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rsadelleIndigo Girls
My parents and I went to see the Indigo Girls a couple of weeks ago. Their opening band, Three5Human, has what we later found out is a great singer, but their sound mix was off so you couldn't hear her and their sound itself is pretty generic rock.
But after them was the Indigo Girls, and they were awesome. Just awesome. Their whole show is just the two of them with an ever-rotating selection of guitars against a colored background. And they were fantastic and the audience was totally into it.
The audience itself was interesting. We saw Ani DiFranco a couple of years ago, and the place was full of lesbians my age. The audience for Indigo Girls was full of middle-aged lesbians with an additional assortment of families and straight couples.
There was some moment of their performance that made me think of the scene in Arrow's Flight where Dirk and Talia sing "Sun and Shadow." So I went to Barnes & Noble to read that scene and any other good bits of the trilogy. They had Arrows of the Queen and Arrow's Fall, but not Arrow's Flight.
John Cleese
Last week we went to see John Cleese, who, like the Indigo Girls, came to Chico State. I expected him to be a lot better than he was. He was good, but not awesome. The best joke was at the beginning: "This is the first time we've played at a college named after a comedian. On Tuesday we'll be at Harpo and next week we'll be playing Karl." The audience didn't get it.
Guys and Dolls
Last night's cultural experience was the Chico Cabaret production of Guys and Dolls. The chorus was a little weak, but it was a ton of fun. Adelaide was especially good.
I also realized something during "I'll Know." Back in the day, we saw the Chico City Light Opera production twice, and I had a huge crush on the guy playing Sky Masterson. But last night, I realized that I'm really just in love with Sky Masterson. If he were real, I'd go to Havana for dinner with him any day.
History Sneaks Up On Us
One of the things we have to remember as writers is that people are always going to bring their own stuff to our stories. I know this, but I sometimes forget how that applies to things other than writing. I've had a couple of those kinds of experiences recently.
My hair does best when I have two different shampoos and switch off. Unfortunately, they stopped making the other one, and I've been looking for a new one for quite a while. One of the things I bought a sample size of was some Herbal Essences variation. Now, I'm not an idiot; I did smell it before I bought it. But when I put it in my hair, I had such a negative emotional reaction to the scent that I had to immediately rewash my hair with the other shampoo. I have no idea what happened in the past that triggered that reaction.
Two of the women in my belly dance class had a friend visiting this week, so they brought her along to class. She looks exactly like someone I used to know, and I had to remind myself that I couldn't hate her on sight just because she looks like someone else. Then one of the chorus girls in Guys and Dolls, who kept ending up in front of us and who best filled out her bustier, had the same look. All in all, weird.
Something New
I went to see Something New last week. It was fairly good, but I was disappointed by the way the trailer sets it up as a totally different story. In the trailer, Kenya meets Brian for the first time as her coworker's mother's landscaper. In the movie, her coworker sets them up beforehand, without telling her that she's setting her up with a white man. Now, this does become part of the plot--her brother keeps saying things like, "Kenya's dating white men now"--but I liked the idea of her meeting him first as the landscaper.
The biggest problem I had with the movie is that the male lead has a tan, curly blond hair, and a laid-back attitude in LA and his name is Brian. Now, if you read that description and did not immediately think of Paul Walker as the serial-killer-named Brian Earl Spilner, you need to turn in your fangirl card. I kept expecting to see Paul Walker and getting Simon Baker instead. Don't get me wrong; I love Simon Baker. He just wasn't what I was expecting.
The resolution scene is awesome. She goes to see him in the community garden wearing this fancy white dress, getting mud on her hem. The old woman tells her that he's already left, and so she sits dejectedly on a bench. And then, around the corner, comes Max, Brian's dog. And then there's Brian. And she tells him that she knows they're meant together and she wants to be with him. And the whole time, I'm thinking, "Just say, 'I love you' already!" And then she pauses, and the camera stays on her face for what seems like forever, and then she finally tells him she loves him.
Second Sight
I've been watching Second Sight. It's a British series starring Clive Owen as a detective who's going blind. It's totally meeting the need for British police types having sex in a way that neither MI-5 nor The Inspector Lynley Mysteries does.
In this episode the only witness to a murder case is a child played by Tom Felton.
Computer Maintenance
Today I disassembled and reassembled my computer. (If you got email from me dated July 19, 2001, it's because I didn't realize the clock had reset itself.) This was not just a random thing. I bought a new and prettier case, and a quieter power supply and CPU fan. I also bought a DVD burner, but it remains in the clutches of UPS. I had planned to go buy washers to cushion the hard drive (the hard drive vibrating against the case is one of the big sources of computer noise), but my new case actually came with them. My computer is now much, much quieter, and much more attractive. It also fits under my desk, which means I have more room on either side of the desk to get to my bookshelves and couch.
Complex Chore Chart Dilemma
Note to those of you trying to parse this section heading: it's the chore chart, not the dilemma that's complex.
