Looking ahead

Well, at least I will have one post for the month of December! I know I have been bad about posting, but since I don't have anecdotes about children, it is a little harder! Work is going well, it will be a little busy towards the end of the year as there is a push to get some reports out. So there will a lot of overtime available which is always good. Especially since I will be flying out to Vermont for Christmas. I am really excited about it (and I'm looking forward to lots of Holiday Inn/White Christmas reenactments). The weather is starting to get cold which means I get to scrap my car every morning but it does mean that I have a better reason so drink lots of tea (which is good because I think that I am getting sick).

Oh! Spoons! Can I assume the potatoes will be mashed tonight? - Bobby Hill

Bad Dubbing

A few months ago, I got this movie from Netflix called "Memories of Murder". It's this really interesting South Korean movie about one the first modern serial killers in South Korea. The movie is very dark (both visually and content-wise) and very atmospheric. And the atmosphere is totally destroyed by really horrible dubbing. Really generic Americanized voices were used which was really distracting (as I told my mother, it was very weird to hear a voice like Harrison Ford's coming out of the mouth of a South Korean). Now I am watching another foriegn movie (from Sweden) called "Let the Right One In". Like "Memories of Murder", it is very dark and atmospheric. And ruined by dubbing. The voices that were used for dubbing aren't too bad, but the dialog doesn't match up with the movement of the actor's mouth. I would much rather read subtitles that be distracted by poor dubbing.

Warning this post might be boring

I know that the title is not the best one, but it may be accurate. I am in process of re-watching the excellent BBC adaptation of Bleak House. And when I mentioned this to my mother, she asked if I like being depressed. Now, to be honest, much of Dickens is depressing. But, I do enjoy watching/reading Dickens. I do enjoy Jane Austen a great deal but much of her books take place in a bubble of the middle class. Very little is written about the struggle to survive (with the possible exception of parts of Mansfield Park). And no one dies in a Jane Austen novel (except for the very beginning of Sense and Sensibility when Mr. Dashwood dies). Dickens, on the other hand, pulls no punches. He writes of the brutality of survival in London during the Industrial Revolution. And more often than not, once some ones falls ill, they aren't long for this world (which is kind of true for Elizabeth Gaskill as well). But despite that, I do think that there is a side of Dickens that is optimistic. There is great evil in his world (and in the hearts of Dickens characters) but at the same time there is goodness and kindness and possibility of redemption. And as the reader, we should recognize this and strive to posses those characteristics.

Bad blogger

I know that I have been really bad about blogging for the past couple months. But in the defense, for the month of November, I have been really busy at work which does not make a conducive environment for interesting blog posts. But I will try to do better. One good things from the past couple week is that Law and Order is now airing at a time when I can watch at least episode every night. This may sound silly and unimportant, but I do like to unwind after a day at work by watching an episode of L and O. And there is something so clean and balanced about an episode of L and O. The story gets wrapped up (and lets be honest, usually the DA gets a conviction which make you want to believe the that justice system works).

I've noticed that I also fell behind on adding King of the Hill quotes, so I am going to try to keep that up as well.

"20 years. If your marriage was a murderer it would be out by now." - Dale Gribble

Creepy house = Creepy Owner

On Friday night, I watched a movie called Dragonwyck, which starred Gene Tierny and Vincent Price as well as a super young Jessica Tandy, Anne Revere, and Spring Byington (I recognized Anne Revere and Spring Byington immediately). The movie is about a young woman (Gene Tierny) that leaves her family in Connecticut to stay with her married distant cousin (Vincent Price). The two eventually fall in love. The plot is kind of similar to Jane Eyre (there is a daughter and so Gene Tierny becomes her governess) complete with a huge old Gothic house called Dragonwyck. And Rebecca was aired right after, which also features an old Gothic house called Manderly. This got me thinking to all sorts of movies or books that feature a homeowner and house and how often the house reflects the traits of the homeowner. Dragonwyck? Creepy house that is haunted by ancestor. Owner? Creepy with a crazy emphasis on familial responsibility (and he is basically driven crazy by the desire for a son). Thornfield? Dark house with a secret wing that no one is allowed to enter. Owner? Dark and gruff man keeping secrets. Manderly? Beautiful old house that is strangled by the memory of the first Mrs. De Winter. Owner? Handsome (in the movie at least, Laurence Oliver is handsome) man that is still affected by his dead wife. Which is why Pemberly and Mr. Darcy are both awesome!

It's a macguffin!

About 2 years ago, I decided to watch a lot of Hitchcock movies to celebrate the month of October (I think that I saw almost all of them). And there were some that I enjoyed and there were some that I preferred to think never happened (like Frenzy and Marnie). So, I am going to watch and then write about some of my favorite Hitchcock movies for the month of October. I haven't decided what I am going to watch first, but it will probably be either Shadow of a Doubt or Saboteur.

Really...

Does anyone else miss Amy Poehler on SNL? Although she is pretty funny on Parks and Recreation.

