Redrum

Wait a minute... Wasn't The Shining a creepy movie with a kid who talked to his finger while his psycho dad was trying to kill him and his ugly mom? "Red rum!" Not according to this great preview. Looks like a different movie altogether. Like a heart-warming story of a novelist and a boy. Awwww.

-------------------

Track of the Day: "Alison" by Elvis Costello
"Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking
when I hear the silly things that you say..."

I'll have the butt

At lunch today, a coworker talked in detail about making "pork butt." I'm pretty sure he was just talking about ham but he had a funny way of saying it. "Boil the butt with cabbage and potatoes..."

-----------

Track of the Day: "Colors" by Amos Lee
"When you're gone, colors seem to fade..."

Gem Sweater

To the anonymous person who left this Gem Sweater link in my comments, thank you, thank you, thank you! That totally made my morning. I watched it three times. By far, my favorite part of the song is the part about the shoulder pads giving the strength to destroy your villages, homes, and crops. I, too, feel the exact same way about shoulder pads.

I rollercoaster for you

Last night, I spent $1800 on a piece of medical equipment that would allow me to travel easier. And because it's not a medical necessity, not a penny of it is covered by insurance. $1800! That's just crazy. Where's my sugar daddy?

This morning I was telling Beverly about the D.C. man who recently bought an abandoned rowhouse from the city and, while walking through it, found a skeleton in the upstairs bathtub. I got so excited I dumped a whole mug of coffee all over me. I changed my shirt but I still smell like Starbucks Breakfast Blend. Zeke licked part of it off the bathroom floor. The last thing that dog needs is caffeine.

I think this new Geena Davis series Commander-in-Chief looks so politically correct, I can hardly bring myself to watch the commercials for it. I hope it bombs.

Speaking of things that bother me... Why do people leave long messages on voice mail? It drives me crazy to sit through a four-minute-long message to get the call-back number at the end. If you want to leave a long message -- fine. But leave your number at the beginning so I can delete it and call you back. Succinct. That's the word of the day. State your purpose and MOVE ON! The worst is when you wait for the number at the end and it's too fast or incoherent to write down and you have to replay the whole thing. (Please disregard this if you're Russ or someone else who likes to leave songs, scientific theories, or theatrical dialogue on my voice mail.)

What's all this about Ben Affleck moving to Virginia? And getting into politics?! Yeah, I feel better knowing they're just rumors, but if there's any real political aspirations there, he may want to pick a less Republican state. Like Vermont or something.

-------------

Track of the Day: "Out of the Woods" by Nickel Creek
"It's all enchanted and wild,
It's just like my heart said it was going to be..."

I'm smarter for knowing this

This HAS to be one of the most fascinating Word of the Days I've ever seen.

Word of the Day for Sunday September 25, 2005

gimcrack \JIM-krak\, noun:
A showy but useless or worthless object; a gewgaw.

adjective:
Tastelessly showy; cheap; gaudy.

A gewgaw?! Wha?

"Get that gimcrack outta here before I have to show you who's boss."

Weekend review

What did I do this weekend?

1. I went back to IKEA and spent tons of money on this desk (because I really like that it's height-adjustable) and this chest of drawers (because I really needed something to put my purse on).

2. I served as quality control when my parents assembled my IKEA furniture on Saturday. Actually 'quality control' is being awfully generous. The truth is that I more-or-less watched the assembling while I was plucking my eyebrows. Insisting that I was quality control makes me feel like I was an active participant in the process.

3. I watched Peyton Place, the 1957 movie with Lana Turner. It was fantastic and so very dramatic! No wonder a soap opera was based on it. And I can see why it was shocking and controversial for it's day for addressing issues like child abuse and "forced miscarriage." But now people wouldn't even think twice about it.

4. After church on Sunday, I went to my friend Beverly's house for a delicious meal of fried porkchops, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, peas, and some sort of strawberry dessert. Very healthy stuff. Beverly's house may be a freakin' zoo with all the children and pets and noise and random people dropping in for no apparent reason, but I'll tell you what -- the girl can cook. Again, my job was to bring the strawberry wine which, of course, I forgot. Once again, I bring the wine to be somewhat of a contributor to the dinner and I fail. And technically, it wasn't even my bottle of wine. It was a gift from Bev. I forgot HER bottle of wine. I suck.

