Recovery is a Process
I was recently savagely attacked by a Welshman. Not this kind, more this kind.
I have consequently gone into a period of hiding/shriving.
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Sunday, March 21, 2004
WHOOT!
The BBC announced the new Dr Who today.
Christopher Eccleston.
He's been in 28 Days Later and Cracker, both of which I own on DVD, and therefore, are swell. I very much approve.
The writers have also been anounced for the series: Russel T Davies, who created Queer as Folk; Mark Gatiss, of The League of Gentlemen; who with Paul Cornell established the New Adventures (Cornell also recently wrote BBCi's Scream of the Shalka and wrote this months's EDA based on it); Stephen Moffat wrote the 35th Anniversary sketch with Rowan Atkinson, The Curse of Fatal Death.
The series starts filming in a few weeks, to be broacast next November.
...My only shame: This guy knew about the new Dr Who before me.
Anyway, your local Nighthawk is off to drink a toast to new Who!
The BBC announced the new Dr Who today.
Christopher Eccleston.
He's been in 28 Days Later and Cracker, both of which I own on DVD, and therefore, are swell. I very much approve.
The writers have also been anounced for the series: Russel T Davies, who created Queer as Folk; Mark Gatiss, of The League of Gentlemen; who with Paul Cornell established the New Adventures (Cornell also recently wrote BBCi's Scream of the Shalka and wrote this months's EDA based on it); Stephen Moffat wrote the 35th Anniversary sketch with Rowan Atkinson, The Curse of Fatal Death.
The series starts filming in a few weeks, to be broacast next November.
...My only shame: This guy knew about the new Dr Who before me.
Anyway, your local Nighthawk is off to drink a toast to new Who!
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
So, Friday was a major coup in that I finally mailed off my grad school applications. I has always assumed that that would be the end of the difficult part, since it would be out of my hands and I could stop worrying.
Ha!
I think I worry more about it now that ever, since I can't actually /do/ anything about them now.
I'm worrying a lot in general: my car is surely dying and I haven't got a dime for the no doubt costly repairs it will take. Also, I appear to have some manner of gastro-intestinal disorder. But the whole no-money siutation also means no doctor.
Also, I think my bed is falling apart.
Bleah...
Rehearsals started yesterday for Waiting for Godot. It was exciting being an "Actual Theatre Professional" and I think I'm doing okay.
Except for the whole "locking my keys in the car while they were in the ignition" deal. At least AAA is free.
Work is... interesting right now. One of the cafe workers is an elderly man with a questionable mental state. Right now, he's difficult. Common consensus is that he's off his meds. Along with the fact that the manager has been on vacation for the past two weeks and the assistant manager had started two days prior, George has turned into a terror. He's literally acting like a three year old: tantrums, walking away from the cafe. Generally, he's incompetent and now he's a burden. Saturday, he had every single person in the cafe livid -- as in calling for his immediate termination.
To soothe myself from this, I went out and bought Belle and Sebastian's Legal Man 12 inch. They also had finally gotten in I'm A Cuckoo, which I also bought. I was baffled to find Matt Henderson and Patrick Doyle, two sinister kids, thanked. I still haven't found out why. I'm inappropriately curious and apt to ponder possible orgies.
I also cashed my tax return check (allowing for such great expense) and then wasted some more money on DVDs (The Fellowship of the Ring and Dr Who: The Seeds of Death) and books (Loving the Alien and Blue Box). I even now regret this expenditure.
I've been unusally moody lately, and a storm Sunday knocked out power, leaving me to read by candelight and ponder my troubles.
Yeah... This was a bitchy moany post. I apologize.
The only really good thing lately has been some guy, who has very patiently listend to me moan at length. He sure is swell.
Current reads: The Suns of Caresh. It's good, but I don't feel like writing a review.
Current music: Franz Ferdinand's new album came out today!
Vocabulary word: Morpion -- a louse.
Ha!
I think I worry more about it now that ever, since I can't actually /do/ anything about them now.
I'm worrying a lot in general: my car is surely dying and I haven't got a dime for the no doubt costly repairs it will take. Also, I appear to have some manner of gastro-intestinal disorder. But the whole no-money siutation also means no doctor.
Also, I think my bed is falling apart.
Bleah...
Rehearsals started yesterday for Waiting for Godot. It was exciting being an "Actual Theatre Professional" and I think I'm doing okay.
Except for the whole "locking my keys in the car while they were in the ignition" deal. At least AAA is free.
Work is... interesting right now. One of the cafe workers is an elderly man with a questionable mental state. Right now, he's difficult. Common consensus is that he's off his meds. Along with the fact that the manager has been on vacation for the past two weeks and the assistant manager had started two days prior, George has turned into a terror. He's literally acting like a three year old: tantrums, walking away from the cafe. Generally, he's incompetent and now he's a burden. Saturday, he had every single person in the cafe livid -- as in calling for his immediate termination.
To soothe myself from this, I went out and bought Belle and Sebastian's Legal Man 12 inch. They also had finally gotten in I'm A Cuckoo, which I also bought. I was baffled to find Matt Henderson and Patrick Doyle, two sinister kids, thanked. I still haven't found out why. I'm inappropriately curious and apt to ponder possible orgies.
I also cashed my tax return check (allowing for such great expense) and then wasted some more money on DVDs (The Fellowship of the Ring and Dr Who: The Seeds of Death) and books (Loving the Alien and Blue Box). I even now regret this expenditure.
I've been unusally moody lately, and a storm Sunday knocked out power, leaving me to read by candelight and ponder my troubles.
Yeah... This was a bitchy moany post. I apologize.
The only really good thing lately has been some guy, who has very patiently listend to me moan at length. He sure is swell.
Current reads: The Suns of Caresh. It's good, but I don't feel like writing a review.
Current music: Franz Ferdinand's new album came out today!
Vocabulary word: Morpion -- a louse.
Saturday, March 06, 2004
More results!
You're a Perfect Kiss. You and your best friend
are a little more than friends now aren't
you...? hehe
What kind of Hot Boy Kiss are you??
brought to you by Quizilla
I bet you were thinking, "He only post this as an excuse to have a hott picture up."
Bet you're right.
You're a Perfect Kiss. You and your best friend
are a little more than friends now aren't
you...? hehe
What kind of Hot Boy Kiss are you??
brought to you by Quizilla
I bet you were thinking, "He only post this as an excuse to have a hott picture up."
Bet you're right.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Yarr
My, it has been a while hasn't it?
Nothing very much exciting has happened.
Well.
I went away for a few day's vacation. I went up North to visit this gut I met. I don't suppose that was very interesting, if you weren't me or that guy. We spent a lot of time sitting around watching TV (esp The Family Feud) and snuggling.
