Long time no see.

Holla and woot! So, I haven't blogged in few months. Sorry! I've been super busy, as summers always go in Maine. I call it the Mainer summer fever, where we try to pack in as much stuff as possible before the impending 6 months of winter. I'm not going to bore y'all with the minutiae of all the movies/books I've been consuming - aka reviews - but as soon as I can remember them all will post them with a woot or a poot in my little list thinger over there ->.

Here are the major points of the summer: I lost some weight and put it back on, been working on a farm 1.5 days per week, got a job doing a bunch of internet research/writing for 6 weeks, became addicted to DVD's of Veronica Mars, lost and regained my writing as well as knitting mojo, signed up for a zillion killer new podcasts, have become extraordinarily horrified at the presidential election.

I plan to add a list of my podcasts on the side as well, just so you can see what I'm up to. Also I have finally started using Google Reader, so if you want to see articles I recommend, go check it out. If you have gmail the reader link is up near the top, if I am in your address book it should automatically show you what I have shared. Learn how to use it and share stuff with me too darnit!

For the fall my goals are rededicate myself to writing, perhaps finish a novel I have been working on and start revising it, re-lose the weight I lost and gained back, and get something published in a mag. Also, I know my birthday is a few months away, but I think I will continue on with the list, just start at 0 again in January. Think I should up everything by 1 each year?

Sorry for the delay and the short post, things are calming down so hopefully I can pay more attention to this :)

Over Half Way!

I've watched quite a few movies since I wrote last, and will try to keep my reviews brief, as I haven't written in a while and have lots to update.

First off with the movies: I watched Sex and the City, I am Legend, and Juno - in that order.

I was/am a huge STC fan from back in the day when it was still on and I had HBO. I loved that show, and loved the movie. My sister in-law and I went and watched it at the local movie theater, which wasn't that bad because it wasn't very busy. The thing with the Lincoln Theater is that it doesn't have graduated seating, so if someone tall sits in front of you, you're out of luck. Anyhow, the movie perfectly gave a nod to all the things that made the show famous - even the little things like Cosmopolitans. I can't say too much more about it without having to explain 10 years of plot from the show, so I will just say, it was great - I give it a Double Woot! But if you never watched the show, don't bother.

I am Legend was also excellent. I am told by friends that the book is much better, so I will probably give it a look. Basically it's Will Smith and his dog in a post bio-disaster NYC. The Fresh Prince was totally dope in this role, which must not have been easy since he was alone for 90% of the film. I'm a huge fan of the bio-disaster movie - like the Stand, which is in my opinion the best bio-disaster book/movie ever made. These types of movies scare the bejesus out of me because it seems so plausible, probably the way that nuke movies were so popular in the 70's. This one had an interesting twist in that the crazy virus made people turn into vampires, as opposed to the ever popular zombie thread. The super creepy vampire dogs were a nice touch as well. Double Woot!

On to Juno. I had put off seeing this movie just because from the clips I had seen on tv with all the cool banter, I thought it was going to be super annoying. That said, I loved this movie. I think it gave a pretty realistic portrayal of teen pregnancy. The girl gets pregnant, doesn't really know what to do and is totally freaked out but not in a lame after school special way. She decides to give the baby up for adoption - which I can't even imagine doing. The adoptive parents were Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman - I would like to say, although this is totally unrelated - Jennifer Garner needs to 1. Lay off the Botox and 2. Eat a sandwich! She looked like a wax skeleton. The dialog in this movie was brills. In fact, I would like to see Diablo Cody and Quentin Tarantino have a dialog off, or at least work on a project together. It just goes to show, yet again that yes the American public DOES like interesting, smart, well written movies, not just things going boom. As you may have guessed - Juno - Double Woot!