Final Countdown

Only 3 more hours until a new season of The Office starts!!!!

Just for Fun

This clip makes me laugh so much:



I love that he has a little rolly suitcase. And the way he says "I am leaving" is pretty hilarious.

Am I overly excited about this?

Today when I got home from work, there was a package at my door containing this:

I had this book as a textbook for a class in high school and I really liked the class since it was the first class I remember taking that was about more "recent" history. And the teacher of the class was really excellent. We used this book a lot in the class and I really enjoyed everything that we read out of it. And I have been meaning to get a copy of this book and read the whole thing so I am hoping to be able to work my way through the book (I looked through the book briefly and recognized a few of the people and remember quite a few names!).

Your plan was flawed from the start

One of the things we did during the family vacation last month was sing around the fire. One song that Rachel and Trey often sing/play is Cold Missouri Waters (the most popular version is by the group Cry, Cry, Cry) and the song is really sad and I cry every time that they play it. I thought that maybe if I learned all the words than when I hear the song I would be so focused on remembering the words that I wouldn't cry. But the plan hasn't worked so far because I still cry every time (except one time because I listened to the song on repeat). But I am learning most of the words. Anyway, here is a YouTube video of the song:

I'm driving the hell out of this truck!

On my way to the post office after work, I notice that my alternator wasn't charging the battery and the car was getting really hot. I pulled into the Dairy Queen, popped the hood, and discovered that the fan belt was broken. So after a short chat with my dad (just to check how easy or hard it would be to get the right fan belt), I took the broken belt and walk down to the NAPA store (which was about 1.5 blocks away) and bought a new belt. After another call to my dad to figure out what tools I needed and to make sure I knew all the pulleys that the belt went around, I went to work. I was able to get the belt around almost all the pulleys except for the last one which required moving the spring loaded idler and getting the belt around the last pulley. Unfortunately, I couldn't move the idler and put the belt around the last pulley. So, I walked across the street to the fire house and asked a fire fighter to help me with the last little bit. With his help, I was able to get the belt around the last pulley and now my car is running back to normal (alternator charging and car staying cool). And I was super proud of myself for getting most of the belt on by myself. And I only got a little dirty (grease all over my hands and on my forearms) and hardly any on my shirt (which is currently soaking in the sink).

Back to form

I like to relax by reading a good book but the last book I got from Paperspine was Never Let Me Go which was such a slow read because it took so long for there to be any action. And the book was about 80% narration rather than conversation between 2 characters (which is why I have no problem rereading Jane Austen!). But right before vacation, I stayed up late on Friday night finishing the Raw Shark Text by Steven Hall. That book was really fantastic and wonderfully paced. With some books, it seems this the plot is chugging along and the author thinks "Uh-uh this is running to almost 300 pages, I better wrap this up in the next 20 pages" and so the end feels rushed (and I think that climax of the book is less satisfying). But the Raw Shark Text did not have that problem at all. The basic plot is a guy named Eric Sanderson wakes up in an apartment with no memory of who he is but keeps getting messages from the "First Eric Sanderson". Oh and he is being stalked by a conceptual shark. There is a perfect mix of action and heavy cerebral lifting (like wrapping your head around the idea of conceptual fish that come in all sizes). And there are some places with nontraditional text (like a shark made out of letters). I highly recommend it to everyone (and the 400+ pages really fly by, I think that I read it in about 1.5 weeks).

How's tricks?

For the past couple of days, I've been watching the BBC adaptation (written by Andrew Davies) of Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit". I enjoyed it a lot when is ran on PBS earlier this year, but I felt that some subplots were not completely explained/examined. But watching the original version, I like it even more. Plus, now that I know the general story, I can pay attention to the subplots much easier and understand how they (the subplots) help drive the main plot. And, I've figured out who the heck everyone is! I feel the same way about Robert Altman's "Gosford Park". The first time I saw it, I liked it but it was hard to understand the relationship between all the characters. But by the third time, I know who everyone is and what their relationship and interactions are with everyone else. That is what I love best about well written movies, the more that you see them, the more you understand and enjoy the movie. And you can appreciate other aspects of the movie like the score, the costumes, or the cinematography (try it with a Hitchcock movie, those are some of the best). And the other thing I enjoyed about Little Dorrit is playing my favorite game of "ID that Brit!". I love in BBC/PBS shows, that some of the same actor pop up again and again making imdb my friend in figuring out why I recognize an actor (like when I was watching an episode of Doctor Who and I figured out that one of the actors was in Little Dorrit).



Oh yeah, BBC's Bleak House is equally good!

