Famous Literature Turned Movies

Henriette: The man of parts.
Giacomo Casanova: Many parts.
Henriette: Is that how you win over the ladies? Cheap innuendo?
Giacomo Casanova: No, you just make all my best lines rubbish.
-Casanova (Masterpiece Theatre)

Yesterday I slept in by about three hours. Then I took a nap later in the day. I’m still tired. Ugh. That’s what happens when I’m scheduled at the bar both Friday and Saturday from 5:00-2:00. I’m not sure how much of it is due to working until the wee hours of the morning, and how much of it is being on my feet the whole time, walking back and forth from tables to the bar, but it makes me very exhausted. It definitely didn’t help that on Friday I was awake and at the dentist’s office by 9:00 a.m. (the good news there is they fixed my cracked tooth for free).

I can’t wait until tomorrow, when I have a whole day to myself (in theory, anyhow) and I can be a bum. Yesterday was somewhat like that, but since I slept until noon and then Keith came over a few hours after, I didn’t have much free, by myself, time. Of course, tomorrow I really should do laundry, but I might have to procrastinate that, we’ll see.

Movie Review: Beowulf and Grendel. A far cry from the staleness of the original saga as read in my Brit. Lit I class a few semesters ago, the movie makes the famous characters 3-D instead of 2-D. It also throws in some humor. I love many of King Hrothgar’s lines. While there are a few scenes at the beginning that probably could/should have been cut, the storytelling is pretty tight overall. Awesome scenery, costuming, etc. Gotta love the attention to detail with the helmets.

Movie Review: Casanova. After seeing this version of Casanova on PBS, and assuming it’s fairly accurate to the original tale, I’m at a loss for wondering what the heck the Heath Ledger version will do. I have to say, though, that I really like David Tennant’s portrayal (and Peter O’Toole’s) so Heath Ledger will have to work to overcome my bias – never thought I’d say that about him. Think about it, what kind of man could really pull of being one of the world’s most famous lovers? Where Ledger has the looks part nailed, Tennant’s performance was extremely endearing and you can’t help but like him. Although it's rather hilarious how these "venetians" have british accents and use british terms. Anyway, I’ll have to see them both before I can really start comparing. The Ledger version is at the top of my Netflix list, so it won’t be long.

Jesus-Dog

"$72 dollars due"
-Dentist's bill I received yesterday in the mail (despite the fact that I paid, in full, the day I got the filling).

Netflix is pissing me off again. Most of the time when I send a DVD back, I get a new one two days later - i.e. I send one back on Monday, and get a new one Wednesday. However, they've fallen behind again. Last week I sent DVDs back on Fri. & Sat. Today, Thursday, is when I'm supposed to get my fresh DVDs. Almost a whole week's wait. Bastards.

So, for someone who doesn't have recurring dreams, I've been having a lot of them lately. One theme that keeps coming up is Highlander, the other is my now-deceased dog. Except, she's not dead in the dreams. In the dreams, I have a Jesus-dog. I know she died, yet there she is, alive and well. In one, it was like her death actually was good for her because she was healthier after she was buried than before. In another (which I had just a few days ago), not only was she alive and well, she had puppies. Of course, they weren't quite right - all hairless and pink with legs so small as to be almost invisible, in short, mammal catepillars. I think part of it is that, even now, when I go over to my parents' house, I still expect her to come to the door. I still find myself looking through the window for her as I walk to the porch. Every now and again, I even almost ask my mom how the dog's doing. It keeps making me sad, to think that I don't have a dog any more.

I wonder how long the dreams will last.

Maybe I'll Just Get Dentures

"I guess you've got the Eickholt teeth. By the time your grandmother was twenty, she had lost all of hers."
-My mom

I had a pretty good day yesterday. I had no work, no class, and Keith came over and we watched the Venture Bros. while lazing about on the couch. Then, at about eight thirty, I ate dinner and broke a tooth on some broccoli. It went like this: "Munch, munch, munch, CRUNCH - what the fuck was that?" This is the same tooth I got filled a few weeks ago, and now I have to go back to the dentist yet again to get the bastard fixed. (Making for three visits in one month) Fortunately, though, while the tooth is broken it is not causing pain. I'm really hating my teeth right now. I limit my sugar, even though I love sweets, try to drink lots of water, floss, brush well, etc. However, that's apparently not enough. Damn genes. Mom added, "At least you didn't get the Metzger gums." See? There is a bright side.

I called it a night around ten thirty and was woken at one a.m. because my phone was ringing. Keith was calling. No, it wasn't some kind of emergency, "You should come over to Jason's." Because that's exactly what I want to do - get woken up at one in the morning so I can go over to Jason's and hang out with drunk people. Don't get me wrong, they're nice drunks, but, well, screw that. I'm going to have to have a conversation with Keith about not calling me after eleven or so on week nights and not calling me when he's drunk (not to mention when both are the case). Dumbass.

Movie Review: Deliverance. Meh. I've heard a lot of people talk about how everyone should see this movie. I did, and I really don't see what all the fuss is about. The plot lacked cohesion and I didn't really understand what the point of the story was. I think my problem is that I lack testicles. That probably makes the movie better.

Cartoon Review: Venture Bros. Keith is an adult (not adult) cartoon affectionado, so every now and again I get subjected to things from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Yesterday, was Venture Bros. (A revisitation/satire of Johnny Quest) I had reservations going in, but I have to admit, the show is pretty hilarious. There's plenty of juvenile humor (lots of potty jokes), some obscenity, etc. Basically, it's not the most "intelligent" humor. However, they make some good digs - like a Fantastic Four parody - and Brock Samson is damn funny. When Keith left, I had only finished disc one, and I liked it enough to keep the box so I could watch disc two. Fun stuff.

Mrs. Dalloway, Highlander Dream, and Hysteria

"Holy Mother of Oats! I turn my back for five minutes (that's how long it takes to admire my lovely back) and the interweb goes banoonoos! Isn't there any ACTUAL news to get wrong? Sorry about all this; it might be best if I just stay off the computer for a while. Or just glut the feed with wild conjecture. Hmm, let's see... I'm me, so... let's glut! Here are some ABSOLUTELY TRUE statements of factiness. Gentlemen, start your websites..."
-Joss Whedon, http://whedonesque.com/comments/11513#144407

See? This is why Joss is my hero.

I had another Highlander dream the other night. That brings my total to four. It was about Duncan and Tessa in Renaissance Italy (or somewhere like it, anyway) except they weren’t in period dress. Duncan was trying to convince Tessa why he couldn’t love her, because she’s not an immortal and he didn’t want to love her just to lose her. Of course, the fact that part of the dream was the same argument, but in modern times, means that she lived a couple hundred years anyway, so the argument was more or less moot. *Shakes head* Don’t ask me what’s going on there.

Oh yeah, some school based gossip. There is a man in both of my classes who I don’t know well. When he speaks in class, he tends to say odd-ball stuff, but I didn’t think much of it. A few days ago, one of my friends (who is in this guy’s group in one of the classes) told me that while they worked together he made frequent remarks about how she, and the two other gals in the group, were hotties. He also made a lot of inappropriate remarks in group e-mails – one example is the time he e-mailed everyone a poem about boobs. No joke. Mind you, my retelling of the situation is not at all detailed and rather more G-rated than what my friend told me.

The point is, he made her so uncomfortable that when he sent an essay to the group about hysteria – i.e. detailing all the gruesome details of how it used to be “treated” (for those who aren’t aware, hysteric women were sent to the doctor and hooked up to vibrators or manually “treated” by the doctor) as in more porno than academic essay – that she approached the professor who he was going to turn the essay in to, and the professor told him it was not appropriate to share with the class (which is what we usually do). He did not come to class that night at all. So, my friend, that professor, and the chair of the English department are discussing the situation. We’ll see what happens.

In other news, I watched Mrs. Dalloway last night. Perhaps I was just tired, perhaps I was just bored, but either way I fell asleep before I got to the end. Basically, I missed Mrs. Dalloway’s actual party. Funny, eh? I thought about watching the last part again this morning, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. No interest at all. I haven’t gotten all that far into the book yet, but I’m thinking the fault lies in the structure. Namely, I don’t think it’s all that translatable.

The Keith/Anniversary Post

"I love you."
-Keith

Unfortunately, that's how I've been for about a week now. I feel bad for Keith, since this is anniversary time and he's being all sweet while I'm being grouchy. He took me to dinner Monday at the steakhouse, and has made mention a few times of the fact that we've been together three years now, and it's still working well. In his words, "I'm not tired of you yet."

Also in his favor is the fact that he called me last night after I got home from work. He wanted to check on me because he knew I was miffed about what happened. It perked up my night considerably. He may not be the most diplomatic of guys, but he's a good one and I'm glad I have him.

Bar Frustration

Me: You shouldn't come to see me at work tonight.
Keith: Why?
Me: Because I'm pissed at the owner.
-Phone conversation

I'm beginning to be extremely excited about the fact that I'm working only one night this week. I got a call at something like 2:30 saying could I cover the kitchen tonight? The jist of my reply - I'd rather be on the floor, actually, so I can make $50 more dollars. The response - yeah, but no one else can cover the kitchen, so you have to.