On Valentine's Day, we went up to New York for the day. Most of what we did was stuff that guy wanted to do, since our last trip was mostly stuff I wanted to do. We went to the Mass Transit Museum, located in a disused subway stop across from the Borough Hall in Brooklyn. It was actually very interesting, all about the Els and buses and streetcars they used in the city, as well as Everything There Is to Know about the subway. The bottom level, the actual disused platform, had actual subway cars dating back to the 1910s. Not being a city denizen (a citizen?), I wasn't so intrigued, but I'd definitely pay $5 to go back.
We also went to a little book store and the Union Square Barnes and Noble, several music stores like The Other Place and St Marks Sounds. Happily, I can say in this respect, New York ain't got nothin on no Chapel Hill. (Camera Obscura's new disc cheaper and with more copies here. What else do you need to know?)
We went to an English restaurant, Tea and Sympathy for dinner. The food -- which I expected to be awful -- was great. I had a Tweed Pie -- salmon and cod baked with a cover of Mashed Potatoes. (That guy had bangers and Mash.) They even had Irn Bru. What was Scotland's Own soft drink like? Rust orange in color is about all I can say. The favour was totally unique. We also stopped in their store where I got CHOCOLATE HOBNOBS and tea and a Cadbury Egg.
After that? I walked up to EssaBagel and wandered around ChinaTown and went into a Virgin Megastore (I was too cool to even buy the Franz Ferdinand import CD...)
After that, we drove home -- we had parked in Newark and were just happy to make it back to my Little Red Car.
My biggest kick on /every/ trip to New York is the subway. Being a well-brought up Southern boy, I was raised to believe that the New York subway was as close to hell as a man might get on this Earth. Granted, about 1982 this was probably correct, but in the post-Guiliani world, I get a rush of guilty pleasure riding them. Especially the A Train...
Hee hee...
I'll post again soon.
My, it has been a while hasn't it?
Nothing very much exciting has happened.
Well.
I went away for a few day's vacation. I went up North to visit this gut I met. I don't suppose that was very interesting, if you weren't me or that guy. We spent a lot of time sitting around watching TV (esp The Family Feud) and snuggling.
On Valentine's Day, we went up to New York for the day. Most of what we did was stuff that guy wanted to do, since our last trip was mostly stuff I wanted to do. We went to the Mass Transit Museum, located in a disused subway stop across from the Borough Hall in Brooklyn. It was actually very interesting, all about the Els and buses and streetcars they used in the city, as well as Everything There Is to Know about the subway. The bottom level, the actual disused platform, had actual subway cars dating back to the 1910s. Not being a city denizen (a citizen?), I wasn't so intrigued, but I'd definitely pay $5 to go back.
We also went to a little book store and the Union Square Barnes and Noble, several music stores like The Other Place and St Marks Sounds. Happily, I can say in this respect, New York ain't got nothin on no Chapel Hill. (Camera Obscura's new disc cheaper and with more copies here. What else do you need to know?)
We went to an English restaurant, Tea and Sympathy for dinner. The food -- which I expected to be awful -- was great. I had a Tweed Pie -- salmon and cod baked with a cover of Mashed Potatoes. (That guy had bangers and Mash.) They even had Irn Bru. What was Scotland's Own soft drink like? Rust orange in color is about all I can say. The favour was totally unique. We also stopped in their store where I got CHOCOLATE HOBNOBS and tea and a Cadbury Egg.
After that? I walked up to EssaBagel and wandered around ChinaTown and went into a Virgin Megastore (I was too cool to even buy the Franz Ferdinand import CD...)
After that, we drove home -- we had parked in Newark and were just happy to make it back to my Little Red Car.
My biggest kick on /every/ trip to New York is the subway. Being a well-brought up Southern boy, I was raised to believe that the New York subway was as close to hell as a man might get on this Earth. Granted, about 1982 this was probably correct, but in the post-Guiliani world, I get a rush of guilty pleasure riding them. Especially the A Train...
Hee hee...
I'll post again soon.
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Request: Denied!
That's right.
Alicia's Livejournal is /officially/ too spicy for Whole Foods Market.
See?
That's right.
Alicia's Livejournal is /officially/ too spicy for Whole Foods Market.
See?
Friday, February 06, 2004
Reality Strikes Back
Dear Jay:
Under no circumstances can you bitch about your haircut when a) you went to a place called Great Clips for Hair and b) pointed out someone in Teen People as the person whose haircut you wanted.
Bet you miss us now we're gone,
Your hair
Dear Jay:
I couldn't help but notice from the above you wanted to have ****** ******'s hair. What you ACTUALLY wanted was to LOOK like him. Unfortunately, you'd need a dedicated team of liposuctionists, dieticians, personal trainers, personal groomers and personal shoppers, not to mention a fully-functioning Time Machine.
Doctor Who don't make no house calls, yo.
Shut up and eat some pizza,
Your Fat Ass
On the plus side, I did get the new Dr Who novel and The Boy With the Arab Strap on vinyl today, so I can swill cheap vodka, read fan-boy wanking and listen to Sad Bastard music in the corner while everyone else goes to see BAILEY'S COMET at the circus....
Dear Jay:
Under no circumstances can you bitch about your haircut when a) you went to a place called Great Clips for Hair and b) pointed out someone in Teen People as the person whose haircut you wanted.
Bet you miss us now we're gone,
Your hair
Dear Jay:
I couldn't help but notice from the above you wanted to have ****** ******'s hair. What you ACTUALLY wanted was to LOOK like him. Unfortunately, you'd need a dedicated team of liposuctionists, dieticians, personal trainers, personal groomers and personal shoppers, not to mention a fully-functioning Time Machine.
Doctor Who don't make no house calls, yo.
Shut up and eat some pizza,
Your Fat Ass
On the plus side, I did get the new Dr Who novel and The Boy With the Arab Strap on vinyl today, so I can swill cheap vodka, read fan-boy wanking and listen to Sad Bastard music in the corner while everyone else goes to see BAILEY'S COMET at the circus....
Thursday, February 05, 2004
I Am A Grumpy Fuck
The last few days, I've been in an awful mood that I just can't get out of (cf. Mr Grainger in Good-bye, Mr Grainger, Arthur Brough's last episode of Are You Being Served?). I attribute it to the following:
A) Not being around people enough (see the following)
B) Work. Work is particularly stressful right now. The assistant manager we all loved, Big Al, left this week to move to California. Rather than pick anyone currently employed in the cafe (and therefore /appropriate/ to be a manager) they hired someone new. Now, as the current Manager is... a nice guy but totally unfit to manage, the assistant manager is the one with the real power. But since he comes from outside...
