07.09.09
Righting an egregious wrong.
So last night I did something that I should have done 20 years ago. The fact that I didn’t do it changed my perception of certain cultural events which I experienced within that time period. Or, I should say, it didn’t color my perception of certain, related, cultural events in the way that it would have if I’d been diligent and done my duty 20 years ago. I’m talking, of course, of the movie Spinal Tap. Yes, folks, before last night I had never seen this historical and important milestone of movie history. And because of that, I never did see the other movies in the correct light, or at least not at first. And conversely, I already knew what to expect when I did finally get around to watching it instead of being pleasantly surprised, as I was when I watched my first movie from the same people, Christopher Guest, et.al., which was Waiting for Guffman. Which I thought was brilliant until I saw Best in Show. Which is still my favorite even though A Mighty Wind now has more of a piquancy which it lacked for me before I saw Spinal Tap. Before I saw Spinal Tap, I thought A Mighty Wind was the weakest. Oh how wrong I was!
07.08.09
Thoughts on idolization, beauty and the self.
I don’t usually like to comment on topics currently in the media because I think that there’s already way too much useless banter about every topic and I don’t want to add to the clutter. But I’m not crazy about the hoopla surrounding Michael Jackson’s death. He was a pop star, not the second coming of Jesus. Maybe he did some good works in his life, put out some fantastic music, and gave a lot to charity. But does that mean that he warrants idolization? Not in my book, although very few things DO warrant idolization in my book. It just feels like MJ was a negative energy during the past 15 years. He didn’t really put out any music (although I think he had an album in the late 90s? The fact that I don’t even know for sure is telling about its popularity) but he did put out some pretty bad vibes regarding his clear opinions on what is beauty. Originally, I think he was blessed with better than average good looks, but his warped sense of beauty made himself into a clown-like caricature. That would be fine, except if the billions of demoralized fans are any indication, MJ was a big influence on a lot of people. And how dare he portray his former looks as unattractive? Was he commenting on the possibility that black people aren’t as attractive as white people? I would absolutely hate that to be the case, and yet it’s a subject everyone dances around instead of admits. Personal acceptance is something that I take very seriously because I see people all around me denigrating themselves and making themselves look and feel worse about themselves due to unhealthy messages from the media. And I don’t think MJ helped in that regard. I don’t think many people actually thought he looked good, but I also think that people give him a pass when, if they proclaim him to be a role model, they should be nailing him on that issue. If our society doesn’t proclaim him a role model? Fine. But what I’m hearing is that’s not the case.
Personal acceptance is something I think about a lot, and it’s one of the reasons why I boycott Disney. The characters in the Disney films I grew up with were not only anorexic but they were all saved by a prince. Yeah, we all grew up with fairy tales, but in the old ones the herione wasn’t anorexic nor were the stories blown up on the big screen until thousands of screaming children wanted to be just like those characters. Disney took a money-making scheme which was the manipulation of childrens’ minds under the guise of clean entertainment and made in into a generation-warping machine. I’m STILL waiting for my prince to come save me from the prison that is my flabby ass. And I cringe for the little girls who are now growing up with that same image in their heads. We are all the architects of our own lives and our own bodies. We all make the choices that shape who we are. I’m angry at Disney for taking a little fairy tale I would never have thought about and making it into a culture-bending event. And I’m angry at people who allow such things to affect them in unhealthy ways (myself included). And I’m angry at the media for putting MJ on a pedestal which, in my opinion, he did not deserve.
And anyway, we ALL know Madonna is the greatest pop star of all time. DUH.
07.07.09
The TV season is officially over.
