So Taxing

What better way to say goodbye to August than to rip around three counties with Dad??

The whole thing was set up as "Go to bed early so you can get up". Everyone is so sensitive about my sleeping! I just have insomnia!! So I went to bed after doing some furious art on my deviant site and the worst possible thing happens. Of coures I cannot sleep and the cats torment me outside the door for hours scratching and meowing. Finally I let Kirk in and he decided to fall asleep on my arm. I got no sleep.

Hours later I got out of bed and left with my dad to drop off his 2-ton 67 GMC dump truck in Whitehall, then travelled to Carrollton to pay the residential taxes. Our Empire has to be kept legal. He had like 11 tax bills. . . The courthouse there is really great. It has huge, old county records books, a dungeon like basement bathroom, and in one spot a thick glass floor which the lights from the basement shine up through.

After our time there we drove through the lush, green country up to the Capitol. We went to a very imposing government building which inside and out dripped with a fairly good mingling of Art Decco and Neo-Gothic design. Our business there required us to be screened by security, but was far more mundane than the whole paragraph might lead one to believe.

It was a nice day all in all, but man I was so shot by the end of it and doped up on lots and lots of WATER.

Sweet, Sweet Ephemera

This afternoon I went to what I think was my first wedding shower. Blissfully it was at my coffee shop and the espresso was back. Thank you God! Anyhow, Jeremy and I did have a party before our wedding but we didn't do anything traditional, especially since I didn't want to have a ceremony in the first place. . . oh well.

Todays wedding shower was really cool and enjoyable. I made a Chinese Wedding Blessing as a present for the shower. He Ai. (Huh I) which means Harmonious Love. I'd say that's a good wish for a couple getting married. The wedding is on 9-11 at the church I went to when I was a kid and was baptised in and went to school at, briefly. Of course we didn't start going to church until I was like nine or something like that and I did not even become a Christian until a few years ago.

*** And now in a completely alternate vein:

Last night Luke and I were watching a show on TLC called "What not to Wear" Every commercial break there was a spot about Prepartion H. Somehow this is related to clothing. An uncomfortable looking man would squirm around on a golf cart. Yuck. It's just like those commercials about "that not so fresh feeling". Why? We all know we can go to the drug store and buy any number of things to drug away our problems. To top things off I read in a magazine tonight that Preparation H is one of the most commonly shoplifted items in the U.S. Seems like those commercials are working a little too well. Either that or you can snort the stuff or make it into crystal meth. . .

I would like to imagine what it would be like if Preparation H got a cult following like Spam or was endorsed as a new celebrity religion *cough*Tom*cough*Cruise. Pop singers like Alanis Morrissite (notice what her name could be re-arranged to spell) could pedal it and have albums such as "Jagged Little Tube" and "Supposed Former Preparation H Junkie". Just a thought. Nothing against the angry girl from the North. I like some of her stuff, but when you are quoted in Rolling Stone as saying "these are just are outerbody vehicles" well doesn't that kind of connect to something like Prep H? (Also a good band name).

So what's my point. Pure entertainment and the consideration of ephemera. Blogs like mine are a good example. They are like the commonplace books of this century. Life in the US has such a tension between the absurdly superficial and the authentic. Notice how I began this as a discussion of a real and important event and then descended into speculative madness?

So there.

Merde!

Review of "The Brothers Grimm"

Tonight after performing some free labor at the theatre I used to work in my husband and I were rewarded with a preview of the the new Terry Gilliam flick. I'm grateful for a free movie. Especialy after watching it. (Glad I didn't spend $10). As it is I went in with low expectations: a slightly humourous/ridiculous film with some horror elements and a little action. Wow. Not low enough.

Good points: Visually this movie was gorgeous and spot on. The sets were extremely well done as were the costumes and the out door shooting. Very good, A+. For the most part the acting was above par, but we'll get to that. Also the music accompanied the visuals perfectly and was not too strong or too soft. (hehheh, it was just right) Some of the score was quite pretty. Finally, the concept was really cool. I mean the Brothers Grimm as con men who end up in a real faerie tale. Pretty neat. However. . .

