Katie, honey, you should know not to wear heels around this guy. You already tower over him but putting your arm around his shoulder like, "Hey there little guy" is just cruel.
Thursday
[gossip] My little buddy...
First pic of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes kissing. Which is all mildly interesting or whatever but what I like is this:
Katie, honey, you should know not to wear heels around this guy. You already tower over him but putting your arm around his shoulder like, "Hey there little guy" is just cruel.
Katie, honey, you should know not to wear heels around this guy. You already tower over him but putting your arm around his shoulder like, "Hey there little guy" is just cruel.
[gossip] Celeb news
Entertainment reporters are shitting their pants in excitement over the fact that Tom Cruise is dating Katie Holmes. Katie broke it off an engagement with some American Pie guy back in February. February? That's only, like, two months ago. This chick works fast. And it'll be interesting to see what this does to her career, considering she's now the most searched celebrity of the moment (Higher than Angelina! Oh, how the Africa getaway you and Brad plotted only paid out 5 minutes of fame! Next time there better be pictures of you guys doing more than not touching/looking at each other!). For more pictures of the new couple looking equally pleased to be seen with the other (check out her shit-eating grin), click here. Ignore the fiancee reference; I think the caption is a bad translation from Italian.
[funny] How to avoid cliche...
This is the funniest thing I've read in a long time...
From Mike D'Angelo's review of THE INTERPRETER at Nerve.com:
"Our very first view of (Sean) Penn's Agent Tobin Keller sets the tone: Sitting alone in a smoky dive bar, he mournfully removes his wedding ring and drops it, kerplunk, into his shot glass."
Notwithstanding the admirably uncommon moniker of "Tobin Keller" (re: the perils of christening your child "Toby" with a head cold), it goes without saying that overstated symbolic gestures of this nature will simply not do.* It's as shopworn a moment as sniffing the fabric of a recently deceased loved one's clothing, or stewing in a deserted church during a time of spiritual crisis, or getting into a fistfight with a gang of drunken rednecks led by Terry Bradshaw. The skilled writer, the one who truly knows his craft, must engage his imagination in order to dramatize the familiar with inventive unfamiliarity. It is a question of respecting your audience, your characters and yourself. ... What follows is the errant evolution of a very difficult scene.
From Mike D'Angelo's review of THE INTERPRETER at Nerve.com:
"Our very first view of (Sean) Penn's Agent Tobin Keller sets the tone: Sitting alone in a smoky dive bar, he mournfully removes his wedding ring and drops it, kerplunk, into his shot glass."
Notwithstanding the admirably uncommon moniker of "Tobin Keller" (re: the perils of christening your child "Toby" with a head cold), it goes without saying that overstated symbolic gestures of this nature will simply not do.* It's as shopworn a moment as sniffing the fabric of a recently deceased loved one's clothing, or stewing in a deserted church during a time of spiritual crisis, or getting into a fistfight with a gang of drunken rednecks led by Terry Bradshaw. The skilled writer, the one who truly knows his craft, must engage his imagination in order to dramatize the familiar with inventive unfamiliarity. It is a question of respecting your audience, your characters and yourself. ... What follows is the errant evolution of a very difficult scene.
(Keller enters the bar alone. A boozed-up regular turns around and brightens.)
Regular: Hey, Tobin! Where's the wife?
(A beat.)
Keller (glumly): She won't be joining us tonight on account of having left me.
(Keller enters the bar alone. A boozed-up regular turns around and brightens.)
Regular: Hey, Tobin! Where's the wife?
Keller: How do I spell depression? 'D-I-V-O-R-C-E'. (He laughs, a little too hard.) Goddamn, I'm not funny.
(Keller enters the bar alone, brandishing a saxophone.)
Keller: Who wants to hear some heartbreak, key of "I'm-a-fucking-loser"?
(He takes the mouthpiece to his lips, and blows out wrenchingly atonal cacophony.)
(Keller enters the bar alone, already hammered, and encumbered with a sandwich board advertising a $4.99 Blimpie "Meal Deal".)
Bartender (alarmed): What happened, Keller?
Keller (slurring): How does anything happen?
(Keller rips off his ring and swallows it. There is a beat, after which he pitches forward and begins puking.)
(Keller enters the bar alone, already hammered. He rips off his wedding ring and unholsters his gun. He tosses the ring into the air, and shoots at it, missing badly and exploding the head of a patron sitting at near point blank range.)
Keller (glumly): I am failure.
(Keller enters the bar with a duck under his arm. Everyone stares, dumbfounded.)
Keller: Whatsamatter? Ain't you ever seen a walking punch line before!?!?
(Keller knocks back a shot at the bar. A beat. He yanks off his wedding ring and stares at it intently.)
Keller: You know, I wish I was Little Hercules so I could grind this to dust in the palm of my hand.
(Keller knocks back a shot at the bar. A beat. He yanks off the ring and looks up to the bartender.)
Keller: Hey, Frank... you still got that giant slingshot back there?
(Keller drains a Long Island Iced Tea at the bar. A beat. He yanks off the ring, and wistfully studies it.)
Keller: Them gays don't know how easy they've got it.
(Keller knocks back a shot. The phone behind the bar rings. The bartender snatches up the receiver.)
Bartender: Howard's. (Pause.) One moment. (Hands the receiver over to Keller.) It's your wife. (Keller wearily takes the receiver to his ear.)
Keller: Tobin here. (Pause.) Uh-huh. (Pause.) Is that so? (Pause.) Okay, then.
(Keller hands the phone back to the bartender, and promptly yanks the wedding ring from his finger.) Won't be needing that anymore. (He drops it in the empty shot glass.)
Tuesday
[amy] That was fast.
It was a nice, quiet weekend. I got a lot of knitting done and watched a lot of Season 3 of The Shield. This show is so good but you really need to watch an episode at least two times to get everything. I like watching the episodes with the cast and crew commentary on. You can learn all kinds of interesting shit. Example: The woman playing Vic's wife, Cathy Cahlin Ryan, is actually the real-life wife of the show's creator: Shawn Ryan. And the girl playing Vic's daughter is Michael Chikilis' daughter in real life. And Kenny Johnson, aka Lemonhead, is originally from (get this) VERMONT and was at one point ranked #2 in the world in his weight class for arm wrestling. Can you believe it? Vermont.