Also, in picking someone from outside, it screws over the people already employed in the cafe, who deserve a promotion. Now, as I'm [hopefully] going to grad school in the Fall, this doesn't include me, but the other people who /weren't/ hired are pissed. And those who have axes to grind are also pissed and using this chance to be publicly pissed.
Leaving me in the middle of all this politics. Eep! It's all quite stessful.
C) Grad school stress. It all costs more than I have available, between transcript requests, GRE reporting, applications fees, stamps and begging people to write nice recommendations. Let alone the stress of worrying if I can actually GET IN!
D) My dramaturgy work, or Needing To Do More Of.
E) Trying to get enough money to visit someone... Stupid snowstorm making me miss work and not make money!
F) My friends ditching me! Okay, this is totally me being dumb, Having no money (see above -- no work, for me = no food, so I waste money BUYING food to live) which means I don't go out, so I don't see any friends.
But in my vain, mean-spirited minutes, I am pissed I'm missing the damn circus.
G) Stupid XDU people bitching about overplaying Camera Obscura! OVERPLAYING CO?! YOU STUPID FUCKS! S.U.C.K. I.T.!
BUT. I am amused for minutes a day by...
A) The video for Step Into My Office Baby, on the single CD release. Colburn getting mad action! Yes! Martin with a bad moustache! Yes! Murduch as a side-burned vicar! Yes! Bad 70s Apparel! YES!!!
B) CD Alley after four months have gotten in my vinyl copy of TWATTYBUS!
C) WEEBL AND BOB! Oh, Secsy Idleberry! Thank You! Oh, how I needed this! Even if it was Mark that properly told me to go, you're much hotter!
D) I made a new drink at work, White Cocoa. It's quite nice having people at work walk up and say "There's a new drink people are talking about. I must try it!"
E) Borders has in the bew 8th Doctor book, Sometimes Never.
F) I illegally copied Underachivers, Please Try Harder. It rocks.
Also, Mad Congrats to Flapson and Alicia, who both got into the UNC Library Sciences School. Especially with Alicia's quote:
"You know a cute Indie Boy in got into my School?"
...
Yo Kev: A HINT!
The last few days, I've been in an awful mood that I just can't get out of (cf. Mr Grainger in Good-bye, Mr Grainger, Arthur Brough's last episode of Are You Being Served?). I attribute it to the following:
A) Not being around people enough (see the following)
B) Work. Work is particularly stressful right now. The assistant manager we all loved, Big Al, left this week to move to California. Rather than pick anyone currently employed in the cafe (and therefore /appropriate/ to be a manager) they hired someone new. Now, as the current Manager is... a nice guy but totally unfit to manage, the assistant manager is the one with the real power. But since he comes from outside...
Also, in picking someone from outside, it screws over the people already employed in the cafe, who deserve a promotion. Now, as I'm [hopefully] going to grad school in the Fall, this doesn't include me, but the other people who /weren't/ hired are pissed. And those who have axes to grind are also pissed and using this chance to be publicly pissed.
Leaving me in the middle of all this politics. Eep! It's all quite stessful.
C) Grad school stress. It all costs more than I have available, between transcript requests, GRE reporting, applications fees, stamps and begging people to write nice recommendations. Let alone the stress of worrying if I can actually GET IN!
D) My dramaturgy work, or Needing To Do More Of.
E) Trying to get enough money to visit someone... Stupid snowstorm making me miss work and not make money!
F) My friends ditching me! Okay, this is totally me being dumb, Having no money (see above -- no work, for me = no food, so I waste money BUYING food to live) which means I don't go out, so I don't see any friends.
But in my vain, mean-spirited minutes, I am pissed I'm missing the damn circus.
G) Stupid XDU people bitching about overplaying Camera Obscura! OVERPLAYING CO?! YOU STUPID FUCKS! S.U.C.K. I.T.!
BUT. I am amused for minutes a day by...
A) The video for Step Into My Office Baby, on the single CD release. Colburn getting mad action! Yes! Martin with a bad moustache! Yes! Murduch as a side-burned vicar! Yes! Bad 70s Apparel! YES!!!
B) CD Alley after four months have gotten in my vinyl copy of TWATTYBUS!
C) WEEBL AND BOB! Oh, Secsy Idleberry! Thank You! Oh, how I needed this! Even if it was Mark that properly told me to go, you're much hotter!
D) I made a new drink at work, White Cocoa. It's quite nice having people at work walk up and say "There's a new drink people are talking about. I must try it!"
E) Borders has in the bew 8th Doctor book, Sometimes Never.
F) I illegally copied Underachivers, Please Try Harder. It rocks.
Also, Mad Congrats to Flapson and Alicia, who both got into the UNC Library Sciences School. Especially with Alicia's quote:
"You know a cute Indie Boy in got into my School?"
...
Yo Kev: A HINT!
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Meh...
In a recent post, I talked about gay marriage. I think I made it sound like I was universally in support of it. This is sort of misleading. While I am in support of the rights it pre-supposes for long-term couples, I have some issues with it.
I think it puts gay couples in a very weird position. On one hand, obviously any couple would want the tax breaks, hospital visitation rights, adoption rights, etc that marriage would offer, and certainly I don't think couples should be denied these rights merely on the basis of their gender.
But on the other hand, it's a very sneaky technique used by the mainstream to make gays fit into its norms, to make a gay couple identical to a straight couple when obviously there are differences. And to show any reticence at taking on the role of the mainstream is as good as showing reticence to the rights they offer...
I know many people/couples/situations that do not and will not subscribe to a traditional idea as a 'married couple' and therefore will not be rewarded with the rights the government gives to 'traditional' couples.
Also, I think in establishing a marriage, you establish certain (gender-based) roles, and viewpoint I share my friend Karen, who actually was married. To be fair, I only know one other married couple (Kieth and Kate) and I have not discussed this with them.
I feel that, if I were to make a commitment to some boy (Obviously here, more than I have already) that I would want it to be based on the unique, personal relationship I had with him rather than some sort of adherence to a role. For me, a real commitment would hinge on the fact that you have the freedom to get up and leave at any point without repercussion, but you voluntarily chose daily to be with your person day after day.
I sort of look at monogamy in askance, anyway. For me, anyway, I don't think sex is that big of a deal... There are other, more important agents of compatibilty and other reasons for a couple to stay together. I was talking to Big Al at work the other day about What Would End a Relationship, and for me, sex never really entered into it. I mean, for any reason some one might cheat, I was pretty relaxed about it.... If your were just bored with your lover, or wanted to try something your lover wouldn't do, or just plain ol' had the chance to fuck a hott person on the fly -- none of these would really bother me, as long as the person came back. It wouldn't even particularly bother me if I didn't know they cheated, as long as we had some other basis for a relationship besides sex.
That said... I have never been cheated on, so all this is said with a helping of blessed innocence.
