2005-03-11 - 9:59 p.m.

On the internal soundtrack: One of the songs on "Sap", Alice in Chains

Sunday, March 13, 2005

I had a nice weekend, but it's too boring to write about, except for the part about meeting Philipa Penelope, who is SO FREAKING ADORABLE AND SQUIRMY!, as well as being startled to discover that that nice pleasant man I met in Peter's living room was someone who frightens me online (like Phanatic), but I will save all that until I get the OK to post some pics.

On Friday, I had one of those little moments of sheer spontaneity that happens far too often. I'm a thinker. I have litle spontaneous thoughts occasionally, but I rarely take action. I think too much about things before I do them. I think about them, and sometimes decide they are too stupid to do. Once I had a moment when I had a very strong urge to just stick my face (well, the lower half of it, anyway) into the pile of whipped cream on top of my sundae. I still wish to this day that I had done it. If the opportunity ever arises again I think I shall act upon the urge.

Other times I think they are stupid, but I choose to do them anyway. I go into things armed with the knowledge that I'm doing something really dopey and refuse to care if anyone is horrified. This is really sensible and boring.

On Friday, I had some eyeliner on my desk and a mirror in front of me, and I thought, "I am going to put eyeliner on until I can't stand it anymore." And so I did. It looked really bad.

It may not look all that shocking to you, but I've never had that much eyeliner on in my life, so it was a new experience for me. I think I look a bit clownish, not all goth like I was hoping. I think it's because my eyes turn down at the corners and they give me that sad-clown effect if I try to draw the eyeliner out past the corners.

Argh! My photo host seems to be down, but I know the pics are there -- just keep checking back.

Monday, March 14th, 2005

All right! I've got permission to post photos of Peter's baby girl Philipa. Peter's got all the pictures of me holding the baby so I'll post those when he has a chance to send them over.

When I first came in the door, they were hiding the baby under a blanket, perhaps to up the surprise factor. (Kidding -- she was nursing.) There was also some guy there that I was introduced to whom I assumed was one of Peter's coworkers.

They let the baby OUT! from under the blanket, and I cooed and fussed a bit, then went to wash my hands to warm them up so my cold witchy fingers wouldn't shock the poor dear while I touched her toes, because baby toes are THE CUTEST THING EVER.

T handed her right to me when I got back, so I got to hold her for a while, and she is an adorable little squirmy thing. She moves her head around a lot, but she can't hold it in place, so she was doing a little k-THUNK k-THUNK thing against my chest where she'd lift her head an inch and then drop it back down with a thump. She managed to move from my left shoulder to my right that way, where she could look unfocusedly at her mom better.

Here she is protesting about something (she is not actually that red -- looks that way because I thought the flash was bothering her so I turned it off):

And here she is in the calm state she was for most of the visit. CUUUUUUUUUTE!

I asked the presumed-coworker guy if he wanted to hold the baby, but he said he was afraid of dropping her. I think I asked who he was as he was putting his coat on, and Peter let it drop that this guy was an "internet" friend, specifically, LipbyLipby. My jaw dropped and I said, "YOU SCARE ME!!" He was quite amused by this. We spent a few minutes chatting about our secret identities and what a pain it would be if our parents found our LiveJournals.

Before I left, I took some FAMILY PICTURES! I took a bunch for them with Pete's fancy newfangled camera. Here's one I took with my own ancient digital:

And here's just a picture of some more cuteness:

Tuesday, March 15th, 2005

So, we watched the The Village last night, and I -- dare I say -- liked it.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

I think James Berardinelli put it best when he said if you have a high suspension-of-disbelief threshold, you'll probably enjoy it. I probably would have liked a little deeper character development, but I don't care if the whole thing is completely contrived -- I enjoyed the way the tale was told, which is all I really ask from a movie. I jumped in my seat a few times. I also agree with the reviewer who said that Shyamalan's made it difficult for himself because people go into his movies expecting a twist, so they're far too alert for clues and figure it out, then get mad for the movie being too easy. The reason The Sixth Sense worked so well was because nobody was looking for a twist and it caught them by surprise.

