now. This is going until well after midnight Eastern time. It might hit 1 AM for those guys. Dude, that sucks.

Kate Winslet quickly jumps to the chase for film editing which goes to "The Departed." Is each win a mark towards or against winning I ask you. Yea for cute older ladies winning things, apparently repeat winning things.

Wow, Jodie Foster looks great, even if her shoes are perhaps a shade to dark. Great hair! And now for the parade of dead people. It seems shorter then usual, and way more depressing music, or maybe I misremember all other times I have seen it. Usually I watch it from the West Coast when it is only a little before 9pm right now.

Oscars Part XIII

Jenny from the block shows up in a blingtastic frock that is kind of way ugly. And here comes some singing! Jennifer Hudson looks good in a bright red dress! And oh can she sing! Although I just saw some bra as she leaned over. Beyonce's dress is very fun too, and not as trashy as it could've been--this is Beyonce remember? I really should get around to seeing "Dreamgirls" while it is still in theaters. More Jennifer Hudson bra peepage, and I think you can see the seams from Beyonce's wig when she screws up her face all crazy. Oooh, the other dreamgirls dress is delightful! The bling on top manages not to be overpowering. Now they look like Destiny's classy child. Who is the guy singing? I don't recognize him? And they end in silhouette. That was some good singing. Gee, I wonder if one of those songs are going to win?

Travolta and Queen Latifa. Her dress is kind of boring and not all that flattering, and I can't wait to see them in "Hairspray" the movie. Best Original Song goes to Melissa Etheridge!!! Awesome! That totally rules! Not that I wouldn't have been totally happy for "Dreamgirls" to win, but I really like this song, and I like me an underdog. Can I say, poor Randy Newman? He probably thought he didn't have a shot in hell to win because he wasn't writing a song for "Dreamgirls," and he didn't win, but he did manage to lose to the only other non-dream song nominated. Poor dude. I don't care, I still like me "Short People Got No Reason to Live" and I always will, and the Jesse the cowgirl song. I liked that one too.

Oscars Part XII

I have been sitting on may ass for way, way too long this weekend. This show needs to wrap it up and get to the good stuff.

Best Score is being given out by Wolverine and Penelope Cruz. Their names sound really pretty in her voice. Also, has anyone noticed how this has become random fun non-Oscar related fact night? Babel wins its first award of the night, and Ellen mocks Jack. Oooh, speed explanations could be fun! Dude, I love that they sped it up!!!!! Funny!

Here is Spidey and Mary Jane giving out best original screenplay. Big moment for a CGI buck here. I am not so much a fan of Kirsten Dunst's look in this one. Best Original Screenplay is "Little Miss Sunshine" does this narrow best picture down to it and "The Departed," or does it dump them out of the running entirely. If anyone was still reading I would ask them to discuss in the commentary.

A devil dances into something that I am assuming is from "Pan's Labyrinth." No, Mr. ex-MTV did not just say that there was so much more to watch!

Oscars Part XI

This is beginning to be ridiculous lengthwise and postwise.

The prettiest man in the world is giving out documentary awards with the crazy newest Bond girl. She looks weird, and her dress looks like a craft project with cheesecloth gone terribly, terribly amok. Best Documentary Short is "The Blood of the Yingzhou District" and my spelling may not be quite right there. And another totally awesome 80's prom dress graces the stage.

Seinfeld makes his triumphant return to the Oscars? Or something. I guess. He is presenting documentaries and making bad jokes. Okay, the garbage bit is kind of funny. The Best Documentary Feature is "An Inconvenient Truth" (but boy were a lot of the others about Iraq?) which was probably the worst documentary up there. Technically and form-wise it was not that good, but its message was hugely important, so it wins for importance. It is hands down the most important film in the Oscars this year. It is probably the most important film of the century so far.

Here's Clint. Talking about the score, and Morricone and giving him a special Oscar. Also f-ing up his lines and the title of the tribute film. And now Cline is singing, but I am not entirely sure why. The song is very pretty though, and he jewels are fantastic even if her dress is not. What is she doing with the hand on her ears? Her makeup artist needs to be replaced because her lipstick shade was not okay and the close-ups showed a very bad lip line job. He is not speaking English, and no one is translating which is very weird and kind of uncomfortable, but then Clint steps up with a translation. His LL may be twice as long, and perhaps it wouldn't be lame if we had any idea what he was saying until after Clint does a bumbling job of translating. This translation job screwed up all sorts of things. No one knew when to clap.