Also -- much more importantly -- I am very involved with someone who does not share these views, so I'm certainly not going to sleep around now.
Anyway, see below for Sen -- and Presidential Candidate -- John Edwards reply to my query on his stance on gay marriage.
In other news, I had the most distrubing dream -- I was in my high school American History class when a nuclear bomb dropped. People in front of the window were burned by the flash, and I did the old duck but worried cause I had no cover. The thing I remember most was the screaming that didn't end. I told myself this was a dream, and I should wake up but I didn't and was sure I was really there...
I did wake up, eventually covered in sweat and out of breathe. Weird, hunh?
I hope I can break out of this foulsomely ill mood I'm in...
Soundtrack: Camera Obscura, as overplayed on WXDU, Underachievers Please Try Harder. (No 2 on this week's Top 88!)
Current Book: Dr Who - Emotional Chemisty. Russia: 1812, 2024, 5000. What connects them? Beats me, but it's heavy with reference to Magnus Greel (The Talons of Weng-Chiang) so it must be interesting. Mind the Zygma beams! Also, it has OGRON: Russia does UNIT...
Addendum !:
Dear Mr. Eckard:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.J. Res. 56, legislation
proposing an amendment to the Constitution related to marriage. I appreciate
hearing from you.
As you may know, states generally maintain the authority to establish the
definition of and the requirements for marriage. However, current federal law
defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and
wife" and defines "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or
a wife."
H.J. Res. 56 proposes a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in the
United States can only consist of the union between a man and a woman. This
amendment would also state that neither the federal Constitution, the
constitution of any state, nor state or federal law, could be construed to
require that marital status be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups. H.J.
Res. 56 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
As a matter of personal belief, I do not support gay marriage, although
I believe that gays and lesbians in committed relationships have both rights and
responsibilities and should be entitled to partnerships benefits under our laws.
I also have deep reverence for our Constitution, and believe it should
be amended only when absolutely necessary. I am not able to support this
legislation. Please be assured that I will keep your strong views about this
issue in mind as it is considered by the Senate.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.
Yours sincerely,
John Edwards
United States Senate
In a recent post, I talked about gay marriage. I think I made it sound like I was universally in support of it. This is sort of misleading. While I am in support of the rights it pre-supposes for long-term couples, I have some issues with it.
I think it puts gay couples in a very weird position. On one hand, obviously any couple would want the tax breaks, hospital visitation rights, adoption rights, etc that marriage would offer, and certainly I don't think couples should be denied these rights merely on the basis of their gender.
But on the other hand, it's a very sneaky technique used by the mainstream to make gays fit into its norms, to make a gay couple identical to a straight couple when obviously there are differences. And to show any reticence at taking on the role of the mainstream is as good as showing reticence to the rights they offer...
I know many people/couples/situations that do not and will not subscribe to a traditional idea as a 'married couple' and therefore will not be rewarded with the rights the government gives to 'traditional' couples.
Also, I think in establishing a marriage, you establish certain (gender-based) roles, and viewpoint I share my friend Karen, who actually was married. To be fair, I only know one other married couple (Kieth and Kate) and I have not discussed this with them.
I feel that, if I were to make a commitment to some boy (Obviously here, more than I have already) that I would want it to be based on the unique, personal relationship I had with him rather than some sort of adherence to a role. For me, a real commitment would hinge on the fact that you have the freedom to get up and leave at any point without repercussion, but you voluntarily chose daily to be with your person day after day.
I sort of look at monogamy in askance, anyway. For me, anyway, I don't think sex is that big of a deal... There are other, more important agents of compatibilty and other reasons for a couple to stay together. I was talking to Big Al at work the other day about What Would End a Relationship, and for me, sex never really entered into it. I mean, for any reason some one might cheat, I was pretty relaxed about it.... If your were just bored with your lover, or wanted to try something your lover wouldn't do, or just plain ol' had the chance to fuck a hott person on the fly -- none of these would really bother me, as long as the person came back. It wouldn't even particularly bother me if I didn't know they cheated, as long as we had some other basis for a relationship besides sex.
That said... I have never been cheated on, so all this is said with a helping of blessed innocence.
Also -- much more importantly -- I am very involved with someone who does not share these views, so I'm certainly not going to sleep around now.
Anyway, see below for Sen -- and Presidential Candidate -- John Edwards reply to my query on his stance on gay marriage.
In other news, I had the most distrubing dream -- I was in my high school American History class when a nuclear bomb dropped. People in front of the window were burned by the flash, and I did the old duck but worried cause I had no cover. The thing I remember most was the screaming that didn't end. I told myself this was a dream, and I should wake up but I didn't and was sure I was really there...
I did wake up, eventually covered in sweat and out of breathe. Weird, hunh?
I hope I can break out of this foulsomely ill mood I'm in...
Soundtrack: Camera Obscura, as overplayed on WXDU, Underachievers Please Try Harder. (No 2 on this week's Top 88!)
Current Book: Dr Who - Emotional Chemisty. Russia: 1812, 2024, 5000. What connects them? Beats me, but it's heavy with reference to Magnus Greel (The Talons of Weng-Chiang) so it must be interesting. Mind the Zygma beams! Also, it has OGRON: Russia does UNIT...
Addendum !:
Dear Mr. Eckard:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.J. Res. 56, legislation
proposing an amendment to the Constitution related to marriage. I appreciate
hearing from you.
As you may know, states generally maintain the authority to establish the
definition of and the requirements for marriage. However, current federal law
defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and
wife" and defines "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or
a wife."
H.J. Res. 56 proposes a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage in the
United States can only consist of the union between a man and a woman. This
amendment would also state that neither the federal Constitution, the
constitution of any state, nor state or federal law, could be construed to
require that marital status be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups. H.J.
Res. 56 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
As a matter of personal belief, I do not support gay marriage, although
I believe that gays and lesbians in committed relationships have both rights and
responsibilities and should be entitled to partnerships benefits under our laws.
I also have deep reverence for our Constitution, and believe it should
be amended only when absolutely necessary. I am not able to support this
legislation. Please be assured that I will keep your strong views about this
issue in mind as it is considered by the Senate.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.
Yours sincerely,
John Edwards
United States Senate
Saturday, January 31, 2004
Monday, January 26, 2004
SNOW DAY
It snowed today!
I must be getting old, because as happy as it made me to go smoosh my nose against the window and watch at work, I soon thought "Man, snow makes it suck to go places!"
It started a little after nine and contunied til after dark, to be replaced by sleet, and I fear, now, by freezing rain. They're calling for an accumulation of 1/2 an inch. A quarter inch snaps limbs and power lines. I remember only too well a week last December with no power... But still, it's pretty.
We got let out of work an hour and a half early, and Music Staff was cancelled, so I did what everyone should on a Snow Day: I wasted it completely.
