a few things

First, I feel completely disheveled at work. I know this is stupid of me, and that I need to suck it up, but things just feel all over the place. I’m moving again, have started a few new projects, and we’re having some major staff changes in the next few months.

Next, I want to mention that Summer is here. Not only is it warm outside (bordering on Hot), but we had some strong storms last night with lots of summer storm qualities. Oh, and I guess I could talk about the tornadoes that were two hours away. Tornadoes that the local NBC weather team felt it their duty to keep me informed about between 9-9:30 p.m. Yesterday was Thursday. You do the math. <hatred>

Lastly, there are some really hopeful things coming this way and I don’t often know what to do with that. Brian might have some great opportunities soon, and I was signed into a full class with a teacher that ‘never signs people into class’. There are other things, not blog-worthy, but you get my drift. Positivity where it wasn’t before.

I guess that’s a good nutshell story of my life at the moment. My class starts next week, and our 4-day weeks start on the 19th. Nervous smiles all around.

accomplishment

not that it’s a big one..

My twitter is on here now!  (see right)  To display it on the side I had to pick a different theme.  If there are a few changes to that, it is because I’m not sure if I like this one.  I wish I had the computer knowledge to do my own theme or to change the ones I like to more of what I like.  It’s just annoying enough to realize, but not enough to do anything differently.  I’m not a computer person.  Gotta face it.

Meanwhile, I was an hour early for work this morning because the clock next to my bed was accidentally set an hour fast.  Of course this was the first morning in a long time that I couldn’t find my watch, and left without it.  Never mind that I feel naked without it on; I might have actually realized my bluff before driving 75% of the way here.  My only consolation is that it is Friday.  And I got to hang out with the old folks at Bojangles for a while.  Oh yeah.

midweek smile

I took my Saturday on Wednesday this week, because Open House is this weekend. I went home at 2 o’clock and we headed out for some fun. We went bowling, to the mexican restaurant, and then to Charley’s to get some soft serve ice cream.  I know.  Teenager Date.

I loved it!

Twitter

Found a few hilarious twitterers (here, and here) and of course that helped revive my own personal twittering.  In an effort to consolidate, it would be so grand if I could put my twitter as a sidebar on here, but I don’t think wordpress has this option.  I wonder if it is worth a switch to another program, or not.  I twitter a bit more than I post blogs, so it would be a great thing to add, if possible.  Yet another wall I come across having the little computer knowledge I have.

Meanwhile, UNC is out.  I was sad to see the game on Saturday because it was such an emotional ride.  Kansas blew us out of the water the first half, and then there was this unbelievable comeback, only to lose in the end.  I must say, the playing was not characteristic of UNC…they are a much better team than I saw on Saturday.  But part of me is big enough to say that both Memphis and Kansas are due.  I am going to watch tonight.  It should be a good match up!  For fun’s sake, I’m going to root for Memphis (Sorry Lauren) because let’s face it…Kansas owned UNC and I gotta be true.  Also, Memphis has never won a tournament, and I love the underdog factor.

netflix

Over the past few years I have become increasingly interested in movies. I’m not sure if it’s due to me marrying a movie lover or having moved to an area where that’s pretty much all there is to do. Probably a little of both. Either way, we have a pretty decent stack of DVDs between the two of us, and are always digging around in the 2 for $10 bin at Wal-Mart. Due to a lack of funds, I see this as being an issue. We can certainly pay for the movies we know we want by saving up for them and waiting until they are cheaper. But what about those movies that I saw a preview for and thought, “I want to see that” but not enough to ever buy it.

We had a blockbuster account for a while, but then three (3) times in a row, the movies didn’t play. That was enough of that (sorry Jason), so I got online and checked out Netflix. You hear about it all the time on commercials, but I wanted to know exactly what this deal is all about. Turns out, there’s a two week (cancel at any time with no restrictions) trial going on. You pick out which deal you want (we went with three movies at a time, unlimited per month for $17), and then after the two weeks end, you are on the plan you picked. I was thinking it might take almost a week to receive the first movies so I’d get one chance to decide how I feel about all of this. Wrong. We got the first three movies in less than 36 hours from signing up (on a Sunday). This means that, if you watch a LOT of movies, you could essentially get three new movies every two days. Realistically, we’ll probably keep each set of 3 for about a work week and then turn them in for the next three on the list. That’s about 15 movies per month, and for $17! I’m in love! This is such a good idea! The envelope for returning movies is pre-paid, you can return them all at once or individually as you finish them…the website is very good about remembering what you like, you can change the order of your queue, and there is the blu-ray option! For no extra cost!

I’m trying to figure out how this is too good to be true, because it really can’t be this easy. I have not had to make one mean phone call or threaten anyone’s life in a nasty e-mail over fine-print markups. Also, on the plan we picked there is unlimited free movies on your computer. Of course, the list to choose from is much smaller than the 90,000 titles that can come to your door. And we don’t watch movies on our computers. But guess what? I travel a decent amount for work, and can now sign into netflix from my hotel and watch basically any movie for free! Sure there are movie websites, but I don’t have to worry about popups or interruptions, or being a felon, etc. I’m so excited about this feature because I hate the downtime after work when I normally would be spending time with Brian but can’t because I’m in ___ . (MD next week, for example.)

Anyway, I’m extremely pleased with this service, at least for now. It’s great that we can try out movies before buying them! Sometimes I buy one because it did so well at the box office and has words like “Must see” on the box. Then I kick myself when I get home and hate it. Never again!

on being president

“…and there will be sesame seeds on every bun.”