Poor Points: Right at the opening we find out the year is 1796 in 'French Occupied Germany' and then. What! Inside of a magistrates office hangs a portrait of Napoleon. HUH?!?! The painting is done in a similar style to a David that was done when Napoleon was in his forties. He was 26 and a GENERAL in Italy during this time. He did not even become First Consul until several years after the action of this film takes place. How stupid. I could forgive this and started out liking the film, even finding it funny. Yet as we continue on the movie is lost in the many directions it tries to go. Firstly, important story elements change. A village is losing its girls. Where are they? I don't want to put spoilers, but let me just say that the backstory changes. Additionally an important character states "I know what happened. Hundreds of years ago ____ killed all your ancestors" HAHAHAHAH. Had this truly been done the village could not exist. Duh. A lot of subtle mistakes and flip flops occur throughout the story. Actors change accents. And why is it that two Germans have British accents? UGH! This is a film about storytellers and it has really a story made of scheisse. To make matters worse the depiction of the French is incredibly offensive and unnecessary. Life only two hundred years ago is portrayed as having conditions worse than the most stereotypical B grade movie about the middle ages. The French mercilessly torture and kill and perform incredibly stupid tortures at that. One particularly disgusting scene involves a small furry baby animal being accidentally kicked into a giant whirring blade and splattered across the walls as a violin quartet plays. A French general then eats the splattered piece off of his check and says "Mmm". WHAT?! There are plenty of dumb allusions to fairy tales and any Monty Python fan will recognize homages to the show. However, this film wallows in meanness and lacks any of the charm of any Monty Python's most offensive film and sketches. Other scenes seem ripped out of recent movies, such as a scene that seems identical to one in "The Village". The movie strains between ridiculous and serious never deciding which one it will be. Really it's a shame as the actors seem so caught up and really do a fine job.

Bottom Line: If you want a movie that tricks you into thinking you've had a good time through awesome visuals, great music, and for the most part heartfelt acting, then go see this. However, do not expect a whimsical horror-comedy. This movie is base. If you are ever troubled by the logic behind movies or the story then you probably will not care for this film.

My recommendation would be that if you want a slightly ridiculous and somewhat dark film about a fairy tale situation then rent a Tim Burton film or wait for Corpse Bride.

Oh let me leave you with another positive. There was a preview for the upcoming movie "The Exorcism of Emily Rose". This looks extremely promising. Here's hoping.

Sweet Little Bunny Piccolo

Look at this rambunctious young sir. He is running wild biting telephone cords and playing living bowling ball with recyclables.

This is Piccolo a French Lop given to me by that rascal DER GARMON. Mr. Piccs (as Luke calls him) lived with me in my dorm. Yes, against the rules but my R.A. had a rabbit and didn't mind if her charges also got one. So I built him a little castle under one of my desks and there he lived. Later I got him a cage and hid him in the closet. As I recall his favorite past time back then was nibbling on my ankles and pooping on my bed. I would build walls of boxes on the beds to keep him off and he would jump over them. It had to be like six feet high. . .

Now he lives here at home. A few years ago he had a torrid and disgusting affair with Matthew's cat She-Ra. Consequently they were both fixed. I hope Piccy lives a looong time. He's had filtered water to drink, fresh veggies, and several times a week exercise out of the cage, for years. Beat the odds little guy!

Anyhow, I named him Piccolo after the character from DragonBallZ. When I got him I was a Wiccan and I made up a song that you see titled above. It went like this:
(slow, gentle lullaby song)
Sweet Little Bunny Piccolo
Hopping all around my room
You'd never guess that he's
(high soprano operatic, fast and evil)
SPAWN OF SATAN
BUNNY DEVIL
KILL THEM ALL KILL THEM ALL
MUST HAVE BLOOD MUST HAVE BLOOD.

Shame on me. Oh well. So now I re-wrote the song (same tune) and instead of spawn of satan he's
Child of God
Bunny Wonder.
Kiss them all Kiss them all
MUST HAVE LOVE MUST HAVE LOVE.

*!!!!SMOOCH!!!!*

I'm On the Hunt, I'm after you!

Cat of mystery.

His beloved master knows him as "King of the Honey Children"
While his uncle dear calls him "Bluesy Bloated Sugar Plum"
Our Grandma, his great-ma sings out "Dear Old Smokes"
His uncle in-law shies away in fear "That Cat" or "The Beast"
Grand pa-pa has said "Poor Misunderstood Alley Cat from White Hall" and "Walking Carpet"

I call him simply his name. . . Smokey!

