Nice Day to Relax

Just had a nice day off, really. Eric and I went to see Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. It was mindless action flick, yes, but at least it was better than the first one. Afterwards, we came back here and played some more Final Fantasy IV, then to lunch at Fazoli's, then back here where we watched one of our many DVDs we have to catch up on...

Right now, I'm waiting for dinner to bake. I just kind of threw something together, seasoned some chicken breasts and baking them in a dish with some spaghetti sauce (I had some leftover in the jar from the other night) and a bunch of chopped carrots. Should be good, I think.

So, this morning, at like 4:00am, Eric's brother Jordan decides to fill the upstairs bathtub (in the bathroom that has been causing leaks to the basement) up to the brim with water, and we wake up to hear water pouring out in the storage room catty-cornered to our room. I go out into the basement area and find Jordan staring at the water pouring down from the ceiling...so I run up to his mom's room and tell her what's going on (she just put tile down in that room, too) and she immediately goes, "I told that little shit to wake up his father!!" Apparently, Jordan had done this, and then had gone to his mom, she told him to get his dad up from the other room (b/c Connie has to work in a couple hours) and instead he came down here and stared at the water.

I had dinner with my parents last night. My dad made this awesome spicy soup with chicken, shitake mushrooms, bamboo, tofu, carrots and peas. It was tasty. And my mom told weird stories about her job at the nursing home. Apparently, there's some crazy old lady with enormous boobs who steals other residents' dentures and stuffs them down her cleavage, and when my mom helps her undress at night, dentures (and other things like chocolates) come falling out of her boobs.

I think that says it all.

Ready for New Years

Let's see, what all has happened in the past few days? I've seen Sweeney Todd three times now, and it gets better each time. Eric and I went to Le Peep again this morning. I finally got to meet Jennifer's sister, Jamie from Berlin, last night, at the movie, and afterwards at Chili's. It's really funny how polar opposite (and yet alike) they seem together...Jamie has this deadpan wit when she jokes, and Jennifer's just giddy, crazy Jennifer.

I went shopping today, for groceries. I bought a piece of honeycomb from Missouri. I like honeycomb. And I mean real honeycomb, not the retarded breakfast cereal. I also bought some Açai berry Chinese tea from Le Peep. It was $10 for 50 pouches, but it's really good. And it's supposedly loaded with some sort of magical super-power antioxidants, or something.

There's some insane Lifetime movie on right now (it's just on this station because I watch The Golden Girls at night and then we just happened to have the TV on) about some crazy church or something.

There are too many damn animals in this house right now. There are two full-grown cats, one younger cat, three kittens, and two ferrets. They are driving me CRAZY. If we don't block our door at nights, the ferrets push it open and the kittens run in and chase them around the room making a ruckus, while I mutter sleepily "Ferreeeets....get the fuck ouuuut....go awaaayyy..."

I'm supposed to go have dinner with my parents tonight. Don't know where yet. Oh! My dad gave me some deer steaks. Like a whole filet and a whole roast. People who read this blog, we need to plan a dinner, I will make you venison steaks - DON'T BE SQUEEMISH, if I make them the way my dad makes them, you'll LOVE them, they'll taste amazing. AMAZING!

I'm finally starting to do the duties for my new job at work. The new girl is trained on checks and deliveries, so I've started doing research the past couple of days. I'm enjoying it. It's much more relaxed than having to send money to rich jackasses.

Looking forward to New Years! I'm sure Melanie will make everyone do the usual suicide shot. Here's to 2008! And to visiting April and Tim in Minnesota! And to another trip to Chicago!

Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight

Curses upon John and his singing voicemail...now I have it stuck in my head. Apparently, it's a Tiny Tim song (I looked it up).

Earlier, I had this strange song/chant stuck in my head, to the tune of some weird 60s club music, like in Sweet Charity:

Fop till ya drop!
Fop till ya drop!
Fop! Fop!
Bip, bippety bop!

Wow, I spent like $700 in the past two weeks on groceries/going out/Christmas stuff. Holidays are damn expensive. But Eric and I have lots of new stuff to watch. Ooh, and Eric got me a music writing/recording program for my computer!

Let's see, what else? Oh, go to Le Peep. It's yummy. Yes, it annoys me that the windows say "Le Breakfast" and "Le Lunch"....but I can't help the fact that their food actually was quite tasty. And I had orange ginger mint herbal tea with my meal.

Christmas went well and all...ham, ham, and more fucking ham! I played my 18-year-old cousin in ping pong, and then played my aunts and uncle in pinochle for like two hours.

Looking forward to New Years. I need to get drunk. Hey, it's not alcoholism on New Years. Jeremy, you read my blog, what the fuck are YOU doing on New Years? I'm guessing the Kurzes aren't having their bash, since they're rehearsing (insanely) for Doubt...but everyone should come to Don and Misty's. It's always a good time.

Mm...chicken soup...

It's Priest! Have a Little Priest!

WOW.

Just say Sweeney Todd last night...can anyone say gore? Can anyone say oceans of blood? Can anyone say Johnny-Depp-slashes-people's-throats-is-somehow-morbidly-HOT?

I have a funny feeling Don is going to get a boner when he sees this movie.

It was fucking awesome. It wasn't the stage show, but that was a good thing. They cut about a third of the music, but I was fine with that. Tim Burton really took it and made his own thing. Instead of just taking a stage musical and "putting it on film" he made a great film first and foremost that was a musical based on Sondheim's show. But it was wonderful.

