In which Ren totally turfs it.

I’m gonna start this with two confessions. They aren’t great secrets or anything but they are sort of shameful. And it will all tie together somehow…I think.

First, I am not the most graceful person you have ever met. And if you have ever met me, right now you are laughing. But despite years of dance training and such, I still can manage to fall down the stairs, sit down on the stairs to wipe off the blood and then turn around and fall UP the stairs. On the way to my final exam for a college acting class I feel down a flight of cement stairs and had to deliver my scene with blood running down my knees. And I have actually sustained a serious HOUSEKEEPING injury that involved a trip to the emergency room, a CAT scan and a course of antibiotics. I am, to be succinct (too late), clumsy.

That said, I am always, always the first to laugh at a kid turfing it on his/her skateboard, My husband says I am a terrible person for this but I don’t wish them any bodily harm, I just love to see skateboarders bite it (but hey, I do stop and make sure they get up and brush themselves off. If they were lying there on the ground moaning in pain I would totally stop to help them…after I stopped laughing). And my husband is the one who calls the police on the skaters in the street. I’m the one who likes to run around the house yelling SKATEBOARDING IS NOT A CRIME! (To which he always responds, “Yeah, but loitering is.” I totally married Mr. Wilson (C’mon, Dennis the Menace’s next door neighbor, the grumpy old man, you knew that, right?)

Part of this comes from being a kid who, obviously, took headers off my skateboard quite often. But there is an odd pride when you fall off a skateboard, you know? You attempted to do something stupid, to perhaps fly down a hill on a little piece of wood with for tiny wheels on it and even if you aren’t exactly successful…well…a crash is just as successful, I suppose. But, the thing is, I get really upset when people just fall. Skateboarding is one thing, you put your own life in peril but when anyone falls on TV, I gasp and clutch my pearls until I see them get up, never mind real life. I am terrified of falling so I just assume that everyone else is too. Dude, when they did that thing at the last summer Olympics and that guy was running through time and when he got to 1940’s when the Olympics were not held because of the war and he falls? I gasped and said “Oh my gosh, I hope that poor guy was ok!” and then I felt stupid because it was just intended to represent the faltering of the Olympic spirit or some such nonsense. Do you have any idea what I am talking about or am I the only person that watched the Athens opening ceremonies?).

Ok here’s the part where it all ties in…It was rainy last night and I needed to stop at the store on my way home. That’s all fine, I have no problems with rain or grocery stores. I put my jaunty little rain hat on (no, seriously, it’s jaunty) and I buttoned my coat and got out of my car and walked across the parking lot and I was fine. I was fine until I hit the section of the parking lot that is painted as a cross walk and is suddenly really smooth from all the paint and dude, I totally went down SPLASH in a huge puddle. I have no idea how I landed but bruised my knee and elbow on one side while the other side of my body was completely soaked. On top of it all, however I fell required me to shift to get up and thus sit in puddle, so I got even more soaked. I had a passing moment of “Oh no, I am going to die in this puddle, in this very crowded parking lot in front of this very busy store in an extremely busy city…oh, I guess not.” And a very nice older woman asked me if I needed help. I considered saying yes because the bag boy at this particular store is really more of a bag MAN and is quite handsome and lovely and actually looks capable of helping a girl carry her groceries so I’m guessing he could help me off the ground but I said no and stood up. I was fine. A little wet, a little shaken (not stirred) and a little bruised…ok actually, I was a lot wet, so I decided to just go home. I squished my way to my car, found a towel to sit on and drove home, sniffling. I just fell in a parking lot. My knee hurts and I am wet down to the socks and waaaaaaaah. It was all terribly pathetic.

Today I am a little stiff. I somehow managed to twist my back a bit and my knee hurts like the dickens but I’m seeing this all as karma. I will no longer laugh when a kid on a skateboard turfs it.

Oh, who am I kidding?

*Just in case you were wondering, I do say things like “Oh my gosh” and I do “clutch my pearls” (this is that movement that your mom does when something startles her and her hand flies to her sternum as she gasps) which is slightly embarrassing and not at all punk rock of me.

Batter eater!

Bah, I got tagged and while I love playing along with this stuff, I am just not…so much of an L.A. person. I really should get out of Burbank sometimes…

Four L.A. Things:
Four Jobs I've Had In My Life In L.A.:
1. Well, I have worked for a semi-major comic book company for the past 8 years.
2. I worked for a now defunct stock photography company as a “keyworder”, which was a pretty interesting job but I hated the company. Basically, I was given a picture and I had to apply as many words as I could to it. Both the obvious (dog, puppy, pet, animal, fur) and the less obvious (loyalty, love, affection). It was fun on occasion but there was always a limit to what I was allowed to do. Look, if you have a picture of two dudes in casual attire, in a hip looking apartment, hugging, you can keyword “friends” but really, why wouldn’t you also keyword, “couple, love affection, homosexual”? I got very frustrated that such issues were ignored. It’s not as if there aren’t publications looking for a nice picture of a same-sex couple. But, I guess, by the same token, we didn’t keyword any opposite sex couple as “heterosexual.” HOWEVER, it’s a lot easier to find that kind of picture, so I never thought it needed that sort of keyword. Yeah, I guess that’s sexist of me.
3. I was also a photo researcher at the same place. Someone would call and say, “I NEED PICTURES OF A SPARK! NOW NOW NOW!” and I would have to think, “Well, where would I find pictures of sparks? I know! ARC-WELDING!” because really, you only have so many ways to catalog pictures.
4. For two or three days I did a “test-run” at a company that later offered me a job as an illustrator of courtroom displays. Like the picture of the parking lot and the path the car that hit you took, you know? I liked the illustration aspect of the job but I hated the idea that I would have to talk to lawyers all the time and drive around a city that I didn’t know. They asked me to work for pay for two days to see how I dealt with their environment. It was interesting but when they offered the job I declined. They actually came back with a second offer but I just couldn’t get over the “dealing with lawyers” part of it.

Four Movies About LA I Could Watch At Least One More Time (I had to change this one a little bit, I just couldn’t think of any that I could watch over and over again):
1. Valley Girl
2. Singin’ In The Rain
3. Clueless
4. Die Hard (yeah, Alan Rickman makes it worth it)

Four Movies About LA That I Never Need to See Again:
1. Matchstick Men
2. Jackie Brown
3. The Karate Kid
4. L.A. Confidential

Four Places I’ve Lived All Over L.A. (With Food Memories From Each):
Oh! This is a trick answer! My living room is in “Toluca Woods” My bedroom is in Burbank, my kitchen is in Toluca Lake and I think technically my whole apartment is in North Hollywood but if you call the North Hollywood police they will tell you that you are not in their jurisdiction. I’ve only ever lived in one apartment in L.A. but it’s in a really weird location. I would very much like to move but I can’t afford it. (So the food memory thing is changed to favorite foods pretty much because i have to.)

Four L.A.-Themed Shows I Love(d) To Watch:
1. Melrose Place (Oh, like you didn’t!)
2. Miss Match (I like that Alicia Silverstone, I think she’s cute.)
3. V.I.P. (I have a deep and abiding fondess for Pammy, I can’t explain it, I think it’s just this attitude of “This is me. Deal with it” that I think she gives off. And she just seems to “get it” and by “it” I actually don’t mean sex.)
4. Popular (I think I am the only non-teen to ever watch this show…)

Four Places I Would Vacation At In L.A.:
For me, vacations aren’t about L.A. so I am woefully uninformed as to nice places to spend some time. Most of my vacations are excuses to see family in New Jersey.

Four LA-Based Websites I Visit Daily:
1. Absolutely Dorky
2. Candy Blog(This is an L.A. blog, right? I’m pretty sure it is…)
3. justJenn
4. Jane Espenson

Four Of My Favorite Foods Found In L.A.:
1. Fried Tofu at Frontier Wok in Burbank.
2. Carnitas tacos, pretty much anywhere but I particularly liked the ones at Barrigan’s (it’s not just me, is it? that’s a really odd name for a Mexican place, isn’t it?) in Burbank.
3. Tuna Melt with avocado at Snug Harbor in Santa Monica.
4. Tofu Vegatable Soup at Joy Feast in Burbank.
5. Since I never seem to get out of Burbank I will mention that I used to really love the pizza at Jacapos in Hollywood but I haven’t been there in a very long time.

Four Places In L.A. I Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. Curled up in my bed with my cat, a hot drink and a book.
2. Prowling around The Illiad bookstore (well, after the big move I guess).
3. You know, this is a bit of a stretch since it’s not something I have ever done, but at the moment, sitting in the George C. Page museum, sketching skulls sounds very appealing...
4. …As does curling up in a booth at Paty’s and reading a book while drinking some nice hot tea (it’s really cold in here today and I was out in the rain so I’m feeling in need of some warmth and cuddlyness).

I won’t tag anyone because…well, I don’t know anyone to tag. You could, of course, do this with any neighborhood if you are not in L.A.

Man, I made a crapload of cupcakes this weekend for a very nice party at Jodi-odi-odi’s house and drank a little too much but that was ok as I think I was not the only one (I’m lookin’ at you JODI!). I suppose “crapload” is not a very appetizing way to refer to cupcakes but it was a lot. I realized it was a lot when I used and entire package of those little paper liners and I had to open a second package. There were chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, vanilla cupcakes with buttercream with a touch of cherry juice and peanut butter cupcakes with a chocolate cream icing. I thought they were all pretty good but I still have not found the ultimate chocolate cupcake recipe. I guess I will have to keep trying…sigh. I do have a new band name due to the massive amount of baking going on my house though. I am quite liking BATTER EATERS.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...OWWWW!

Have I ever mentioned my sort of not quite super hero alter ego? We all have them, you may not of found yours yet but you have one, I am quite sure. My alter ego is not quite super, only slightly above average hero called…wait for it…CONTUSION! My power, which is not exactly super but could totally come in handy in certain situations, is the ability to cause uncomfortable sprains and bruising. Just think, I could stop a bank robber dead in his tracks by causing him to twist his ankle! Really, it’s not a useless power at all.