The bias shrug is coming along. In fact, it's coming along so well that I'm wearing it right now. It's done. I'll try to get an "action" shot or whatever, but you're going to have to trust me. Here are some progress pictures...
What a nice pattern it is. I made about a dozen mistakes but you can't tell because the lace hides them all. BAH hahahahah!! But this shrug really showed me why I like knitting: here is a plain old stupid ball of yarn and with two sticks, you can make something really pretty to wear out of it. That's so cool to me. And this shrug was something I made out of left-over yarn (from the Christmas poncho I made for Barbara). So I didn't have to spend anything extra to make it. And it only took a week to make. All in all, this was an awesome project.
I also starting taking some picture's of my sister's cats, Gatsu and Griffith...
What else did I do this past weekend besides knit? Friday night I played a little Halo 2 up at my sister's. I hadn't played in quite a while and was slightly worried about being slaughtered. I kept repeating, "What are the controls? I forget. I don't think I'm going to do very well..." But once the game started, it all came back to me. Ahhh, sweet Halo I've missed you.
Saturday night I played a little Heroscape with my sister's boyfriend and a few other people. It was alright but I was ready to quit the game 15-minutes into it. So what's the safest way to quit? Commit suicide with your character. I was playing with Mimring (I know, I'm so embarrassed) and basically ran up to opponents and sat there until they killed me. As soon as I died, I stood up and said, "Well, that was fun. ... Er, bye. I'm going back down to my place." I think they all thought I was pissy but the fact is that I didn't want to lose four hours of my life to this game.
The bias shrug is coming along. In fact, it's coming along so well that I'm wearing it right now. It's done. I'll try to get an "action" shot or whatever, but you're going to have to trust me. Here are some progress pictures...
What a nice pattern it is. I made about a dozen mistakes but you can't tell because the lace hides them all. BAH hahahahah!! But this shrug really showed me why I like knitting: here is a plain old stupid ball of yarn and with two sticks, you can make something really pretty to wear out of it. That's so cool to me. And this shrug was something I made out of left-over yarn (from the Christmas poncho I made for Barbara). So I didn't have to spend anything extra to make it. And it only took a week to make. All in all, this was an awesome project.
I also starting taking some picture's of my sister's cats, Gatsu and Griffith...
What else did I do this past weekend besides knit? Friday night I played a little Halo 2 up at my sister's. I hadn't played in quite a while and was slightly worried about being slaughtered. I kept repeating, "What are the controls? I forget. I don't think I'm going to do very well..." But once the game started, it all came back to me. Ahhh, sweet Halo I've missed you.
Saturday night I played a little Heroscape with my sister's boyfriend and a few other people. It was alright but I was ready to quit the game 15-minutes into it. So what's the safest way to quit? Commit suicide with your character. I was playing with Mimring (I know, I'm so embarrassed) and basically ran up to opponents and sat there until they killed me. As soon as I died, I stood up and said, "Well, that was fun. ... Er, bye. I'm going back down to my place." I think they all thought I was pissy but the fact is that I didn't want to lose four hours of my life to this game.
Wednesday
[video games] New Maps for Halo 2
"The two free maps are titled Containment and Warlock. Containment is a massive level blanketed with snow, and Warlock was influenced by the Halo: Combat Evolved map Wizard. The Killtacular Pack will include Turf and Sanctuary, and it will sell for $5.99. Turf is set in the narrow streets of Old Mambosa, and Sanctuary is a dilapidated Forerunner compound set on Delta Halo. For those who can bear waiting, the Killtacular Pack will be free on June 28.
Five additional maps, Terminal, Elongation, Gemini, Backwash, and Relic, will be available for download on June 28 for $11.99. Halo 2 players who aren't connected to Xbox Live can purchase the retail package of all nine maps, as well as every update from Bungie, for $19.99 on June 28."
NINE new maps for twenty bucks? Cool.
Read more here.
Five additional maps, Terminal, Elongation, Gemini, Backwash, and Relic, will be available for download on June 28 for $11.99. Halo 2 players who aren't connected to Xbox Live can purchase the retail package of all nine maps, as well as every update from Bungie, for $19.99 on June 28."
NINE new maps for twenty bucks? Cool.
Read more here.
Tuesday
[knitting] Pictures!
I finished the stole! It's, like, 8 feet long and wicked cozy.
The good news is that I've already gotten a compliment on it. It's like I told my sister: I don't knit things for the self-satisfaction, oh no, I do it for the compliments. The only downside to the stole is that it's not the easiest thing to wear. You really have to commit to it. I don't- Do you know what I'm talking about? It's not everyday you see someone running around in something like that so when you wear it, you have to... you have to pretend everyone wears stoles and you're not being completely weird by wearing this long, furry, pink thing.
Here's progress on the Henry Sweater (which I never ended up wearing to the Henry show because when I tried the thing on after attaching one sleeve, I realized how misshapen it was). Now it's just sitting around, unloved and unfinished...
You can see in the last photo that this sweater is made to fit someone with the same physique as Strong Mad. I have some ideas about what I can do to fix it but it's too depressing to contemplate right now.
I've been trying to block a scarf that I knit this past winter...
I ran out of safety pins before I could get all those egg-crate-y looking peaks pinned down. It's the wrong-side of the Fir Cones pattern and I wanted it to be FLAT, not... egg-crate-y. So I'm going to see how this blocking this works out.
And, here it is, my NEW work in progress...
A shrug from this pattern in Interweave Knits Spring issue. A little late to get started, I know, considering that their Summer issue is out now (or about to come out). The picture makes the yarn look kind of blueberry in color, but actually it's quite purple. And 100% wool. So... this is going to be meant for COOL summer evenings. I wouldn't be able to wear it out during the day without suffering from heat stroke. The pattern is complicated and I have to concentrate hard to avoid mistakes (I've had to backtrack a couple times... [sad face]). The knitting it going sloooooow...
