Another sign Netflix hates us

Neither of us put The Salton Sea in our queue. I specifically remember reading the summary and thinking, NOT something I want to see. When it showed up in our queue I thought maybe I'd added it accidentally . . .? So I removed it from the queue. Then today I see that it's back. I've removed it again and scheduled a Netflix exorcism for next week.

Weirdest Netflix recommendation yet

Because you enjoyed:
Bewitched Season 1
The Heart of the Game
Flannel Pajamas


We think you'll enjoy:
Rachel Ray: Fast and Light

The post for which I will hate myself in the morning

It’s 3 a.m.. I’d just gone to bed but my mind was buzzing with no end in sight. So I’m downstairs right now watching eczema and Medicare wheelchair commercials.

Just finished watching Atonement, a movie I really didn't want to see. But Anne said good things about it and a mood hit me and ultimately I thought it was beautiful. That shot when they first arrive on the beach--was that continuous? I should go back and watch that part--it was really striking. And even though she was in it for like 6 minutes, Vanessa Redgrave made that movie. 4 stars from moi. Don't think I'll be reading the book though unless someone says it's absolutely AMAZING and must be read.

(Why is The Tonight Show on again? Don't they have some bad 80s television they could rerun instead?)

We’re in Netflix purgatory. I don’t know what we did to piss them off, but they refuse to give us any of our first choices. We have about 7 movies that they consistently skip over and give us random things that we only vaguely want—hence Oceans 13. Even when there’s no wait for the movies. I’ve given up on Death at a Funeral and ordered it from the library. Someday perhaps.

I'm glad 30 Rock is still funny ("Suck it, Monkeys--I'm goin' corporate!") because The Office has really been going downhill. Two out of three episodes since the hiatus have been not funny at all.

I love that Julie is still gorgeous after hours and hours of labor. Congratulations Ben and Julie and Welcome, Sophia! In contrast to that tiny little new life my kids seem soooooo old. Moira will be ten this June. That’s DOUBLE DIGITS, people! I think I should feel old, but I don’t. I also like that Julie gives birth on previously established family birthdays which gives all of us fewer dates to remember. Happy Birthday, Sam! (And huge thanks from me for the time you gave up to read Ben's personal statement--Cheers, mate. Just kidding, that sounds so absolutely obnoxious coming from me--like Ben saying 'Peep this out.')

(Watching Ewan McGregor talk to Jay Leno with the sound off. He’s trying very hard to describe something with lots of hand gestures but it’s lost on me. Another Medicare wheelchair commercial . . .)

Feelings on Oxford (for Lauren). I know I’ve talked about this with various other people, so if you’ve heard it before, try to act surprised. (Ewan is back . . . more hand gestures . . . a map of France and Africa . . . gestures . . . yeah, no idea.) My biggest criteria for (oh, motorcycles—now I know what he’s talking about.) for where Ben went to school were a) a safe place to live b) good schools c) the esoteric ‘life experience for the kids’ category. (There’s a bit of thunder and lightening outside now—ooo.) Getting a ‘no’ from Berkeley was a big blow. I felt bad for Ben because he really wanted to work with Boyarin, but it was Evie that really crushed me. I was okay--feeling bummed but generally optimistic that things would work out uuuuuntil we told the kids. That’s when Evie said something like, “Oh, I really wanted to move to California ‘cause I’ve never seen the ocean and I really, really wanted to see the ocean.” That’s when I literally turned around and burst into tears. Up until that point I hadn’t realized how much I’d made this whole potential move thing about the kids. I want to give them experiences that I never got. I’ve traveled up and down the east coast (mostly in the car) and as far west as St. Louis. That’s it. Oh, I went to Canada for about 20 minutes. I’ve been to Disney World, D.C. and Chicago—don’t laugh at me. I’m pretty insecure about the whole life experience thing because of money issues. We don’t have the cash for travel and I don’t imagine we will for quite a while so wherever we moved was going to be about it. Berkeley seemed so exotic—totally different climate, lots of liberal hippies to fit in with, the ocean (even though I told them it was too cold to swim in and the beach was probably covered in hypodermic needles) and, dammit, I wanted them to see the Golden Gate Bridge and then Redwoods and then sea otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Something more than Columbus, Land of the Strip Mall.