In an attempt to get into a regular exercise schedule, I've created myself a chore chart. It has various yoga and belly dancing things as well as lifting weights, and I assigned points to everything. My goal is 93 points a week, which I could get by doing each thing on the chart three days a week. (In reality, I'm doing the yoga stuff way more often, doing nothing on days when I have yoga class--class doesn't count for the chart--and catching up on the weekend. I may need to adjust the point values next month.)
Here's my dilemma: Some of the things on the chart could be done while watching TV. On the one hand, that would help me actually do them more often. On the other hand, if I do them while watching TV, I'm not really focussing on my body, and I somewhat think that's part of what I should be doing.
Target
My Target shopping trip was largely successful today--Bewitched on sale for $10, new shower curtain, two-pound weights, and vacuum cleaner--but the hot security guard wasn't there today. Every time I see her, I think, "If I were a different kind of person, I would totally hit on her."
Slightly Better This Year
I've made some Valentine's Day cards, which is better than last year, but I don't actually have the right size envelopes and I didn't make it to the post office today, so very few people will get valentines from me on or before Valentine's Day.
My parents and I went to see the Indigo Girls a couple of weeks ago. Their opening band, Three5Human, has what we later found out is a great singer, but their sound mix was off so you couldn't hear her and their sound itself is pretty generic rock.
But after them was the Indigo Girls, and they were awesome. Just awesome. Their whole show is just the two of them with an ever-rotating selection of guitars against a colored background. And they were fantastic and the audience was totally into it.
The audience itself was interesting. We saw Ani DiFranco a couple of years ago, and the place was full of lesbians my age. The audience for Indigo Girls was full of middle-aged lesbians with an additional assortment of families and straight couples.
There was some moment of their performance that made me think of the scene in Arrow's Flight where Dirk and Talia sing "Sun and Shadow." So I went to Barnes & Noble to read that scene and any other good bits of the trilogy. They had Arrows of the Queen and Arrow's Fall, but not Arrow's Flight.
John Cleese
Last week we went to see John Cleese, who, like the Indigo Girls, came to Chico State. I expected him to be a lot better than he was. He was good, but not awesome. The best joke was at the beginning: "This is the first time we've played at a college named after a comedian. On Tuesday we'll be at Harpo and next week we'll be playing Karl." The audience didn't get it.
Guys and Dolls
Last night's cultural experience was the Chico Cabaret production of Guys and Dolls. The chorus was a little weak, but it was a ton of fun. Adelaide was especially good.
I also realized something during "I'll Know." Back in the day, we saw the Chico City Light Opera production twice, and I had a huge crush on the guy playing Sky Masterson. But last night, I realized that I'm really just in love with Sky Masterson. If he were real, I'd go to Havana for dinner with him any day.
History Sneaks Up On Us
One of the things we have to remember as writers is that people are always going to bring their own stuff to our stories. I know this, but I sometimes forget how that applies to things other than writing. I've had a couple of those kinds of experiences recently.
My hair does best when I have two different shampoos and switch off. Unfortunately, they stopped making the other one, and I've been looking for a new one for quite a while. One of the things I bought a sample size of was some Herbal Essences variation. Now, I'm not an idiot; I did smell it before I bought it. But when I put it in my hair, I had such a negative emotional reaction to the scent that I had to immediately rewash my hair with the other shampoo. I have no idea what happened in the past that triggered that reaction.
Two of the women in my belly dance class had a friend visiting this week, so they brought her along to class. She looks exactly like someone I used to know, and I had to remind myself that I couldn't hate her on sight just because she looks like someone else. Then one of the chorus girls in Guys and Dolls, who kept ending up in front of us and who best filled out her bustier, had the same look. All in all, weird.
Something New
I went to see Something New last week. It was fairly good, but I was disappointed by the way the trailer sets it up as a totally different story. In the trailer, Kenya meets Brian for the first time as her coworker's mother's landscaper. In the movie, her coworker sets them up beforehand, without telling her that she's setting her up with a white man. Now, this does become part of the plot--her brother keeps saying things like, "Kenya's dating white men now"--but I liked the idea of her meeting him first as the landscaper.
The biggest problem I had with the movie is that the male lead has a tan, curly blond hair, and a laid-back attitude in LA and his name is Brian. Now, if you read that description and did not immediately think of Paul Walker as the serial-killer-named Brian Earl Spilner, you need to turn in your fangirl card. I kept expecting to see Paul Walker and getting Simon Baker instead. Don't get me wrong; I love Simon Baker. He just wasn't what I was expecting.
The resolution scene is awesome. She goes to see him in the community garden wearing this fancy white dress, getting mud on her hem. The old woman tells her that he's already left, and so she sits dejectedly on a bench. And then, around the corner, comes Max, Brian's dog. And then there's Brian. And she tells him that she knows they're meant together and she wants to be with him. And the whole time, I'm thinking, "Just say, 'I love you' already!" And then she pauses, and the camera stays on her face for what seems like forever, and then she finally tells him she loves him.
