Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
More movies
Last night, I watched two movies. Marwencol, about some guy who uses GI Joe and Barbie dolls to construct a small town in his yard, and I Love You Phillip Morris, about gay love and prison and being a sociopath. They were both very good. And kept me from playing endless Angry Birds.
Yesterday I watered plants and tidied up some more in Chip's upstairs bedroom and got my propane tank refilled and took care of some business and other exciting things. Today I went to the gym and watered Chip's plants and now will practice my guitar until it's time for Snaps practice at 6. I had some money transferred back out of my buyout money which has lost some value but I remain hopeful that it will recover. What a gambler I am.
Tomorrow, I am having lunch with Linda and Cheryl. Later, some wimmens are going out to Annette's if some storm doesn't blow in and ruin it. And I'm going sign my will papers and go to the farmer's market. And maybe look for a job. I have applied to some good ones lately like the Manager of Web and New Media at BGSU and Global Web Team Leader at Owens Corning. We'll see how they turn out. Occasionally, I get kinda panicky about not getting a job but frankly I have at least 10 months of money left in the buyout to supplement my current income so I guess I can just panic later.
On my birthday, I screwed around endlessly and then went out to Chip's for a big dinner of grilled beets and scallops and crab cakes and filets of beef and salad and two desserts. Many people called to wish me a happy birthday.
Last Friday we went to the Ark to see Todd Snider who was fabulous as always. Our party of 6 ate at Gratzi where we had antipasti platters and calamari and salads and tomato bisque and Sal and I split a giant seared tuna on risotto cakes with spinach. Yumba. The waitress came out and offered us all a free shot of limoncello at the end, this after Sal and Amy and I had split a bottle of wine and then got an extra glass each.
There was a mixup at the Ark about some of my 17 people getting seated that I am still stewing about the way we were treated and should write a letter to the Ark about. Really, some guy was pointing his finger into my chest when obviously, as they finally admitted, I was right. Dammit.
Last week, I met with Jean Geist who wants to do a blog and had many issues about figuring out how to post and put on a template and change her login and stuff. I should do more of this. For money.
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Yesterday I watered plants and tidied up some more in Chip's upstairs bedroom and got my propane tank refilled and took care of some business and other exciting things. Today I went to the gym and watered Chip's plants and now will practice my guitar until it's time for Snaps practice at 6. I had some money transferred back out of my buyout money which has lost some value but I remain hopeful that it will recover. What a gambler I am.
Tomorrow, I am having lunch with Linda and Cheryl. Later, some wimmens are going out to Annette's if some storm doesn't blow in and ruin it. And I'm going sign my will papers and go to the farmer's market. And maybe look for a job. I have applied to some good ones lately like the Manager of Web and New Media at BGSU and Global Web Team Leader at Owens Corning. We'll see how they turn out. Occasionally, I get kinda panicky about not getting a job but frankly I have at least 10 months of money left in the buyout to supplement my current income so I guess I can just panic later.
On my birthday, I screwed around endlessly and then went out to Chip's for a big dinner of grilled beets and scallops and crab cakes and filets of beef and salad and two desserts. Many people called to wish me a happy birthday.
Last Friday we went to the Ark to see Todd Snider who was fabulous as always. Our party of 6 ate at Gratzi where we had antipasti platters and calamari and salads and tomato bisque and Sal and I split a giant seared tuna on risotto cakes with spinach. Yumba. The waitress came out and offered us all a free shot of limoncello at the end, this after Sal and Amy and I had split a bottle of wine and then got an extra glass each.
There was a mixup at the Ark about some of my 17 people getting seated that I am still stewing about the way we were treated and should write a letter to the Ark about. Really, some guy was pointing his finger into my chest when obviously, as they finally admitted, I was right. Dammit.
Last week, I met with Jean Geist who wants to do a blog and had many issues about figuring out how to post and put on a template and change her login and stuff. I should do more of this. For money.
_____________________________________
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Blue Valentine
Last night Amy and I watched Blue Valentine with Ryan Gosling and MIchelle Williams. WHAT???? we said at the end. What could have possibly gone so awry in this young couple's life together that she is yelling "There's nothing left in here for you." and he's pleading tearfully "What do you want me to do?"
The New Yorker review talks about what a wrenching portrait it is of love, once so fun and innocent and later so... gone. I mean here we have a guy who (spoiler alert) steps up to be a father to a child that is not his, holds a job, refuses to physically fight back when goaded by the wife, takes a beating by the asshole baby daddy and whose only crime seems to be that he doesn't rise to his full potential. Or maybe it's just that she is holding against him the fact that she had to lower her career expectations and now has a regular life--in a nice brick house with a newer SUV and a guy who has some growing up to do. As if all guys don't have some growing up to do. They're GUYS.