I do think the guy at Ruthless had a good idea about how the movie could have been played. He suggests that it could have been a much more interesting movie if it had been played straight: if we just saw how more about how and why the adults created this community, and what they went through trying to maintain it, rather than turning it into a ghost story. That could actually be another movie altogether, one I'd be interested in seeing.

Anyway. I would have hated this movie if Ivy had been played by Kirsten Dunst, as was originally planned. I thought that Bryce chick was perfect for the role. She lit up the screen for me. Hey, she's Ron Howard's daughter! Neato!

My favorite lines:

Ivy: Why can you not say what is in your head?
Lucius: Why can you not stop saying what is in yours?

Sounds like me talking to my college boyfriend. Also, Lucius is a dolt if he doesn't see the point in telling a girl how he feels about her. BECAUSE IT MAKES THE GIRL HAPPY GODDAMMIT. Isn't that reason enough? That's like asking what's the point of having sex today when you had sex yesterday.

Also, M. Night Shyamalan is hot. Woo!

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In other news, I have temporarily transferred my state of feverish excitement from fashion over to seeds for the garden.

I was very bad last year about documenting my container gardening activities, which is a shame because I had some good stuff. I started a bunch of things from seed (lobelia "Crystal Palace", coleus, herbs, etc.) and some of them turned out really well. I harvested the seeds myself and am going to limit my gardening to seed plants this year (plus some fuchsia and double-impatien cuttings that are still alive in the guest bedroom) rather than fuss with transplanting annuals.

I have about six pots with bulbs in them that are already starting to come up, and I need to start planning what seeds I'm going to sow into which pots. Plus I need more green-vinyl-coated chicken wire to make little cylindrical cages to keep THOSE GODDAMN FUCKING SQUIRRELS from digging up my bulbs and seedlings. Last year they somehow managed to eat all my bulbs from a couple of pots without me realizing it. Sneaky bastards.

Speaking of which, look at this fat little fucker:

Does he look like he needs to be eating my bulbs? I DON'T THINK SO! Look at Fatty making a run for it:

I used to feed them peanuts in college, because they were so used to people they'd come right up and eat out of your hand. I have a very different relationship with squirrels now, one that mostly involves me screaming and running at them with my arms waving wildly over my head. The sad thing is that they just sit there and look at me until I get within a couple of feet of them. They know no fear.

Wednesday, March 16th, 2005

There are a few items I've been hankering over for spring, so I figured I'd post them. It's mostly accessories. I already got a few clothes when outlet shopping, and am pretty well set clothes-wise. I will post pictures of the clothes when it's warm enough to model them without getting goosebumps. They are:

Work stuff:

- A purple-crocus-colored linen summer suit (Casual Corner Annex, $100!! I had budgeted $200 for a summer suit). It's the same color as this one
- Matching purple sandals with a 2" heel ($40, Casual Corner Annex) -- this was a splurge but it's a color I am CRAZY about so I will wear these shoes forever
- Full-leg white drapey work pants (Casual Corner Annex, $40)

Fun stuff:
- Two full bohemian-style skirts (one white with tiers and lace, one dark turqoise with a beaded hem), $17 each, Strawbridges
- Multi-strand necklace with coral beads ($14, Kohl's) -- I *really* love this necklace
- A short dusty-pink floral tiered chiffon-like skirt ($5, Limited Too)
- A full skirt, white with little dark blue flowers, (Nordstrom Rack, $10)
- A housewife shirt dress kinda thing in loud florals, (Nordstrom Rack, $12)

Mainly my trend interests this spring have been:

- Full skirts
- Sequins and beading
- Metallics
- Head-to-toe white
- Florals

Trends I will not be partaking in include:

- Animal prints
- Safari
- Nautical

Below is my little wish list. I'm kinda waiting to see if I get sick of them, and if not, to see if they go on sale.

OK, now, this bag, which I Am Fashion pointed me to, is really pricey for me, but I really like it. I might be able to get 15%-20% off if I can buy it at Lord & Taylor, but that's still pricey. But it's the first non-satchel bag I've gotten really excited about since I started paying attention to bags. It's really sad how I am only drawn to satchels.