The good news is that I've already gotten a compliment on it. It's like I told my sister: I don't knit things for the self-satisfaction, oh no, I do it for the compliments. The only downside to the stole is that it's not the easiest thing to wear. You really have to commit to it. I don't- Do you know what I'm talking about? It's not everyday you see someone running around in something like that so when you wear it, you have to... you have to pretend everyone wears stoles and you're not being completely weird by wearing this long, furry, pink thing.
Here's progress on the Henry Sweater (which I never ended up wearing to the Henry show because when I tried the thing on after attaching one sleeve, I realized how misshapen it was). Now it's just sitting around, unloved and unfinished...
You can see in the last photo that this sweater is made to fit someone with the same physique as Strong Mad. I have some ideas about what I can do to fix it but it's too depressing to contemplate right now.
I've been trying to block a scarf that I knit this past winter...
I ran out of safety pins before I could get all those egg-crate-y looking peaks pinned down. It's the wrong-side of the Fir Cones pattern and I wanted it to be FLAT, not... egg-crate-y. So I'm going to see how this blocking this works out.
And, here it is, my NEW work in progress...
A shrug from this pattern in Interweave Knits Spring issue. A little late to get started, I know, considering that their Summer issue is out now (or about to come out). The picture makes the yarn look kind of blueberry in color, but actually it's quite purple. And 100% wool. So... this is going to be meant for COOL summer evenings. I wouldn't be able to wear it out during the day without suffering from heat stroke. The pattern is complicated and I have to concentrate hard to avoid mistakes (I've had to backtrack a couple times... [sad face]). The knitting it going sloooooow...
Monday
[amy] Can't everyone just leave me alone?
I'm sitting on the couch, knitting, when my storm door opens and I hear a knock knock knocking on my front door. I open it to see a girl, no more than 18-years-old, in a denim jacket and tan pants smiling up at me.
AMY: Hello?
GIRL: Hi. I'm here with Kirby vacuums- "Quality is best when you use Kirby."
AMY: ...
GIRL: You've never heard of that?
AMY: No.
GIRL: Well, we're here giving free home demonstrations of our Ultimate G Series Diamond Edition. We have a 5 hour drive back to New York City and we get twenty-five dollars for every demo we give. May we come in and clean for you?
AMY: Oh... No, thank you. That's okay.
GIRL: Please?
AMY: Uhhhh... I don't think so. My place is really messy and-
GIRL: Oh, that's okay, we've seen worse. It'll take no time. We clean your rugs and-
AMY: Hang on there, kiddo. I don't have any rugs.
GIRL: [trying to look around me] Not even any area rugs?
AMY: No. It's all wood.
GIRL: ... That's okay. We'll clean the floors. Please. We get twenty-five dollars for every demo we give.
AMY: Look, I'm sorry but I don't want-
GIRL: PLEASE! We-
AMY: HEY!
GIRL: ...
AMY: I was just going to walk up to my sister's and-
GIRL: This won't take long!
AMY: No! I know what this is! I know what you're doing! You think I was born yesterday?
Girl: No.
AMY: You come into MY place, take a look around, see if there's anything worth STEALING and then you go back to New York City and two weeks from now, my place is mysteriously robbed!
GIRL: ...
AMY: You say, "Oh, she's got- she's got- an iPod or whatever and a flat screen t.v.-"
GIRL: You have a flat screen t.v.?
AMY: No. I just made that up. Whatever, the point is: I don't what YOU coming into MY place TO-DAY. [using sign language] O-KAY?
GIRL: Okaythankyouforyourtime. [leaves]
* * *
The most bizarre thing about this whole meeting is that she kept on saying "we have a long drive" and "we get paid twenty-five dollars". Each time she said "we", she would look over at my drive way, presumably looking at a vehicle full of other carpet cleaners. After she left my door, I looked out the window and there was NO ONE parked in my driveway. She walked off on foot to beg at more homes along my street but... What the fuck? Who was she looking at? Who was this "we"?
I'm scared...
AMY: Hello?
GIRL: Hi. I'm here with Kirby vacuums- "Quality is best when you use Kirby."
AMY: ...
GIRL: You've never heard of that?
AMY: No.
GIRL: Well, we're here giving free home demonstrations of our Ultimate G Series Diamond Edition. We have a 5 hour drive back to New York City and we get twenty-five dollars for every demo we give. May we come in and clean for you?
AMY: Oh... No, thank you. That's okay.
GIRL: Please?
AMY: Uhhhh... I don't think so. My place is really messy and-
GIRL: Oh, that's okay, we've seen worse. It'll take no time. We clean your rugs and-
AMY: Hang on there, kiddo. I don't have any rugs.
GIRL: [trying to look around me] Not even any area rugs?
AMY: No. It's all wood.
GIRL: ... That's okay. We'll clean the floors. Please. We get twenty-five dollars for every demo we give.
AMY: Look, I'm sorry but I don't want-
GIRL: PLEASE! We-
AMY: HEY!
GIRL: ...
AMY: I was just going to walk up to my sister's and-
GIRL: This won't take long!
AMY: No! I know what this is! I know what you're doing! You think I was born yesterday?
Girl: No.
AMY: You come into MY place, take a look around, see if there's anything worth STEALING and then you go back to New York City and two weeks from now, my place is mysteriously robbed!
GIRL: ...
AMY: You say, "Oh, she's got- she's got- an iPod or whatever and a flat screen t.v.-"
GIRL: You have a flat screen t.v.?
AMY: No. I just made that up. Whatever, the point is: I don't what YOU coming into MY place TO-DAY. [using sign language] O-KAY?
GIRL: Okaythankyouforyourtime. [leaves]
* * *
The most bizarre thing about this whole meeting is that she kept on saying "we have a long drive" and "we get paid twenty-five dollars". Each time she said "we", she would look over at my drive way, presumably looking at a vehicle full of other carpet cleaners. After she left my door, I looked out the window and there was NO ONE parked in my driveway. She walked off on foot to beg at more homes along my street but... What the fuck? Who was she looking at? Who was this "we"?
