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| Thursday, December 24th, 2009 |
balthrop
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8:17p |
Home Safe: My First White Christmas
Simon did not make it 10 minutes into his first full "big Church" service before needing to be taken back to the nursery. After the 4 PM service, I wondered if it was safe to stay for the 6 PM choral service I was to sing at with snow blowing into the Church. I did, and then the surreal happened. Fr. David preached the Christmas sermon. We said the Creed, said the Prayers of the People, passed the peace, and then Fr. David came forward for what we thought were announcements. What he said instead was I have just been advised by a team of people monitoring the storm that the parking lot has iced over, and that the front has stalled over us instead of blowing throught. In my opinion it is not safe for us to continue the service. The 8 and 10 services will be cancelled. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. You are dismissed. I have never been to a service that was cancelled in the middle. I am grateful for a Parish staff that is concerned for our safety. We have a White Chrismas for the first time in my life. Merry Christmas. Current Mood:  peaceful |
unicyclesteve
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5:34p |
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theferrett
|
4:39p |
It's a Christmas Miracle!
So here's a weird question which, yes, I AM discussing with loved ones (though not that type of love): What's an orgy? I mean, okay, my personal definition is "More than four people, I guess.". Clearly, it's some gathering of multiple people - but three and fours are threesomes and foursomes. But it just seems like a foursome is orgyISH, but not if you go into it with two established couples. So there's kind of a nebulous definition going. Honestly, I'm not sure if I've been to one. So how do YOU define it personally? Where's the cutoff line between consensual fun and whoo, ORGY!?
I acknowledge this is a fully ludicrous question. Merry Christmas. Posted via LiveJournal.app. |
ruralrob
|
2:30p |
Pressed for time . .
. . so, rather than post an image of my own, I thought I’d share this slice of life – of what goes on in rural Ontario in the depths of winter. Crazy, aren’t we? |
bkwrrm_tx
|
12:14p |
::cough, cough:: D brought home some incense, and I tried the coconut (because coconut is one of my favorite scents of all time). I'm not sure what this is, but it ain't coconut. I'm going to have to see if I can get this smell out of here without resorting to opening a window (since it's 37 degrees, with a 15 mph wind), before this gives me a migraine. Why can't I find any incense that smells like what I want it to smell like? Maybe I'm just not in the right place, but how hard is it to make cinnamon, or coconut, or vanilla that actually smell like the real thing? I have gotten hooked on that stupid Hatchlings game on FB. I've gotten D hooked too (bwahahaha!) and I'm looking forward to them resetting it at the end of the year, so I can play from the beginning. It's pretty cool trying to find all the new, different eggs and guessing what will hatch from them. If you're a friend of mine on FB, give it a shot. Even if you don't like it, it gives me somewhere extra to harvest eggs. ::evil grin:: Y'all, I just cracked my neck and it sounded like someone breaking branches. I've got arthritis in my neck and spine, but when it cracks, you can hear it across the room. D keeps saying he expects my head to fall off and roll across the floor someday. *G* You know cankles, right? Ankles that are swollen up until they're the same size as your calves? Well, I think I have thankles - my ankles are thigh sized! For some reason, since I started taking the penicillin, my feet and lower legs are swelling like whoa. I'm taking my water pills but they don't seem to be doing a heck of a lot of good. I'm not a salt eater, so that's not it - I just want it to go away. It's almost as bad as it was when I was pregnant with Shaybo. I ended up with stretch marks on my feet (all together - ewwwwwwwwwwwww!). |
jassanja
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3:27p |
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bkwrrm_tx
|
7:56a |
Not a white Christmas but sure looks like it could be a wet one. Frankly, I'll take 40s/50s and rain, thank you very much. I'm going to make that lamb today (been putting it off because of not feeling great plus, not being sure how to cook it). I'm going to do it early enough that if D really doesn't like lamb (he's never had it before) he can go get a pizza or something. Honestly? Won't hurt my feelings - I love lamb and usually can only have it once in a great while if we go somewhere that has it on the menu. I *might* get up the gumption to make some gingersnaps or something today, so that he'll have *something* to take over to his sisters' house tomorrow. I'm not going to go. Been up all night. I've played on FB, played on here, and generally just farted around. I'm in the mood to take a shower after bit, and then see what I can do with hair and makeup and maybe snap a few pictures. Who knows. I emailed Cassie to see if we can figure out a way for her to set up her computers' webcam and let me watch the girls open presents in the morning. I think that would be awesome, and I wouldn't feel so far away from them. God, I miss those little munchkins. :-) I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday. Oh joy. D got me test strips last night - $54 for 50 strips. Freaking insanity. And, if I check my sugar the way I should (4 times a day), that doesn't last any time at all. Grrrr... |