Lesportsac bag, $92

I'd also really like a pair of gold sandals, and possibly a cheap bag to match. I saw a cheap ($13) gold hobo at Charlotte Russe. Unfortunatley, finding gold sandals that don't have a three-inch heel is a problem. Here are two I've found that are reasonably priced:

Gold sandals, $51, Zappos.com

and:

Gold sandals, $59, NineWest.com (the sandals on the feet on the right):

Payless also has a bunch of cute stuff this season. I can't really justify buying either of these, but I like them, and they're cheap:

Payless sandals, $9.99

Payless straw bag, $9.99

And finally, I really, really love this set:

"Lace Extreme Balconet set, $45 and $24, Victoria's Secret

Thursday, March 17th, 2005

So, a week or so I go I complained to Kit that she has RUINED John for the rest of us. He used to write introspective posts about himself, or write about his little encounters during the day. This is what drew me to John's journal in the first place -- and he was one of the first and only five people on my friends list for a long time. Yet ever since Kit moved in, we hardly hear any of that stuff. This sucks, because I've always liked him and was rooting for him to find a nice girl, so I'd like to hear introspective posts on how his relationship is going and what he thinks now compared to his earlier thoughts and opinions about relationships. Poindexter has also expressed an interest in hearing this.

Yesterday, he said "Since [Kit] does such a good job of chronicling things around here, I dont have much to post these days. Oh sure, theres the usual 'human interest' links to time machines, exploding poodles, and goat rapists...but nothing really substantive. (shrug) what can I say?"

I replied: "You mean NOTHING happens outside of what Kit writes about? No events or observations that she forgot about? (You're the one with the memory!) You don't talk to Spa Boy, Psycho Neighbor Lady, or Miss Bullet Nipples anymore? Spring no longer has a noticeable effect on your libido? You don't observe liberal shenanigans around town that make you shake your head? Nothing?!

Not to mention, some of us are very interested in YOUR point of view as well as hers (or her recapitulation of what you said your point of view was)."

Am I the only one who misses the introspective side of John? Are you also jealous that Kit is getting all his introspectiveness and we're left out in the cold except for what filters through her? I told him if he didn't WANT to write about this stuff to just say so, but he hasn't responded, so I'm taking his silence to mean he's still got the inclination but really and truly thinks that Kit's telling us all we care to know about him. Plus, it's not like he has any obligation to write what WE want him to write.

So. Poll. I'm leaving the results "viewable to none" so that you can feel free to be totally honest and so John cannot track you down and handcuff you with those plastic tie things if he doesn't like the poll results. If you want him to handcuff you with plastic tie things, just elaborate in comments.

You can see the poll results here.

And finally, to be fair and turn the poll tables on myself, what do you wish I'd write more about that I haven't been writing about lately? Is there anything I wrote about a while ago and forgot to follow up on? Please leave answers in the comments, and I'll use them as an inspiration to keep up with the daily journal entries.

Friday, March 18th, 2005

Evelynne: It's St. Patty's Day!
Evelynne: Are you wearing green?!
Evelynne: I have my shamrocks [big necklaces], and I have my green tweed coat.
Poindexter: LOL
Poindexter: nut.
Poindexter: No, I forgot about the day when I put out the clothes.
Poindexter: I remembered this morning and decided it wasn't worth the trouble to change.
Poindexter: I would also like to say that I am a NON-CONFORMIST.
Poindexter: I will not wear colors, ribbons, or buttons to somehow prove I am more caring or supportive of causes or people.
Evelynne: But you're Irish.
Evelynne: Even if you don't look it.*
Poindexter: Indeed! Therefore it is more fitting to wear BLACK. This to mourn the history of mistreatment and oppression of my people.
Evelynne: LOL
Poindexter: Rather than dress like a silly, happy little Leprechaun, as the MAN would have me do.
Evelynne: What about all those other times you dressed like a leprechaun?
Poindexter: I was young and foolish.
Evelynne: snort
Poindexter: Brainwashed by the mass-media.
Evelynne: Riiiiiiight.

*We had a mock argument once where he pretended to be grossly offended that I didn't think he looked Irish. Well, he doesn't! He's skinny, he's got nearly black hair, dark eyelashes, and not a hint of ruddiness to his complexion. Stereotypical Irish, to me, is sandy or reddish hair and ruddy cheeks and a stocky build. So there.

My mother IM'd him to say Happy St. Patty's Day, and mentioned she was making corned beef and cabbage. He told her that we were having poison potatoes. I guess since he's Irish he's allowed to make jokes like that.