I first said I'd do both, allowing for how busy it got. Then I realized I didn't want to do two jobs tonight. Because doing both would mean shutting down the kitchen, then going out to the bar so I could sweep and take out the trash. Fuck that. So, I'm just going to be in the kitchen. Hooray. Fortunately, I'm less pissed now than I was at first. When I called the owner back, she at least tried to compromise by saying she'd talk to the kitchen manager about staying late. Of course, the kitchen manager has a "prior engagement" and cannot. Just so you know, that means she doesn't want to skip her pool league. It's not like she should have to suck it up instead of me, I mean, it's not like she gets paid more, or is the kitchen manager or something. No, not like that at all.

The timing could be better, too. I'm already generally stressed thanks to being busy (in general), still in the process of moving and preparing for my party, and having had a very frustrating Saturday at the bar. It was slow from 5-11, then I had no tables for the following three solid hours, but could not go home because it was my job to stay and help close the place down. So, I sat around for three hours thinking how tired I was and how I had been cleaning my old house all day and how badly I wanted just to leave. It also didn't help that it was a night of stupid drunks. So, I was tired, and pissed, and pissed that I was tired...etc. Generally: very cranky.

Thus, we get back to today: doesn't help with the crankiness.

Joy for me - I get to go to my favorite class tomorrow. Damn, that perks my mood right up. Did I mention that I walked out early last week? It's going to be very hard not to do so again tomorrow.

All right, I can never stay bitchy for too long. I remind myself that I should have a movie and Highlander Season 2 Disc 6 waiting for me at home. Also, covering the kitchen means I get to leave earlier than I would if I were waitressing. That means, I can watch stuff tonight.

Moving, Movies (It's a comma splice)

“Everyone always leaves it trashed.”
-Landlord of old house

Moving. Ugh. That sums it up, really. I finally got rid of one house, yesterday, by returning the key to my old landlords. They were terribly thrilled that I had actually cleaned the place up. A first time occurrence, she said.

I also hung my numerous pictures, some are crooked, and none are even with each other, so it’s bugging me, but they are on the wall instead of in a pile on the coffee table, so I’m going to call it good for now.

Hollywood has been pretty disappointing lately, putting garbage like The Descent and Pulse up on the big screen, but in the past few weeks they’ve geared up for colder weather by opting for some decent flicks, like The Illusionist. Keith and I went to the theater Friday, and now I’ve seen two good movies, in a row, at the theater. Good God! In other news, my two latest Netflix flicks didn’t quite do it for me.

Movie Review: Flyboys. Where Geronimo got it wrong, this film gets it right. It takes a big historical story – that of the Lafayette Escadrille – and works into it a manageable and focused plot with developed characters. Here’s the gist: Take a handful of Americans, before America joined the war, who volunteer to go to France and be among the first ever fighter pilots. Make one of them James Franco, who plays a cocky ranch boy who plans to become the new unit’s first “ace” and add Martin Henderson (playing Reed Cassidy) saying his line about the average life expectancy for a fighter pilot being three to six weeks, and viola! The writers do a nice job of individualizing the characters, and creating a tight plot – they’re pretty slick about nonchalantly introducing elements that become important later on, so pay attention. Martin Henderson is mundo badass as Cassidy, and he and Franco have a nice mentor-protégé dynamic. Although a savvy movie-watcher will see the main plot arc pretty early on, there’s plenty of other good stuff to keep you watching. The fight scenes had me leaning forward, and that doesn’t often happen. Definitely worth a trek to the theater.

Movie Review: Donnie Darko. Cult classic. Demonic Bunny. Adolescent kid with a bit of mental illness. Sounds good, right? Eh. I can mostly see where they were going with the idea, but the execution left me not caring much. The movie plods along, making a point of “ain’t life weird?” and here and there dropping hints that there’s a plot, oh and characters. Jake Gyllenhaal wanders around acting either really weird, psychopathic, or very intelligent and sometimes sweet. They emphasize the mental illness a lot with, “see, he’s not right in the head” scenes that kept making me think, “Yeah, I get it already.” Of course, you get to the end and have the big twist, and then get to thinking about it and realize – but what the hell? If that’s what happens, then why does the rest of it matter? Dunno on this one guys. I salute it for its outright weirdness and the fact that they did something radical at the time, but for pure movie value, it fell short.

Movie Review: Great Expectations. This is the one with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow. As far as I can tell, most people are either really fond of it, or particularly dislike it. Me? The second one. I’m all about modernizing classic stories in movies, like the slightly corny and wonderful Bride and Prejudice, but only when they’re done well. This one wasn’t. I don’t mind that they change details, like naming him Finn instead of Pip. I do mind when they change random stuff for no good reason – like why the hell was Maggie a hooker instead of a bitchy housewife? I also mind when they miss the themes that made the original so enduring. The major one for me: in the novel, Pip’s miserable because he’s ashamed of where he comes from, in the movie, he’s fine with it and when he gets his “big break” he almost turns it down instead of jumping at it. I mean, come on, that’s practically the WHOLE POINT of the novel. Dumbasses.

Firefly Time

"He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor
Stood up to the Man and he gave him what for
Our love for him now ain't hard to explain
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne"
-chorus, "The Hero of Canton"

Here's a holler out to all browncoats! It's almost Serenity's one year anniversary. I'm whipping out my Firefly box set soon, to relive the shiny episodes. Which reminds me, if you don't know the song I quoted above, you need to buy the Firefly box set.

A side note: Stupid FOX. FOX is cracking down on Firefly copywright infringements. It only took them five years to care, besides, if they had created any Firely merchandise, fans wouldn't have resorted to making their own. Maybe, though, this is a good sign. The show is actually important enough for the studio to get their panties in a twist over it. Read about it here: http://www.serenitystuff.com/2006/09/14/bluesunshirtscom-gets-a-c-and-d-letter-from-fox

Feeling Overwhelmed

Richie: Mac, to hell with the rules. We're immortals, who cares about the rules?
Duncan: Sometimes it's all we have.
-Highlander, “Under Color of Authority”

Grand News – I moved into the new house last night. Dad was over fixing a few last things and he helped me move over my essentials (bed, TV, microwave) so I could spend the night. I watched Highlander (adios, for now, Richie) while sitting on my vintage couch, and set up my stereo and got one of my new plates dirty. It’s so exciting, let me tell ya.

It’s recruiting time for SCWP, so this morning I got over a dozen e-mails from Katherine along “Send 10 brochures to Joe at this address…” lines. I also got an e-mail in that batch saying all of the mailings needed to be sent out today. Between compiling addresses, making labels (the printer was down for half an hour), copying letters, and stuffing envelopes, my first hours in the office disappeared. Now, with all the mailings sitting happily in the mail bag, I am temporarily caught up on my To-Do list.

Plenty of other stuff to do outside of the office though. Alas, this week promises much more work. I need to finish moving, start unpacking, write a few papers for class, read a few books for the same, and follow up on some things I told people I’d e-mail them. Mostly, the moving is what’s sucking the life out of my week, though. Yesterday was theoretically a “free” day since my babysitting was cancelled and I had no other commitments. However, it got devoured by doing laundry and moving. Egad, how can I have so much stuff? My English major condition is starting to show, I had to move three boxes of just books, and one of magazines. Fortunately, due to my lack of electronics, the entertainment center is primarily acting as a bookshelf.

It is a very good thing I’m not working at the bar this Friday. Along with all the moving I need to do, I still have to clean the old house before I’m done. I’m very glad the old house is small. The utilities need to be switched over, and half a dozen businesses need to be notified of my new address. Oh, I should probably go grocery shopping sometime soon, too. It helps to have food. Ugh.

Christ and Couches

“Before you go, is there anything I can pray for you about?”
-gal on campus

On campus there is a big courtyard with a fountain in the middle and grass around it. It’s nice today, so I sat in the grass during my break. Within a few minutes, a complete stranger came up to me and started a conversation. I don’t particularly like being approached by complete strangers who want to have a conversation, especially when I’m doing something – in this case, sketching. She was good though, she jumped right in with questions about if I was an art major, if I lived on campus, etc. Super friendly but not obnoxious about it.

My general response to this kind of thing is to be antisocial about it, but since she wasn’t some drunk guy (as they’re usually the ones starting random conversations) I actually chatted with her a bit. I was still trying to figure out whether I was being hit on, or whether she wanted to evangelize me. Turns out, it was the latter. All else aside, I have to give her props for guts. Approaching random strangers to talk about religion is not for the faint of heart.

In other news: this past Saturday was a moving day. I didn’t get everything from one house to the other, but I did get all the big furniture and a good number of boxes. Everything else should fit in my car. The living room of my new house is starting to look homey, actually. With an entertainment center, a big red rug, my parents’ 20+ year old furniture (which is still in good shape and comfy), and a couple of afghans my grandmother crocheted, the room is getting cozy. As I told my guy Keith last night, I’m looking forward to being able to sit on my “new” couch with him to watch a movie. That’ll be very nice, since we were never able to do so in the little house with wicker furniture – not very comfortable for two people.