On to books. After giving up on a book half way through, which I never ever do (It was ghost by Alan Lightman - Double Poopsandwich with a side of boogers. Even though the Times liked, it they are often a bunch of pompous blowhards who also like movies like Lost in Translation which was one of the worst movies ever made.) I read A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. Does this book sound familiar? Remember the book that Oprah picked for her book club about a guy that goes to rehab and it's horrifying and allegedly all true, then she found out it was a load of crap and called him out on her show? No? Read this. Anyway this is that book. Here's the thing. It was a great book, and I highly recommend it. I'm only giving it a single woot though. Why you ask? Because I cannot see how ANYONE could have not known that this book was fiction. First of all, the guy just happens to end up in rehab with a mafia dude AND a federal judge, all who become BFF's because "addicts are all equal" and he just HAPPENS to hook up with a former 13 year old crack whore, who he falls deeply in love with - so much so that he risks his life for her - in 6 weeks? PFFFTTTT. I mean really. OH, and conveniently all the major characters except him are now either dead or missing (says the list at the back of the book) so his story couldn't be corroborated. Even saying all that, it was still a well written good read, and still would have been well received as a work of fiction. Or one of those "based on true events" books, the guy was in rehab, I'm sure parts of it are true, and it's an excellent book about addiction, and the insistence by many that 12 steps are the only way to sobriety, and the willingness of the vast majority of the population to take absolutely no responsibility for their actions whatsoever. So, go ahead and read it, you will like it, don't let the change in classification stop you.

Onward and upward. The title of this blog refers to the half way mark on two fronts: 1. As of July 6, I have been working the list for 6 months and 2. The average of all my accomplishments is at 44% - which is pretty darn close to half. I am absolutely astounded that I have kept with it, and accomplished so many of my goals in 6 months. Though my knitting has come to a screeching halt this summer, which often happens. I have picked up some great new habits, like a new diet plan AND doing yoga a few times per week. I'm super excited to have found two wonderful websites which offer both for free. My averages are probably going to jump even further soon since I have a bunch of words to add to my list.

On a side note, I have decided to tackle one of my big "fear/desires" which is to eat a meal, or even have a cup of coffee in a restaurant - BY MYSELF. Something I have never done in my entire life. I know right? This is definately a skill one should have, especially if one would like to be self sufficient in the least.

And finally, you may be interested to learn, that this blog has been read by people in 9 different countries! How weird is that?

Very Productive

I had a very productive weekend, and by productive I mean I got a lot of reading and movie watching done. This no TV thing really gets me motivated to do other stuff, you know like watch movies. Actually, if you will indulge me for just a moment - and you kind of have to because this is my blog - I got to thinking yesterday about entertainment, as in holy god, how much entertainment do we need? Even without the TV we still have netflix, and the internet, an xbox 360, and a bunch of audiobooks, podcasts, and music on our ipods and that's just electronics. We also have lots of books and magazines, so many that I often feel like I'm getting behind, as if reading things for pleasure is my job and I'm missing deadlines or something. I think that the big difference with TV vs. these other types of entertainment is that I actually have to make a choice in the evening. Hmm which movie will I watch, or book will I read, and with TV the choices were basically being made for me. Last month when it got down to it and we realized we were only looking forward to watching 2 programs (Lost and Battlestar Gallactica) and everything else was just filler we decided to turn disconnect it after the season finale of BSG. So in essence, all the time during the week when I, not really so much Mike, was watching and neither of those shows were on, it was just filler, crappy noise pumped in to fill the time because I was too lazy to chose something else for myself. Anyway, it made me feel really gross, so in beginning week 2 of no TV I'm feeling pretty happy about the choice.

On to my weekend productivity. Friday night I watched Prairie Home Companion. I love Garrison Kellor and the NPR Radio Show by the same name, which the movie basically mimics. Really this movie is just a little love letter to the show, which has been on the radio for many many years and was very well done. Lindsay Lohan is in this movie, along with Merryl Streep and I was shocked to learn that both of them can really sing quite beautifully. Lilly Tomlin, who was also in the movie made a good effort but sadly cannot. If you do not like the radio show, you are not going to like this movie. It's like people who don't like fish being surprised that they don't like sushi, just because it's in a different form doesn't mean it's going to be more palatable for you. I give this movie a woot! it misses a double woot because it's kind of cheesy.