I played Dragon Warrior 4 and did laundry, generally shirking my dramaturgical work and playwriting urges. I did ask my parents to pick up the $36 fee for reporting my GRE score to the US colleges I'm applying for. I hope they pick it up. (Civilized institutions in the UK require neither that score NOR an application fee...)
I also listened to If You're Feeling Sinister straight through for the first time in a couple months today. I had forgotten how wonderfully coherent it is, and how... generally perfect it is. And it ends with Judy and the Dream of Horses.
Speaking of dreams, I've had some strange ones recently.
Dirty Dream Number One: (no Canadians involved)
I'm in a hotel bedroom with my parents. They aren't sharing a bed, but each is sharing with one child. My sister is with my mother, and this new child -- a 16 year old adopted boy, who looked oddly like a just-past-punk kid from 80s London -- was sharing with my father. I think, "Oh, I'll share with my older [and real] brother."
But when he comes in, it isn't my /real/ brother, it's my friend Keith, who obviously for the purposes of the dream -- he was conversing with my father, both in a vest and jockey shorts and black sandals -- was my brother.
To spare myself from whatever pyschological weirdness that sleeping arrangement implies, my memory goes on pause here...
...And resumes with me in a train station in Philadelphia (?!) waiting to catch some form of transportation to Chicago. Everyone is dressed in odd 1940s-esque apparell and we're obviously on the viewing platform of a very tall building. I keep asking people I went to High School with for directions to the subway. They're all apparently irritated with me for asking, because they all keep saying "The bus station and the subway stop are at the SAME PLACE!"
Finally this guy Chad gives me the directions ("One street up and three blocks over...") and I wake up.
Dirty Dream Number Two: (It's pretty special, too...)
For reasons that are not clear, large bears are chasing me around my parents yard. But not the yard now, the yard as it was a decade ago. I climb up a ladder we haven't had for 15 years (which I for some reason deeply cherished) and realize I'm being chased by one black bear and one brown bear and the bears REALLY want to eat me. Just before they catch me, I wake up sweaty and gross.
Make of that what you will...
I also bough the Belle and Sebastian DVD, Fans Only. It is keenly, terribly, awfully wonderful. I've only watched three videos (LLPJ -- first of course, then Legal Man and Jonathan David) and I may just ration myself to extend the pleasure, a la Llew and A Conspiracy of Dunces. Also, in the videos, they run around Glasgow. A lot.
That's not a good reason to want to move there, right?
Book of the Day: Doctor Who -- Timeless
Soundtrack: IYFS and Duncan Sheik's s/t debut. God, this sucks so much. SO much. How did I ever tolerate it?
PS: Go here. Click on the Yeti. Click again to swing. Do it. You will understand. You will waste hours. "Ooof!"
It snowed today!
I must be getting old, because as happy as it made me to go smoosh my nose against the window and watch at work, I soon thought "Man, snow makes it suck to go places!"
It started a little after nine and contunied til after dark, to be replaced by sleet, and I fear, now, by freezing rain. They're calling for an accumulation of 1/2 an inch. A quarter inch snaps limbs and power lines. I remember only too well a week last December with no power... But still, it's pretty.
We got let out of work an hour and a half early, and Music Staff was cancelled, so I did what everyone should on a Snow Day: I wasted it completely.
I played Dragon Warrior 4 and did laundry, generally shirking my dramaturgical work and playwriting urges. I did ask my parents to pick up the $36 fee for reporting my GRE score to the US colleges I'm applying for. I hope they pick it up. (Civilized institutions in the UK require neither that score NOR an application fee...)
I also listened to If You're Feeling Sinister straight through for the first time in a couple months today. I had forgotten how wonderfully coherent it is, and how... generally perfect it is. And it ends with Judy and the Dream of Horses.
Speaking of dreams, I've had some strange ones recently.
Dirty Dream Number One: (no Canadians involved)
I'm in a hotel bedroom with my parents. They aren't sharing a bed, but each is sharing with one child. My sister is with my mother, and this new child -- a 16 year old adopted boy, who looked oddly like a just-past-punk kid from 80s London -- was sharing with my father. I think, "Oh, I'll share with my older [and real] brother."
But when he comes in, it isn't my /real/ brother, it's my friend Keith, who obviously for the purposes of the dream -- he was conversing with my father, both in a vest and jockey shorts and black sandals -- was my brother.
To spare myself from whatever pyschological weirdness that sleeping arrangement implies, my memory goes on pause here...
...And resumes with me in a train station in Philadelphia (?!) waiting to catch some form of transportation to Chicago. Everyone is dressed in odd 1940s-esque apparell and we're obviously on the viewing platform of a very tall building. I keep asking people I went to High School with for directions to the subway. They're all apparently irritated with me for asking, because they all keep saying "The bus station and the subway stop are at the SAME PLACE!"
Finally this guy Chad gives me the directions ("One street up and three blocks over...") and I wake up.
Dirty Dream Number Two: (It's pretty special, too...)
For reasons that are not clear, large bears are chasing me around my parents yard. But not the yard now, the yard as it was a decade ago. I climb up a ladder we haven't had for 15 years (which I for some reason deeply cherished) and realize I'm being chased by one black bear and one brown bear and the bears REALLY want to eat me. Just before they catch me, I wake up sweaty and gross.
Make of that what you will...
I also bough the Belle and Sebastian DVD, Fans Only. It is keenly, terribly, awfully wonderful. I've only watched three videos (LLPJ -- first of course, then Legal Man and Jonathan David) and I may just ration myself to extend the pleasure, a la Llew and A Conspiracy of Dunces. Also, in the videos, they run around Glasgow. A lot.
That's not a good reason to want to move there, right?
Book of the Day: Doctor Who -- Timeless
Soundtrack: IYFS and Duncan Sheik's s/t debut. God, this sucks so much. SO much. How did I ever tolerate it?
PS: Go here. Click on the Yeti. Click again to swing. Do it. You will understand. You will waste hours. "Ooof!"
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Whoa!
Noted Shakespearean actor takes Doctor Who role.
That's right. My look-a-like, Derek Jacobi, plays the role of the Master in BBCi's Doctor Who webcast, The Scream of the Shalka.
I was going to wait and watch one episode a day but SOD THAT.
Noted Shakespearean actor takes Doctor Who role.
That's right. My look-a-like, Derek Jacobi, plays the role of the Master in BBCi's Doctor Who webcast, The Scream of the Shalka.
I was going to wait and watch one episode a day but SOD THAT.
The Best Term Evah
In dealing with my Tragic Llew-Snubbing Situation, I need to try to headline with excellent phrases as she would do. So here we go:
Offal Based Delicacies!
Go here.
consume Mass Quantities.