The past several weekends Dice has been bringing home from the library the complete series DVD of Freaks and Geeks. I am KICKING myself for never watching that when it first came out, and also for not writing a stern letter to the network for cancelling it after one measly season. It’s such a fantastic show! But, as Dice says, that happens to all the really good shows. Yeah, they brought Family Guy back after DVD sales so greatly exceeded expectations that it became clear they’d make tons of money with more episodes. But look at Arrested Development, which is a genius show which didn’t make it past 3 seasons. And, as he pessimistically pointed out, look at the ratings for 30 Rock. Not good. And yet the show is so funny and smart! If it goes, there will definitely be a stern letter coming from me.
I have a cadre of summer shows that I watch, some better than others. Okay, none are all that good, but they’re good enough to stave off TV withdrawals in between baseball games. The Closer is always reliable. I laugh out loud at Kathy Griffin’s antics on My Life on the D-List. Both Dice and I enjoy Burn Notice. All light and fluffy fare, which I guess is what people want in the summer. Although I think L&O Criminal Intent goes long into the summer past its compatriots. I haven’t caught any of the new shows on TNT, USA or the like, mostly because we’ve been enjoying catching up on some movies that we didn’t have time for over the TV watching season, otherwise known as fall, winter and spring. The DVR, which used to be full to bursting with TV shows, is now littered with movies. Which is good considering we cancelled our Netflix a while back and haven’t even missed it. Although we did go to the video store over the weekend and got The Wrestler and Vicky Christina Barcelona. So easy to pop in on the way to the grocery store and get instant satisfaction! Who knew?
07.06.09
Yo, Iowa! Holla!
Well. In case you were wondering (and I know you were) it actually IS possible to have a good time in Iowa! I had one of the best weekends I can ever remember, mostly because I got to see a good friend get hitched, but also because I got to spend some quality time with my homies. Heh. It’s been a long time since I had more than the space of a dinner to hang out with my good buddies from home. And I’m again reminded that they’re some of the funniest and most devoted people I know. I’m lucky to have them for friends, and to have had them in my life during the past 25 years.
So Thursday Don (his flight from Boston had a connection in ATL, conveniently) and I arrived in Moline, Illinois about 11:30 and drove across the state to Ames (the male half of the Canadians had told me that the drive was less than 2 hours, but it was no shorter than 3 hours and if I’d known that I would have coughed up the extra however much to fly into Des Moines which was only a half hour from our destination), stopping for lunch along the way at a shitty hotel restaurant with a water theme park inside the hotel. The “water theme park” was really just a big pool with an elaborate water slide. We got to the hotel about 3:30, just in time to shower and get ready to leave for the rehearsal at 4:30. The rehearsal was fine, then we went to the Tick Toc club in Boone, Iowa for the rehearsal dinner which was pretty fun because we were at the awesome table. We seriously were laughing out loud the entire time, and yes, we were THAT table. After the dinner a bunch of us went back to our hotel bar where we stayed up doing shots until late. Saturday morning I wanted to DIE, not as much as the other weekend after Vino Libro, but a lot. So I went running in the fitness center and felt a little better. Then we all went to Perkins for breakfast where I had the Hearty Man Meat Platter with pancakes and extra biscuit. Heh. After that I naturally had to take a nap, so I went back to my hotel room and took a 2 hour nap, after which I felt great.
The wedding was at 5:00 pm, and we left the hotel at 4:00 in order to be there in time to get ready (all the guys were in the wedding party – I hung out with the wives). The wedding was fine, it was a Lutheran service and pretty Jesus-tastic. At the reception there were all the usual toasts. Don was videotaping the ceremony as well as the reception. Once the dancing got under way we all stood in the bar area having a good time. Bill did the most HILARIOUS Napoleon Dynamite dance to the song “Another One Bites the Dust,” which, oh my god, was so funny I almost had a hernia. Bill and Branden danced a slow dance together, also hilarious. After the reception we went back to our hotel bar where Branden convinced me to stay longer than I had wanted to because we had to leave at 7:30 in the morning. I didn’t get to bed until 2 am, but since I didn’t really drink all that much I actually felt fine in the morning. I was up by 7:00 and ready to go by 7:25. We had a delightful drive back over to the Moline airport and arrived in plenty of time to get to our flights.