Naturally, my costume is a rainbow of deep bloody purple, dark, painful-to-the-touch blue, and a sickening green that lightens to a bilious yellow and instead of a mask, I would sport two black eyes to conceal my identity. I even have a sidekick called…wait for it…MISTER BLISTER. I don’t think I need to explain his powers.

People, it gets better. I am part of a team of not at all extraordinary gentlepeople. We are called…wait for it…THE UNCOMFORTABLES and the team includes the mighty GRIDLOCK and the duel personality of HISTIMINE/ANTI-HISTIMINE (think Two Face with allergies). We’re not super and we are not exactly heroes but…well, that pretty much sums it up.

EDIT: After spending the last hour watching the boys I work with run around like idiots I have decided that MISTER BLISTER should really be SISTER BLISTER. Yes, we are the LEAGUE OF EXTRA ORDINARY GENTLEWOMEN (see, you have to really emphasize the space between EXTRA and ORDINARY, but you get it, right?).

ALSO: Apparently eleven hours is too long to cook potatoes in a slow cooker, just in case you were wondering. I'd say check them after 6 and definitely take them out by 8.

I WANNA ROCK! I...WANT...TO...ROCK!(Have I said that before?)

you can click if you want to see my menu!
Oh my gosh! Donovan’s Mom told me that I should make up a monthly menu and it sounded like a good idea. BUT IT”S BEEN SUCH A PAIN IN THE BUTT! The philosophy behind it, she says, is to have the ingredients on hand prior to the day of the meal (yeah, right) and…you know, it just makes things easier. I totally think she’s right but it has not been easy going for me to figure out a twenty-six day menu. And realistically, I know that a lot of these nights I will be caught in traffic, or we will go out with friends, or whatever, but I decided that I would do twenty-six days anyway, just so I can have some flex room. And I am trying really hard to be fair about the distribution of meat. Me, I could eat veggies almost every day and be happy, not so for the husband. So I am trying to have one fish, one chicken, one veggie and one MEAT day each week and I figure on MEAT day I can have a veggie burger, or veggie bacon or whatever while he has a hamburger or some turkey sausage. And then, as I lay it out in a grid I realize that I have two fish days in a row, or no meat day on one week and 4 chickens…it’s all so confusing! I am also trying to add some new dishes to my repertoire AND have a little tofu once in a while because I just really like tofu. On top of it all there is the added complication of servings. If it’s a meat night and I don’t feel like eating meat, I am fine with eating say, the sweet potato and veggies but then what happens to the other meat portion? Because the husband is not terribly fond of leftovers and quite frankly, neither am I. Maybe it’s just as easy to freeze it and then he can eat the same dish again in a week or two. Perhaps that is what we will try…hmmm…look, I said I wouldn’t talk about the muffins anymore, ok? This is dinner. And by the way, hey, brother, I don’t put rich creamery butter on my vegan muffins because, much to my surprise THEY DON’T NEED IT! They are really good and moist all on their own.

Hey, yesterday was Fat Tuesday or as my husband kept saying as he pointed at the cat “Hey, it’s CAT Tuesday” yeah, he’s a clever one but he is the only one in the house with a Fat Tuesday tradition. If I had been thinking about it, I might have fried some shrimp for dinner or something but his family always eats doughnuts on Fat Tuesday. So while I made a non-deep fried dinner, he dashed out and bought us each a doughnut. We are not real traditionalists, ok, to be fair, I am not a real traditional sort of person he is, but this is one thing we have done for years now. It may well be our only tradition and I think it’s kind of sweet. Awwwww.

Finally, one small complaint. I was listening to Dicky Barrett this morning and what do I hear? The sweet, sweet voice of Dee Snyder screaming “I WANNA ROCK! I…WANT...TO…ROCK!” and I did that little dance of joy in my car and then…AND THEN…they cut it off. 30 seconds in…so cruel. They did redeem themselves about 15 minutes later with the Hoodoo Gurus played back to back with The Ramones but why tease a girl like that? Why?

WAIT! WAIT! ONE MORE THING! I am fairly giddy that I just found a recipe on line that is supposed to approximate the long long "Carnation Breakfast Bar". It's not nearly as healthy but man, I loved those things! I ate them for lunch every day in high school...sigh, if only menus were so simple now...

God Bless the Sex Pistols(even if they don't want him too!)

The vegan muffin of the week is carrot-raisin…but without the raisins and with walnuts instead because I have this thing about raisins in my food. It’s not that I don’t like raisins, I just don’t like them in food. They are fine AS food, but not IN food. Anyway, the texture of the muffins is really good but they are a little bland, and not sweet enough, which I guess is the fault of me leaving out the freakin’ raisins. I had actually intended to put in chopped cranberries and then discovered that I didn’t have any. I had dried cherries but they were not chopped and I didn’t feel like chopping them and thus they are carrot-walnut muffins and they are fine. They could be better but they are fine. Next time I will add the cranberries. Perhaps they will be better. Is this truly more about my muffins than you ever wanted to know? Because I will stop with the muffins now.

Oh, and god bless John Lydon (that’s Johnny Rotten to you and me) for knowing who he is and always will be.

Except for the massive amounts of rain yesterday it’s been awful quiet around here….hmmm…that’s kind of unnerving…

Comic Book Crushes

In response to me stating my swoonyness over Wolverine, Mr. Palmer suggested that it might actually be Hugh Jackman I was swoony for (but pointed out a beautiful Wolverine costume to see anyway). Here’s the sad thing, while Hugh Jackman is certainly swoon worthy, he is, after all, just a man. A real man of flesh and blood who has an actual life, a wife, and you know, all the crap that goes with it.

Wolverine now, he’s IMAGINARY. And if I want to believe I can change him, no one can tell me I can’t (or if they do, I don’t have to listen…why? BECAUSE HE IS NOT REAL!) And dude, he’s got claws and they are made of adamantium (which sounds like Adam Ant-ium, which is even cooler) or sometimes bone but yeah…NOT REAL. Can’t scratch me with those claws “accidentally”, won’t leave the toilet seat up or eat the last Twinkie or forget my birthday (although I have to believe that Wolverine would actually do all of those things if he were real). See the key here is to always remember that the crush is fictional. And even when crushing on a real life person, make sure you know NOTHING about them, it makes it so much easier to believe that they are the person you want them to be.

Even the most literate of women has crushed on Mr. Darcy or wanted to match wits with Petruchio! But comic book crushes…well…that’s another story. So, considering that I have thought all this now, here follows a list of comic book characters that I may or may not have had crushes on over the years. Oh, please, like you haven’t!

Richie Rich-Oh come on! He’s really rich, and I was seven. What more does a seven year old girl want than a man who has a sundae bar, a helicopter and his own dog?

Batman-- He IS the Batman, you know.

Hellboy- Oh how I love him. Both the movie and the comic book version. Hellboy, be mine!

Jeff Smax- Maybe I just want to be Karen Smax, because I do you know, and hard too!

Spider Jersusalem-- Oh he’s a horrible (fictional) person but ya gotta love him (if you even read comics, that is).

Bigby Wolf-Who is pretty much like Wolverine light, I think.

And of course, Wolverine.

(I was going to find pictures to link to all these but I decided that it was just too geeky and over the top. You know what I like I’m sure you can figure it all out or google it yourself.)

And yes, yes, FICTIONAL, I know. That is the whole point here. You show me a boy comic geek that hasn’t had a crush on Powergirl or Wonder Woman or Black Cat and I will show you a very bad comic geek.

Two points of San Diego Comic Con interest here. I am (and have been) working on a little book about this very subject, illustrating all my comic book crushes throughout the years. IF we ever get approved for our table you can look for it at the Tired Girl Collective booth in the small press area.

Also, remember a few years ago when the hip teenage girls were all wearing t-shirts that said things like “Mrs. Kutchner” and “Mrs. Pitt”? Schwee and I discusses how badly we wanted out own geek versions of these shirts, I was yeaning for a “Mrs. Wayne” or a “Mrs. Kirk” shirt and she longs to have one that reads “Mrs. Spock.” If that ain’t nerdy, I don’t know what is!

Daily Life

I love when people have a “daily” sort of aspect to their blogs. I like that justJENN puts up the first five songs on her ipod. I can’t do that; I don’t listen to my ipod that way and I still haven’t figured out the shuffle thing yet so my audiobooks keep coming up in the mix. I like that Brenda notes which coffee mug she drinks out of and what song she is listening to as she writes. I find myself looking forward to mipmup’s Friday Favorites (even though it’s usually stuff I can’t afford) and I like blogs like Eat Air and The Vegan Lunch Box that post…food. I guess I am more interested in how other people lead their daily lives (as opposed to their occasional lives? That’s a silly phrase “daily lives” but you know what I mean). I have never met Karenna but I was interested in what she eats for breakfast because it is nothing like what I eat (usually a cup of low fat soy milk, a homemade, high fiber muffin of some sort (this week it is pumpkin) and a lot of black tea--for the record) and I like reading what Jane had for lunch (it’s usually more interesting than what I had). It is fascinating to me how we all get through our days but I personally have no real rituals to speak of, the music I listen to is completely random with out being on shuffle and the food I eat is less than interesting. I have a morning conversation with the cat that generally consists of “Hi Buddy! How are you today?” I drink my soymilk out of whatever mug I can reach (and is clean), I listen to the radio but I change channels as soon as someone starts talking.