theferrett
|
8:34a |
In Which I Am Unique In A Way That Is Totally Not Unique
I started in the same way that most of you did: totally ignorant. Some of you - I suspect most - had this rite of passage foisted upon you before you really had any choice in the matter, dandled over a father's knee while my mortal enemy played upon the tube. You were lost before you knew it. As the years crept on, it wasn't anything I set out to avoid; had it shown on TV while I was drinking Jaegermeister and Schlitz with my friends, I certainly would have lost my strange virginity. But it didn't, and by the time I was twenty-five I recognized my status as a statistical anomaly. So, I decided, I will go to my grave pure. This is why, at the age of forty, I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life. Nor will I. I walk out of the room when it's on, now, avoid parties where it might be shown. I've gone half my life without seeing this American classic, and since I've covered this distance inadvertently I intend to reach the goal purposely. Thing is, I don't think I'm missing much. I did get to thirty without seeing Gone with the Wind, which I considered a lesser triumph - but when Gini found that I'd never seen it, she said, "WELL, YOU'RE GONNA!" and sat me down for four hours. And lo! The burning of Atlanta was actually more impressive than people had said. So I don't regret having her pierce that celluloid hymen. But It's a Wonderful Life? I ask, "Is it worth breaking a four-decade fast?" and they hem and haw and go, "WeeEEEllll.... It's pretty good..." And I walk on. I have no time to waste on an okay movie. So I stand alone. Others have not seen It's a Wonderful Life, I am sure, but I am the only one I am aware of who has made this a principled stand. You cannot make me see It's a Wonderful Life. You cannot break me. I will tumble into the soft earth of my grave with my eyes clean, to be greeted by a wingless angel. Of course, I do have nightmares sometimes. I see myself in the old-age home, decrepit, bound to a wheelchair so I do not fall out. I am wheeled in front of the television to placate me, and just as the nurse deposits me before the screen, I hear through enfeebled ears, "THIS CHRISTMAS, TBS PRESENTS THE 'IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE' MARATHON! TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF THIS AMERICAN CLASSIC!" I rattle in the chair. I have no dentures, and I must scream. |
balthrop
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12:05a |
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| Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 |
bkwrrm_tx
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11:43p |
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| Thursday, December 24th, 2009 |
merccom
|
12:23a |
is it just me
does anybody else out there really not care about healthcare or what happens with the treasury or the national debt or how much congress spends or really anything else economically speaking. i use to really care deeply and to an extent i still do but now its just like watching a train wreck no matter what they do at this point the story is already written pass healthcare or dont, doesnt matter. buy our treasuries or dont, raise taxes or drop em, doesnt matter. were already screwed and nobody is even talking about what would really be required to bring things back into line. even if the tea parties got everything they asked for.... we'd still be screwed. am i wrong here? am i missing something? |
| Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 |
whiteblade
|
11:59p |
Top 50, last part
This is the end. The only end, my friend. #5: Requiem for a Dream (2000), starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Connelly This was, and is, a hard movie to place. It earns its spot this high on the list due to Aronofsky's incredible editing and cinematography, and the completely shattering and powerful performance of Ellen Burstyn (not that the rest of the cast wasn't brilliant, but she deserves the highest praise for her work). However, if I was making a list of top 50 favorite movies to watch, this wouldn't be anywhere on that list. The overall emotional effect is one of utter despair, and it will leave you drained and unable to feel joy for days afterward. Perhaps it would make my point more clear if I put it this way: the main antagonist of the story is the concept of hope. It's beautiful and destructive, and I would recommend watching it once and then never again. Do *not* see it alone. #4: The Dark Knight (2008), starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger I enjoy reading viewer reactions to movies on forums and such, and I occasionally run across the idea that Ledger's performance as the Joker wouldn't have been so highly rated had he not died tragically. Let me state definitively: that is not the case. Ledger transformed the character of the Joker from the mugging clown into a nightmarish figure worthy of being the rival to one of the most iconic and complex comic characters in the field. The Dark Knight is a powerful crime drama that incidentally happens to feature people dressed funny; it would work just as well if no one was in costume. If Batman Begins provided the first sign that comic book movies could be taken seriously, The Dark Knight conclusively proved it. Also, I should mention the great soundtrack- the drawn out, screeching note that accompanies the Joker is absolute genius. #3: V for Vendetta (2005), starring Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving I've been a fan of the comic for a good while, and as a general rule I always hold the work a movie is based on as superior to the