So hilariously BHE hated the Julie Taymor flick Across the Universe. I loved it, he hated it -- wanted the two hours of his life back, the whole nine. He had me totally in stitches as he ranted about what pretentious self-important crap it was. Too funny. Ah well, at least we have love.
Just saw Superbad for the first time... LMAO. And then, I discovered this:
I just discovered Nouvelle Vague... delightful. So far my favorites are "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and Yaz' "Don't Go" -- however, in honor of the holiday yesterday, I give you "Blue Monday"
Success! I spent approx 50% of the Memorial Day weekend sleeping. Yay me!
I choose to say it this way because it sounds much more exciting and, well, planned than "My body was so exhausted that it gave out and forced me to sleep away major chunks of a long weekend with BHE -- I slept and he labored."
See? The "Yay" version is much more exciting. I think it will sell better in Peoria.
What is the world coming to when I can't post a YouTube video of "Lazy Sunday" to my blog on a Sunday?! There's like 10,000 effing wingnuts on YouTube doing parodies of it, but no Samberg and Parnell. Sorry, fallen soldiers. No "Lazy Sunday" for you this Memorial Day weekend.
From now on, all my free e-cards will be wrongcards. I heart them. Okay, maybe not to my in-laws, but everyone else? You betcha. :)
more cat pictures
So begins Memorial Day weekend. Am exhausted -- literally ate dinner and then fell asleep in my Archie Bunker chair until about 20 mins ago. Part of me wishes we were going away to a bed and breakfast somewhere, but the other part of me would be fully content to spend the long weekend in my own bed and eat nothing but Nilla Cakesters and Coke Zero for three days. Will keep you posted.
So BHE went a little crazee, and bought Wii Fit, Wii Play, and Dance Dance Revolution today. There's about to be some major Wii-ing in my house this Memorial Day weekend. Our fallen soldiers would have wanted it that way.
Memory Meme
1. Who was your favorite relative and why?
Tough. Right at this moment, I would say my grandpa Carl. He was Guamanian, and about 5'4" and balding for as long as I can remember. He had a laugh that would light up a room, he was a chef that made the best pancakes and pie crust I've ever tasted, and when he ate jalapeños he'd sweat on the top of his little bald head.
2. What is the best and worst advice a friend ever gave you?
Best: That I shouldn't sweat the small stuff.
Worst: That I should go ahead and try to climb that tree to get onto the roof.
3. Where was your favorite place to when you were young? Least favorite?
Favorite was my grandmother's enclosed back porch -- a bungalow-sized room where I used to play house. Sometimes my cousin Michael and I would play "Grandma and Grandpa" -- he would put the white plastic tips from one of Carl's Muriel Corona cigars in his mouth, I would put one of my grandmother's Salem cigarette butts in mine, and then I would pretend to cook dinner, and then we would pretend to go to bed (all very clean). And then he'd get up and pretend to go to work.
Least favorite was shopping, whether clothes or grocery -- it was boring, and I got in trouble if I played in the racks or sang and danced to the muzak.
4. What lesson did you have to learn "the hard way"?
Still learning it: If you don't have cash, don't buy it.
5. What are the three best decisions you ever made?
a. To move to Chicago
b. To major in theatre
c. To not let BHE let me get away :)
6. Did you have a favorite age that you aspired to as a child, i.e. like a time you thought you'd be "grown up" or that life would be easier/clearer/independent?
Sixteen -- I thought that on the day I turned 16, I would get my driver's license and then immediately move out and into my own apartment. Duh. :)
7. What is the most important thing you've learned about relationships?
The golden rule ain't just a river in Egypt. Uh, wait...
8. How have your spiritual beliefs changed over time?
Not much, really. I have both more and less respect for extremists, and a basic lack of faith of my own. The alleged 'gawd-shaped hole in my heart' don'tcha know.
9. What is the first death you remember?
My great-uncle Forrest. I only remember that he died, and everyone went some place and was sad, and I was not allowed to go to the place. I was likely 5-6 years old.
10. What is the most memorable birthday gift you ever got?
A crown woven of spring onions and chives on my 25th birthday on the island of Saaremaa from my friend Erik. It wasn't the most expensive or beautiful gift I've ever gotten, but it is very memorable.
