Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Saw this at the dollar theater the other day and I have to admit I can't remember the last time i laughed so hard at a movie. Granted, I was in a very silly mood that night, but still. It tickled my funny bone anyway. A lot of that has to do with Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka who was pricelessly neurotic, crazy, and just plain silly. I didn't really enjoy the first Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. As a child, I found it just creepy. So if you love the original movie, you may hate this movie (a girl at work did). And the grandpa (who I last saw in Waking Ned Devine) was great as well. All the cast were very well chosen and their characters well-played. If you're in a silly mood and you haven't seen it yet...watch it!

Go Astros!!!

World Series baby!!!

Music

At my former job in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, my office-mate (and co-worker, and friend) used to play DJ for us, and one recurring artist was David Gray. I haven't listened much to David Gray since then, but recently I copied a bunch of music from a friend's computer and guess what....there are a few David Gray songs on there! So as I sit and listen to them (sitting at a computer), it gives me nice warm-fuzzy feelings about sitting at a computer at a huge brown formica and metal desk.

Will I ever be able to listen to these songs and not be at a computer? We'll see.

Listening to: David Gray (duh!), White Ladder

yay fall!!!

Autumn is my favorite time of year. No questions. No doubt. I love the feel, the look, the smell...I love being able to live in my jeans again and wear long sleeves, sweatshirts and jackets. I love curling up under blankets and not because the air conditioning is set to sub-zero. I love not needing air conditioning; I never realize how stale the air is until I start breathing it fresh from outside again. I love hot apple cider and pumpkins (and pumpkin pie).

Happy Autumn everyone!!

Restlessness

Why is it that sometimes all I want to do is curl up with a good book. But usually when I can't. But when the perfect curl-up-with-a-good-book moment presents itself I feel restless and confined in my house. Is it the book? The house? The fact that I only slept four (interrupted) hours last night? The book, I can remedy. The house...well, I can go to a coffee shop or something. As for sleep, can't go back in time.

Just ramblin'

even though I don't live in Houston......

GO ASTROS!!!!!!!!

A difference

I enjoy rain most of the time. I have been known to applaud a rainy day even; especially if I don't have to get out in it. But I realize today that it makes a big difference when all of a sudden you live in a neighborhood where half the streets flood whenever you get torrential, downpouring rains such as we've been having the past few days.

But I still like rain.

Interesting names

Sometimes I wonder what parents are thinking when they name their children. Are they thinking at all? Granted, I've never had the honor of having to come up with a name for a child -- something they'll have with them forever. Or at least until they can legally change it. But who in their right mind names their kid

Nature
Tiger Lily
Shithead (for real, people. pronounced Sh-teed)
Emergency (also for real. pronounced eh-mer-gahn-cee, emphasis on the third syllable)
Cinderella Snow White (full name, first, middle and last)
And best of all....Douche. (why??????)

And none of these names are rumour. All witnessed first hand by friends of mine. Anyway. Just in case you need a Thursday afternoon laugh.

Listening to: Titan Moon K108, "You Go Away"

here's a funny

So, yesterday at work my friend/co-worker was talking about a t.v. show she was watching in which one woman called another woman a whore. The slandered woman indignantly replied, "I'm not a whore, I'm a barrista!"

This is funny when you remember what I do for a living right now. In fact, I think it should be my new catchphrase, don't you?

Rita

Okay, so accidentally posted a blank one. Anyway....

Just wanted to let all my homies in Texas know that we're praying for you out here. Love you all!

Rita

t.v.

A couple of weeks ago some friends of mine decided that we should watch the first season of Lost on dvd before the new season comes out. I was excited about this because for various reasons I had missed a big chunk of the season. So now I'm prepped for next week, but I've just got to say, how has anyone been able to wait a whole summer to see what happened!? Craziness.

I am also excited because supposedly Junebug is finally coming to Wilmington movie theaters. So maybe I'll get to see it before too long.

Peace

Ophelia

For those of you who aren't hurricane trackers, there's a little girl sitting off the east coast named Ophelia. She's a category 1 predicted to land really close to where I live on Tuesday. It's interesting to watch the response in light of Katrina. The North Carolina governor declared a state of emergency in order to call in the National Guard; one of the islands in the Outer Banks has issued mandatory evacuation; and people around town are stocking up on their hurricane supplies. I wonder how many hurricane seasons this uber-preparedness will last through.

On a different note-
Due to our move to North Carolina and a broken VCR, I missed a lot of Lost. In fact, I pretty much didn't watch the last third of the season. But I'm so excited that season 1 is out on DVD! I'm hoping to get it all in before the second season starts.

Oh, and the OC started last week. Yay! (my guilty pleasure, what can I say). The first episode was odd. Very non-first-episode, as someone on a message board put it. But still good, and leaving a lot of room for a good season. We'll see how it goes. Last season, while not as terrible as some would have you believe, had its dissapointments. But Trey is gone, Kirsten seems like her old self, Seth and Summer are together which can be good, Jimmy's around for at least a little while, and Julie is Julie.

Reworking

In a recent post I mentioned that I was having a friend edit/critique a mystery that I've written. Well, I got it back and I am really pumped to start making it better. This is the first time since creative writing in college that I've seriously attacked a project with the intent of making it a first-class read. Also a little daunting though. We'll see how it goes.