Oscars Part X

It past the halfway mark (give or take), and I feel liveblogging (or kind of blogging live) helps keep me more interested and focused. It also limits the amount of crying, yelling, and cursing, most years there's a lot more of that, but I don't want to break the new laptop.

And we're back with Naomi Watts and Robert Downey Jr.. I kind of totally have the hots for him, and I like it when he pokes fun at his own druggy past. Naomi Watts dress would look better if she just ripped her damn sleeves off and threw them in the trash along with the hideous sash. Apparently she is going to the awesome 80's prom oscar party with Lisa Ling later. Visual F/X goes to some pirates. Let's all give a big round of, "AAAaaaarrrrrggghhh's!" I love it when they talk to small children at home.

Katherine Denueve, and Ken Watanabe (yes I had to IMDB them, but I was actually right before I checked) come on out to show us a film about films in other languages. Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen come out to gibe the award. Best Foreign Film goes to "The Lives of Others" which I really, really want to see, and the Germans go wild over something other then David Hasselhoff. Plus the director or the producer or whoever accepts hugs Guillermo del Toro which I find really sweet. This explains the whole slam of awards for "Pan's Labyrinth" earlier--it wasn't going to give it best foreign film.

Ellen does shadow puppets on the really big screen and gets attacked by the dancers who turn into something creepy that eats her and becomse the logo for "Snakes on a Plane." "They're naked," comedy gold.

Clooney in a tux, reasons why the Oscars are always worth watching (can I get a hell yeah Jenny?". Supporting Actress goes to ummm, Jennifer Hudson. No, I am shocked I tell you shocked! Who would have seen this coming? Really who? Holy Jesus are the tears coming. She can't even talk. (Although again with all the hair on one side! Why is this a look?). Now that she has pulled herself together her speech is veering toward LL. Also, I would've made George help me all the way off stage. He would be taking my arm.

Oscars Part IX

Ellen is wearing an Oscar in a cozy. "The Devil Wears Prada" girls come out for costumes. Anne Hathaway's dress is weird. Emily Blunt's dress is a better color, but why didn't she reapply her lipstick before coming on stage to present? Funny interplay with the Streep though. I feel it necessary at this moment to profess my love for dresses made of sequins and fringe!!! I also love the real actors in tableaux for the costumes, and the winner is "Marie Antoinette." Pat Field is just too crazy for Oscar, but this woman may be crazier then we thought--she's wearing a tux with a tie that she may have stolen from the lead singer of The Killers, and she gives yet another LL (but she did do some wicked costumes for "Titus" and some other stuff.

Now the craziest man in America is talking about a woman that I am inclined to dislike because he seems to like her. All right, she has done some good shit, but still, if Tom Cruise likes her, I am not sure that I can. Are they making out? What is he doing? Why is she letting him that near her face? Her dress is very nice though. Her speech was long but not quite lame. She got a longer speech and managed not to be too dumb.

Clint Eastwood is funny, and really damn old. I really love Ellen. She can be the host for a long time. Gwyneth's dress is really bad, and what is up already with putting all your long, straight hair on one side?! It does not look that good, it looks kind of weird and a little lazy. Cinematography goes to "Pan's Labyrinth" again. Viva la Mexico!

More dancing, this time in the shape of a bus.

Oscars Part VIII

"Holy Baldness" as my roommate Renee notices that Jack has no hair. And Cameron Diaz comes back out looking fabulous! Great earrings. Animated feature goes to the penguins instead of the cars (and boy do the monster house kids look pissed), so we of course cut to Abigail Breslin (because she's a kid get it? animation, kids, get it?). The director/producer sweetly talked about his kids, and seemed to dress as a penguin even more then just a normal tuxedo would've done.

Brett Affleck-Aring's cousin Ben comes in and seems like he is really way too bored to be doing this. A mildly watchable little film on writing. Tom Hanks and Helen Mirren come out and make a lame joke. Best Screenplay goes to "The Departed," but does this bode well or ill for a best picture win later in the evening? Is it just me or does this guy totally look just like you would expect a screenwriter to look? And the poor dude delivers an LL, seeming really, really uncomfortable.

