Insert Life Here

Watched The Illusionist last night. Understood more of it. I was understandably preoccupied during the first viewing.

Wow. I can die now.

Also, had a major life experience this afternoon in that I visited a laundromat for the first time. Our washer is completely dead and will not be making a Lazarus-like return anytime soon, so until we get another one installed, it was this skirt or drastic measures. And after a morning of the four-inch knee high leather boots, I'm ready to go back to my jeans.

This may sound elitist, but there is a reason that the middle class rose to power in the 1950s, and I'd bet the farm that it had something to do with wanting their own washers.

Ooh- 24 is on. Must go. I shall regale you all with the Story of How The Road Became a Parking Lot On the One Day I Needed To Be At School some other time.

She is not a happy person.

Hate the world. Had to spend three freaking hours at work this afternoon listening to bluegrass. By the third round of Amazing Grace for Fiddle, I was ready to beat them all over the head with their goddamn banjos.


Also, can't feel my feet.

Moral victory last night---got the men of the family to watch Kate and Leopold. Woot. Amazing acting aside, it was a pretty good movie. I saw it four years ago when I was in the grips of pneumonia, and was too high/dead to remember much. Except that in the original cut there was unintentional incest. (Imladris's comment? "Hey. I'd do it.")

I'm pushing for The Illusionist tonight. Magic for the Boy, and magic for me. Did you know he did all his own tricks? That's fantastic.

Marie Antoinette DVD on Tuesday--whoo!!! So happy!!! Can't wait!

Read Antonia Fraser's book (the one that inspired it) last week and absolutely loved it. Apparently so did Mary, who borrowed it to let her little sister look at the pictures for a report, and then informed me on Friday that she would be keeping it because it was so good.

I'm going to go study random astronomy concepts that we weren't taught but are being tested on anyway because the guy is a jackass who deserves to beaten with the same banjo that I would like to use on bluegrass people. A demain.

This is Sammy Davis Jr. Jr... She is Grandfather's Seeing Eye bitch. She is also mentally deranged.

Tee-hee. Everything is Illuminated. :D

Still in mourning. The world was a little bit less bright this morning when I woke up.

And not just because here on the compound we currently have no ETA on the dismantling of the contaiment shed, so all the light that comes in the house is filtered. We also have no exit strategy from my bathroom. This is not as good as it gets, belive me.

At least the washing machine will be fixed in forty-eight hours. ETA: Maybe not. It just started sparking. Oh shit.

Le anyhoodles, I was overwhelmed yesterday. First, spent most of the morning mentally putting Naomi Watts on that proverbial crashing plane and thinking of baby names to go with "Shrieber" (incidentally, not a whole lot do). Then Josh was on two shows, which was sufficent excitement to last me awhile (TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). And then The Illusionist came in the mail---whee!!! Also, the little glowing ball on the cover is all shiny. Yes, I am easily amused.

Plus, crazy astronauts in diapers on the cover of People. My day could hardly get any better. Except maybe with this. Yeah. Definately.

Haven't whined about classes in awhile. Sign of emotional maturity? Eh. I think the fact that I'm arguably more upset by the death of a fake character than the war in Iraq takes care of answering that question.


Anyway, they're going pretty well. I hate astronomy guy, though. And we have a test on Monday that I will surely probably fail. Dammit. That was my easy class, and it has been ripped from me!!! Grrr. JMC is good, and the professor realized on Thursday that she has a powerpoint slide that has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio in every lecture, and is subconciously stalking him. It was pretty funny.


Logic is still insanely easy---even the stuff that I missed I could figure out. Hmmm. I wonder if the Evil Philosphy Department is trying to lull me into a false sense of security...




The one non-Anna Nicole Smith news item on people.com today-I want her life. Now even if they break up, she'll get everything. *sigh* I'm such a romantic...

I did not and oh God shhh!!!!

Update of life here on the Compound- as if the bio terrorism threat bunker mentality, propped open window seats, and various foreign bars of soaps and washcloths that I DIDN'T USE occupying space in MY SHOWER weren't enough, now the washing machine broke.

Yes, our amazing European-crafted, water-saving, life-changing machine now refuses to spin (as opposed to the last couple of times when it refused to turn on, refused to turn off, refused to open, refused to close, and refused to drain). It pumps in lots and lots of water, and then drains the water, but the drum doesn't actually spin to get the copious amounts of water out of the clothes, leaving one wringing out towels at six-fifty in the morning (I guess that's the life changing part.)

And I have to stay home on Monday afternoon and deal with the repair guy. I don't like repair guys. They tend to steal from us.

I hate that damn machine. Morena IS not amused.

Well, okay, she's a little amused. Because amazon.com shipped her copy of The Illusionist on DVD. :D

What, you say? Didn't you just spend five dollars on that at Blockbuster? Surely this is not sound financial behavior.