5. I cried for two hours straight while watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I soaked a Kleenex.

What did you do?

----------------------

Track of the Day: "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel
"Fools, said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows..."

Couch surfing

Ever feel like traveling but you just don't have the money to stay at a nice hotel? Try CouchSurfing.com, a website that helps you make world-wide connections. Sign up to have your name listed as someone who would host a Couch Surfer by providing him with a guest bedroom, couch, or sleeping bag. Or, be the Couch Surfer and choose a name from the list.

It doesn't seem like the safest way to travel even with their safety system, however it certainly would save you money and allow you to meet new and interesting people. It seems like somthing my little sister Becky would sign up to do.

-------------

Track of the Day: "Hide Me in Your Heart" by FFH
"As I enter your presence, I realize your grace and I find my rest in your embrace..."

Evacuate...again!

I hope this doesn't sound too harsh...but New Orleans MUST HAVE THE STUPIDEST MAYOR in the U.S. Marion Barry came pretty darn close, but I think Ray Nagin takes the cake.

First, he slacks off on calling for an evacuation (a local and state responsibility). Then he tries to blame anyone but himself. Then he cooperates with evacuations only to encourage people to re-enter the city before it's even safe. When the head of the federal government's relief effort Thad Allen voiced his disagreement with allowing people back into the city, Nagin reminded Allen that "there is only one mayor of New Orleans." Ain't that a shame.

Now he's changed his mind. "I'd rather err on the side of conservatism," he said. It's a bit late to be erring on that side in my opinion. He should've erred on that side a few weeks back. But now that another storm is coming, the city is unsafe. Got that? It's the storm that's making the city unsafe, that's all. Not the toxic sludge, the disease, the fact that aide workers have to get shots to even enter the area, the unstable buildings, the lack of water and electricity, no emergency service... Yeah, if it weren't for the impending storm, people would be just fine.

Ugh. All that guy needs is to be caught doing cocaine in a hotel room with a two-bit whore and his career would hit a record low.

-------------------

Track of the Day: "I Am The Highway" by Audioslave
"I put million of miles under my heels,
but still too close to you, I feel..."

Take me out

Check out the Orioles game slideshow.

Weekend Review

On Friday, I left work early and went to Annapolis with my mom to go shopping. We ate an early dinner and then went to IKEA where we hovered around the displays until they made us leave. Yep. we closed the place down and all we managed to buy was a 6-pack of their cinnamon rolls. But I did lots of research and now I want to go back and buy a new desk, a chest of drawers, and shelves.

Kim and her husband John invited me to an Orioles baseball game on Sunday afternoon. I'll get a slideshow of pictures from the afternoon up later today.

----------------

Track of the Day: "Today" by Joshua Radin
"You looked right through me, there was no one else.
I sat beside you and became myself..."

The morning drive

I pulled up to a stoplight this morning and happened to glance at the car next to me. All I could see what a hand with a big, fat cigar hanging out the window. "Funny," I thought. "It's 9:30 in the morning and he's enjoying a cigar." I pulled up a little more to see what a Morning Cigar Smoker looks like and a REALLY old guy turned to me and smiled a huge toothless grin...right before he grabbed a brown bottle of beer and took a swig! The light turned green and he drove off.

Drinking, smoking, and driving at 9:30 in the morning! Now there's a guy that knows how to live it up.

Movie Review: Crash

For a girl who thinks she's black.

What? What?! Two movie reviews in one week? Yeah, that's because my crazy friend Beverly practically forced me to watch Crash and then told me to review it. She came over to my house yesterday morning with the DVD and raved about its merits for half and hour. I had to ask her to stop talking about it for my sanity's sake. When we switched subjects, I thought she was going to cry. And then she called me last night around 8 p.m. to see if I had started it yet. It was that moment that I realized her obsession may take a violent turn if I didn't play that DVD.

Although I didn't adore the movie like Beverly, I did enjoy it. I had been avoiding this movie because I knew it primarily dealt with the subject of race and prejudice. I figured it'd be a little heavy for my taste. And it was a heavy movie. This isn't something you'd watch strictly for entertainment value. It's a morality movie.

