| ||||||
| Just ran into the only person who would call me "dressed up" in a knee-length skirt, heels, and sweater: the local grocery store stockworker. He has insisted on making conversation with me for the past few months whenever I drop by for last-minute groceries, and I have begrudgingly returned the superficial chatter--begrudgingly precisely because he always catches me just as I'm running some near-forgotten errand, all a mess, hair haphazardly combed back, no makeup, wearing a mismatched hoodie and jeans, and do not expect to really be seen by or talk to anyone. It's funny too, because I guess I've been more prone to dressing casually lately--at my previous grocery store, I would always come in wearing dresses and jewelry (ie, whatever I was wearing that day anyway) and sometimes feel a bit silly looking so put-together in the midst of shoppers in sweatpants. Still, the idea that someone would see me in my kinda-everyday "teaching class" outfits and call me "dressed up" is rather amusing to me. Mostly it's the other way around, and people are shocked when they catch me wearing jeans and a t-shirt. | ||||||
Spill your mind: 1 Dry Martini or Pour me a double   |
House of Pomegranates
|
|||||||||||||
November 16th, 2009
November 10th, 2009
| ||||||
So, in my last entry I said I was going down to Philadelphia this weekend to see ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} trillian_stars's play (and also pick up a lost sketchbook). Well, that didn't happen. That is, I went to Philly all right, but got stuck in traffic, and after realizing I'd only get there half an hour after the play started, changed my ticket reservations for next Friday instead. I did, however, get to attend shvetufae's birthday dinner, which was lovely. At one point the conversation turned to the Twilight franchise, and I noted that I think vampires have reached their peak saturation point, and that the next undead badguys to get sexified should be zombies. Not only would this be hilariously awful and cause a lot of male outrage (since zombies seem to have been claimed as the undead of choice, with somewhat bewildering uniformity, by boys everywhere), but it would be exceedingly easy to do! As an example I present to you my idea for the next Sexy Zombie YA novel (all and any ridiculousness quite intentional): First off, sexifying the zombie. If vampires' deathly pallor and clammy bodies can be described as "beautiful like cold marble" and they now sparkle, well, then my zombies have "beautiful translucent skin" and smell like dried jasmine and roses. Ex: "A delicate, slightly morbid but entirely intoxicating scent emanated from him as he moved, reminiscent of dried flowers. Despite the faint breath of death the scent carried, it exerted a heady fascination. His skin was softly translucent, almost silvery, like the moon half-hidden by clouds." His eyes? Likewise a "sharp, clear silver." Second off, our heroine. She is, of course, an "adorably quirky, smart-mouthed misfit tomboy." She has an endearing bobbed haircut, wears running shoes with dresses (when she wears dresses), sports large men's t-shirts that she modifies with scissors and shoelaces, and "doesn't believe in romance" ever since her parents divorced. She thinks that "True love is the same as Santa Claus, except your parents tend to respect you enough to stop trying to convince you that the latter exists after you turn 7. Why do you think you only read about it in fairy tales?" Let's call her "Lauralie Westwick." She insists on going by "Laurie" in homage to her favorite Little Women character. (Another possibility: her name is "Aurora" and she wants to go by "Rory.") Her mother despairingly tells her that she "could be such a pretty girl" if she just "got her hair out of her face" and "didn't dress in old men's clothes" but of course Laurie scoffs at that sort of thing. And of course all the boys at school secretly have crushes on her anyway. The Non-Romance Part: If I'm going to stick to Twilight tradition, there has to be time spent in school and on boring everyday stuff, etc. Thus, Laurie's best friend from childhood: David. Kind of geeky, kind of withdrawn from other people, very socially awkward, but sympathetically so. He will not like our Zombie Lover Hero when he enters the scene, and parts of the book not engaged in undead romance will deal with the vagaries of teenage friendship: the jealousy spawned through the intense attachment of highschool best-friends, the insecurities, the question of prioritizing relationships and balancing old ones and new ones. Finally, the Romance: Our Hero and Heroine were Star-Crossed Lovers in a Previous Life, until a curse killed the Hero and stipulated that they'd "remain forever apart, in life and in death." When did they live? Who knows, who cares? Some Romantic Faraway Period! Like the 1920s. What was the reason for the curse? Also, who knows? I'll think of something. Running afoul of a voodoo cartel through some kind of Bonnie and Clyde style capers (but without the robberies) in New Orleans, something. The important thing is that the Hero (let's call him something suitably "exotic" like Nathanael Clarence) dies--but--!!!--death cannot overcome his True Love's Heart, and his heart remains living, beating in chest even as he lies dead. Meanwhile, Lauralie dies in her turn, and is reincarnated. When she chances by the cemetery where Nathanael is buried, his living heart feels her presence, and calls him out of his grave. Thus he is literally reanimated as a zombie through his Undying Love. Laurie and Nathanael meet, have an undeniable attraction, grapple with the "oh noes!" of "he's a zombie and she's human!" and Laurie begins to find out more about her past self. All the while, of course, parents and boys at school continue to be annoying. Part of the magical properties that Nathanael possesses due to his Living Heart is that he does not decompose, and does not need to eat brains, etc. Also, he is super stealthy and super fast. Why? Just cause. Laurie and Nathanel try to figure out how they can undo the whole "apart in death and in life" thing, and whether Nathanael's current reanimated nondecomposing state is permanent (but then how will they ever explain his agelessness to anyone?), or temporary (and then what do they do?). All of this is complicated when we find out that a host of Evil Normal Zombies is hunting for Nathanael, intending to eat his heart. For to partake of a heart that has Overcome Death will make them immortal super-zombies like Nathanael, forever. There are some zombies who are not evil, however, and Laurie learns that cases like Nathanael's have happened before, and what a partially living zombie like Nathanael is called is an animaton. Animaton existence is not permanent: over time, the animaton regresses to regular zombie, unless he/she can somehow ingest the living heart of another animaton, and even that is more myth than proven remedy. (Oh, do you see where this is going? Do you? Yes it as as gristly as you may be thinking, but it will be done out of Love!) As Laurie and Nathanael try to come to terms with all this, Nathanael's