I'm scared...
Friday
[amy] Mmmm, strawberries...
I'm sitting on the couch, knitting, when my storm door opens and I hear a knock knock knocking on my front door. I open it to see a small boy, dressed in a Boy Scouts' outfit and an older man, presumably his father, standing behind him.
BOY: Hello! I'm with Pack 22 of the local chapter of Boy Scouts and I was wondering if you'd like to buy any of these bulbs to help support us! [Hands out order form with glossy pictures of flowers]
AMY: I don't know, kid. I don't have a very green thumb. I habitually kill all the plants I get.
FATHER: Oh the bulbs are easy. You put 'em in the ground and... Well, that's it.
AMY: Hmm... Maybe I can handle that... Oh, strawberry plants?! Maybe I'll that one...
FATHER: That's what your neighbor got.
AMY: What, right next door? Ryan?
FATHER: Yeah.
AMY: Shit, I'll just go steal some of his in the middle of the night, then.
FATHER: [Placing hand and son's shoulder in conciliatory fashion] I'm afraid I just ruined your sale, son.
BOY: [Starting to cry]
AMY: Aw fuckit, I'll get some strawberry plants, too. Okay? Jesus, wipe your face. Do I pay now? When do I get the plants? [Filling out form]
FATHER: You pay now and I'll be personally delivering the orders... [Leering at AMY]
AMY: Ew. Okay, if I'm not here or just not answering the door, leave my plants on the stoop. Fucker. [Hands order form back to boy]
BOY: [Salutes AMY] Thank you and Pack 22 of the local chap-
AMY: I bought some of your shit, didn't I? Stop wasting my time and beat it. I got knitting to finish.
BOY: Hello! I'm with Pack 22 of the local chapter of Boy Scouts and I was wondering if you'd like to buy any of these bulbs to help support us! [Hands out order form with glossy pictures of flowers]
AMY: I don't know, kid. I don't have a very green thumb. I habitually kill all the plants I get.
FATHER: Oh the bulbs are easy. You put 'em in the ground and... Well, that's it.
AMY: Hmm... Maybe I can handle that... Oh, strawberry plants?! Maybe I'll that one...
FATHER: That's what your neighbor got.
AMY: What, right next door? Ryan?
FATHER: Yeah.
AMY: Shit, I'll just go steal some of his in the middle of the night, then.
FATHER: [Placing hand and son's shoulder in conciliatory fashion] I'm afraid I just ruined your sale, son.
BOY: [Starting to cry]
AMY: Aw fuckit, I'll get some strawberry plants, too. Okay? Jesus, wipe your face. Do I pay now? When do I get the plants? [Filling out form]
FATHER: You pay now and I'll be personally delivering the orders... [Leering at AMY]
AMY: Ew. Okay, if I'm not here or just not answering the door, leave my plants on the stoop. Fucker. [Hands order form back to boy]
BOY: [Salutes AMY] Thank you and Pack 22 of the local chap-
AMY: I bought some of your shit, didn't I? Stop wasting my time and beat it. I got knitting to finish.
Wednesday
[books] Book Sense Books of the Year
The winners of the 2005 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards have been announced. I like this award because Book Sense is all about what independant bookstores are selling- and it's always good, interesting reads.
The winner for Adult Fiction is Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I've wanted to read this since it came out but have been waiting for paperback. Alas, the paperback won't be out until September 5th.
I'm not too sure about the Children's Fiction winner, though: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. Sounded a little too much like you-know-what, only for kids. Don't get me wrong, I liked you-know-what but it has become so ubiquitous that I don't ever want to hear/see you-know-what's title again. ... Unfortunately there's a movie coming out and Ron Howard has grossly miscast the lead role...
The winner for Adult Fiction is Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I've wanted to read this since it came out but have been waiting for paperback. Alas, the paperback won't be out until September 5th.
I'm not too sure about the Children's Fiction winner, though: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. Sounded a little too much like you-know-what, only for kids. Don't get me wrong, I liked you-know-what but it has become so ubiquitous that I don't ever want to hear/see you-know-what's title again. ... Unfortunately there's a movie coming out and Ron Howard has grossly miscast the lead role...
Monday
[science] Sleep Paralysis
I happened to suffer from sleep paralysis this past Friday night...
"The disorder known as 'sleep paralysis' occurs when the brain is awakened from a REM state into essentially a normal fully awake state, but with the bodily paralysis still occurring. This causes the person to be fully aware, but unable to move. In addition, this state is usually accompanied by certain specific kinds of hallucinations."
I felt like I was just drifting off to sleep when an invisible 500 lb. blanket was put over me, I became lucid and saw a face like this looking down at me from the foot of the bed. I can't remember if I screamed or not, but I forced myself to move and become fully awake. It happened again (to a lesser extent) when I tried to go back to sleep, I woke myself up, and then I went to sleep for real.
Reading through the hallucinations, I did feel fear (which is a mild way of putting it; it was more like terror), sensing a malevolent presence, pressure/weight on the body and impending sense of doom. I think if I had any of the visual, auditory or tactile hallucinations, I'd go mad and never return back to sanity.
I have to say that I was so scared because one of the things I'm most afraid of is an incubus. Wikipedia leads one to believe that it's "legend" or "myth" but I know better...
"The disorder known as 'sleep paralysis' occurs when the brain is awakened from a REM state into essentially a normal fully awake state, but with the bodily paralysis still occurring. This causes the person to be fully aware, but unable to move. In addition, this state is usually accompanied by certain specific kinds of hallucinations."
I felt like I was just drifting off to sleep when an invisible 500 lb. blanket was put over me, I became lucid and saw a face like this looking down at me from the foot of the bed. I can't remember if I screamed or not, but I forced myself to move and become fully awake. It happened again (to a lesser extent) when I tried to go back to sleep, I woke myself up, and then I went to sleep for real.