But let me start with the things I liked. It was a beautifully crafted movie with a fantastic ensemble cast. Not one weak link. And I enjoyed watching how this scattered group of characters affected each other with their actions or words and not even realize it. It's the whole six-degrees-of-separation thing. Lots of things going on at once and, at the end, you see the connection. I like movies like that. That alone made it worth watching.

Like I said, this was a morality movie -- a movie that preaches against judging and stereotyping based on the color of skin. And in general, I don't like preachy movies. Every single character in this movie (with the exception of one), whether "good" or "bad" was overtly racist in some way. A white cop stereotyped black people. A black car thief stereotyped white people. A white female detective yelled slurs at an Asian woman. A white housewife insisted that a hispanic lock-smith was in a gang. It was crazy! By watching the movie, you get the idea that we are totally incapable of seeing anyone without stereotyping. Every decision made is colored by the race of another. I understand why the writer/director did this though... There is no more effective way to make the point that, while we may not show obvious stereotyping, we think it.

At the same time, these characters are not all bad. Each character has admirable qualities with makes this a very morally confusing movie. At one moment, you may hate a character and, the next moment, love him. It's humanity itself.

I give this movie respect for wanting to deal with race in an upfront way, but I think this movie's much more politically correct than it intended to be. Several times characters ignorantly say "Speak American!" to others, hammering home this idea that it's selfish/stupid/wrong for Americans to expect other cultures to speak English while they're in the US.

My employer really ought to scoop this movie up and include it in our Diversity Training. It highlights the same thing: we are all different but also the same. Oh, and we need each other. I may sound sarcastic in say that (or typing that...whatever) but I do think it's true. People will always stereotype. It's impossible to convince people not to do so when many are based on our past experiences, etc. The real lesson here is not to allow ourselves to act on those stereotypes.

In conclusion, the movie was worth seeing. I keep thinking about it. It was heartbreaking and disgusting and touching and depressing all at once. I'm just excited that Beverly watched an independent movie. It's a good first step.

------------------

Track of the Day: "Give Me Up Again" by Jonny Lang
"I never would have thought such a pretty little face could offer me so much and take all that I had..."

Trained in the art of PMS

I had to take PMS training at work yesterday. PMS training? That's right. Program Management System training. It just changed over from QMS (Quality Management System) to PMS. Whoever was responsible for that decision wasn't thinking straight.

Now I'm a PMS expert.

-------------------

Track of the Day: "The Leaving Song" by Big Head Todd & The Monsters
"...Empty out all those sweet memories from my head
How did I ever end up playing your fool?"

Movie Review: An Unfinished Life

Last night, I persuaded my mom into going with me to see An Unfinished Life. It wasn't hard. My mom loves Robert Redford. Most of my friends would rather set themselves on fire than watch something with J. Lo in it or anything with a limited release. But because it was a limited release, we had to drive up north to see it. At a really nice theater! A theater without sticky floors and kids standing around outside pretending they're thugs! I hardly knew how to handle myself in such a place.

I know I've just seen a good movie when I'm still thinking about it a day later. It opens with J. Lo's character, physically abused, deciding to leave her boyfriend and go to Wyoming to live with her father-in-law who she hasn't seen since a car accident that killed her husband 11 years earlier. She brings her daughter who has never met her grandfather. The movie revolves around these (and other) characters and their relationships. (WARNING: Do not see this movie if you don't enjoy character development!) The movie is predictable in so many ways, but I enjoyed watching the story unfold.

The performances are very well-done (at least in my opinion...the movie was panned by reviewers). Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman are fantastic, as is the young girl who plays the grandaughter. Jennifer Lopez is even good, although she isn't completely natural in her part as Redford and Freeman are. Daniel Lewis is utterly revolting in this part. He plays the same type of obsessed, stalker-like crazy man as he does in the BBC miniseries "The Forsythe Saga." Unfortunately, Josh Lucas (from Sweet Home Alabama) is underutilized in his part. Any actor could've played his character just as well.