I would like to offer some sort of daily interest but I got nuthin’. I will now post the first ten random songs in itunes, which I am not listening to and tell you what I ate for dinner:

Ruunning In My Sleep-The Fighting Brothers McCarthy (I have never listened to this one, I just checked on it and it seems countryish)
Recondita armonia-Giacomo Puccini (I know this, well, I know that this is from”Tosca” and that I have listened to it before)
Sweet Afton-Nickel Creek (the ever lovely Jodi-odi-odi turned me on to Nickel Creek, They are good, listen to them)
Funky shit-Pilaseca (Here’s another one I have never listened to)
Eveline-Nickel Creek (more from Jodi)
Give Me Novacaine-Green Day (I often forget how much I love the Green Day but I was always kind of turned off by the title of that one album…”Dookie.” I like the poop joke as much as the next person but for some reason that one always bugged me)
Transition-The Longcut (Yep, never listened to this)
Bright Young Men-The Arm (I just listened to this one and it was pretty good)
Now-Viva K (Who? What?)
Rocking This Disaster-roue (You know, someday I will listen to all my music and I will start here because that’s a good title)

Most of these bands I know nothing about, last year I downloaded a bunch of mp3s from the South by Southwest festival with the intention that I would listen to them, decide what I liked, sort through them and be the coolest kid on the block for knowing all the new bands. That hasn’t happened yet. Of course, the Puccini, the Green Day and the Nickel Creek (thank you Jodi!) are things I actually listen to.

For dinner I had salmon, some sort of potato wedges with garlic and fresh, steamed zucchini. It was very good.

Wolverine is also less emo than he looks.

So, I have this label maker, which I really have for no reason other than to make a label that says “cat” and stick it on the cat. I have nothing of import to label and I am not organized enough to label the things I do have. Really, it comes down to labels that say things like “book” and “pie.” But I brought it to work the other day for labeling entertainment. It was only a matter of minutes before Chris was sporting a label that read “Candypants” and Ho had one that said “Jason is a dork” which I will admit is not terribly original but is terribly accurate. Lava Bear took a little longer for me to figure out but he ended up with “Less emo than I look” and after a while I was sporting a label that read “I don’t like to be labeled.” Which is true, I don’t. But here is a question for ya…when someone asks you to describe yourself, what words do you use? The first word that pops to mind for me is “nice” which would probably make anyone who knows me laugh. But, due to a missed question on my English Lit GREs many years ago, I can pass it off for the Middle English definition (look it up and laugh at me). It’s a pretty wishy washy description, I know, but when pressed to label myself, I don’t know what to say. I suppose now I can call myself a “Modern, Cool Nerd” but the only word in that description that seems to fit is “Nerd.”

In the past, I think I have been called bitter, grumpy, angry, scary, rebellious, winsome (that’s my favorite, although I won’t deny the others), serious, industrious and dependable. And I don’t doubt for a second that I have sported many labels that I never even knew about (I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT THIS WILL GO DOWN ON YOUR PERMANENT RECORD! Heh, do you know what that is from?) but when asked to label myself, the best I can do is “Well, I think I’m a nice person…” Go figure.

Oooh, also, is is a little geeky of me that I saw the new X3 billboard with Wolverine on it and got a little giddy. Seriously, I have tried to take a picture of it twice but from my car with my cell phone, so it hasn’t worked. And I don’t even care about those movies much but Wolverine makes me all swoony…shut up.

I WANNA ROCK(But only until 9:30 because I have to work tomorrow)

First of all, is it wrong for me to really, really want a pink cell phone? How about if it has “I Wanna Rock” by Twisted Sister as a ring tone? Because I want that.

And speaking of pink…Jodi and I were out and aboot (that’s Canadian for about) in Beverly Hills-ish this weekend and we saw a woman completely dressed in pink, pink pants, pink shoes, pink shirt, pink hat and…a pink dog. How horribly, wonderfully, wrongly awesome is that? Very.

This weekend was a long weekend, which was nice. But I didn’t really get anything done or do anything of value. I did continue my experiment in vegan baking and I made pumpkin muffins. Much to my surprise they were damn good. Just a little sweet for my tastes but I could totally give you one (I could but I won’t) and you would never know they they had no eggs or dairy. Very nice. I also made a bunch of turkey meatballs, some mushroom barley soup, barbecue sauce for the ribs that are in my slowcooker right now and…something else that I can’t remember.

I’ve not been reading nearly as much as I would like but what I have been reading (The Scar, by my beloved/hated China Mieville and The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford) can tend towards the slightly depressing so this weekend I decided to throw another book into the mix, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, by Laurie R. King. This is an interesting series concept concerning a young woman who becomes friend and partner (and eventually wife) to Sherlock Holmes. I am actually a fan of Sherlock Holmes as written by Arthur Conan Doyle and many of the pretenders to his throne don’t hold up to scrutiny. I think that the Laurie R. King books do a decent job. And they are fun reading to boot.

Ah, and today is a special day. Today my one true love (no…not that one…not that one either… no , no , no … YES!!) turns 60. And a very fine 60 it is too!

Kitties! And Non-Existent Bands!

Have you ever seen a cat look more like she was up to something?
Now this cat:That’s a sweet kitty. And a rough design for a picture book I am working on.

In the past three days I have made a few comments that people immediately said something to the effect of “that would make a good band name.” So far we have:

Pork Chops in the Crock Pot
Font Whore
and
The Owl is Kind of a Dick

Personally, I have belonged to many non-existent bands. The punk bad that I play the bass for is called “snapcrotch,” the all-girl heavy metal band that I sang for was called “Maidenhead”(I have since heard that a band with such a name exists.) I believe that I once belonged to a kind of emo band called “Tired Angels.”

And I still think that “Stranded Andy” is an excellent name for a band.

REALLY?

Ok, the first time I heard it, I kind of laughed and thought, “Oh man, I forgot about this song.” The second time I heard it I thought “Really? You’re going to play this again? Really?” But then I started to wonder if I would really hear it again. I put on that same stupid channel just to see. In L.A. it’s called JACKfm but I hear that in Philadelphia it’s BEN and in Detroit it’s DOUG. I keep meaning to go on-line and see if there are more but I don’t really care that much. But then…last night, there it was again. I don’t remember the very first time that I heard “Unskinny Bop” but I think I was pretty content for that to be the ONLY time I ever heard that song. Now I think I have heard it at least once a week for the past three weeks. Don’t get me wrong. I love Bret Michaels, Rikki Rockett, C.C. DeVille and Bobby Dall as much as the next girl (and the really scary part is that I did NOT have to look up those names) but really, JACKfm, really? No “Every Rose Has it’s Thorn?” No “Talk Dirty to Me?” When was the last time I heard “I Want Action?” and you really decide to play “Unskinny Bop” every week? Man, I hate the radio.

We do have Indy103.1 in L.A. and that goes a long way towards helping. But still, more music, less talk, even if I do love Steve Jones and Dicky Barrett . Even if they do reward me with regular doses of the Hoodoo Gurus, they need to shut up and play the music.

Chicken, Chicken, Chicken

In the face of doubt and mockery, whilst people told me it couldn’t be done …"You have to add liquid!” they said…and they were wrong…I cooked a chicken in my crock-pot. And it was good. Here’s how to do it to get an absolutely falling off the bone, then the bones all fall apart too chicken:

Crumple up a few pieces of tin foil and put them in the bottom of your crock-pot. This will raise the chicken up so that it doesn’t stew in it’s own juices (heh. I always wanted to use that expression and here it’s not even an expression!). Season your chicken as desired. I just used a little salt and pepper and some paprika (which is a good idea because your chicken won’t brown that much and it’s slightly less disturbing to look in the pot and see a reddish brown chicken then a pale wan looking one). Situate the chicken on top of the foil and do whatever else it is that you might do to a chicken. I tucked some unpeeled garlic cloves around it so we could have some roasted garlic with the potatoes that I planned to serve on the side. I think you could probably tuck a lemon or onion or whatever you like to tuck into chickens (I will not judge) at this point and it won’t effect the cooking time if you have a small enough chicken (ours was 3.5 lbs). Put the crock-pot on high for one hour and then turn it to low for about 8 hours. I put it on in the morning and turned it to warm when I got home. I have to say, it was an excellent chicken. It yielded about a cup or so of “juices” that, if I had actually been thinking about, I could have made into a nice gravy right in the crock pot, but I wasn’t so I tried to thicken them a bit with a little corn starch but couldn’t get them to a boil so it was pretty much an au jus sort of deal once I skimmed off the fat.

Excellent experiment and a meal I will certainly add to the repertoire. Just remember, you don’t HAVE to add liquid to your crock-pot. I checked it out and it’s OK. Clearly some people already know this but at least 3 did not because they told me that I HAD TO ADD LIQUID. They were wrong. Deliciously wrong.

DON'T LOOK, JAMES!

This is not the art for the Valentine I made for James, but it is part of it. His might feature the unicorn farting strawberry-scented rainbows (HI STEFFIE!) but I’m not sayin’.

More Valentine's love.

Just a little more love for your Valentine.

HAPPY V.D.!

Have a happy Valentine's day.

A really happy Valentine's day.

A really creepy Valentine's day.

High Hopes for Crock Pots

It was pretty quiet around casa de me this weekend. Just some hanging out and a trip to Target to get…bum bum bummmmmm…a crock pot. It seems like the ultimate in middle -aged hausfrau to me, that I now own my own crock pot but I am hoping that this will keep us from eating out quite so often. We’ll see. It’s not good to get one’s hopes up. BUT IT’S RED AND SHINY LIKE A RACE CAR…except it goes very, very slowly. I’m gonna chuck a chicken in there tomorrow and see what happens.

I did do a lot of baking this weekend but it was in a very short amount of time. I finally gave my tortilla press/baker a test run. Since the directions enclosed with the machine did not actually explain how the machine worked and actually told me to press my tortillas in a tortilla press and bake them on a griddle, even though this thing, it presses, and bakes, it was a trial and error process. By the time I got the errors out of the way it was too late for trials and we had to order a pizza. We will try the semi-fresh tortillas tonight as part of a fish taco extravaganza. I will purchase pre-made tortillas on my way home…you know…just in case.

I also made some muffins. First I made the lemon poppy seed muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance because I have this quest, this desire to learn how to make good vegan baked goods. I don’t know why. You go climb Mt. Everest and I will make a good vegan muffin, ok? I know, I know, I’m not a vegan, I’m not even a vegetarian…I just want to do it, OK? Jeez.

