January 27, 2008
· Filed under books, knitting, movies, yarn
as I always am when reading a really good book; that soon the book will draw to a close and there will be no more story, no more involvement with the characters and their universe(s). We went to see The Golden Compass a few weeks ago and I have been fairly obsessed with reading the books. I’m through The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass waits for me by the bed. There’s also Lyra’s Oxford
to be read, and others by Philip Pullman, but no more of the His Dark Materials series. Amazon has a really nice boxed set of trade paperbacks just like the ones I bought separately at Barnes & Noble (I couldn’t wait even for overnight shipping). I held off reading this evening so far by wasting (?) some time preparing the Chocolate Butter Cookie recipe for tomorrow’s baking, I have knitting to do (although not much, since I fear I’ll run out of yarn right before the last row. Damnit.), and I also have god is not great (How Religion Poisons Everything) to read (courtesy of my rather religious SIL by way of my Amazon wish list. Amazon makes for strange bedfellows.), as well as Stumbling On Happiness. So there’s much to do, but I’m itching to get my eyes on The Amber Spyglass. What to do, what to do?
E2A: An Etsy package came today with some gorgeous yarn inside (“You Look Wonderful Tonight” by Ellie at Crazy4Dyeing). I’ve been watching her blog for some time now (last May she tagged me for the “8 Random Things” meme) and she’s really come a long way, both in her knitting and her dyeing. Would that I were so adventurous! To the yarn: The colorway is inspired by the Michael Bublé she was listening to and I must say, it is soft, subtle, beautiful. Just like his music. So I put up the swift and ballwinder and made myself a nice fat centerpull cake out of the yarn. I’ll start it on two pairs of size 1 circs when I run out of the Jitterbug. I’ll call Flying Fingers tomorrow to see if they’ve got any left (their website says no), or I’ll order from ThreadBear.
December 11, 2007
· Filed under movies
November 14, 2007
· Filed under movies
You seriously have to go watch this movie. It made me cry. It’s got everything in it; intrigue, feel-goodness, crazy, wacked-out characters, good plot, and great CGI. It even got a good Tomatometer rating. The only person who I can see not liking it is a bitter, unfulfilled, recovering alcoholic who hates Harry Potter for all the reasons I gave for watching MTR. You know who you are.
August 19, 2007
· Filed under movies, tv
We’ve watched the first four episodes of the series, with plans to watch the rest as soon as we are able to. According to Wikipedia, “The Sci-Fi Channel Original Series based on the character stars Kristanna Loken as Jane Vasko. The series’ pilot aired Friday, April 13, 2007. The name of the heroine in the show is the original comic name of Jane Vasko as opposed to the Jane Browning character from the television film. The series has received lukewarm reviews. On August 15th, 2007 it was announced the show will not return for a second season.” Which comes as no surprise. The acting is kind of soft, and the plots are a little lame, always trying to get a real point across, rather than just banking on shoot ‘em up scenes with lots of special effects. I keep expecting André McBride’s character to be that guy from Wanted, another short-lived tv show. But he’s not as tough. I know, a funny thing to say about “m’kay? guy” from Office Space, but still, on Wanted, he kicked ass.
Tomorrow, I will hopefully be hearing about the series of Very Exciting Things that happened over two weeks ago. Fingers crossed, everyone!
August 18, 2007
· Filed under movies, work
This would be me if I lived in Springfield. You totally have to go to this site and upload your own picture for Simpsonization. Then blog it and link back to me. We’ll create our own nuclear waste-ridden virtual town!
N.B. We haven’t gone to see the movie yet, would have tonight but I have a fucking 7:30 am meeting tomorrow. And then I get to work until 6 pm. Arrrghhh!
August 11, 2007
· Filed under movies
is a fabulous movie, as reviewed here by David Cornelius. It was going to be Stardust tonight or The Simpsons Movie, but I’m really glad we went to see this modern-day Princess Bride-meets-Shrek-meets-Big Fish extravaganza. It made me cry more than once, and is a lovely story, but it’s late, and I’ll write more about it tomorrow. Sleep well, my stars.
July 21, 2007
· Filed under books, cats, movies, pampering, shopping
Ally at Salon Diva in White Plains helped Anne Marie, my stylist, blow out my hair for the vision of loveliness you see here. However, Ally has been to the Arnold Schwarzenegger School of Hairdressing and pulled on my hair so hard that my scalp is bruised. Anne Marie did a really nice job with the cut and color (something called Goldwell Illumen) (roll back my age ten years, please and thank you), she knows my hair very well after twenty-one years of loyalty. I’m vexed as to whether or not to blow it out again for Jenn’s birthday party tomorrow night. I know if I use the curling iron I can make it so Gary will like it. Straighten, then curl. My naturally curly hair. I know. It perplexes me, too.