In dealing with my Tragic Llew-Snubbing Situation, I need to try to headline with excellent phrases as she would do. So here we go:
Offal Based Delicacies!
Go here.
consume Mass Quantities.
Like a Bee, yo
I've been busy.
I'm preparing my graduate school applications (that's Glasgow U*, Brooklyn U and Hunter College), so I'm meeting with professors, tracking down scholarship titles and coming up with self-important position titles to make me sound more desirable. I've also written a Personal Statement illuminating my desire to obtain a Masters degree.
I'll soon have to go get transcripts ($7 a pop) from the University Registrar. I'm debating going to see another** old professor who might refuse to see me or who might write a letter of recommendation with some heft. What do you think?
I also need to go hit up Julie and Dr Moskell, other old professors whom I hope would say nice things.
I'm also busily working on Waiting for Godot stuff. I'm preparing an information packet for the actors, which I hope to be a pocket guide on critical thought on the play. I'm also busily researching the play itself. I should post some links so people can see what I'm doing.
Both of the above mean I'm doing lots of internet stuff, which is made easier by my keen new computer that works (roughly) a billion times faster than my old 1996 model. I can run /two/ programs at once now!
I also hosted Trivia Night this week with Keith and Alicia. It was fun -- Alicia got macked on by a hot guy. I got yelled at by a belligerent fag from the Professionally Gay team I loathe (Score!) and heckled by the Old Bastard. Both on the music ID round. It -- the round -- was the identification of song covers. We gave you the date and some information about each track and you gave the names of the performers, both originally and in the cover. The Fag shouted "And which of these bands have we heard?!" Let's see... Frank Sinatra appeared twice, and so did David Bowie. Bruce Springsteen, Bobby Darrin, and the Beatles all showed up, too. Real obscure folk... Even the one I thought was most obscure, an Iron Wine cover of the Postal Service, had half the teams get it right...
Our other topics were Current Events (all of us), Subtitles (we give the subtitle, you give the common title) by me, Comic Books by Miss A, and Beer Slogans by Keith. We had three ties and a different winner for each round, so we felt successful.
I've also been political, writing to Presidential Candidate John Edwards (who is also the senior Senator from my state) and Congressman David Price, a regular customer at my store, asking their takes on gay marriage. Edwards is personally against it, but against HR 56, which is the initial stages of the Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman. Price doesn't give his stance on marriage, but also is against HR 56. I'll post his response to me below. Apparently, Mr Edwards is too busy campaigning to respond. Tellingly, Liddy Dole, our junior Senator, has no statement about marriage. I /assume/ she's all for HR 56.
And what about Edwards in the Iowa Caucus? Yay! Although -- and this is strictly a rumor from a Kennedy official who comes into work -- Kerry is going to ask Edwards to be his Veep.
I also got a DVD player. So far, I have bought the extended Two Towers, 28 Days Later, and Doctor Who and the Aztecs. Last night, I had the option to buy the new Belle and Sebastian DVD, Fans Only but I bought BlackAdder the Third instead. I'm stilling trying to figure out why.
I did, however, get a hold of a copy of the band's new single, Step into My Office Baby, so I sort of got my B&S fix for the week. "Love on the March" I adore, even though I didn't really like it on their Peel Christmas show last year. Friday is payday, so maybe then and can get some more B&S goodness. Their next one is due out next month. Camera Obscura is /also/ out this week, and though we got a copy at the station on Sunday, it was snitched away from me. Luckily, it only contained a rogue Lambchop album and no Scots Goodness. Although in the Scots goodness dept I'm already swimming since Martyn Spacekid sent me the Gone Aways EP.
Also, I'm swimming in Dr Who novels -- my two Previous Doctor Adventures -- amusingly, a first and second Doctor story came in this week (Ten Little Aliens and Combat Rock), so I still have... seven to read.
*drools like Homer
I missed the Rosebuds last week and still am feeling po'ly, but they play again in March. Kate's soiree was fun though, and ended in time for me to go home and sleep before work the next day.
Generally, I'm tired and busy, but happy.
Reason Baxendale rules: They mention Doctor Who in their song The 1960s
*They rule. Because they mention Belle and Sebastian on the first page of their prospectus.
**Long story. He was a creep.
Appendix I: My personal statement
The first time I applied to graduate school, the Personal Statement gave me some pause. ?What,? I thought, ?Ought I to write?? I had no concrete idea of what I wanted in post-graduate education, or what I could offer any potential institution I might enroll in.
Now, however, I have a much better concept of what graduate school means to me. I have had the chance to actually do some dramaturgical work, both as a production dramaturg for local theatre companies and as a literary dramaturg, working with playwrights at local universities to prepare their text for production.
As seems most appropriate, much of my desire in returning to school is to further my education in theatre history and dramatic writing. With bachelor?s degrees both in theatre studies and English literature, I have a broad, general knowledge of writing for theatre and its history, but I hope in graduate school to have the opportunity to make a more detailed and serious study of how plays are written, how they fit into their respective historical and social situations and how these works continue to adapt and intrigue audiences and artists today.
My other significant aim in seeking graduate study is to better understand the professional demands of dramaturgy. While I already know to a certain degree what the profession I wish to enter entails, I feel that for my own satisfaction, I need more formal training in what different kinds of dramaturgs are expected to do in their jobs and the best ways to go about doing these tasks.
I have other reasons for wanting to return to my studies as well, although these aren?t quite as acutely pressing themselves on me. I would like eventually to get a PhD in my field, and I cannot progress without first receiving a master?s degree. Also, I have found that working in the theatre in a university setting to be very different from the theatre Outside. There seems to me to often be a greater emphasis on learning the crafts of the theatre and a greater freedom to try very new techniques and methodologies.
Appendix II: The Reply I got from Rep. Price.
Dear Mr. Eckard:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Federal Marriage Amendment, H.J. Res. 56.
I oppose H.J. Res. 56 and will vote against it if it is considered by the House. I do not believe it is the business of the federal government to legislate a "definition" of marriage, much less to amend the constitution in this respect. Our religious traditions have their own definitions, which government should leave alone. Civil marriages and civil unions have historically been the responsibility of the states, and I see no reason to change that.
Furthermore, I have generally opposed federal efforts to limit the benefits or protections which businesses or governments might extend to nontraditional families. In fact, I have cosponsored legislation to follow the lead of many businesses and some states by extending healthcare and other benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees.
As you know, H.R.Res. 56 would declare marriage to constitute only the union of a man and a woman. It would also prohibit state constitutions or laws from conferring marital status on same-sex couples. H.J. Res. 56 has been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary for consideration.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please continue to stay in touch on issues of concern.
Sincerely,
DAVID PRICE
Member of Congress
I've been busy.