Anyway, when the muffins came out of the oven I tried one and…I was not convinced. So I decided that I needed to make some regular lemon poppy seed muffins with a stick of butter and 2 eggs for comparison purposes. Unfortunately, I didn’t like those either. Turns out I just don’t much care for lemon poppy seed muffins. So I made some butterscotch cookies, which I liked much better. Jason says that both variations of the muffins were completely edible but I noticed that the ones labeled “VEGAN’ are still sitting on the counter. Well, to be fair, there are a lot of the non-vegan ones hanging about too but all the butterscotch cookies seem to have disappeared.

I will try the carrot muffins next time. They actually are a totally different recipe so I have high hopes, which, as we all know, is very bad.

Why am I awake?

It’s rather late and I have taken some drugs to combat a lingering migraine and for some reason, even though I wasn’t tagged and you don’t care, I decided to grab this from Jodi and run with it. Whatever. I should really go to bed.


Four Jobs I've Had:
1. Like my friends, Jodi-odi-odi and Donovan’s Mom, I too sold shoes. But for some reason, I really, really liked it. Except when old men in shorts didn’t wear underwear…yeah, they do that all the time. Oh and the one time that within a few hours I waited on a blind man (YOU try to explain what “oxblood” loafers look like!), a deaf man, a man with one leg who only wanted to buy one shoe and a guy who wanted to bargain on the price of his shoes. That was a rough morning. And remind me to tell you about the cross-dressers sometime.
2. Text book illustrator. If you took a chemisty class in the early nineties, you have probably seen my work. I also did the ever popular illustration of “train A leaving Chicago at 8 am and train B leaving NY at 10 am…”
3. Pizza/popcorn/water ice girl in a small amusement park in New Jersey.
4. Sales girl at Spencer Gifts. We used to like to take all the price tags off the “personal massagers” so we could embarrass the people who were purchasing them. Go figure.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
1. Yep, Empire Records
2. Yep, Sean of the Dead
3. Animal House
4. Spice World

Four Places I've Lived:
1. West Berlin, NJ
2. Salisbury, NC
3. Palmyra, NJ
4. Los Angeles, CA

Four TV Shows I Love:
1. Good Simpsons episodes (it’s kind of scattershot for me)
2. Futurama (sigh, in syndicated reruns only)
3. Dr. Who (sigh, not running in the US yet)
4. Creature Comforts (done running…for the moment)

Four More TV Shows I Love:
1. Waking the Dead (no currently running but they ended the season with Spence bleeding to death!)
2. Foyle’s War (not currently running. Rats!)
3. King of the Hill (I never think of this one but I do so love this show)
4. Veronica Mars ( I miss episodes every now and then but it’s good)

Four Places I've Vacationed:
1. Money Island, NJ (yeah, you’ve never heard of it)
2. Massanetta Springs, VA (you’ve not heard of this one either)
3. Isla Morada, FL (you might have heard of this one)
4. The U.K. & Northern Ireland” on a bus trip (all of it in 10 days, quite a whirlwind, it was)

Four Of My Favorite Dishes:
1. cupcakes
2. Pizza, especially with onions, mushrooms, pepporicini, or fish on it.
3. scrambled tofu
4. oysters on the half shell

Four Sites I Visit Daily:
1. Bookslut
2. Daily Poetry
3. Daily Gossip at Glamour Mag UK (I don’t care about American gossip but i can’t get enough of the British gossip)
4. all my links and than some!

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now:
1. Tintern Abby, Tintern Wales
2. mom’s house
3. The Red Eagle Bar, Cherry Hill, NJ
4. Puerto Rico

Hunh, I looked back at this and thought, "Gee, I need to make some bolds and italics and links in there" and then I though, "Screw that, I'm going to bed."

Nerds, Green Peppers and Sprouts

So I took the test and here is where I stand:

You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of:
Modern, Cool Nerd
You scored higher than 44% on nerdiness
You scored higher than 80% on geekosity
You scored higher than 38% on dork points

What concerns me is that so far this is where EVERYONE stands! I don’t want to be on par with Chris Palmer! Or wait…maybe I do? I don’t know. The test says he’s cool…but...
I like “geekosity” though. That’s a good word.

I am kind of a dork sometimes though. This morning I was going to check my email. Mind you, it was a little early for me and I didn’t have my glasses on but I read the announcement of “Chat is coming soon” as “Christ is coming soon” and I started to wonder why I hadn’t heard anything about that on the radio this morning. And if he was coming soon, do you think he would actually use Google to announce it? I just hope he wouldn’t use AOL. I mean you could make the announcement but then you couldn’t email any attachments of it to other…never mind. Personal bias.

OH! Hey, in my attempt to broaden my dinner horizons (but broaden my bum) I made something last night that I don’t like. I like vegetables and I only ever put two exceptions on that statement. I HATE bell peppers, just the smell of them will make me leave a room. I find it endlessly frustrating that they are a filler in so many things. I will eat stuff that other people find ungodly but just the mention of green peppers will make me queasy. I just won’t eat them. And I can be flexible about other things; if you serve beef I will politely decline and just eat sides. But bell peppers…yeeesh, don’t even invite me over if you are going to make those.

But I didn’t cook bell peppers last night. So that’s not really the point here. The only other vegetable that I use as an exception to my “I like vegetables” statement is brussel sprouts. I have tried them many ways and I just don’t like them but last night, armed with a sense of adventure and a new cookbook, I attempted to make “Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Toasted Garlic” and they were…completely edible. Good even. I won’t go as far to say that I loooooved them but I did eat a full serving. That was my limit, I tried to eat one more and that was sprout overload but in general…very good. So here is the recipe (more or less as I am reproducing it from memory). I say try them. I also say that Vegan with a Vengeance is a very nice cookbook. This is the first recipe I have tried from it, but the book itself is well written, nicely put together, not at all exclusionary (lots of things non-vegans (like me) will enjoy, I think) and just entertaining.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Toasted Garlic

1lb. Brussel Sprouts
1 tbs. Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp. Sea salt.

Halve Brussel sprouts and toss in olive oil. Roast at 400° for 10 minutes. Add garlic and salt and toss around a bit (in the pan). Roast for 5 more minutes and serve.

I hope I don’t have to add the stuff like using potholders and for you people. But hey, these were really good (for brussel sprouts) so I say give them a try. The only thing I have noted in my cookbook about the recipe is that I liked the parts of the sprouts that browned a bit, so I would make sure to put them all in the pan cut side down next time.

Ok, not so much a geek as a freak, apparently.

Um…hey…wow. You guys sure have something to say about being and or not being a geek. Let me just say that around here it’s just a term of affection, as is dork (Jodi) and jerkface. But that’s just around here. And you can be as geeky as you wanna be, I really just don’t care. BUT there is a difference between a nerd, a geek, a dweeb and a dork. I don’t remember what they are but I think nerds have something to do with being obsessive, dweebs are the ones no one wants around, even other dweebs and geek actually implies computer knowledge. Which…I don’t really have, so…whatever.

Labels have never really bothered me much. I always figured I had one in school but I never knew what it was. I was in the band and the drama club and I was an honors student, so I figured it was something along the line of “geek” or “dork” but no one really ever called me those things to my face…unless I’m just blacking all that out. For all I know I had pig blood poured on me at the prom.

I had friends in a lot of different cliques in school and I felt relatively comfortable moving among them. I had good friends who were football players, stoners, musicians, artists, good students, bad students and I was even friendly with that one dude that had the Mohawk who played in the heavy metal band…remember him? The one that no one else wanted to stand next to? Yeah, I liked him. He sold candy out of him gym bag for fifty cents.

It wasn’t until graduation that the truth about my status in the high school clique-ery came out. Somehow, during the graduation ceremony I got involved in a little taunt war with this dude I knew, and when I say dude, I mean duuuuuuude. When he walked past me I whispered “headbanger!” to him. He responded by calling me a “freak.” We continued to taunt each other during the whole ceremony because it was far more interesting than whatever else was going on. We were seated about 2 or three rows apart and knew that while we could hear each other (and the people around us could hear us), the parents in the stands could not.

Later we ended up at the same graduation party and I asked him why he called me a freak. I wasn’t bothered by the title; I just wanted to know how the dude with the long (feathered) hair and leather jacket in May defined “freak.” Turns out that was my “title” in high school. He told me that the headbangers were afraid of me because they couldn’t pinpoint me as one of their own but liked me because I could rock out when necessary. He went on to say that although the (very few) punks didn’t claim me as one of their own, they thought I was ok because I knew what punk music was. And then I managed to confuse them all by being a member of the marching band and drama club.

I guess I didn’t really fit in but I never really tried to. I did what I did and didn’t really bother with anyone else. It’s not really a philosophy or anything, I just do what I do and you are welcome to join me or not. If you don’t like to rock to Ratt then I guess we can listen to something else but the first thing I am going to suggest is probably the Hoodoo Gurus. And you know, if you want to borrow my comics, I’m cool with that. I don’t mind if you call me a geek, or a dork (Jodi) or a nerd. I’ll probably ignore you anyway. Hey, I said I was a geek, I never said I was a nice geek!

I am too a geek!

“You just lost all your geek points. :-( I don't know if I can read you anymore. There was not one SciFi show there--not even Battlestar Galactica on Friday. Ren, Ren, I am ashamed.”

So, Brenda snatched some geek points from me in my comments and I feel the need to defend myself…

I DO watch Battlestar Galactica but kind of whimsically. I like it well enough but I think its far more soap opera than sci-fi and sometimes by 10 pm on Friday night I feel like I have just had enough drama for the week. But that said, I do think it’s a very good show; I just don’t feel committed to it…, which is a common occurrence in my life (see also: vegetarianism, poetry, illustration, graduate studies and cleaning).

And hey! I watched it this past week and what the heck is up with Lieutenant Cat dressing down Captain Thrace in front of the teams and Thrace letting her do it? C’mon. I may have missed a few episodes here and there but I don’t for a minute believe that Starbuck would let her get away with that, alcohol and grief or not.