My brother came down from the AFA to help me move, and together we took my desk apart in record time and reassembled it even quicker – turns out it’s one of those jobs that goes much smoother with fewer people. I dropped him back off at the academy yesterday, but took him to my writer’s group first. He was entertained.

And now, for a meta-moment: I’ve been thinking about the blog, and about getting published, and such and I’ve decided to start an off-shoot devoted to writerly blogging. It’ll be my “professional” blog, or something. Henceforth, my comments about my writers group, my novel, etc, with mostly be found there. We’ll see how it goes.

Tried to Post This on Thursday, but Couldn't

"I am going to submit something. If it's not the best story I ever wrote, then it's definitely the worst one...or somewhere in the middle."
-Oliver

I'm tired, slightly cranky, and wanting little more than to go home and take a nap. Instead, I get to go to my favorite class and sit through three damn hours of it. There's a voice in the back of my head whining "I don't wanna, I don't wanna" and I'm having to fight pretty hard not to listen to it. Ugh. Fortunately, I have my sketchy book and my spiral notebook with me, so I'll at least have something to do during class. Also, Nicole's group is going to talk about Queer Theory (as in lit. theory) so I can pay attention to her instead of my idiot professor.

See what I mean about the cranky?

Okay, good news: Yesterday I had a zero-word count for this month's Oracle submission. This morning and at various time throughout the day, that changed to a 1,300-word count. While a significant part of me wanted to just skip this month - thanks to it being already Thursday and me having to work both Fri. and Sat. nights, and having to move on Saturday - but my recent acceptances are making me feel like a "real" writer, and real writers don't slack, they take their work seriously, etc. Besides, much of my procrastination can be credited to this next chapter being a somewhat uneventful (and thus less exciting) one. I mean, hell, I just killed off two of my main characters, it's hard to top that. Anyway, I'm pleased with myself and how I didn't slack.

I also sent e-mails to Jayne and Oliver (the young punkish, but talented one) saying they'd better submit because if I can, they can. This is, of course, largely motivated by the fact that Jayne and Oliver can at least write something I want to read, which isn't always the case with others of the group. So, if I have to wade through that stuff, I want a bonus of good stuff. The side effect, is that this works to further ensure I get my butt in gear and finish and submit this Sunday.

Other writerly news - Julia read my story last night and liked it. I said, "I wasn't sure what you'd think, since you dislike fantasy." Her reply was that she mostly dislikes popular fantasy, you know the mile-long unpronouncable names, magic that solves everything, etc. She caught a few typos for me, too.

Right, I'd best get going since I have twenty minutes before class starts and a paper to write yet.

Research

"Leave out the parts people skip."
-Elmore Leonard, quoted by Spacesuits and Sixguns

Encouraged by my two flash fiction acceptances, I spent a few hours today on http://duotrope.com looking up possible publishing markets. Right now I'm only looking at those which publish in print and accept e-submissions. I had to narrow it down somehow, duotrope has a massive listing, and that seemed logical.

I'm getting ready to go to the bar. Julia's bartending upstairs today (2:30-close) and she just called to see if I would bring her the newspaper because she's bored to tears. However, I told her about the story I was working on last week and she asked to read it. I finished the rough draft on Saturday and have a copy with me, so we'll see what she thinks. I'm a bit apprehensive, though, because she's mentioned a dislike for fantasy, which my story essentially is. Then again, the fantasy element is pretty light, so it might not be enough for her to dislike it. We'll see.

Last fall, when I took my pottery class, I had to get a sketch book to sketch the pottery pieces I made. As soon as the class ended, the sketch book fell abandoned, but now I'm using it again. I do have a few sketches in there, but mostly I'm using it for possible story notes and publishing markets notes. Here's an example of some of my possible story notes:

Idea: Marriage to a secret figure
-idol marriage
(Humor) Woman chats with a carved wooden hubby
(Humor-or-Horror) Woman has baby from idol hubby

Image: Natasha Wescoat tree with people buried beneath it
-twisty/fantastic branches

Idea: Exotic trees that can only be fertilized by corpses.

Without the Sleeping

"Let me sleep."
-Dormer, Insomnia

I went to bed last night at something like 11:30. I got out of bed around 1:30. I spent the time in between turning from side to side and thinking to myself, "Okay, I'm feeling sleepy now. Really, I am." I finally gave up and went upstairs to sort through some stuff - namely, the pile of critiqued copies of Oracle I've accumulated. I also looked for, but did not find, the binder I've been using to store hardcopies of my poems & fiction. I think it's in one of the boxes I've already moved over to the new house. I set aside two short stories, a floppy disk, and a spiral notebook so I could bring them to campus with me today. Can you guess what I forgot? Yeah. I don't think it helped that I went to bed, finally, at about 3:00 am.

Yesterday, before the insomnia, I decided to go to the movie theater. Thanks to Netflix, being busy, and nothing but crap playing, I hadn't been to the theater in a while. However, they're starting to have some interesting stuff on screen now, like Hollywoodland and The Black Dahlia. Yesterday, though, what brought me to the theater was Edward Norton's latest flick. He picks interesting movies, and aside from 25th Hour, everything he's been in is worth seeing. The Illusionist is a prime example.

Movie Review: The Illusionist. Don't let the heavy antique sepia tones scare you, it and the fuzzy-around the edges look don't last. Creatively, I can dig where they were coming from with that, but as a movie viewer, it got a bit tiring. Luckily, like I said, it doesn't last forever. The darkness and color tones do interesting things to the overall feeling of the movie. It feels antique, and mysterious, and throws a mood over you that couldn't be replicated if they'd used more true-to-life colors. The plot is a bit tangled, one of those start near the end then catch up kind of stories, but it works well and cues you in to get ready to pay attention. Here's a bit of the gist: the movie opens with Edward Norton (Eisenheim) being grabbed by Paul Giamatti (Chief Inspector Uhl) and goes into the Inspector reporting to Rufus Sewell (Crown Prince Leopold). From there, we travel into flash-back territory where the love story is set up between Norton and Jessica Biel (Sophie) who's a duchess and thus out of limits. Flash forward about fifteen years, when the magician, the duchess, and the Crown Prince meet up in Vienna. Rufus Sewell is a perfect domineering bastard and Edward Norton is wonderful as Eisenheim. Paul Giamatti proves that he's one of those men who look better with facial hair than without, and walks a line between outright bastard and "good guy" beautifully. Most important, don't assume anything, and pay attention. The filmmakers drop a few hints here and there as to what's really going on, but they're subtle and easy to miss if you're paying too much attention to your popcorn. Go see this movie.

Movie Review: Geronimo: An American Legend. Lots of history, little story. It tries to walk the line in between documentary and interesting story and doesn't quite pull off either. Netflix says, "With close attention to period detail and historical accuracy, Walter Hill recounts famed Apache warrior Geronimo's losing battle with the U.S. Army in the late-1800s Southwest." The problem was that Hill got too caught up with the big historical characters and got into a kind of "wasn't this guy cool?" mode without picking someone particular and really fleshing them out. You'd think Matt Damon would be the guy, since he narrates, but nope (in fact, his role ends up being pretty damn superfluous, and that's coming from a Matt Damon fan). Then you'd think maybe Jason Patric, who plays Lt. Charles Gatewood, would be worth really going into, not so much. About the only meat we get out of him is seeing him in-action (impressive, don't get me wrong) and hearing he's got a wife and kid back in Virginia. What about Geronimo (Wes Studi)? Nah, not even he's really human. He's too mythic. Adding to the list of important/nifty historical characters are Gene Hackman (General Crook) and Robert Duvall (Al Sieber). Interesting for historical value, though I hear there are problems there, too. However, any movie that makes me think "Is it going to be over soon?" gets little recommendation from me, regardless of a wonderful cast.

Welcome the Camiiness

More good news-my pal Camii is joining the blog!

We've known each other for (counts on fingers) about five years now, though we've only known each other in person for a few months. Back in high school, a new girl came to town and ended up in my psychology class. My first memory of her is a tie-dye T-shirt. She only stayed for a few months, thanks to her mom moving for a new job, but we've been penpals ever since. Weird, aint it? To have a genuine penpal in a technological age, but there's something wonderful about a handwritten letter that e-mail just can't quite capture.

Anyway, I thought I'd add her to the peanut gallery and she graciously accepted. So now here she is.

Apollo's Lyre-update

"Thanks for making the change. I think it makes it more clear.
I'd like to accept the story for our October issue."
-Kimberly Brown, flash fiction editor for Apollo's Lyre

Yay!

Irony

"I'm a world-class assasin, fuckhead. How do you think I found out?"
-Mr. Goodkat, Lucky # Slevin

Last week, Steve Irwin died from being stabbed by a stingray. This week, people in Australia are killing and mutilating stingrays. Coincidence? I think not. Dumbass people. http://http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14795639/?GT1=8506

Movie Review: Lucky # Slevin. Just before we watched this, my guy made a comment that in this movie, Bruce Willis had better make up for not killing the first lady in The Jackal. He did. To talk about the plot might be dropping hints, so I'll skip that part, save to say "Pay attention." Otherwise, we're dealing with exotic and weird sets, a scattered but well-wrought story, and a top-notch cast. My favorites: Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett, and Morgan Freeman. Other notables are Lucy Liu and Sir Ben Kingsley. This is not a movie for the squeamish-though it's mostly blood vs. genuine gore-and it is a movie for anyone who loves dialogue. Here are some quotes, pulled from imdb.com:

Slevin: Who are you?
The Boss: I'm The Boss.
Slevin: I thought he was The Boss.
The Boss: Why? Do we look alike?