Another Year

I went home this past weekend to celebrate my birthday and spend some time with my parents and Lucy (and Josh and Vaughn). Since Lucy had to work all day Sunday, I opened my birthday presents on Saturday morning. Lucy and Josh and Rachel and Trey got me a really nice set of new silverware (my current silverware was a little mismatched). Ellis and Vaughn got me an awesome "The Office" poster. Mom (in addition to the new desk she got me when she was here) got me Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (although that might have been Lucy) and a subscription to Real Simple. And then Bridget got a subscription to Mental Floss (I do love getting magazine subscriptions. So after the presents, Mom, Lucy, Vaughn, and I went it to town to run a few errands (and have lunch at Pucinni's which is one my favorite restaurants in Lafayette). We stopped at Target (Lucy had to return something) and I got a fancy new bamboo silverware divider to go with my beautiful new silverware:
Also on Saturday, Mom and I got new phones (which I love so much!). Thank you everyone that sent me birthday wishes (include the lovely serenade from Ellis). Love you all, and I can't wait to see everyone sometime this summer!

It could just be me...

I just finished watching Bunny Lake is Missing (which was great) but I noticed something very odd about the score. It was very drum/bongo heavy. And I was thinking of what other movies from the 60s with really drum heavy scores. The main one I thought of was In the Heat of the Night (especially in chase scene in the first 30 minutes of the movie) but I think the more suspenseful portions of Charade feature some really weird drumming (and I am sure there are plenty more!). The plot of Bunny Lake is Missing is that a single mother (who has just moved to London to be with her brother) drops off her daughter as a daycare and then when she comes to pick up Bunny, she is nowhere to be found. The police are called in and then begin to suspect the Bunny never existed. This type of psychological thriller is one that I love and I have seen 5 movies with this same plot device: Flightplan, Bunny Lake is Missing, Dangerous Crossing, So Long at the Fair, and The Lady Vanishes. I have to say, giving into my preference for all things Hitchcock, The Lady Vanishes is my favorite. But, I did see some influence of Hitchcock on Bunny Lake is Missing. I recommend all of the movies above (all are DVD except for So Long At The Fair, but it will be on TCM on August 10th at 6:30pm EST), even though Flight Plan is probably weakest of the 5. On the negative side, I read that Bunny Lake is Missing is going to be remade, yikes!

It's time to change, it's time to rearrange

My mom came to visit me this past weekend (I had Monday off) and she thought it would be good to rearrange my furniture and organize my apartment (and she was right). I got a new entertainment center last month (at Ikea) so I wasn't sure what to do with the old one (and ditto for a desk, I wanted to get a smaller less hulking one).




We talked mostly on Friday night of how to rearrange the furniture and the type of desk that I wanted. On Saturday, we went to Lehman's (as per tradition for anyone that comes to visit me!). We also stopped at Wal-mart to look at cabinets to help organize my vanity area. And after some discussions (and difficulty putting the stupid thing together!), we ended up with this:



Later on Saturday afternoon we headed to Target to get a new desk and after about 30 minutes of discussion (and only slight difficultly putting together the desk and the accompanying side table) and picking out some really cute bamboo storage bins, this is what we ended up with:


On Sunday, we went to World Market (in Akron) to get some baskets to help organize the two re-purposed storage cabinets. So after moving them and going through my kitchen to decide what to move and what to put on display:




Which means my awesome Jane Austen quote mugs are on display!
Bonus points to whoever can tell my which book each quote is from (except for the two that say the book of course):

So Awesome

See more notes like this at PassiveAggressiveNotes.com. Enjoy!

Brief Absence

I haven't blogged for about two weeks now but I am going to try to do better. I went to the farm for the 4th of July holiday. I talked mom into teaching me how to sew (it didn't take much) so on Friday we spent a little while at Jo-Ann's looking through patterns and then getting some material to make a dress and an Asian style top. We also picked up some flowers and had some lunch (and picked up some feed for the goats and chickens) before heading back home. But we forgot to get material to line the dress, so we went back to Jo-Ann's on Saturday morning to get the lining. This time Lucy (and Vaughn) can with us and Lucy got material (and a few patterns) for a sundress, a pair of pants, and a top. On Friday night, mom and I cut out the material for the dress (which is when we discovered that we forgot the get the lining). And then on Saturday, we went of the Logansport to Josh's family 4th of July celebration. Lucy and I spent about 2.5 hours picking black raspberries (and so our arms are covered in scratches and mosquito bites) in the rain. But, now I am looking forward to delicious jam and the black raspberry pie mom made for our family vacation later this summer!

More Mystery Love

And here is the opening credits for an episode of Sherlock Holmes (and this is from 1984, when I would have been one, so I think that by the time I watched it, Diana Rigg was the host)

I don't know, we'll have to find out

Are these the coolest opening (and closing) credits ever?

