tidbits

• I have to have a root canal tomorrow and because this is me, it can't just be a simple procedure.  I have to go to an endodontist (I don't even know what that is) to have it done because one of the roots of my tooth has a hook on the end.  I feel like eventually it will be funny that I have hook ended teeth, but right now it's irritating.
• It's funny how our opinions of movies/books change as we get older.  I'm watching Jane Eyre and I have always thought that while Mr. Rochester was a bit of a jerk, he was also a dramatic hero who just needed love.  Now I am realizing that he was kind of horrible.  
• My turkey dinner on Monday turned out well.  I normally brine my turkey, but since I had just decided Monday morning that I wanted to cook it, I clearly didn't have time to do so.  Instead I coated it with a Mediterranean spice rub and cooked it on a bed of apples.  It was/is nummy.  
• I forgot to mention in my Thanksgiving wrap-up that for the first time ever, I ate cranberry sauce.  I don't like cranberries.  Never have.  This year my sister in-law said that she adds horseradish to the cranberry sauce and since I am a bit obsessed with horseradish, I decided to give it a try.  It is amazing what a difference just a spoonful of horseradish can make.  It was absolutely delicious!
• I also forgot to mention that I finally bought a car.  I got a 2008 Ford Fusion.  I feel like it's kind of an old person's car, but I really like it.  
• I am feeling the need to de-clutter.  I hate that it's the wrong time of year for a yard sale.  I also hate that I have no yard on which to have a yard sale.

I am nothing if not consistent.

Ok, so I'm really not very consistent at all, but in this case I am amazingly consistent, which just goes to show that I am in no way consistent.  I am currently counting down the minutes until Homeland is on and I need to kill time, so I turned on He's Just Not That Into You.  Big mistake.  Big.  Huge.  Except for those moments when I was mesmerized by Bradley Cooper's eyes, I was irritated by nearly every single character.  And then I remembered that back when this movie came out, in 2009, I did a blog post about it!  I just reread the post (which you, too, can read here) and discovered that I was thinking the exact same things I thought then, only a little less bitterly, because I've totally mellowed since then.  True story. 

***I have a nagging feeling that this is probably the most useless blog post I have ever written and I am now making this face:

my heart just broke a little

I found out that one of the most bad*ss characters in one of the most bad*ss movies ever has just been cast on The Young and the Restless. My grandmother is now going to be enjoying this guy as much as I do, and that's really kind of weird.

Failure!

I am once again failing at being a blogger. It's just that life is so darn busy, what with my grueling schedule of tv watching and online shopping. I've also started but not finished about 10 books. Oh wait no, that's a lie. I did finish one of them. Matched by Ally Condie. (Whose child I happened to teach in Primary. He was not one of the demon children, fortunately, or I would be forced to hate her book on principle.) So anyway, here's yet another bullet point themed blog post for your reading enjoyment:

• Pretty in Pink is on right now and I just had a WTF moment. I've always bitched about how Blane (That's a major appliance, that's not a name!) said "You said you couldn't be with someone who didn't believe in you. Well I believed in you. You just didn't believe in me" Well, apparently (according to the Bible of IMDb), he actually says "Well I believed in you. I just didn't believe in me." I guess that really would make more sense, but whatever.
  
• It's snowed like a foot here in the last 24 hours. When I checked the weather forecast on Friday, I swear it said an inch. I take consolation in the fact that we're almost through with two months of winter. Only five more to go!
  
• Lorri and I just watched the Oprah from a couple weeks ago where she goes back to a town in West Virginia where she did a show in 1987. The show was about a gay man who had AIDS and how he was treated by the town. It was really uncomfortable to watch how hateful those people were. I realize that back then we didn't know as much about the disease and how it was spread as we do now, but a lot of the hurtful comments were about the fact that the guy was gay. It always drives me crazy when people cite the Bible as a reason for being anti-gay. If we're going to go by what the Bible says, we should probably start stoning people again. Oh, and according to Mark, if you get divorced and then marry someone else, you've committed adultery. I wonder how many of those people were (and still are) on their first marriage.
• Remember a little while ago how I made a client cry twice because I made her do her laundry? Well, I managed to make her cry again. This time it was because she lied to me about eating Christmas candy. That makes me sound horrible. I didn't get mad at her or anything, she just felt really guilty and didn't want me to tell her mom. So really, in both incidents, I didn't make her cry, the consequences of her behavior made her cry. Somehow that still makes me sound horrible, doesn't it!
• Does anyone watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? (I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I do.) The last episode was cray cray!!! That psychic lady (I'm afraid to even say her name-she might put a hex on me or something) is truly insane. I won't ever be able to see a cigarette again without thinking of her creepily puffing away on her fake cigarette. I'm getting the heebie jeebies just thinking about her.
• I'm not usually a huge Kenny Chesney fan, but I can't get enough of this song:
  

