Happy Thursday! The fish are doing fine, thank you very much. I got them a new filter/pump, and that sloshes them around while they stare at Edward and Jacob that I taped to the back of the tank. Even Bowie had the Dempsey. It's a tradition.
Also, I forgot that sometimes the hottest part of the year is falltime, and this week reminded me of that. Because, haha, I decided that it was fall now, since it clearly wasn't summer anymore. But even when the sun isn't scalding my skin off at 10 in the morning (haha, you know I mean 11:30), there's a sort of...fallness to the air, which makes me want to create some kind of spicy pumpkin treat.
Last Friday was unique in that it was memorable. Me and Carolyn caught the 11:10 AM showing of DISTRICT 9. It was more like the 11:30 showing, because there were just about a hundred trailers. I don't know if you've heard of DISTRICT 9? I never really caught any press for it other than my insider emails, so I was surprised to see it top the box office its first weekend.
So if you haven't heard anything about it, it's a documentarish account of these aliens who landed over Johannesburg and got put into a slum there. More or less. It's very poignant and harsh, and very much more gory than I expected (Mom, this one's not for you). I liked it more intellectually than viscerally, simultaneously entertained and repulsed. A truly interesting ride. I wouldn't see it again, but I'm glad I saw it? That sort of reaction.
I wouldn't see THE FOX AND THE CHILD again, but I'm mostly glad I saw it. Very pretty cinematography, kind of a MILO & OTIS story-excuse to film animals doing animal things. Better for a younger audience with a longer than average attention span.
I also rented Bioshock for the PS3, since now we're playing a game trailer sampler loop at the store, featuring such things as Bioshock 2, Beatles Rock Band, and the new Kingdom Hearts DS game (want). Bioshock is up my alley in terms of story and setting (gotta love that retro-futurism/alternate history art deco madness), and not up my alley in terms of it being a shooting game. I just can't aim and reload when I need to. Or, I can, but with undue strain to my processing capabilities. Or, I don't like to. I wikipedia'd the storyline, so now I don't have to finish it.
But there's something great about exploring the ruins of an under water utopia, a wary ear listening for sounds of crazed mutants around every corner, and catching instead the scratchy tone of "Beyond the Sea" playing softly from some unseen radio.
Tuesday I rented season one of DEXTER, and Wednesday I watched it. A group had screened the pilot for us in that one class, Christianity and ethics...I cannot remember the name of that class. The one I wrote my thesis for. Senior Sem! (ty, Sam) At the time, I remember being put-off, not by the content, but by the film making. It felt disjointed and unclear...but as I heard from others and now have seen for myself, the first episode is not all that indicative of the show proper.
Liked it better than WEEDS, that's for sure. I was unprepared for how clever this show is, from the narration to the title-plot interactions to the dialogue and of course the mystery. Also the acting! Sharp characters presented by trained professionals. There were one or two episodes, however, where the B-plot seemed superfluous and aimless, but for the most part I really get the show. Strong arc development here; everything (well, almost) wraps up neatly. Next week: season two.
While I was cooking today, I slapped in ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT season three disc one because for some reason I only ever purchased season three. Funny, funny show. Not for everyone, sure, or else it wouldn't have been canceled. Michael Cera at his best, hands down. And everyone else in their own way, some of the best character acting out there. Watching a whole half-season in one go really brings out running gags, especially the repeated lines, which just makes it that much better. Wish I had the first two seasons.
And tonight my mom and me watched MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY. I'd seen ten minutes or so with Megan one time, but now I severely question her reasons for not demanding I sit down and watch it completely. What a charming little film! Talk about art deco--my little pre-War heart was over indulged by its setting and theme. And by beautiful Lee Pace, who didn't quite master his English accent (not nearly as smooth as Frances McDormand, for sure) but toughed it out and was also beautiful. Lil' Amy Adams with her "quirky yet lovable out-of-this-world" character card firmly tucked under her belt. Simple, straightforward, tidy, poignant, and out-and-out charming. Very much worth a rent.
Made this little pasta salad today, good for hot weather. Substituted tuna for the salmon fillet in the freezer, and the roasted peppers for a fresh one, scallions for green onions, and no one really likes capers, anyhow. Used the whole box of pasta, which spread the sauce pretty thin, but oh well. I think it's the first time I've used yogurt or a blender in making dinner, so that's sorta exciting. If you don't have to cook the fish like I did, it's also a very quick and painless little affair.