living heart gradually starts to give out, and he becomes susceptible to a hunger for human brains and flesh, etc, as well as slowly losing feeling throughout his body. As such, if he does not eat brains, Nathanael will become paralyzed and go back to his dead state. (This is why zombies need brains, of course.) This will lead to Laurie eventually exclaiming "I'm beginning to think you only want me for my brains!" during a spat. How does it end? Oh, you know,it'll work itself out. Of course the obvious the resolution to the "apart in life and in death" curse is that Laurie and Nathanael can meet in the in-between state of un-death, and of course if Nathanael turns Laurie into a zombie and her love is equally true, they can sacrifice their hearts to each other. I'm not sure whether I'd want to pay homage to Stephenie Meyer's horror-porntastic birth scene and have them simultaneously eat each others' hearts out, or some through with some less disgusting way to settle the deal. I'm sure it would be possible to come up with SOMETHING. So, d'you all think I could get a book deal out of this or not? :-P | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 6 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
October 30th, 2009
| ||||||||
| So the last few weeks have been pretty fun, and have also involved more-than-usual frequency of trips to Philadelphia. (Coincidence?) I'm not planning on going to Philadelphia this weekend, but as it will be Halloween, I have hopes it will still be pretty spectacular. The last thing of note that happened since I updated is that I went to see Mika. That was in most respects a lucky, lucky night. I decided to only see him in Philly because I didn't want to pay the New York prices and forgot to watch out for the presale, so I would only have been 12th row or so. However, when the day of the concert came about, I ended up choosing extra sleepover getting to the venue early, and then procrastinated some more, and ended up only showing up about half an hour before doors. I took my place in the back of the line, but went to say hi to the people I knew at the front, who'd been lining up since morning: ( This is what being on your feet since 8 am looks like ) As I was talking with them, it turned out that one of them was actually invited to be part of the show for the night, and she offered me her spot in line. ( My awesome line-sponsor ) So despite arriving just before doors, I ended up in the very front. Score! I made sure when we filed in that everyone who had been there since morning was in front of me, but I still got 2nd row, which was much better than anything I could hope for better. And then the show itself was amazing. The other reason I chose Philly over New York is that I feel Mika always puts on incredible shows here, and this time I had several New Yorkers who'd just seen him a night ago to concur. He's never distracted in Philly, and he always has this wonderful energy. This time he also looked like he was having a great amount of fun being up there, which is one of my most important factors in how much I enjoy a show. And the songs were terrific live. His first album I loved on CD, but I wasn't sure about the second one--I liked it a fair bit, but I didn't love it. Live though? Totally different story. All the songs were catchy as hell, engaging and compulsively danceable. I spent the entire show grinning and jumping, even in heels. The only downside is that now I will have to spend a lot more money on seeing Mika on future tours. The tour itself was also fun. I'm a bit worried that in 5 years Mika may turn into Madonna, but this was a good mix of fun stage play and basic performance. All the costumes on this tour were black and white, and there was a lot of blacklight used (and a lot of glow-in-the-dark makeup), and the overall set had a space theme. After an intro with the band watching a 60s era broadcast about a rocket launch in a retro living room set, Mika came on stage in a space costume, among hundreds of balloons strung up and painted in fluorescent pain to look like planets. He ditched the spacesuit immediately, but the planets remained on stage, and were used to very aesthetically pleasing effect. ( Some crappy blurry shots from my cellphone, and a few borrowed better photos. ) After the show, I stayed behind the venue with the others for a while, waiting for Mika to come out, but he was taking his sweet time, and there was an intimidatingly huge crowd there. I also had plans to meet up with portableteejay and some others at a bar, and as it grew chillier, going to bar looked more and more appealing. I had told myself earlier in the night that I wouldn't wait more than half an hour for Mika and I already waited longer than that, so I decided to bail. Considering I usually get disappointed with my experience when I do see him, it wasn't a big loss. (Also, Teejay called me and was whiny about how all his friends were leaving. :-p) I asked hailed Mika's manager as he was walking outside and asked him to pass the card I brought on to Mika and left.By the time I got to the bar, sure enough pretty much everyone had gone, so that was disappointing. I had wanted to see some of the people who'd left. Instead, Teej and I chatted and his bartender friend very nicely supplied me with free shots up until I got sleepy, and we had to head back. Then the next weekend, it was kylecassidy's and trillian_stars's wedding party, and it sounded so fun that on a whim I decided to come, even though I'd only met Kyle once before and Trillian not at all. (But all the more reason to come down and do so!)Kyle and Trillian encouraged people to arrive in ball gowns, and how often do you have parties where there are ball gowns involved? I did not wear a ball gown, however, but the black gothy ensemble of the last post. When I arrived at the venue, a songstress named Nicki Jaine was performing a beautiful cabaret number. And there were indeed many people in fancy dress. ( Bustles ahoy! ) Kyle, to my surprise, remembered me and knew who I was, and even Trillian seemed to, which totally ruined the story I was telling everyone about how I was crashing their party. ;-) Trillian was dressed gorgeously as always, and looked like a princess from a storybook. Kyle wore ruffled cuffs. :-P I will now share a lot more photos of them with you. ( Read more... ) The party wound down around 8-9 pm, and at that point I left and went over to Teejay's again, to watch Dollhouse. Because he is convenient! Have to say, Kyle and Trillian have wonderful friends. Even though I did not know anyone, it was easy to mingle and everyone I spoke to was interesting and engaging, and it is rather sad I am not likely to run into some of these lovely people again. I might, however, run into Trillian again quite soon, as I left my sketchbook at the party, and will have to return to pick it up--and plan on making that return coincide with taking in a performance of her play. | ||||||||
| Spill your mind: 1 Dry Martini or Pour me a double |
October 22nd, 2009
| ||||||||