Second Sight
I've been watching Second Sight. It's a British series starring Clive Owen as a detective who's going blind. It's totally meeting the need for British police types having sex in a way that neither MI-5 nor The Inspector Lynley Mysteries does.
In this episode the only witness to a murder case is a child played by Tom Felton.
Computer Maintenance
Today I disassembled and reassembled my computer. (If you got email from me dated July 19, 2001, it's because I didn't realize the clock had reset itself.) This was not just a random thing. I bought a new and prettier case, and a quieter power supply and CPU fan. I also bought a DVD burner, but it remains in the clutches of UPS. I had planned to go buy washers to cushion the hard drive (the hard drive vibrating against the case is one of the big sources of computer noise), but my new case actually came with them. My computer is now much, much quieter, and much more attractive. It also fits under my desk, which means I have more room on either side of the desk to get to my bookshelves and couch.
Complex Chore Chart Dilemma
Note to those of you trying to parse this section heading: it's the chore chart, not the dilemma that's complex.
In an attempt to get into a regular exercise schedule, I've created myself a chore chart. It has various yoga and belly dancing things as well as lifting weights, and I assigned points to everything. My goal is 93 points a week, which I could get by doing each thing on the chart three days a week. (In reality, I'm doing the yoga stuff way more often, doing nothing on days when I have yoga class--class doesn't count for the chart--and catching up on the weekend. I may need to adjust the point values next month.)
Here's my dilemma: Some of the things on the chart could be done while watching TV. On the one hand, that would help me actually do them more often. On the other hand, if I do them while watching TV, I'm not really focussing on my body, and I somewhat think that's part of what I should be doing.
Target
My Target shopping trip was largely successful today--Bewitched on sale for $10, new shower curtain, two-pound weights, and vacuum cleaner--but the hot security guard wasn't there today. Every time I see her, I think, "If I were a different kind of person, I would totally hit on her."
Slightly Better This Year
I've made some Valentine's Day cards, which is better than last year, but I don't actually have the right size envelopes and I didn't make it to the post office today, so very few people will get valentines from me on or before Valentine's Day.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-12 06:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-12 04:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-12 06:21 am (UTC)If you want some ideas for kinds of shampoos, tell me what type of hair you have and I'll ask my parents, both of whom were/are hair professionals.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-12 04:21 pm (UTC)I've found shampoos tough because I have very oily hair and I'm sensitive to scent. I think I've now tried just about every shampoo I can get my hands on. I even tried a couple where I had to buy the whole bottle instead of just a sample size.
My other hair trick is the only thing I ever learned from a fashion magazine: I keep an old spice bottle full of baking soda in the shower, and every once in a while, when my hair feels really oily and gross, I mix some of the baking soda in with my shampoo and wash my hair with that. The fashion magazine suggested this as a way to strip built-up styling product out of your hair, but it works well for oil too.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-13 01:25 am (UTC)Interstingly I have the omnibus but only read the first and last book (I pretty much skip Arrow's flight except for maybe the first chapter or two, I spend too much time wanting to slap Talia, "snap out of it") on those rare occasions when I get a hankering for it. Course now that you've mentioned it I totally want to read it again. So anyway, do you think most people are like me and so they stock extra first and last books, or are most people like you and they've bought out the middle book?
And why not hit on her? It's usually a flattering experience to be hit on, made my day the other day...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-13 06:50 am (UTC)Huh. I don't know that I would have identified it as my favorite book of the trilogy, but Arrow's Flight has the bit where she says no one's forcing her to marry Kris, which is where we see Dirk starting to realize he's in love with her, and then the thing with the singing, which I always think of because of the thing after their song where the next people didn't try to sustain the mood but changed it completely instead.
I wouldn't know how! Also, it seems kind of tacky to hit on someone who's just trying to do her job. Not to mention hitting on the security guard sounds like a distraction plot point for some sort of heist scenario.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-13 03:58 pm (UTC)Ah, well I do read the very beginning of that book but then as soon as they hit the road I'm through with it, she's so insecure, against the evidence the heralds have given her that they can be trusted. I do usually read the Vanyel part (even if that's not what they call him), and then I jump to like the last chapter or so... Actually I haven't read that particular book in like 6-8 years I think, I should probably give it another chance, I"ve evolved more patience with insecurity and whining (i.e. 11-16 year olds). Though truthfully the only books from Valdemar I still read with regularity are Kerowyn, Tarma and Kethry, and Vanyel (who tries my patience in bok 1), the rest are just for nostalgia value...
Eek, must be at school very, very soon, talk to you later!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-16 05:17 am (UTC)I don't really read any of them regularly. Every once in a while I get craving for a particular bit, though, and have to go read it. I did get to Barnes & Noble again on Monday and they had Arrow's Flight, so I had a chance to read all the good bits.