The flight home on Saturday was uneventful, got home by about 3:00 or so. Dice and I took DVDs over to Kendall and Maura’s and watched TV there until T&R showed up with Fox Bros barbecue, which was delicious. I was home and in bed before 10:30, so tired I was shaking. Yesterday we lounged all day long, with a brief trip to the grocery store and the video store to rent movies. Ordered pizzas from Stella (gorgonzola pizza!) and then I was in bed by 9:30. Today, I STILL feel run-down and tired. I need another day or so to recuperate!
This week I am on serious financial and physical detox. We cannot afford to go out to eat every night anymore, both because of our bank account and our flab. After all the liver-pickling and crap foods, my body feels like it’s in the worst shape it’s been in in years. Not fun. As I’ve said many times before, until you are actually healthy and in shape, you really have no idea just how GOOD it feels to be healthy! I miss that. I’m constantly tired and feel droopy and moody. So detox is in order, at Month of Repentance scale! Let’s hope I have the necessary discipline. Scratch that, I really have no choice BUT to have the discipline.
07.01.09
Happy Canada Day, Canadians!
This week has been a little off. It’s a short week so I didn’t bother to do a full grocery shop, and I’ve been cobbling my lunches together from the salad bar in the cafe downstairs and protein bars. Today my lunch consisted of cherry yogurt, baked pita chips and a protein bar. Who said processed foods aren’t good for you? Heh. I’ve also been taking a sort of break from working out this week. Mostly a mental break, because I do spend a lot of time thinking about my workouts and then doing the workouts and then analyzing them afterwards. Yesterday I couldn’t face the gym, so I just skipped it. And yeah, I felt pretty shitty about it. Which is what’s supposed to happen so that I actually want to go back. I did go at lunch time today, but my workout was lame at best. I feel good that I went, and guilty that I didn’t push myself, and glad that I didn’t work it very hard. I’m a jumble of conflicting emotions!
At any rate, it’s time to forget all that. Tomorrow morning I take off for Iowa to see a good friend of mine get married. Having been to Iowa only once before, in 1997, for about 24 hours, most of which I spent drunk, I’m looking forward to seeing the state again and actually forming an opinion. And to see all my buddies, too. And it’s 4th of July weekend so I’m sure I’ll be doing something for that.
Catch up with y’all on Monday. Happy 4th of July, folks!
06.30.09
Yes, the 6th level of hell IS the hottest level.
I know, I know, I know, I’m a TERRIBLE blogger. I know this. This blog started because after I moved to Atlanta I was writing long mass emails to all my friends, and it occurred to me that maybe they don’t want to get long mass emails. Especially since none of them wrote me back. So I started the blog so that my friends who want to keep up with me could do so without me having to infiltrate their inbox unnecessarily. I hope that’s still the case, but you never know. So this is the reason why my blog is so boring, it’s not meant to be all that entertaining. And for that reason, yeah, sometimes I miss a day or three here and there. If you’re really anxious for news, send me an email! (No, I don’t post my email on purpose because I get enough email. If you are a friend who reads this, you already have my email address. And if not, just ask me.)
Anyway. It was the 6th level of hell AGAIN this weekend. It was so hot that you actually have to not do things because it might be dangerous. This is a foreign concept to northerners. You might not do things when it’s too cold out, but not when it’s too hot. Friday night most of the Commune went to Holy Taco to say goodbye to one another before we went on our various vacations. The Canadians were off to (you guessed it) Canada the next day. I have to say, I just love Holy Taco more and more these days. The food is consistently good and they’re very welcoming. Saturday morning I didn’t manage to get out the door for my run until 9:00 am, at which point it was already way too hot. But I went anyway and managed 5 miles. I had planned for more like 8, but that plan went out the window somewhere between mile 3 and wanting to die. Then Dice and I went shopping for various things and stopped at Eats for lunch for the first time in months. What a treat Eats is, it’s so cheap and yet so delicious. Later Ray showed up and she and I selflessly kept the Canadians’ deck company in their absence by sitting on it and sharing a bottle of champagne in honor of her birthday. Yeah, drinking champagne outside when it’s 100 degrees out really isn’t the best idea, but we made the most of it. Later that evening we went to Osteria for dinner and then to Vino Libro for drinks. By the time we got to Vino Libro is was raining, but we scored one of the tables outside that have couches around them, so we got to lounge on the couches and yet still sit outside and watch the rain. So luxurious!