What other sci-fi (both on SciFi and on other channels) is out there that I should be watching? I do often indulge in the Sci-Fi Channel movie and while I would never claim that they are good, they can be darn entertaining. I don’t watch any variation of Stargate because I just have no freaking idea what is going on in those shows (ok, I did watch the one with Colm Meaney but you know….that was because Colm Meaney was in it).

Please don’t mention Lost to me. I don’t care for it. I won’t go into in and I certainly won’t criticize anyone else for liking it (I watch Reba for heaven’s sake!) but I just can’t watch that show and although I guess it’s got some sci-fi elements to it, I don’t know that I would call it that. And I did try to watch Invasion and Surface but what actually stuck was Threshold and they took that one away. And what I liked about Threshold was that it wasn’t “Hey, do you think there could be aliens?” “Gee, I don’t know, do you think I’m an alien?” but rather the “OHHOLYCRAPWEGOTALIENS!WHATAREWEGOINGTODO?” aspect of it. And the Peter Dinklage aspect too. But that’s all gone now.

AND HEY!!! DOCTOR WHO! I watch Dr. Who and yes, I will watch them over and over and I will watch them when they start running on Sci-Fi because they are good. And I hope I can still find a sneaky geeky way to get hold of the upcoming season.

And P.S. I’d just like to point out that there is a SciFi movie on the 18th called Rottweiler. I’m just sayin…

P.P.S. Yeah, right, Brenda. I’ll try to write a book because I see just how much fun you are having with that. HA!

EVERYONE IS A WINNER WHEN IT'S THE PUPPYBOWL!

Yeah, yeah, Superbowl…schmooper…bowl. That one doesn’t work so well but who needs the Superbowl when you can have the Puppybowl? Who needs the Rolling Stones censoring themselves when you can have the “Bissell Half-Time Kitty Show?” Did I actually watch it? Yes, but not all the way through. I did watch the half-time show twice, however. I like to watch insane kittens beat the crap out of each other, what can I say? And as far as the puppies go, I think the poodle totally rocked it (but I have a crush on the Shiba Inu ).

I do like football but I am by no means a fan and since I didn’t care about either team (I may have watched if it were the Bears or the Dolphins or the Eagles) and my house was incredibly dusty and disorganized, I didn’t watch the Superbowl.

But on Saturday night, as part of my ongoing quest to re-live my teen years, I went to see Howard Jones with Jodi-odi-odi and Eric. It was good. Very good. HoJo stands the test of time. He still has a lovely voice; he’s an amazing piano player and a good entertainer. A brilliant guitarist accompanied him as well. In fact, there were times when the composition brought the two instruments together to sound like a harpsichord. Not that I am a harpsichord fan, far from it. All those years of playing “Baroque Flute” really made me not love harpsichord OR flute. But Howard can make anything work.

The concert venue was kind of odd. I had never been to a non-Las Vegas or Atlantic City casino before and I will only say that I don’t need to ever go to one again…unless Howard Jones is playing there, I guess.

On a different topic here…I am bored with the food that I cook for dinner. I have gotten in the rut of cooking the same 4 or 5 meals over and over again. I need some fresh ideas. Any suggestions? The real problem is that I am more interested in veggies and James is more interested in meat. I don’t much like rice and he won’t eat pasta. So meals that we both like get a little tricky. I make a lot of fish generally grilled and sometimes put into tacos, we do eat some chicken, sautéed, fried, taco-ed and stewed, and then things like veggie chili, French toast (I eat mine with veggie bacon, he gets sausage), eggplant parm…I just have run out of interesting ideas. I hate to cook pork, I don’t like beef and I could eat beans and tofu everyday and he doesn’t care about either one. What ever shall I do?

Hot "Chicks" in Fast Cars.

How L.A. am I? Not really that L.A. at all but a few months ago when a hot little convertible zipped by me on Sepulveda, heading into the Valley, I noticed the license plate XXXTSY and the massive amount of fluffy blonde hair of the driver and I thought “Ooooh, porn star!”

So yesterday, when a bright yellow Ferrari (with the top down) flew past me (again on Sepulveda) and I saw the sexy tumble of auburn hair the driver kept fussing with at red lights, of course I thought she would be a supersexy xxx chick with highly inflated breasts. After a little bobbing and weaving in traffic I managed to get next to her at a stoplight. She turned her head to look in the mirror and eeeek. NOT A GIRL! NOT A GIRL! Big hairy moustache! Of course my first thought was still “Ooooh, porn star!”

What was really fun was watching all male drivers on the road try to get close to “her.” I got cut off more than once by a jeep that was darting in and out of traffic until it got up next to the little yellow car. I wonder if he was as shocked as I was.

When you start to think that every sexy “chick” in a sexy car near the San Fernando Valley (porn capital of the world), that’s a little too L.A.

Oh yay! Another poem.

This article doesn't give much credence to poetry as panacea but I know that when I read a really good poem, or a good book, or see a bit of art or even read a comic strip that I like, it can change my mood.

I don't think this will change your mood but I felt like posting a poem I wrote about 15 years ago. I wrote it for my nephew and still intend to eventually illustrate it and make a little book of it, just to do it. I think it's maybe a little too precious (and by that I mean cutesy, not "Oh my precious, wonderful poem!") but I do like it and I just thought I would share rather than make another list...

A monster crawled out
From under my bed!
A big ugly monster
With eyes of bright red.
A monster with teeth
Down way past his knees.
And what did he say?
"Turn the lights back on, please."

A monster so huge
And so truly scary.
A monster so creepy
And scaly and hairy.
A monster with sad eyes.
A monster in tears.
Who said,
"I'm afraid of the noises I hears.
Things go bump in the night,
Things go boom in the dark.
Please turn on the light
and calm my poor heart.
It's spooky and scary
Here under your bed,
And humans bang round
And scare me half dead.
So turn on that light
If you would so please.
'Cuz I got chilled nerves
And I got weak knees."

So on went the light
And back under he ran.
And I never did see that monster again.

It rots your brain!

So Chris posted about what he watches on TV and that made me think about what I said I watch on TV and what I am actually watching on TV.

So, I said that on Mondays I watch “How I Met Your Mother,” “Two and a Half Men” and “Medium”. What I have actually been watching…well, those shows, if I feel like it. But more often than not, I’ve been missing them and not really caring. I still like “Medium” quite a lot but it’s on just about the time I want to start getting stuff done for the morning and getting ready for bed, so I don’t think about watching it until it’s too late.

I said that on Tuesdays I would be watching “My Name is Earl,” half of “House” and “Boston Legal.” Well, Earl is now on Thursday, I have no idea when “House” is on, but if I happen across it, I will watch it and I totally gave up on “Boston Legal.” “Veronica Mars” is now on Tuesday and I try to catch it when I can but I am way behind on those and I have kind of lost hope of ever catching up.

On Wednesday James still tapes “Lost” which I don’t care for and he lets me watch “Criminal Minds” on the “big TV”. I am have some issues with “Criminal Minds” (it’s kind of pedantic and overwrought), but I do like the actors and I kind of enjoy the psychology aspect of it.

On Thursday James watches “My Name is Earl” and I usually come in about half-way through. We do watch “The Office” together and I really do think that this show has hit its stride. I didn’t care much for the first few episodes but once it got out of the shadow of the its brilliant British parent, it really has become it’s own show and it consistently makes me laugh and cringe.

We both really liked “Threshold” on Friday but that is gone. I will now confess something that will open me to mockery but I don’t care. I like sit-coms and for a few years I have been watching “Reba,” I used to be able to defend it as an extremely well written show that people ignored because it starred a country singer. Well, I still watch it and I still enjoy it but I think it’s time for it to go. It hasn’t exactly jumped the shark but it’s just not as good as it once was. Oh and I love, love, love “Creature Comforts” on BBC America. Best show I’ve seen in a loonong time.

Lately on Saturday, if we are in, we find ourselves watching PBS. We both like a lot of the “Mystery!” series, especially “Foyle’s War” and “Inspector Lynley” and we recently watched “The Virgin Queen” rather than a dvd. I can pass that stuff off as educational and I don’t feel bad about watching it.

Sunday is still reserved for “King of the Hill” and “The Simpsons” for me. James likes “Desperate Housewives”, which I kind of watch with him but generally do other things at the same time. Lately I have been watching “Grey’s Anatomy,” which I enjoy but don’t obsess over.

I see that BBC America is going to start running the second season of “Black Books” in February along with some interesting looking mini-series, so I am quite sure I will check those out. And I watched an episode of the Anthony Bourdian “No Reservations” show last night so I am wondering if those will start up again soon.

So really, it looks like I watch less than half of the stuff I thought I would be watching. I catch “Scrubs” on occassion and sometimes I watch reruns of “Black Adder” or “Monty Python” but since the end of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” I find that there really is nothing that I feel like I really HAVE to watch. Besides, I am trying to do more reading and more sleeping.

Concerted Listing

When I have something I need to do or remember to bring to work or whatever, I write myself a little note on a post-it, fold it in half to cover the sticky part and put it in my pocket in the hopes that I will pull the note out at the end of the day and do whatever it is that I need to do. Sometimes if I have an idea for a little picture I want to draw I will make a note of that as well. This generally results in some pretty cryptic scraps of paper floating around my desk. Usually it’s only “soymilk, fish, cat fud,” or something like “chris wants dr. who” or “bring that book to work”(yeah, I’m that specific and yeah, I spell it FUD for a reason). But on occasion I come across an old note that is too strange not to keep. My two favorites are “happy bunnies dream of meat, sad pengiuins dream of cupcakes, monkeys dream of martinis, koalas dream of guns” and “you dreamed of a robot bunny.”

My notes are more interesting than my life.