OH, I almost forgot about the crazy space day we had. There was this fundraiser/craziness in Santa Paula, themed "out of this world" and coordinated to some extent by a family friend. So I totally cosplayed in my BSG digs, as unfinished as it is. But there were true to life adults dressed up in crazy stuff, and some cosplaying in their own right. An ensign/lieutenant couple in the command track (Star Trek), a Leia and Han, a guy with a Bumblebee mask. There was also a guy with a really specific costume, clearly from something, but he disappeared before we could ask him who he was. I decided it was Stargate: Atlantis.
They had old planes strafe us and movie props and stuff lying around, and art deco travel posters depicting space liners en route to Jupiter etc. It was pretty cool. My favorite parts were the posters and the fact that that was something that sometimes sane adults did. Also the "free" food samplings for dinner. It was totally fun and totally dorky.
Arright, that's about all I can report on for this week. I wish you luck, those of you who are back in school or are soon to be. HAHA SCHOOL! I'm so over that.
-Steph
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The August Traitor
Happy Thursday! So August happened and scared summer away. It's very much like June now, all dark and cold until afternoon when it's hot for a few hours. I miss summer :<
Uwah I'm so tired. Due to other people dropping the ball, I ended up working...sixteen hours over the weekend. That's more than I scheduled in this entire week. Time to buy a DS next paycheck!
Okay, so I know the weekend was many days ago but I'm still tired. Staying up too late. Freakin' Facebook and its farming/gaming/questing apps. I could go to sleep right now if I weren't in a chair (ordinarily I could, chair or no chair, but this one is wheeled and I might die).
Sometime this week I bought fish. Pets type fish. Two gold fish named "Jacob" and Anderson. I took their picture but there wasn't enough light so I'll have to wait til daytime to get a non-grainy picture for you. Anderson is white with a red dot on his head, and "Jacob" is goldfish with a black stripe on top. They're pretty dumb, but I get stuck watching them do nothing for minutes and minutes. When I get a filter that works, I'm gonna get some neon tetras. But those are two, three dollars apiece whereas my current fish were 28 cents total with tax.
The fair ended, so I went and picked up my stuff and my ribbons. The agriculture pick-up time was right during work, so I'll never see my funny looking lemon again. They mailed me my $5.
Yesterday work was at night, so I spent the day re-watching BSG season one and cutting out construction paper. Remember Showtime? You might not. He's the dog I drew, the only one in the history of the circus to be both a dog and a magician? I printed him out on several colors, cut out just those shapes that should be that color, and glued them down on a left over piece of board from art class. Negative spaces! Not sure what possessed me to do that, but he turned out all right.
It was that board I was looking for when I found that Harry Potter book, btw. Continuity yay.
Tuesday I drove with Carolyn and Steven to drop him off at the airport. Then we skulked around Burbank for a while, which was sorta great. There's a wonderful wonderful bakery near the airport, Porto's, and it has very good bread. Nearby there are no less than two comic/movies/nerd collectible shops, and a creepy petstore. I'll take you there some time.
Other than that it's been hanging out, makin brownies, playin video games. Driving recklessly, planting plants, sleeping.
Now, I believe, it's time to try writing. I haven't been, but I need to. I'll keep you updated on that.
Uwah I'm so tired. Due to other people dropping the ball, I ended up working...sixteen hours over the weekend. That's more than I scheduled in this entire week. Time to buy a DS next paycheck!
Okay, so I know the weekend was many days ago but I'm still tired. Staying up too late. Freakin' Facebook and its farming/gaming/questing apps. I could go to sleep right now if I weren't in a chair (ordinarily I could, chair or no chair, but this one is wheeled and I might die).
Sometime this week I bought fish. Pets type fish. Two gold fish named "Jacob" and Anderson. I took their picture but there wasn't enough light so I'll have to wait til daytime to get a non-grainy picture for you. Anderson is white with a red dot on his head, and "Jacob" is goldfish with a black stripe on top. They're pretty dumb, but I get stuck watching them do nothing for minutes and minutes. When I get a filter that works, I'm gonna get some neon tetras. But those are two, three dollars apiece whereas my current fish were 28 cents total with tax.