OMG, would you believe that today I won another pair of Southwest airline tickets? This makes pair #3 -- crazy balls! Where should I go, America? The answer is likely San Diego to visit mamacita, but who knows. TBD. :)
Watching Family Guy "Blue Harvest" for the first time right now. Hilarious. Reminded me that took these pix many moons ago.
I have this thing about being at work when I don't have to. It's kind of funny, considering that when I was 16-18, there was nothing more acceptable than visiting your place of employment on your day off, finding out who's around, hanging out, waiting for people to finish their shifts, etc. Now, some 20 years later, the last thing on gawd's green earth I want to do on my day off is go anywhere near work.
Case in point: There is an excellent upscale seafood restaurant near work -- one for which I have $300 in gift certificates. BHE wanted to go there for dinner this weekend -- I vetoed. This seems to translate to people too: I spotted one of my co-workers at Target this afternoon, with her back to me, shopping for clothed. I walked on. It wasn't that I wanted to blow her off, or that I dislike her... I simply wanted to keep that separation. Today is one of two days that she doesn't have to see me, and that I don't have to see her. While I have no problem making plans to hang with a co-worker on my day off, running into them feels like going to work.
It probably has something to do with the fact that, during the summer, I can often be there 7 days a week. This year, more so than in years past, I am hanging onto the off-season vibe as long as I can, postponing the in-season stressors. Seeing co-workers randomly on my day off is too much like work, too much a reminder of being in-season. So, a little guiltily, I walked on by.
I admit it. I've been obsessed lately with handbags and makeup. Girly girly girl girl. Probably because I feel like I'm dressing like a frump these days -- spend some kiznash, slap a little lipstick on that pig, and away we go!
I have been on the inevitable quest for the perfect handbag, and as ever, falling slightly short. I need a bag that's work appropriate but sassy, dressy enough but casual enough, big enough to carry all my crap but not oppressively heavy, a decent number of pockets without being an organizer bag, able to be carried on an everyday basis. Basically, I want the handbag that Goldilocks carried.
I am not good about switching out bags to go with my outfit. It is just not a priority for me, and when I do engage in this behaviour I always manage to leave something crucial behind in the other bag. I am also married to a man who can be rather spontaneous, so leaving things behind (such as gift certs and coupons and loyalty cards) in order to carry a smaller bag will, like Murphy's Law, immediately trigger a sudden and irrepressible need in BHE to go to whatever store or restaurant for which I am not currently carrying the paraphernalia. Not being one that likes to be caught with my metaphorical pants down (or, frankly, my literal pants), this means carrying everything with me at all times.
Then there's the makeup. BHE has an aversion to me wearing lipstick or lipgloss, since he hates kissing goopy lips (can you blame him?), yet I have not less than six lip preparations in my handbag right now. I also have a full compliment of makeup in my handbag and in my desk drawer at work, in case of a necessary touch up -- 99.44% of the time I never use any of it, but there it still is. Also, if ever I was to be on TLC's What Not To Wear and had to bring that succubus Carmindy all my makeup... well, it would probably require me using a small carry-on suitcase. Think I need to do a little purging?
While I have hung onto this stuff for borderline-logical reasons ("But what if I ever need frosty blue eye shadow?!"), I am thisclose to throwing 90% of it out. But the problem is, having all this crap has saved my bacon on more than one occasion. When dyed my hair brown, it completely changed what colors of makeup I could get away with -- I just pulled out my stash, tried a bunch of things, and hid the colors (like MAC 'Twig' lipstick) that now made me look like death. So having the stash has come in really handy for me over the years, but makeup a) does not last forever, and b) has been reformulated enough over the years that the frosty blue shadow I have tucked away would not really be becoming now. Sure, I used to be an actress, and there was an argument to be made that I could use it for shows, but I have not done a fully-mounted play in eleven years, so it's time to let go.
And this is part of the logic that I use on myself as I order goodies via Sephora and whatnot. Need it! Got to have it! Free shipping! Let's face it... I need help. And a makeover.
I leave you now, so that I might browse Sephora.com again. Free samples with purchase!
Okay, maybe not fine, but here's a few of the amazing victories the last couple of days have brought us:
Looking for some fun Mother's Day themed videos for tomorrow, and came across some fun non-mom stuff -- will either be inundating you with them over the next few days, or will save 'em up for when I have nothing to post of my own. In the meantime, I leave you with this:
Just a follow-up from last night/Tuesday: Bye bye, Jason Castro. Sometimes, justice is sweet.