A question

Why do people insist on having someone or something to blame for everything that happens in this world? Why must it be someone's fault? Sometimes there is a target for blame, but you know what? Shit happens. Period. Welcome to the world.

Policies

A person I know has been sick for a while...the kind of sick where you have good days and bad days and can't really nail down what's wrong. Last week though, she got really bad and had to go to the Medac (critical care facility), who sent her to her doctor. Now, my friend doesn't have insurance, and had to go to the doctor several months ago as well. She has about a $1,000 bill with them, and has been paying on it faithfully every month. Well, this last visit they asked her how she was planning to pay her new $350 bill and she said that she had planned on just adding it to her existing bill. They sent her back to a little room with, I presume, a business manager-type person who told her that if comes again and can't pay the full amount, they won't treat her.

What?!?!?!?!

I'm thinking if someone is faithfully paying you back, then does it matter that they can't pay every bill up front? It really made me angry at that doctor's office. It's a medical group, so I guess that's why they have the impersonal touch, but still. You'll see people who don't pay (because Medicare pays for them) yet you won't see someone who will eventually reimburse you 100% of your bill, which I'm pretty sure Medicare doesn't do. Fortunately, I know for a fact that not every doctor is that callous.

I know everyone has differing opinions on healthcare (my current theory is that insurance screwed everything up by forcing doctors to jack up their prices so that you HAVE to have insurance) and I sure haven't figured it out, but I wish there were some way to make it less difficult.

I know that everyone out there is bound to have differing opinions on health care

vulnerability

A couple of days ago I emailed one of my first completed short stories in about 10 years to a friend to look over and edit. Lesley has this story, although she's a very busy girl what with moving and working and trying to finish a novel; and I've decided it's good to have at least two or three people who look over your writing because different perspectives are good. So I sent it to Adam. Adam and I are co-workers as well as friends but I'm still nervous. Sending out something creative into the world to be examined, critiqued and even judged is a little scary. You have to separate yourself from your work, but every story has a little bit of me in it. I worry that people will read what I write and think I'm weird or crazy, but mostly I'm afraid that they'll read it and pity me because I think I'm a writer, when in reality I have no skills at all.

My solution? The ostrich approach. Head in sand and all that.

What about all you other creative types out there?

quiz

Well, Jason had this on his blog, and since I can never resist talking about myself here goes....

Seven things I....

Plan to do before I die:
1. learn to swim
2. learn to play the guitar
3. hike the Appalachian Trail
4. become a published author (not as ambitious as Jasmine :)
5. take Jeremy to Europe
6. run a 5k race
7. visit Prince Edward Island

Things I can do:
1. make a fantastic cup of coffee
2. write
3. play the piano, although not as well as I used to
4. spend an entire day watching movies OR reading a book ;)
5. bake a loaf of French bread (just discovered this one tonight)
6. take a pretty good photograph
7. drive a stick

Things I can't do:
1. surf
2. play any woodwind or horn instrument
3. tolerate rudeness or meanness
4. see without corrective lenses
5. whistle
6. reach the top shelf of our kitchen cabinets without standing on a stool or a chair
7. go for long periods of time on very little sleep

Things that attract me to the opposite sex:
1. kindness
2. Christian
3. eyes
4. smile
5. genuineness
6. hard body ;)
7. being named Jeremy Waters

Things I say most:
1. "I was like..."
2. "Good morning, what can I get for you?"
3. "Would you like any cream or sugar?"
4. "I love you"
5. "Fantastic"
6. "Thank you"
7. "I'm hungry"

Celebrity Crushes:
1. Hugh Jackman
2. John Cusack
3. Bradley Cooper
4. Ewan McGreggor
5. Jason Statham
6. That's all...
7. I can think of

People I want to take this quiz:
1. Erin
2. Steve
3. Nicole
4. Katie
5. Lesley
6. Dave
7. Jeanette

Even after...

...a few weeks, I have really nothing to say. Is my life exciting or what? Everyone check out Steve's blog, though. i heard about Pat Robertson on NPR today, and boy....CRAZY. Like, lock-him-up-in-a-padded-room-crazy. Who says stuff like that? On TV? Even if you think it. People, those are the things you keep between you and....well, you.

In other news, the parents came to visit for several days. It was so great to see them; one day I hope that I'll be able to see them more often. I do okay living so far away, except when they leave after a nice visit. It was a very relaxing trip; played a lot of cards, watched a lot of movies, most of which I had seen before but one of which was Texas Rangers (Dylan McDermott, James Van Der Beek, Usher -- which, by the way....what????) a movie I had never seen before. Wow. Who knew Texas was made of cheese. :)

my stint as a matchmaker

Okay, so a while back I mentioned how I was setting up two friends on a blind date. Finally happened and...success! I mean, they aren't declaring undying love or anything, but that's a little farfetched, despite what people like to tell you. But they exchanged phone numbers and both said they'd like to hang out with each other again, which I consider success.

Oh, and in a somewhat related vein....on the date (which was a double date because my friends Camille was a little nervous having never been on a blind date before. But which was more fun for me anyway because I got to witness the fun first hand) we watched the movie Swingers which I had never seen before. But I've got to say I really enjoyed it. It wasn't what I expected from what people had told me, but I found it amusing and entertaining which is about all I need from a comedy.

Happy Monday everyone!