a new favorite

This angry black man cracks me up!

they reminisce over you

i spent most of this month sick and out of town so that's how i'm explaining the lackluster postings. please forgive.

so i've healed (ish) physically and i've done some good emotional stuff lately too. i started re-reading emails and lj postings from early on in my relationship with jc. they've been eye opening. everything i said i loved i still love but a million times more. everything i said i had worries about, i still do but much less so. man, isn't growth something?

speaking of shrinking (i'm pulling a K), i'm down 23 lbs so far. w00 h00 me! this site has been a friggin life saver! i have never recorded all of my food intake and workout minutes before. accountability really does make a difference. who knew?

i don't have much else personally happening. i'm dreading the physical part of moving. it will include a stop off in phoenix to see jc's people. that's always good for some laughs and massive amounts of sweat. yay. i did get out and see a couple of movies this weekend. i'm off to review.

dunks well but needs a haircut

That'd be Childress on the Hawks.

 I'm watching their 4th playoff game and it's exciting. I don't really follow the NBA normally but the man is big into the playoff season. I come from SUCH a basketball family that I can follow the game enough to know when the ref has 'forgotten' to call someone for carrying. So, yeah, I know the game. But this Childress guy, he looks maybe 12. His hair is half a foot straight into the air and he just dunked the hell all over this Celtic. ALL. IN. YOUR. FACE.

I know this is going to sound a bit nutso but I am having a good time lately just hanging out with myself. The man is here but I'm more about myself right now. Not in a "look at me! look at me!" way but a "oh yeah! I used to like this, that, the other". I rediscovered the Yeah, Yeah Yeahs, Blockbuster, libraries, candles, cleaning, sweating, not doing my hair, etc. It's been great. I can pinpoint it to coming back from NYC and realizing all I loved and hated about it. You can never go home again because it's a just a place in your mind. You make your home where you are. The blisters have finally healed and fallen away.

Called my old supervisor. She said I was hired accepting the current hiring freeze. Eh. We'll see what's up. I'm positive. I'm BEYOND ready to be back in Portland. For instance, today I avoided: a side swipe hit, a woman in a inappropriately proportional van decided to turn left across a four lane street and almost killed me and the person beside me, a cop complete with ringing siren behind me, raising my blood pressure only to learn he just wanted to speed through the light and finally, my favorite, the person driving the wrong way down a three lane street. Foolishness. All of it.

And cool kids, they belong together.

How can a mobile phone have an agenda to kill you?

Forgetting Sarah Marshall. An emotional Sunday found me in the theatre to chill and laugh. I initially did not want to see this movie. I'm a little burned out on Apatow. I also am one of two people who don't watch 'How I Met Your Mother' so I didn't know the main actor at all. I did, however, see an interview with Russell Brand and I laughed through the whole thing. So, that's my story.

The movie's story is of 30-something Peter who has been dumped by his actor girlfriend Sarah Marshall. Kristin Bell has yet to grow on me but I was not opposed to watching her as the titular character. Peter decides, at the urging of his stepbrother, played by Bill Hayden, to go on a vacation. He's already tried many one night stands and is still depressed. Shocker. Another shocker comes when Peter arrives at the very same resort his ex and new love are vacationing. Not much hilarity ensues. Peter meets the free spirited hotel clerk, played by Mila Kunis, and she has enough witty, snarky one liners to whip him into a decent emotional state. All the obvious occurs.

I'm not saying it's a bad movie. Russell Brand delivers as the (apparently true to life) sexually free spirited musician, Aldous Snow. There are some supporting characters, including Jack McBrayer, who add touches of comic relief. These were my favorite characters. Peter in himself is an archetype and when not overwrought with angst, does have a kindness that is touching. This is no more obvious than the infamous (?) nude scene. Yes, ladies, and gentlemen actually, there is male nudity. A lot of it actually. Actually, most of it was not needed. I understood him being naked while being dumped to demonstrate true vulnerability but the penis focus went on about 1 minute too long.

All in all, it's a film die hard followers of this whole frat pack movement will enjoy. I thought the editing was very choppy and there was a lot of expecting that the actors' eyes could convey what wasn't being said. That's all well and good in other movies but not this one. C+

Douche

Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay. Oh, you know you want to see it and you know what? You should. Admittedly, I was a big fan of the first movie. Although I had massive misgivings about a sequel, I was pleasantly surprised. The movie assumes position right after the first one ended. "Roldi" and Kumar are off to Amsterdam to meet up with Harold's recent main squeeze, Maria. There is so much that happens along the way it'd be hard to synthesize (at least for me it would be) into this review. Kumar runs into his ex, who is getting married. The guys are arrested for being terrorists when an extremely nervous passenger spies Kumar lighting a "smokeless bong" which looks very much like a bomb. After that, hilarity ensues. Rest assured, Neil Patrick Harris is back as himself. Well, the 'Harold and Kumar' version of himself- drugged out and on a mission to get laid (by female prostitutes).

I had several favorite scenes and I either laughed or cringed throughout the whole movie. My favorites included the main characters showing up at a KKK gathering and a flashback, well several of them, to Kumar's discovery of marijuana. The movie uses the original's formulation of equal parts raunch, comedy, political subversion and even a bit of romance. Honestly, I may have been the oldest person in the theatre but many times I was the loudest while laughing too. B+

mucus is in the air

forget love, tis the season for some sneezing.

i was sick. jc was sick. my sister, my niece- we all fell down. blech. coughing is now down to one instance per 10 minutes. my throat is raw and it's doubtful (even more than usual) that i'll ever have my day onstage at the met. such is life.

new york was TERRIFIC. i had a great time visiting with family, friends and the city itself. it's hard not to acknowledge its own life. anyway, jc granted me validation on my many ramblings about the big, bad city. he loved it. flirted with the idea of moving there and promptly dismissed it after we had a nasty interaction with a bus driver. such is the life. i'm so glad to visit it and *know* it but i'm also glad to leave it when i'm done now. this is a huge breakthrough for me as i always used to consider nyc as *the* place for me. now i realize, it can be anywhere. what actually matters is what i do when i get to wherever i'm going.

speaking of, the countdown continues and the city of roses arrival is so near. our excitement is almost tangible. details are ironing out. i am on a mission to find someone to sublet. we have temp housing already worked out and jc will have his truck shipped out instead of the previous (insane) plan to drive out first.

i continue to maintain my denial about how hard it will be to tell my family goodbye.

speaking of mental health issues, i'm listening to 'think out loud' on OPB and it's just distressing the issues these men and women are having to deal with post-war. my brother-in-law seems to be the case in point. his issues, mixed with those of my sister's, seem to be producing a less than ideal marriage. i keep praying for the kids.

speaking of kids, i still don't have any. *grin* i've battled with being mad at people who ask and just saying 'no'. jc is shocked to learn i struggle with using this word with people other than him. it's true though. i've been recommended to read a book about boundaries. finally.