Oscars Part VII

And Callie presents a novice commercial in a creepy soap opera time of day commercial.

I love "The Departed," and I flat out hope it wins best picture. I have already said it is my choice.

Now it is time for some singing. James Taylor, a guitar, and Randy Newman--Newman who can't win an Oscar for nothing. He and some sound mixer are the losingest guys in all of Oscar which means that they have always been not quite good enough, and I am pretty sure that this song is going to be the one for him, unless they give him one out of pity, but that hasn't been the case yet. Melissa Etheridge sings her song from a documentary (the scariest movie I saw in a long time, maybe ever). I like this song. It is kind of way good.

Leo and Al Gore show up to talk about climate crisis? That is kind of weird. Also, why are we not giving out awards? Did Leo just try to get Gore to announce a run, or is this the best joke ever, and it might be the best joke ever. They gave Gore the hook, the musical one.

Oscars Part VI

Ellen corrected herself about Penelope Cruz. And she mocks Judi Dench. Awesome. I bet the Dame is sitting at home and laughing.

This sound f/x choir thing is really quite cool. Even Beyonce likes it, they cut to her (because she is a singer, so she must have been in a choir).

I love Steve Carell. Nice turn the mic off sound joke. Sound Editing goes to "Letters From Iwo Jima" because obviously that was were they put the real work in. They were just slacking on "Flags of Our Fathers" (which they were also nominated for), and so it is a good thing their bullet and plane sounds for that one weren't the bullet and plane sounds that one. Although this proves my point that you don't fuck with the war movies when it comes to sound editing.

Jessica Biel and Tumnus are presenting. Her dress is vibrant and tastefully beautiful. Sound Mixing goes to "Dreamgirls" because that is the only thing that beats war movies, purty singing (and sometimes aliens or fantastical creatures, but only sometimes--singing always has a better shot). The second cut short speech of the night, and another LL.

Rachel Weiss looks really nice in her dress. I like it, very pretty. Arkin's clip is weird because it is the only one where he isn't cursing. Eddie doesn't sing in his clip. Marky Mark's clip is also weird in order to be without cursing. The Oscar goes to Arkin which is great because he is freaking hilarious. I wish that he would've just spoken instead of reading a very polished note, but I do love that he just set to Oscar on the floor. That is funny. Aww, he tears up in talking about his family.

Ellen goes into the audience to harass a just this second loser Marky Mark, and she gives a screenplay to Scorsese, but I don't think there were any words on the pages.

More dancing, or really just standing on stage? Oh, no they are dancing in silhouette. They made penguins.

Oscars Part V

Right now I am wondering how much coverage I will watch before a speech gets too boring? I predict that a lame and long speech (heretofore referred to as an LL) will happen in about forty-five minutes.

Will Ferrell singing a song that sounds kind of like "Somewhere That's Green." And now Jack Black! This is getting good! Please fight the nominees!!! Yes, John C. Reilly!!!! This is the funniest the Oscars has ever been. This song rules, and when this gets posted on You Tube tomorrow, you should find it and watch it.

Makeup goes to "Pan's Labyrinth" again, but "Click" did not win an Oscar, so I am totally cool. The tiny Mexican woman is adorable, and looks very funny next to the very tall comedy guys!! They cut them off. First team to get cut off of the night.

Awww, cute kids presenting awards. Abigail Breslin is much funnier then little Smith, although now that I see the hoop skirt bottom of her dress, it is a lot less cute. And the little Smith gets the first flub of the night. Someone I don't know wins an award I do not care about. And the first LL shows up. It becomes an LL without going over time. Damn, she's boring. I do not want to see her movie now. And I was thirty-five minutes over optimistic. Ooooh, "West Bank Story" looks actually good, and it wins!! Plus the director is quite good-looking (and he made a comic musical about Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank). Yeah, I bet he's going to get him a feature deal real soon. OMG, Jack Nicholson has no hair!!!! Back to the really sweet, earnest director dude! He's cute. I have a little crush, no lie.

