this sucks. RIP Spike.
posted by billyjoe noodle-bob at 5:44 PM link/comments
I'm not sure if it counts as an "artsy" film, but "The Turn of the Screw" has been made into a movie (twice, if you count the definate influence in "The Others").
"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" - one of my favorites. I had read the play a few times before I knew it was also a movie, with two of my favorite actors. That was a nice moment. A bad moment was in tenth grade, studying MacBeth. We had to do a creative writing project using MacBeth as a starting point as a companion project. Most kids wrote slasher stories about doomed productions of the scottish play, I wrote "Banqo & Duncan are Dead," a clever homage with witty dialogue and so many layered ironies any true gen x geek would be tickled pink to hear it. We all had to read them outloud in front of the class. No one had heard of or read R&GaD, so B&DaD didn't make much sense. Even the teacher had no idea what I was doing. They sat there, 60 eyes starting unblinking and silent, passing judgement on the obvious casualty of me. Bastards.
posted by Holly at 12:50 PM link/comments
Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Sounds like a week of turmoil out there...Paul and I send our ferret-passing sympathies...we were also, uh, a bit worried that our ferrets might attain the age of seven years. You know how old that is for a ferret? Good god. Pandora is five years old and the vet said that was ancient in ferret years.
I have to write a 20 page paper about a piece of literature that is also an artsy film. Suggestions, anyone? I'm thinking "O Brother Where Art Thou" (based on The Odyssey) or the classic "To Kill A Mockingbird" or maybe "A Clockwork Orange," but I'm not sure I'm up to dealing with all the weird language in that violent little book. Paul, theater boy that he is, is doing Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," which he conveniently already wrote a paper about back at ISU.
posted by Jen at 2:28 AM link/comments
Sunday, February 24, 2002
Another moment of silence (damn, if this keeps up no-one's going to say anything all day) for Chuck Jones He rocked. Nuff said.
posted by billyjoe noodle-bob at 8:56 PM link/comments
A moment of silence, please, for Chloe, my first and best ferret, who died yesterday in Pennsylvania, where she had been residing since July. Chloe was a kind soul who, unlike her adopted sisters, was not prone to biting and creating general havoc. Chloe enjoyed Ferretone and bouncing around rooms, thrashing her head about and pretending to be vicious (a condition referred to by my mother as "hyper-ferretosis."). She was also the only ferret I ever knew who enjoyed riding on human shoulders. She would happily hang out on a shoulder for extended periods of time, especially when the shoulder was attached to a human who was walking around. Chloe is survived by her adopted sister, Dali, with whom she lived. Chloe was 7 years and 4 months old.
posted by Kate at 3:38 PM link/comments
Saturday, February 23, 2002
*Warning, what follows is an unprecedented long post from Mike*
So, I'm sure most of you are sitting out there, wondering 'How's Mike doing with that move out to Washington DC?' 'Why doesn't he ever post on the blog, when we know he reads it everyday?' and the all important 'When is Mike going to get some nookie?'
Well, inquiring minds, let me 'splain things.
DC = Goodness.
Starbucks = Evil
Evil = Money/Career?
Money/Career = Less debt
Less debt = Something I can't even begin to imagine, approaching nirvana I believe.
That's right, a carrer in Starbucks. They love me, I like them. I get to stand around all day, chit chat, and drink coffee. To them, this means I have managerial qualities. So, soon, within the next six months, I will be running my own store. After that, doing more of the above (Drinking coffee/ chit chat) I suspect I can go in for district manager... so on so forth, until I achieve the end goal of roaming about the world serving coffee, and chitchating. That's right, Starbucks pays people to go to places like Italy, Spain, Russia... to open new stores, train new people, set things up. Might be doing all that in less than five years.
And all because my manager kicks ass, my DM kicks ass, and I... well, according to them, kick ass.
Beyond work, personal stuff is alright. Decent to middling. Made many good new friends, who RP, play magic, golf, drink coffee, do drugs... the usual setup. Life with Steve and Belinda could be much better, could be much worse. You know the pair, you know me. Even I am having problems being patient with Steve's daunting repetiveness and fondness for obscure history trivia. I look forward to the day I can watch a war movie without the side commentary.critiquing.
As for Mike and women... none yet. There was that Karen thing, and most of us know where that went. For those that don't....
Karen, very attractive, flirtatious met while working in Ohio.... she had boyfriend, so Mike still moves, though we like eachother. Because Mike learned it's not good to fool around with people who are currently dating.
While in DC, months later, Karen tells Mike she has dumped old BF. Kinda good news, if Mike wasn't in DC. Vut Mike holds on, visits when he can, things are okay...
Last visit, Karen tells Mike 'We need to Talk'... we hang out, go shopping, by nifty scanty undies for Karen... once back in car, Karen tells Mike she's gotten back together with old BF.