| Anna: I don't know what to be for Halloween! Me: You should dress up as Madonna. Anna: I don't have any of the clothes to be Madonna. Me: Hmm. I guess I'm just saying that 'cause I do. Anna: You have the clothes to be Madonna at EVERY STAGE OF HER CAREER. Concurrently. | ||||||||
| Spill your mind: 8 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
October 21st, 2009
| ||||||||
| I just found a shoujo manga about the Russian poet Pushkin!!! And his Amazing Love Story with Natalia. BY CHIHO FREAKIN' SAITO. I have always joked that Pushkin makes a great romantic subject, what with his genius, his numerous political exiles and even more numerous romantic dalliances, his marriage to the most beautiful woman in Moscow and his death in a duel over said woman, but it took the Japanese to really go that one step further and make it into a manga. God I love Japan. They have made manga/anime adaptations of EVERYTHING. Pushkin now joins Oscar Wilde and David Bowie as "men I love that the Japanese have made shoujo manga about." Oh God, does this mean there is a shoujo manga of Neil Gaiman somewhere out there as well?!!! It must. I bet there is a manga about him and Amanda Palmer being drawn as we speak. Oh God. Anyway! You can read this manga in English translation online!  http://manga.animea.net/bronze-no-tensh It's called BRONZE ANGEL. Because Pushkin was part-black, you know. OHMYGOD. SO EXCITED.  If they DID make a manga of it, I am glad they made him brown. It's not like it's gonna be accurate anyway, and that's an aesthetic choice that pleases me. They straightened his hair though. lololol. ( To see what Pushkin and Natalia really looked like, click here. ) Other things that please me: ( Thing One. ) BENKENDORF is in it. HAHAHA omg. The chief of Russian secret police. Oh goodness. In a shoujo manga. But also, good research, lady! Everything said on this page is true. This makes me happy--Chiho Saito seems to know what she's talking about, so I'm much more ok with her changing whatever else around knowing she must be familiar with the events as they did in fact occur. ( Thing Two. ) Pushkin being termed a heart-breaker and playboy. YES. The "black monkey" thing is unfortunate but also quite accurate. :-/ So, um, props to Chiho Saito for also getting her research right on the slurs used against him? (Although no one would have said it at a ball, but I don't care.) ( Thing Three. ) OMG. He meets Natalia Cinderella-style, and DEMANDS TO SEE HER FOOT. Oh my god that is AMAZING. I thought I was the only one to make fun of him for his foot fetish. Chiho Saito I LOVE YOU. And the fact that it takes either a good biography or a pretty thorough familiarity with his poetry to know that he had a thing for feet, and I LOVE that she'd use that. Without knowing of his predilection there, this just seems cliche, but knowing it, it's.... ahhhhhh. Love. And he's pushy! And kinda arrogant and rakish! YESSssssssss. Ohhhh, are we gonna have a whole bunch of exoticizing Orientalism on the subject of Pushkin's ancestry? YOU BETCHA. It's probably fairly accurate though, and appropriate payback, since it's not like Pushkin didn't indulge in a good bit of classic Romantic-era Orientalism himself. (I gotta say, one of the stranger byproducts of me growing up in Russia is that I managed to experience a fair amount of Orientalizing a child, and I'm WHITE. But I have dark hair and really dark eyes, and in Russia that apparently makes you exotic. I have been called a gypsy or an Indian or a Muslim as far back as I can remember by various adults--mostly a gypsy. It has always been a complimentary thing, but still kind of bizarre. And from all the commenting done on my eyes, you'd think people had never seen black eyes before. People would stop me on the street to remark how black my eyes were and make stupid wisecracks about it. Anyway, I can't tell if this makes me like this whole "bronze skin oooooooh" motif in the manga, or just be all the more annoyed with it. A little of both.) Sometime later I make make a post about how I've kinda had the hots for Pushkin ever since I was a child (my reaction to all the talk of how ugly he was considered/thought himself to be was always "what? but he's really very handsome!"), which is possibly why I find the idea of a shoujo manga about him so giddy-making. | ||||||||
| Spill your mind: 20 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
October 18th, 2009
| ||||||
Yeah, my posts are deep lately. Robert Downey Jr. I think at one time I said I could never take my eyes off him on-screen, but that I was not actually attracted to him in that way. Yeah, nevermind that. This is a photo of him when he was relatively young, but he goes on this list as "always and forever." And I don't even care that he's conservative and good friends with Mel Gibson. Anyway, Robert Downey Jr=guh. Y'all can keep your Johnny Depps. I find Johnny Depp pretty magnetic on-screen as well, but totally ignorable when out of character. Robert Downey Jr is just hypnotic no matter what.  A. S. Pushkin. Yeah. Um. I don't really want to explain this one. Just... leave me alone.  Marc Bolan. For old times' sake, and in general. Not during the coke years, though. Or the cheeseburger years, for that matter. Yeah, that's it for now. | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 3 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
October 17th, 2009
| ||||||
| I'm going to see Mika in Philly on Sunday! Not looking forward to queuing in the cold, though. I won a gorgeous 50s dress off Ebay for my Lydia costume, and it got here already, in two days' time. Which is all wonderful, except: it doesn't fit. Which is especially annoying as I had been trying to be a smart buyer: I made sure that the measurements were compatible, and I really thought if anything, the dress would be slightly too big. It was advertised as fitting a modern size 4, and I am usually a little bit under a 4. In fact, I had just recently gone bridesmaid dress shopping with a friend, and even in bridal formal wear sizes (which tend to run smaller than mall sizing), I was between a 2-4, but definitely fit into a 4 with some room to spare. So the point is: I tried to be really careful before I bought it, and yet the dress is still too small. I am not sending it back though. I want to wear it, dammit. ( Not just for Halloween ) So instead I am going to try taking it to a seamstress. The bodice actually looks like it was taken in near the zipper, so maybe just letting it out will widen it enough to fit, but if not, it very conveniently comes with a bolero that can be repurposed to widen the bodice. In non-dressy news, I'm liking Dollhouse a lot more this season. It's finally moving away from Engagement-of-the-Week storylines, and dealing with the various moral, ethical and philosophical ramifications of Dollhouse technology. The most recent episode was all about sexual politics, the previous one was about the mind-body split and the question of where memory and personality resides, and what happens when an imprint goes beyond its intended function to become its own new person--neither the original body nor the original imprint. Unfortunately, it seems that this has to be