Last night I watched The Darjeeling Limited, which if you don't know is a Wes Anderson film. Who is Wes Anderson? What? Are you kidding? Only one of the best writer/directors ever - Rushmore, Royal Tennenbaums, Steve Zisou - sound familiar? Of course Owen Wilson is in this movie, as is Angelica Houston, Bill Murray, and Jason Schwartzman (who was involved with the writing) all familiar actors that Anderson works with often. I really like it when directors use the same actors in their films over and over. It really makes sense to me as in there must be a huge level of bullshit that doesn't need to be worked through when new actors are brought in for each project. Wes Anderson movies are beautifully melancholy. This movie took place in India and was so stunning, and the shots so beautiful it was like watching a moving painting. Many people don't like Anderson movies because they seem slow moving, or too symbolic but I have loved each of them,the combination of music, dialog and cinematography keeps me on the verge of tears throughout the entire film because of the beauty and sadness. The plot is this - 3 brothers, Owen Wilson, Jason Shwartzman, and Adrian Brody are on a train traveling through India to visit various spiritual sites and visit their mother. This is the first time in a year the brothers have been together since the death of their father a year previously. The relationship between the siblings is perfectly represented. The movie is an examination of that relationship - adult siblings and their relations with one another. How quickly they revert to childhood roles, and simultaneously embrace yet resent them. Ok, enough said, Double Woot.

I pounded through a book this weekend as well. The Devil and Miss. Prym by Paulo Coelho was so good I read it in about a day. A man comes to a small town and tells the townspeople if they murder one of the residents, he will give them 10 gold bars. He does this because he figures it's an easy way to find out if people are basically good or evil. It was a bit slow at first, but after about 20 pages I couldn't put it down. I have read a lot of Coehlo's stuff, I loved the Pilgrimage, the Alchemist etc. lately his books have been pretty Christiany which I don't like at all, and though this did have a lot of references to the Bible etc. it wasn't too overwhelming and I was still able to enjoy it. Double Woot!

Finally just an exercise note - not a big deal for you active people but I ran a half mile today without stopping. This is a huge huge deal for me. As I was running I thought about the Presidential Fitness Test I had to take in Jr. High, and how after I ran a mile for that I barfed in the girl's locker room. Anyhow, I got to thinking that I should look up those goals and see if I can be as fit as what the gov. says a 17 year old girl should be :) Although, just now I saw that they have a lifestyle thing for adults, maybe I will sign up. Only if I can get a gold plated plastic medal with JFK's face on it though...Ok that's it I'm out. Thank you for reading.

PS - do you like the links?

Update

Just returned from Dr. toe is indeed busted. And, not much I can do for it except tape it up. I am extremely superstitious in that I think things most often happen in 3's bad things that is, so we now have 2 visits to the Dr. for me in two days.....

Broken

So yesterday will not go down as one of my finest. It started off with Maggie sleeping in, and by sleeping in I mean 7:45. Usually she is awake around 6, which is why when I made an appointment to get a Tetanus shot at 8:30 in the morning, I assumed it would be no problem getting there on time. I hear you all out there, a Tetanus shot? What did you do, step on a nail or something? No. I was building this:



Not the doghouse part, just the wire part. Chicken wire is really sharp, and I being super smart was not wearing gloves and sliced the crap out of my hands more than once. While I was bleeding and stapling I thought, Hmmm I wonder when the last time I had a tetanus shot was? I called my doctor's office who informed me, not since high-school. They also informed me that I should come in and get one within the next 48 hours so I don't get lockjaw. I'm not really sure what lockjaw is, but it sounds painful and like it would seriously inhibit my ability to talk.

