Video Update

Labels: family, fat, technology, watching, work

posted by Miss Rachel 3/21/2008 05:34:00 PM

. . .

Books, Music and Movies (plus Technical Note)

Reading: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I picked this up a few months ago, and then put it down when I got near the end. I kind of didn't want to get to the end because well, we all know how it ends, and it's just so sad. It especially bothers me that she and her sister died only a few months before the camps were liberated. Anyway, I finished it yesterday. I love reading journals and this is no exception. Even putting aside (as much as you can) the big Holocaust story behind it, it still stands up as a well written and engaging read.

Listening: Buffy Sainte-Marie - She Used to Want to be a Ballerina
Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

Watching: The Shady Hill Kidnapping (1982) starring George Grizzard, Polly Holliday and Celeste Holm. A wonderful and darkly humorous John Cheever play about the fictional town of Shady Hill, Connecticut. I saw this on PBS back when it came out and was thrilled to find it is now available on DVD.

Ratatouille (2007) starring Patton Oswalt and Janeane Garofalo, among others. Cute Pixar entertainment about being different and creative and loving food, featuring rats and people.

Technical Note I've begun the process of changing hosts so this site might go off line briefly.

Labels: listening, reading, technology, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 3/17/2008 09:26:00 AM

. . .

"Meet" Trinka

All my regular readers already know about Trinka, but here you can see in her in action. So to speak. She's a cat, after all.



********************

Watching: Sid & Nancy (1986) starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb. Imdb's plot summary describes this as a "morbid" biopic which I guess it is, but some of it was pretty funny too. I also really liked Nancy and her outfit at the end was really cute. And then of course, their cat reminded me of Trinka.

Labels: Trinka, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 3/02/2008 07:32:00 PM

. . .

It's the end of four days off (I had Friday off too), and I accomplished a goal I set for myself - 2 workouts on my elliptical trainer. I did 30 minutes yesterday and 30 today, and I really wasn't sure I was going to do them, especially today. But I did. So yea!

********************

Watching: A Very Long Engagement (2004) starring Audrey Tatou and Gaspard Ulliel, along with Jodie Foster in smaller role speaking a wonderfully fluent French. This was very good, but I admit had a hard time following the plot (Sweetie helped me with that).

Listening: Fairport Convention - Heyday

Labels: listening, physical fitness, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 2/18/2008 09:47:00 PM

. . .

Super Tuesday

I went out and voted today before heading to work. I was given a paper ballot (!) in a folder with instructions and told to go around to a little booth and fill it out with the pen there. My choice, Obama, was at the top of the list. I filled in the bubble next to his name and then came out of the booth. I gave the folder back to the attendant who instructed me to feed my ballot into this machine for the purpose. I told him I liked filling out a paper ballot; it made me feel there was less chance of my making a mistake (in the past we've had machines). Ideally I would like to get a receipt back confirming my vote, but that's not available. Maybe some day.

Watching: The election returns (!) and...

The Ice Storm (1997) starring Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood and Tobey Maguire. I saw this only once before, but thought it might be one of my favorite movies so I bought the DVD, watched it, and now I am convinced that it is a favorite. Yesterday I ordered the book.

Mommie Dearest (1981) starring Faye Dunaway. I had never seen this in its entirety, but decided it was a must-see. It's considered a "high camp" classic and Faye Dunaway said it ruined her career. The thing is, I think her performance was great; it's just that the material was over the top.

Night of the Lepus (1972) starring Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, Rory Calhoun and DeForest Kelley. A really bad stupid movie featuring giant, vicious... bunny rabbits! Aside from the obviously humorous premise (although it was created as a serious movie), the movie definitely could have benefitted from the MST3K treatment. Without Joel and 'bots to poke fun at it, it just didn't hold up.

Labels: politics, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 2/05/2008 09:50:00 PM

. . .

Long Overdue Update

Labels: blogging, family, friends, school, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 1/22/2008 08:41:00 PM

. . .

Video Update

Labels: library science, listening, make-up, school, watching, winter

posted by Miss Rachel 1/14/2008 08:14:00 PM

. . .

I stayed up late watching a movie about anorexia on You Tube called Thin. It's an HBO documentary about a bunch of women in a treatment center for anorexia. Fascinating stuff. Of the four women featured who ended their treatment there, only one of them was reported to be "maintaining a healthy weight" which I assume means she recovered. Of course, this happened after she relapsed and attempted suicide. And of course, we know your weight doesn't always mean you don't have an eating disorder. Although I am glad I don't have anorexia, I have these perverse feelings of fascination with it, that sometimes border on envy. I have a pretty healthy attitude towards weight and fat now, but there still lurks the tiniest bit of feeling that there's nothing worse than being fat and there's nothing better than being thin. Intellectually, I know that's not true. Even emotionally, I know that's not true. And I know I'm not "fat" exactly, just a little overweight. I don't even want to be super skinny, but still, I have the tiniest bit of envy for anorexic people.