The fair ended, so I went and picked up my stuff and my ribbons. The agriculture pick-up time was right during work, so I'll never see my funny looking lemon again. They mailed me my $5.
Yesterday work was at night, so I spent the day re-watching BSG season one and cutting out construction paper. Remember Showtime? You might not. He's the dog I drew, the only one in the history of the circus to be both a dog and a magician? I printed him out on several colors, cut out just those shapes that should be that color, and glued them down on a left over piece of board from art class. Negative spaces! Not sure what possessed me to do that, but he turned out all right.
It was that board I was looking for when I found that Harry Potter book, btw. Continuity yay.
Tuesday I drove with Carolyn and Steven to drop him off at the airport. Then we skulked around Burbank for a while, which was sorta great. There's a wonderful wonderful bakery near the airport, Porto's, and it has very good bread. Nearby there are no less than two comic/movies/nerd collectible shops, and a creepy petstore. I'll take you there some time.
Other than that it's been hanging out, makin brownies, playin video games. Driving recklessly, planting plants, sleeping.
Now, I believe, it's time to try writing. I haven't been, but I need to. I'll keep you updated on that.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
I found it!
Happy Thursday! While looking for something entirely unrelated, I managed to discover that my house has contained for some time the last Harry Potter book. "WHAT'S THIS?!" I laughed, "WHAT IS THIS." I started reading it at maybe seven or so Sunday night, paused halfway through for sleeping, and finished it at 4:30 Monday afternoon.
A deep breath.
Those are going to be a pair of amazing movies. I just now realize that perhaps my first thought should have been on the quality of the book itself, but when I know there's movies on the way, I can't think of my experience being complete just yet. Anyway, the sad things were super sad, and nothing at all happened the way I expected it to. I wonder what reading the first one now would be like.
Even sadder, however, was the Pixar film UP. Just saw it at the cheap theater with Carolyn on Friday....it had me close to tears no less than three times. Like, stare hard at the screen and pretend I'm not crying sort of sad. Maybe I was just over emotional that day, but man did it get to me. Try it yourselves.
Tuesday I -- wait for it -- started cleaning my room. ! I threw out three containers of trash and spelling tests from the third grade. Came across a fill-out sheet of beginnings of sentences to be completed by the student: "Today I feel ---," "When I finish high school ---."
It finishes with "I often worry about --- fire." which made me LOL so much.
Another great thing I found was a story by my sister, which I will reprint here without her consent. It's called "The Princess."
One opon a Time Thar was a Princess. the princess was Loving. She had a Favivrit tree.
one day she want to the Forist. She saw a Farrey.
She was prety. she had a wonde.
the princess said haloww. thay toct
the Farey said you can have 1 wish
I wish I had a Princ
the Farrey said I will sow you a pitchr' ov him (poof!) I will give you him in a week
I love that story so much.
Yesterday was work and then I kidnapped Jacqi on the way home because she was in the bad side of town (because it was my side) and then took her to Carolyn's house, as all good kidnappers do. What did we do? Geometry wars, Rock Band. The reg.
Today we went to the fair! I do believe we saw and did everything! We watched tap artists and turkey races and an animal show and crystal-glass-playing and I pet a donkey and a baby goat!! We laughed at all the kids' drawings (I hope they make it to facebook) and ignored all the people trying to sell us stuff.
I just checked last week's blog and it looks like that was before I went the first time with my folks. Maybe that was Friday, too. My lemon won first, and I got a second-placed story and pillow, and a third pillow, too. So that makes about $10 won. Pays for getting in to see 'em! That's the way to do it.
Me and my dad started putting together this tv signal transmitter today. It's like for broadcasting a VCR signal to any tv in your house. It would work great if any of our tvs were capable of picking up broadcast signals. XD Oh well. We soldered on the big pieces for now, and I'm not so good at that. Next time we really gotta open a window, too, 'cause I'm feeling a little toxified after that.
You can sleep off lead poisoning, right?
-Steph
A deep breath.
Those are going to be a pair of amazing movies. I just now realize that perhaps my first thought should have been on the quality of the book itself, but when I know there's movies on the way, I can't think of my experience being complete just yet. Anyway, the sad things were super sad, and nothing at all happened the way I expected it to. I wonder what reading the first one now would be like.