• I'm also enjoying "Long Time Coming" by Delays. If you actually watch this video, can we please talk about how creepy twin children can be? For other examples, please see The Shining and, let's be honest, pretty much any Olsen twins movie.

• O.k., just one more song! Since I invited myself on my parent's trip to Ireland next summer, I've been watching Irish-themed movies (great excuse to watch The Boondock Saints again!!!) and one of my favorites is The MatchMaker. This song is in it and I can't stop listening to it. It's "Haunted" by Sinead O'Connor and Shane MacGowan (original lead singer of The Pogues).
  

worst blogger ever

I don't know what's happened; I used to be so great at blogging! Sigh. I need some inspiration. Oh well, here are some nuggets:

• A client told me yesterday that she was going to send me to the Obama White House and have me taped to the Christmas tree there. I'm not entirely sure what she meant by that, but I don't think it was good.
• I made the same client cry twice later in the evening because I made her do her laundry. I should feel bad about this, but I don't.
• I have now gotten all of my coworkers but one hooked on Veronica Mars. I've also begun indoctrinating the clients as well. It's a sickness.
• I just bought a Berkshire Fluffie blanket and it's awesome. This is possibly too much information (not that that's ever stopped me before!), but I just want to wrap up in it naked because it feels that amazing. You need to get one.
• My new obsession is buying used movies off of Amazon. I can usually get them for about 4 bucks and since that's about how much it would cost to rent them at Blockbuster, I'm buying stuff I have and haven't seen. None of them fit in my PO box though, so the post office lady has to do her job and hand them off to me. I think she's getting irritated.
• Zack and Miri Make a Porno is on. I love Justin Long in this movie.

That's all I've got for now. Oh, and Cary, I know this will make your day-I've finally found my set of Table Topics, so start looking forward to more Q&A's!

I am currently enjoying . . .

• The Seventeen Magazine Project
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
• The FURminator (Seriously-if you have a pet, you need this.)
• Being outside (Yes, Traci, my deck does count as the great outdoors!!!)
• Tootsie Rolls
• Hoppipolla by Sigur Rós
• Masterpiece Classic's adaptation of Little Dorrit
• the countdown for the season finale of Glee tonight
  

Newsies + Gaga = Awesome

Hey you guuuuuuys!!!!

Today is the 25th anniversary of The Goonies!!!

several things . . .

• I just got an ice cream maker and I'm obsessed with sorbet. I've just been making a simple syrup and blending it with fruit. I've done blackberry and cherry so far. Blackberry was better, but both were really good.
• Dinner tonight was delicious-grilled veggies and shrimp. We did leeks, peppers, zucchini, squash and cherry tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes were awesome.
• Just watched Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. It was cute and surprisingly funny.
• I can't believe the season finale of Glee is this week. I hate it when there's a huge break in the middle of the season; it makes the second half seem ridiculously short.
  
• Speaking of, in the last episode, when that horrible person, Jesse St. James, egged Rachel, I may have gotten a little teary. That was just taking mean to a new level.
  
• I'm on a country music kick. I can't get enough of this song. Or this one.
  
• These next couple of months before I move are going to kill me. I'm obsessing about it and time is just not moving fast enough.
  
• I randomly went to Wyoming this week for a night. If ever you are going to be really sick or need medical attention, I would suggest that you do it at St. John's Medical Center in Jackson. It was the nicest hospital I have ever seen. No worries, though, I wasn't a patient, I was visiting a friend.
• I'm giving up soda. Again.
  