movie itself. The movie adaptation for V actually improved on material I held in high regard with its story alterations, and there are truly very few movies out there I can say that about. If I may get all spoilery for a moment, I felt that at the end of the comic book, the populace of England had simply traded one absolute authority figure (the Leader) for another (V). At the end of the movie, the revolution is clearly shown to be firmly in the hands of the people, directed by a common purpose instead of one man's vision, and that's the way I feel it should have been to begin with- and I never would have realized it had the movie not been made. I must also of course mention Hugo Weaving's amazing work in bringing life and personality to a faceless character. Beyond that, the script is a great piece of work, with comedy, tragedy, and action in correct measures, and the dystopian view of England is perfectly realized in every shot. #2: The Prestige (2006), starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman One of the things I love about movies is watching them again and discovering all of the little hints that foreshadow the turns of the plot, and Christopher Nolan excels at dropping these into his story without giving away too much of his hand. Yes, it's another Nolan movie, and I fully realize this list is weighted heavily in his favor. But his talent as a writer and a director cannot possibly be ignored by anyone making a study of film in this decade. The Prestige goes well beyond its story of rival magicians to explore the ramifications of vengeance as a zero-sum game, duality and deception, and how great a role illusion plays in our interactions with others. Some people are better at it than others, but in the end everyone is undone, their secrets revealed. Bale and Jackman are capable of bringing so much to any role, and they give it their all here. Beautifully shot, as well. #1: Memento (2000), starring Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano, and Carrie-Ann Moss There ought to be a devoted section of study on this movie in every modern film class in the world. It's nearly impossible for me to describe the experience of watching it without beginning to blither and become completely unhelpful, so permit me to reprint one of my favorite paragraphs of review for it, from the AV Club: "Pretend for a minute that Christopher Nolan's extraordinary Memento is nothing more than a gimmicky noir exercise, grinding out its plot with cool efficiency and hollow mechanics, devoid of any larger significance. Disregard its mind-bending profundities about the nature of memory and existence and what it means to be human. Even if all these things were willfully ignored and Memento was simply reduced to an architectural blueprint, it would still be akin to watching Bobby Fischer play chess, seeing the board several moves ahead of his opponent." For those of you unaware what the movie is about, Guy Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, once an insurance investigator, now set on discovering who is responsible for the rape and murder of his wife. However, he's been afflicted with a brain injury known as anteriograde amnesia; essentially, he is no longer capable of making new, lasting memories. After about 5 or 10 minutes he forgets anything that happened to him after the accident. His character defies (or perhaps encompasses) many traditional roles; he's an everyman, he's the protagonist and antagonist, the self-doubting hero, the wrongly accused, and more. Added on to the complexity of his character is the complexity of the narrative, which is cleverly edited to give the viewer the point of view of its main character- each scene describes what happened just before the previous scene, so you know what's about to happen but you don't know what just happened. Interspersed with this are scenes from the past, devoid of context. Guy Pearce does unparalleled work in this movie, truly making you feel everything that's happening to him. His moment of anagnorisis at the climax…well, I've never seen a performance to match it. He doesn't invest it with too much or too little; he strikes the perfect balance of response and disappears into the character. As you can tell, this is a movie you have to pay undivided attention to, start to finish. I personally saw it seven times (no exaggeration) in the theater, and I watch it at least once or twice a year just to remind myself what film can accomplish. It's the movie I test people with to see what sort of common ground I have with them. And, beyond all of my flowery praise, it's just a damn fine piece of entertainment. Well, that's it. For those of you amused by running the numbers, according to my list 2006 was the best year for cinema, with 9 entries appearing. There was actually a tie between 2003 and 2009 for worst year, with only two entries apiece- however, I have to bestow the dubious virtue on 2009, since 2009 had #27 and #49 where 2003 had #13 and #18. Although, interestingly, both the entries from 2003 were essentially incomplete films- Kill Bill part 1 and LOTR part 3. Perhaps hindsight will advance some of the 2009 films into my top 50- who knows? In any case, thanks for reading. (And sorry about dropping a ten-dollar word like anagnorisis- I ran across it recently and have been DYING to use it in a sentence.) |
worldmage
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5:00p |
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theferrett
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6:51p |
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theferrett
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8:13a |