While he tolerates our grandma and certain visitors and loves immediate family members he has a taste for certain human blood. Our aunt for one, several of our cousins and my HUSBAND! Really it's not funny. He will TEAR open Jeremy's flesh like a wild animal just coming out of a two week famine. Poor dear Jeremy. In the bottom picture though you can tell that Smokey resembles a vampire bat.

I'm an evil, evil girl.

Well you might as well know how terrible I am.

After spending a few days cooped up in the house recovering from my stupid back incident I craved some fun, fun. (And why did that back thing happen? I haven't lifted any baby elephants lately; did make a crazy interpretaive dance vidoe to Yoko Ono's "Give Me Something") Kristine had called on Sunday and we made plans to suck down some java today, but tragically a water main broke downtown and our wonderful cr*ck dealer was closed for repairs. Sigh. Rain check. That's good. It's a few times a week visit to Due Gattis that is fueling my intense writing jag. Quickest 80 pages I've ever done. Normally I write like, uh, forty pages A YEAR of a single storyline. Now where would that have got Dickens, I ask you? We longwinded ones need to be speedy. And I wouldn't mind being a rockstar book writer like Neil Gaiman.

Ohk. So I ended up going to the Capitol with Luke for his music class. I hung out in the library reading a very bad book. Then we met up with Matthew to gas up his car (Carly Warly, people either name their cars or don't. I don't) After I ventured that we should go to the mall our road was clear and we ended up at Bergner's and then Famous B, looking at handbags. There was an awesome bag I wanted to show them. As we were picking through bags at Famous B I was struck by "Wow, I have the best brothers in the world. So secure in their maleness that they do not mind, even enjoy and point out to me, handbags! God bless them!" This is why I'm not a man-hater. I had lots of great male friends and relatives growing up. Thank you God! Women, now I had to work on that one. . .

Long story short, or long story longer I came across a FABULOUS 1920's style black and white flapper hat, on sale. Oh how I swooned. And I thought. ARGH! Why don't I have any money. Then I grabbed it anyway. At the register the cashier begged me to open a credit account, hinting around that she hadn't met her quota and had to open an account today (or perhaps be sentenced to death). I opened the stupid account and then thought. What the he** I'll just buy that bag too, if it's on sale. It was over $20 off and so now I have this black 40's style handbag that opens like an old-fashioned doctor bag.

After a dinner at Olive Garden with Dad (thankfully they have plain grilled salmon now, thank you stupid Atkins diet) we repaired in the California Zephyr (Luke's car) to Barnes and Noble where I shamelessly bought Jeremy a book and a book for myself too. Well, at least we can squeak by and pay our car payment. . .

Today really made me so deliriously happy. See how bad I am. Buying something expensive makes me happy. What a hedonist. Oh well. At least I don't want to kill myself! Bright side!

Hopefully Jeremy will get a REAL job VERY SOON! In style this season is High Victorian Dark Romantic GOTH clothing. It's everywhere.

:(. . . .

Books

Usually I'm a bigtime reader. I take a book everywhere with me and I'm always reading something. For the past few months I've had the attention span of a 3 year old high on a bottle of Flintstone vitamins. Now, I've progressed to a 5 year old o.d.'ed on Dimetapp (mmmm).

So I've been reading again.

The first book that returned me to reading was Harry Potter #6. Oh wow. It made me miss being a student so much. And then. Snape. Snape! Well, I'm thinking of reviewing the book on my website. But isn't it indulgent enough to have a Blog when I'm just a little old caregiver/sub teacher/music assistant in a little town in the Midwest. Nah. I've got to have some creative outlets people!

I read a book called Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia. Very interesting and frightening because I shared a lot of psychological traits with the girl who wrote it. Well I won't go into it. It's a book really for everyone interested in psychology and wading through life as a girl in this world.

Finally, I am currently reading a terrible book, but I can't stop myself. Oh it stinks beyond belief, but it has my attention, so I'm sticking with it. Normally I chuck a bad book after the first few pages. It's called Undead and Unwed. It's set a few years from now and is about an absolutely stupid girl who gets killed and rises as the new Vampire Queen. All she cares about are expensive shoes and hanging out with her friends, which breaks all the vampire rules. Blah. Blah. Don't read it. I've had to skip 20% of it for graphic sex (not the main character, but she keeps walking in on people, ugh).