I blame it on Hollywood with its on-going misunderstanding of the lives of us regular folks out here in the hinterlands. Well, hell, out there, they just get 'em some new romance when that first blush of excitement rubs off. Here, we are sticking with the ups and downs, well past the five or so years that these two have spent together.
If the movie had given us SOMETHING to explain why she's done with this life: his drinking interfered with him holding a job, she finds someone who gives her new hope, they're living a scrubby existence with no family support. But all WE see is her running into the scumbag baby daddy in a liquor store and being obviously flattered that the gum-chewing neanderthal still finds her attractive.
And the director's trick of cutting back and forth in time, for me, was just that-- a trick. Apparently aimed at making us remember the 10 minutes ago when the couple was in that love/lust period with not a care in the world. I could have taken a little more linear storytelling, something that would explain where, as Amy said, the B was that showed us how they got from point A to point C.
The leads may be up for Oscars for this performance but the award should go to the makeup artist who made the young, fresh-faced couple age over the five-year span of the "plot" into unglamorous, prematurely aged middle Americans.
____________________
The New Yorker review talks about what a wrenching portrait it is of love, once so fun and innocent and later so... gone. I mean here we have a guy who (spoiler alert) steps up to be a father to a child that is not his, holds a job, refuses to physically fight back when goaded by the wife, takes a beating by the asshole baby daddy and whose only crime seems to be that he doesn't rise to his full potential. Or maybe it's just that she is holding against him the fact that she had to lower her career expectations and now has a regular life--in a nice brick house with a newer SUV and a guy who has some growing up to do. As if all guys don't have some growing up to do. They're GUYS.
I blame it on Hollywood with its on-going misunderstanding of the lives of us regular folks out here in the hinterlands. Well, hell, out there, they just get 'em some new romance when that first blush of excitement rubs off. Here, we are sticking with the ups and downs, well past the five or so years that these two have spent together.
If the movie had given us SOMETHING to explain why she's done with this life: his drinking interfered with him holding a job, she finds someone who gives her new hope, they're living a scrubby existence with no family support. But all WE see is her running into the scumbag baby daddy in a liquor store and being obviously flattered that the gum-chewing neanderthal still finds her attractive.
And the director's trick of cutting back and forth in time, for me, was just that-- a trick. Apparently aimed at making us remember the 10 minutes ago when the couple was in that love/lust period with not a care in the world. I could have taken a little more linear storytelling, something that would explain where, as Amy said, the B was that showed us how they got from point A to point C.
The leads may be up for Oscars for this performance but the award should go to the makeup artist who made the young, fresh-faced couple age over the five-year span of the "plot" into unglamorous, prematurely aged middle Americans.
____________________
Friday, August 19, 2011
Monkey off my back
Over the last couple weeks, I watched all 52 episodes of Mad Men on my iPad. It was like when I watched The Sopranos a couple years ago. Like a junkie, I would promise myself only one episode and it always turned into two and some nights I would stay up til 2 am doing it. It was fun.
Tonight we are going to see Todd at the Ark! I am so excited. My main concern is avoiding the traffic on 475 where it's down to one lane for construction.
The dinner at Chip's was a drunken good time. Pork chops, bok choy, salad, mango salsa, shrimps on the barbie, bread pudding.
We roped Kerry visiting from Houston into helping us lift the stuff from the attic loft into the second floor bedroom. Next week I will go out there and sort further in preparation for that room getting new carpet.
Tomorrow I am putting out the remnants of the garage sale for three hours ONLY. Then it goes out to the curb for free. Gotta get that garage cleaned out for the Labor Day party which is 2 weeks from Monday. Later that day, Amy and I are going to tourist around to the Levis Commons art fair and the Maumee street fair. The Homewreckers are at the Village Idiot that night but it will probably be too packed to even get in.
I have a turkey breast brining in the fridge to experiment with as I love real turkey sandwiches but hardly ever get any. I will put it in the oven in the AM during the garage sale.
Been beautiful weather lately.
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Mowed today and raked some more of the pine needle covered spots in the backyard and am watering that now. So far so good on that. Some grass is actually returning.
Tonight we are going to see Todd at the Ark! I am so excited. My main concern is avoiding the traffic on 475 where it's down to one lane for construction.
The dinner at Chip's was a drunken good time. Pork chops, bok choy, salad, mango salsa, shrimps on the barbie, bread pudding.
We roped Kerry visiting from Houston into helping us lift the stuff from the attic loft into the second floor bedroom. Next week I will go out there and sort further in preparation for that room getting new carpet.
Tomorrow I am putting out the remnants of the garage sale for three hours ONLY. Then it goes out to the curb for free. Gotta get that garage cleaned out for the Labor Day party which is 2 weeks from Monday. Later that day, Amy and I are going to tourist around to the Levis Commons art fair and the Maumee street fair. The Homewreckers are at the Village Idiot that night but it will probably be too packed to even get in.