Slevin's Girlfriend: [after Slevin walks in on her cheating on him] This is an accident.
Slevin: What, Like... He tripped, you fell?

The Rabbi: You must be Mr. Fisher.
Slevin: Must I be? Because it hasn't been working out for me lately.

Mr. Goodkat: The reason I'm in town, in case you're wondering, is because of a Kansas City Shuffle.
Man: What's a Kansas City Shuffle?
Mr. Goodkat: A Kansas City Shuffle is when everybody looks right, you go left.
Man: Never heard of it.
Mr. Goodkat: It's not something people hear about. Falls on deaf ears mostly. This particular one has been over twenty years in the making. No small matter. Requires a lot of planning. Involves a lot of people. People connected by the slightest of events. Like whispers in the night, in that place that never forgets, even when those people do. It starts with a horse.

And Cookies for All!

"Good news, everyone!"
-Herbert Farnsworth, Futurama

About a week ago, I submitted a flash fiction piece to an E-zine recognized in Writer's Digest, Apollo's Lyre. Realistically, this is the first "professional" submission I've made. So it was great to open the e-mail reply from Kimberly Brown and see that the first line was, "I liked this piece. It was touching, and kind of heartbreaking. Nice imagery, too." She followed with a suggested revision and said if I edited, she'd like to take another look. Her response makes me very optimistic, and I sent her a revised version of the piece just a few minutes ago. I'm hopeful that she'll accept it. Even though it's a non-paying venue, it's still a professional one. As an added bonus, an acceptance to Apollo's Lyre will mean Jayne owes me baked goods for her challenge at the beginning of the year.

I also realized that September is almost half way over already, which means it's almost time for me to move. The new house is just a few blocks away from where I'm currently living, but since it's not right on the interstate and at least twice as big, it's kind of a big deal. Oh yeah, and it has a dishwasher, too! Also, on Oct. 7th, I'm planning a psuedo-housewarming party. Psuedo because while it's in honor of my new house, because I'll finally be living somewhere big enough to have people over, I'm not calling it a housewarming party because I don't want people to feel like they have to bring a present. If everything works out just right, I'll get an acceptance at Apollo's Lyre, which means Jayne owes me baked goods, so then Jayne can bring cookies for my party. See how that works? It's beautiful.

Also handy, with Apollo's Lyre, is the "Pub Venues" section listing magazines and other publishers taking submissions. I started going through the list a few days ago, and I'm feeling like it's a good time to start sending stuff off into the ether. Wish me luck.

Movie Review: Elizabeth. Cate Blanchett is one of the few actresses who'll make me want to see a movie just because she's in it. Co-star Joseph Fiennes isn't bad either, but Geoffrey Rush steals the show as Sir Francis Walsingham. Walsingham is a great example of why Geoffrey Rush is a wonderful, wonderful actor. The movie is great at showing the intrigue, conspiracies, etc. that surrounded Elizabeth, but I was disappointed that it only covered the first four or so years of her 40+ year reign. I can see why they narrowed the focus, but when the movie ended, I was surprised. There are a lot of good, meaty moments. However, I find I'm not so adamantly in love with this movie as others I know. Worth seeing, though, either way.

First Day of Fall

I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return.
–Last entry of Frida Kahlo’s journal.

Today during my lunch break I went outside and laid under a tree for a while, just staring up and letting my mind wander. For the first time, it really felt like fall. Last year, this time, I was busy all the time, taking a pottery class, and doing my senior seminar.

I try to think what it is I love about fall so much. Maybe it’s the implicit quiet. Plants are shutting down, animals are storing up fat, the days are getting shorter, and there’s more solitude all around. The smells, too, I love the smells. The first bits of chimney smoke, moldering leaves on the ground, the chill in the air. Another reason I love fall: the beginning of October is when my guy and I started dating-we’ve been together almost three years now.

Movie Review: Bride and Prejudice. Though it’s blatantly corny in parts, there’s also a lot of good dialogue. The updates of the novel are interesting, too. Whereas Austen’s book had class distinction as a conflict, this film uses culture instead. Aishwarya Rai plays Lalita (the Indian version of Lizzy) and is a wonderful embodiment of the original, feisty Jane Austen character. Martin Henderson steps in as Darcy, and Naveen Andrews plays Balraj (a.k.a. Bingley). Great performances and wonderful visuals (sets, costumes, and handsome actors) are alone worth watching the movie.

Movie Review: Frida. I was familiar with some of Kahlo’s art before watching the movie, but I wasn’t a huge fan of it. After watching the movie, I’m looking at her stuff in a new light. Kahlo was a hugely autobiographical artist, so now knowing about her life informs what I see a great deal. Anyway-the movie itself. Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina are excellent and the director did wonderful things with the visuals-she implants some very surreal moments that she actually manages to pull off. Nifty shit, dude. Watch the movie.

Heroes

"What are you still doing here?"
-Dr. Forsyth

I just ran into my Anthropology professor in the hallway of the Psych. building. He was rather surprised to see me, needless to say. I was pretty entertained. I had to tell him I was still hanging about the place for the sake of an M.A. He asked me if I was still seeing "that young man," my guy had an Anthro class the semester before last, then he dashed off to his office hours, or next class, or such. It's funny, I was just thinking I should stop by Dr. Forsyth's office and say hello. He's one of my favorite professors and was gone last semester on sabbatical.

In other news, I just finished the first season of Highlander last night. Adieu, Darius. Somehow, death just won't go away this week. Werner Stocker, who played Darius, was wonderful. Unfortunately, he also had a brain tumor. Darius, who was originally intended as a long term character, was killed off due to the actor's failing health. The cast & crew's knowledge of Stocker's death is very evident in the episode with regard to the way Darius' death was handled. They're really saying goodbye to Stocker as much as to a character. It helps excuse some of the overdone bits in the episode.

I've been thinking of why I like Highlander so much. Sure Adrian Paul is a lot of fun to look at, but the plots have a strong leaning toward the cheesy, and they bring up issues in one episode which they abruptly drop in the next, and there's too much emphasis on "good vs. evil" where the bad guys are just that. Also, there's a lack of larger story arcs. For the most part, any plot begun in an episode is ended in that same episode. I just keep thinking of what Highlander would have been like with Joss Whedon doing the driving. Yet, at the same time, I tend to like it just as it is.

Superficially, it's fun to have the flashbacks and sword fights. More than that, the crime/detective element is interesting. As much as Duncan is a hero, he's often just as much a private detective and bodyguard. The key, I think, is that he is a hero. Not in the "cop dies in the line of duty" kind of way, but in the mythic/chivalric way. He is the epitome of an epic kind of hero. He fights the good fight, protects the helpless, and abides by a strict moral code-a code which, in one episode, even led him to protect a rapist from the victim's father. As an added bonus, he's also (so far anyway) strictly faithful to his lady love, despite the numerous cute girlies who pop up and throw themselves at him.

I find I'm fascinated with heroes right now. You get everything from a Hercules, to a Duncan MacLeod to a Mal Reynolds, or even a Spike, and yet they're all "heroes." The funny thing is, anymore it seems hard to find the epitomal hero in books or TV or Movies. There's such a huge push for heroes to be "flawed" and "human." The reason, of course, is perfect heroes are boring: see Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Which is why MacLeod is interesting, he comes so close to the "perfect" hero, yet manages to escape doom of being boring. The salvation, there, can be chalked up mostly to his tendency to be cocky or a bit of a womanizer, (primarily in certain flashbacks, since he's totally loyal to Tessa currently).

A note on the side: I looked up Adrian Paul and found out that he started out as a dancer and choreographer. Go figure, eh? Though, I'm sure it helped out in the show as far as choreographing fights went. Like Serenity and Summer Glau prove, dance skills translate pretty well to fighting skills. So there you go, Adrian Paul is so badass as Duncan because of his experience wearing tights.

Joss and Hugo

Super exciting news to off-set the dire tone of my last post: Serenity won the Hugo Award!

Though Joss was not there in person to claim the award, Morena Baccarin passed on his words to the audience. Here's the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LYbtWdMpp4

Go Joss! Go BDM! I'm quite happy that this little "no big deal" movie is still going strong. As an added bonus, winning the Hugo will help spread the word the 'verse is a force to be reckoned with.

Mortalitas

“He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, ’Crocs Rule!”’
-John Stainton, as quoted by MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14663786/?GT1=8506

Big news: The Crocodile Hunter is dead. Stingray barb to the heart. Mean though it is to say it, I have to: Is anyone surprised that he was killed by wildlife? After all those moments of him holding a vastly toxic snake by the tail, or wrestling a crocodile, etc. you kind of figure it was bound to happen sooner or later, don't you? All the same, I have to admit he did a lot of good things for nature, and he ultimately was a pretty admirable man in many ways (though I don't count common sense among them).