I love those credits, I remember watching Mystery when I was younger (including Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett) and back when Diana Rigg was the host (and then when it was host-less for a few years). PBS has split up Masterpiece Theater into 3 types: Classic, Mystery, and Contemporary. I do like the new format (and Laura Linney and Alan Cummings have been great hosts for the Classic and Mystery versions, respectively) but I do miss the old opening credit for Masterpiece Classic. Fortunately, the awesome Edward Gorey credits still remain. The work of Edward Gorey is always delightfully macabre and quirky. I remember knowing that I would be really good friends with a girl from the Academy when we both agreed that we loved the lady with the fan (and the lady with the stole blowing in the wind) and they were the best part of the credits (during my pre-Academy days, there were few people who watched a lot of PBS). And this same person and I shared a love of the Kevin Sullivan production of Anne of Green Gables and other old PBS movies produced by WonderWorks (which includes Frogs! and The Gryphon).

And, as a bonus this older version (back when Mystery was hosted by Vincent Price) were just as cool:

For your viewing pleasure

Here are a music video from the 80s with the song lyrics describing what is actually happening in the videos. And I must admit, I kind of love this song. And the video is pretty much hilarious!

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

Quick and Versatile

I love making naan, which is a type of Indian flatbread. It is really easy to make, relatively quick (it takes a little more than an hour), and can be used for lots of different things. I usually make it with curried pork bites (or chicken tandoori, really anything that is spicy) but I have also toasted the naan with cheese on top, and spread both peanut butter or nutella on a piece of naan. So here is the recipe (and with picture!):
8 oz (225 g) bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 oz yeast
4 T milk (lukewarm)
1 T vegetable oil
2 T yogurt
1 egg Combine milk and yeast. Set aside for 15 minutes.


Sift together flour and salt. Add the yogurt, oil, egg, and milk and mix to form a soft dough (it will be pretty sticky).


Knead the dough for about 10 minutes (until smooth and elastic). Again the dough with be a little sticky so make sure to use plenty of flour. Place in greased bowl and let rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk (I've reduced the raising time to about 30 minutes in a rush and the naan still turned out well). Punch down and then divide into 8 pieces and roll into balls then roll out into a disc. You can make the pieces of naan thicker and bigger if you like. I like to make my naan a little smaller and thinner so it cooks faster.


Heat a pan to medium (or use a grill). Place naan on the pan (or grill) for about 3 to 4 minutes (the naan will start to puff up) and then flip over and cook on the otherside for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and repeat until all pieces of naan are cooked. Enjoy!

Success!

I remember watching The Simpsons when they were still on the Tracy Ullman show and we used to watch it every week back in the first few years of the show (I think that I stopped watching it around my senior year of high school around season 11 or 12, when the show seemed to be more about Homer than the whole family). One of the characters, Nelson Muntz, always says goodbye by saying "Smell you later" and Rachel (and sometimes me) has been saying that to Ellis whenever ever he would leave the room or go upstairs for a nap. And then on Sunday as Rachel was taking him upstairs for his nap and I said "Smell you later" to which Ellis replied "I will smell you later. Aunt Caferene, I will smell you later". It was pretty much hilarious and adorable. I couldn't find a clip of Nelson saying smell you later, but here is a pretty funny clip of him from the first episode I remember him saying smell you later.

I personally don't feel this way (all the time anyway)

Coolest Choir Teacher ever

I can't resist a Coldplay song! (Especially one from Viva La Vida, I love that Album!)

Celebrate!

In honor of Earth Day, I thought that I would make a (bulletized) list of planet-friendly products or services that I really like.

• Soap: Lucy and I have been experimenting with making our own soap. And what I like about making my own soap is that I know what is in that soap and I know where the ingredients come from and the quality. But if I don't have my own homemade soap with me, a brand that I have discovered is Pure& Natural. They only make 3 products (bar soap, body soap, and hand soap) in really interesting combinations like grapefruit pomegranate (my favorite) and rosemary mint. They use a combination of palm oil, vegetable oil, and olive oil. The packing is made of recycled material which is embedded with baby breath's seeds (so you can plant them in the garden). And the company donates to the World Wildlife Fund.
  
• Toothbrushes: One of the best toothbrushes I have ever used is made the company Preserve which makes a variety of personal care products (like razors) using recycled yogurt containers (which is no. 5, for all of you familiar with sorting your plastics). The toothbrush is slightly curved so it makes it easy to reach your back teeth. You can return the toothbrush back to company and it will be recycled to make more products. You can also send any clean no. 5 containers (or drop them off at a Whole Foods, maybe I will start keeping all my no.5s to take with me next time I visit Rachel in Ann Arbor!). The company has expanded their product line to include not only tableware but kitchen supplies like mixing bowls and cutting boards (I just ordered one to replace my old flexible one so maybe I will review it here on the blog).
• Books: So I am using 2 online services for lending books. One is a pay service to rent two books a month (for about the price of a Netflix subscription) called Paperspine. The books come through the mail and then you just use the pre-paid envelopes to mail it back (which means that you can put them in any dropbox, you don't have to go the post office.). The selection at Paperspine is really good (but only paperbacks) and I have gotten more than a couple books for my book reviews through Paperspine. The other service that I use (less regularly) is Paperback Swap, which is basically a service that allows you to swap books with other users for free (you do have to pay for mailing the books). The variety of books is dependent on the users but I found some interesting books through Paperback Swap like a novel by Jasper Fforde and a copy of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.
  