I'm not afraid of shots, I'm tough. Maggie was super excited to come with me to see Mama get a shot, which I thought would be good. Anyhow, she woke up late, so I woke up late and just had time to take a shower, get both of us dressed and run out the door. It is important to note that I did NOT consume either any food, or more importantly coffee before I left. Shot was uneventful. Though I will note, they also updated my Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine, there has been a huge resurgence of the disease because people (in Maine especially) haven't been vaccinating their kids and so these diseases which aren't usually around are back, intermingling with us vaccinated people and making super bugs, so now they are re-vaccinating adults. Thanks Hippies!

After the appointment I really really needed coffee. I need coffee like a crack whore needs crack. In fact, the previous evening I was discussing coffee with my grandmother, who is, to be blunt, on her death bed. She is not allowed to have coffee for a number of reasons most of which would contribute to her dying much more quickly than she is. Anyhow I told her that I pretty much don't even want people to speak to me before I have coffee in the morning, which is not an exaggeration. I really don't. The one place in Wiscasset that is on the way back to my house which might have served coffee, and I made the mistake of telling Maggie also has huge cookies, doesn't open until 10. WTF! 10? They are missing out on a lot of angry people that need coffee and huge cookies. Maggie was promised a huge cookie because she has successfully filled in an entire row on her potty chart. I am some how adding this onto the 30 list, even though technically it's her accomplishment, it's a big fracking deal around here. No more diapers.

No coffee, no cookie, now add screaming kid because no cookie. Get home attempt to make coffee. Once about every six months or so, the coffee pot freaks out - I don't think it's human error since I make coffee successfully every other day so I attribute it to an act of god, or kitchen elves - and the coffee just spews everywhere but the pot. Grounds and water run everywhere. As you can guess that is what happened yesterday morning. So, I did this:



What is that you ask? Oh that's my cabinet door sans panel, because I kicked it and busted it out. Wow! I'm strong! No, not really I kicked it pretty lightly, ok moderately with the toe of my ugly dress shoes. Clearly my cabinets are not made of very strong stuff. Am I embarrassed I had a temper tantrum and kicked out the panel of my cabinet door? Yes indeed I am. I should be made of stronger stuff. Lack of coffee and a shot first thing in the morning should not send me off the rails, but it did, so there you have it.

Ok, but that's not all. In a cruel ironic twist - later on in the afternoon I was running across my living room barefoot. I don't recall why. However, I smashed my pinkie toe on our hearth which is made of huge rocks. I am quite sure it's broken. I'm quite sure there isn't much that can be done for a broken pinkie toe. I am quite sure this is going to put a major crimp in my jogging since it hurts so bad I can barely walk. It should be noted, my arm hurts like a bastard where I got the shot yesterday I can't even lift it over my head.

On to the actually 30list update: I knit this bag:




It just needs to have the button sewn on and it will be 100% done.

We disconnected Directv which contributes to a few categories: less tv watching, more movie watching, something I've been meaning to do, and reducing household expenses. Don't worry, we still have netflix - we aren't neanderthals for god sakes. But honestly, we were paying like $70 per month to watch Lost and Battle Star, and now since they are both over until January - goodbye TV!

I finished a fantastic book: Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, by Tom Robbins. For some reason it took me a long time to get into reading Tom Robbins, a lot of my friends read his stuff in high school, but I'm glad I'm discovering it now, I think it makes a lot more sense to me than if I was 18. Anyhow, what can be said about this book without giving too much away. It's about this guy named Switters who is an ex-CIA agent confined to a wheelchair and goes on some crazy adventures around the world. Um, I can't really say too much more than that. It's really hard to sum up a Robbins novel. Seriously, please check it, or anything else he's written, you will like it. Double Woot!