And speaking of lists and notes, a few years ago I attempted to list all the concerts that I have been to. Well, all the rock/pop type concerts. I can’t even remember anything that may have been classical or jazz and I am quite sure I missed a lot in the rock category as well. But here is what I kind of remember. I started out putting them in order but then I got all confused. I do however remember Hall and Oates being my first real concert ever. I am afraid this says more about me than anything else could…

(bands in parenthesis are opening acts, numbers are the number of times i think i may have seen the main act)

1. Hall and Oates (The Pole Cats)
2. Adam Ant (The Romantics)
3. Bryan Adams 2x (Melissa Etheridge)
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Depeche Mode 2x
6. David Bowie
7. Elton John
8. Sting 3x (Branford Marsalis)
9. That Dog
10. Colin Hay 3 or 4x
11. Sleater Kinney
12. Elliot Smith
13. Jonathan Richman
14. Ratt (Bon Jovi)
15. Neil Young
16. Crosby Stills & Nash
17. Baru Review
18. Cyndi Lauper 2 or 3x (The Hooters)
19. Stray Cats (The Hooters)
20. The Hooters 2 or 3 x
21. Dred Zeppelin
22. Supertramp
23. Tenacious D
24. The Jayhawks (Victoria Williams) 2x
25. Matthew Sweet
26. Special Beat 2x
27. Love Spit Love
28. Eurythmics (Howard Jones)
29. Jimmy Buffett
30. Peter Gabriel
31. U2 (Primus, Disposable Heroes of HipHopcrisy)
32. Bangles (Hoodoo Gurus)
33. R.E.M.
34. Luna
35. Jellyfish
36. Violent Femmes
37. Earth Wind and Fire
38. John Mellencamp
39. The Proclaimers
40. Wang Chung
41. Glass Tiger
42. Culture Club (Berlin)
43. Randy Newman
44. Barenaked Ladies
45. Soul Coughing (3x’s)
46. Letters to Cleo. Green Apple quickstep, Katherine Wheel
47. The New Pornographers (Destroyer, and someone else who I can’t remember)

Five movies...

Because I am bored and kind of lazy and I feel like making lists today...

Five movies that I should be ashamed that I have never seen:
1. The Godfather
2. Gone With the Wind (but I did read the book)
3. Any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey
5. Scarface

Five movies that I should be ashamed that I have seen:
1. Booty Call (it’s better than you think)
2. Sorority Boys (I have to admit, I laughed out loud)
3. 75% of Catwoman (I just couldn’t sit through the whole thing)
4. The Sweetest Thing (There is this one scene that makes it all worth it)
5. Batman and Robin

Five movies that I can watch over and over and over:
1. Empire Records
2. Shaun of the Dead
3. Mallrats
4. Animal House
5. Hellboy

Five Movies that you probably don’t want to watch with me because I know all the words:
1. Shaun of the Dead
2. Mallrats
3. Empire Records
4. Animal House
5. Pretty in Pink

Five movies that I have seen that you may not have seen:
1. Bright Young Things
2. Orson Welles version of Othello
3. The Winter Guest
4. Persuasion
5. Waydowntown

Five movies I never need to see again:
1. The Man with One Red Shoe
2. Blue Velvet
3. Return of the Living Dead
4. Hulk
5. Natural Born Killers

Five Foreign Movies that I really liked
1. le Pacte des Loups
2. Run Lola, Run
3. Like Water for Chocolate
4. The Van (well, it’s Irish made!)
5. Nightwatch

No making fun of me!

Random Ten

Winter Wonderland- Tony Bennett
Train In Vain- The Clash
White Christmas-Norway
Come On Home-Cyndi Lauper
The Amens-The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Santa Claus-Harry Connick, Jr.
Life in a Northern Town-Dream Academy
The Modern World-The Jam
Only The Lonely-The Motels
Antmusic-Adam & The Ants


Yeah, this is what I get when I do a party shuffle on iTunes. Scary, hunh? I have a vast quantity of Christmas music on there and although I could rearrange things so that the holiday music doesn’t show up when I shuffle, I never have. Why? How many times do I really have to say BECAUSE I AM LAAAAAZY?

But I will stand by all the non-Christmas music. Aw heck, I even stand by the Christmas music. That’s some good stuff what with Tony and Harry and Brian…I actually don’t remember what the Norway song sounds like. But Cyndi Lauper is always a good listen, can’t go wrong with Adam and the Ants, The Jam can make any day better and the Motels, well, if you haven’t listened to them in a while, I say go for it. Martha still has an amazing voice. And The Clash, oh how I do love me some Clash. As for that Dream Academy song…well, it won’t hurt you. When I first got the iTunes, someone loaded it up with 80’s music for me. Since then I have just been piling stuff on without really organizing it very well so “random play” is truly random.

Always remember...

Have you seen these? Some of them make me laugh. And because I wanted to hang with the cool kids and be a part of something just once...

ALWAYS REMEMBER
Yeah, I know it's not exactly funny or timely but hey, it's free!

NOTE: Oh hey, the either doesn't refer to me...see that's the problem with not being timely. Don't you remember this?

It's only rock and roll but it still makes me panic.

I was watching Lovemonkey last night, which I will say is an ok show but not a great show but I really like saying “So, I was watching Lovemonkey," because it sounds funny. I think it has a certain amount of charm but man, the TV world seems to be lacking a lot of…well, you know, there aren’t any shows about a super cool grocery clerk, are there? Or maybe a computer programmer, a shoe salesman (although that one did actually exist at one time, remember Married with Children?). You know what I mean, its all special service police, lawyers and cool A&R men at ultra- hip but struggling record companies. Not so much with the crossing guards, the car wash guys and the deli workers. And who would watch a show about these people, you say? I don’t know, depends on if it’s good I guess but I watched a British show about cafeteria workers in a factory, so I’m thinking I’m game for the one about the photocopier repair man.

ANYWAY (jeez, I do ramble a bit), on the Lovemonkey show one character asked another to list their top 5 all-time songs. This is not a new question, we certainly have seen it before in High Fidelity and I’m guessing we probably just ask each other, unprompted by TV and movies, these sorts of questions all the time. But I have never actually bothered to answer that one. So I started trying to do that today in the car on my way to work and I still can’t get all five.

What I have so far:
“Bellbottom Blues”-Derek and the Dominos
“The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys”-Traffic
“Come Anytime”-Hoodoo Gurus

And then I just blank. I think there’s a Bowie song in there somewhere but I am not entirely sure which one. Off the top of my head I would probably say “Aladdin Sane” but then again “Rebel Rebel” is a great song…And what about Cyndi Lauper singing “I Drove All Night”? That’s a damn fine song that I could listen to over and over again. And do the Hoodoo Gurus really deserve a place on my top 5 all-time favorite songs when I haven’t even considered the Rolling Stones or the Beatles? And how exactly do Adam and the Ants fit into all this? Am I confessing too much by wondering about that? Peter Gabriel? I do so love “Here Comes the Flood”…and then there are all those great overlooked songs that I want to give some credit to. What about “It’s a Mistake” by Men at Work. Oh you can laugh but it’s a good song with a good message. Where’s the R.E.M.? Where’s the Clash? Oh god, did I forget the Supremes? And is this meant to only be rock and pop type stuff of does Vivaldi count because I do love the Spring movement of “The Four Seasons”…and Chet Baker…wait…what about Chet Baker? So now I am all panicked over my top five all-time songs.

Man, I over think this kind of stuff waaaay too much. Anyone else have this problem?

It's a sickness.

So, I have probably mentioned that I keep a book in my purse and read it when I have a moment, eating lunch, waiting in line, waiting for an appointment, stuff like that. I also keep a novel going all the time that I leave at home, usually. That is unless I get really into it and then I end up trucking that around with me too. Sometimes I have a graphic novel (which is really just a fancy term for “long comic book) that I take places with me too. Then there is the copy of Ulysses that I bought to supplement my online reading of that really tough, complex and frustrating experiment. Next to my bed is a huge pile of books that I somehow always accidentally pull from and start yet another book on those occasions when I have gone to bed but I’m not tired enough and I decide that I want something to read and damn, there’s another book to read. Then there are, of course, the many volumes of poetry that I keep around and browse through when I only have a moment to read something. And let us not forget the…um…”reading room” selections. You know what I’m talking about. Usually magazines or comics but sometimes zines. Oh and then there are the cookbooks that litter the house. I do read those but I almost never use them for cooking. Besides all that there are the articles and blogs that I read on-line. You’d think I’d be more well read. Sigh. So many books. So little time. Can you tell that I’m not in the mood to work today? I’d rather be catching up on my reading.

SO…
In the purse: The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford
In the living room: Ulysses by James Joyce
On the nightstand: The Complete Poems Of John Donne
Under the bed: Who Murdered Chaucer? by Terry Jones (and some other people)
In the “reading room”: 400 Words Magazine
The cookbook of the moment: Kitchen of Light: The New Scandinavian Cooking by Andres Viestad and Mette Randem
Graphic Novel: Epiletic by David B.
And everywhere else: The Scar by China Mieville

Not everyone appreciates poetry...

Some Russians aren't thrilled with poetry at the moment.

ALSO: You gotta look at these. And you gotta click on them and look at them full size. I think I may need to redecorate.

ALSO ALSO: I addded a few new links. You might find something interesting that you like. Click around.

Geek Points

Being a geeky sort of girl in a nerdy sort of industry I often question the depths of my dorkiness. For many years I have felt that I pale in comparison to the joyfully “out of the closet” sort of nerds that I work with and I worry that I cannot hold my own against the truly dorky. Thus I have become the type that semi-consciously grades all of my geeky activities to compare and contrast the level of my illness.

For example, I work in the comic book industry, that’s about ten geek points right there, however, I letter comics, that’s probably a minus seven. I do read comics (+5) but I don’t read any superhero comics (-4). I do have comic boxes in my bedroom (+4 for the boxes and +2 for the blatant lack of sexiness in bedroom décor) but they are only “short” boxes (-3). And while I don’t actually read superhero comics, I am familiar with many superheroes (+2) but I can’t always tell you their alter-egos (-5). (But I do know who Hal Jordan is (+1)).