Sunday we went to the Australian Bakery for brunch. I am an early riser so I almost always have a bowl of cereal in the morning, which means that by the time people are ready for brunch, I’m ready for lunch. So I decided to get their burger for the first time, and it was interesting. It tasted like a burger you’d make a home and slap on the grill. Which I think is good, considering we don’t even OWN a grill let alone do any cooking on one. And the roll they use is phenomenal. And their fries were incredibly good. After brunch Dice dropped us off at Turner Field for the Red Sox game. Luckily our seats were out of the sun because otherwise I’m not sure I would have been able to stay for more than an hour, let alone the whole game. As it was, we had perfectly shaded seats and a bucket of Diet Coke to see us through, and we had a pretty damn good time. Not much beats an afternoon at the ballpark. Except for the fact that my poor beloved Red Sox lost, which is incredibly frustrating considering it’s probably the only Red Sox game I’ll get to see live all year. Boo!
After the game Ray went home to Mac-town and I tried to cool off at home for a while before Dice and I went to the Glenwood for dinner. I had the tri-colored tortellini with primavera in pesto sauce, and it was very good. The tortellini are pretty big, and satisfyingly creamy inside. After I ate it I realized that I’d had pasta for almost every meal over the weekend with the exception of the burger at Aussie Bakery. Good times!
Yesterday was a crazy day at work, capped by the fact that we had to leave early to get to the post office before it closed. The latest post office open is the Decatur branch, so we hightailed it over there before they shut the doors. After that, well, what do you do except go to the Brick Store, right? Right! Nothing beats the Monday blues like a bonus trip to the Brick Store. Workout? What workout? Heh.
06.26.09
We’ve reached the 6th layer of hell.
It’s hot out there. I mean, it’s not just that it’s hot, it’s that it doesn’t cool down all that much in the evening. Until the sun goes down. We experienced a lovely cooling off period at the beginning of this week when it didn’t get much above 90, but it’s almost 100 today. Also, as I was watching the weather forecast at the gym earlier today the weather lady said something about how it’s wicked hot today and to make matters worse, the humidity is such that it won’t cool down this evening at ALL. So basically there’s, like, no reason to ever take a shower, because you’ll just sweat it up the minute the cool water’s turned off. Then again, those 10 minutes under the cool spray do feel pretty nice.
Last night I was late to the gym, and rather than make Dice stay extra long I cut my workout short and went running outside after we got home. By the time I left the house it was about 8:00 pm and I think the weather was perfect, personally. A lot of dog-walkers out there looked really uncomfortable, but I was fine. Really sweaty, but otherwise fine. I’m thinking it was about 85 at that point. I’ll always take 85 over 45, any damn day of the week. 45 is painful, yo. 85 is just a great excuse to run slower.
Dice and I are back on our $200 per week budget for eating out. I know it sounds like a lot, but eating out is something we love to do and, unfortunately, have very little self-control over. So a budget is kind of necessary to keep our spending under control. This week we’ve done pretty well so far: we’ve only spent $55, which leaves us a whopping $145 for the weekend. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough. Will report back on Monday!
06.25.09
Catching up from last week isn’t really all that hard to do, as it turns out.
