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September 30 TipsyJust watched Essential Sunshine of the Spotless Mind today for the 2nd time (the first time being when it first came out in the theaters). I really liked this movie, but there was always something that kept it from being 100% awesome for me. And today, I realized what it was - Clementine is hardly lovable. She's pretty much insecure, immature, always shallowly manufacturing interestingness. I wish they had at least given me one scene where I felt she something positive about the character. Some glimpse into depth. But maybe that's the point - that we're all lovable by someone even if no one else can understand why.
Despite the female love interest being completely the type of girl that a guy would never call again, I still find the movie charming. The idea that love is inevitable, that given a second chance we will still gravitate in the same direction - that idea is incredibly romantic.
But maybe the idea is not romantic at all, but instead just the opposite. In movies, love is not a decision but an imperative. It's no guessing game. It really makes it all so simple. Is it really that romantic to do something when you have no choice to do it? It's not very romantic that we all eat and sleep, it's just something that must be done. Ultimately, one could argue that choosing to love someone, in spite of all the shit that comes along with the joy, is the most romantic thing of all.
Is that cynical? I guess so. I guess I'm the kind of romantic only a true cynic can be. September 27 Scary MoviesOne of my favorite category of movies is suspense-thrillers. I appreciate a good slasher flick, but it's really the suspense movies that I get into. However, there's a time period when I was too old for slumber parties and too young to go to R rated movies on my own and I missed out on some good movies in those days. This was primarily due to the fact that my dad refused to rent scary movies.
Like any family in the VCR era, we rented tons of videos, but my dad has always been pathologically opposed to anything that even smacks of scary. My dad downright refuses to watch scary movies. They give him nightmares, the heebie-jeebies, the willies. No ghosts, no paranormal freakiness, no psycho killers, no suspenseful whodunits. Nothing. Growing up, this fear of his made no sense to me. The only thing I was ever really scared of was him, so how could the scariest thing in my world view be scared of something that I thought was entertaining? Interesting conundrum. As I got older, I would totally covertly convince him to rent a movie and watch him get increasingly uncomfortable as the movie revealed itself to be freaky until he couldn't take it anymore and suddenly decided that we shouldn't be watching a rated R movie or else he had some pressing project in the garage to attend to. It was a small way for me to laugh at him, to remember that he was fallible.
When the Northridge quake hit, I also discovered that my dad was petrified of earthquakes. That was around the time I started realizing that he was not someone to be afraid of, but someone to be pitied. The night of the earthquake, he was screaming like a girl when it went down and yelling for us to all get out of the house (which is exactly what you're not supposed to do). Less than a year later, he and the rest of my family left California, and though my mom and sisters have moved back, he swears that he will never ever live in California again. Which essentially means that he will probably always live apart from his family; growing old alone - now that's what I'd call scary.
So, lately, I've been catching up on the movies I missed - Cape Fear, Silence of the Lambs, etc. It's been great to rediscover these old movies that it seems like everyone else has seen but me. I love 'em.
I'm not exactly sure how this all ties together, but I do know that I'm not afraid of earthquakes, or scary movies, or bullies who take out their insecurities on others. And I'm pretty sure I won't end up growing old alone. September 25 Shoulda Knocked on WoodLast week, I went to the dentist. At the end of the appointment, she asked me about my overall health, whether I'd been sick lately, etc. And I was all like, Oh I can't even remember the last time I was sick, I'm so healthy, blah blah blah.
Less than a week later, I'm now sick. Hubris gets you every time. September 20 CuckooI have had the same alarm clock since 1995. When I left for college, it was one of the parting gifts that was given to me by coworkers. The alarm clock was huge and clunky, but I liked how the numbers were VERY BIG. That's good for those of us who are vision impaired. It's not often that you keep an electronic item for 11 years - but I guess there's not a lot of technology revolution happening in the world of alarm clocks - although Mark has this high tech number.