Did I mention that I think Clint Eastwood is really, really boring. He's boring, and I think his movies are boring. Sorry, but that is generally true for me. Although Letters From Iwo Jima is up there near the top of my Clint movie list (with "Mystic River," "Space Cowboys," and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"--that's right I said "Space Cowboys"

Oscars Part IV

I love, love, love the nominees clips!!!!!!! Awesome! I would watch that over and over again. Eddie Murphy getting in trouble for being funny. People just being people. Many of them backstage types, getting a moment. That is fabulous. I love having them all stand. They deserve it. I am going to stop typing to clap.

No dress on Ellen, but a snazzy reddish velvet tux (and cut to her mom and Portia in the audience), but she is wearing more makeup then I have ever, ever seen her in. It looks good, just strange.

Can I point out that Penelope Cruz is from Spain, and she seemed to notice the slip of her being named right before the shout out to Mexico. Whoops. Is that an MLP (misidentified latino person) rather then a MBP (substitute black)?

Abigail Breslin is adorable, just cute as a button. Peter O'Toole may however just kick it during the ceremony (and did we see his companion whispering in his ear what is actually being said).

Wow, Gore is getting some applause there!!! And how cute is Leo when Ellen makes him blush.

Dancing and singing, and some people in the audience standing up. Lots of other sitting down. Oh well.

James Bond is hot, and he came in costume. How nice of him. Nicole is still wearing a giant Christmas bow. Art Direction goes to "Pan's Labyrinth" which seems totally fair. It looks pretty fancy, and I always like it when the non-celebs dress well (the set decorator looks great in basic black). Viva La Mexico.

Weird boob squishing is happening in Maggie Gyllenhall's dress. More dancing, into the Oscar. That was kind of cool.

Oscars Part III

Go Marky Mark! I really want him to beat Eddie Murphy. I don't care that I haven't seen "Dreamgirls" but I feel that the previews for "Norbitt" alone should keep him from ever getting one. Plus Marky Mark is so, so good in that flick.

What the FUCK is up with Lisa Ling's skirt?! This is not the awesome 80's prom goes to the Oscars. And a ponytail? Seriously? I have no more to say about that.

Kate Winslet looks good, and so does Helen Mirren. She has got this total bombshell vibe going while still looking age-appropriate. Go her. She was amazing in the queen. I do not have any idea how someone goes about inhabiting a character that complex so very completely and simply. She deserves all the awards she gets.

The real show is about to start, but I make no predictions in advance. I am however pissed that they moved the supporting acting awards from the top of the show to some where near the end. That is bullshit!

Oscars Part II

Apparently Cameron Diaz has been in the ice cream since the Timberlake kicked her to the curb, but she looks better for it. She could have always used the curves, and they are nice to see.

Eddie Murphy's ho of the moment is wearing a hideous, hideous dress. It is tight in all the wrong places. But Cate Blanchett look fantastic!!! Her dress is stunning!

Why didn't Ryan Gosling bring my favorite McAdams? This upsets me--they better not be broken up, but he is a funny, funny guy, even funny in pre-show, reflecting on having his mom and sister on his arm, he said, "I thought I'd do it like Snoop."

Oscars Part I

What the fuck is Nicole Kidman wearing? Did she steal some mall Christmas decorations and wrap the big wreath's ribbon around her? Why would she think that was a good idea?!!!

Also, no one should wear a dress with pockets, especially not if you are already known as the 'fat' dreamgirl, and by the way, I am ten minutes into the freaking pre-show half hour and all right already with the "Dreamgils" songs!! I don't care, even if those chiquitas can sing.

Plus opening penguin sequence=so far so good, actual laughing. I will keep it coming right here all night long!

Blogging the Oscars

I am going to post here often during the ceremony with my instant responses (probably at the commercial breaks). This will be my first experiment with live blogging, and I am doing it all from Jim's comment the other day.

5 Best Pictures; 1 Best Day

So we did it, and there was no sleeping or anything. I will definitely go next year, and I will bring as many people as I can with me because it was fun. Seeing best picture nominees in a sold out audience full of people who really enjoy movies was probably the best possible way to see them. We laughed and we cried and we gasped and we communed, and by the end of the very long day, we had formed a community of sorts.