Okay, I’m back! No thanks to Paulie. Heh. Not that there’s much to talk about, I did stuff this weekend but it was mostly drinking and lying on the couch. Friday night I went to the Glenwood by myself, sat at the bar and read my book and had a very tasty dish of tortellini in a garlic butter sauce. Then I went home and cleaned the house because really, what else does one do on a Friday night, right? Saturday I went running and then shopping. The most exciting thing that happened over the weekend was that Dice was supposed to land on Saturday night around 9:00 pm, but his flight was cancelled and he ended up getting another one the next morning. So instead of picking him up the Commune all went to a neighborhood party in the evening, and then to Holy Taco for a late dinner. Sunday morning I picked up Dice from the airport around 8:30 and then we spent most of the day relaxing until we went to F1 at P’Cheen in the afternoon. We had just enough time after the race ended to get to M&K’s for dinner. They made a low country boil which was pretty tasty and we had a good time hanging out.
Fitness-wise this week has been inexcusably lame. I took Sunday and Monday off, Tuesday was fine, I did weights and ran 5 miles, last night I got really bad cramps while running on the treadmill and had to cut it short. I know that some weeks just are off weeks, but I feel like this shouldn’t be one of those weeks. I will have to step it up today through Saturday in order to make up for my own lame-osity.
Last night we went to cheese dip for the first time in months. We haven’t been going because we have limited funds to spend going out, so we end up saving them for when we’re going out with friends. And our friends don’t really want to go to cheese dip anymore Although they’ve revamped the menu quite a bit, the major problem is that their cheese dip is awful now. It tastes like they put some sort of thickening agent in it, like flour or cornstarch. It’s actually too thick and it sits in your stomach like a rock. Plus I always end up drinking margaritas there which are loaded with calories, whereas at other Mexican places I will drink wine or beer. So I think cheese dip, alas, is going out of our rotation for a while. It’s sad, but since they’ve changed so many things, and not in a good way, it doesn’t feel like the old place anymore.
Can’t believe it’s Thursday already! I’ve been so busy at work that the week is flying by.
06.24.09
This is not really a blog post.
Sorry, folks. Have had no time or desire to update the blog lately. More soon!
06.19.09
Good week. Glad it’s over!
Hmph. I don’t know that I can be bothered to write a blog post today. I’m feeling lethargic, which I’m sure has to do with the continuing heat wave. It’s supposed to be 100 today with accompanying miserable humidity.
I would say I’ve had a pretty good week! The only downside to it was that I aged a year older. That part sucked, but the debauchery that heralded said aging was certainly fun! Last night after I got home from the gym and showered I took myself over to Solstice where I sat at the bar and read my book. That’s one of my favorite solo activities, although last night I wasn’t really feeling it. But I thought I should really get it in while Dice is gone. I had their Solstice salad which is composed of field greens, diced apples, strawberries and walnuts. Really tasty and summery. Then I had the chicken egg rolls, which I’ve had before and which I like because they’re actually pretty light. They’re not super greasy and their innards are chopped chicken and beans and rice. It hit the spot. I had two glasses of wine, both of which were lukewarm because I noticed the bartendress would bring out the bottle to pour a glass and then forget to put the bottle back in for, like, 10 minutes or longer. The first glass I had was pretty warm, so I switched to a different type hoping that that bottle maybe had been in the cooler longer. No such luck. I’m very sensitive to beverage temperatures, you know. I like all beverages to be either ice cold or boiling hot. I’m not too proud to put ice in my wine, folks. I have no shame. But I didn’t last night, I just drank it and went home like a good girl.
I have been kicking ASS in the gym this week, too! My speed is demonstrably faster, and my energy level is higher. Every single day I’ve been averaging 9:10 per mile, or faster, the entire run. Last night I did speed word and averaged at 9:00! I know that’s not going to break any records, but for me, that’s insanely fast. During my best fitness levels I never ran faster than 9:15 on an on-going basis. I just hope this keeps up. Tomorrow I’m planning to run early before the inferno kicks in, and hopefully get in some distance, since that’s the next aspect to work on.