I know that's messed up. I'm just being honest here. Anyone else know what I mean?

Labels: fat, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 12/28/2007 07:06:00 AM

. . .

I just tried to take some pictures of my Christmas tree, but none of them showed what it really looks like so I'm not going to post them. I have decided to just leave it with lights and no other ornaments. I put the star, which lights up, on it today. It really looks nice. And Sweetie has put some presents under it. I wonder who that little white box with the Apple logo on it is for? Hmm...

I went to my in-laws' to do laundry today. I washed two loads. While the second one was in the washer I put the first one in the dryer (naturally) but my MIL warned me it didn't work well. We're quite a pair - my washer doesn't work and her dryer doesn't work. I ended up drying the laundry at home. And when I came home, Sweetie was vacuuming - what a great guy.

I went to Walgreen's and picked up the print of the kitty photograph for my sister. It looks great, I think, even though the "photo computer" warned me yesterday that it was too small and might come out pixelated. I got a frame for it too. I also got another marshmallow Santa for my mom (I already bought her one yesterday). She loves marshmallow, but it's hard to get in regular candies so I usually try to get some for her at holiday times. Then, I saw they had the full size Ghiradelli peppermint bark candy bars - !!! Now don't get me wrong. The little squares are good, but they are thin and the full size bar is thicker and the thickness makes it taste SO much better. Peppermint bark is a limited edition so I bought four (!) bars, and put three in the fridge.

Did anyone notice my new pet? I finally got a pet rabbit! At least a virtual one. See her over there in the sidebar? That's Flopsy. Speaking of rabbits, I am still adoring Rabbit Bites and if you subscribe to them in You Tube you can see even more videos than you can at their site or Video Dog. I have not been watching my usual Christmas movies so far this year. I guess I'm just enjoying hanging out on the couch with my Macbook and watching You Tube videos.

Labels: busy life, holidays, rabbits, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 12/23/2007 05:42:00 PM

. . .

I plan to start watching some Christmas movies SOON, but here are the movies we've seen in the last month or so. I'm probably not going to record TV shows here anymore, but we're still working our way through The West Wing and Buffy and Futurama and Northern Exposure, etc.

Watching: The Dead Girl (2006) starring Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Mary Beth Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Kerry Washington and Brittany Murphy. This was very dark (the title is not a metaphor), but I found it very moving and oddly uplifting since there was some redemption in it.

Bringing up Baby (1938) starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. A classic that Sweetie had never seen. "My leopahd."

The Golden Compass (2007) starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Dakota Blue Richards. This has been slaughtered by critics and hated by those who read the books because the movie evidently changes a lot of core features. Fantasy is not really my thing, but I did enjoy it. I can understand why readers of the book were disappointed though.

Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel (2006) A documentary about a talented and influential musician who as many others (or so it seems to be many) of the era, perished from drug addiction. I didn't know much about him, but Sweetie is a fan, and I decided I wanted to learn more so we rented this.

Labels: watching

posted by Miss Rachel 12/18/2007 08:48:00 AM

. . .

Time to update the video and movie log...

Watching:
Futurama, Volume 2
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 2
Northern Exposure, Season 3
9 1/2 Weeks (1986) starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke.
My Kid Could Paint That (2007) A documentary by Amir Bar-Lev.
Bringing Up Baby (1938) starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant

Labels: watching

posted by Miss Rachel 11/16/2007 10:03:00 PM

. . .

Quick Update

Blue seems to be better; that's a relief. I'm also feeling relieved because I worked on the paper and e-mailed it to my research partner. She e-mailed me back that it looked great. We're meeting tomorrow to hopefully get it done. It is October, but it feels like summer with temperatures up in the 80s. That's New England for ya.

Watching: Northern Exposure, Season Two
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Three

Labels: watching

posted by Miss Rachel 10/06/2007 09:14:00 PM

. . .

I took a half day today to go to a plastic surgeon about some moles. My primary care doctor referred me and said one might need to be biopsied, but the plastic surgeon said there was no way it was cancerous. Of course, that's good news, but the whole appointment turned out to be a waste of time and $25 (copay) because insurance won't cover mole removal for cosmetic reasons. The doctor was nice, but he said the rules had changed in the last few years and since I didn't want to spend $300+, we parted ways. I did make a point of telling him how nice his office receptionist was, because as I've said before, it's my experience that so often doctor's office staff is rude.