On the contrary- this is actually exercising considerable financial savvy. Because I ordered a book on Catherine the Great (nymphomania in the Russian royal family---whee!!!). The book was $20. In order to get free shipping, your order had to be over $25. So, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to add The Illusionist to the order, bringing the total obviously to more than 25 dollars. See? Makes sense.

But, you say, why wouldn't you just pay shipping an handling that costs about four dollars as opposed to buying a sixteen dollar DVD to avoid paying the aforementioned four bucks?

There is clearly only one answer to that: the shipping and handling charge can't do that *points to icon above* :D

I think this makes sound financial sense.

I'm going to go teach myself how to compute truth functionality values for compound equations. And then fold some towels. Please don't be jealous.

It's like candy, but with blood. Which is so much better!

So. Freaking. Tired. Want to die. Because when you die you get to sleep for a long time. That's looking very good right now.

Have gotten about eight combined hours of sleep over the past three days. And I am not one of these people who can get three hours a night and be all perky in the morning---I'm a gone-at-ten kind of girl. I could never survive in the Eastern time zone, because I'd have to fall asleep during all my CSIs...

Also, drinking a pot of regular coffee at twelve-thirty at night while stressing and watching The Illusionist? Not so much of a good idea. Because even when your reason for stressing arrives home safe and sound, you CANNOT go to sleep. And not just because you're thinking of a hundred different ways for Jessica Biel to die.

That said, The Illusionist was an absolutely fantastic movie- I can't believe I didn't see it in theaters, actually, because it kind of looks like something I'd have wanted to see. Except it came out in August. During August I was kind of preoccupied with the plague, and all non-Pirates movies got passed over.

But I should have gone, because it was really good. Everyone should go see it. I even stopped hating Jessica Biel's existance on this planet for awhile. And that, my friends, deserves an Academy Award. Great story, creepy shadowy cinematography, and Paul Giamatti playing The Short Fat Funny Sidekick, a character he seems to play in...oh...everything. But he's good at it. Plus a little Austrian royalty. You can't beat that, mate.

Also? Edward Norton is kind of hot in sepia tones.

Hey, y'all remember back c. 2002 when there was that major bioterrorism scare and Tom Ridge told everybody to go buy plastic sheeting and duct tape and baricade themselves in their houses (which, btw, made like negative sense)???

Yeah. If that happens again, we're good.

Because here in Kansas, when the temperature drops below 0, you take drastic measures. That kind of make me feel like I can't breath. At least psychosomatically. I realize that's weird, but if you start taping the windows, you have to expect it.

I was going to take a picture of my bedroom window, but my cell phone won't work. Booo.

Today's List of Unacceptable Items:

1.) People. People in general, but especially people who come in at 9:45, order six drinks and food (to stay, no less) and then make a milk thig explode (okay, not their fault. But I hate them so much that I'm blaming them for it) and then leave books in the cafe so that I have to put them away. Also, annoying grandmothers with their obnoxious children who just run and scream and make me really wish the Kahlua syrup was spiked.

2.) Creepy construction guys who tip me and then stare at me as though this were a brothel and I owed them something for it. Perv. Just get your cream and go.

3.) Broken backpacks in the middle of the year when there are about two backpacks available in the entire state and they're really ugly. Forcing me to go to Office Max and buy a messenger bag because the only backpacks they had were (honest to God) between SIXTY and EIGHTY dollars. Now. I'm pretty sure that if I was going to pay eighty dollars for a backpack, it would have to actually do the course work for me. And that was not listed on the little sheet of features between breathable fabric and ergonomically-designed straps (apparently for all those business types who need to go hiking, but want to take care of their backs).

One Acceptable Item :

1.) Unless you've been under a rock recently, you know they announced the release date for the new Harry Potter book. Now, when you work at a book store, this is so important that you begin dividing time by this date and abandon the whole BC/AD thing altogether. The management is already getting ulcers and high blood pressure just thinking about it.

And the marketing- oh the marketing. I got to work yesterday and my mailbox was full of OMG WHAT TO DO WHEN THE GATES ARE STORMED and PLEASE BE NICE TO THE CUSTOMERS ESPECIALLY THE BITCHES WHAT WOULD HARRY DO??? memos , and then at the bottom a little bookmark that said, "Severus Snape. Friend? Or foe?" *squee* I want to be his friend. And that's all I'll say because this is a family blog.

It made my night.

Quick what I'm reading update before I go eat a pizza and watch Grey's Anatomy (what? They got married in Vegas? No. And how can you build a clinic in eight days? That's impossible. )

Read this really awesome book, Helen of Troy, a couple of days ago---totally recommend it, except they talked about sex a lot. Like a lot a lot. But hey, those Greek's were freaky, no??? More of a cultural biography, tracing Helen's influence rather than her actual history because, well, we don't know that she had a history. The most beautiful woman in the world maybe didn't exist. But anyway, fantastic. Also loved the archeological and artistic research this woman did. Really good.

Oh, good Lord, Meredith's mom is having a lucid moment and hitting on the chief. Gotta go watch this.