A bit of news rather closer to home is the CDOT accident that happened a few days ago. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4263919
My dad works for CDOT, he started on the sign crew and is now in the body shop, and knew Chuck (Charles). Dad says he was a really nice guy who was always in a good mood, and he invited my dad to come hunt on his property. I feel very bad for his wife, who's expecting kid #1 soon. As if losing your husband wasn't bad enough, now top that with all the stress of a newborn. Ouch. The good news is, there looks to be a lot of community support, and the Colorado State Employees Credit Union is taking donations for the family.

One more death to talk about is that of my dog. We got her when I was ten, she's been MY dog for most of that, and tomorrow she's going to be put to sleep. Her health's been speeding downhill for about a month now, and she's gotten to the point where she can't even breathe well, much less get around. I went to visit my parents yesterday and it hurt to watch her and to see what horrible shape she's in. I'm glad she won't be hurting much longer, but I'm sad to loose her, just the same.

It's just not a good time for the mortality rates, is it?

TOFOG, School, and Publishing

Deb: “Here.”
Me: “What is it? Oh!” [Huge smile] “Deb, I love you!”
-Deb giving me a copy of the only-downloadable My Hand, My Heart, the newest Russell Crowe album which was produced by none other than Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea.

It’s that time of year again, when all us good boys and girls go back to classes. I’ve got a Monday night class (Development of the Novel) and a Thursday night class (Lit. Theories). One class should be fun, though it requires that I read Pride and Prejudice within a period of about four days (I read 143 pages yesterday). The other, Lit. Theories, will be a real pain in my ass. I’m not at all looking forward to it.

In other English major news, there was a party at David’s house Friday in honor of his return from spending a month in Italy. Most of the gang showed and I didn’t go home until after one o’clock. I also found out that David’s most recent book has just been published. He gave me an autographed copy with a personal note inside, and I’m about half way through it. Prose poetry all the way through, very interesting, and a departure for him as he’s been a more “traditional” poet up until now.

Book Review: The Prayers of Others, by David Keplinger. I’m quite liking it. Prose poetry is a very interesting form and the pieces in this book are the best of what David does. Here’s an excerpt:

“ONLY THE PRAYERS of others can save me. Likewise, mine save only them. The little girl who lost her tooth went looking for it through the house. Had she swallowed it last night? Her thinking and the house were large. She flung a piece of string, as though to lasso the tooth, as though it were a loose, wild beast that must be tamed. We’d do anything to comfort her.”

I suck at hyperlinks, or else I’d add the one that takes you to the book site. If you google the title, though, you can find it easily.

Another exciting bit-I’m going to be published this fall in the Hungry Eye, the university Literary Magazine. I’ve got two flash fiction pieces that have been selected and I’m mundo excited about the fact that, as of October, I will be a professionally published writer. No, there’s no money in it, but it’s still my name in print.

Swing Heil!

Annie O'Shea: But he's never told a lie in his life.
Jackie O'Shea: Well, he's making up for it now.
-Waking Ned Devine

I’m a bit irked with Netflix at the moment, because they’re lagging and where before if I sent a movie back on Monday, I would get one by Wednesday, right now it’s not the case. I sent one back Saturday and two Monday, and I won’t be getting any of them until tomorrow (Thursday). I want my movies! In the meantime, here are the latest.

Movie Review: Waking Ned Devine. A very fun movie that combines lots of “local color” and comedy with some nice tender moments. Also, there’s a scene where a sixty some year old man is riding down the road on a motorcycle while totally naked-save shoes. Any movie with that in it is worth a watch.

Movie Review: Swing Kids. I’ve heard of this one for a long time, and finally watched it. Boy, it’s good. Robert Sean Leonard is fantastic as Peter, and Christian Bale likewise does a great job as Thomas. An added bonus is the appearance of Kenneth Branagh as a Gestapo officer. While there are definitely uncomfortable moments in the movie, they’re well done and it’s fascinating to watch a story about Nazi Germany from the P.O.V. of the teenagers who couldn’t escape the politics. Talk about making extremely hard decisions, yeesh.

A New Low

“It hurts us.”
-Gollum

My guy suggested we go see Pulse yesterday, and I agreed on the condition of also getting dinner. After all, the previews actually creeped me out a bit and I was optimistic that the movie wouldn't completely suck. So much for optimism.

Movie Review: Pulse. Without a doubt, the most boring horror flick I’ve ever seen. Very heavy-handed, to boot. We start out with a college boy walking all paranoid-like around campus, the camera lingers meaningfully on people’s laptops, PDAs, cell phones, etc. My God! They’re all around us! He dies, sort of. His girlfriend and her techno addicted friends realize something’s wrong. They run around a lot and die. For some reason, running away works for the girlfriend, but no one else-don’t ask me why. Otherwise, there’s no way at all to fight the ghosties. You must, apparently, be blonde to survive. The movie contradicts itself, goes off on completely irrelevant tangents, fundamentally doesn’t make sense, gets preachy as hell at the end, and doesn’t believe in turning on the lights anywhere. Ugh.

I hereby resolve that the next time I go to the movie theater, it sure as hell won't be for a horror flick.

Shades of Armageddon

“It wasn't a dark and stormy night. It should have been, but there's the weather for you. For every mad scientist who's had a convenient thunderstorm just on the night his Great Work is complete and lying on the slab, there have been dozens who've sat around aimlessly under the peaceful stars while Igor clocks up the overtime.”
-Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Today is my first day back on the campus job and when I walked into the Psych. building I was greeted by the sight of an armageddon. The school is known for its impressively large cricket population-they wander down the halls, through the classrooms, and into the bathroom. Today, it would seem the vast majority of that population is dead and scattered in the hall. I can only guess that, in honor of classes starting up again next week, someone called in an exterminator. It’s impressive, though, walking down the hall amid dozens of dead crickets. Just a little morbid.

My plan for yesterday was go to my folks’ house at noonish, plop in front of the TV, and watch Highlander with my brother and father. Instead, I arrived to find my brother and two extra cadets at the house. Six of us, all together, sat down to watch the first episode and my mom, who’s not a) a bit TV fan, and b) an action/violence fan, proceeded to grate my nerves by talking during the show. I didn’t go over to be social, I went over to watch the damn show on a big ass TV. She also interrupted to ask when we could go over to the Pine house because she and dad just finished doing the floor.

Then, we get over there and she’s all wanting me to fawn over how well the floor came out and be shocked and fucking amazed that it’s so wonderful. It’s a damn floor. We get back to the house, and my brother takes one of his cadet palls to Wal-Mart so dad, a rather quieter mom, and I watch the next episode without him. By the time my brother returned and we finished watching the third, and final, episode on the disc, I’m so ready to get the hell out of there, it’s not even funny. Gah. Sometimes, my mom is way too damn needy. I’m not the kind of person who handles that kind of needy well-thus the reason why I’m not going to produce offspring.

It doesn’t help my mom-situation that my dog is old and going down quickly-she just got diagnosed with doggy cancer. The dog, a basset/weiner-dog mix, has been in the family for twelve years and for most of that, she’s been my dog. Now, since I’ve moved out and cannot have a pooch, she’s still with my parents. I love her to death, but I know her days are numbered. My mom, however, is refusing to let her go. Worse, she expects me to be totally distraught about the whole thing. Let’s face it, the dog is very old, she can’t last forever. Not only that, but up until a few months ago, she was incredibly healthy. Her decline was pretty abrupt. At this point, I’m leaning on the side of putting her to sleep because seeing her limp around with her skeleton poking out is more painful than letting her be on her way. *sigh* In other news: here’s a movie review.

Bill Engvall: A Decade of Laughs. When the Netflix envelope said “Run Time: 16 Mins” I thought there must be some mistake, it wouldn’t be the first time at any rate. However, it turns out that someone decided to make a DVD less than twenty minutes long, with not extra features-except maybe some hidden ones. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bill Engvall, and the music videos were fun to watch, but as far as overall DVD quality goes, I was disappointed. Fortunately, there should be another Highlander disc in my mailbox by the time I get home to help ease my pain.

Getting an M.A.

The top five things getting my masters means to me:

5. Not being able to watch the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy because I have a Thursday night class.
4. Taking two night classes a week, each at 3 hours a pop.
3. Getting to write a 40+ page thesis
2. Once more spending months on end without being able to see my guy half as often as I'd like.
1. More student loans.

Yes, there's lots of fun involved. It's a riot. Yet, to have any chance of getting decent job as a professor at a college/university, a masters is essential. Also, I have to admit that I like being a student. Yeah, I'm a freak. Kathy, the professor I'm working for on campus, told me straight out to go for my PhD, but I don't think that'll be immediate. Another few years, another few thousand in loans, yay!

Book Review: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman. Not a discworld book, but still having all the great fun of Pratchett's style, which Gaiman's meshes well with. Two clever chaps and a very funny book. It's about the end of the world, the anti-christ, and the war between good an evil. Of course it's hilarious.