Mark hated my alarm clock. The buttons were "loud" - um, this from someone who has an alarm clock that chirps. I think he mostly just hated that I had it set on radio - to a really cheesy easy listening station. I had to put it on easy listening because if it's something familiar, I'll sleep through it. Plus, it's nice to occasionally wake up to an old cheesy song you secretly loved but haven't heard in years. Like "Walking in Memphis."
Anyhow, the alarm clock finally met its death. That thing probably would have gone on for another 10 years, but a glass of red wine on the bed side table was kicked over during some rowdiness. And the wine got all up in the clock (and on the wall - prob why we finally decided to paint the bedroom after months of talk). I tried to dry it out and make it work again, but it was well and truly done for. I felt pretty sentimental as I dropped that thing into the trash.
Today, Mark saw a Sony Dream Machine on sale at Costco and picked it up for me. I wonder where I'll be when that one dies? I can't even begin to imagine. September 18 Date NiteMark and I have been talking about going to the drive-in movie theater for, oh, about three and a half years. I finally decided it was time to make it happen - so I sent Mark a cryptic email on Friday telling him that we had a date for Saturday night and we'd leave the house around 6.
You can't take liquor into the drive-in (though they didn't check for it, so I guess we could have), so I did some Internet research to find a dive bar near the theaters where we could get a couple of drinks first. We ended up at a place in Kent called the Monte Carlo Pub. It was a beige building with one small window and a bud light neon sign in the window. As we pulled in, we saw a woman get out of her car, go in, and come back out with two ears of corn. Huh? The place looked pretty sketchy from the outside, so I was stoked. Those are the best kinds of bars.
We went inside and there were 2 people in the entire bar (mind you, it was only 6:30). They had a pretty sweet set-up - a full on pull tab station, rows of pool tables and dart games, and another area with several of those bar game machines I love so much. The 2 other patrons were parked at the pull tab station, and the floor around them was littered with pull tabs. Like one of those kitschy restaurants where you can throw your peanut shells on the table, apparently it was acceptable to discard the losing tabs on the floor. Awesome. They had the usual grody beers on tap, but also a few microbrews. This is the Northwest after all, even in Kent. We got a pitcher of Saison and an order of the Crispitos, after the very nice bartendress told us what they were (sorta like taquitos) and said they were good. The Crispitos were a meat and cheese filled deep fried tortilla treat - Mark and I agreed that they were the best bar treat EVER. We enjoyed our beer and played some bar games on the machine for an hour before we headed off to the theater.
Mark had at this point guessed our destination - I was gunning for Pirates of the Carribean, but he was all up ons the Gridiron Gang and I was cool with that. When we pulled in, I was totally transported to my childhood - the crunch of the gravel beneath the tires, the ramshackle snack bar building, the 60's wallpaper in the bathroom. We ordered a pizza at the snack bar while I played the video games on hand (Bust a Move!). After that, we settled into the car and I got the previously purchased candy out of the trunk. We kicked off our shoes and socks, leaned back the seats, and ate ourselves sick on the junk food. Turns out that Gridiron Gang was the perfect drive-in choice - you don't have to pay too much attention to what's going on to follow the plot. It was a cheesy movie, as expected, but enjoyable all the same. We decided not to stay for the second movie and left - after all that junk food and beer, we were ready to crash.
The drive in was only a half hour drive away and it was so fun - I can't believe it took me this long to get around to going. I don't think it will last much longer, so I'll definitely have to make sure to go more next summer. It's a total blast. Screw fancy dinners and walks on the beach, this is my idea of a dream date. I think Mark quite agreed.
September 15 Proposed Titles for Additional Blogs about NutmegOn Walks:
Nutmeg vs. The Black Liquor Store Bags That Look Like Crows From Far Away Nutmeg vs. The Crackhead Drug Dealer Who Lives on our Street and is Usually Walking Around With a Can of Steel Reserve in a Brown Bag No Matter What Time We Go For a Walk and Who Always Makes Mostly Unitelligble Anti-dog Rumblings When We Walk By. The Hunter's Cry: Beth vs. Nutmeg Sees a Cat Nutmeg Finds a Chicken Bone (Again). What Kind of Dog Is That?