accompanied by ridiculous plot holes, such as a university professor somehow having the resources to hire a doll, or a businessman hiring a doll for a seemingly open-ended ongoing assignment (that's crazy expensive, who could ever afford that?), and also the Dollhouse having HORRIBLE security that allows Dolls to escape and run amok without any good system in place for bringing them back. The good things that come with this: I now love Topher. Have also reconciled with Boyd, mostly because he continuously shows himself to be so much above Ballard in every possible way. I continue to love Adelle, but I've never wavered in my love for Adelle. She might be the first fictional female character I could say I have a crush on. I keep saying I am straight lately, but that's only because I cannot meet a woman like Adelle. I want to marry her so hard. I mean, look at her:   If I can't have her, I guess I'd settle for Boyd. (My love for Topher is more motherly, although he's totally adorable. Anyone who can't bring himself to say "erection" is not anyone I'd ever see in a sexual way, however.) I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be drooling over Echo or Ballard instead, but they are both insipid and of no interest to me whatsoever. (I like Amy Acker's Dr. Saunders a lot too, but that's a bit too much crazy for me.) I still think that if it gets canceled after this season it will be more than understandable, but at least I am now really enjoying watching each episode. | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 3 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
September 30th, 2009
| ||||||
| neilhimself @JackViolet (shrugs). I think he should have done the time or appealed in the US. He was convicted of raping a 13 year old girl. So I can continue reading books. I just... don't really want to watch movies. Ugh. So much disappointment in people. Whoopi Goldberg. Natalie Portman. Gael Garcia Bernal. Pedro Almodovar. Neil Jordan. Tilda Swinton. Dammit. | ||||||
| Spill your mind: Pour me a double |
August 26th, 2009
| ||||||
| After attending a soup party thrown by some friends in my honor, I went over to another friend's place. "So, do you feel older yet?" he joked as we walked into his house. "She just had a birthday," he clarified for the two other people in the living room. "Oh, did you just turn 21?" a girl asked. My friend and I laughed. "No." "Well, I'm over 21, I can get you a drink!" the girl volunteered. HA. (For purposes of truth I should say actually the friend first suggested we go to a bar, and since I'm currently on antibiotics I said "Okay, but remember I can't drink," and only then did the girl make her offer, but still. Ha.) | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 8 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
August 19th, 2009
| ||||||||
Goal: to lose 3-5 lbs so that I'll weigh 115-117lbs. Preventing me: I'm lazy. I'm only answering this question to highlight that it's SO STUPID. I hate the mockery that corporate sponsorship is making of an initially interesting idea (writer's block prompts). SERIOUSLY? Fitness goals? Because the one thing LJ needs is more opportunity for everyone to publicly complain about how fat they feel. Almost as good as the "what do you like about your body" prompt last week, which was half full of dramatically self-abnegating answers like "nothing" or "my ears," and half full of "it's sexxii!" because... yeahhhh, your body's use as a sex object is what gives it positive value. Sigh. | ||||||||
| Spill your mind: 3 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
August 15th, 2009
| ||||||
| Yeah, yeah, I know, a month after everyone else. Wow, though. This was the first Dollhouse episode I've ever seen that I felt was as good as an episode of Firefly, and that felt as wholly realized. And am in agreement with the people who said this episode showed that Whedon did know where he was going with the concept, and if the second season sticks to developing this version of Dollhouse, it will be worth watching. Really makes me feel now though that all of first season was just... a confusing groping in the dark between him and the network. Like he came to them and said "hey I have this idea!" and they said "ok, cool, but that's a lot to take in all at once, and kind of difficult to introduce, and most people will need a lot of explanation and set up." And he said "hmmm, yes, you're right," and then went far too far in dumbing it down and putting in filler. I mean, if this is where the whole concept was headed, I think what we actually got in Season 1 should have taken up... 3-4 episodes, tops. | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 5 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
June 6th, 2009
| ||||||||
| Watched the pilot episode of "Glee" tonight. Man, what crap. I was kind of impressed though at how the writers didn't even bother making up their own characters for the kids and just borrowed them all from someone else. The Sassy! Singing! Black girl! was brought to you courtesy of pretty much every other tv show ever. Poor thing never got to say a line that wasn't some sort of sassy comeback accompanied by a lot of eye rolling and snapping and hip thrusting and so on. I was worried the actress was getting whiplash by the end of the episode from all the hand-waving and nodding she was doing. The unpopular-but-pretty bossy whitebread overachiever, always dressed in conservative necklines but cute flippy skirts, was straight out of "Election." I imagine her casting description read "Tracy Flick with brown hair." The punky Asian girl with blue streaks in her hair and lesbian tendencies? A teenage copy of "Chuck's" Anna Wu (right down to the way she dressed). The Gay Fashionista with an Emo Haircut was "Ugly Betty's" nephew grown up, and stripped of all his endearing qualities. Although I do think it's interesting that a gay kid is a required stock character in high school shows now. Even just 5 years ago it wasn't like that. The Kid in the Wheelchair didn't even have a personality. He was just a kid in a wheelchair. Usually he'd be in the background, but here they made him part of the regular main cast. However, not being able to come up with any character depth for him on their own, they decided he could do without. Finally we had the Sensitive Jock, who was no one in particular, but has been a beloved staple of teen movie/tv show fare for decades now. And of course despite there being no reason why any of these characters should be the leads of the show while others aren't (the teacher who runs the glee club, sure, but the kids are an ensemble cast), of course the episode focused on the two "mainstream pretty" kids: ie, the jock and the preppy overachiever. We didn't learn a single thing about the homelife or private life or ANYTHING of the other four. Awesome. Meanwhile, something that IS awesome:  Isn't that adorable? | ||||||||
| Spill your mind: 11 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
June 3rd, 2009
| ||||||