End of story.
So Mike finds hisself unattached, per the norm, in DC, where many cute, but attached girls are.
Nothing promising on the horizon, so it's a waiting game again.
Let's see, what else is new?
Oh, still trying to convince people to come out, namely Zack and Marc. We'll see how that goes.
People should visit me. Really. I've made the drive myself a dozen times, it's not that hard, not that expensive. Really.
Oh, why I don't write more often...
I'm a lazy SOB.
posted by Mike at 4:16 AM link/comments
Thursday, February 21, 2002
Heh. Silly Russians. What's sad is that it's pretty clear that no one gives a damn that they're upset. My teeth are better today after a weeklong setback the folks at the oral surgeon's office called "partial dry socket." I didn't even smoke. Bastard gums. If that was "partial" dry socket, I never ever want to know what complete dry socket feels like. Since I wasn't in any active pain this morning, the fates were upset that I was experiencing no obvious distress. They therefore opted to make my car break down in the middle of rush hour traffic. I had to push the car to a sort-of-out-of-the-way location while Holly sat in the drivers' seat with the car in neutral. Hyjinx ensued when a coworker and I attempted to jumpstart the car. It's now sitting in a parking lot behind my office, and I hope like hell that no one decides to have it towed before I can figure out what the hell to do with it tomorrow morning. Hooray for life, I say. Hoo-fuckin'-ray.
posted by Kate at 10:49 PM link/comments
So I hear the Russians are threatening to pull out of the Olympics within 24 hours if everyone doesn't start being nice to them. Ah, the Olympics -- games of good cheer, honest competition, unrigged figure skating performances, and no steriods at all.
posted by Jen at 10:31 PM link/comments
Wednesday, February 20, 2002
My my. Paul and I have had long biology-type discussions about the nature of inhaling and the nature of addiction. This is a hot topic. Hope no one swan dives off the wagon. The new rec center opened today, and since the unversity is charging me $100 a semester whether I use it or not, I shall be making an effort to visit the place maybe once over the next few years. Apparently, it has the largest indoor climbing tower of any college in the nation and a couple hundred exercise bikes in a "cardio entertainment room," which I have to see. Entertainment for your heart. Yahoo.
posted by Jen at 4:02 PM link/comments
Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Oh, hell. No one said you weren't a "real" smoker. You bought cigarettes, lit them, inhaled them, rinsed, repeated. You did, in fact, smoke. But your addiction seems to be based solely on an oral fixation, which is not quite the same as hybrid oral fixation/nicotine addiction, which is what I have going on. Case in point: If Holly went to visit her mother or sister for a week, she'd just not smoke for that week. Not so with me. Being unable to smoke caused a serious problem. I've been on airplanes and had active fantasies about crawling out onto the wing to light up. For years, I have avoided patronizing restaurants that don't have a smoking section. I convinced myself that the reason for this boycott was some pseudo-political stance having to do with personal freedom ("This is America, by gum! * 'battle hymn of the republic' swells in background * Restaurants should respect my god-given right to suck down carcinogens and disburse their by-products upon hapless fellow patrons!"), but really it was because the idea of having a meal without my pre- and post-food-consumption cigarettes was unbearable. I'm on Day 12 without a smoke, and the idea that I can't just pop outside for a puff is still kind of hard to swallow. Frankly, I think I'd better stop thinking about it before I take a swan dive off the wagon.
posted by Kate at 11:39 AM link/comments
Monday, February 18, 2002
I think that anytime Kate chose to quit would be just as bad though - maybe worse. You get to be on pain killers and the idea of smoke whistling past open gashes in ones mouth misses that, how do the french put it?, thingymabobby one looks for in a cigarette. Katy has a deep and lengthy addiction to the nico-weed that makes Dennis Leary look like a sixth grader behind the junior high though, and would still be sucking them down, so it still sucks.
I am slightly miffed lately, I haven't had a cigarette all year. I want a parade! I want to be written up for a medal of honor! I want to be saluted by my peers! I want a cigarette! (-No! Bad Holly!!!!) My reason for miffdom is that I do not believe people are giving me enough credit. The people I most want to brag about quitting to are those who must never know I smoked in the first place. I can not revel in the joy of telling my mom that this time, finally, for the first time in years, I can have a conversation with her and not be a complete hypocrite ungrateful liar. "Happy Mother's Day! That whole betraying your only prohibition thing you never knew about? It's all over, buy me some candy!" What is worse, my friends are not paying enough homage to my achievement either. Yes yes, they are proud and have expressed happiness for me, but I must now direct your attention back to my previous assertion that I have been given NO parade!