Quickie

"I am immortal, I have inside me blood of kings - yeah - yeah
I have no rival, no man can be my equal
Take me to the future of you all."
-Queen, "Princes of the Universe"

The past few days I've been checking out the graphic novel collections of the two biggest local libraries. My, their collections leave much to be desired. About the only thing they have worthwhile is Frank Miller's Sin City. *Sigh*

My brother is going to be home this weekend from the Air Force Academy and since my mom's worried about him-he's gone from being mundo extroverted to fairly withdrawn and that freaks her out-I told her I'd make an effort to hang out with him. Now that he's over that whole annoying me for entertainment phase, I rather like him, so it's not any big sacrifice I'm making or anything. Since I'm Netflixing Highlander right now, the plan is to have a mini-marathon Sunday. It's hard though, since I have a Highlander disc sitting on my desk at home right this minute, to resist the temptation to put it in my TV right now. Will power, discipline, etc... Sunday had better hurry up and get here already.

In other news, I plunked my butt down in front of my computer last night and typed out just under 3,000 words for my next submission of Oracle. Now I'm at a pausing point because while I know exactly how I'm going to end this chunk (I already have the scene mapped out in my head and everything) I'm stuck on what to do between that and what I've already got. It occurs to me, as I write this, that it might be a good idea to put up a post that's along synopsis lines, so the whole two people who look at this blog every now and again will have some idea of what the hell I'm talking about. *Note to self: duh*

Colm Meaney Day

Jerry Lynch: "You just don't have the requisite Celtic soul, man."
-Intermission

Colm Meaney is an interesting fellow. He played Miles O'Brien for years and on two different Star Trek series. He's also done a score of films, and I wonder how he finds the time for it all. Since I've recently Netflixed a couple of his movies, I thought I'd dedicate this post to him. (Sorry about the lack of images-stupid library computer)

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation. Good fun, often more than just a little dorky, and vastly, vastly better than the original.

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. My favorite series of the franchise. Interestingly enough, like TNG, it also featured a bald commanding officer. Coincidence? I think not. Here's where Miles O'Brien came into his own though. He got a family and a bigger role, and dozens of his own adventures.

Movie: Intermission. An overall nut-job of a movie, though in a good way, like Snatch where you get a dozen separate characters that all end up falling together in fun ways. Meaney makes an appearance as Jerry Lynch, a nutter of a cop who's out to prove he's "all that," and failing. He does and excellent job with his role, and there's a turn at the end which is rather well done.

Movie: The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. Long title for a movie, but it has some fun moments-like those with Meaney. He plays Morgan the town pub owner and local womanizer who's always scheming about making a bit of extra money. Not a bad movie, but I'd never watch it twice. If only they cut out more of the Hugh Grant and added more of the Colm Meaney...

Movie: Bitter Harvest. Adapted from a short story, the flick is set in 1920's Ireland. Meaney plays Harry, a bitter man who's hell bent on ruining the life of his "enemy" the local pub owner. The problem, of course, is he becomes consumed by this vendetta that he himself started, because "a man is known by his enemies" and the pub owner is the best he can have. The movie won a few awards, but I ended up struggling with the directing. The acting was good, the setting was great, the story wasn't bad, but the director didn't take advantage of them. His shots, angles, etc. really could have been done better, but I guess other people liked it just fine-one of the awards was Best Feature Film from the Newport Beach Film Festival. Okay, not quite an Oscar, but those folks were more impressed than I.

After all this, I can't help but wonder where Meaney will pop up next.

Immortals, Newfies, and Slackers

Ramirez: You cannot die, MacLeod. Accept it.
Connor: I hate you!
Ramirez: Good. That is a perfect way to start.
-Highlander

School doesn't start for another two weeks, and my campus job doesn't resume for one. I don't start babysitting again until after Laborday. All together, this means all I'm doing right now is working at the bar three days a week. So, that accounts for about twenty some hours a week which are already spoken for. Sheesh, compare that to my schedule for my last semester of my undergrad studies:

Monday, School 10:00-8:30
Tuesday, School 9:00-2:30, Bar 4:00-9:00 (or later)
Wednesday, School 10:00-3:00, Bar 4:00-9:00
Thursday, School 9:00-2:30, Bar 4:00-10:00 (usually)
Friday, School 10:00-3:00, Bar 4:00-9:00
Saturday, Bar 4:00-9:00

Counted in with the school hours are the ten hours a week I worked as a tutor in the Writing Room on campus. What all the above means is that I was working full time while also carrying eighteen credit hours. So, the fifty + hour "work" week was my norm. Now, to more than halve that... I don't quite know what to do with myself and I'm feeling a bit of slacker guilt. Fortunately, I only have a week before I start back up with having stuff to do all the time. Free time is all about that happy medium, it's good to have some, but once you hit a certain point, it starts to grate a bit.

Well, here's my entertainment updates: I've taken Hercules: The Legendary Journeys off my Netflix queue. The plots quickly got to the point of boring predictability and they had one too many villains laughing maniacally. Yeah, it's a peeve. I mean, come on, the good villains are the ones who, creepy as they are, you can actually understand where they're coming from. Take the Operative from Serenity who's all the more flesh-crawly because he's so sincere about how he's making the world a better place. I'm going to try Xena, because though it's the same ilk, I remember liking it more than Hercules. So, we'll see how that goes. It'll be a while, though, I'm going to do Futurama first. That, and Highlander-which has become my new TV series addiction. I mean, come on, Duncan MacLeod is totally badass and Tessa's no wimp, and Richie is wonderful because he's bad. It's the Jayne appeal, though Richie is far less hardcore. What is about "bad" characters that makes them so instantly likeable?

Movie Review: Highlander. I adore the show, so it made sense to check out the movie that started it all. The dialogue is good, the characters are too, and it scores extra points for having Sean Connery. Connor's nemesis, the Kurgan, is so over-the-top as to be almost too tacky for words, but the general groundedness of the rest is enough to keep the Kurgan menacing and not just comical. To compare the movie to the series, I was vastly entertained at how much they blatantly changed from one to the other. Namely, the movie ends the whole "There can be only one" idea, because there is only one at the end. So, what's the point about having a show about Duncan if he doesn't win the Prize? But, that's why they changed it, eh? The other one that sticks out is the movie implies more invincibility-stab an immortal in the heart and they just keep on going-whereas in the series if you stab an immortal in the heart, they would "die" for a while before they revived. I like the series approach better. Right, to sum it all up-the movie is fun, and the series is too, but they are different animals. Which makes the series pilot totally ludicrous (since "Connor" makes an appearance as Duncan's clansman), but hey, you can't win 'em all.

Movie Review: The Shipping News. Alan Doyle (of the band Great Big Sea) says the book didn't quite capture Newfoundland, but the movie nailed it. Given such an endorsement, how could I not watch? Especially given that both Julianne Moore and Judi Dench star, with Cate Blanchett as a minor (yet essential) role. As an added bonus, Rhys Ifans makes an appearance as one of the Gammy Bird reporters. He would be the same guy who played Danny in Danny Deckchair, though how he wound up in this flick is completely beyond me (not that I'm complaining, mind you). The movie itself was great, one of the few I'd go out of my way to watch twice, in fact. Kevin Spacey is the main character, a screwed up guy who moves to Newfoundland after his wife (Blanchett) abandons him. He does a good job of going through the character's journey. Trivia note: the actress who plays Spacey's daughter was actually three actresses-a set of triplets. My favorite aspect of the movie has to be how the Quoyle's history unfolds and how big a role the setting itself plays into the story.

Book Review: Duchess of Nothing, by Heather McGowan. It has great reviews, and very pretty prose, but I abandoned it anyway. I'm in the mood for story right now, not pretty prose. From skimming a bit here and there, I know all the essentials of the story, so why read the rest? It doesn't help, either, that there are pages of text without a single paragraph break, that McGowan refuses to use quotations to mark dialogue, or that she thinks nothing of starting sentences with "and" or "but." Minor things on their own, but pile them up and I want to take her aside and say, "Look, why are you making your prose intentionally hard to read? Clean up the prose or else you're going to irritate people, which means they won't read this." It's a style thing, I know, I just get frustrated when the style becomes more important than the story. I'm of a Hemingway frame of mind-keep it simple, tell us what we need to know as efficiently as possible so we can start paying attention to what the story's about vs. how it's written. So, I'm not saying it's a bad book, there's a great chance that you could absolutely love it. I just didn't.

Chic. Lit, Death, and Immortality

Duncan MacLeod: "I am Duncan MacLeod . . .of the clan MacLeod . . . and you are dead."
Richie: "Uh . . . dead? Whoa, heheh. Geez, I ripped off a couple of cups and a bowl. I'm sorry, all right? Here, take them. They're all in the bag. I'll pay for the window. It's over. Okay?"
Duncan MacLeod: "It's over when I cut off your head."
Richie: "Cut off my head?!? You don't think that's a little extreme for petty theft? Hey dude, chill. Your insurance will cover it."
-Highlander, Pilot Episode

Book Review: The Queen of Babble, by Meg Cabot. I admit it, I watched The Princess Diaries when the movie was on TV. I was even entertained enough not to switch to another channel. This book, by the same author, also proved worthwhile enough to read to the end-though it was pretty touch-and-go in spots. If you're looking for a book that's a quick read and won't fill you up before dinner, this one isn't bad. Though the ALL CAPS scattered all over the first chapter and the overt predictability of the plot were a bit irritating, the main character was interesting enough to redeem it.