I'm preparing my graduate school applications (that's Glasgow U*, Brooklyn U and Hunter College), so I'm meeting with professors, tracking down scholarship titles and coming up with self-important position titles to make me sound more desirable. I've also written a Personal Statement illuminating my desire to obtain a Masters degree.
I'll soon have to go get transcripts ($7 a pop) from the University Registrar. I'm debating going to see another** old professor who might refuse to see me or who might write a letter of recommendation with some heft. What do you think?
I also need to go hit up Julie and Dr Moskell, other old professors whom I hope would say nice things.
I'm also busily working on Waiting for Godot stuff. I'm preparing an information packet for the actors, which I hope to be a pocket guide on critical thought on the play. I'm also busily researching the play itself. I should post some links so people can see what I'm doing.
Both of the above mean I'm doing lots of internet stuff, which is made easier by my keen new computer that works (roughly) a billion times faster than my old 1996 model. I can run /two/ programs at once now!
I also hosted Trivia Night this week with Keith and Alicia. It was fun -- Alicia got macked on by a hot guy. I got yelled at by a belligerent fag from the Professionally Gay team I loathe (Score!) and heckled by the Old Bastard. Both on the music ID round. It -- the round -- was the identification of song covers. We gave you the date and some information about each track and you gave the names of the performers, both originally and in the cover. The Fag shouted "And which of these bands have we heard?!" Let's see... Frank Sinatra appeared twice, and so did David Bowie. Bruce Springsteen, Bobby Darrin, and the Beatles all showed up, too. Real obscure folk... Even the one I thought was most obscure, an Iron Wine cover of the Postal Service, had half the teams get it right...
Our other topics were Current Events (all of us), Subtitles (we give the subtitle, you give the common title) by me, Comic Books by Miss A, and Beer Slogans by Keith. We had three ties and a different winner for each round, so we felt successful.
I've also been political, writing to Presidential Candidate John Edwards (who is also the senior Senator from my state) and Congressman David Price, a regular customer at my store, asking their takes on gay marriage. Edwards is personally against it, but against HR 56, which is the initial stages of the Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman. Price doesn't give his stance on marriage, but also is against HR 56. I'll post his response to me below. Apparently, Mr Edwards is too busy campaigning to respond. Tellingly, Liddy Dole, our junior Senator, has no statement about marriage. I /assume/ she's all for HR 56.
And what about Edwards in the Iowa Caucus? Yay! Although -- and this is strictly a rumor from a Kennedy official who comes into work -- Kerry is going to ask Edwards to be his Veep.
I also got a DVD player. So far, I have bought the extended Two Towers, 28 Days Later, and Doctor Who and the Aztecs. Last night, I had the option to buy the new Belle and Sebastian DVD, Fans Only but I bought BlackAdder the Third instead. I'm stilling trying to figure out why.
I did, however, get a hold of a copy of the band's new single, Step into My Office Baby, so I sort of got my B&S fix for the week. "Love on the March" I adore, even though I didn't really like it on their Peel Christmas show last year. Friday is payday, so maybe then and can get some more B&S goodness. Their next one is due out next month. Camera Obscura is /also/ out this week, and though we got a copy at the station on Sunday, it was snitched away from me. Luckily, it only contained a rogue Lambchop album and no Scots Goodness. Although in the Scots goodness dept I'm already swimming since Martyn Spacekid sent me the Gone Aways EP.
Also, I'm swimming in Dr Who novels -- my two Previous Doctor Adventures -- amusingly, a first and second Doctor story came in this week (Ten Little Aliens and Combat Rock), so I still have... seven to read.
*drools like Homer
I missed the Rosebuds last week and still am feeling po'ly, but they play again in March. Kate's soiree was fun though, and ended in time for me to go home and sleep before work the next day.
Generally, I'm tired and busy, but happy.
Reason Baxendale rules: They mention Doctor Who in their song The 1960s
*They rule. Because they mention Belle and Sebastian on the first page of their prospectus.
**Long story. He was a creep.
Appendix I: My personal statement
The first time I applied to graduate school, the Personal Statement gave me some pause. ?What,? I thought, ?Ought I to write?? I had no concrete idea of what I wanted in post-graduate education, or what I could offer any potential institution I might enroll in.
Now, however, I have a much better concept of what graduate school means to me. I have had the chance to actually do some dramaturgical work, both as a production dramaturg for local theatre companies and as a literary dramaturg, working with playwrights at local universities to prepare their text for production.
As seems most appropriate, much of my desire in returning to school is to further my education in theatre history and dramatic writing. With bachelor?s degrees both in theatre studies and English literature, I have a broad, general knowledge of writing for theatre and its history, but I hope in graduate school to have the opportunity to make a more detailed and serious study of how plays are written, how they fit into their respective historical and social situations and how these works continue to adapt and intrigue audiences and artists today.
My other significant aim in seeking graduate study is to better understand the professional demands of dramaturgy. While I already know to a certain degree what the profession I wish to enter entails, I feel that for my own satisfaction, I need more formal training in what different kinds of dramaturgs are expected to do in their jobs and the best ways to go about doing these tasks.
I have other reasons for wanting to return to my studies as well, although these aren?t quite as acutely pressing themselves on me. I would like eventually to get a PhD in my field, and I cannot progress without first receiving a master?s degree. Also, I have found that working in the theatre in a university setting to be very different from the theatre Outside. There seems to me to often be a greater emphasis on learning the crafts of the theatre and a greater freedom to try very new techniques and methodologies.
Appendix II: The Reply I got from Rep. Price.
Dear Mr. Eckard:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Federal Marriage Amendment, H.J. Res. 56.
I oppose H.J. Res. 56 and will vote against it if it is considered by the House. I do not believe it is the business of the federal government to legislate a "definition" of marriage, much less to amend the constitution in this respect. Our religious traditions have their own definitions, which government should leave alone. Civil marriages and civil unions have historically been the responsibility of the states, and I see no reason to change that.
Furthermore, I have generally opposed federal efforts to limit the benefits or protections which businesses or governments might extend to nontraditional families. In fact, I have cosponsored legislation to follow the lead of many businesses and some states by extending healthcare and other benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees.
As you know, H.R.Res. 56 would declare marriage to constitute only the union of a man and a woman. It would also prohibit state constitutions or laws from conferring marital status on same-sex couples. H.J. Res. 56 has been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary for consideration.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please continue to stay in touch on issues of concern.
Sincerely,
DAVID PRICE
Member of Congress
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Bitchy
Eh. I had to go home yesterday to get a new computer. (Don't be excited it was cast off from my parents' office.) Not so bad in and of itself, but I was woken up at 8 am by plumbers plumbing in my bathroom. Also not so bad in and of itself, but I was up til 4 after the Jett-Rink show.