The facts: 12 and a half hours from start to finish of films, but we arrived early in order to get good seats, so we were in the theater (sitting) for 13 hours and maybe fifteen minutes. Three large bags of popcorn between the two of us (though we did dump the crumbs on all bags), and five large sodas (but there was some dumping of them too). There were two fifteen minute breaks, one forty-five minute break, and one twenty-five minute break, and we stayed in the realm of the movie theatre the entire time (other people did not). Too many trips to the restroom to count (thank goodness I had already seen two of the films and that Sara had seen one, I didn't miss anything). We got a totally nerdy backstage/VIP pass on a lanyard that we were instructed to wear all day, but Sara and I had already decided to wear it all day no matter what.

After several trips in and out I finally figured out why the theater seemed so strange, every single cup holder held a movie soda cup. It was very odd in its uniformity (we were all provided with a cup and a bag as we entered), cool though.

The movies themselves were as follows:

Babel: Could also be titled "People Are Stupid in Every Language" or "Stupid People are Boring in Every Language." The movie was fine--definitely the "Crash" of this year except since it is almost an exact copy, it much less exciting and interesting. There are come very nice performances and moments, but, in general, it is messy with lots of slow bits. After watching the whole, I thought it was kind of interesting, but I don't know if I would have gotten through it had I not been in a theater. I would've gotten distracted and changed the channel or turned it off.

The Queen: This movie is really funny, and I never would have thought that it would be from all the reviews/press/previews I had seen. It was quick and interesting, and Helen Mirren is exquisite in it. James Cromwell and the woman who plays the Queen Mum are awesome too. I would say that you shouldn't miss this film; it is well worth the watching.

The Departed: I flat out love this movie, and I have seen it three times in theaters now, and I still love it. It is my favorite for Best Picture.

Letters From Iwo Jima: Touching movie, but it suffers from the Clint Eastwood storytelling factor. It takes a very long time to get anywhere, and after you are there you wonder what the hell they were doing for half the movie. However, the fact that I knew very little about the Japanese side of WWII kept it from being as painfully slow as "Million Dollar Baby." I liked it, and I will probably see "Flags of Their Fathers" someday soon.

Little Miss Sunshine: A way, way, way better film when seeing it with and audience and for a second time. The anticipation of the ending is hilarious the second time around. I still hate the father character with a passion, so that makes me crazy, and the ending stops being funny and starts being weird (for me) precisely when Toni Colette gets on stage. Her energy really changes it and kills all the funny that is there before. Steve and Alan are brilliant though!

AMC hosted this party (for a fee), so you KC types should see if there is one in your neck of the woods next year.

In Preparation

I am going to get new glass next week, in advance on losing my pier one insurance. I may also go to the dentist.

I will also spend today psyching up for my best picture movie theater marathon tomorrow. Five movies, one theater, one day. There will be packed lunches smuggled in, as well as candy, and maybe a water bottle. But I will get all the pop and popcorn I can eat and drink at the theater.

The big question will be, after a week of terrible sleeping, can I stay awake through all of the films? Since I have already seen the last show of the evening, will I wuss out and go home early? Stay tuned. Will Sara Jo stay awake for all the movies remains to be seen as well, but there is strong suspicion that the subtitles of Letters From Iwo Jima will be her undoing.

I have a job

That's right. I have a brand new job, and I start in a week and a half to two weeks. It is my roommate's old job (she actually has it right now, but is about to be promoted). I will be a receptionist and office helper at a screenprinting company. They seem fun and informal (I will get to wear jeans and a t-shirt to work, yes!). It is a little bit of a raise which is good, and I will qualify for my new benefits in thirty days.

BTW, this makes Renee my hero of several weeks.

I have a job interview

It is tomorrow for my roommate Renee's current job. It will mean a pay increase, and regular hours if I get it. It will also be actual office job credentials, so in a year (more or less) I could parlay this into a real office job downtown with much better pay. We shall see. Wish me luck.

I am that kid

At work. I am that kid. I am the one that does all the crazy stuff. Like this morning when I climbed a ladder while carrying a barstool. I have a nifty science down for it. What I do is turn the chair upside down and put the seat on my head with the back down my back, and then I use one hand to climb the ladder and the other to steady the chair on my head. Some days, this is the only way you can get things done quickly, so I do it. I was trying to figure out how to climb a fixed ladder (on a wall) with a box of cushions , but someone came in so I just had them hand them up to me.