The endless grading of my skills reaches into so many areas of my life. I do own a computer (+5) but it’s a Mac (-3). I do have my own blog (+10) on which I occasionally review the comics I read (+12) but I have only been blogging for about 6 months (-13). I read science magazines for fun (+5) but generally it’s something like Scientific American (-3). I do read a lot (+4) but I have never read a Star Trek novel, John Carter of Mars or anything by Larry Niven (-7, -4, -8). I have, however, read all of Douglas Adams Books and any Terry Pratchett novel that is in paperback (+7, +10). And I do believe that I deserve some extra points for willingly reading anything by Shakespeare (+2), John Donne (+2) and Geoffrey Chaucer (+2), it’s another kind of nerdiness but it’s nerdy all the same.

I think I lose a lot of points for not watching and version of “Stargate” or “Farscape” (-15) but I believe that I should get due credit for having a favorite Captain on Star Trek (+3 for having a favorite, + 5 for it not being Janeway). I have only seen the first four movies in the Star Wars series (+10 for having seen them, -7 for referring to them as the “first four” instead of “episodes 4, 5, 6, and 1”, +2 for knowing the importance, -2 for not caring). And I once even got a geek point for making a “bacta-tank” joke (+1) and knowing what I was talking about (+1). But I am pretty sure I lose at least a few points for thinking that ewoks are cute (-4).

I have often asserted that I am a nerd but a “nerd of a different color”. By that I only mean that my true nerdiness shines when someone starts talking about…oh, say…Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Or perhaps New Wave music of the 80’s (which I know suggests that New Wave lasted past the 80’s and that is up for debate). I probably get some geek points for liking Dr. Who (let’s say +10), for having had a favorite Doctor who was not Tom Baker (the fourth doctor) (+5), for watching almost any show that my favorite Doctor appeared on after his regeneration (+5) and for watching the most current incarnations of the show with great joy (+3) and getting hold of them in a geeky fashion (+5) BUT I guess I have to lose a few points for liking Dr. Who at all (-5), for not remembering ANYTHING about an episode after viewing it (-7), for not being upset at the departure of Christopher Eccleston (the ninth doctor) even though I thought he was an excellent Doctor (-4), for rethinking my favorite doctor when Peter Davison (the fifth doctor) voiced his displeasure with Christopher Eccleston for leaving (-3) and for disliking Daleks because they are too damn loud (-15). (But I have to admit that Jules knows and remembers far more than I do when it comes to any doctor)

It gets worse, people…I have read most of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels (+10) but I have not seen any of the recent films based on them (-20) nor do I really want to (-5) as I didn’t really love any of the books except The Hobbit (-100). But, I did see The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (+5) and I do have theories on why it didn’t work very well (+5).

Just how nerdy am I? I’m not doing the math on this one. I think the lack of love for Tolkien kind of screws up the balance. Maybe I am being too hard on myself and I should just settle for “nerdy enough to write this all down.”

Fries are very important.

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your
French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
 Chrissy -age 6

That quote is from one of those emails you get from someone mushy that has KIDS VIEWS ON LOVE and junk like that. But that one quote in particular struck me as really wrong. So I started talking to Beth about it. It then sparked this very pathetic conversation...

karen: i suppose this means i have never been in love...
beth: me either
karen: well...i would SHARE my fries with you...but i still probably wouldn't give you ALL of them...unless you didn't have anything else to eat.
but i'll always give you half of the pickle if you ask.
beth: really, i mean, if thats love - i don't want it
beth: i will also give you half the pickle
karen: see. now that's love.
11:45 AM
beth: yeah, i mean giving all your fries alway when the other person has some makes her sound like a doormat
11:50 AM
karen: you know, if they had said almost anything but fries...i'd be ok. but not my fries.
beth: i'm with you
beth: reminds me of the scean from valley girl, where she leaves nicolas cage because her friends bitch at her, then the "cool" guy comes over & starts eating her fries - like they're back together, so he can eat her fries
karen: is it pathetic that we are obsessing over this?
beth: no
beth: fries are very important

This conversation is actually from a while ago but a friend happened to mention that very same french fry quote to me just yesterday and it made me wonder if I had saved the conversation, which, clearly, I had. And please, don't read anything into the fact that I will always give her half the pickle. It is a literal pickle. I don't intend to give her any other kind.

That's it...

...there is now no reason NOT to go to Prague!

Don't Steal this Book!(But don't pay for it either)

After reading Swallows and Amazons, the next book I happened to pick up was Hawkes Harbor by S.E. Hinton. Do you remember S.E. Hinton? She wrote all those odd angsty teen novels in the 80’s that all seemed to be set in some kind of twilight 1950s meets the 1980s time period but that my just be my 1980s mind. Remember how the 80’s had that weird heavy 50s influence? I think that’s why I feel like her books have an ambiguious time even if they really don’t. Anyway, my personal favorite was always Tex but I think most people think of The Outsiders when they think of S.E. Hinton. I guess I was always a little fascinated with her books because they were about tough boys who did tough boy things. That was actually kind of unusual at the time, for me anyway. I was an avid reader but before her books I don’t remember coming across contemporary teen type novels that centered around boys nearly as much as they did around girls. I was also fascinated by the idea that a young woman wrote these books because they seemed so macho. Certainly I knew that writing was about imagination but somehow these books always seemed so very boy.

I don’t know how much I loved her books, I remember reading them and enjoying them just fine at the time. I probably read them more than once because that was just what I did. But when I saw this adult novel on the shelf I was really curious. I should have known better. I bought the R. L. Stein adult novel just to see what he could do. Turns out he couldn’t do much, and I’m thinking that S.E. Hinton had the same problem. I guess all I really wanted to do here was to say…don’t feel sentimental when you see Hawkes Harbor on the shelf at the book store. It’s not worth it.

I do have a friend who is a published and well respected YA author and I think I need to ask her about the urge to write an “adult” novel. Are there any that are good? Terry Pratchett has done the opposite and written adult novels and then suplemented them with YA novels that are brilliant. Clive Barker did ok with that too, I think. I’ve never read the Judy Blume adult novels…and I can’t think of anyone else off the top of my head, although I am sure there are tons.

What was my point here? Oh, Hawkes Harbor, not so good. I think I will finally sit down and read The Scar next. I know that even if I don’t love it, I will respect it. Sort of. Somday I’m gonna beat China Mieville up because he just pisses me off. It’s jealousy I know but still…he’s good looking, talented and far too smart. And he’s younger than me. Jerk.

And I continue to read The American Way of Death Revisited (I carry it in my purse and read a few pages when I get a chance). I am starting to believe that this is one of the most important books I have ever read and I urge everyone who may ever die to read it. Aside from being informative, it’s extremely well written and entertaining. Also, I just started reading a book/zine that I picked up at Microcosm Publishing called 400 Words and I am enjoying it immensely.

I AM A TERRIBLE PERSON!

This is how bad I am. I forgot my best friend's birthday. How can I even call myself a friend, you ask? I can't. I feel like a complete heel and I am very, very sorry. My only excuse is that I have had the flu and it's been bad and I lost track of time. I am so very sorry, Beth. This is my public apology. I am sorry. You are not Molly Ringwald and I shouldn't have forgotten. When I looked at the date today I thought, "OH...MY...GOD! WHAT HAVE I DONE????" and if it means anything, before I got sick, I had plans, I knew exactly what I was going to do and it's not as if I forgot the date.

I don't know what else to say. SORRY.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY! I LOVE YOU!

This makes me laugh.
This makes me happy.
This makes me sad.
This makes me kick myself for not thinking of it.
And this makes me feel slightly less crazy (thank you, Jodi-odi-odi!).

Catching Up

So, it was the flu and it’s been about as textbook as it could be. Look it up people, 7 to 10 days of yuk followed by a disgusting cough and weariness for…a while anyway. I can’t remember the last time I had a full-blown flu virus so I can’t say if it was particularly bad, it was what it was (and sort of continues to be). But if I remember my freshman biology correctly (and I probably don’t so don’t get to excited) the flu virus mutates from year to year but every 7 to 10 years, it becomes a completely new strain basically. And thus, every 7 to 10 years you are pretty much more vulnerable than usual. Since I think it’s been at least 10 years, I figure I was due and it was inevitable. Whatever. I tried not to whine and complain too much and I feel…well, not better, just differently bad, slightly less bad than earlier in the week. I am still not convinced that a flu shot would have made the difference.

But, I did finish The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss and I was a little disappointed but I can’t totally blame him for that. I think it is a pretty accurate Victorian/Edwardian style novella and I am not particularly fond of Victorian/Edwardian novellas so…eh. I do give Mr. Gatiss, who, by the way, is a member of the disturbingly funny League of Gentlemen and a writer on the new versions of Dr. Who, a lot of credit for the style of the book, and I loved his character names. How could anyone resist a Lucifer Box novel with appearances by Jocelyn Poop and Miss Bella Pok (you might have to think about that one for a minute)? It was entertaining for what it was. I’ll leave it at that.

I also read a children’s book called Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. It is a very charming story, published in the 1930’s and exactly the kind of book I would have liked as a ten year old. I picked my copy up while I was visiting the UK a few years ago at the suggestion of a tour guide. We had spent the day on a lake (I can’t remember which one) in the Lake District and guide mentioned that this was the area that Ransome used as a setting for his famous children’s books. Having never heard of Arthur Ransome I was kind of wondering (in that self-centered way) how famous he really could have been and I have since learned that he was certainly a man of note and one that should be remembered. The story is dated in a lot of ways but it’s also that gentle kind of kids story that I really did enjoy as a child and even now. I love Harry Potter and Lemony Snickett and all the outrageous and crazy books of today but there is always something nice about the books where the most dangerous thing the heroes might face is a really big storm.

Ugh.

Muscle aches...low grade fever...headache...this stinks. How did i go straight from a cold to this? I tried, I really did. I tried to get enough sleep...sometimes. I took my vitamins...sometimes. I...ok, I have no one blame but I don't feel good so I'm just going to blame...the cat. She's got a guilty look on her puss. Heh.

Jodi Asks

Jodi said these questions weren't necessarily for the internets but I decided to answer them anyway as I gots nothing better to say today:

1) Did you get my drunken SMS on NYE? I wanted to drunk dial you, but thought you might be asleep already.