So I had to drive home stinky and greasy. Then I had to have dinner with my parents in Hickory, where we promptly got in a debate/heated argument/shouting match over Paul O'Neill.
Then, getting home, the computer was all bitchy and refused to behave properly. Now I have to go home and call Verizon tech support and be treated like an imbecile... ("Is the unit plugged in, sir?")
Also, I woke up too late to shower before work, so I am again stinky and oily.
*grumbles
ANYWAY. Tonight is the Rosebuds, and Kate T is having a soiree beforehand. I'm bringing pie.
Eh. I had to go home yesterday to get a new computer. (Don't be excited it was cast off from my parents' office.) Not so bad in and of itself, but I was woken up at 8 am by plumbers plumbing in my bathroom. Also not so bad in and of itself, but I was up til 4 after the Jett-Rink show.
So I had to drive home stinky and greasy. Then I had to have dinner with my parents in Hickory, where we promptly got in a debate/heated argument/shouting match over Paul O'Neill.
Then, getting home, the computer was all bitchy and refused to behave properly. Now I have to go home and call Verizon tech support and be treated like an imbecile... ("Is the unit plugged in, sir?")
Also, I woke up too late to shower before work, so I am again stinky and oily.
*grumbles
ANYWAY. Tonight is the Rosebuds, and Kate T is having a soiree beforehand. I'm bringing pie.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Dispatches from Work
On the way to work, there's a dead deer on the side of the road. It's been there since New Year's. Now, I hate deer, so I got a little guilty little pleasure in seeing it each day til I realized today it's only /half/ a deer.
Now I just wonder what happened to the other half.
Also, between the front door of my store and the timeclock, there's a little Order Information sheet with an abbreviation for the Ordering Procedure on it. The abbreviation: PONCE.
Every day as I clock in, I get called a ponce as I walk in. No wonder I love my job.
On the way to work, there's a dead deer on the side of the road. It's been there since New Year's. Now, I hate deer, so I got a little guilty little pleasure in seeing it each day til I realized today it's only /half/ a deer.
Now I just wonder what happened to the other half.
Also, between the front door of my store and the timeclock, there's a little Order Information sheet with an abbreviation for the Ordering Procedure on it. The abbreviation: PONCE.
Every day as I clock in, I get called a ponce as I walk in. No wonder I love my job.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Today Did Not Suck...
The weather the last few days has been exactly what Winter ought to be but never is hereabouts: snow on the ground, very cold but bright, sunny and clear.
Today was the last of such days: it was clear and sunny, but much warmer, melting the snow.
Other than that, today went quite well. I met with one of my old professors today. We talked about the schools I want to go to, and how to apply -- like, what IS the purpose of Statements of Purpose. Turns out he knows the professors of one school I'm applying to and is happy to write letterS of recommendation. And look at my Statement. Whoot.
Then today at work they finally started the remodelling of our cafe that was supposed to have started in May. I did the majority of the prep work and was thanked by several levels of leadership. More whoot.
More excitingly, we made plans to have dessert and drinks and Kate T's house before the Rosebuds show Saturday night (I'm bringing a Key Lime Pie), and then I my Trivia Team volunteered to host Trivia Night next week. We discussing all manner of categories like Beer Slogans and Subtitles and a covers theme for the music ID. (Us here being me, Alicia, Keith, Forrest, Kate and Christina). So multiple whootage here.
AND Jett Rink plays Thursday night.
If it weren't for the last hour of today, when I was flaked out on multiple times, today would have totally rocked. I think I should just completely ditch Instant Messaging services.
The weather the last few days has been exactly what Winter ought to be but never is hereabouts: snow on the ground, very cold but bright, sunny and clear.
Today was the last of such days: it was clear and sunny, but much warmer, melting the snow.
Other than that, today went quite well. I met with one of my old professors today. We talked about the schools I want to go to, and how to apply -- like, what IS the purpose of Statements of Purpose. Turns out he knows the professors of one school I'm applying to and is happy to write letterS of recommendation. And look at my Statement. Whoot.
Then today at work they finally started the remodelling of our cafe that was supposed to have started in May. I did the majority of the prep work and was thanked by several levels of leadership. More whoot.
More excitingly, we made plans to have dessert and drinks and Kate T's house before the Rosebuds show Saturday night (I'm bringing a Key Lime Pie), and then I my Trivia Team volunteered to host Trivia Night next week. We discussing all manner of categories like Beer Slogans and Subtitles and a covers theme for the music ID. (Us here being me, Alicia, Keith, Forrest, Kate and Christina). So multiple whootage here.
AND Jett Rink plays Thursday night.
If it weren't for the last hour of today, when I was flaked out on multiple times, today would have totally rocked. I think I should just completely ditch Instant Messaging services.
Monday, January 12, 2004
I just saw 'Cold Mountian'. Here are some thoughts:
Charlie Hunnam is in it. Just when I was thinking "Now /there's/ a nice piece of ass" -- he gets his clothes blown off -- I realize he's been killed off. The pitfalls of Civil War dramas...
Kathy Baker was very, very good.
Nicole Kidman, as should be no surprise at all, uses an accent that would peel paint off a wall. Jude Law has virtually no accent at all, but to be fair, he can act. She can't. This seems a decent exchange. Oh wait. No it doesn't.
I exposed to Nicole Kidman's bosoms (amongst others) and in return I got a partial shot of Jude Law's ass. I think this underlies some of the basic themes of the film, the numbing effects of war, man's generally ugly nature, the lack of outside redemption for the soul. You get the picture.
It's been four years at least since I read the book, so I can't judge its transition from a novel into a film. (I know: Good Dramaturg, Jay!) However, it /is/ very well shot, and generally well acted (Amazonian Aussies Excepted) and in many cases very well acted. Well worth seeing.
Charlie Hunnam is in it. Just when I was thinking "Now /there's/ a nice piece of ass" -- he gets his clothes blown off -- I realize he's been killed off. The pitfalls of Civil War dramas...
Kathy Baker was very, very good.
Nicole Kidman, as should be no surprise at all, uses an accent that would peel paint off a wall. Jude Law has virtually no accent at all, but to be fair, he can act. She can't. This seems a decent exchange. Oh wait. No it doesn't.
I exposed to Nicole Kidman's bosoms (amongst others) and in return I got a partial shot of Jude Law's ass. I think this underlies some of the basic themes of the film, the numbing effects of war, man's generally ugly nature, the lack of outside redemption for the soul. You get the picture.
It's been four years at least since I read the book, so I can't judge its transition from a novel into a film. (I know: Good Dramaturg, Jay!) However, it /is/ very well shot, and generally well acted (Amazonian Aussies Excepted) and in many cases very well acted. Well worth seeing.
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