• Resuable Shopping Bags: Rachel sent me the website for Reusable Bags which is where I have gotten 4 of the 7 reusable bags that I use every time I go shopping. My favorite bag from that site is the Envirosax ultra compact reusable bag because I can roll it up and keep it in my purse in case I have to make a quick stop at the grocery store. I also have the set of Happybags totes with the design names of Lucy and Catherine (I couldn't resist!). The latest addition to my collection of reusable bags is one I bought at Barnes and Noble that I really like because the material is a little bit stiffer so it is more like a fabric paper bag. And I have a bag that I take with me to the library (or the post office).
  
• Cleaning Products: I almost exclusively use cleaning products made by Method. All the cleaning products are make from environmentally friendly formulations which means that all you really smell is the scents used by the company like grapefruit and lavender. The cleaning wipes are made of bamboo which means that the wipes are compostable and biodegradable. I have used lots of the products made by Method like the daily shower cleaner, cleaning wipes, dish soap (right now I am using the spiced pear holiday scent), and air freshener. They also make laundry products and dishwasher soap (which I haven't used because I don't have a dishwasher).
  
• Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs: I've used a couple different brands but my favorite is the Meijer brand because they are pretty affordable and come in cardboard packaging which is completely recycleable (the other 2 brands I've used came in plastic package which could be recycled except that there is no number designation listed).
  

Thanks for reading and I hope that some of these suggestions are helpful!

It's April 22nd!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!

I'm going to write a real post soon, I promise!

For lovers of the Kool Aid Man game

see more pwn and owned pictures

Glitterize

I was picking up a few things at Wal-mart today after work and I came across a Martha Stewart kit to make cards. And as much as Martha Stewart can drive me crazy, her company really makes cute stuff:


The downside is, I got glitter pretty much all over the place in my living room.

Lather, Rinse, and maybe Repeat

I went home for the Easter holiday (I got Good Friday off from work) on Thursday night (the five hour drive isn't so bad now that I am used to it). On Friday, mom, Lucy, Vaughn, and I ran some errands in town (including my usually weekend errand of taking out recycling!) and had lunch (I will let Lucy tell the story about our lunch out!). On Saturday, I went up with my parents to Dowaigac to see Bridget for the day. On Sunday, Lucy and I tried our hand (yet again) at liquid soap making (ok, we made shampoo). Unfortunately (just like last time) the soap mixture boiled over onto the stove and then Lucy and I got the clean the stove. I had to head back (after the delicious Easter lunch mom made for us) before the last part of the process was complete so you will have to ask Lucy how it turned out! But I heard that her hair did not fall out upon using the homemade shampoo.

"I had a lot of time to think while I was unflushing Aunt Peggy's keys" - Luanne Platter

What's The Matter With Helen?

She's nuts. I made the mistake of watching the movie "What's the Matter With Helen?" this afternoon with Debbie Reynolds and Shelly Winters. The basic plot is the mothers of two convicted murders move to California to start afresh. I like Debbie Reynolds a lot (especially in Singing in the Rain) but I do not like Shelly Winters at all. She was really annoying in this movie (I think she screamed for about 15 minutes total at various points in the movie). And she is super unlikable in "A Patch of Blue" and totally useless in "Night of the Hunter". So if anyone knows a movie that Shelly Winters is actually good in, please let me know. But I'm making up for watching that terrible movie by watching an excellent movie: Murder, My Sweet. The original title for the movie (and the book is it based on) was Farewell My Lovely but it was changed so moviegoers wouldn't think it was a musical. And I didn't understand that until I saw 42th Street and realized Dick Powell was in a ton of musicals before doing Murder, My Sweet (and the actress Anne Shirley is in this movie too!).

HANK: If you ask me, you've got too much imagination. Everything's all loop-de-loops and flibbertigibbets.

The Juice and Jack McCoy

Tonight I watched Capricorn One (on TCM naturally) which is a 1978 movie about a faked Mars landing starring James Brolin, Elliot Gould, Sam Waterson (aka Jack McCoy) and O.J. Simpson. It was really strange to see all the lead actors so young (I don't think that I have ever seen a movie with Sam Waterson without gray hair, not to mention James Brolin without white hair!). And it is always a little strange to see pre-trial O.J. Simpson. I have only ever seen him in the Naked Gun movies (and his scenes were always my least favorite) so it was strange to see him in a dramatic role. That being said, he didn't have to have a lot a talent to play his part in Capricorn One. Most of his lines were basically stating the obvious. But Sam Waterson did get to play kind of a smart-ass in the movie, which was quite enjoyable. Overall, I enjoyed the movie but for the most part I like the conspiracy theory movies (like The Manchurian Canidate and most Hitchcock movies [i.e. North by Northwest, Foreign Correspondent] and Sneakers) so I'm not really suprised that I liked it.