| So exhausting in fact, that it shall be told in bullet format: -Up at 4:30 am, after about 4 hours of sleep -Worked as poll officiant 16 hrs straight, till 8:30pm -Headache after argument after argument after argument: constant calling of lawyers and contesting of rules, oiiiii. -In the end, we won an estimated 25-28 of the seats we were going for! 29 would give us a majority, but even if we only get 25, that is a sizeable chunk of the pie! Hurrah! -Celebration banquet and party with equally exhausted people afterward. In case you all forgot what I'm talking about, it's this. I reported to the polling place as a poll worker for the Republican party expecting to have a tedious, dull day of routine paper pushing. Instead it was a full on battle. By doing absolutely nothing more than sticking strictly to the rule book, I managed to enrage the incumbent Democrat candidates and challengers to the point that they were threatening to call the lawyers any time I attempted to help a voter, because I was "biased in favor of the challenging Democratic candidates." Even though the only thing I ever did was explain how to use the machines to properly vote, and how exactly to enter write-in candidates. (Of course the write-ins were the competition, so no wonder the incumbents didn't want voters getting help with that. No wonder, but illegal.) I should say that New Brunswick is such an overwhelmingly Democratic city that we had, oh, something all of 10 Republicans come out and vote. No one challenged them, no one cared--and the other "Republican" poll worker was as Republican as I am. However, the race between the different Democrat slates, oh my! All I did was try to make sure everything was done according to the rules, and that the election was conducted fairly and to the letter. This was a problem considering that the incumbent party's challengers kept making up rules and insisting they were real. They tried to kick D4C candidates out of the polling place and prevent them from acting as challengers because they did not have badges, despite the fact that the rulebook states candidates were automatic challengers and did not require badges. They tried to prevent recently moved voters from filling out provisional ballots. They insisted only the poll worker with the highest seniority could provide assistance to voters in operating the machines, and raised holy hell when I ever approached such voters--even though the rules state that a voter needing assistance was to be helped by a poll worker from each party (ie, me, and another Democrat poll worker). And even though, in deference to their tantrums, I let the other poll worker provide all the assistance, and only watched silently to make sure it was done correctly. (It was. Happily the other poll workers in my specific district were both competent and neutral.) Some of the other poll workers, also new, would take the insistent and confidently delivered statements of these "rules" at face value, but I would just turn to our official rulebook and double check every such pronouncement, and sure enough, usually it was completely untrue. That is all I did, and I was in arguments with their lawyers and under threat of them calling the Board of Elections to remove me for partisanship during most of the day. I was indeed friends with most of the challenging slate's candidates and campaign-people (and had helped with the campaign), but as far as my office as poll worker went, I bent over backwards not to be partial--even going so far as to specifically ask other poll workers to help voters out when I knew they would be likely to vote for D4C candidates. And several times I had to watch as elderly people that I knew had come to vote for D4C candidates cast their ballots for other candidates by mistake, and I didn't say a peep, because unless they ask for help in casting their ballot, I am not allowed to provide it. (Specifically, a man came in carrying a D4C pamphlet and said that his friends told him "to go out and vote," but seemed confused about the candidates. He asked for information on the candidates, but we are not allowed to provide that at the polls. He knew he wanted to vote against the incumbent Democrats, but asked to be affiliated with the Republican party. I tried to explain that if he affiliated that way, he could only vote on the Republican ticket, where most of the candidates were running unopposed, but that if he affiliated as Democrat, he could choose from several Democratic slates. He still insisted on affiliating as Republican, and so of course I had to let him, as I do not break rules and do not tell people how to vote.) Anyway, that was disappointing, but other incidents were much more fruitful, and I was happy to have been able to stop the incumbent challengers from making stuff up and throwing their weight around to enforce their fictional rules. And whole we didn't win all 56 seats, even taking half from an old guard used to running unopposed and taking their offices for granted is a pretty grand thing. Hurrah! D4C candidates and campaigners went out week after week and canvassed every neighborhood, knocked on every door, went to the ghettos and the projects as well as student dorms and condos; sent out Spanish-speakers and Russian-speakers to approach non-English-speaking residents, and overall made a solid attempt to reach every level of the city community, and it paid off. How well they'll be able to put this to use we'll see in the next two years... Now off to SLEEP FOREVER. | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 1 Dry Martini or Pour me a double |
May 30th, 2009
| ||||||||
| I was actually going to make a post on depressing Russian movies, and why American movies on the same subjects never manage to be quite as hopeless and bleak, but instead decided to post on the more upbeat movies today. If America can't outdo Russian bleakness, they also can't really outdo wholesome Russian optimism, as done in Soviet-era children's films. American upbeat children's films tend more towards the syrupy and the saccharine, but they don't have the same type of bright-eyed joyful optimism about the FUTURE. Now, of course the ideology behind this joyful positivism is problematic, but dammit, I miss it sometimes. The books and movies of my childhood that weren't depressing and brooding were UPBEAT and they Believed In Revolution and The Future and how we would Make It Awesome, and that is a feeling that's really quite rare and precious in its way. (What kept a lot of these stories from being saccharine, is that unlike American kids' fiction, they weren't afraid of dealing with serious or dark subjects when they needed to, it's just that Good triumphed in the end.) Anyway, the point is, it's time for more Russian music videos! This was one of my favorite movies for a while, and this was definitely my favorite song for an even longer while. I kept making my mother sing it to me over and over. Song About Bears: Somewhere in the wide world There, where it's always cold Polar bears rub their backs Against the axis of the Earth Centuries go past Seas slumber under ice The bears rub against the axis And the Earth spins La la la la la la la la la The Earth spins faster Round and round they go, working