We’re going to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix tonight. I’m partway through rereading it. I bought the paperback version for the express purpose of keeping my hardback as pristine as possible. The movie starts at 9:40 in Mohegan Lake and right now it’s 9:16. Tigger is climbing all over me and the back of my chair (you weigh 19 pounds, cat) as if he were a kitten. Sweet boy.
I went to Anthropologie to buy a gift for Jenn and found this great little book, Small Graces; The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life. From the inside flap: “Small Graces is a journey into the sacred moments that illuminate our everyday lives…Through the exploration of simple acts, Small Graces reminds us to chart a course each day that nourishes the soul, honors the body, and engages the mind.” I think she’ll like it. I think I’ve actually given it to somebody else before, just can’t remember who. If I had thought ahead, I could have gotten it on Amazon for about $5 less, with free shipping, but I didn’t. As it is, the book cost an additional $3 for parking at The Wastechester Mall on top of the price of the book. I should have just parked at work across the street like everyone else does. Le sigh.
UPDATE: Order of the Phoenix was really good. Dolores Umbridge frighteningly reminded both of us of Mary Foster! I’m trying to get over the deletion of so many details from the book, but it’s hard. I’ll just finish reading Phoenix, then reread Half-Blood Prince in order to have prepared for Deathly Hallows, arriving tomorrow by UPS. The Wiki page has a plot summary of DH; I can’t allow myself to read it before I actually read the book. I’ll just have to wait.
July 16, 2007
· Filed under movies, shopping, technology
We went to see Transformers Saturday night at the UA Cortlandt Stadium 11 in Mohegan Lake. What a fun movie! I was skeptical about it, but quickly amended my position once the screen lit up. My favorite Autobot is Bumblebee (of course!). Kam Williams of EurWeb writes: “Gets this critic’s seal of approval as another overblown Michael Bay extravaganza, for it succeeds in bringing a cornucopia of beloved robots to life for a concatenation of epic battles worthy of a bombastic summer blockbuster.” Love the SAT words there, Kam. However, he ruins his otherwise lovely review by further going on to say, “But best to check your I.Q. and political correctness at the refreshment counter to enjoy this mindless macho exercise in misogyny which promotes ‘Bros before hos!’ ” It may be a “mindless macho exercise,” but it certainly isn’t misogynistic by any stretch of the imagination. A female analyst is the one who realizes they’re being hacked, and a female is the one who saves Bumblebee. The guy who so callously shouts, “Bros before hos!” gets left in the dust, literally. Another reviewer, Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News writes, “There is so much action packed into every second of Transformers that by the time it’s over, you may be tempted to go outside and give the box office another 10 bucks.” I tend to agree. Go see it, if only for 2 1/2 hours of escapist fantasy.
I ordered the Olympus WS-300M 256 MB Digital Voice Recorder and Music Player from Amazon. It’s slated to arrive tomorrow, for only $3.99 for overnight shipping. I love Amazon Prime! For something like $80 a year, you get free two-day shipping and $3.99 overnight shipping on anything Amazon themselves (not their affiliates) sells. That means that the glider loveseat and table we bought incurred only $3.99 each for overnight shipping (they had to ship separately). The teak armchairs we got had free shipping. We buy so much on Amazon that the membership cost is totally worth it.
June 10, 2007
· Filed under knitting, movies, yarn
I just got back from Lucy Neatby’s class up in Cornwall. Wow, did she get through a lot of stuff! I bought a bunch of her DVDs (I’m hoping that Gary will pay for some of them as part of my birthday yarn spree), some camel yarn, some ArtYarns yarn (Supermerino #204), some bamboo dpns size 3, and something that lost its ball band after winding. It’s grey, and tweedy, and very soft. Baby alpaca, I remember. Everything she covered is on two of the five DVDs that I bought, so I won’t have to try to remember it all. A very cool modified bind off, The Channel Islands cast on, toe chimneys, provisional crochet cast on, and more that I’m totally forgetting. I’m really glad I bought the DVDs. Sock Techniques 1 & 2, Knitting Essentials 1 & 2, and Finesse Your Knitting 1.
We watched Big Fish on DVD. It is a lovely movie, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. Go watch it. Now. I’ll wait.