Ooo, this post is gonna be long. (Hmm, local celebrities I should know but don’t. Need to learn how to read lips more effectively . . . or turn on the volume. Who the what?!? A band on Jay Leno with skulls and bones all over their mic stands. Volume on. You sad people, talent would go a lot farther than your pathetic attempt at shock decor. Oh, it’s Seether. My previous critique still stands. Bear attacks and kills trainer—and I should be surprised? Harrison Ford has soooo gone down in my opinion since I realized he was with Calista Flockhart. Yuck.)

So Oxford is obviously a HUGE step in the life experience arena. I really hope finances work out and we can follow Ben there. There is a remote chance that funding for housing would make it so that we would stay behind for a year and that would be a total bummer. Obviously he’s hoping that the M.St. will lead into a doctorate and at that point he’d be able to apply for a lot more financial aid and then we’d definitely be there. It’s just this first year that would be rough since he applied so late and missed the 2008 funding opportunities. BUT I’m pretty sure we’ll be going and I REALLY hope it will be a positive experience for the girls. What if we move there and they go to a school where the kids are jerks and all they want to do is go back to Columbus? That would suck. It also sucks that my brain has to detail and categorize every potential bad thing that could happen including plane crashes and (Rod Stewart? Some people never go away.) . . . And there are lots of stressful things that must go on, like deciding what limited possessions we can transport, storing our less limited possessions in the meantime, finding a home for our dog (*sob*), etc.

I’m absolutely thrilled that Ben got in and terribly excited about going. But I’m also sad about leaving so many people behind and robbing them of their chances to experience our kids at their still cute stage—‘cause our kids rock and I know that people only really want to visit them and we’re just the tag-alongs. I haven’t told my parents yet—my mom really didn’t want us to move to California let alone to another continent. And there are a couple grandparents on both sides who are rapidly aging and I feel sad about missing out on what may be our last chances to be together. (Are old people really up at this time of night because there are A LOT of those wheelchair ads. Ew, Harrison Ford getting his chest waxed . . . in order to bring attention to deforestation? No, I shake my head at this horror, I shake my head. He has a nice torso though for being 102.)

It’s now 4:15 and I think I’m going to try to go to bed now. Television is just too disturbing and I have to get up in 2 hours. (AAA! Madonna is stealing more children from Africa?)

Gotta go!

P.S. Ben got free student tickets to see Al Gore when he comes into town. He and Moira are going, which I think is a perfect father-daughter outing for those two. She is going to have SUCH a good time. (Hey, that’s a life experience for FREE!)

In case you'd forgotten he even has a blog

Ben has a new post . . . and it's important. Hint, hint.

Half of an unposted but now posted post from Saturday

Ben did a milk run at the store and that allowed me to eat the breakfast of my choice—leftovers! For some reason he finds the smells of traditionally dinnery sorts of foods to be offensive early in the morning. Bizarre. So I had chole and samosas and puri. Combine that with coffee and I must have just about the worst breath ever. I can’t wait until he gets home so I can say, “Hhhhhhhhhhi, hhhhhhhhoney.” No, never mind, that’d be cruel.

Last night we went to the park for a picnic with the Pandits. (That was a lot of Ps) They were busy around Evie’s birthday so this was a delayed celebration. Anita was so sweet to make all the food AND make it non-spicy for Evie. For an Indian that is really, really difficult—like some genetic impossibility.

"Metabolically it's not in my rhythm." My favorite line from a movie I've never seen. All this time I've been hating Husbands and Wives when it was Deconstructing Harry that we saw and were appalled by. Anyway, saw Judy Davis say that in the trailer when I was 15 and it has stuck with me ever since. One of the best things a person could say to turn somebody down. "Kiss you? Sorry, metabolically not in my rhythm." "Come to your ladies bowling night? Sorry, metabolically not in my rhythm." That's right up there with Jack Handy-- "To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, 'Hey, can you give me a hand?' you can say, 'Sorry, got these sacks.'" Can't tell you how many times I've used that one to get out of a tight situation--and I don't even carry sacks around, I just say it and walk away.

If you get expensive enough decaf coffee, it doesn’t taste like camel piss. Really. I wouldn’t say that it tastes like good coffee, but one isn’t really expecting that with decaf anyway.

Slippers can be nice.

Did you know that Jeremy Irons is in Elizabeth I with Helen Mirren? That’s like a bisexual bonanza right there.

I didn’t just say that—you must have misread.

(Hmmm, forget that--watched about an hour of Elizabeth and twas boring.)

I wish I could go to sleep and wake up to a world without Hillary Clinton—like it was all just a bad dream.