We actually had Italian sandwiches for dinner.

And finally, at my mother's suggestion, I wore nothing but my shamrocks for Poindexter to celebrate. He liked that.

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Here's some premature e-postulation (thank you Brian about food issues:

When we have dinner up at my folks' house, particularly in the summer time, we often like to eat salmon and steak. I eat salmon, the boys eat steak, usually. Mom varies. I like to make a little white sauce with dill and wine to put over my salmon. Mom declines it, saying that she likes to taste the salmon. I like to put onions and spices in my burgers; Mom wants them plain so she can taste the meat. She actually likes the taste of plain old red meat.

I do too, to an extent, or I wouldn't be able to eat them at all. But taste ranks rather low on my priority list. For me, meat and fish are mainly about texture, and they are vehicles for conveying protein. If it hasn't been marinated or doesn't have a sauce or spice rub on it, I won't eat very much of it.

I'm the same way with vegetables. Vegetables (I'm not talking about starches like potatoes) must be near-raw or the texture makes me gag. Hell, does anybody actually like the taste of most vegetables? Especially when they're cooked? Stuff like cooked zucchini or green beans genuinely tastes bad to me. I can tolerate a lot of vegetables raw, and sometimes even enjoy them (sweet bell peppers, carrots, sugar snap peas, celery), but generally I don't want anything to do with vegetables unless they're crisp-tender and they've got some sort of tangy sauce on them. Broccoli, for instance, tastes like dirt to me, but I love the texture, and will eat it until I'm stuffed if it has something on it to mask the taste. We cook broccoli in an orange sauce (orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, and a bit of sesame oil) and a hoisin sauce (Ka-Me hoisin sauce, ginger, chicken broth, crushed red pepper, garlic and scallions).

When I was a kid, I used to have to sit at the table until I finished my (canned) green beans or peas or spinach. I would struggle valiantly, gagging all the while, trying to drown the taste and texture with milk or sneak it into a napkin that I'd later flush down the toilet. Thank god my parents would turn their backs to me to do the dishes or there would have been a lot more gagging involved.

Saturday, March 19th, 2005

Boy, you people sure like to talk about your vegetables. I thought that was one of the more boring posts I've ever written but people sure had a lot of say. But then, my favorite thing about LiveJournal is what Virginia calls the "me-too" comment. When you write something about yourself and everybody comments to say "me too!" or to tell you how they are different. It's like a get a random sampling of the variety that is humanity right here in my journal. I LOVE IT.

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Last night we had three movies to watch: The Bourne Supremacy, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and Before Sunset. I told Poindexter to pick the movie, and mentioned that of the three, Harold and Kumar was due earlier because it's still a new rental.

I went down to the theater room, got comfy on the couch, and The Bourne Supremacy came into view on the screen. I asked Poindexter, "Why did you pick that movie?" Was he in the mood for a suspenseful thriller? Not up for a comedy? Hoping for nude shots of Franka Potente?

Turns out his reason was completely different: "It's dark."

That one threw me. "You mean it's dark outside or the movie is dark?"

"Both," he said. He elaborated a little -- I forget the specifics -- and it turned out he was talking about scenes without much light in them, which are harder to see if we're watching a movie in the daytime.

"Oh! I thought you meant it was dark as in somber."

"Well, that too."

And here's the thing: I really wanted to know. I wanted to know what his mood was, what the reasoning process was behind his choosing the movie. What his criteria were. For picking a movie. Or if it had been totally random and he picked the one on the top of the stack.

I want to know this about everything. It is interesting.

And I don't just want to know it about movies. I want to know it about everything and everybody. And the more I like a person, the more I want to know what they're thinking. I thank my lucky stars pretty much every day that I have a husband and -- since LiveJournal -- dear friends who like answering this type of question. In college, when I was meeting new people all the time, I had people get very frustrated with me for asking questions like this. They would look at me in disbelief and say with exasperation, "Who cares?" or "I don't KNOW." They thought I was weird for asking and didn't even want to consider thinking about the reasoning behind their behavior. I think they're weird, of course, but I'm OK with it now because I don't have to bother unwilling people to find like me anymore. They drop into my lap nowadays.

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