Reading through the hallucinations, I did feel fear (which is a mild way of putting it; it was more like terror), sensing a malevolent presence, pressure/weight on the body and impending sense of doom. I think if I had any of the visual, auditory or tactile hallucinations, I'd go mad and never return back to sanity.
I have to say that I was so scared because one of the things I'm most afraid of is an incubus. Wikipedia leads one to believe that it's "legend" or "myth" but I know better...
[amy] Attack of the crappy movie.
Ho-lee crap. I'm having the best time of my LIFE. The Henry Rollins/NYC weekend was awesome. It completely blew my mind. This past weekend, Adam, Gordon and Dollar's House Your Rager blew my mind. I had such a good time (though you might not be able to tell it from the bleary-eyed pictures of me).
Big up to the guys for hosting the party and allowing a couple hundred people to filter through their home. Thanks for Ken going all the way up to Burlington for the ice luge. Thanks to everyone who complimented me on the Henry/NYC movie we premiered...
About the movie. We were meant to bring a cable to connect my laptop to the projector. I couldn't find mine and was going to borrow Ram or Ken's. I went over there and, of course, we left for the party without the cable. At the Rager, around 10pm, I finally realize we'd forgotten it. Talk about melt-down. I was completely freaking out. Ram and Adam were level-headed, saying things like, "We'll save it, convert it, import it, blah blah blah." I'm like, "No, man. Seriously, we'll drive back to Ken and Ram's, get the cable and come back." Which is what I think we should have done. Instead, we put a quicktime.mov on Adam's laptop (which couldn't apparently do full screen) and it was totally crappy. The music was okay (except for a song that was mysteriously missing from the end) but the audio from the video snippets was horrendous. And the video deteriorated in the compression as well. People's faces were melting! I didn't intend for it to be a horror movie! This is my Oscar-worthy documentary! Completely fucked up!
I should preempt this by say that before we premiered the movie, Ken gathered most people and gave a little speech about the it. I wasn't really hearing what he was saying, but I get the feeling it was along the lines of, "Okay, Amy made this movie. She's slightly retarded and worked REALLY hard on it so if you see her around afterwards, it would be nice of you to tell her that you liked it." We showed the movie, I hated it for the reasons listed above, but so many people came up to me afterwards and said they liked it. What did I use to make it? It was really good. Etc. So inevitably I became suspicious. Didn't they see how shitty it was? Man, if I had played them the real thing... Everyone would have lost their minds.
Everyone at the party was cool. Thanks to everyone who said, "Your sweater looks comfy," only to have me go, "It's a poncho. And thank you. I knit it."
Big up to the guys for hosting the party and allowing a couple hundred people to filter through their home. Thanks for Ken going all the way up to Burlington for the ice luge. Thanks to everyone who complimented me on the Henry/NYC movie we premiered...
About the movie. We were meant to bring a cable to connect my laptop to the projector. I couldn't find mine and was going to borrow Ram or Ken's. I went over there and, of course, we left for the party without the cable. At the Rager, around 10pm, I finally realize we'd forgotten it. Talk about melt-down. I was completely freaking out. Ram and Adam were level-headed, saying things like, "We'll save it, convert it, import it, blah blah blah." I'm like, "No, man. Seriously, we'll drive back to Ken and Ram's, get the cable and come back." Which is what I think we should have done. Instead, we put a quicktime.mov on Adam's laptop (which couldn't apparently do full screen) and it was totally crappy. The music was okay (except for a song that was mysteriously missing from the end) but the audio from the video snippets was horrendous. And the video deteriorated in the compression as well. People's faces were melting! I didn't intend for it to be a horror movie! This is my Oscar-worthy documentary! Completely fucked up!
I should preempt this by say that before we premiered the movie, Ken gathered most people and gave a little speech about the it. I wasn't really hearing what he was saying, but I get the feeling it was along the lines of, "Okay, Amy made this movie. She's slightly retarded and worked REALLY hard on it so if you see her around afterwards, it would be nice of you to tell her that you liked it." We showed the movie, I hated it for the reasons listed above, but so many people came up to me afterwards and said they liked it. What did I use to make it? It was really good. Etc. So inevitably I became suspicious. Didn't they see how shitty it was? Man, if I had played them the real thing... Everyone would have lost their minds.
Everyone at the party was cool. Thanks to everyone who said, "Your sweater looks comfy," only to have me go, "It's a poncho. And thank you. I knit it."
Thursday
[knitting] More projects...
The spring issue of Knitty is up. While most of the patterns aren't anything I'd wear, I am interested in making "I Do" (but in a more "I Don't" color) and "Branching Out". First, though, I've got to finishing seaming the Henry sweater and open-lattice shawl.
And besides that, there are a few things in the new spring Vogue Knitting that I'd like to take a stab at.
And besides that, there are a few things in the new spring Vogue Knitting that I'd like to take a stab at.
Wednesday
Tuesday
[amy] I'm back...
... and not married to Henry Rollins. I thought I would be but I ended up not having the guts to ask him.
It was a really good time in NYC. Adam, Dollar and Ken are cool (but I already knew that). Megs was super-cool about getting the hotel room and taking us to interesting places around the city. Basically we got to Times Square, checked into the hotel, went to the show, went to a burlesque show, went to a bar, passed out in the hotel for a few hours and then made the drive back up. It was all pretty cool.
More to come...
It was a really good time in NYC. Adam, Dollar and Ken are cool (but I already knew that). Megs was super-cool about getting the hotel room and taking us to interesting places around the city. Basically we got to Times Square, checked into the hotel, went to the show, went to a burlesque show, went to a bar, passed out in the hotel for a few hours and then made the drive back up. It was all pretty cool.
More to come...
Thursday
[books/tv] Stacked, cont'd
More news on a show that Fox hopes will bring illiterate people into bookstores across the country.