-Brian

80th annual golden guys

I tried my very best to get some really good sleep this weekend. I wanted to be rested for the week and not have the huge bags under my eyes that I am constantly scolding my graduate course about. It sounds incredibly lame to be losing sleep while only taking one class, but the truth is: my 40 hours at work haven’t been 40 hours in weeks. I’m not complaining, the extra time will be rewarded later, and I’ve met some impressive students recently.

I did wonderfully on Friday night and slept in on Sunday past an hour that I hadn’t met while sleeping in years. From there: a crashing failure. My paper somehow didn’t write itself throughout the day on Sunday, and then the Academy Awards found their way to my television set. I’ve always loved movies, but this is the first year I’ve seen 4 of the 5 nominations for best picture. Brian was completely taken with No Country for Old Men, and I was not looking forward to sharing a house with him had the movie not won. Our guesses were mostly right, except for actresses-I didn’t see La Vie en Rose, and now desperately want to. Marion Cotillard seems not only intriguing but very deserving of the award, and I guess that would be the backwards effect of the Oscars: introducing me to an actress that I simply must find at a later date.

The only movie I didn’t see was Michael Clayton (probably another reason I couldn’t have predicted Tilda Swinton’s win), and I’ll probably rent it when it comes out. For some reason I hadn’t thought of this movie to be a good match in the ranks of NCFOM or TWBB. I don’t have a lot of basement to this suggestion, It just seemed like a run of the mill political-secretive-twisty- underhanded-scheme movie to me, and I might be completely wrong and feel completely differently after watching it in a few months.

Javier Bardem was exactly perfect for the Supporting Actor award. He scared the crap out of me in No Country.  It also interested me that none of the winning actors were from America. I obviously don’t have the stats in front of me, but has there ever been a year where a French woman, a Spanish man, and two Brits take home the acting awards?

My favorite win of the night, however, was Daniel Day-Lewis taking Best Lead Actor for his Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. I guess this is bad, but I had somehow forgotten how wonderful an actor he is. Gangs of New York passed me by a few years ago, as I was in college and only saw movies at the $1.00 Theater…nothing blockbusting. I wasn’t as into movies earlier on, and only saw The Last of the Mohicans as a teenager (covering my eyes during the bloody parts) years after it was released. The man can do no wrong. He seriously does deserve knighthood, in my opinion, and I can’t get over how phenomenal his acting is on so many levels. It doesn’t hurt that he is just as outstandingly humble and eloquent and mesmerizing when he isn’t in character. I really want to find My Left Foot now, and am not ashamed to say that he has quickly become my favorite actor. He’s the absolute best.

The highest moment of the evening was when he and the marvelous Helen Mirren walked off stage, arm in arm. Two of the most spell-binding individuals on the planet, he grinning from the win and in awe of her, and she in the best dress of the night and beaming at him like a true friend.

celebration of love

Brian and I aren’t big on Valentine’s Day, but he did surprise me with flowers and a card at work this year. It was very sweet, and I’ve just now cleaned out the bowl today. Tulips are pretty this time of year, but don’t do well under my awesome fluorescent lights. It was a very nice gesture, and I loved their fragrance for the few days they lasted. Some people say they hate flowers because they don’t last and are just a pain to tend to. I say, “A few days with flowers in your office can certainly make nasty phone calls, meeting after meeting, and travel planning a bit less annoying.”

the time has come

Brian’s 5 year old, piecemeal computer (not a dell, not an HP, not an off brand, but not unlike Captain Planet: all forces combined) started showing it’s age months ago. We noticed some minor coughing and congestion at the start of Fall, and Brian realized that their time together might be coming to an end. The necessary preparations have been finalized over the course of a few weeks. I think the initial transfer of files and folders started slowly, a bit more slowly than anyone would want-given its age, so it hasn’t been some sharp cutoff…no harsh, “Hey. I’m done with you.”

It’s been a process, and my company provided Dell and I have been vigilantly sensitive to Brian and how he’s taking it. Like an old friend, or pet, Brian spends quite a bit of time and energy on this machine, and last night was the final wheeze. After some choking, coughing, spurting (literally), the on/off switch gave out and I found my husband in the living room surrounded in nuts/bolts, in full surgery mode. In secret (across the living room), my Dell and I went to the dell website to start building a computer for Brian; he won’t know what to do with something so fast and all the same color. It will be good for him, though. He likes to have 24 tabs open at once, and his older cpu just hated such memory usage. Our internet is fast, but his photoshop time brought the computer to its knees on almost every occasion. This accounts for Brian’s lack of flickr postings; music floating from the computer room has ceased.

Anyway, we’re buying a computer. Thank goodness for external hard drives, or this could have been ugly.

incessant crinkling

My laptop is hiding my view of a few things:

• A borrowed T.V. that currently sounds like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O’brien fighting over who gave who success.
• Three mousetraps, loaded with peanut butter and trying to handle the incredibly lonely, mouseless lives they lead.
• Our coffee table, with a christmas placemat currently holding our game of Farkel
• Some other things not relevant to this post

…and then I hear the sound of a feast. From the other side of my laptop screen comes some of the loudest wrapper crinkling I have ever heard. We’re talking long, drawn out, multi-surfaced crinkling sound. It lasted for more than half a minute, and I could have sworn Brian was opening five bags of chips, eight pieces of individually sliced American cheese, four packages of toast-chee and a couple dvds. If I recall correctly, he has already eaten dinner, so this sort of surprised me. I looked over my laptop and noticed what he might very well be gorging himself to the brim over…

A package of Lorna Doone 100 calorie shortbread cookies.