Speaking of dreams, I had this nightmare last night that we were living in a South American dictatorial country of some sort. We had offended a sunglass-wearing general and he was sending our kids to prison. It sounds stupid but in the dream it was heart wrenching. So I’m going to take it as a sign to catch up on my Amnesty International petitions. That is definitely one area where letters make a difference. (Believe, Mandy!)

I was going to post pictures of Evie's birthday

but Ben has the laptop hooked up to the internet instead of the desktop and that's where all my photos are. Sooooo, instead I'll just say that, if you haven't been watching the Colbert Report from Pennsylvania, shame on you. Go back and watch it. Here is John Edwards being hilarious (I love the way he says 'spy')--

Evangeline Lilly Wins 'Best Wet T-Shirt Fight Scene' at Strong Women in TV Awards

Evangeline Lilly Wins 'Best Wet T-Shirt Fight Scene' At Strong Women In TV Awards

Reading . . . books

Okay, but first about reading the news. For years my news came solely through NPR, not the written word. So I think part of my brain atrophied and now I see newsy things in print and don't recognize them--like Mugabe. My brain sees that and says something like Muggabee. Thus, it's taken a lot of mental work to read about Zimbabwe lately. Or is it Zimmbubwee?

Now to that book thing. I recently finished the Amber Spyglass so I'm rid of Philip Pullman now--FOREVER. I'm definitely coming down on Ben K's side on this. What the heck?!? I found a few chapters interesting (I'm speaking total--all three books) and the rest was either Blah, Blah, Blah or downright annoying. He has a singular gift for undoing his own dramatic climaxes. He works the situations up to the point where things are exciting and there's tension and then BAM! let's it fall flat. Especially in the last book--the epic battle to save existence as we know it followed by a denouement so long and boring it almost brought me to tears. Self-sabotage. And in trying to be interesting and inventive, he really did skip all over the place and put in ghastly amounts of tedious and unnecessary details. Blah, blah, blah. I really wished I had just seen the movie. I think I might have thought it was a fun film and left it at that. Now I'm so sick of Lyra and Will and everybody else that I never want to hear them mentioned again let alone watch the movie. Ugh.

Now I'm reading Vanity Fair (the book not the magazine) and actually enjoying it. I typically don't like, you know, old stuff. (Please say that like a valley girl.) And I know that makes me seem like I have a double digit I.Q. and a personality with all the depth of a puddle BUT I don't care. I have modernist, post-modernist, whatever-modernist taste when it comes to literature. But I saw Vanity Fair the not so good movie with Reese Witherspoon and came away thinking that, although it was butchered on screen, I bet the book was pretty good. And it is. It's like Jane Austen but with a protagonist who's selfish and scheming and fabulously manipulative--so there's a lot less gooey sentimentality and romance. And it mocks just about everybody and that's refreshing, because something about empire waist dresses makes people take themselves far too seriously.

See?

And just for kicks, I'll end on this--

Snarf

I was a little behind on my 3rd Chair Trombone reading, but now I'm all caught up and I must say that this post almost made me shoot white wine out my nose.

New post from Moira soon but until then

pop by her blog to watch the video she put up. Last Saturday she got a Community Champion Award from the city of Dublin and had her name publicly butchered yet again. (One plus if we actually did move to England--everyone would know how to pronounce her name.) But on the video you can't really hear them say her name anyway. So go say congratulations and I'll let her give you all the details on her blog when she takes some time out of her very busy schedule of enjoying the spring weather OUTDOORS--yay!

Idol Gives Back (the only good part)

ANNIE LENNOX!


I'll be honest and say I didn't watch much of anything else on the show. I only found out she was going to be on yesterday by a freak accident and then I went and forgot. BUT I came in from playing outside with the kids and Ben had it on and I sat down JUST at the right time to see Bono introduce her--dude, without the sunglasses he looks like a little old man. Sooooo glad to hear her hit those high notes beautifully. The last few times I've seen her live I was afraid she was losing some of her range. Nope.

Well, that's as close to American Idol watching as I come.

4:30 a.m.

is a NOT an okay time for a robin to start singing . . . loudly . . . over and over and over again until you wish you had a shotgun and weren't such a pacifist. NOT okay, Mr. Robin. And it shows a certain level of desperation that can't be attractive to a female robin. Get a clue, Romeo, wait for sunlight before you start mouthin' off.

Definitely the bumper sticker for Mandy