The most boring blog entry ever in the whole history of the world.

"Christina's World" Andrew Wyeth

So I've been a bit rocky over the last week or so. Mood swings and such, terrible dreams, the revisiting of awful memories. It makes me wonder - how much should we process and how much should we bury? It also made me think I either

a) need to get on meds
or
b) need to make a serious assessment of my life.

I've always been a windblown, zany kind of person and the notions of order and structure are kind of foreign planets to me; but I think I'm a good person with a good heart. Just horribly irresponsible and dareIsayit messy. I lack ambition, but have a lot of talent; I've just never known what I'm supposed to be doing here. I know I love my family and friends, and the poetry of people like cummings and Plath and Neruda, and Fellini films and Steve Martin, and, god, music. Music is EVERYTHING. And it seems that's all I need to be happy in life. Shouldn't there be more? Why are my aspirations so limited? Why am I content with so little? Why this blog such an utter bore today?

And why do things like THIS make me so happy?

Ah, well...

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Despite his {epic fail} of a "press tour" in the last weeks:
Bush Still An Idiot

THIS is all I had to do to pay for college??

These folks must feel like the luckiest people on Earth.
And some Images to go along with that :)

Marie Antoniette never said let them eat cake.

The sad state of foreclosures.

RIP Andrew Wyeth
The greatest living American painter dies at 91.

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Quote of the Day:
New York Magazine: Is there anything about the new New York that's better?
Woody Allen: Uh, well, it’s safer. But, you know, I think change of this sort is almost always negative. Things degenerate.

I even procrastinated in posting this entry!

So the new year has started and I'm already behind on my New Year's resolutions, which brings me to my first resolution:

1. Stop procrastinating.
I am the WORST procrastinator known to man (or would that make me the Best?). I put off EVERYTHING. And, I mean, everything. My whole life is on hold right now, because I refuse to make a decision about anything. There is currently a museum display case at the university I no longer attend (done, finished, finito - took me ten years to graduate - I was on the procrastinator's plan), which I STILL have not returned to our local art museum. Because I am a BAD, BAD person. Even though I swore to a nagging professor on MY LIFE that I would return it. Which means any day I will be struck my lightning. All because I am the worst procrastinator known to man.

2. Lose ten twenty pounds.
God, I'm so typical. Aaargh.

3. Stop being a social hermit.
I really don't know that I'm entirely sincere about this one, because in the last few months I have been treasuring my time alone. I have never been so comfortable sitting by myself reading or watching movies. I LIKE being alone. If anything, my Netflix subscription will be the death of me (if not the lightning attack caused by lone museum display case), as it makes me never want to leave my house. But is there really anything wrong with that? I'm not so sure. I'm just not sure real, actual people can be as entertaining as flashy Busby Berkeley dancers and the rocker vampires of Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (though a part of me really hates that movie, I still prefer it over a dinner party or a night out at a club).

Well, that's pretty much it for now, because I'm too lazy and tired to think of anything else.

Oh, wait - One More! Find new non-slacker job. I love my job, I do. But it pays horribly and my favorite, favorite boss is leaving, so I'm kind of feeling whats-the-point. It's time to move on. Kind of glad boss is leaving, because if she stayed, I probably would stay here forever ... that really makes me sound like a stalker, but I'm not - I promise, I've just known her a very long time (70 years in dog-time).

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I found this blog through someone else's blog and I LOVE it so much I want to marry it. Come to think of it, it probably would not make a very good husband, but I don't care.

http://fuckyoupenguin.blogspot.com/

I never thought hating on animals could be so much fun.

* * *

A pretty mess in Illinois.
Well, it's not so pretty really. Actually, it's not pretty at all.

Obama's in Washington now!!

Michigan's Green Jobs Initiative

The last moments of Columbia.
This article made me cry.

Lastly, I am so, so sorry for the actor John Travolta and his family. I've read so many blogs (it seems reading blogs is all I do with my time, well other than watch Busby Berkeley musicals) which detail and criticize his religion, his sexuality, the manner of his son's condition and death. But none of this matters. The man lost his child. There are few things worse than that experience, no matter who you are or what crazy religion you practice.

Woo Hoo!!!

I am so incredibly excited. I need to take deep, long breaths to calm myself. After months of living as a recluse, my best friends are all in the city. AT THE SAME TIME. I barely know what to do with myself. I'm pacing and I just wolfed down a cheeseburger, and I don't know. I think I need a tranquilizer or something.