DALE: I can't afford to be out of commission for three days. As one of Arlen's leading skeptics, I've got my fingers in a lot of pies.
HANK: But Dale, you made a deal. What about all that great stuff you got from John?
DALE: Damn, the stuff! Stuff is my weakness!

More TCM love

I know I have mentioned in the past how much I love the TCM channel (it is one of my favorite channels and I usually check what is showing on the weekends). I have seen some great movies on TCM (like Now, Voyager, A Night At the Opera, and Christmas in Connecticut to name a few). But tonight, they are showing a bunch of Chuck Jones shorts as well as a short documentary about Chuck Jones and The Phantom Tollbooth (which is on at 11pm but Lucy is taping it for me). This is the perfect remedy to my somewhat stressful day at work.

MINH: Kahn, we have no nanny for Connie.
KAHN: Oh, cruel, cruel fate! This Maui speech could be my stepping-stone from systems analyst to senior systems analyst!

The return

I think that it has been about a month since I last did a book review (and I've actually finished 3 books in that time!) but finally here is another book review (I'm sure all of you were waiting for one!). The book for this week (or month) is "The Hours Before Dawn" by Celia Fremlin. It is a mystery novel set in 1958 London about a housewife named Louise with 3 children including a new baby that cries all night. The family lets a room in their house to a mysterious lodger named Vera Brandon. Strange things start happening around the house but Louise is so tired that she isn't sure what is real and what isn't real. On top of that there is a feeling on anxiety all though the house that may or may not be due to Miss Brandon. Since a lot of the action takes place in the house it feels very claustrophobic but also a little more terrifying since there is no safe haven for Louise. You also sympathize with Louise as she struggles to get through the day through her exhaustion (I'm sure anyone with a new born can understand Louise's struggle). The novel is pretty short (about 175 pages) but it really good. I discovered the book (which has a been out of print for a long time) through Bas Bleu which is one of my favorite bookstores (although it is really just an online store/catalog, there is no physical store). Every book that I have read that was recommended by the catalog (like Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day) has been fantastic. They specialize in more eccentric/lesser known books (basically the complete opposite of Oprah's Book Club). So there are more books from small publishing companies or companies outside of the United States and older books (and less well-known books) that have out of print (like the one for this review). I highly recommend "The Hours Before Dawn" (which may soon be making the rounds through my family) and Bas Bleu.

I'm officially an adult!

Because I did my taxes today (online)! Since I worked a month in Indiana, I have to pay the state of Indiana $6 (so I couldn't e-file) but I have to mail something on Monday so I am going to go ahead and send in all my tax stuff on Monday as well. And it wasn't too hard to do the 2 states (as well as the Federal) using TurboTax (it was much easier than I thought, or was afraid it would be). I was actully really nervous about doing my taxes (like I was going to mess it up and then get audited) but my company makes it easy to use an online service because you can automatically import your W-2 so I wasn't so worried about mistyping a number.

HANK: So Bobby, we got to think of a hero for you.
BOBBY: Do you have a hero, Dad?
HANK: I sure do, and it's Willie Nelson.
BOBBY: How come?
HANK: Well, you might say he's been my inspiration. See, Willie grew up in Texas, and I grew up in Texas. He loves golfing and playing guitar, I love golfing and playing guitar, he's had trouble with the IRS, and I must have spent six hours last April on that 1040 form -- EZ my ass.

It's a shark!

This past weekend I drove up to Ann Arbor for a surprise visit to Rachel and my mom. On Saturday, we all went to Costco (no IKEA for once!) and enjoyed a variety of free samples (although I think that Ellis enjoyed the jelly beans sample the most). We got these really cool (and large) kites (a dragon and a shark) to take with up the vacation house in August. And then we went to see the boat that Trey is working on and played Settlers of Catan while Ellis was napping (and Rachel basically creamed mom and I). Trey made a delicious trout dinner and then Rachel and Trey creamed mom and I at Hand and Foot (we did win one round though). On Sunday, Rachel, Mom, Ellis, and I when to Borders and then to Meijer while Trey got supplies to rebuild the shelves in their basement pantry. The shelves were mostly done by the time I headed back to Ashland, but I will require photographic proof!

LUANNE: And not one of my beauty school credits has transferred to junior college. It turns out you have to get at least a C.

Cecil Jacobs is a big wet hen

I love the book "To Kill a Mockingbird". I have a first edition that a friend got for me for graduation (which makes me love the book so much more because I am reminded of her). I also love the movie of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in part because the screen adaptation by Horton Foote is so well done. So I was very sad to learn that Horton Foote passed away today. I may have to watch "To Kill A Mockingbird" (and cry as usual) this weekend.