This is the kind of shit that I love -- "Oh, um, we can't find those files. Uh, yeah -- everything in the three months that overlap the invasion of Iraq is missing. Weird, huh?" And they wonder why Americans have a mistrust for our current administration.
___________________________________
www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-nat-bush-mailmay07,0,5324897.story
May 7, 2008
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has not found disaster backup files for White House e-mails from a three-month period in 2003, according to court documents filed this week, raising the possibility that messages sent before and after the invasion of Iraq may be gone.
The White House chief information officer, Theresa Payton, said in a sworn declaration that the earliest recorded file was dated May 23 of that year.
Payton and other officials said that older e-mails could still be contained on other tapes because of the way the files are dated.
Crucial period: The United States launched the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003, and President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations on May 1.
OMG, david cook is singing "Hungry Like the Wolf" - fine. A lits boring. Nice to see him doing up-tempo, though.
Syesha just sang "Proud Mary" - snore. Simon, as usual, is right.
Jason Castro consistently comes off as a pothead idiot, and this video clip is no exception. This version of "I Shot the Sheriff" is horrible. HORRIBLE. Randy is right, perhaps even being generous. Even Paula is having a hard time spinning this one. C'mon, Simon -- YES! Atrocious. He's completely pegged it as being a bad first round audition. And Jason has to cap it off with "Woo hoo! Bob Marley!"
Archuleta... of course he's singing "Stand By Me" since all he sings are songs that could be hymns in some Unitarian church. 90% of his songs are about god, or could be construed as being about god. He's doing what he does, and doing it well, but I'm bored by it.
"Baba O'effing-Riley"?!? Cook better knock this out of the park. Nice octave change. So far so good, not The Who, but fun. Shitty ending.
Syesha just compared her being in the Top 4 to the civil rights movement.
Jason Castro just proved his stupidity again... AND HE JUST BLEW HIS LYRICS. OMG! Vote him off this show!! If anyone else goes home and that douchebag stays, they should sue.
Archuleta is singing to god again... "You have made my life complete and I love you so."
Paula's extensions look lovely tonight.
This reminds me of one of the best "out of the mouth of babes" moments I've ever experienced. I was at the Sing-along Sound of Music, which starts off with a costume parade and contest. Lots of Marias and Capt Von Trapps. Lots of random nuns. Someone dressed in leiderhosen claimed to be an extra. Someone else was the Alps. A guy and two girls all dressed in black simply wore signs around their necks: His said "schnitzel" and each of theirs said "noodle."
The best, though, was a little boy in street clothes: Jeans, a tshirt, sneaks. He wore a backpack (possibly Thomas the Train themed?) and carried a matching suitcase. When the host (dressed as Mother Superior) asked him who he was, he matter-of-factly replied, "Maria." The crowd went wild, and "Maria" won. Hilariously, he won a copy of Forever Liesl by Charmaine Carr -- he set his suitcase down, unzipped it, put the book inside, zipped it back up, and then picked up his suitcase and left the stage. Brilliant. Best comedy bit EVER.
Things that make me feel old:
WHAT WERE YOU DOING TEN YEARS AGO?
Working at a company I loved, living in an apartment with exposed brick and a huge kitchen, and being celibate (not by choice).
SONGS TO WHICH YOU KNOW ALL THE LYRICS
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Killer Queen
3. American Pie
4. Picasso Visita el Planeta de los Simios
5. Rapper's Delight
FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WERE A MILLIONAIRE
1. Pay off my debt & BHE's debt
2. Give $$ to mom
3. Buy a house in the city
4. Invest for retirement
5. Quit my job, go back to school (vet school? MSW?) and travel. Maybe the film festival circuit?
FIVE BAD HABITS
1. Procrastination
2. Sloth
3. Self-absorption
4. Talking on & on
5. Interrupting
FIVE THINGS YOU LIKE DOING
1. Road trips with BHE
2. Chicago International Film Festival
3. Reading fashion magazines
4. TV on DVD
5. Dinner with friends
FIVE THINGS YOU'LL NEVER WEAR AGAIN
1. The awesome red cords I had in the mid '80s
2. Jelly shoes
3. Pantyhose (if I can at all avoid it)
4. A tongue ring
5. My heart on my sleeve
FIVE FAVORITE TOYS
1. My laptop
2. My ipod
3. Makeup
4. Vicodin
5. Wikipedia on my blackberry
WESTON, Wis. (AP) — Two parents who prayed as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes were charged Monday with second-degree reckless homicide.
