Hiatus

It has been quite a while...This post is just me holding my nose and diving in again. Last week was particularly awful, but not anything I would want to write about in a blog. Anyway, I am back. I think.

To offset my malaise, I watched a lot of Animal Planet--tried to avoid raging about issues on C-SPAN--and read my eyes out.

A movie I watched which was much better than expected was Return to Me, with David Duchovny and Minnie Driver. Plot: Beloved wife dies, woman gets heart as transplant, husband unwittingly falls for woman with wife's heart. EW!

Yes, it was something of a tear jerker, but it had unexpected quirky bits that kept it from being merely sentimental twaddle. (OMG--I loved the old card players.) DD is always a draw, since I was addicted to the XFiles series. (Though his movies nearly always disappoint.) Minnie Driver managed to do something with a role that raised obvious questions. And the chemistry seemed to be there.

That chemistry is not just a matter of acting. (Maybe romantic comdies should be rated on the basis of how much chemistry is there--like a romantic comedy chemistry thermometer.)

So often I think after a romantic comedy "Would those two have REALLY gone for each other in real life???" and more often than not, "No!" is my answer. (Or even "Hell No!") Too often, actually, even while watching, I know that they don't have that essential spark--the spark with the power to confound all logic and amaze people who can see no rational basis for how a couple can possibly hang together. The glue, that is, that makes union possible. And without it, improbable, in a romantic comedy.

I had more trouble seeing DD working in a hard hat than making out with Minnie Driver.

I would rate it a 3 handkerchief movie, with a lot of wry smiles along the way.

Beyond Books

Reading other peoples blogs, those beautiful creations, complete with pictures and links, I conceive of books in the future cast on walls, projected from computers, complete with moving pictures and sound--references within references.

We now have illustrated books--these would be like that, but with layered images (yeah, I stole that from Crusie).

I am not thinking of movies with extended subtitles, rather book-lengthy streams of the written language I revere, but embellished, with images, sounds, music.

Books of the future could be add-ons--readers adding their own words/images/references. Sharing them online.

The hitch would be the "my mine mine" factor--the desire to be the sole author, not part of a collaborative effort.

Also, one could become so addicted to the creation of even a single book that one could spend a lifetime online, reading/watching/listening and submitting, reading/watching/listening and submitting.

Sounds good, actually.

Office Space

I finally watched Office Space today and it did me good. I woke up (late) in terrible pain and wanted to go back to bed. But watching that movie was a better option. I had intermittent mental hiccups of laughter while toiling away later. (Smiling internally is better than not smiling at all.)

I love that Ron Livingston! He was the main reason to watch Stand-off. (Is that gone for good, or just for the season?--even checking the uh, official, website, I could not tell). Heck, I even watch that cell-phone commercial because he's in it. Won't somebody give that boy more roles?

But I digress. I think Office Space should be mandatory viewing for anyone who works 9 to 5. The movie is actually pretty mild, though, compared to the real thing. I once applied for a job with all those cubicles--the supervisor was elevated so that he?she? could see what people were doing at all times. As I stood there shuddering, I knew I could not work there...But when I finally found a job I figured I could live with, I did not escape those tedious morale building meetings where they urge the employee to put on more steam, for the company. Then there was the dress code...Argh! I totally sympathized with Anniston's character about her "flair."

The movie is one I could watch another time or two. Which I hear is what people are doing.

Spring Forward

Nature took that phrase to heart with the most excellent weather we had today. The usual temperature is 60 degrees and we had 70--Yay! for us. I got out in the yard and puttered. Finally chopping off the dead tops on plants which seem to have live roots, and filling the bird feeders, which were picked clean this week. (Probably by the fat squirrels which hang upside down in ludicrous positions, but I'm not complaining.) A flicker shrieked at me but didn't make an appearance in the yard. Then there was the one-note tiny bird in the neighbors pear tree that went bling bling bling bling bling. They take a critical interest when I fuss with their feeders. What a glorious day! I want more like this one.

My daffodils started opening on Friday and they have gladdened my heart so much. Ridiculous, maybe, when everyone and her brother has them blooming--but they were my yellow trumpets. They have an interesting perfume. There were also a couple of wayward violets blooming on the curb line next to the car. I have to applaud their tenacity, considering that everyone and her dog walks on them.

I undertook to do some wire manipulation this evening and learned a few things--1) I am very rusty; 2) I can't substitute 18 gauge for 20 guage some projects--which might be more to do with my strength than the flexibility of the wire but whatever; 2) conversely, if I use 26 or 28 guage wire (for a different project) it is so flexible that it bends/kinks easily; and 3) when creating intricate components I will probably make a lot of dogs along the way, in order to come up with the necessary number of acceptable ones. I don't think there are any life lessons in my playing with the wire, but it sure seemed appropriate for this fine day.

The Yo Factor

Tonight on American Idol judge Randy Jackson complained that one of the contestants lacked the "Yo" factor--she had no "Wow."

Sometimes on that show they seem to be pressing all the contestants into the same mold--over the top Wow and lots of YO! with no room for a crooner or a Broadway musical sort of singer. But I know what he meant. They defined some of the Yo/Wow factor, actually: Talent, passion, believability.

All of the contestants have talent in abundance (think Lekisha, Melinda, Jordin...)--but some have yet to find a way to express who they are--to demonstrate their individuality. One contestant that impresses me immensely, even though I am not particularly fond of her style, is Gina. Right from the beginning she was intensely motivated to give everything she had to the contest. She was willing to push herself and also to listen to advice on what she needed to do to do her very best. Tonight she was able to shine with all her light.

I believe I know who will win, but I dread the count down, really. I hate seeing people drop out. During this contest I am torn between loving the talented and feeling sad for the underdog.

True Confession

I'm a couch potato. Between 8 and 10 I can nearly always be found in front of the tube. But this is the first season that I have gotten hooked by (gasp!) American Idol. And, oh, yeah! voting for my favorites.

When my son told me his family watched American Idol I was astonished. (Picture eyes rolling.) But at this point in time I am trying for viewing that is more upbeat--Discovery or Animal Planet, instead of human disasters or infuriating politics on CNN. Normally during the 8 o'clock slot I would be watching NCIS--but I can always watch that in re-runs, is my reasoning. The music on American Idol is the draw obviously. Songs I've never heard--and doubt if I will again.

I have to fight my impulse to vote for the underdog. That little thing that the judges do after each song is nerve-wracking. Some of the criticism seems constructive. Randy Jackson is pretty balanced, though I don't always agree with him. Paula Abdul can usually be counted on the defend the contestant or at least to state her criticism ruefully. Then there is Simon. I just brace myself when it is his turn. The annoying thing is, I often agree with him--the far out exception being the personal criticisms he makes (big eyes? bad hair? bad outfit?) which often have little or nothing to do with the performance. He obviously isn't lacking in the ego department but leans towards the contestants who are more humble. But his peccadillos no doubt keep viewers from nodding off.

Spring's warm breath at my neck

The sun was actually hot today, on my back porch. And it lighted up the house--I really had forgotten what that is like. Those silly snake heads on my daffodils still haven't opened, but one more day like today should do the trick.

I am so tired at this moment that I can't rub two brian cells together.

ION, I have decided to write more here, without spending so much time and angst fretting over what is important and what isn't. The moment is what is important, and I just keep letting that slip away.

fun moments

1. Dancing to Buckcherry, who performed on Jay Leno.

2. A bumper sticker: Practice Compassionate Impeachment

3. Laser Cats video on SNL