Faster than you can say Jack Robinson

I went home two weeks ago (during the President's Day weekend) and mom and I went to a local quilt shop and we saw this really cool pattern that I said would be good to show off interesting quilt material. And then we went on to look at the material at the shop and I mentioned that for some reason I really like the 60s-ish retro quilt material a lot and I would love to use them to make a quilt but I would really want to show off the material. Since my mom is a genius she remembered the quilt pattern that we admired earlier would be perfect to show off the material. So after about 20 minutes of determining which material to use, mom and I went home and cut and sewed the patches together. Mom and Lucy helped me layout the quilt. I wanted the quilt to be pretty random and Lucy wanted there to be a pattern (I won out, reminding Lucy that the quilt was for me and not to worry, the quilt that I have in mind for her has a definite pattern). Mom helped me pin and sew the rows (and smartly marked the rows in order) and I sewed the rows together this weekend:


I'm not sure if I want to add an outside border (it is just big enough for my double bed with a little bit of overhang) and I don't know what quilting pattern to use (I'm thinking maybe a triangular Celtic knot) but I'm open to suggestions. I may try to get a better picture of it.

Arrrghh...

I might as well as have been wearing a eye patch because my depth perception today was totally wonky. I whacked my arm against a door knob (not once but twice) and I hit my shoulder on a wall of my cubicle. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. It will be Friday and I get Monday off due to President's Day so I am looking forward to a nice long weekend at the farm.

"This is no time to go easy on these punks. That's the mistake their parents made." - Hank

Disappointedsville, population: me

I watched Lawrence of Arabia last night on TCM. I've wanting to watch that movie for a while due largely to its reputation of one the best "epic" movie made. I thought the cinematography was excellent (did you know that the lens used to shoot the mirage scene of Omar Sharif is now known as the "David Lean Lens") and the music certainly matched the epic scale of the desert. But I was still disappointed in the movie because I found it really boring. The movie just goes on and on and on (and on and on). I don't have a problem with long movies (see the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice which is 310 minutes or the two Anne of Green Gables movies, one is 194 minute and the other is 240). But holy moly Lawrence of Arabia is a long movie. The action scenes seemed really short and then were long interludes of basically nothing, no character development, no talking. The casting really bothered me too. Alec Guiness is not Arabic, and neither is Anthony Quinn (he is actully Mexican). I liked Peter O'Toole in the role but he looked very odd with his super blond hair and really blue eyes against his really tan skin (apparently Peter O'Toole is much taller and better looking than T.E. Lawerence). I do apperciate that a majority of the extras in the movie are actully Arabian (King Hussien lent a brigade of the Arabian Legion as extras in the film; he also visited the set often and met his second wife on the set). So overall, I was a disappointed in the movie. But after Lawrence of Arabia, Casablanca was on so the evening ended on a high note (the Great Escape was on at 11:30 and that was a little too late for me!)

Trifecta

I've been really bad about writing the book reviews on a weekly basis. But I've also been bad about writing post in general for most of the month of January. I will try to do better (I am currently triple booking with The Sea Lady, The City of Ember, and Up the Down Staircase so I should be able to write another review next weekend). Anyway the book for this week's review is "Double Indemnity" by James M. Cain (which is the source material for the movie starring Barbra Stanwyck and Fred McMurray). The book is really short (115 pages) but it really packs a punch! It is the story of an insurance salesman who falls in love with a married woman and is persuaded into killing her husband after taking out a life insurance on the husband (with a double indemnity clause if the death occurs near a railroad track). I love film noir movies (since I saw Murder My Sweet) so I was intrigued to read the book before seeing the movie. But what I think is the most amazing thing is that James M. Cain also wrote two other well known film noir movies: "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (which I got from the library a few days ago to read before seeing the movie) and "Mildred Pierce" (I've seen the movie already, which I didn't like too much, so I am hoping that the book will be better). If you like film noir, I definitely recommend reading this classic in the genre.

100 years at the movies

I've seen this a couple times on TCM (during the 31 Days of Oscar) and I love it every time I see it. And notice the clip of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the end!

The most wonderful time of the year

This is one of my favorite times of year because of TCM's 31 Days of Oscar. And this year, TCM has done a really cool marketing idea making the TCM University. So the movies are arranged by type based on what academic department they would be in. For example Friday's theme is the Physics department and the day is split into three subjects: Astrophysics (and showing The Black Hole, Forbidden Planet, and 2010), Aerodynamics (showing Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Only Angels Have Wings, Flying Tigers, and Strategic Air Command) and Nuclear Physics (showing Seven Days to Noon, Dr. Strangelove, Lil' Abner, Crimson Tide, and The Atomic City). I have to say marketing department at TCM has had some genius moments as evidenced by this ad for Ben-Hur:

Not just for last minute science fair projects

My bathroom sink has been draining rather slowly but instead of buying drain cleaner, I thought I would try a homemade (and more earth friendly) drain cleaner. I pour a 1/4 cup of baking soda down the sink followed by a 1/2 cup of vinegar and then pushed down the plunger so that none of mixture bubbled out of the drain. I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then poured about a cup of boiling water down the drain. And it actually worked pretty well, I still had a little bit of water left in the drain which I think reduced its effectiveness a little bit. But I was reading the comments for the post at website specializing in homemade cleaning products and pouring boiling water down the sink rather than cold or warm water is the best.