Everyone else thinks this is strange or funny, and they sometime worry about my safety. I think this is a result of my MFA. Well, I have been fairly phisically fearless for a while (not stupid, but I evaluate the risk), but animal class and Paul's class sort of pushed that to the extreme, so did McB. All that ladder climbing in capes makes me do silly things at work.

Happy Chinese New Year

So my wonderful friends Angie and Sara Jo braved the cold way down in Chinatown to watch the Chicago Chinese New Year's Parade. Like all Chicago parades, it would've been better if there were less people running for office in it.

It was fun. I liked the marching bands and the dragons (although there could've been more), but it was very cold. I lost my toes somewhere during the afternoon, and it would've been better warmer, so I don't think that I will go back unless it is like 75 degrees next February.

Sore

My thighs are sore in a weird way, and I am convinced it is from walking in the deep snow. There are crazy drifts and shifty piles I must cross to get to work, and to cross them you grip the ground with your leg muscles in a different way then they usually are used when you walk. They hurt and ache in that way that muscles do when they are being newly used.

I had some big philosophical question to ponder that I was tossing about at work, but now I cannot remember. Now I am being distracted by Ken Burns' "The West" just watched Sitting Bull get killed and the Battle of Wounded Knee.

I was actually naseous

During Grey's Anatomy, the drilling in the head business was kind of making me sick. I had to look away and let my roommate tell me when to look back. And (spoiler alert) I for sure do not believe Meredith is going to die no matter how much they want me to think it. She's not dying. Shonda, for real, you do not have me fooled. I am not even worried (though Derek and and McSteamy all being mcCuddly was seriously tugging at my heart strings). And ohs no Izzy did not just say that!!!!

Not much else happening here in my life. I am going to clean some room and do some laundry tomorrow. We shall see.

She made it

My aforementioned friend did in fact make it into Midway last night at around 9:30pm, which was only five and a half hours late with a detour to Tennessee. Not bad, I guess considering all of the crazy weather delays of yesterday and today.

Happy Valentine's day all!

Excercise in Futility

I did not go to the museum today because of the blizzard conditions, not to mention the small snow drift outside my door. This made me a little whiny and cranky, but I still had stuff to do. I agreed to go and meet my friend Angie at Midway today. There had been some delays and stuff at the airport, but by mid afternoon some flights were still getting in, and when I checked the Southwest website, her flight was in the air and early. It seemed crazy, but who knows?

I get all bundled up, and I go out. Walking in tall powdery drifting snow takes a lot of effort, and it is best to go at it fast and furious to keep your momentum built up. So I sort of power through three and a half blocks to get to the train, and I arrive soaked. I take the brown line all the way into downtown, and then switch to the orange line which I take to its endpoint at Midway. The whole trip is an hour and fifteen minutes, and I should be hitting baggage claim at the same time as Angie. However, the level above baggage claim, I check the monitors for information about her flight, and somehow in the last 85 minutes her flight went from being twenty minutes early to an hour and twenty-five minutes late. Great.

Down I go to baggage claim--which is crowded with all sorts of people--and I pull up a seat (because I thank goodness find one) and read my book. Her arrival times pass, and I am still curled up with Scandalmonger by William Saffire which is cool because I really need to finish it before it goes back to the library, and it is super long for how little I read now that I no longer ride the train to work. Then Angie calls me--from Nashville. She is stranded there with no idea what she is supposed to do since she no longer has a boarding pass (they took it when she boarded). They got rerouted there when they couldn't land at Midway. So, I turn around and take the long two train trip back to my apartment as well as the hard working hopping it takes to get home since more snow had accumulated in the two hours that my airport adventure consumed. I can't wait to walk to work tomorrow since no one here bothers to scrape their sidewalks (however the walking and the horrendous driving conditions did make me very happy that I didn't try to go to the stupid museum).

Angie did call me just a few minutes ago saying that she got on a plane in Nashville that should, maybe, get here tonight. She was waiting to take off.