Movie Review: The Descent. My guy wanted to see it, so against my better judgment I agreed to go with him. There's hardly any part of this movie that's at all feasible, believable, etc. Of course the gruesome girlie violence is fun in bits, but that's way too small a thing to make this movie worth the price of a ticket. Don't waste your time.

TV Review: Highlander. I remember watching the show with my dad when I was a kid. Re-watching it is just as fun. I've only seen the first three episodes, but I'm already eagerly awaiting the next disc from Netflix. Okay, I'll admit it leans toward the cheesey-especially the pilot episode-but it redeems itself with mundo nifty sword fights and fun flashbacks to the past. Oh, and with Richie. Of course, having scenes where Adrian Paul is shirtless does no harm. The costuming of the show catches my attention more than on most shows. This is due, in part, because it's set in the early nineties which was close enough to the eighties for fashion to be more than a little hilarious at times. It's also fun, though, to see the costuming choices they make to define characters. Fun stuff.

Two Weeks' Notice

Mal: "How come you didn't turn on me, Jayne?"
Jayne: "Money wasn't good enough."
Mal: "What happens when it is?"
Jayne: [smiles] "Well that'll be an interesting day."
-Firefly, "Serenity Pt. 2"

When I started working at the bar, I worked in the kitchen. Then, due to a combination of me taking night classes and basic personality difference (even though she didn't mention the second, I think it had something to do with it-it definitely had to do with me agreeing to leave) with the new kitchen manager, the owner Mary, decided to put someone else in the kitchen.

So, the new gal comes in and I go from kitchen and waitressing to only waitressing. The new gal, well, I started out liking her well enough. Then she wanted me to make my own order once or twice (sorry, but I get paid shit to wait tables, I am not working in the kitchen on waitress pay), then she got bitchy with me a few times, "I told you we're out of that," (she didn't) etc, and most of the time I see her when she's working, her cell phone is glued to her ear-which really doesn't help with getting orders out in a timely fashion. Oh, yeah. Another peeve is that I would go back into the kitchen, say something like "Can you put that order on two plates?" and get no response from her. It's a minor thing, but it gets me miffed when someone can't even be bothered to acknowledge that I'm speaking to them.

Right. So, then we have yesterday. I was there for about an hour and a half and went back into the kitchen to wash a coffee pot when the gal is crying and asks me if I can cover the kitchen. She was having a crisis-apparently her cousin's mom is in a bad way and she thought her cousin would kill himself if she didn't go to him right then and there, and her mom kicked her out of the house, and... Breakdown, in any case. Mary told her to ask me if I'd do it, and so I said I would. Slow night and the bartender said he could cover the floor, no problem.

I ended up spending about an hour and a half in the kitchen and getting thanked by Mary and Rob. Mary also said she'd given the gal a deadline, "Get your shit together in two weeks, or get another job." She said it nicer, but that's the gist. Apparently, this isn't the first crisis. Rob also told me that he was more than ready to get rid of her. It's not that I'm without sympathy, I do have a little. It's more that I find it hard to feel bad for someone who doesn't do her job all that well (I've heard complaints about her even from the kitchen manager) and who's been bitchy to me on a number of occasions.

Mary told me to keep an eye out for someone looking for a job. I wonder what the next person will be like. So far, there have been two others who were hired to help out-one left a sticky note on Saturday for the K.M. to find on Monday saying she wouldn't be coming back. The other called one morning to say she wouldn't be in that day, nor the next, nor the next... Whatever happened to two weeks' notice? Professional courtesy? I mean, come on. I loathed the dry cleaners where I worked pre-bar, and the owners, but I still gave them two weeks and stayed civil. Alright, that's the end of my work bitch, I promise.

Movie Review: V for Vendetta. In honor of the DVD release Tuesday, my guy took me to his friend's house to watch it again. I have to say, while I thought it alright the first time around, I liked it better the second time. Certain things made more sense the second time, and I knowing the gist of what was going on let me pay more attention to the dialogue-hearing V talk is, alone, worth seeing the flick. Also, now knowing that the comic book was written by the same guy who did From Hell, made me pay better attention. Hrm, I think I have to add From Hell to my Netflix queue.

Vehicular Fun

"We're stuck in Michigan. The truck broke down. There was gas in the tank."
-Paraphrase of a phone message from my mom yesterday morning. Since there was no mention of who put gas in the diesel truck, I have a suspicion the perpetrator was in fact my mom.



I finally got my car registration taken care of. Gah. What a headache. But now it's done and all I need is a screwdriver to finish the job. Then, voila! My car will officially have plates.

I'm being productive today. Not only did I take care of my car: this morning, I finished my first critique of this month's batch. I also did the major grocery shopping thing this morning $125 all total. I shouldn't have to buy food again for a good long time. Still, feels kind of obscene for a single gal to have a cart that full of groceries. Oh well.

Kitsch, Trash, and Other Adventures

Ares: “I can't believe you have these mortals convinced that you're this 'Kevin Sorbo' character.”
Hercules: “Some people just aren't ready for the truth.”
-Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

Writers’ Group was yesterday and I ended up having to butt in and referee a few times. See, we now have a couple of people writing historical fiction and a couple of people who are history buffs. Put the two together, and you get tangents of a history lecture kind of nature. Me: “I’ve got to interrupt, guys, we have to keep going.” When there are half a dozen pieces to critique in one meeting, and one person (in a group of thirteen) wants to blather on for fifteen minutes with their comments, it just doesn’t work.

In related news, two of our new members submitted for the first time yesterday. One, our youngest member (18ish?) who’s a bit of a punk (in a good way) turned in a short story. I’m infinitely curious, given his critiques on others’ work, what his own will be like. His’ll be the first piece I critique. The other guy, an Australian, is one who I just don’t care for because he’s rather a bit pompous and tends to neglect doing critiques-he did about half for yesterday’s meeting and fewer for the one or two meetings before that which he attended. So, we’ll see if he gets his ass in gear now that we’re critiquing his stuff. If not, I’m going to have to ask Jayne if we can prevent him submitting. Technically, two non-critiquing months in a row and you can’t submit until you catch-up. I also have no idea what to expect from his writing, though I’m leaning on the side that I won’t be impressed.

Book Review: I, the Divine, by Rabih Alameddine. This one was a great find for an English major. It’s an experiment where the whole novel is a series of “first” chapters. The idea is that the narrator, Sarah, is attempting to write her memoir, but can’t get past figuring out how to start it. The book itself is pretty good. More than that, the experimental quality is wonderful. Like a short-story cycle, there are so many ways to look at how each section works that I can easily see myself writing an essay about the novel or including it in my masters’ thesis. Hey, that’s an idea. I think I might do that, actually.

TV Review: Cleopatra 2525. I love Gina Torres, but no. I watched one and a half episodes and it hurt to much to go any further.

TV Review: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. I remember watching this on TV, and figured I’d revisit it. Right now I just finished episode three of the official series. It’s a bit messy at the beginning thanks to the transition from TV movies to TV series, but I can forgive it. After all, it’s fun kitschy stuff and provides lots of comedy, both intentional and incidental. I mean, come on. Would the real Hercules have taken time out of his journeys to keep his hair so perfectly styled? I think not.

Vertigo

"If wishes was horses, we'd all be eating steak."
-Jayne

Right, so the past two weeks have alternated between being a complete waste & a bit of a nightmare. The one exception being two and a half days of a convention that I rather enjoyed. Here's the short version:

Two days before I left, I found out that the papers for my car didn't go through at the county clerk's office because when I bought the car the guy filling out the paperwork wrote down my wrong middle initial. I had no time to stand in line at the courthouse (with new papers) for a couple hours, as I had to pack, stop the mail, go to work, pay rent, do other last minute errands, etc. So, I left without having gone. This becomes relevant later.

Went to the airport to catch a plane to PA for the convention-flight was delayed, delayed, and canceled. I ended up trapped in O'Hare and spent the night on a row of seats (got maybe two hours bad sleep). I finally arrived at the hotel for the convention, got checked into the wrong room, had to move my stuff. The convention itself I enjoyed. I brought out my most extroverted self and it was all the way until the last hour or two before I got to the state of "Everyone, go home and leave me alone already."

The trip home wasn't bad-it completely lacked an airport overnighter. My guy met me at the airport and it was very, very good to see him. Woke up the next morning, had to throw up. Did that a few more times over the course of the day. (This would be Tuesday we're talking about now) and anymore, being sick enough to vomit brings on my vertigo.