Anyway, in other news, I am thrilled about the holidays (have I mentioned this fact yet?) and that doesn't help any with my heart rate. Is it possible to be too happy? It worries me because I come from a long line of pessimists, who believe that when things are going very well, this means they are about to get very, very wrong. I hope that lifelong belief doesn't apply to my current situation.

www.savagechickens.com

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Will Smith's New Movie is Lame

I dislike most Will Smith movies. Except Six Degrees of Separation; he was fantastic in that one.

Franke Potente on Soderbergh's Che

Love Franke.

Love Soderbergh.
Love Del Toro.

Pretty please, Santa, let it be good. I behaved this year ... mostly.

Sarah Palin Time Mag's Runner Up Person of the Year. Really? No, Really?

Iraqi Government Says 'Get Out'

At least they didn't throw any shoes.

Warner Music, You Bunch of Stupid Old Farts Remove your content from YouTube - fine. But realize that you are simply shooting yourselves in the foot (feet?). YouTube is a phenomenon, a vast sharing site that connects styles, tastes and interests all over the globe. I use the site often to listen to and discover new music - THEN I BUY IT. The audio quality is typically terrible, so I'm not going to use YouTube as a listening service or to steal your music or some such nonsense. I use it when I'm curious about an artist. God, Warner, GET WITH IT.

On a related note... Music Industry is Going to Stop Suing Small Children and Old Ladies.

Thank God.

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www.leeds.ac.uk

The Man Who Invented Christmas

Standiford's good at finding the small detail, the bit of color that a substantial Dickens biography might overlook. He catalogs how Scrooge has become "common cultural property" and how "Carol" is so thoroughly embedded in our collective mind that, were all copies destroyed, the story "could be written again."

Listening to: Los Campesinos

Stellllaaa!!!!

Today in history, Joseph Conrad was born and Streetcar Named Desire Marlon Brando premiered on Broadway. Let's face it, Tennessee Williams is a lyrical genius, but that play is melodramatic beyond belief. It's Brando's broken, fierce performance that made the play and the 1951 film. We had never seen an actor like him onstage before, raw and painfully real. As for Conrad, his life reads like an adventure story - makes one ponder the question: Does one have to travel, to experience, to explore in order to write about the human condition? You could offer Emily Dickinson as a counter to that - a woman who lived a sheltered existence and never really traveled anywhere of note. Speaking of Brando, I'm dying to see Last Tango in Paris. It was featured on the IFC network the other night - brilliant series about sex on film. The episode was called Indie Sex:Censored, and it's available on Netflix and on Amazon.com. It was extremely educational (and why do I feel naughty just writing that - seriously, I don't mean it that way... really).

I had a steroid shot (yay! I mean, ouch!), and am recovering speedily. I keep thinking of that line from Dune: "Fear is the mind-killer" and if that is so, then stress is surely the body killer! I need to stress less and live better. God, I'm sounding like a self-help book.




Next year, a movie premieres about the strange relationship between Federico García Lorca and Salvador Dalí called Little Ashes (with he of the mighty cheekbones as Dalí). This got me thinking about other literary or artistic figures I would love to see portrayed onscreen, so I started searching for something with a focus on Wordsworth and Coleridge. The film is Pandaemonium and it centers on the stormy relationship between the two men and on Coleridge's opium addiction. I've added it to my netflix queue, and I'm hoping it will be good. I'm also hoping Little Ashes will be poignant rather than laughable, but we'll see.

* * * * *

I finally saw Everyone Says I Love You (I'd previously only seen snippets), and I'm glad I did. It was so incredibly charming; I adored it. The cinematography is brilliant, those colors just pop out at you; it's so vivid and delightful. The actors (Ed Norton, Tim Roth, Goldie Hawn, Alan Alda, Natalie Portman, and that's only a fraction of the cast) give beautiful performances, specifically the hilarious Roth as convict Charles Ferry. Oh, and the songs... I think my favorite aspect of all Woody Allen movies is the music. The Dandridge's reminded me so much of my own large family, talking over each other with affable frustration, discussing everything from love to art to politics. I just wish Woody Allen would bring back Diane Keaton as a love interest (zero chemistry between his Joe Berlin and Julia Roberts' character Von). I forgive him, because before the dreaded entrance of Von, he ruefully sings "I'm Through With Love," which is another one of my all time favorite standards.