A Couple of Things

Stupid cheating museum. Tomorrow is free day at the Museum of Science and Industry, and I was going to go for a couple of reasons. One of them was that the last time I went there was a small child in our party who wanted to run down the long sloping hallway to the U-boat instead of walk slowly and watch every second of History Channel-esque footage and read every word of all of the supporting material (in his defense he was in Kindergarten and maybe couldn't really read) about it. It kind of killed me to be forced to do that. Also, Bodyworks is showing there, and I thought wouldn't it be great just to pay the part of the admission for Bodyworks instead of general admission plus Bodyworks. However, stupid museum heads charge $18 to go see Bodyworks on free days instead of $9.50 which only saves $1.50 from seeing it on a regular price day. Stupid. Anyway, so instead I am going to see if I can get a museum pass from the library, so I can go see it some day that costs money (like this Saturday with my roommate and her cousin Rick) and get general admission free and then pay $9.50. Stupid museum. Can I say that again?

Had a wonderful time this weekend meeting Jeff Davis. Well, really meeting him. We have met very briefly a few other times, but this time we all hung out with Azar. He is hosting a double feature of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "Newsies" at his house this weekend (which is in a high rise and has a very nice view).

Also, why is it we only have 'don't leave your house or travel unless you absolutely must' days on my days off when I want to do stuff? Seriously, weather? But, no matter what I will venture out to pick Angie up at the airport. I love that city life is the only place where 'picking someone up' from the airport has nothing to do with automobiles since what I am doing is taking the train to the train to the airport and back helping to pull rolly suitcases. Although with the weather being how it is, we'll see if they let Angie land.

Brilliance and not really

Final episode of season one of "The Wire" is pure brilliance. A complete and fantastic episode on its own while eloquently mirroring the original of the series bringing a degree of closure while leaving many, many doors wide open. I cannot wait for season two. (Also, Det. McNulty joins the parade of bad boys I have a hankering for of late because Dominic West is a fine man and a fine actor).

Saw a show at Steppenwolf tonight, Pinter's Betrayal. Two outstanding actors, one okay actor, and a show that was just fine. Nothing special, just fine. Too bad. Also, I am not sure that I would like an actual production of the play in its entirety, possibly ever. It is far too choppy and disjointed. Not bad, just abrupt in person, in a way that it isn't when I power through it reading it by myself. Anyone seen a good live version of it?

Oh, belated hero of the week, Herbert because I will miss him when he leaves Pier One.

Clearing things up

I am not quite as sad or pathetic as the boyfriend/potential husband gathering entry of the other day. It spiraled out of control with the Jenny and the Lauren not just mocking me as expected. Really mostly Jenny with the being serious when I was almost 100% sure she would be the most mocking (c'mon girl are you falling down on the job, did you retire?)because well that used to be what she does.

Tomorrow I get to spend all day with my favorite crazy Persian, and tonight I get to spend with the final episode of season one of "The Wire" which I have come to quietly love. As Lauren says, "They are all so brilliantly fucked up." They are. The ensemble is full of brilliant generous actors who revel in their characters humanity, and it is an unusual brand of humanity for television because everyone has flaws and everyone has beauties, and the writers don't allow any one side to be favored over the other. Neither the cops nor the drug dealers are heroic, but neither are they villains. They are people who struggle to do what is best, sometimes for themselves and sometimes for the greater good. Sometimes they just struggle.

All five Oscar nominated best pictures in one day, in one theatre

Yeah, so I really think this is a brilliant idea and I really want to go. It is $30 and it is all of them, plus free large popcorn and free large drink, refillable all day long. It is kind of my idea of heaven. Although I don't think anyone would go with me (well anyone who lives here, my friend Bryce would so go with me but he is in Olympia), and this seems just too nerdy to do alone. But really, all five in one day. Heaven, total and utter heaven!

So much stuff, so little time

I really don't understand how most of the rest of the world gets things done. I never seem to have enough time to really do things. Actually, I probably do, but I love tv and sleep and the internet too much to have a ton of extra free time. I was going to go to two museums today, but now I will only go to one. Plus I will hang out with my friends Sara and Kristy, so I guess that ain't nothin' but it is less then I had planned. Perhaps my plans are unrealistic? Or maybe I am tainted by my younger days when I did a ridiculous amount of crap--although that was before I had the internet and I almost never watched tv then.