Even sadder, however, was the Pixar film UP. Just saw it at the cheap theater with Carolyn on Friday....it had me close to tears no less than three times. Like, stare hard at the screen and pretend I'm not crying sort of sad. Maybe I was just over emotional that day, but man did it get to me. Try it yourselves.
Tuesday I -- wait for it -- started cleaning my room. ! I threw out three containers of trash and spelling tests from the third grade. Came across a fill-out sheet of beginnings of sentences to be completed by the student: "Today I feel ---," "When I finish high school ---."
It finishes with "I often worry about --- fire." which made me LOL so much.
Another great thing I found was a story by my sister, which I will reprint here without her consent. It's called "The Princess."
One opon a Time Thar was a Princess. the princess was Loving. She had a Favivrit tree.
one day she want to the Forist. She saw a Farrey.
She was prety. she had a wonde.
the princess said halo
the Farey said you can have 1 wish
I wish I had a Princ
the Farrey said I will sow you a pitchr' ov him (poof!) I will give you him in a week
I love that story so much.
Yesterday was work and then I kidnapped Jacqi on the way home because she was in the bad side of town (because it was my side) and then took her to Carolyn's house, as all good kidnappers do. What did we do? Geometry wars, Rock Band. The reg.
Today we went to the fair! I do believe we saw and did everything! We watched tap artists and turkey races and an animal show and crystal-glass-playing and I pet a donkey and a baby goat!! We laughed at all the kids' drawings (I hope they make it to facebook) and ignored all the people trying to sell us stuff.
I just checked last week's blog and it looks like that was before I went the first time with my folks. Maybe that was Friday, too. My lemon won first, and I got a second-placed story and pillow, and a third pillow, too. So that makes about $10 won. Pays for getting in to see 'em! That's the way to do it.
Me and my dad started putting together this tv signal transmitter today. It's like for broadcasting a VCR signal to any tv in your house. It would work great if any of our tvs were capable of picking up broadcast signals. XD Oh well. We soldered on the big pieces for now, and I'm not so good at that. Next time we really gotta open a window, too, 'cause I'm feeling a little toxified after that.
You can sleep off lead poisoning, right?
-Steph
Thursday, August 06, 2009
A Thursy sort of Day
Happy Thursday! Did you know that Wolfmother and Billy Idol were in my top five most listened artists this week? Don't worry, Linkin Park was in the top ten! Spellcheck is not fond of "linkin."
I abandoned my studies this week as there were friends abound in my vicinity. Carolyn's back from her journeys and Jacqi brought Greg along to play. I would say the thing I did most this week was watch movies I'd already seen, followed closely by driving to the wrong place.
Saturday was home to a grand adventure indeed, as I spirited Carolyn away to the elusive Hunting STATE beach to frolic with Sam and Jake and various others. First we went to Bolsa Chica State Beach! Took over two hours, maybe three, to get there, a half hour line to get into the parking lot, and a half hour to realize it was the wrong place.
Back to the car!
More driv driving gets us to Huntington Beach. "Are you before the pier or after it?" I ask Sam. Sam says "what pier?" "Did you pass Twin Dolphins street?" "LOL whut. Look for Brookhurst."
More driv dravving and finally we see signs for the State beach, but it's another twenty minutes in the right turn lane before we're even sure if the street sign up ahead says Brookhurst. Luckily, it does. (we ignored the sign that said "Brookhurst <-- 4 miles")
But we made it, sat around for a bit and watched some people bury their super sad baby in the sand. Then we went to go to the Crab Cooker (which I took a picture of, when we went to Newport) but the line was too long, so we decided to find somewhere else.
We got separated, the boys pulled in at a donut place while I missed the turn and circled the block -- I spotted a "Santa Monica Seafood" in the detour, which we went to after the donut place turned out to be wonderfully terrifying -- Carolyn spotted a sushi place the other direction at the turn to the seafood place, which we went to after finding the seafood place to be a fish market.
So we had sushi after a delightfully illegal left turn. A crazy day, but worth it, I think. I'm trying to get Sam and Jake to come over for the fair. And Beth. And Megan. The fair's on right now! No time to waste!
Speaking of the fair, I entered two pillows, two stories, and a funny shaped lemon. Out of this lot, I'm sure I'm going to win the class for lemon, and the five dollars that comes with it. Gotta go and find out!