I did get your drunken SMS on NYE. But not actually on NYE since I forgot to turn my phone on for several days. In fact, I didn't turn it on until you mentioned in the comments on someone else's blog that you had texted me. oops. Heh. Yeah, I was a little drunk too but too tired to do anything about it.

2) Seriously, did you make the cool orange scarf you gave to me? It's so pretty and delicate. I'm a little scared I'll hurt it, but will wear it anyway. So pretty and great color!!!

I did make and orange scarf, I don't know if it was the "cool" one or not. I saw this awesome fluffy orange yarn at the store and immediately decided to make something for you. Since the only thing I can actually knit is scarves, you got that instead of say...your own knit car or a sweater for a light post.

3) What's your favorite gift(s) from the holidays?
Well, I did get A PONY! She is pretty and orange and her name is Seascape and I can comb her mane and tail and I love her. I also got some interesting dinnerware and a cross that belonged to my great-grandmother. There were so many cool presents! A Monet Christmas ornament. Gift certificates to book stores, an ORANGE watch, an electric tortilla maker and even a bracelet with my favorite line from a Ginsberg poem ("...run down by the drunken taxicabs of Absolute Reality...").

4) I'm dying to know the color of your organizer!!! (Tell me?)
It's "she-bop-a-woo-bop". Or possibly "code pink" I can't tell. It's pretty bright but I don't know if it's day-glo or not.

5) Do you want to get together between the 15th and 18th?
I don't know, will there be cocktails involved because if not...then yes, i will. But if there are cocktails...I will. I'm easy that way.

Clearly I am too lazy to send an eimail but now I guess I have to send her an e-mail to tell her I answered her questions on the blog...

Organized and Unrepressed

So, you know how most daily organizers have little lists and things like metric converters or a list of all the traditional anniversary gifts or maybe even zip codes? Mine has notes on "Heroin/Downer Overdose Prevention", "Dealing With Government Oppression" and "How to tell if you are Ovulating!" This may not be handy for everyone but I have to say, I am impressed. I don't know if it will help me be any more organized than usual, but I certainly will know what to do in case of an overdose or some random oppression. It's always good to be prepared.

A few days late and not terribly interesting.

While I was away for my Christmas break, Jodi was musing on traditions and asking what other people do. I was thinking about my family and our traditions and realizing that…well…we're not really all that traditional.

James and I don’t actually have any real traditions of our own. Unless you can count arguing over who will put of the tree and then not doing it. We usually try to watch a Christmas themed movie together but that’s pretty much it. Since we spend our holiday away from our L.A. home, we both tend to rely on our families to provide any sort of traditional trappings.

I guess my family traditions start on Christmas Eve. My mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, nephew and myself all go to the candlelight service at my mother’s church (my other brother and his family spend the evening with his wife’s family). The service is always nice. It’s a pretty mellow church so there is some modern-ish music, a bell choir, lots of kids running around making noise and what have you but the best part is the FIRE. Who knew that fire could make church that much more entertaining?

Since the candle is usually only lit for the last song in a candlelight service (generally “Silent Night), you are pretty much left holding on to an unlit candle for an hour. My brother realized years ago that if you held it tightly, you could warm the wax in your hands and bend the candle into a whole new shape. This has become a sort of contest to see who can get the best shape without breaking the candle. Last year, my sister-in-law distorted his candle so much it refused to light!

Sadly, this year none of us could get the candles to bend. Most of them broke in the process and one party-pooper (yes, I am talking about YOU!) decided not to participate. BOO!

My own Christmas Eve tradition is a quiet one. I guess my dad and mom know about it, I am quite sure my sister-in-law does too. I like to sing my own versions of the Christmas songs. They are half formed and really, since I am not a loud singer (I’m not a very good singer either) no one hears them but it entertains me. A personal favorite is “Mark the Hairy Angel Sings” but the best part is where the chorus goes “Or-orrr-or-orrrr-or-orrr-OREO, in excelsior DAYGLOW!”

Other than that, I guess we only have a tradition that came about in the past few years. And I am not really sure why or how it happened. My mom started buying Christmas crackers to put on the plates at Christmas dinner. Christmas crackers are a British Holiday trimming, so I don’t know what inspired them but you know how they work, right? You pull on the little strings inside of them and they pop loudly. Inside there is a little prize and a joke (or a “motto” I think they are called) and a paper crown. It’s the crown that gets the most attention. Whenever I show friends pictures of my Christmas at home they are most amused by the photos of my entire family, sitting around the table eating Christmas dinner, sporting paper crowns. Well, everyone except the babies. For some reason, every baby has refused to wear the crown. Each of my nephews has allowed the crown to be put on his head for a moment but then has ripped it off and sat looking at the rest of the crowned family bemusedly.

Mostly, our Christmases really do seem to just be about being together. Our Christmas day lasts ALL day, you can open your stocking alone in your bedroom if you wake up early but then we all have breakfast together (by all, I mean anyone who has stayed in my mom’s house) and it’s usually “Eggs Goldenrod”. Then showers, then the opening of presents, then the other brother shows up and there is more opening of presents, then dinner, then sitting around playing with presents. It’s all good and surprisingly mellow.

I guess we don’t have much in the way of traditions but we do have our fun.

Resolution Schmesolution

My dad says that the best resolutions are the ones that you know you can keep. Like “take more naps” or “drink more gin.” I don’t disagree with him at all. In that spirit I resolve to eat more chocolate (the dark kind is good for you!), read more books and have more fun…oh, and drink more gin. I am pretty sure I can stick to these but I thought I would write it down and make it official.

Anyway, Christmas was fun. I had a really great time with the family and I got to see some friends but due to the uggy cold I feel like I missed a few days. I didn't want to pass on my yuck but I'm afraid I probably did. I washed my hands and everything but I still feel sorry for that guy who sat in front of me for the flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia. Dude, if you are out there...I am really sorry. Really.

Coming home to California was interesting as we seem to have brought the winter storms back with us. Torrential rains and chilly temperatures for three days and yesterday...yesterday was annoying. I can live without electricity but I really don't want to have to. Yesterday we lived without for 10 hours, which is nothing for the people who go through hurricanes and what have you but it was only my tiny neighborhood that had a blackout. We could see the lights on across the street and the next block over, which was really frustrating. And I did feel pretty Laura Ingalls Wilder trying to read by the last little bits of light coming through the window and then by candlelight. Kind of pathetic.

blah blah blah, Don't I EVER shut up?

Movies: I saw The Family Stone, which was eh. I didn’t hate it but it was pretty predictable. But there was some stuff I could relate to in there so I wouldn’t call it a total wash. Also, Craig T. Nelson needs to make more movies.

Chronicles of Narnia: I don’t know how I felt about this really. It was kind of nice to see it but…it was a little dull. I am a big fan of the book and there were certainly good actors involved and it looked good but it just felt a little slow to me.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zioussiu: To be honest, I can only say that I think I liked it as I watched it on New Year’s Eve and I was largely fueled by martinis. But, not being a huge fan of Rushmore or The Royal Tennenbaums but being quite a big fan of Bottlerocket, I wasn’t sure how I would feel. I think I liked it less than Bottlerocket but more than any of the others.

Layer Cake: A friend was kind enough to loan this to me months ago and I have only just gotten around to watching it and I am glad that I did. It’s pretty twisty-turny but I thought it was worth the effort. Besides, it’s got Colm Meaney. What more do I really need? And I think that Daniel Craig will make a fine James Bond but I don’t know if I can get past his disturbingly blue eyes. He scares me a little more than I want Bond to but he’s a fine choice.

Rewatched: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and I think I liked it a little bit better this time around. I never disliked it but I also didn’t love it. I still think that it uses a little too much shorthand for the average viewer and by that I mean someone who isn’t like me and has read the book a dozen or so times and can quote vast sections of…what? Why are you looking at me like that?

Also got to see the Christmas episode of Dr. Who. (The Christmas Invasion) and let me just say I LOVE HIM! I really liked Christopher Eccleston as the doctor but I felt totally fine about him bowing out. He did such an amazing job and Billie Piper was so good as Rose that I guess I just thought that he might as well go out on top and I wasn’t hurt by his decision to leave me at all (no, really, I’m fine with it). Well, when they announced that David Tennant would be the new doctor I looked him up right away and realized that I had seen him in and liked him in several things, so I felt ok about that too. But man, he’s just perfect in the role. Eccleston was intense and made me feel that he was about to explode any minute but he also gave the doctor a kind of powerful and reassuring air. Tennant seems a little goofier but in a very good way. I highly recommend the series and now my only concern is that I have betrayed my original favorite doctor (Peter Davison) for a new doctor (Christopher Eccleston) who I am now considering replacing with David Tennant. Yeah, I know. Geek.

Speaking of geek…I did not read even half the stuff I set out to read over my vacation but I did read some other stuff that I never planned on reading…got that? So, didn’t read Watchmen but I did read Hellboy: The Right Hand of Doom, which includes one of my all time favorite comic stories “Pancakes” (I have a panel of that blown up and posted over my desk…”I DON’T LIKE PAMCAKES!”). Also, Tommysaurus Rex by Doug TenNapel, which had beautiful art and a kind of stilted story. But it was certainly worth my two dollars (I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS).

Oh hey, crap. Look at the time. I’m sure I have more to say but really, must I yammer on so?

FOUR

I will only say that there were four olives consumed last night. I'll let you decide how many martinis held those four olives.

Back from New Jersey but laying low and trying to stay warm and dry. Mostly recovered from cold but still recovering from much merriment and holiday joy. It was a lovely time and I was sad to leave my family and friends. Still, it's a new year and that's always a good way to start...a...new...year...I guess.

I should be cleaning but instead I am fantisizing about tofu soup, watching the new Doctor Who (thank you, Eric, he's lovely), reading Hellboy collections and taking a nap. It's the rain that's making me sleepy and lazy, I swear. Not the olives.

I suppose I will post about my trip later. Saw some movies, and read some comics (and while I am not geek enough to actually sit down and read Watchmen as planned, I am geek enough to go to a Christmas eve, midnight madness comic book sale).