What exactly are you trying to do, Hank? Turn our school into some kind of bohemian Montessori lovefest? - Dale Gribble

That fancy internet machine

Over the winter break, I decided that I should go to the eye doctor to get a check-up (it was about 2 years since my last one). Instead of buying glasses from the eye doctor, Rachel talked me into buying my glasses online. So after a few days of looking at the sites and through all the frames, I ordered a pair of glasses from goggles4u.com a little more than a week ago. And today, they arrived in the mail:



Ordering the glasses was pretty easy. The site has a huge selection which can be overwhelming at first but you can narrow down the frames based on color or material. Most of the frames (including mine) cost about $13. The page for each frame lists the measurements of the frame, like the width of the frame, the height and width of the lens area and width of the bridge. And there are pretty good instructions for measuring your face (or your current pair). For some frames, you can try them on virtually. You upload a picture of yourself and the glasses are then superimposed on your face. The scale can be a little weird but I was able to shrink my picture and enlarge the frames enough to make it look slightly normal. There are a couple options for the lenses as well like thickness or made of glass or polycarbonate. They also have bifocal lenses but the frame size has to be large enough for the bifocal. I ordered the polycarbonate lenses that had anti-glare and UV coating and are scratch-resistant which cost about $30. Entering in your prescription is pretty easy but if you are concerned with it, the is an option to fax them a copy of your prescription to them to avoid any mistakes. I had a good experience ordering my glasses on-line, it was way cheaper and the selection was huge and varied (and it was kinda of fun to see myself in frames that I would never wear), but I did get lots input from my mom, Rachel and Lucy before I finally picked my frames.

PEGGY: You may not have noticed it, because I wear bold eyeglasses to draw the attention to my head, but your mother has exceptionally long and handsome feet.

I'll be your handy man (or woman)

I visited Rachel this weekend which means we (Rachel, mom, Lucy and I) went to IKEA. I've been needing a larger CD tower for a while now and I found a nice one at IKEA (even on sale!) so I put it together this evening after I got back from Ann Arbor.

Pod, Pod, Pod

I've missed the last couple weeks of book reviews, but I will try to make up for it. Before I left for the holidays, I read "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" by Jack Finney (first published in 1955 and adapted into a movie in 1956, 1978, 1993 and 2007). The novel opens with the small town doctor in California getting a call from an old girlfriend who is worried about her cousin. The cousin insists the uncle that raised her isn't her uncle. As more and more people in the town insists a friend or family member isn't his or her friend or family member. A local psychiatrist insists that it is all psychologically. Eventually, the townspeople not longer think someone they know isn't right. And then a friend (of the doctor) finds a body in his basement that resembles him (the friend). I have to say, even though I knew the basic plot of the book, it was still really suspenseful. I could definitely see how the novel inspired at lot of science fiction stories. And it was interesting to here the science portion as science was in 1955 (especially considering that the structure of DNA was determined only 2 years earlier). The novel is also the source of the term "pod person" (or people). I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys science fiction.

On the edge of Loonytown and taking the train to the city centre

It's been almost a month since my last post mostly because I was home at the farm during the holiday and there were lots of other things to occupy my time (and a majority of the people who read this blog saw me over the holiday season). And since I have to children, photo-based blog post are not as cute. Fortunately, the amount of snow that has fallen here at Ashland has motivated me to write some posts. Christmas at the farm was really nice (even though I didn't get to farm until 5pm on Christmas Eve) because everyone was there (including 4 children under 5). Deidre and her family (and grandpa) came up for Christmas dinner (and games) which is always fun. The little boys were pretty good but there were some moments between Silas and Ellis that lead to crying (one or both of them). My mom got all the little boys little plasma cars (which could be ridden by adults) which were appreciate most by Silas, Ellis, and Orrin (and by extension Emmet because often he was Orrin's passenger). Bridget and Orrin went to Orrin's parents for New Years so we didn't have a big party this year but we still had a good time singing songs after Ellis went to sleep. Trey and Rachel went home a few days after New Years and so I spent lots of time giggling and watching movies with Mom and Lucy and playing with Vaughn until I drove back to Ashland on Sunday afternoon. I was (of course) kinda bummed to go back to work (my apartment is so quite compared to the farm on Christmas) but work is going okay. I'm moving cubicles on Friday (to a better cubicle with more space) on Friday. Unfortunately, my new desk is at a slight incline so turning around can be a little annoying.

BOBBY: I'm gonna cross the track and bring Mr. Witchard a soda.
HANK: That's crazy! Why would you do that?
BOBBY: I'm giving 110 percent, Dad.
JIMMY: Go to here, go-to boy! I want a soda! Go to now!