Taken

Jared suggested we rent a movie and break the habit I have of turning into a hermit once settled into a place. So ventured down the street and used the Red Box kiosk. There is always a line outside the Red Box. The end is nigh for Blockbuster Video and Jared wasn't kidding. It's $1 to rent a movie for the night and since it's usually closer to your home than a regular movie rental establishment and you don't need a membership card... yeah, it's like a billion times better. Yes, just get the movie back the next day and you won't have to pay the late fee. It's a simple as that.

There were two groups of people ahead of Jared in line and both groups got Taken. That's what we were going to rent as well.

It was great fun, I will admit. We're used to seeing Kiefer Sutherland, Harrison Ford, and Mel Gibson doing crazy things to get their kids/nukes back, but Liam Neeson kicks some major ass. He'll punch you in the face with your own fist, steal your gun, shoot you in the shoulder and then electrocute you to death. I will say, though, that those girls were effing asking for it. Come ON! Besson wrote the 17-year-old to still call her father "Daddy" and still wear empire-waisted tea dresses and ribbon headbands. The fuck ever. And then her "friend" is a total ho. You just have to watch it, I totally recommend it. There's no real sexiness in it, even though it deals with the sex trade. Liam Neeson was the best part about this movie. Oh, he's so great. Ah, anyway.

Also, all birthday-flavored ice cream is not created equal. Don't get me started.

iBar tonight. Liz's birthday thing tomorrow. Jesse's Twilight RiffTrax potluck on Saturday. Sleep on Sunday for "work" on Monday.

Box Slider!

What I Do ...

I'll start my volunteer work as an Office P.A. for Andrew Kenneth Gay's Master thesis film called A Beautiful Belly. Feel free to check the bloggy glory. So for the next 6 weeks I'll have a place to go to instead of being a hermit and proofreading. I'll still be proofreading, just not in the comfort of Jared's parents' house. Damn, I'll actually have to wear pants. Ugh. It could be worse.

What else? Uh, nothing, really. I've started up reading The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. I started it a year ago, but wasn't into it at the time. I've begun again, for fun. I need to figure out why it's on the top lists for graphic novels and such.

I started reading The Authority and Jenny Sparks is great fun, although, Jared feels that the female roles in the book aren't very fleshed out. I don't know, I have huge weird things called issues when it comes to gender roles, crawling out of the norm, and somehow still conforming to some ideal anyway. I'm sure my friend Toni would have lots to say about it, as she the most articulate and eloquent person I know. And she does Lady Studies, so she knows much more regarding the various theories and such. YAY TONI!!

I want these kitties

Asher and Mango Chutney, respectively. They live in Georgia, though, and the adoption for both is $200. They're perfect. And I can't have them. Sigh. A couple more years.

Agoraphobia and Comics

Last night I went to the Capstone Screeners for the UCF BFA Film class of '09. It was the longest screener I'd heard of, starting at 5pm and ending at around 11pm with an hour for intermission. Over 20 films less than 15 minutes each were played, ranging from fictional narratives, experimentals, and docs. About a third of them I could have done without, but really, who likes everything they see in film school? I know I don't. Here's a link to recent BFA grad Cris Mertens' YouTube channel that has the "bumpers" they played between huge chunks of films. I feel like they're only entertaining to those that know the students, but they're clever and well done in any case.

Being there with all of those people, half of whom I didn't know, made me super anxious and uncomfortable. I combatted it with pastries and walking around quickly. After one of the films I was in screened, though, it was a weight off my shoulders. I felt better about where I stood in the world and was promptly thrust into conversations with strangers. I'm really manic around strangers, doing anything I can to make them love me, so I can continue to ingest their smiles, hugs, and blanket praise. Yet, I can feel a wave of loneliness and sadness start to crest behind me. In that hallway din, I was buzzing with excitement and joy, but I knew the second I walked out into the night and drove back to Janine's, I knew I was going to feel like I'd bottomed out.

Is that how has-beens feel? Scraping at any inch of validation, living on that one compliment for days like a starving actor on a box of spaghetti? I hate those feelings. The only good things that come of outings like that are that hopefully another student sees you and wants you to audition for their next project in the fall. And getting hugs from people that smell good. I like smells.

Sometimes I forget that my readers are not toddlers and don't need constant pictorial and audio/visual stimulation, but I think it never hurts.


I finished Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud. Great read for anyone that doesn't understand the appeal or wants to create a more "magical" experience while reading comics. It's one step in my staircase to reading again, albeit it's not the greatest works of Western lit in the 20th century. I'm going to compile a list to trump all lists containing the highly subjective "best ofs" of screen, print, and ...print. So movies, books, and comics will slowly be re-integrated back into my life. Hopefully.

By the way, Happy Mothers Day!

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Thanks, Claire!

Work from Home Day

Every day is "Work from Home" since I don't have an office at which to check-in. I wish the books were a little more steady. I'll get a bunch at once and then nothing for a month, it feels like. Which doesn't fair well when it's your only source of income. Honestly, I'd rather be doing this than working a front desk receptionist job 40 hours a week. I do not miss that, I'll tell ya that much. I'm still keeping an eye out for employment, just not an OCD eye.

I had the last of the Green Tea Ginger Ale:
100% of your daily Vitamin C and less sugar than your average soda. Thanks, Canada Dry for being so weird and delicious. Speaking of weird and delicious, I partook in a snack my dad makes which is just slightly toasted bread with a generous helping of peanut butter and maple syrup whipped together. Not just one layer of each, you gotta stand there and tease the two together. It's so worth it.

I joined the Florida Etsy Street Team this week. It's really involved and there are a few rules to satisfy which is at the same time annoying and comforting. Our job as members is to work promoting, creating, and conversing. It's nice, I guess. I feel a bit more involved than the all-encompassing CCCOE in California. I felt lost in the sea of vintage sellers and jewelry makers.

Yesterday I started the systematic ingestion of Torchwood, Seasons One and Two. It's a spin-off of Doctor Who on the BBC featuring John Barrowman that made such a splash on his handful of guest appearances on Who. It's pretty addicting. Here's why.
John Barrowman: He's taken, ladies! And by another wonderful man.
For our mutual ingestion, here's the trailer for the newest installments of Torchwood:

Man, I Love Goals!

1. Get a passport! I've been meaning to for a while and Janine's always prodded me to get one. And maybe I'll visit Shannon when she returns to Europe. I'd rather visit a place where I know someone, so I can get a realistic visit.

2. Learn a musical instrument. And since instruments are expensive these days, I'm thinking about getting...

A glockenspiel! Maybe I'll just practice in my car to spare my friends and family of my noisemaking. Here are some lessons.

3. Finish my writings and maybe start poopin' out new ideas and outlines. I don't have a picture for that. haha