The reason? I was never a "real" smoker. I think they all believed I have been failing to inhale all these years. Bastards.
posted by Holly at 4:54 PM link/comments
Thursday, February 14, 2002
Those are good reasons for feeling grumpy. You are either insane or heroic for trying to quit smoking the same week you had large teeth ripped out. Good luck...Think of it as a new Olympic winter sport...
posted by Jen at 3:35 PM link/comments
Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Reasons I'm Grumpy: 1. My face hurts. The acute, stingy, someone-put-stitches-in-me pain is gone; now my face is having adjustment aches or something. It's basically a severe full-skull headache. I'm running out of Vicoprofen and afraid to call and ask for more for fear the doctor will think I'm some kind of crazed narcotic addict.
2. My face has begun to bruise.
3. I haven't eaten anything solid in 5 days. I tried eating chili yesterday and realized that in addition to eating only mushy foods, I must also make sure those foods are consistent in texture. Anything with little bits in it (like the ground beef in chili) won't work. The bits nestle themselves in the holes where my teeth used to be, necessitating an intense salt-water rinse to dislodge. As far as I can figure, this means I can eat five things: pudding, applesauce, milkshakes, grits, and broth.
4. I haven't had a cigarette since Thursday. I'm proud of this fact, but my body still hasn't taken the hint. "Hey, Kate," it keeps saying, "where the hell's the nicotine? Don't you want a cigarette? Goooooo have a cigarette. There's a gas station right up the block. Marlllllllboro Liiiigghhhhts. C'monnnnn."
posted by Kate at 10:55 AM link/comments
Monday, February 11, 2002
I remember when I got my wisdom teeth out and woke up in the recovery room, the nurse offered me a bewildering array of beverages. She had this tray of sparkling cans of coke and pepsi, 7-up, cranberry juice, everything. I think I had some 7-up, not that I could enjoy it with a mouth full of gauze. In fact, it's entirely possible that I'm completely making up this memory...damn that imagination...
Hiked along the Snake River this weekend -- saw group of hikers walking their goats. No kidding. Just your normal barnyard goats with little saddlebags, walking in a line, perfectly content, about 100 times happier than dogs on a walk. Must get a goat someday.
posted by Jen at 2:03 PM link/comments
At the office. It's not often that showing up to work completely gonzo on Vicoprofen is perfectly acceptable. This is kinda fun.
posted by Kate at 10:24 AM link/comments
Saturday, February 09, 2002
Survived oral surgery. I've never been under general anesthesia before. The whole thing really weirded me out. One second I'm talking to the nurse, the next second I'm whacked out of my head, half-awake with a mouthful of gauze. I woke up sobbing. I only remember this vaguely, but I apparently wept like a maniac for about half an hour after I woke up. Nurse said this was a fairly common side-effect of the anesthesia. According to my mother, I looked at her at some point and asked, "Why am I crying?" I'm currently chowing on my first semi-substantial food product since the surgery ... grits. Wheee. Must go lie down.
posted by Kate at 12:52 PM link/comments
Friday, February 08, 2002
I don't know, maybe you should have added more coaxial cables, just to see what would happen.
posted by Jen at 12:20 PM link/comments
Thursday, February 07, 2002
This just in from my referral logs ... If you run a Google query for "cats and benadryl," Six-Layer Kate comes up as the second hit. Thank god.
posted by Kate at 3:53 PM link/comments
Damn hippies. We don't like no pinko long-hairs in Idaho. I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow. General anesthesia followed by days of soft foods, ice packs, bleeding, and no smoking. The smoking thing is big. I'm using the surgery as an excuse to quit. Today is my Official Last Day of Being a Smoker. LindaTheMom is coming to take care of me. She's bringing LillianTheGrandmother. So here's the equation: Mother & 82-Year-Old Diabetic Grandmother in Small One-Bedroom Apartment Whose Living Room Was Rearranged Last Night to Ensure That Grandmother Does Not Trip Over Coaxial Cable That Was Running Across Staircase and Fall Headfirst Down Steps. Add Air Mattress to Living Room so Everyone Has Place to Sleep. Add 25-Year-Old Who Has Been Smoking Roughly 1 Pack of Cigarettes Per Day for Past 5 Years. Take Said 25-Year-Old, Give Her Oral Surgery on Same Day She is Quitting Smoking. Add 3 Cats, and Consequent Anxiety on Part of 25-Year-Old That Cats Will Poke Holes in Air Mattress and/or Bat Grandmother/Mother in Head with Paws While Grandmother/Mother Sleeps. If we all survive, I'm sure there will be stories to tell. Watch this space for details.
posted by Kate at 10:12 AM link/comments
Monday, February 04, 2002
Read my evaluations from last semester....I have come to anticipate truly memorable critiques, and the one I'll be tacking up on my office wall is the one that says, in reference to improving the class, "get rid of the hippie." Oh yeah. Charming. Apparently I was doing bong hits in front of the class or something.
posted by Jen at 3:43 PM link/comments