• I've been behaving completely out of character lately and spending time outside. And not only spending time outside, but actually enjoying the great outdoors. And by great outdoors, I mean sitting on the deck in our backyard. Baby steps.
  

The Maltese Falcon (AFI #23)

This was not my favorite of the AFI movies. I only made it through the whole thing because I started reading my book like half an hour in. So I guess technically, I only really watched the first half hour and the last fifteen minutes. I just couldn't get in to it. I didn't care at all about the characters or what happened to them. I thought the acting kinda sucked (although Humphrey Bogart was o.k.) and I thought Peter Lorre was distracting. So . . . this wasn't the worst (remember Yankee Doodle Dandy?), but it definitely was not the best.



Side note: Every time I watch a movie in black and white, I spend an inordinate amount of time wondering what the costumes and set really looked like. Did they use specific colors for the way they looked in black and white? Did they use clothes that maybe clashed or looked garish in real life, but look good on screen?

The Philadelphia Story (AFI #51)

I had watched Rear Window shortly before watching this movie with my parents, and we all agreed that Grace Kelly may be gorgeous to look at, but if we had to choose between them, Katharine Hepburn's spunkiness would win out every time. She's fantastic in a movie full of fantastic actors. Cary Grant is, as always, well . . . how do you describe him other than he's Cary Grant?!? He doesn't need a description, Cary Grant is the description. Jimmy Stewart (I can't call him James, it sounds wrong.) is hilarious, although I have to say, he (and everyone else) was upstaged by the little sister pretty much every time she came on the screen.

Letters to Juliet

Loved this movie. Vanessa Redgrave is just . . . wow. I want to be like her when I'm older.

Jaws (AFI #48)

I credit Jaws and Steven Spielberg with the following:

• Ruining my family beach weeks in North Carolina. While swimming one time, I saw a large(ish) gray object out of the corner of my eye. After my heart started beating again and I finished peeing myself, I swam out of that water faster than Michael Phelps. Turns out it was just a piece of paper.
• Inspiring me to learn more about sharks. This led to me finding out that it's true that sharks can attack you in 3 feet of water, which momentarily reinforced my fear of the ocean. Oddly enough, it also led me to want to become a marine biologist. This dream was dashed when my mom pointed out to me that I would be required to spend time in the sun. Given my red hair and fair skin, this didn't seem like a wise idea. Instead, I have spent the last 15ish years floundering from career to career, never finding anything I really want to do. Thanks, mom. ;)
• Leading me to believe that any animal is just a step away from wanting to relentlessly stalk and kill me.
  

Issues I have with this movie:

• The fake shark, but that's a given.
• On a couple of occasions while they're out on the boat, the music reminded me of The Goonies, which Spielberg also worked on.
  
• SPOILER!!! After he blows up the shark, the guts go everywhere, which would just draw in any other sharks in the area and create a feeding frenzy.
• As Chief Brody and Hooper swim towards shore, they're swimming right into where all the seagulls are, which would seem to indicate that they are swimming right towards the shark guts. Please refer to the above comment.

That being said, I love this movie. Nothing can make me tense up quite like those first couple notes of the Jaws music. I also think the way they filmed a lot of it from the shark's point of view makes it scarier. You just see the fear on the face of the actors and can better imagine yourself in their position. Or at least I can. My imagination tends to run wild, so I picture the cold, black eyes; the razor sharp, bloody teeth,; and the stench of rotting flesh coming from its gaping mouth. I don't think I would be able to see that if I had the actual visual of an obviously fake shark lunging towards me. Um . . . I don't know what to say to wrap this up after that visual. Go rent the movie. It's worth watching again. See it before you go swimming.

Rear Window (AFI #42)

Going in order wasn't working, so I just decided to watch what I want to when I want to. Big shocker, I know!

Rear Window is the Hitchcock movie that scared me the most the first time I watched it. (Probably because I didn't see Psycho until many years later.) SPOILERS AHEAD!!! I think it was the whole knowing someone is coming, but being incapacitated so you can't do anything about it. That freaks me out-seeing the lights go off in the hallway and hearing the footsteps. It gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

Watching Rear Window this time, I was struck (and re-struck) by several things . . .