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bkwrrm_tx
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6:31a |
Ya' know, I'd really like to get some sleep. But for some reason, it's avoiding me. I grab, it moves, lather, rinse, repeat. |
bkwrrm_tx
|
2:22a |
Damn it, I'm awake and I'm *going* to get my room straightened up tonight. No excuses. Off I go. ETA: Clothes are hung or put into the dresser, as appropriate. Floor is picked up (90% - my back's hurting, so I'm leaving the rest). I can't vacuum, because D's asleep and I still need to move the printer, and figure out what I'm going to do with the plastic container stack that has my polishes in it. Other than that, it looks much better. I finally signed up for Pandora, so I'm listening to 80's music (I put in that I liked Aerosmith, and I've gotten everything from Lynryd Skynrd to the Police to Kid Rock, Nickelback, and 3 Doors Down. I'm liking this. |
balthrop
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12:05a |
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| Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 |
worldmage
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5:00p |
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theferrett
|
6:46p |
Amusing And/Or Disturbing
This was posted on October 15th, which makes it a Cro-Magnon video in Internet Time, but I now present to you: ....the drunkest guy ever. What terrifies me is a) how did he get to the store, and b) what is he actually on? There are those who think this is faked - I don't think so, I've (sadly) been this messed up. But there are those who think you can't be this stupid on alcohol. In any case, you have a mix of "wow, that's kind of comedy" and "wow, that's kind of sad." |
bkwrrm_tx
|
4:21p |
I'm spoonless. For some reason, I just ... ran out. We did the grocery shopping this morning, and I just ordered the girls Christmas/birthday presents (and yes, it's only a set of pots and pans/dishes for their play kitchen but at least they'll have fun and it doesn't matter that it won't get there until the second week of January). We went to the library and then D went to his moms house to take her some books that she wanted from here and she sent home a couple bags of food stuffs, because she knows how tight money is and she's afraid that we're not able to buy any. Between that, and someone being sweet enough to insist on me having something for the holidays, I just burnt out. I'm feeling down and guilty and unworthy and all sorts of other stuff. I hurt, and I'm almost out of the damned pain pills, so I'm not taking them the way I should and yes, I know that the body has to work harder to heal if it is in pain, but I'm afraid that if I take them now and run out and then it gets really bad, I'm screwed. I'll get better. but right now? Someone wake me up in January and I'll see how things go. :-( Current Mood:  depressed |
bkwrrm_tx
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1:55p |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) hillarygayle or asqmh - whoever gets here first - I need a mailing address for one or the other of you. I'm going to put this on Twitter, too. |
sister_bluebird
|
12:06p |
Things Writers Say
Me, to hypothetical person: "Oh, Nghi's not mad at you, she's in Peoria. Peoria's like being dead." Nghi: "I'm spending a year in Peoria for tax reasons." Current Mood: sillyCurrent Music: Corvus Corax - Mersebuger Zauberspruch |
bkwrrm_tx
|
11:05a |
How do I not have a chocolate icon? I'm shocked. :-) We braved the wilds of Wal-Mart, to do the grocery shopping that needed to be done (darlings, the cupboards were bare as Old Mother Hubbards!) and I splurged on myself for one - with chocolate. I got (hmm, piecing together ravaged wrappers isn't as easy as you would assume) Chuao Firecracker, a 60% dark chocolate bar, with chipotle, salt and popping candies. OM NOM NOM. It was a surprising taste and texture when I first tried it, but man, is it good. I also got Ghirardelli Midnight Reverie, an 86% dark chocolate (very intense) and NewTree Pink Peppercorn, which is 73% dark chocolate with pink peppercorns. This one, I'm not sure about. The chocolate is very bitter, for only being 73% cacoa, but I like the pink peppercorn flavor. It's one that I keep tasting little slivers of, because I just can't make up my mind. johnpalmer - Thank you. I don't think I deserved it, but thank you so much. You made me cry early this morning. *hugs* Other than a library trip (because I'm down to one book and that just. won't. DO) and a quick stop at the dollar store for laundry soap and cat food, I think we're done. OH! I do have a question for the foodies on my list. While at Wal-Mart, I found a boneless leg of lamb for $4! Of course, it got scooped up and thrown into the cart, because I love love love lamb, but I've never cooked it myself. I don't want to mess this up, so does anyone have any suggestions, tips or tricks? |
theferrett
|
10:16a |
Thread Overload
I've seen a very cool Christmas idea going around a few places - namely, compliment threads. You leave someone's name in the thread, and the idea is to give them compliments to make their day better. I haven't linked to any of them because I don't know the people making them - I know, it's completely anti-season, but I'm shy about linking to a friend-frenzy originated by strangers - but shadowwolf13 has started her own. She's got a very nice listing of all the people mentioned thus far (though I dunno how long she'll be able to keep that up), and I figured I'd add mine. My thread's for my wife zoethe, of course: here it is. If you have nice things to say about Gini, go nuts. |
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