"A workplace ensemble comedy, Stacked revolves around beautiful Skyler Dayton (Pamela Anderson, Baywatch, V.I.P) who is tired of her non-stop partying lifestyle and bad choices in boyfriends. Wanting a major life change, she wanders into 'The Stacks,' a small family-run bookstore owned by Gavin DeWitt (Elon Gold, In-Laws) and his brother, Stuart (Brian Scolaro, Three Sisters).
Divorced and unlucky in love himself, Gavin's inclined to regard Skyler as an embodiment of the vacuous, image-obsessed culture he has come to abhor. Stuart, however, is dazzled by Skyler's beauty and, much to Gavin's horror, offers her a job at their store, which she happily accepts as the first step in her quest for a steadier lifestyle. Unhappy that she's going to be minding the till next to such an intimidating bombshell is the store's sole other employee, Katrina (Marissa Jaret Winokur, 'Hairspray'), who doles out doses of realism and cynicism. Rounding out the characters is the store's one steady customer, Harold March (Christopher Lloyd, Taxi, Back to the Future), a preeminent but retired rocket scientist."
I'm inclined to think that this show will not have as many literary references as Gilmore Girls. Or, if they do, it'll be mentions of Dr. Seuss and The Da Vinci Code. Still, I'm going to have to find someone with cable and ask them if I can come over once a week to watch this...
Also, the show's cast as a Friendster page.
"A workplace ensemble comedy, Stacked revolves around beautiful Skyler Dayton (Pamela Anderson, Baywatch, V.I.P) who is tired of her non-stop partying lifestyle and bad choices in boyfriends. Wanting a major life change, she wanders into 'The Stacks,' a small family-run bookstore owned by Gavin DeWitt (Elon Gold, In-Laws) and his brother, Stuart (Brian Scolaro, Three Sisters).
Divorced and unlucky in love himself, Gavin's inclined to regard Skyler as an embodiment of the vacuous, image-obsessed culture he has come to abhor. Stuart, however, is dazzled by Skyler's beauty and, much to Gavin's horror, offers her a job at their store, which she happily accepts as the first step in her quest for a steadier lifestyle. Unhappy that she's going to be minding the till next to such an intimidating bombshell is the store's sole other employee, Katrina (Marissa Jaret Winokur, 'Hairspray'), who doles out doses of realism and cynicism. Rounding out the characters is the store's one steady customer, Harold March (Christopher Lloyd, Taxi, Back to the Future), a preeminent but retired rocket scientist."
I'm inclined to think that this show will not have as many literary references as Gilmore Girls. Or, if they do, it'll be mentions of Dr. Seuss and The Da Vinci Code. Still, I'm going to have to find someone with cable and ask them if I can come over once a week to watch this...
Also, the show's cast as a Friendster page.
Wednesday
[amy] What's going on?
My computer at work had to undergo another reformatting. And by computer I mean shit-box-machine and by reformatting I mean the-erasing-of-all-programs/things-I'm-used-to-and-need-to-function -on-the-most-basic-level. The last time this happened was, I don't know, 4 or 5 months ago. I love it. I can't get enough of it. I loooooooove having to go and reinstall firefox, text editors, set up my xterm accounts, map all my drives, make Outlook appear a way so that I can read and send email without punching my fist through my monitor...
No, I'm cool. It's okay. I've been feeling a little down since I attached one sleeve to my Henry Sweater and tried it on. It looks sooooo bad. The shoulders are all wrong and I haven't the heart to attach the other sleeve. I realized that I'd been spending so much time working on the stupid sweater that once I knew I didn't want to finish it, I had nothing left to live for. I should ammend that, I have nothing left to live for now that the sweater's just a pink pile of crap. I'd kill myself but I read in The Inferno that one of the more terrible rings of Hell is reserved for people who off themselves. So... I'd like to avoid that if possible.
Instead of ending it all (Am I talking about this too much? I like it, it sounds so dramatic- "I can't take it anymore! Don't try to stop me!"), I'm watching more Deadwood. Like, watching it for real; none of this knit-and-watch stuff. It's so good. Way better than Carnivale. It's brutally violent, extremely well written, exciting and funny. I like it everything about this series. The cast is so great. And you know what? My crush is starting to move from Seth Bullock to Doc Cochran. Can you believe it? I can't stop watching him when he's on screen! I guess I'm more in awe of the actor, Brad Dourif, and his range. Seth has got a pretty bad temper, which is exciting and all, but I could get my laudanum from the Doc. I think the choice between the two is pretty obvious.
In other news, all the steam I was running on that helped me get so much shit done around my house has left me. Now, I lay on the couch, letting dishes pile up in the kitchen, surrounded by dirty clothes, wondering if I feel like taking a shower or not. It's actually not a bad way to live.
No, I'm cool. It's okay. I've been feeling a little down since I attached one sleeve to my Henry Sweater and tried it on. It looks sooooo bad. The shoulders are all wrong and I haven't the heart to attach the other sleeve. I realized that I'd been spending so much time working on the stupid sweater that once I knew I didn't want to finish it, I had nothing left to live for. I should ammend that, I have nothing left to live for now that the sweater's just a pink pile of crap. I'd kill myself but I read in The Inferno that one of the more terrible rings of Hell is reserved for people who off themselves. So... I'd like to avoid that if possible.
Instead of ending it all (Am I talking about this too much? I like it, it sounds so dramatic- "I can't take it anymore! Don't try to stop me!"), I'm watching more Deadwood. Like, watching it for real; none of this knit-and-watch stuff. It's so good. Way better than Carnivale. It's brutally violent, extremely well written, exciting and funny. I like it everything about this series. The cast is so great. And you know what? My crush is starting to move from Seth Bullock to Doc Cochran. Can you believe it? I can't stop watching him when he's on screen! I guess I'm more in awe of the actor, Brad Dourif, and his range. Seth has got a pretty bad temper, which is exciting and all, but I could get my laudanum from the Doc. I think the choice between the two is pretty obvious.
In other news, all the steam I was running on that helped me get so much shit done around my house has left me. Now, I lay on the couch, letting dishes pile up in the kitchen, surrounded by dirty clothes, wondering if I feel like taking a shower or not. It's actually not a bad way to live.