We watched Part 1 of Grind House - Planet Terror, the other night and I absolutely loved it. Grind House was that Double Feature homage to B-movies that Tarrantino and Rodriguez did a few years ago. Planet Terror is a super cheesy zombie movie. A lot of people didn't like these movies because of their cheese, but hello, it's mimicking these particular movies. It was hilarious, super gross but so over the top gross it was grosser than gross and so not that gross, if that makes any sense at all. If you like zombies and super cheese, you will love this movie. Double Woot.

Ok, that's enough for now. Practically a novel.

Part Deux finally

Oops, my posting that was going to be tomorrow has now been like 3 weeks. First off, you may have noticed I finally updated the bars on the side. I had a major 30 list crisis that should be fixed now. You see, all my progress is tracked via an excel spreadsheet, and me being me completely fracked up the formulas so my list was all messed up. Some of the things are still a little dicey, things that I can't tangibly account for. It's easy to go back and list all the books or movies I've watched over the past six months, not so easy to remember how much water I've been drinking. Anyhow, the progress bars should be pretty damn close to accurate.

Big jump on books and movies. Recently I went with Mike and some friends to see Blade Runner at the Strand Theater in Rockland. You may remember that I went to the Strand a few months ago to see This American Life, It's my new favorite theater, it's all retro and it has a bar. Yes, I've seen Blade Runner and in fact we own it, however I'm counting it because this was on the big screen and it was awesome. If you have the opportunity to see it in the theater, do it. Blade Runner of course - Double Woot!

I watched the movie version of Running With Scissors which I'm going to give a Meh. Probably it should get a poop sandwich, but I'm feeling generous. It's about this kid his mom is crazy, she gives him to her crazy psychiatrist sort of. I'm pretty sour on this book/movie since I read this huge article in Vanity Fair about how the main characters in the book (allegedly a memoir) are suing the bejesus out of the author for slander and fabrication.

Last night we watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3, which I think is called Dead Man's chest. It was really good, if a bit too long, and didn't suck nearly as much as everyone told me it did. It's you know, about pirates and whatnot. Lots of swashbuckling and things of that nature. It's the third of a series so I'm not really going to get into it all that much. Though there was a cameo by Keith Richards which was brills. It rates a woot.

Ok enough Movies, on to books. I listened to Freakonomics on my ipod. It was really enjoyable and I recommend it, lots of statistics and things like that. It's kind of hard to explain I give it a woot, even though I thought the author was kind of pretentious and some of the theories were a bit of stretch.

I finished Franny and Zooey, by J.D. Salinger. This is a book I read in high school and remembered that I really liked, but had totally forgotten what it was about. Oh Salinger, why did you disappear? You were so good. Still so good. This gets a Double Woot. It's a story about a family in NY in the fifties. But more than a story it is, as the introduction says, sort of a written home movie that is but a snapshot of events that transpire over a day or so. I highly recommend it. I read it in a day. Salinger, of course Double Woot!

So, I promised in my last post to tell y'all about my new exercise regime. Don't laugh. I have started jogging. Today I finally got to .6 total. yes, that's .6 - a bit over a half mile. But that was not all at once. I think by next week maybe I can get to .5 at once. this does not seem like a lot right? Well I am jog/walking 1.5 total each time so it's not like I'm doing a little tiny sprint up the road and coming back. So there's that. Plus on days I don't jog, I walk 3 miles. SO there. But here's what's important to note, in your judging of my physical fitness 1. I have been smoking for 15 years. Gross right? Especially since I am only 30. That's for half my life. I took 2 years off when I was preg and nursing but have since started again. Though I do smoke only one cig a day, and sometimes none at all, I think that it should be noted. 2. I have never been a sports person at all. In Jr. High and High-school my sport was cheer leading. This was the early 90's, there wasn't all this gymnastics business with cheering. Mostly it was synchronized clapping and yelling with some sweet jumps - which it will be noted if I have enough to drink I may attempt for your viewing pleasure. It is almost surely to end badly.

So enjoy the updates, thanks for reading.

Long overdue update - part 1?