Turning the Earth's axis So that lovers could Meet each other faster So that one bright morning, Earlier by a year or two Someone could say to someone Those important words ("I love you") La la la la la la la la la The Earth spins faster After the springtime rains Faster the sun will come And for two lucky ones For many-many years Summer lightning will flare Freshwater springs will ring Fog will steam in clouds White as a bear. La la la la la la la la la The Earth spins faster I don't know, I still love the idea of Polar bears being the ones responsible for the spinning of the Earth, and trying to spin it faster to unite destined lovers together. I think it's the mythologizing that appeals to me. I also had a bit of an early crush on the girl. I liked that she was a plucky tomboy type who escaped from her kidnappers with wit and spirit. (More proof of how Soviet children's stories had plenty of kickass female heroines.) Plus I was into kidnapping stories in general at the time, so this movie hit all my buttons. Never saw this movie, but now I want to. "They Say..." They say, that with every year this world gets older The sun hides further behind clouds and grows colder They say, everything used to be better some other time, than nowadays They say, but don't you listen; they say, but don't you listen; They say, but don't you believe! Many-colored, vast, and merry Not subject to the yoke of days nor years This world is blindingly young It's as young as we are. They say, that in the beginning everything was more wonderful But that magicians disappeared along with the mammoths And that the door to the land of wonders and fairytales has closed forever. They say, but don't you listen; they say, but don't you listen; They say, but don't you believe! Many-colored, vast, and merry Not subject to the yoke of days nor years This world is blindingly young It's as young as we are. They say, that truth with untruth has tired of battling That there are no more knights without fear or flaw That from now on everything has to be measured crooked They say, but don't you listen; they say, but don't you listen; They say, but don't you believe! Many-colored, vast, and merry Not subject to the yoke of days nor years This world is blindingly young It's as young as we are. This is how the world was thought up, young and fearless By an all-powerful magician, a brave knight And for pleasure and happiness it was given to us Infinite and wonderful, infinitely wonderful So that it would give us joy. Many-colored, vast, and merry Not subject to the yoke of days nor years This world is blindingly young It's as young as we are. I don't care if it's not realistic, there's something undeniably wonderful about this kind of staunch insistence on everything we cease to believe in childhood. | ||||||||
| Spill your mind: 3 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
May 28th, 2009
| ||||||||
| Watching "Doogie Howser, M.D." on hulu.com for the first time. I expected it to be cute and entertaining in a quaint, slightly dated way, but I didn't expect it to be so honestly good. It's a lot less cheesy and a lot more observant than I expected. | ||||||||
| Spill your mind: Pour me a double |
May 27th, 2009
| ||||||
| Met up with Marc Bolan-kinda-lookalike briefly today, but he hadn't shaved and thus was absolutely useless. In fact, with the unshaven-ness and the bedhair thing he had going on, he looked rather more like Russel Brand. Not what is needed, sigh. Meeting him again tomorrow, with instructions to shave this time. It was kind of awkward again, but apparently he's into awkward (which explains why he said he thought I was "charming" and not "creepy" on our initial meeting). He asked me whether I was gay, and followed that up with "it just seems like you have someone." I rather appreciate both his fondness for awkwardness and his willingness to just go out there and say stuff, though. Makes things easier. Although I think he still finds my admission of "oh yes, I was hitting on you, I think you're cute, but I don't know you well enough yet to know if I even want to follow up on that" confusing. Meanwhile, am annoyed at continuously having to darn my favorite brown stockings. The fact that they're not quite socks is what makes darning them difficult, but then again, the fact that they're stockings that are almost as thick as socks (and thus susceptible to darning at all) was their main appeal. This brings up a question, however: how many people in this day and age darn socks anymore, or even know what darning means? I'm not a paid user so I can't do a poll, but I'd be interested if people weighed in on this in the comments. | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 7 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
May 23rd, 2009
| ||||||
| Currently vegging out and watching Sex and the City, as apparently anything more strenuous ends up sabotaging my attempts to get over the ear infection. This episode is also a great reminder of why I so hated it before I grew to be distantly amused at it. It was the one where Carrie briefly starts dating a guy who owns a St Marks' comics store, before it turns out he (gasp!) lives with his parents and (gasp!) plays records and smokes pot all day and is in perpetual adolescence and thus unsuitable. If there's one thing SatC does well, it's outdated stereotypes! First of all, a St Marks' comic store owner wouldn't need to fall all over himself for Carrie and her "oops I thought this was a shoe store before, also aren't comics just for boys?" ignorance. He'd be dating some nerdy hipster hottie just as into comics and video games as he is. Second of all, not that there aren't plenty of adults who live with their parents and are indeed immature/irresponsible/any other number of things, but it really doesn't have to automatically follow. And certainly SatC is under no obligation to present an exception rather than the rule, but... what's the point of bringing this up when Carrie's friends' initial reaction is "ugh, he's not worth dating if he lives at home," and then, in a shocking twist... their prejudices are indeed confirmed and he's not worth dating! Besides, the character doesn't even make sense. If this guy has his own business, even if he lives at home, that requires a fair amount of independence and motivation and responsibility. Plus supposedly he either publishes or self-publishes a comic of his own--in any case, he has to draw it--and that's an awful lot of work. Even if it's just for fun, you can't run a business and draw a comic and be a lazy manchild layabout: there's just not enough time! But that's SatC for you: women confront new experiences, dismiss them, and retreat into comforting familiarity of cheating commitment-phobe millionaire sugar-daddy as the romantic ideal. Anyway, all that aside, felt a bit sick today but passed a pleasant Saturday. Drove home Friday after stopping by a friend's place and staying there a bit longer than intended, and I think Friday's exertion took its toll. However had family over today: a family friend, plus my aunt and uncle and dangermousie's baby, who's in their custody for the weekend. Babyniece is lovely and was very happy to see her and got to hold her lots and show her geese. I would post photos of her but I think I'd need her mother's permission first.So I'll just post this and say that I think it's funny that in my family "barbecue" apparently means "salads and potatoes and meat pies and stuffed fish, with just a little grilled corn and some veggie skewers."  Well, technically, my dad WAS going to grill actual wings and whatnot, but everyone was so full by the time we finished with the "starters" that he had to scrap that idea. Also, I suppose I can post this, because you can't really see either of us here.  I do not currently want a baby, but other people's babies are fun to play with. | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 4 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