I Know My First Name is Nutmeg (Except at the Dog Park).
About Missing Her Real Family:
Nutmeg Cries When She Hears That Familiar Car Alarm Beep.
Why Do These People Come Home Smelling Like My Sister?
On Being Bored:
Nutmeg Likes Blink, Too (It Tastes Good).
Lick, Lick, Lick - It's 4:30, Let's Go For a Walk!
No, I Don't Want to Play With That Ball. September 14 Family Cell Phone Text Message Conversation"DUDE! Suzy shaved her fuckn head bald" - My sister Kristie, 23.
"Holy Shit! Why?" - Me.
"She said that one shes always wanted 2 and she had extensions and when she took them out there were som bald spots" - K
"What did Mom say?" - Me
"Is Pissed. Asked her what she was on." - K
Suzanne is my 16 year old sister. Man, going bald - is that hard core or is it a cry for help?! I don't know, but I saw pics and she used to look tiny and demure and now she looks tiny and like she will FUCK you up. Shaving your head = instaTHUG™ September 12 TwitchIn the last week, I've developed a twitch directly underneath my left eye. It's really weird - and you can totally see the twitching, so it's gross too. According to my extensive Internet research, this is a temporary affliction and is usually caused by either:
a) stress
b) lack of sleep
c) magnesium/vitamin deficiency
Given that I get more sleep than the average housecat, I'm ruling out option b. I also don't think I'm any more stressed than usual, so I'm thinking I need some magnesium. I have a bottle of vitamins that I bought when Mark and I first started dating, and, oh, I've taken them like maybe 10 times. I always forget to take vitamins and I normally wouldn't have bought them even, but Mark is into the homeopathy and all that, so you know the stuff you do when you first fall in love with someone. Sure, I will TOTALLY buy these vitamins you chose after careful consideration and I will TOTALLY take them everyday.
So, yeah, I took one of my 3 year old vitamins (are they even still good after that long?) this morning, but I'm not sure how much magnesium they contain. I'll have to check that. And remember to keep taking them for a few days.
Nonetheless, my eye is still twitching today - and it seems to be increasing if anything. I hope it goes away soon; I don't want to be known as "That Girl with the Eye Twitch." September 11 Turn, Turn, TurnSeptember is an in between month - not quite summer, not quite fall. It's still mostly warm around here, but when I'm out walking the dog, I occasionally feel a breeze whip by that has the scent and crispness of the impending cold weather. Within a month, the sweaters will come out, it will get dark early again, and the Holidays will begin their annual ramp up. If I had to pick a favorite season, it would definitely be winter. It's a hard thing to quantify, why I love winter. Maybe it's because it seems like most of the significant events in my life happen in winter - maybe because there's less distraction, winter is more serious, more weighty and life takes on more depth. One of my most favorite things is winter nighttime with the city lights refracting off the wet streets as my friends and I tromp hither and fro. That image contains all that makes winter great - it's a stark beauty. My very first memory, around the time that I was 2 or 3, was of being in Louisiana and watching from our upstairs apartment as my dad and his friends played basketball on the wet court below. The court lights shone off the black, black gravel as they ran back and forth. I still remember exactly what it felt like to look at that scene - obviously, I didn't have the words for it then, but now, I would call the feeling mesmerizing. Maybe some things just get baked into our bones, maybe that moment fundamentally made me a person who would love winter. I love cold air and new coats and holiday parties and halloween costumes and even the February slump where it feels like winter will go on forever. I love twinkly lights and the smell of pine and all those Sagittarius and Capricorn birthdays. I love coming in from the cold and snow tubing and canned cranberry jelly and trying to replicate the winter recipes that my mom makes. I love trees without leaves against a gray sky and scarves and presents. What can I say? Winter brings out my sentimental side. Summer was beautiful and sunny and full of travel and adventures, but I'm ready now for the cold and the gray days. Let's fall back. September 06 Victory, uh-huh, uh-huh!Last night, our team WON 1st place in trivia at Clever Dunn's Irish Pub in Capitol Hill. OH HELL YEAH. We were pretty stoked and took our 40 dollars to Dick's for burgers and shakes.