Then I came home and instead of working on my paper, I wasted time on the internet and then got some things done: I folded towels, vacuumed the downstairs, washed dishes, went over my bank statement and balanced my checkbook. After Sweetie got home, I made us dinner of whole wheat shells with mushrooms, spinach and garlic cooked in olive oil. Good stuff to do, but still no schoolwork which continues to hang over me.

The systems librarian interview was interesting and fun, but we didn't really talk about that much technical stuff. For one thing, they don't have a systems librarian (they're trying to hire one). We talked to the library director and another librarian who is somewhat "tech-ie." My research partner doesn't seem worried about how we'll write the paper and she seems like a really dedicated student so hopefully, it will work out. You know me, I always obsess about these things while not doing any work on them. So, goal for tonight: read over my notes and goal for tomorrow night: attempt to write a paragraph or two. [EDIT: Well, it's late. Maybe I'll wait till tomorrow to go over the notes too.]

Watching: We've been on a video hiatus for a while, but the last two Saturdays, we rented movies, both of which I really liked:

Scoop (2006) starring Scarlett Johannson, Hugh Jackman, Woody Allen and Ian McShane. I really enjoy Woody Allen movies except for hostile phase ("Deconstructing Harry" really depressed me. And Sweetie and I skipped "Celebrity.") and this one was great fun.

Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) starring Jessica Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen. This was a real Miss Rachel movie: women, homosexuality, New York City, a Jewish family, sex and even a conversation about lipstick - what's not to love?

Labels: library science, life at home, school, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 10/02/2007 07:41:00 PM

. . .

Class was good! Interesting, and not nearly as scary as I had feared. The intersecting of technology and library science is a really big deal right now. There's SO MUCH information out there available via technology, and of course technology is constantly developing and changing. I am getting back some enthusiasm for my chosen field. (I had feared I was losing interest and motivation after the summer school debacle.)

********************

I got a new workout program on Monday. I tried various exercises with the trainer. Some I didn't like, some I couldn't do and some hurt my knee so she would find something else to replace those and we eventually came up with a good total body workout. Tomorrow we're going over the revised workout because honestly, after all the exercises we tried on Monday, I can't exactly remember exactly which ones we picked, nor how to do them all.

Today I did cardio: my usual 10 minutes on the bike and 20 on the treadmill. My legs felt kind of crappy when I ran on the treadmill, and so I only ran for two minutes and walked the rest, some of that on an incline. I couldn't figure out why my legs were bothering me, but I think it might have been that I didn't get enough rest last night. I went to bed too late and then I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep for a while around 3 or 4 AM. I made sure to stretch today, and hopefully it will go better next time.

SupaFreak (who does a fab video blog) suggested I try to refuel with protein when I told her about feeling totally exhausted after a workout. Being a vegetarian, it is sometimes difficult for me to get enough protein, but I have been having more lately, and I seem to be feeling better. Thanks SupaFreak!

********************

Watching: A Cry in the Dark (1988) starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill. Good movie about a real life very sad miscarriage of justice. (FYI, on imdb this movie is listed as "Evil Angels" which was evidently its Australian title.

The Office, Season One (US). Still watching this and still squirming as we do. ;-)

Labels: library science, physical fitness, school, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 9/11/2007 09:19:00 PM

. . .

First Day of School

I have my first class day today: Technology for Information Professionals at 1:15 PM. I've heard it's a tough class, but what else is new? There's a "welcome back" pizza lunch at the Library Science office today, which I either will or will not attend. I haven't decided yet. I am feeling much stronger and more positive than I was when I was last at school (during the ill-fated summer session nightmare) so I feel better about being there and joining in a little socially. Also, the Complainer goes to the Boston campus so I won't have to worry about seeing that bitch again.

********************

One of the funniest things I've seen in a long time: How to Untangle Headphones Using a Cat.

Labels: cats, school, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 9/08/2007 09:41:00 AM

. . .

Do you know Rabbit Bites? I discovered them on Salon.com and then found their site. They even have a blog. You can see all their videos here: Reruns. Too funny, not to mention cute!

Labels: rabbits, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 9/06/2007 08:12:00 PM

. . .

Still here. I'm working, exercising, watching, reading (online and off), eating, sleeping. In some ways, I feel I'm in a form of stasis, existing within a bubble of space and time with no real changes. School starts this Saturday, and I expect that will change the scenery (literally and figuratively) some.

Reading: Speak Softly, She Will Hear by Pam Lewis. I started reading this on Friday, August 24 and finished it on Sunday, August 26. I had to find out what would happen.

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. I picked this one out of my bookshelf this past weekend. It has the name of girl from Westover in it. She threw it out at the end of the year and I picked it up. I wasn't friends with her. As I remember, she seemed rather awful: cold and insensitve. But the book seems good.