Friday
[stupid] Senate OKs Alaska wildlife refuge drilling
Goddammit. These are the assholes who made it happen...
Akaka (D-HI), Nay
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Allen (R-VA), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burns (R-MT), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Nay
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dole (R-NC), Nay
Domenici (R-NM), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Frist (R-TN), Nay
Graham (R-SC), Nay
Grassley (R-IA), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagel (R-NE), Nay
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Kyl (R-AZ), Nay
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lott (R-MS), Nay
Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Martinez (R-FL), Nay
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Santorum (R-PA), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Specter (R-PA), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Talent (R-MO), Nay
Thomas (R-WY), Nay
Thune (R-SD), Nay
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (R-VA), Nay
"The measure will still have to be approved by the House, which is far from certain." At least that's something to be hopeful about.
I heard about this via knitting blogs, which are talking about Qiviut- the insulating down of the muskox. Qiviut is apparently 8 times warmer than wool (by weight) and a crapload more expensive as well. Still... I'd like to try it out. So if anyone wants to spend $60.00 to buy me one ball, I'd thank you but would probably also end up saying, "You know this was an incredible waste of money, right? One ball? Psshht, I can't even make a scarf with that."
[Via Nake-id Knits]
Akaka (D-HI), Nay
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Allen (R-VA), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burns (R-MT), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Nay
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dole (R-NC), Nay
Domenici (R-NM), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Frist (R-TN), Nay
Graham (R-SC), Nay
Grassley (R-IA), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagel (R-NE), Nay
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Kyl (R-AZ), Nay
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lott (R-MS), Nay
Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Martinez (R-FL), Nay
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Santorum (R-PA), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Specter (R-PA), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Talent (R-MO), Nay
Thomas (R-WY), Nay
Thune (R-SD), Nay
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (R-VA), Nay
"The measure will still have to be approved by the House, which is far from certain." At least that's something to be hopeful about.
I heard about this via knitting blogs, which are talking about Qiviut- the insulating down of the muskox. Qiviut is apparently 8 times warmer than wool (by weight) and a crapload more expensive as well. Still... I'd like to try it out. So if anyone wants to spend $60.00 to buy me one ball, I'd thank you but would probably also end up saying, "You know this was an incredible waste of money, right? One ball? Psshht, I can't even make a scarf with that."
[Via Nake-id Knits]
Thursday
[amy] DVD and Sweater Progress
It seems as though there aren't enough hours in the day. I can't get everything done. Last night I started watching Deadwood while continuing to knit up my 2nd sleeve. I've spent more than 40 hours on this sweater and I've just got shit to show for it. I'll try to finish the sleeve tonight and pick up the stitches for the ribbed cuff on the 1st sleeve, which has already been blocked.
I'm trying to finish the stupid sweater because the Henry Rollins show is next weekend. Ken got the tickets in the mail and I went over to his place to grab them. They're letting me be in charge of remembering to bring them which, I think, is too much responsibility. If I forgot them or if "something" happened to them, I'd just... I'd just die.
Anyway, my tv-land crush has moved from The Wire's Stringer Bell to Seth Bullock, played by Timothy Olyphant. I re-watched the first episode with the creator commentary on and it turns out that a lot of the characters in the show were real people. Wild Bill Hickok, of course, and Calamity Jane. But Seth was real, too. And interestingly enough (for me), Doc Cochran is played by Brad Dourif, whom you might remember as Wormtongue in The Two Towers. And, get this, he's the voice of Chucky in all the Chucky movies. How weird...
UPDATE
On the Henry Sweater front, I just finished the 2nd sleeve and picked up stitches to knit a seed stitch ribbing- which looks quite nice. I want to make the ribbing at the cuff longer, but I'm afraid the sleeves might hand down to my knees. We'll see...
I'm trying to finish the stupid sweater because the Henry Rollins show is next weekend. Ken got the tickets in the mail and I went over to his place to grab them. They're letting me be in charge of remembering to bring them which, I think, is too much responsibility. If I forgot them or if "something" happened to them, I'd just... I'd just die.
Anyway, my tv-land crush has moved from The Wire's Stringer Bell to Seth Bullock, played by Timothy Olyphant. I re-watched the first episode with the creator commentary on and it turns out that a lot of the characters in the show were real people. Wild Bill Hickok, of course, and Calamity Jane. But Seth was real, too. And interestingly enough (for me), Doc Cochran is played by Brad Dourif, whom you might remember as Wormtongue in The Two Towers. And, get this, he's the voice of Chucky in all the Chucky movies. How weird...
UPDATE
On the Henry Sweater front, I just finished the 2nd sleeve and picked up stitches to knit a seed stitch ribbing- which looks quite nice. I want to make the ribbing at the cuff longer, but I'm afraid the sleeves might hand down to my knees. We'll see...
Monday
[amy] Doing lots of stuff...
I've been watching the first season of 24 while knitting. A couple guys I know are all about it and I ended up renting it from Hollywood Video because Netflix can't get DVDs to me as fast as I watch them. I can only sit through about an episode and a half of 24 before I have to get up and do something. There are so many things going on in that one hour and after it's over I end up thinking, "Well, Jack saved his wife and daughter, stopped an assassination attempt on the Senator, kicked some guy's ass, did his taxes, had a baby and wrote a book. What did I do? I knit a few more rows... But I have to watch more." I'll start the next episode and 20-30 minutes into it (after Jack has uncovered a mole within CTU, re-rescued his wife and saved the universe), I think, "Nope. I gotta do something."