I have a turkey breast brining in the fridge to experiment with as I love real turkey sandwiches but hardly ever get any. I will put it in the oven in the AM during the garage sale.
Been beautiful weather lately.
_____________________________
Mowed today and raked some more of the pine needle covered spots in the backyard and am watering that now. So far so good on that. Some grass is actually returning.
Monday, August 08, 2011
Some days
After a sluggish last week, today was a good one. I took my computer to the Answer Factory because of its blue screen problem and got a transcript from BGSU so I can apply to Owens, Then I went to the gym for my workout where I saw a woman I used to work with at the U who told me UT is looking for a last minute MIcrocomputers 101 instructor so I sent my resume to her for that.
The Answer Factory charged me $165 to fix my computer, installing 2 GB of memory and a new anti-virus program and generally tidying it up so it apparently runs lightning fast although I haven't plugged it back in yet.
Then the bank calls to tell me I should refinance my house to 3.5% and I tell the woman I"m unemployed and she says, even better, because they have special programs for the unemployed. So I'm waiting for a call from some guy to talk about this.
Then I went out to Chip's to unclutter the attic loft which I did in about an hour, loading stuff into plastic bins which, once we get down from the attic to the first floor, I will reorganize into trash and treasures for further storage in the barn. Then Chip made a delicious ribeye and grilled onions and I put together a salad and that corn cherry tomato basil side dish. MMMMMMM.
He gave me a complementary bottle of wine as a door prize which I am drinking now.
On Thursday, we will entertain some people because his friend Kerry is up from Houston so there was some menu planning for that. And I won't get to that further attic stuff tidy til later now because of this. And Friday I have to go to Delaware to take my mom to an eye doc in Columbus.
And now, I'm on the deck with the iPad hoping the mosquitoes don't wake up.
I've had some poison ivy since last Tuesday but Sherry gave me a Benedryl gel that is working great in terms of no itching and it seems to be drying up.
The Answer Factory charged me $165 to fix my computer, installing 2 GB of memory and a new anti-virus program and generally tidying it up so it apparently runs lightning fast although I haven't plugged it back in yet.
Then the bank calls to tell me I should refinance my house to 3.5% and I tell the woman I"m unemployed and she says, even better, because they have special programs for the unemployed. So I'm waiting for a call from some guy to talk about this.
Then I went out to Chip's to unclutter the attic loft which I did in about an hour, loading stuff into plastic bins which, once we get down from the attic to the first floor, I will reorganize into trash and treasures for further storage in the barn. Then Chip made a delicious ribeye and grilled onions and I put together a salad and that corn cherry tomato basil side dish. MMMMMMM.
He gave me a complementary bottle of wine as a door prize which I am drinking now.
On Thursday, we will entertain some people because his friend Kerry is up from Houston so there was some menu planning for that. And I won't get to that further attic stuff tidy til later now because of this. And Friday I have to go to Delaware to take my mom to an eye doc in Columbus.
And now, I'm on the deck with the iPad hoping the mosquitoes don't wake up.
I've had some poison ivy since last Tuesday but Sherry gave me a Benedryl gel that is working great in terms of no itching and it seems to be drying up.
Monday, August 01, 2011
Another week and now it's August
My routine now is: hopeful on Mondays that I'll find a job posting that's worth applying for; Tuesdays same; Wednesdays less hopeful so I take the day off from looking; Thursday angst; Friday it's everybody's weekend so just wait til Monday. The frustrating part is so many jobs obviously pay what I'm making on unemployment, so why get one of those? I really need to start listing what I have applied for in my unemployment chart so if I'm called to account, I can show that I have indeed applied. And get no response other than the automated emails that my resume was received.
So far today, I have done 2 loads of laundry, mowed the back yard, looked for a job. On the agenda: get my stuff ready for welding class tonight, do my gym workout. And it's only 9:46 a.m. so I should be lining up some other projects. I draw a blank. The last 2 nights, other people have made me dinner that I contributed nothing to. I can't even get it together to sync my iPod and/or obtain some new music for my radio show.
Plus my daughter posted on Facebook that Mad Men is available for streaming on Netflix and now I have become sucked into that, staying up late and watching on the iPad until 1 a.m.
So far today, I have done 2 loads of laundry, mowed the back yard, looked for a job. On the agenda: get my stuff ready for welding class tonight, do my gym workout. And it's only 9:46 a.m. so I should be lining up some other projects. I draw a blank. The last 2 nights, other people have made me dinner that I contributed nothing to. I can't even get it together to sync my iPod and/or obtain some new music for my radio show.
Plus my daughter posted on Facebook that Mad Men is available for streaming on Netflix and now I have become sucked into that, staying up late and watching on the iPad until 1 a.m.
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