I love movies :)

My favorite thing about Christmas: All the lobbies in the world begin to play Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Oh, and la flor and I make scary-looking cookies.

On Health Care (cue the violin)

Sick Girl

Mark Ryden

I'm so ridiculously sick. Hacking, coughing, wheezing sick. And yet here I am at work, spreading my germs and trying to keep the pile of tissues in check. It got me thinking about the health care situation in the country and the notion of sick leave (I say 'notion,' because in a lot of work environments, it's just that - a notion). My presence here has nothing to do with my bosses, who are incredible, but just in the system itself. When we are sick, we are expected to buck up, get in our cars, drive to our school/jobs and cough through the days, in the process (again) spreading our sickness to our fellow students and co-workers.

I watched Michael Moore's Sicko a while back, and while I know one must take any Moore documentary with a grain of salt, I found so much of what he had to say compelling. The film wasn't as bombastic and melodramatic as most of his work; it was sound and practical, specifically much of what he said regarding Canada and Europe and their respective systems. I found this great Business Week article to back up certain claims he makes:

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2007/gb20070613_921562.htm

The article examines France and Britain's health care approach and finds that Britain's is rather lacking, while France seems to have the right idea. It's 62 million citizens are healthier than Americans, and "per capita spending on health care is also roughly half as much." The U.S. ranked terribly in a Commonwealth Study assessing the health and quality of our lives.

Meanwhile, the John de Graaf article "Thinking Differently About Health Care" notes that "Americans rank 45th in life expectancy, right there with Albania."

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/008803.html

"Finally, and this is no small matter, every other industrial country guarantees its workers paid time off from work when they are sick; only the US does not. In many cases, as much as a month of leave is allowed. These countries know that without paid time off, workers will come to work sick, as many American workers do. They will get others sick and stay sick longer, often requiring more expensive treatment for their illnesses. This is not rocket science. Most Americans get this immediately. That is why more than 80 percent of them favor a law that would guarantee paid sick days for workers."

The article is fascinating because it focuses on preventative measures, and not just matters of cost and insurance. If we take care of ourselves in the first place, and if policies are implemented which ensure we are taken care of at our places of work when we are ill, billions of dollars may be saved in medicine and care. But thinking long-term is simply not our forte. We love our credit cards and we eat our hamburgers, and the debt, illness, and fatigue that may follow get little consideration.

{cough, cough}

I'm out.

Great Big Moon, Poor Rosie, and My Throat Hurts!

I have so little on my mind right now, because I'm exhausted. Thanks to a certain blonde-headed flake, I'm working early hours on my day off. I got up at 6 in the morning cursing said blonde girl's name. But it's overtime, so I suppose I should be happy :) What brings me more delight than extra cash is the following Washington Post article.

The Jupiter-Venus conjuction takes place tomorrow night, and it should be spectacular:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/29/AR2008112901775.html

Even better -

"The full moon Dec. 12 will be at its closest (356,556 kilometers, or 221,554 miles) to Earth since 1993, and the full moon won't be this close again until 2016."

Get your telescopes ready!

* * * *

Rosie O'Donnell's new variety show bombed, which is not a surprise. I watched it with my brother the other night, and it was terrible. Stale jokes, bizarre set concept, and mystifying acts (and not 'mystifying' in a good way whatsoever). I actually like Rosie, and I feel sorry for her. But, man, was that terrible.

* * * * *

This new Elvis Costello show on Sundance looks amazing:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2008/11/30/2008-11-30_elvis_costello_puts_serious_eye_on_music.html

Spectacle is an indepth music show featuring Lou Reed, Jenny Lewis and The Police. It premieres this Wednesday.

* * * * *

My throat is killing me today, so my supervisor gave me this recipe; I'm making it as soon as I get home:

1 cup milk

1 tsp butter

1/4 tsp turmeric

1. Place milk and butter in saucepan. Bring to a boil.

2. Add turmeric and set stove to lowest setting.

3. Simmer a few minutes and serve.

4. Don't ingest anything for at least an hour.

I always thought dairy was bad for the throat, but I'm curious to see how this works out. I'm also a little desperate, so I'll try anything!