So thats my current reading. Oh and manga too.

MY BACK! MY BACK!

Wow, who wonders what it feels like to be a bug speared to a paperboard? Never me. However, perhaps I know something of this after my strange and dramatic Sunday.

I woke up at 9 AM Sunday after going to bed a mere six hours prior. Pain jarred me out of sleep, intense pain. Once I fully came awake I realized that I was trapped on my back and that every movement caused the pain to intensify. Breathing was the worst; a few shallow breaths had to sustain me.

Well I knew it couldn't be too serious as I could feel all my body and twitch all my digits, etc. Plus there was no pain shooting out of my back it was all localized in the center of my spine. After a few hours I could work up rolling over and then finally I could get up, but fell back down in agony. So I worked myself up to standing up from the floor with the help of a chair and succeeded. I spent all day in bed or sitting in a chair with ice packs. Awful! I'm such a always on the move person and I really hate being in one place for more than a few minutes unless I'm engrossed in reading. Even at most movies I get antsy after twenty minutes or so.

I'm on the road to recovery though. I can walk around allright and now lift something heavier than a glass of water.

RAR! Bitey, Bitey

Well well well, the old fashioned 17th century
vampire, one of my faves. You look for the good
things in life, you posses a lot of classical
class, and follow that of the original
vampires, you have no shame in what you are,
infact you embrace it, you love it and wouldn't
have it any other way. Your wealth is
unspeakable and your way of luring people with
your mystical ways and looks is amazing.


What Kind Of Vampire Would You Be. (New And Improved, With COOL Pics!!!) FOR GIRLS ONLY!!!!
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Current News

Number one on my mind is that my fingernails are painted blood red. Besides a vine snaking around my wrist (henna tattoo, procured cheaply at a recent music festival here in town) nail painting is the cheapest body modification I can afford at the moment. In the near future I hope to try this new temporary mousse color to get purple hair for a week. Distant and murky I can see an eyebrow piercing. . . Maybe?

Thank you to all you praying saints of God, thank you GOD, Jeremy has a temporary job! Permanent job, please? See how grateful I am. Sorry. Once again this comes just in the nick of time to pay our bills, but only lasts through bill paying for maybe October 1st. At least I should have a few substitute teaching jobs before then. I hope. You see I worry not for the things of this Earth like food or shelter. Losing the car and not being able to afford coffee, that does cross my mind in these situations. But Jeremy has many applications in and more to come.

Next. Living here is great. Luke and I make movies together and I'm working on making a CD of mostly original songs, with Luke playing the insturments. Huzzah!

Finally, Luke has a job working as a musical director of a youth foundation in town. He will be paid, handsomely, enough to make me proud. I will be his unpaid assistant and then more than likely when a grant kicks in I'll be paid, as long as they don't change their mind and kick me out for Luke's nepotism. However, I'm qualified for this. We will be creating music workshops from scratch, directing a youth choir, and writing musicals. So far the topics I want to do are Ancient Roots of Modern Music, World Music, African American Music, Drumming, and Singing in Foreign Language, and a G rated version of Hair (that probably won't happen). Luke has a cool workshop on crafting a singing persona, creating a band, and different periods of 20th Century Music to present.

JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE NAPOLEON BONAPARTE!

Do you know how everyone asks that question "What famous dead people would you want to have dinner with" Here's my answer, an exercise in running imagination in celebration of Msr. Bonaparte's birthday.

Shock! First, not Jesus. Ha ha. Cause he's not DEAD! He is the LIVING LORD. Gottcha on that one.

Okay. Today is Napoleon's birthday. Being strange little kids my brother Matthew and I were obsessed with different historical periods. Matthew favored violent assasinations and we acted out the Lincoln debacle, Czar Nicholas II's and his family's slaughter, Rasputin's legendary demise, Trotsky's death in Mexico, Kennedy, oh you get it.

My historical obsession was Rome in the AD 70's, Egypt's Middle Kingdom, and Napoleonic France! Woo hoo! Does the fascination with periods of mass contintental unity under one struggling dicatorial figure mean anything about me as a person??? *COUGH*

Given this who would I then have dinner with? (ANSWER THE DERNED QUESTION EMME!)