Short digression: Vertigo. I've had it as long as I can remember. I don't mean a sick to the stomach feeling when you're up too high, either. I'm talking about vertigo as an inner ear problem which is defined by unpredictability. To paraphrase the doctor who finally figured out it was vertigo, "The only thing you can really predict about it is that you can't predict it." This means that at random times, with no warning, I tend to wake up one day and have symptoms. They tend to last about five days and the severity varies. Sometimes it's no more than light twinges here and there, once it was so severe that just standing up was enough to knock me over if I didn't grab onto something. So, basically, during this period I become very sensitive to certain things. Again, this tends to vary from one time to the next. Sometimes I'm very sensitive to light (like this most recent one) which means walking from a light room to a dark one, or having a light flashed in my eyes, makes it feel like someone just spun my head (imagine a top-one moment not moving, then someone turns it and away it goes). Sometimes I'm more sensitive to movement-like bending down to put on my shoes, or going from sitting to standing. Two things I make it a rule to avoid during these times are driving (for obvious reasons) and computers (something about the glare from the screen really aggravates).

So, right. The vertigo hit and I've been trapped in my house for four days. Yesterday, I braved it and went to the courthouse, for the sake of my car, in the afternoon when I was feeling pretty good. For some reason it's always worse in the morning than afternoon. I went to the "dealers only" part of the clerk's office because the title officer at the dealership told me to. I sat and waited for half an hour only to be told I had to go "stand in line." Telling the clerk that the gal at the dealership told me to come there instead did absolutely no good. The line was a good hour long and there was no way I would've been able to make it, so I went home very frustrated. My temporary tags expire today (Saturday) and the courthouse is closed, and the writers' meeting is tomorrow. Let's see if I get stopped. Of course, that will only add to my great joy at how the end of this month has been going.

Alright, the bitch-fest is over. I keep reminding myself that the meeting is tomorrow-along with the post-meeting dinner that I always look forward to. Also, this month I'm submitting a chapter of Oracle that I've been planning for months-two main characters get killed. So, I'm kind of excited about that. I just have to make sure I don't die or total my car or something before then. Wish me luck.

Wedding update & movies

Pintel: ...I always heard it said "kray-kin"
Ragetti: What? with a long A? Na-na-na-na-no-no no "Krah-ken"'s how it's pronounced in the original Scandinavian, and "Krakken"'s closer to that.
Pintel: Well we ain't original Scandinavians, are we?
Ragetti: It's a mythological creature, I can calls it what I wants!
-Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Jayne, myself and the other bridesmaids, and another gal pal went to see this for the “bachelorette party.” In short-if you liked the first one, go see the second. I laughed, a lot.

Yes, it’s been over a week since my last post. I’ve been a slacker all around though, so it’s not like I’ve been neglecting the blog alone.

First thing-wedding update. The ceremony was nice, short and sweet with only the minor mishap of the keyboard player’s music stand crashing to the ground during Judy’s song. The keyboard player stopped, but Judy handled it wonderfully and just kept on going. The day’s other notable mishap was Sean’s state. The night before the bachelor party hit the bars and all was going well (moderate drinking only) until the last stop on the way home. The bartender was so drunk that a patron was mixing drinks and once other patrons knew Sean was getting married, they bought him drink after drink, including a round of tequila shots sometime after two in the morning. I think during the ceremony he was still mostly drunk and it wasn’t until the reception that the hangover started beating on him. Needless to say, he looked pretty pathetic. The newlyweds left the reception early (in a car covered with heart-shaped sticky notes, by the way) and I’m sure Sean went to bed as soon as they got home.

Now, to catch you up on my Netflix adventures.
Purely by chance, I happened to watch two flicks in a row with Jim Broadbent. He’s a fun actor, and one of those who seems to pop up in random places-he seems to have a preference for the slightly odd-ball which scores points in my book.

Princess Caraboo: Fun for its imaginative quality. Broadbent plays the husband in the couple that takes the girl in.

Rough Magic: Another one that’s fun for its imagination. It’s a bit farce, a bit magical realism, a bit detective drama. Add in Russell Crowe, and voila! A fun flick. In this one, Broadbent is a “doctor” trying to find the secret to a magic tonic who teams up with Crowe and Bridget Fonda in Mexico.

The Sum of Us: Made the same year as Rough Magic and also featuring Crowe (he must have been pretty busy). It’s a bit family drama, a bit comedy, and a bit romance, though seeing Crowe making out with another man is rather unsettling. I love Jack Thompson in this movie, he plays Crowe’s father. The soliloquies are a bit strange, hold-overs from the play, but they weren’t too distracting and there was one or two moments where they were totally wonderful.

Alright, that’s all for now. It’s time for me to go see Mary and work on her neighbor’s house.

Weddings, Weddings, Weddings

Willow: Buffy, it's hideous. Oh my god, Buffy. Look at its arms!
Buffy: I know. But it's my duty. I'm... Buffy the bridesmaid.
Buffy, “Hell’s Bells”

So, the Jayne & Sean wedding is tomorrow. Coincidentally, another member of the university English majors is having her big day tomorrow. Kathy, the professor I’m working for on campus is a bridesmaid in the second wedding. Jayne = laid back bride. Other gal = Bridezilla. I just got a whole tirade on the other gal and damn, I’m impressed. Let me a brief comparison.

Jayne’s wedding requirements
Dress: $75.00
Shoes: Whatever (Borrowed from my mom)
Hair: Whatever
Rehearsal: Followed by Pirates of the Caribbean viewing (Tickets courtesy of the maid of honor)
Total Bridesmaid cost: $145, including gifts and a necklace I made for Jayne.

Bridezilla’s wedding requirements
Dress: $400.00 strapless (“Like I have anything to hold up a strapless dress!”)
Shoes: Silver stiletto sandals (“I can’t even walk”)
Hair: Bouffant (“I told her to kiss my ass”)
Rehearsal: Dressed up dress rehearsal (Me: what’s the point of that? Kathy: Don’t even get me started)
Total Bridesmaid cost: Roughly $1,000 and I don’t know if that includes a gift.

All I can say is damn.

My guy and I have talked about getting married and about how exactly that’s going to work. Our plan is to go to the courthouse with the fewest number of people possible, probably just our parents and siblings. After we sign the paper, we go home and have friends over for a BBQ. Neither of us wants the boredom of a formal ceremony nor the stress of a formal to-do. This plan means we still get to hang out with friends and family, but we don’t have to stress about all the typical details like flower arrangements, catering, what I’m going to wear, etc.

Let’s face it folks, the wedding is one day. The important part is what comes after, right? The marriage part that lasts, in theory, the rest of your life.

Business Grammar

"No Shoe's
No Service"
Laundromat Sign

I did laundry today and was reminded, again, of what a snob I am. The English major in me has a hard time going to businesses that have mispelled or grammatically incorrect signs. However, this laundromat is the closest and I'm too lazy to be that ethical/snobbish.

Movie Review: The Omen. My guy and I were out and about the other day and stopped by the theater to watch this remake. I never saw the original, so I have no idea how it compares. The best part of this movie was the parts that make you jump. I'm no horror buff, but when something makes my guy jump too, I know it's caught people off guard. The timing for sudden attacks and that sort of thing was excellent. Otherwise, there seemed to be a lot of elements in the movie that just didn't make sense. Maybe the original did a better job of answering quesitons like, "What's the story with the priest's birthmark?"

Slacking

"Uh, I need a pitcher of Bud Light."
Drunk Guy (fifteen minutes after I ordered a pitcher for him and he disappeared before I could deliver it)

This week was the first of having my 2,500 words a week goal. My grand total: 830 or so. Great start, eh? My problem is not knowing where to start the chapter I'm working on right now. I'm thinking I should just skip ahead in the chapter to the part where I know what I want to do. I can always go back and change/fix the beginning once I get a clearer picture of exactly what is going to happen in the rest.

Book Review: Sweetness in the Belly, by Camilla Gibb. The main character, Lilly, is the child of English parents who spent the end of their lives wandering the world. When they die, she is raised by a Muslim religious leader in Ethiopia. The book exists in two parts-one in Ethiopia, one later in London. Going back and forth between the two is interesting and the structure works pretty well. The writing is good and the cultural deatails are excellent. Overall, a good read, but not spectacular.

Book Review: Human, Smithsonian. Every now and again I find something nifty at the library, like this book. It's got gorgeous illustrations and more information that anyone can possibly absorb in one sitting. The book has great anthropological info on an impressively large number of peoples, my main reason for checking it out. Also, there's a lot of talk about biology, evolution, and the future of the world. I love the pictures, like the information, and was only a little disappointed at things the book does not address-such as female circumcision in the section on rites of passage.

Movie Review: The Man Without a Face. I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The gist of the story is that Justine McLeoud (Mel Gibson), a man with a burn damaged face, tutors and befriends the young Chuck Nordstadt (Nick Stahl) who's trying to pass an exam that will get him into a military academy and away from his estrogen riddled home. When I read the blurb on Netflix, I expected the bonding between the two, but not the sinister turn toward the end nor the humor.

McLeod: The problem is one of water.
Chuck Norstadt: Water?
McLeod: Water. Women have, on average, about 5% more of it than do men, making them subject to different forces of gravity. Oh don't take my word for it, you can look it up in Newton. It's there.
Chuck Norstadt: Couldn't they be drained? [McLeod laughs]
Chuck Norstadt: I'm serious!
McLeod: Well, I believe they're waiting for us to drink more fluids.