• I love that it was a scary movie without all sorts of special effects.
• Um . . . Grace Kelly is gorgeous.
• If I turn into Miss Lonelyhearts and start having pretend dinners, please do something. I give you permission to send in the white coats.
• I'm so used to seeing actors have smokin' bodies, that it was almost a shock to see Jimmy Stewart's old man body. It wasn't a bad thing necessarily, it was just a jolt to the system.
  
• Is blog stalking and such the modern day equivalent of what Jimmy Stewart was doing?

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (AFI #99)

Wow. Unlike Yankee Doodle Dandy, I loved this movie and can absolutely see why it's on AFI's list. Unlike the recent(ish) remake, Guess Who, this movie focused more on social prejudices and family relationships, instead of just trying to get laughs. Katharine Hepburn played the loving mother perfectly. The scene at the beginning where she's in the bedroom talking to her daughter is so sweet; and the part where she sends Hillary on her way made me gasp, and at the same time, made me wonder if that's something Katharine Hepburn would have done in real life! Spencer Tracy was also perfect in his role as the cantankerous father who (spoiler alert!) eventually comes around. His final speech made me a little teary and actually seemed quite relevant, given the current issues surrounding gay marriage. And as for Sidney Poitier . . . what can I say? Perfection, as always. In another moment that seemed oddly relevant and current, his character remarked on, and chuckled a little bit about how his fiance thought their (half-white, half-black, in case you haven't caught on yet!) child would some day be President. Oh, how naive he thought she was being!

So . . . long story short, rent this movie. It was much better than most of the movies I've seen lately.

Next up on the list is Unforgiven. I'm not a big fan of Westerns, so we'll see how this goes. I blame my dislike of them on an unfortunate childhood viewing of the movie, Shane. I can still hear that obnoxious little kid saying "Shaaaaaaaaaaane!" If you've seen it, you know what I mean!

Yankee Doodle Dandy

I decided to just do the basic 100 years, 100 movies list, and number 100 on the list is Yankee Doodle Dandy. I'm watching it right now, and I don't foresee myself finishing it. I just can't get into it. I don't care about the characters at all and I can't get involved in the storyline. It just isn't happening.

Next up on the list is Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. You can't go wrong with Sidney Poitier. Or Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, for that matter. Of course most people would probably say the same thing about James Cagney. I really am kind of disappointed about the whole Yankee Doodle Dandy thing. Oh well, what can you do?

in lieu of being productive . . .

I love movies. Love 'em. But unfortunately, I feel like the only ones I watch these days are bromances or rom-coms. So . . . I'm going to change it up a little. You know all those AFI's 100 years, 100 . . . lists? I've decided my goal for the summer (since I'm not taking any vacations and so will need something to do) is to work my way through one of the lists. I can't decide which one though. There's:

100 years . . . 100 movies
. . . 100 laughs
. . . 100 thrills
. . . 100 passions
. . . 100 cheers

My original thought was to just do the original 100 years . . . 100 movies, but watching 100 years . . . 100 cheers (all inspiring movies) sounds like more fun. 100 passions would be fun too, as would 100 laughs and 100 thrills. I just don't know. Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone wanna watch a movie with me?

give it to me!

As you may have noticed, I'm going through an obsessive blogger phase. Don't worry, I'll make up for it later by not blogging for a couple months.

When I first started reading this tribute to the movie The Monster's Christmas (don't worry, I had never heard of it either) I was slightly intrigued and then I saw the following and it is now my mission in life to find this movie.

I can't stop watching this; it's hypnotic. In my mind, when she makes the face, there are sound effects.




And this may just be my new favorite song.

pure genius

A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever -- powered by Cracked.com

Is it bad that . . .

• I want to delete a Facebook friend because I'm sick of the incessant political commentary?
• I can't fully get behind this new Haiti-fied version of We Are the World because it opens with Justin Bieber? I can get past the rap section, but I can't get past the Bieber.
  
• I actually liked When in Rome?
• I refuse to believe that male ice skaters are straight? Most male pairs skaters and ice skaters from China, Russia and any Eastern bloc country are an exception, but even then, are still under suspicion.