Napoleon Bonaparte, Edgar Allan Poe and C.S. Lewis. HA! Now that is a dinner party! We would start the meal with a romaince lettuce salad stuffed with veggies and a dash of vinegar, then a light but creamy mushroom soup. Following that would be a grilled to crispness trout, baked potato with red pepper, and steamed broccoli. Finally we would retire to cigars, brandy, and espresso.

Oh and here is where it would take place. We would be near a quaint village inside of a lovely and large limestone house with slate tiled roof and slightly unkempt massive gardens. Our dinner would be served in a square room at a round table made of mahogany with chairs upholstered in cream satin. Above us would float a chandelier dripping in crystals, dramatic and almost too big for the space. The food would come on silver plates, served by a stately old gentleman who would occasionally cough politely to announce his presence. Big blood red velvet drapes would keep out our mutual enemy, Mr. Sun.

Our lively conversation would be about Pascal (another good dinner guest choice), Phi and Pi, fatalism, books. . . Naturally Professor Lewis and I would turn the conversation to the dramatic crux of the True Truth of Death and the question of what one does with that knowledge. The history of the world with an eye on the Redemptive work of Jesus, the crucifixion, and Resurrection would probably dominate from that point onward. Napoleon would be passionate with his own historical admission that what he failed to do (unite disperate peoples through force) Jesus did through peaceful means reaching across the ages. Poe would vigorously quote the great authors and poets and more than likey spend a disportionate amount of time talking to me, as he was always most comfortable with women.

Napoleon would be dressed in silks. Poe in a black, heavy cotton suit. Lewis would be in a sensible British tweed suit set. I would wear a black satin corset, a silver cross and ared and black tulle and silk skirt that trailed the floor. My hair would be in a bun with a red rose and I would be wearing black ballet slippers with laces.


The End.

Will Summer Never End!!!

Once I read a great book called "The Four Humours". Its premise is that the classical concept of a person being ruled by a dominant humour is true. You take a test and answer questions about your body, eating habits, things you like (oh it's quite thorough) and then it gives you points for each humour. Well the book is compelling and touches me where it counts, right it in the mind, with all its impressive research and allusions to great thinkers of the past. The four humours are Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Melancholic, and Choleric.

Most people have a first and a close second. This is good, a person born with some balance. However, when I added up my score, the other categories had like 3-6 points and MELANCHOLIC had over 20! As I recall Jeremy was a close tie of Sanguine and Choleric, but his were all pretty even.

What does that mean? Well. It means I prefer autumn and winter. Knew that. It means my body prefers sharp tastes, less sweetness in things (dark chocolate). All right. It means that a melancholic person is prone to fits of pure joy and utter sadness, but can be happy and sad at the same time. Check. Also, this person is quite logical and tries to hide emotion. Uh oh. At their worst a melancholic is authortarian, pessimistic, traditional (in a bad sense) blah, blah. However, these traits can also be good. At their best a melancholic is full of life, constantly writing poetry, doing art, creating like wild, and writing and writing. Terrific, I'll take it all.

AND BRING ON THE COLD! ENOUGH! I have had stinking summer for a year, with only a brief beautiful respite when I had two weeks of Boston winter, but that was months ago.

Oh autumn. Where are you? I want to see the trees startle me with their intense bareness and loss. Bony, stripped, reaching up to a grey sky with burnt leaves littering the ground. Oh winter. Pierce me with your cold, your truth. Nights so clear with pure chill that the sky is its most black and the stars their hardest and brightest. Oh come soon. You dear friends, blessed seasons make me feel the most alive of anything in this world.

(~*~*~)

You are the depressed/dreamer anime girl.You either
lost somebody you love or somebody broke you
heart so bad that you can't pick up the
shattered pieces without hurting yourself.You
think nobody can heal your wounds but don't
stop looking because you never know who loves
you enough to try hell the one special guy
could be right infront of your eyes and you
don't even know it.You also love to day dream
because it seems like the only place that makes
you happy.But little do you know that people
all around you are trying to make you happy and
you won't let them in fearing you'll get
another heartbreak or get hurt worse.But just
try and if things go wrong just brush it off
and try again.It never hurts to try.One more
thing never let that lost love one leave you
heart keep them in forever and keep their
memory alive.


If You Were An Anime Character What Would You Look Like?(Girls Only)
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