So this weekend I went crazy. I took care of 70% of the recycling that was piling up in my back room (and ordered the remaining 30%, which I will take to the Recycling Center next weekend), shelved a bookcase full of books that were just sitting on my library floor, took care of all the garbage in my apartment, washed and put away every dish I own, did 5 loads of laundry (and neatly folded, hung, put it all away!), pulled and organized all the clothes I don't wear anymore to donate to Good Buy (next weekend), got a car wash, had a really good workout at the gym, finished and blocked one sleeve of my sweater, finished about 40% of the second sleeve, got all my grocery shopping done for the week, three-hole punched loose patterns that were laying around and put them neatly into my knitting binder, cleaned my bathroom sink and toilet, changed my sheets... I'm telling you there's more, I just can't remember right now... And I did all this between watching (and being motivated by) 12 episodes of 24. It might be important to note that I got up at 7am on Saturday and Sunday and was in bed by 10. So... that's kind of lame. But I got a lot of shit done.
And I have to say the best part of the whole weekend was going to the Recycling Center. I'd never been and I was bringing about a million beer bottles, cans, cardboard and garbage. The place is no joke. You drive around, throw your garbage bag down into one enormous dumpster, drive around, throw your cardboard into another dumpster, drive around, throw your paper into another dumpster, then drive around and up to the main building where throw your separated cans, bottles, plastics and "other" cardboards. I brought my bottles to the end of the isle within the Center and tentatively dropped one through the hole in front of me. I let go and counted to five before I heard a SMASH tinkle tinkle tinkle. I saw a guy coming toward me and asked, "Hey man, is it like all right if the bottle shatters when it hits the bottom?" He said, "Sure. That's the best part. Get to it." All right! Instead of dropping one bottle at a time, which would take way too long and is (I think) the wimpy thing to do, I picked up a 12-pack box and upturned the whole thing. SMASH SMASH CRASH SMASH CRASH!!!! Oh yes. I can get used to this.
If there's something that you don't get to do everyday, it's probably "break shit". Unless you're in the business of "breaking shit", you're missing out on the really satisfying sound and feeling of throwing something and watching it break. I had to settle for hearing it break, but I still enjoyed it immensely.
And the thing about the Recycling Center is that everyone's in a total mad hurry. I got rid of 300 glass bottles, 200 aluminium cans and 30 pieces of cardboard in 2 minutes flat. Seriously. In and out. The only snag I ran into was when I shoved a woman (who was holding a toddler) out of my way and attempted to slide some cardboard into the 'cardboard' slot. "That's corrugated!" she screamed in my face, "That's corrugated cardboard! That doesn't go there! This isn't for corrugated-" I pulled my shit back through and walked down to the corrugated slot with it. The place was like "Scary Civilian Militant Zone".
So this weekend I went crazy. I took care of 70% of the recycling that was piling up in my back room (and ordered the remaining 30%, which I will take to the Recycling Center next weekend), shelved a bookcase full of books that were just sitting on my library floor, took care of all the garbage in my apartment, washed and put away every dish I own, did 5 loads of laundry (and neatly folded, hung, put it all away!), pulled and organized all the clothes I don't wear anymore to donate to Good Buy (next weekend), got a car wash, had a really good workout at the gym, finished and blocked one sleeve of my sweater, finished about 40% of the second sleeve, got all my grocery shopping done for the week, three-hole punched loose patterns that were laying around and put them neatly into my knitting binder, cleaned my bathroom sink and toilet, changed my sheets... I'm telling you there's more, I just can't remember right now... And I did all this between watching (and being motivated by) 12 episodes of 24. It might be important to note that I got up at 7am on Saturday and Sunday and was in bed by 10. So... that's kind of lame. But I got a lot of shit done.
And I have to say the best part of the whole weekend was going to the Recycling Center. I'd never been and I was bringing about a million beer bottles, cans, cardboard and garbage. The place is no joke. You drive around, throw your garbage bag down into one enormous dumpster, drive around, throw your cardboard into another dumpster, drive around, throw your paper into another dumpster, then drive around and up to the main building where throw your separated cans, bottles, plastics and "other" cardboards. I brought my bottles to the end of the isle within the Center and tentatively dropped one through the hole in front of me. I let go and counted to five before I heard a SMASH tinkle tinkle tinkle. I saw a guy coming toward me and asked, "Hey man, is it like all right if the bottle shatters when it hits the bottom?" He said, "Sure. That's the best part. Get to it." All right! Instead of dropping one bottle at a time, which would take way too long and is (I think) the wimpy thing to do, I picked up a 12-pack box and upturned the whole thing. SMASH SMASH CRASH SMASH CRASH!!!! Oh yes. I can get used to this.
If there's something that you don't get to do everyday, it's probably "break shit". Unless you're in the business of "breaking shit", you're missing out on the really satisfying sound and feeling of throwing something and watching it break. I had to settle for hearing it break, but I still enjoyed it immensely.
And the thing about the Recycling Center is that everyone's in a total mad hurry. I got rid of 300 glass bottles, 200 aluminium cans and 30 pieces of cardboard in 2 minutes flat. Seriously. In and out. The only snag I ran into was when I shoved a woman (who was holding a toddler) out of my way and attempted to slide some cardboard into the 'cardboard' slot. "That's corrugated!" she screamed in my face, "That's corrugated cardboard! That doesn't go there! This isn't for corrugated-" I pulled my shit back through and walked down to the corrugated slot with it. The place was like "Scary Civilian Militant Zone".
Friday
[books] Stacked
"Pamela Anderson, the former Baywatch actress whose enthusiasm for cosmetic surgery has given a whole new meaning to 'silicon valley', is to star in an American sitcom set in a bookshop. She plays a woman who always falls for the wrong sort of guy. The title of the comedy? Stacked."
So... Is it the bookshelves that are going to be stacked or her sweater? I can just imagine the conversations that might take place in the store...
CUSTOMER: Do you have The Satanic Verses?
PAMELA: We don't carry occult books.
CUSTOMER: No, it's by Salman Rusdie.
PAMELA: Salmon who?
[via Telegraph | Arts | Literary life]
So... Is it the bookshelves that are going to be stacked or her sweater? I can just imagine the conversations that might take place in the store...
CUSTOMER: Do you have The Satanic Verses?
PAMELA: We don't carry occult books.
CUSTOMER: No, it's by Salman Rusdie.
PAMELA: Salmon who?
[via Telegraph | Arts | Literary life]
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