I really like movies that are artistically beautiful, that tell a good story, that have off-beat humor, or that convey a message. Not necessarily a moral or anything, but a strong theme. I liked the themes here. There is a strong theme of dealing with loss and grief and the importance of forgiveness, not for the guilty party's benefit but for the peace of the wronged. This film also addresses the struggle with accepting your lot in life -- the hand you were dealt -- and living fully with what you have. Perhaps a life is unfinished not by circumstances, but by choice. These themes hit close to home. I'm putting this movie on my wishlist.

In less profound news, I was in the elevator 30 seconds to a minute this morning before I figured out that it wasn't moving because I hadn't pushed a floor button yet. Sometimes I think I'm so smart. It's a good thing I have moments like this to bring me back down to earth. I wouldn't want my self-esteem getting too high.

-------------

Track of the Day: "Closer To You" by The Wallflowers
"When it's quiet and I don't hear a thing, well, I can always hear you breathe..."

Glad we've got our priorities straight

There may not be any grocery stores up and running in New Orleans yet, but at least there's a strip club. Big Daddy's, a strip club on New Orleans Bourbon Street, is almost back in business. The only problem is convincing female dancers to come back to a town that is under a mandatory evacuation. Oh, and no water or electricity, and that pesky sewage smell.

----------------

Track of the Day: "Graduation Day" by Chris Isaak
"Think of the good times
Wishing you were still with me, the way it used to be..."

Two miles

This weekend, I tried to convince a little boy of 5 or 6 that, really, he did NOT want to quit walking and just ride in a wheelchair all the time. He came up to me and said, "Um...sometimes,...sometimes I, um,...wish that I was in a wheelchair and, um, didn't have to walk around."

So I told him that he would think it was cool for maybe 30 minutes and then he'd want to get up. "No, I wouldn't. I'm used to sitting! I like it."

"You'd missing walking and running," I said. "And jumping."

"I walked two miles today," he said, in an exasperated way.

"TWO MILES! I'm surprised your legs didn't fall off."

Heh. I'm glad at least someone thinks I'm lucky to be in a wheelchair. I'm sure I thought the same way when I was a kid. Walking sucks when your little. But I have actually been out at the mall and grown people have looked at me and said "Whew, I wish I had one of those chairs right now." I smile and chuckle and know they're just creating conversation, but inside I'm dying.

-----------------

Track of the Day: "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer
"This way is a waterslide away from me that takes you further every day
So be cool..."

Toto seems out of place

On a whim, I made myself a CD with a bunch of my favorite 80s hairbands. Yeah! Check out this line-up:

1. "Cherry Pie" - Warrant
2. "When I See You Smile" - Bad English
3. "Poison" - Alice Cooper
4. "I Remember You" - Skid Row
5. "Nobody's Fool" - Cinderella
6. "Alone" - Heart
7. "Don't Cry" - Guns N' Roses
8. "Love Is On the Way" - Saigon Kick
9. "18 and Life" - Skid Row
10. "What About Love?" - Heart
11. "Africa" - Toto
12. "High Enough" - Damn Yankees
13. "We're Not Gonna Take It" - Twisted Sister
14. "When the Children Cry" - White Lion
15. "Here I Go Again" - Whitesnake
16. "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" - Poison
17. "Cult of Personality" - Living Colour

I had to leave Bon Jovi out because there are too many good ones of his. If you want good Bon Jovi, buy his Crossroads album. And I should've added a few other GNR songs. Or maybe Firehouse or Steelheart.

If you want me to send you an Awesome 80s CD or if you just want to ridicule my taste in 80s rock, email me or send me your address.

More Katrina

On the 11 'o clock news last night, a reporter covered the story of the deaths at St. Rita's nursing home in New Orleans. It's terribly tragic to hear about especially because the owner turned away the buses that were available to evacuate.

The reporter was interviewing a woman whose mother drowned in the nursing home. She was angry -- very angry -- that her mother had not been rescued. She blamed the local government, the owner of the nursing home, and anyone else. I felt bad for her...and then I figured out that she and her husband lived in New Orleans and evacuated to Virginia to stay with her daughter. Why didn't she take her mother with her?! I don't care if she was bedridden. If she felt the conditions were bad enough for her to leave, how could she leave her mom in the care of strangers? Take some personal responsibility! That's yo' mama.