Jacqi and Greg and Carolyn and I went and saw HARRY POTTER again. I still liked it, and I feel pretty much the same about it as I did before. "Lyrical" is still the term I'm applying to its cinematography, but this time I realize it's in large part due to the haunting score that very tastefully augments the emotional moments. Beautiful.
We rented a bunch of movies, watched 28 DAYS LATER and RESIDENT EVIL. Hadn't seen the first, but it was a little arty for me. Res Evil was hard to hear. Today Greg and Jacqi were AWOL so we just watched TWILIGHT, which Carolyn hadn't seen. Second time through really highlights the nonsense of it all. I had originally boggled at how quickly these people arrived in Arizona from Washington state, but this time I caught the fact that they jumped from one place to the other in no more than forty-five minutes. And I'm pretty sure the first guy did it in five. If you have a better explanation than "they're vampires," I'll gladly hear it.
I know intellectually that we've hung out for four chronological days, but I've only recounted events from two or three different ones. Oh, right. Movie day was yesterday, day before was Harry Potter and also Happy Hour. The peach margarita was the best, the melon the worst.
Well, Happy Thursday to you all, I'm off to write about vampires. That's where the money's at.
-Stephanie
I abandoned my studies this week as there were friends abound in my vicinity. Carolyn's back from her journeys and Jacqi brought Greg along to play. I would say the thing I did most this week was watch movies I'd already seen, followed closely by driving to the wrong place.
Saturday was home to a grand adventure indeed, as I spirited Carolyn away to the elusive Hunting STATE beach to frolic with Sam and Jake and various others. First we went to Bolsa Chica State Beach! Took over two hours, maybe three, to get there, a half hour line to get into the parking lot, and a half hour to realize it was the wrong place.
Back to the car!
More driv driving gets us to Huntington Beach. "Are you before the pier or after it?" I ask Sam. Sam says "what pier?" "Did you pass Twin Dolphins street?" "LOL whut. Look for Brookhurst."
More driv dravving and finally we see signs for the State beach, but it's another twenty minutes in the right turn lane before we're even sure if the street sign up ahead says Brookhurst. Luckily, it does. (we ignored the sign that said "Brookhurst <-- 4 miles")
But we made it, sat around for a bit and watched some people bury their super sad baby in the sand. Then we went to go to the Crab Cooker (which I took a picture of, when we went to Newport) but the line was too long, so we decided to find somewhere else.
We got separated, the boys pulled in at a donut place while I missed the turn and circled the block -- I spotted a "Santa Monica Seafood" in the detour, which we went to after the donut place turned out to be wonderfully terrifying -- Carolyn spotted a sushi place the other direction at the turn to the seafood place, which we went to after finding the seafood place to be a fish market.
So we had sushi after a delightfully illegal left turn. A crazy day, but worth it, I think. I'm trying to get Sam and Jake to come over for the fair. And Beth. And Megan. The fair's on right now! No time to waste!
Speaking of the fair, I entered two pillows, two stories, and a funny shaped lemon. Out of this lot, I'm sure I'm going to win the class for lemon, and the five dollars that comes with it. Gotta go and find out!
Jacqi and Greg and Carolyn and I went and saw HARRY POTTER again. I still liked it, and I feel pretty much the same about it as I did before. "Lyrical" is still the term I'm applying to its cinematography, but this time I realize it's in large part due to the haunting score that very tastefully augments the emotional moments. Beautiful.
We rented a bunch of movies, watched 28 DAYS LATER and RESIDENT EVIL. Hadn't seen the first, but it was a little arty for me. Res Evil was hard to hear. Today Greg and Jacqi were AWOL so we just watched TWILIGHT, which Carolyn hadn't seen. Second time through really highlights the nonsense of it all. I had originally boggled at how quickly these people arrived in Arizona from Washington state, but this time I caught the fact that they jumped from one place to the other in no more than forty-five minutes. And I'm pretty sure the first guy did it in five. If you have a better explanation than "they're vampires," I'll gladly hear it.
I know intellectually that we've hung out for four chronological days, but I've only recounted events from two or three different ones. Oh, right. Movie day was yesterday, day before was Harry Potter and also Happy Hour. The peach margarita was the best, the melon the worst.
Well, Happy Thursday to you all, I'm off to write about vampires. That's where the money's at.
-Stephanie
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