It had a very different flavor and style than the stage show, but I loved every gorey moment. And yes - OCEANS of blood. Seriously. The final image of the movie (I won't ruin it) is like the PERFECT marriage of gorey and heartbreaking all at once. Leave it to Burton to find an image that makes you sad and repulsed all at once.

Depp is a god. He made Todd immortal. That character...wow. It was like, yes, you pitied him and felt sad for his past...but you were nothing but frightened of the person he'd become.

The comic relief was great, too. Specifically Mrs. Lovett's "By the Sea".

All in all....WOOHOO!

I'm going to see this again and again.

Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down...::piano roll::

I'm tired, so this will be short.

Let's see...I'm currently typing up the 3rd draft of Acrobat. Mostly the same, but with some edits here and there and the stuff we changed during rehearsal process. We went to Arby's for dinner tonight, and I had some toasted meatball sub that I think was more gooey cheese than marinara...seriously, like I could feel in my mouth how much this thing was going to clog my arteries.

I got new stylish glasses. And a haircut. I already have a real job, but I hate "real" jobs.

Ready for holiday fun! Sweeney Todd, Christmas dinners, News Years Eve, and then visiting Tim and April in early January, woohoo! I've never been to Minnesota. Should be fun.

Okay, sleep is overpowering me. Night.

I'm Gonna Explodez

You know what's a bad idea? Well, first of all, going to the Timber Lodge in and of itself is a good idea...but the bad idea is deciding to drink beer and then eat: a spinach salad with bacon dressing, an entire mini-loaf of their bread with garlic butter, a whole fucking huge baked potato with sour cream and chives, a whole huge broiled chicken filet, veggies, and then eating half a huge apple crisp desert...

I feel like I ate like 3000 calories. And I probably did. I told myself I've been good all week, so I would let go and enjoy last night, but I never thought I'd feel that blah afterwards...like I seriously felt TWICE the amount that "stuffed" usually feels.

It really must have gotten to me too, because I crashed when I got home and I've been sleeping like 10 hours and finally rolled out of bed, still groggy and droopy-eyed.

Other stuff...

Last weekend of Anna Christie. Still going well. Laura's my hero. Even though I don't get to see her on stage performing, fuck man, you should hear her voice at the climax of Act Three. Chip came and did box office again. He snuck me a couple creampuffs, good for him.

They finally hired someone to do my job at Securities America, so I can finally train and do my new position. It's about time, too. I'm sick of cutting checks. I can't even print them anymore, cuz of the auditors. They demanded that a separate person actually print and delivery the checks than the one who cuts them. I thought everything was secure enough (all our processes currently allow no way for the check processor to do something illegal like cut a check to themselves), but apparently, there's some black market where people steal checks and sell them, and someone else doctors them up or something.

I want to make ratatouille. Veggies sauteed in olive oil sounds good. Just not right now. I still feel blah from eating last night.

I'm friends with Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett on MySpace, and they keep sending me all these cool updates, like interviews with Johnny and Helena and clips from the movie, etc.

OK...time to try and wake up and face this cold-ass day....huzzah, more snow...snow used to be fun...when I didn't have obligations. It's funny how something mundane and adult like "obligations" can have such a countering effect on something majestic, childlike and natural like snow. Blah.

Waiting for me eye appointment

I'm sitting here, killing time till I have a follow-up eye appointment at Target. Yes! Target! I went in to order new glasses yesterday (I need a new prescription too), and I told them I was interested in contacts. So I'm going in today for a trial thing for them. Apparently, I have to have two separate types of contacts - I have an astigmatism in my left eye, so...

There was some crazy shooting at Westroads Mall today. Really horrible. At least 9 people are dead. God...

I took the day off work today. I've been really pissy there lately, so I figured a change of pace, a day off, would be a good thing, relief from the stress. I didn't really do much. Just lounged around, etc., made myself some healthy lunch (whole grain penne and vegetables sauteed in olive oil and white wine).

Not much new going on. Need to start planning a Sweeney Todd outing. And planning for Acrobat, but I think I'll leave that till Anna Christie is done performing.

Why Didn't I Title My Last Post?

Sunday morning...I actually woke and stayed up at about 8:15 or so. Go me. I had an avocado-and-egg sandwich for breakfast.

Today, Eric is doing his Dana College Christmas concert thing. I...oh wow, hey, the Sun suddenly got much bright in here, like the room suddenly illuminated...anyway...I'm heading to the play early to practice with Chip, who is filling in for Eric's part today. I won't get to see Eric's concert. =(

You know, Eric and I have been together two years now. Time runs crazy, doesn't it?

I finished House of Leaves. After the "story proper", there are several appendices that include scraps and bits about and written by the guy who analyzed the "documentary" in the story, and there's one particular poem that really, really struck me, and it shows how the title comes into play....just take a look at this:

"Little solace comes
to those who grieve
when thoughts keep drifting
as walls keep shifting
and this great blue world of ours
seems a house of leaves

moments before the wind."


I don't know why, but it really stuck with me. As did the end of the "book proper". And oddly, the ending of the book is not so much frightening (the rest of the book is pretty terrifying) as it is comforting in a strange, "grasping at stones" sort of way.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. I think I'll make chicken, this evening. Just a question of what seasoning...

Well, I better go. I need to exercise, and then take a shower and get ready for the show.