Family and friends had urged Dale and Leilani Neumann to get help for their daughter, but the father considered the illness "a test of faith" and the mother never considered taking the girl to the doctor because she thought her daughter was under a "spiritual attack," the criminal complaint said.
"It is very surprising, shocking that she wasn't allowed medical intervention," Marathon County District Attorney Jill Falstad said. "Her death could have been prevented."
Madeline Neumann died March 23 — Easter Sunday — at her family's rural Weston home. Her parents were told the body would be taken to Madison for an autopsy the next day.
"They responded, 'You won't need to do that. She will be alive by then,'" the medical examiner wrote in a report.
An autopsy determined that Madeline died from undiagnosed diabetic ketoacidosis, which left her with too little insulin in her body. Court records said she likely had some symptoms of the disease for months.
The Neumanns each face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. The couple and their attorney did not immediately return messages left Monday by The Associated Press.
Falstad said the Neumanns have cooperated with investigators and are not under arrest. They have agreed to make an initial court appearance Wednesday, she said.
Randall Wormgoor, a friend of the Neumanns, told police that Dale Neumann led Bible studies at his business, Monkey Mo Coffee Shop, and believed physical illness was due to sin, curable by prayer and by asking for forgiveness from God, the complaint said.
Wormgoor said he and his wife, Althea, were at the Neumann home when Madeline — _ called Kara by her parents — died. Wormgoor said he had urged the father to seek medical help and was told the illness "was a test of faith for the Neumann family and asked the Wormgoors to join them in praying for Kara to get well," the complaint said.
Althea Wormgoor said she "implored" the parents to seek medical help for the girl, the complaint said.
Leilani Neumann, 40, told the AP previously she never expected her daughter to die. The family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God, but they have nothing against doctors, she said.
Dale Neumann, 46, a former police officer, has said he has friends who are doctors and started CPR "as soon as the breath of life left" his daughter's body.
According to court documents, Leilani Neumann said in a written statement to police that she never considered taking the girl, who was being home-schooled, to a doctor.
"We just thought it was a spiritual attack and we prayed for her. My husband Dale was crying and mentioned taking Kara to the doctor and I said, 'The Lord's going to heal her,' and we continued to pray," she wrote.
The father told investigators he noticed his daughter was weak and slower for about two weeks but he attributed it to symptoms of the girl reaching puberty, the complaint said.
A day before Madeline died, according to the criminal complaint, the father wrote an e-mail with the headline, "Help our daughter needs emergency prayer!!!!." It said his daughter was "very weak and pale at the moment with hardly any strength."
The girl's grandmother, Evalani Gordon, told police that she learned her granddaughter could not walk or talk on March 22 and advised Leilani Neumann to take the girl to a doctor.
Gordon eventually contacted a daughter-in-law in California who called police on a non-emergency line to report the girl was in a coma and needed medical help. An ambulance was dispatched shortly before some friends in the home called 911 to report the girl had stopped breathing, authorities said.
One relative told police that the girl's mother believed she "died because the devil is trying to stop Leilani from starting her own ministry," the complaint said.
The Neumanns said they moved to Weston, a suburb of Wausau in central Wisconsin, from California about two years ago to open the coffee shop and be closer to other relatives. The couple has three other children, ages 13 to 16; they are living with relatives.
The family does not belong to an organized religion or faith, Leilani Neumann has said.
Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said the parents once belonged to the Lighthouse Pentecostal Church but later became what he called religious "isolationists" involved in a prayer group of five people.
"They have gone out on their own," he said. "... They have a very narrow view of Scripture and I would say not many people hold to that narrow of view."
In March, an Oregon couple who belong to a church that preaches against medical care and believes in treating illness with prayer were charged with manslaughter and criminal mistreatment in the death of their 15-month-old daughter. The toddler died March 2 of bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection that could have been treated with antibiotics, the state medical examiner's office said.