There were 6 rounds that comprised the game:
Round 1 - General Knowledge: Mark blew my mind by knowing the vice presidential candidate for the Green Party in 2000. All that political blog reading PAID OFF. We got 8 out of 10 in this round (we did not know which Shakespeare play started out "Welcome to the winter of our discontent" despite having a team member with a master's in English Literature - ahem!)
Round 2 - Match the ingredient to the dish that features it. Totally easy - we got all 10 right.
Round 3 - Theme Round. Last night, the theme was animals. None of us know SHIT about animals, but we still managed to get 6 out of ten right. Not too shabby. Although, Mark and John were totally right that a blue whale is the size of a commercial jet and not an articulated bus. Luckily, we didn't lose or we woulda never heard the end of it.
Round 4 - Identify the celebrities from a sheet of very grainy photos. This is tougher than it sounds because the images are really bad.
Round 5 - Music round, guess the title and artist of a song after hearing a 30 second snippet. My finest moment of the night was when I was able to identify the 30 second snippet of a Liz Phair song. The guys on the team are total music experts, but none of them knew that one, so I felt pretty pleased with myself.
Round 6 - General Knowledge. Matt M is a trivia god. He knew the emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 - first name and last. He also knew tons of obscure songs in the music round. Next time we should just call the team Matt and those other people who came to keep him company.
I had three glasses of the Hoegarden - I intended to only have one, but that beer is just too tasty. Good times were had and I ended the night with a cheeseburger in my belly and 3 dollars in my pocket (my portion of the winnings after what was spent on Dick's). I think I am totally going to be doing this trivia thing again. It's fun to win! September 05 Romantic DinnersLast Friday, we had a bridal shower at my house and Chloe was thankfully in charge of the menu. However, there was one dish she ran out of time to make, but had already prepped. I noticed it in the fridge yesterday and decided I should make it. Chloe emailed me the recipe and I preheated the oven.
If you have a look at the recipe, you'll see that the directions start off with adding flour, egg, etc. and then adding the blue cheese and other ingredients. Because of this, I assumed the mixture in my fridge was a complete and ready to go mixture.
After a few minutes in the oven, I checked on my puffs. My exact reaction was a sort of beleagured, "Why aren't they puffed?" A quick call to Chloe made it clear that the flour and egg had not, in fact, already been added. I was essentially baking blue cheese. The entire house smelled like foot and the baking pan was covered in browned, liquid cheese.
I took the stuff out of the oven and was contemplating it for a bit, before realizing there was no saving this dish. At that point, I began scraping the cookie sheet and I declared, "Domestic Goddess in the hooooouse!" and Mark lost it. I think he'd been holding in the laughter until that point, and somehow the combo of me calling myself a domestic goddess and the stank of foot and the sad act of scraping crusty cheese off a cookie sheet sent him over the edge. He must have laughed for a full minute, at one point, falling to his knees.
Baby - I can't promise fine cuisine, but I can always promise to make you laugh. SAY CHEESEWhy I didn't join Flickr sooner:
1. Didn't really want to pay when there were free services out there.
2. Some photos really should not be available to the whole world.
3. Once I find something that works, I'm reluctant to move, even if it will be better.
What finally convinced me to make the change:
1. Mark paid the 25 dollar fee.
2. The photo quality is SO MUCH better than at ofoto.
3. I want my friends to leave comments on my photos! I want to leave comments on my friends' photos!
4. Scandalous photos can be made private on Flickr or I can just post those ones on Ofoto.
5. I'm in the mood to learn new things so I was able to leave my comfort zone.
So far, I heart Flickr big time. The photos look amazing, I'm enjoying the little features like notes & tags, but still trying to figure it all out. The implementation of Flickr and my new camera is making me hype on photo fun! |
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