May 19th, 2009
| ||||||
| Dear truck that parked behind me on the street: This section of curb fits 3 cars, but has nearly enough room for 4. There is no reason for you to be snuggling up to my car like that. I am glad that you want me to practice my parallel parking skills, but I assure you that I'll do that on my own, and that I rather enjoy the wide easy space allowed by local parking. It is also nice, I suppose, that your parking so damn close ensured that no one took my spot while I was away, since no one else wanted to bother with it. Happily for you, I was able to get back in without any accidental grazing. I hope now you're assured of my parking competency, and can park a foot away next time, considering you had well over 3 feet of empty space and a driveway behind you. Or else I kind of wish the next person who tries for the spot I'll vacate tomorrow isn't as good at maneuvering. Considering some lady backed into my stationary car in a parking lot today because she was pulling out totally without looking, next time you really may not be so lucky. Sincerely, Not been having a good week and am thus annoyed at petty things. ( And then also. ) | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 2 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
May 17th, 2009
| ||||||
| So it turns out I had good reason to stay in last night. I went to bed with a general feeling of malaise, and slightly sore ears and throat, and woke up to throbbing pain in my ears. My entire head felt hot and thick and pulsing, and my throat ached with mucus, and the world felt all heavy and swimmy. Grateful for CVS Minute Clinics being open on Sundays, I got in the car and drove to my nearest one, feeling like I was almost going to collapse by the time I got there. When I walked in, the clinician said "Ok, what's wrong?" before looking at me and saying "right, you're sick." Then he looked in my ears and said "Wow." He told me I had "an infection, all right," and then proceeded to ask me if I had dropped something in there. Dropped something. In my ear. Uh, no. Anyway, he ended up prescribing me lots of antibiotics, except that... I am currently on a crappy health insurance plan that doesn't provide pharmacy care. I have to get medicine through the school pharmacy, which is conveniently closed on weekends--or else pay out of pocket. (I'm not sure that I don't have to pay out of pocket anyway...) Thus I bought the $10 antibiotic, and called my mom to figure out what to do about the $140 one. I drove home to see if maybe I had a pharmacy card after all, but no. Decided I felt awful enough that I would buy it anyway, quickly took the first antibiotic and some Advil, and drove to my local pharmacy... which did not have the prescription in stock. At this point I was still on the verge of collapse, and most of the pharmacies were closed or closing. Cursing, I got back into my car and drove around trying to find a 24-hr CVS. Found a Rite Aid, but it was closed. Found a Walgreens, and it was open, and had the medicine in stock... but they had some kind of phone issue and could not reach the CVS I had originally filed the script at. By the time that was sorted out, the CVS pharmacy had closed. So I drove again, and finally found the 24-hr CVS I had been looking for, that had the prescription in stock and also in its system, and so, $140 poorer, I was at last possessed of a tiny vial of ear drops. Tomorrow I go into the Student Health Center and try to figure out some things there. | ||||||
| Spill your mind: 8 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
May 8th, 2009
| ||||||||
| Yesterday I went to see Patrick Wolf at Le Poisson Rouge, which was a nice night up until I got caught in the rain again and stuck in Penn Station overnight. I also just found out that Patrick is shooting a video in Manhattan today, and he invited fans to audition for extras, but I am too a) old for that sorta thing, b) broke, c) tired to brave going to NYC again, so it's just as good I didn't know sooner. Anyway, the show itself wasn't quite as good as my last experience, but then few things could be. Mostly I think it had to do with the venue. It was billed as "An Evening With Patrick Wolf" and was quickly sold out, and I had been confused about that--I hadn't thought he was that popular here, and I kind of wanted him to remain a little underground. But when I got inside, I realized why it was sold out. The venue was small, and it was set up for "dinner seating." Meaning there was only standing space at the very edges of the room, and everything else was taken up by tables: thus, quite a small audience. I have to say, neither I nor anyone I spoke to was a fan of the set up. It seemed badly put together in all respects. I had intended on going to line up early to get a "good spot" but didn't, and am glad if that now, as it would have been totally useless. The organization of the line and tickets outside, although well-intentioned, was confusing. Rather than having people pick up tickets, a woman with a list went down the line and stamped the hands of everyone whose name was on it, and that was the ticket. UNLESS the tickets ordered weren't in your name, and then you had to go to the box office and show the credit card you used and so on. Then you had to wait in another line to show ID to prove you were over 21. I appreciate the attempt to dispense with paper tickets, but it should have been integrated a bit better. After being stamped and wrist-banded, they let us in (as the line was only for people waiting for stamps, etc), but didn't let us form any sort of line inside either. Instead we were told to wait in the downstairs bar, ensuing a confusing rush upstairs when the doors to the stage room were finally opened--and people coming right off the street got in first anyway. Besides that, of course most of the tables closest to the front were reserved for friends and family. Ok, so this isn't a venue where you can line up and jockey for prime spots: fair enough. Casual atmosphere, all that. But just in case you thought that dinner seating would spare you uncomfortably close contact with strangers, the seating was all spaced extremely tight, and each table was set for 6 people, minimum. Thus unless you came with a group of 6, high school cafeteria flashbacks ensued, as people went around asking "is this seat taken? Can I sit here?" It was very uncomfortable for any people joining a larger group, since the seating was so very close together: "hello, let me invade your table." I also have no idea how they'd accommodate larger persons, as one felt rather sandwiched in, and it took some flexibility and gyrations to move in between the tables, or to get out once you sat down.  (My photos were all a blurry mess so the nice pictures here are going to be courtesy of Gerry Visco.) Finally, sitting at tables as we were, it didn't offer the best view of the stage without some twisting. And you had to place two orders per table, so there was also food distracting you from the show... I understand dinner theatre, but I wasn't looking for it in this case. Far as I could tell, this venue only works if you come with a large group of friends, you all want to get drunk (ordering food is problematic as the lights shut down when the show starts), and you have something of a casual curiosity for the musician playing. At least the audience was appreciative, even if the venue insisted on making everything awkward. The people sitting right behind me were very exuberant in their reactions, and I always love it when I can see people really loving the music. And Patrick continues to be wonderful both at audience interaction and extending his charisma to connect with the room. Even in a set-up like that, where no one could get very close to him, and that seemed built to distance the audience from performer, he created an intimate and close atmosphere. I was nowhere near him this time, but I still felt more included in the performance than with some other musicians. He also talked a lot, asked for requests, feed-back, etc, and managed to respond even to call-outs from people in the very back of the room. To many people's disappointment, he did not grant the most frequent request ("take your kit off!"), saying he was too old for that now at the mature age of 25, haha. Kept referring to Joni Mitchell a lot, because he was playing at Bleecker st and all, and even did a cover. Also sang "happy birthday" to his cousin, which was really cute. ( Stage photos of Patrick and his stylish legwear. ) That said, I am not sure how I felt about the show being all acoustic. For one thing, honestly, I am not a big fan of the new album so far, and I had hoped hearing the songs live would convince me otherwise, but it didn't. For another, I am not sure how well stripped-down performance fits in with Patrick's music in general. Except for some songs on the more poppy "Magic Position" (including the title track), his music doesn't exactly have strong stand-alone melodies. It's all about the creating a haunting combination of multiple instruments and sounds and so on. When it was just him and a piano and a violinist, it seemed like the body of many songs was not just stripped down but almost lost. The "bare bones" idea was rather more apt than I might have wished. Mind you, I am still definitely going to his summer shows. That will have a 6-piece outfit, and will be in normal venues, so that should take care of most of my complaints. But he seemed to have a good time, and was in a cheery enough mood to stay after and sign things for people. More weird things about the venue: it doesn't have a back door, I don't think. The musician's quarters are across the hall from the stage room, and there's no way to get out except to cross that hall. Thus Patrick went through upon leaving the stage, and when I exited along with the rest of the audience, I saw that a bunch of people stood crowded around the door, basically blocking him in. It certainly wasn't the intent, but he pretty much had to go through them or else stay inside. I guess security could have dispersed people if necessary, but still--such odd venue set-up! I thought, what the heck, I'd wait along with the others. One adorable young gay boy asked excitedly "Do you think he'll come out? He seems the type to come out, don't you think?" I said that actually I thought he was the type NOT to (he's given to mood swings from what I see, and is not always in a sociable mood), but he proved me wrong. The security manager--most calm and un-aggressive security person ever--told us all to back up a bit so he could get some tables put together, and then Patrick would come out and sign things. Which he did. And again, Patrick Wolf fans? Remarkably unpushy, polite people. There was no jostling, everything was very relaxed, and Patrick spoke at length to anyone who wanted to speak to him, without any impatience from anyone involved. There were even several instances where he would finish talking to someone, and no one else stepped up to take their place, waiting until Patrick called someone forward specifically. This allowed it to feel like a pleasant, unhurried, unstressful interaction. I didn't even think to ask for autographs for friends like I usually do, not because I was nervous, but because I was just standing there making quips, and only asked for my own autograph because that was the expected thing. "Oh right, this is what I'm here for, isn't it?" Anyway, Patrick was an absolute sweetheart, easy and very accessible. Possibly though, because I didn't expect to meet him and was feeling pretty cavalier about it--some other people seemed a lot more nervous and giddy over it. But he won my respect because in addition to being so casually chatty, he also didn't take himself at all seriously. A lot of people asked for photographs of him, and so he started posing for them, almost instinctually snapping into these pouty-Zoolander poses. I was standing to his side at the time, and as soon as he started pouting, I couldn't help it and burst out laughing at him. He cocked an eyebrow at me and a little bemused smile, and I explained "I'm sorry, it's just... well, it's obvious you're professional at this whole posing business, and as soon as the camera goes off, you go into this patented pout, and I've seen that pose in your promo photos but I just can't keep a straight face when you do that." Rather than getting offended, he laughed and insisted he was having his own fun with it. Then he went back to posing for photos, and I went back to laughing. He turned back to me again, and I apologized again: "I'm sorry! I know you're the one posing so it should be you trying not to laugh, but really, when you make those faces!" And I pulled a pouty face, and then he started laughing, and I felt vindicated. "See?! It's hard not to laugh when someone's doing that in front of you!" And then we made silly pouty faces at each other, and he got on the table to pout and mime even more exaggeratedly for the people snapping photos. ( Check out some of these photos ) So adorable. And also so nice. From what I see of most musicians/celebrities, no matter how nice they are, they don't take well to anything that resembles people poking fun at them. To take that and run with it was awesome of him. Much love for Patrick. | ||||||||
| Spill your mind: 3 Dry Martinis or Pour me a double |
House of Pomegranates
|
|||||||||||||