In defense of the internet, I love the blogs I read daily. They make me feel like a part of a community--sometimes of strangers but more often of friends, the very friends who read this blog--and they are my daily news and entertainment. The movies I watch from netflix and blockbuster are important to me as well. I started watching copious amounts of movies in high school when I got my license. I rented every classic movie "Crazy Mike's Video Store" had (granted that was like 65 movies), and I watch lots of award nominess and critical favorites. My netflix queue is over 200, and that is only probably only half of the movies I want to watch. It has been a goal of mine to see and know as many movies as possible--focusing on critical favorites and classics and even cult classics. That may be a weird goal, but it gives me a great deal of pleasure, so spending my days off watching 6 hours (on average) of movies isn't a waste of my time. It is working towards a goal. Now watching 5 hours of City Confidential on A&E, that's probably a waste of time, but the voice over is so lulling I cannot change the channel.

Umm, so that above was probably for myself as much as for any of you. Shout out to Jim and Donad for giving me credit for my Nathan prescience. Also, I am very sad this week because Herbert and Kristy are both leaving me at Pier One. In the next week. Two of my favorite coworkers gone. It won't be the same without them. It should motivate me to find a more financially rewarding job, so that I can start actually paying off my student loans and be able to live my life at the same time. Actually if I had posted yesterday, it would've been a long post about how just when you start to get your life in order it gets all fucked up again. Or if not fucked up, it just runs right off the track you had laid for it. I just want it to be easier. I just want someone else to take care of everything for me, so that I can spend my days watching movies. This is perhaps too much to ask. Some days I wonder if I wouldn't be happier living back in the tri-cities, married to some good Catholic boy watching movies and Oprah, and occasionally teaching and directing for ACT and maybe CBC and Hanford High School? I am of course missing the good Catholic boy, but I hear David Bruce is still single. I don't actually think I want that, but maybe I should go on a date with one of the eligibles my mom and her friends think would be good for me when I go home this summer? After the date, it should pretty well clear thing up right? Most likely, I will hate the very idea of being tied to him all the time, or I will be head over heels and all problems solved. Or none of the above because quite frankly we all know life is much more complicated then that.

I wonder who (other then the Bruce) my mom and her friends would hook me up with? Lauren and Jenny feel free to post potentials in the comments that would make me laugh or be serious or both.

In a commercial

Not me, of course. But Brian Smith was in a Bud Light commercial during the freaking super bowl. For those who missed it or are unfamiliar with my fellow CMS Mule, Brian was the tall groomsmen in the Bud Light commercial who hired the auctioneer for the wedding. I went to school with him, he was my Benedick to my Beatrice in advanced acting in undergrad. He's a good guy and now he was on during the super bowl.

On a much angrier note, stupid Chicago CBS did not play the extra special good episode of Criminal Minds after the game. They played post-game shit because apparently they missed the part of the game where the Bears lost. Infuriating. I am writing my local CBS affiliate a nasty letter. Stupid, stupids.

Fuck it is cold!

That is really all I have got. It is cold inside our fucking house. It is cold outside, and there are major warnings to cover all skin if you MUST leave your house and limit time outside to less then thirty minutes at a time. Fuck me. I don't want to go to work ever again if possible.

What is the difference between nine degrees and nineteen?

One means your snot still stays liquid as it drips down your nose, and the other means it freezes or congeals onto the inside of your nose and there is stays on your walk to work. It is bitterly cold here, and it will only get worse this weekend (which means the frozen thermometer is the weather icon for Sun. forecast on my forecastfox). My plan is to not leave the house tomorrow. I will do my taxes, do some apartment cleaning, watch some movies, and basically wrap myself into a blanket for the whole weekend--my roommates have the same plan.

See you later, decorator? Seriously?

I cannot believe that that is their tag line for Top Design. It is so awful it hurts me a little in my heart, but I am so using it on crap-headed designers who come into our store and are meany-faces. Anyway, I hope that show gets better.

And Marcel (or whom I like to call Teenwolf--thanks to ALOTT5MA, my favorite blog) has lost Top Chef mostly because he cannot play well with others. That goes out to you Jenny, fan of the dreaded teenwolf (although Ilan is kind of a brat too, he just has enough social skills to not be a brat to people's faces, Marcel has almost no social skills).