-----------------

Track of the Day: "Twenty-four" by Switchfoot
"Spirit take me up in arms with You
You're raising the dead in me..."

The blame game

Woooo! Jim Geraghty of National Review puts the smack down when Anne Rice tries to blame America for "turning our backs" on New Orleans.

We failed you? No, oh brilliant creator of Exit to Eden, you failed. You might not think of it this way, but: Your leaders failed to upgrade the levees. You elected a bunch of weepers and blame-shifters who lost their head in a crisis.

Over the past decades, your elected officials have let a criminal element incubate and grow until they ruled the streets, instead of the forces of law and order. In pop culture, a New Orleans thief is always a charming rogue with a devilish smile. In reality, they’re a bunch of thugs.

"How many times did Gov. Kathleen Blanco have to say that the situation was desperate?" said Rice. "How many times did Mayor Ray Nagin have to call for aid?" I'm not trying to suggest the federal government is completely free from blame in this situation, but let's not blame it for this entire fiasco. After all, it was Gov. Blanco who requested 24 hours to decide if she should accept the President's offer for the government to take over evacuations. It was Blanco who called for evacuations only one day before the hurricane hit instead of two days before (like Bush had asked). It was Blanco who refused to allow the government to take command of the state's National Guard.

I don't know about you, but what would make me feel significantly better is for Michael Jackson to record another "We Are The World"-type song for the hurricane victims. Only then can we truly begin to heal. Perhaps he could get Kanye West to join him. Maybe Barbra Streisand and DMB too. And he could dedicate it to the children.

--------------

Track of the Day: "Love You Madly" by Cake
"When I kiss your lips I want to sink down to the bottom of the sea..."

I just spent $60 on gas

Basically, all weekend long I wallowed in ear infection misery. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, so I went all out in my wallowing by being obnoxious and cranky and grunting one-word answers to all questions thrown in my direction. I AM AN EXPERT WALLOWER. I am good at complaining too. It's a skill I acquired from my mother.

Between all the wallowing and complaining, I accomplished nearly nothing this weekend unless you consider sleeping record amounts of time and watching movies accomplishments. I watched The English Patient on Sunday night. I've owned this movie on VHS for the past 5 years and hadn't once watched it. I bought it for $10 because I knew it won several Academy Awards. (In my experience, Academy Awards never speak for the quality of a movie. In fact, the Academy must have been on crack when they awarded the Best Picture Oscar to this movie. But pickin's were slim back in '96.) In the past, I'd tried to watch it but never got past the opening credits. Something always came up. In general, movies that try to imply that obeying the feeling of love over all else do not appeal to me. I like a good romantic movie just as much as the next girl, but perhaps my idea of romance is different. This movie just focused on the affair of a married woman.

On the scale of pain and/or discomfort, inserting drops of Cipro solution into one's ears rank low. Still, holding my head to the side while a cool, oily liquid rolls into my ear is nothing to look forward to. Forgive the bitter tone of this post. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel better.

--------------

Track of the Day: "Love Is On The Way" by Saigon Kick

I can't hear you

I think a spider crawled into my ear at night and had babies and now I'm going deaf in one ear. Gross. But really, my ear hurts. I have a doctor appointment today so I'll keep you posted. Because I know you care. :)

*UPDATE - Now my other ear hurts just as much as the first. The doctor looked in my ears with the Ear-Looker Thing and there is icky mucous in front of the eardrum. Usually ear infections have brown wax in front of the ear drum and she couldn't quite tell me what the mucousy stuff was or why it was there. At least she assured me no insects have made my ears their new home and I'm not going deaf...at least permanently. But my ears hurt. Only kids are supposed to get ear infections, right? I'm in a bad mood.

Sorry if I grossed you out.

Through the grapevine

A friend of a friend of a friend who works at a gas station said to fill up your gas tanks now because soon it'll be $8 a gallon. And you know that MUST be true because gas station attendants hear straight from God. If there is any truth to that at all, you will soon see me rolling along the side of 450 every morning to get to work.

Track of the Day: "Tear in your Hand" by Tori Amos
"Maybe she's just pieces of me you've never seen..."