Sorry for the long delay! This is a long overdue update (duh you can read the title right?) that I'm probably going to have to break into two parts. First off - I have some photos for y'all finally. The first two concern two goals I have achieved in the "things I have been meaning to do" cat. Coincidentally I feel that one, nay perhaps both of these may now qualify me as a redneck. Please discuss amongst yourselves - which makes me more "red"? Would it be my new ghettofabulous clothesline?



or perhaps the box of chickens in my living room:



Either way, I think that both are nudging me a bit closer to owning a shotgun.

Sorry for the wonky alignment, blogger and I are not really getting along so well today. Moving right along, I have completed two more knitting projects - some slippers for my mom:



I also finished a little purse thing for myself but I haven't taken a pic. of it yet. What else is new you ask? Well it should be noted that this is blog post 30 - so 100% for that goal!

I finished another book - Black Olives - I forget the author, I give it a meh. It's about this older woman who's boyfriend breaks up with her and then like 9 months later she sees him at the store and climbs into the back of his jeep and hides while he drives around. It was pretty lame, but didn't totally suck. The ending was super weak though, and I despise a weak ending. Why bother putting in all that work if you are just going to puss out at the end? Lame. So Black Olives - Meh!

This week I watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 - Black Pearl - which I give a Woot! Yes it was about 45 minutes too long, and the ending was a cliff hanger and yes it was Disney, but it was entertaining, has a good story, and my boy Johnny of course. Hey this is my blog and if I can automatically give good ratings to movies just because they contain Johnny Depp or John Cusack, I'm going to. That goes for books by Stephen King too. Deal with it! So Pirates 2 gets a woot!

Last night we watched Lady in the Water, which was written and directed by M.Night Shamalamadingdong. I'm going to give this a reluctant Woot! It really straddles the line between Woot! and Meh! It was a pretty good family movie, if I was about oh say 13 I would probably be freaking out about how cool it was. M.Night wrote himself into the movie and acts in it which I give a resounding BOO HISSSS! THUMBS DOWN! Don't do that again Mr. Shamalama - please. Good Directors do not make good actors. Well, unless you are Clint Eastood but that's neither here nor there.

Now for a new weird portion of my blog, which I guess also falls into the things I've been meaning to do cat. I'm going to keep track of weird trends/coincidences that I feel are not coincidental. For example, lately I have been intrigued with the idea of the suns rays having antibacterial properties (radiation? anyone? anyone?) because of the clothesline. Since I first heard that, I have heard it a few more times, about not only the sun being antibacterial but the idea of gross things dying in the light.

Ok, so today I was at the library and went upstairs to see what they had for Tom Robbins books (Still Life With Woodpecker, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, etc.) as I was making my way over to Robbins, some books by Salinger, J.D. caught my eye, and I grabbed a copy of Franny and Zooey which I loved in high-school but haven't read since and have recently heard mentioned a bunch of times in the media. I had 2 Robbins books to chose from: "Skinny Legs and All" or "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates". I chose the later because on the inside of the jacket where it describes the book it says the following: "Moreover, the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author, with his love of language, nuance, and surprise, is as opposed to story summations as J.D. Salinger." - which I thought was kind of weird since I had just randomly picked up a Salinger book - then here's where it got even weirder - "Robbins also has said that throughout the writing of Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates he was guided by the advice of Julia Child "Learn to handle hot things. Keep your knives sharp. Above all, have a good time." Now, most of you know, (if you know me) that I freaking love Julia. I even have an autographed pic. of Julia. I just feel that the combo of these two statements on the jacket of this book to be very odd in a specifically pertinent to my life kind of way. It is these kind of little blips and coincidences that I'm going to try and use to make future choices, or at the very least recognize their existence.

This blog is far too long, and I will be adding a part 2, hopefully tomorrow. With more pics. AND news of my new exercise regime. Oh, also check out the Klog, I have been sporadically been updating that as well. Ciao!