Watching: The US Open tennis tournament. Too bad one of my favorites, Nadal, is out.
The Office, Season One. Squirmingly awkward humor.
The West Wing, Season Three.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Three.
Weeds, Season Two. This is actually a pretty stupid show, but I keep watching it anyway.

Crimes of the Heart (1986) starring Diane Keaton, Sissy Spacek and Jessica Lange. This is a favorite of mine, and I wanted to share it with Sweetie. I must admit it seemed a bit slower than I remember, but there are still things I love about it: "Grandad's book, Diseases of the Skin" and "Cat and Woman found in Basement. Double Suicide."

Grizzly Man (2005). Just watched this tonight. Amazing story of an amazing, although misguided, person who loved and lived among Grizzly Bears and eventually died by one of them. The story is tastefully and beautifully told in this film.

Labels: reading, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 9/05/2007 08:23:00 PM

. . .

It's the weekend again, and I am SO glad. With the last weekend in Rockport and the weekend previous to that jam-packed with activities, I am so psyched to just hang out at home and veg. Of course, I have some errands (buying groceries) and chores to do, but other than those, no responsibilities.

I started another great book yesterday, Speak Softly, She Can Hear by Pam Lewis. She and my friend, Writer, are friends. I remember years ago, Writer invited me to go to a reading event with her, and Lewis was there and read an excerpt from her book (this book!) that was not out yet, and I knew I wanted to read it. It came out a couple of years ago, and the other day when I was having trouble thinking of anything I wanted to read, it finally occurred to me, and I looked it up online and found they had a copy "on the shelf" at the Lucy Robbins Welles Library in Newington. They also had a copy of Still Alive a holocaust memoir by Ruth Kluger, that I want to read. So I drove over there and took them both out.

Great library! Beautiful inside and out with a fairly substantial looking collection. They also have a little coffee counter there called the Cup and Chaucer. What a cute name, huh? The coffee "nook" wasn't open at the time I was there (8 PM), but it was nice to see. One of the things I love about the library where I am taking classes is that there is a cafe there. Maybe the combination of cafes and libraries (although the Cup and Chaucer is not really a cafe, just a counter) is an emerging trend. Coffee and books are certainly a great combination.

Reading: The White Hotel by D.M. Thomas. Great book. Pretty harrowing in parts, but lots of sex too. Writer said, "That book turned me on." She told me someone once said to her that if you could get through that book without masturbating or having sex, there was something wrong with you. ;-)
Speak Softly, She Can Hear by Pam Lewis.

Watching: Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) starring John Hawkes and Miranda July. A great indie movie. Reminded me a little of The Puffy Chair, but it was way better (not that The Puffy Chair was bad). This was recommended to me by my friend Mary and now I can recommend it too.

The West Wing, Season Three. This is getting pretty intense and scary with CJ's being stalked!

Labels: library science, life at home, reading, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 8/25/2007 07:59:00 AM

. . .

It feels as if most of my time these days is spent working, exercising and reading (online and off), but today I went up to visit my friend Mary in Massachusetts. The original plan was to have lunch and then go for a swim in her pool, but today dawned rainy and downright cold for August so we didn't do the pool part.

Her boyfriend, K, had the day off today so the three of us headed out to a Greek restaurant for lunch. They're both pretty heavy and they're currently dieting doing Nutri system, but that's one of those diets where you have to eat mostly packaged food so they weren't following it at the restaurant. Mary spoke a bit of the thrill of eating "bad" food (i.e. she had some white bread with butter and we all shared an order of onion rings). I don't like to refer to foods as good and bad, but I didn't let it bother me.

Some time during lunch pot smoking came up. Turns out, K had some and asked if I liked it, and I said yes I did. In fact, I said, "I LOVE that stuff." I used to be a total pot head, but now I hardly ever smoke. The last time I had some I think was in 2004. Although I'm glad I don't smoke regularly anymore, I was definitely up for it today.

After lunch we drove around for a while looking at all the cool old houses in the area and then we headed back to their house. Their house is a gorgeous old Victorian, but the inside of it is a chaos of boxes and boxes full of stuff with more stuff on top of that and so on. We eventually cleared some space on the couch and sat down to watch some TV and have a little smoke. They have Tivo and Mary suggested we watch this show from a series they had taped from VH-1 about drugs in America.

The show was good, but K would pause it occasionally and we'd all talk for a while. Mary is a total bird freak and she kept exclaiming about the "cute" birds that were out at the feeders they had. I have to say the birds were pretty impressive - there were lots of gold finches, some cardinals and even a couple of woodpeckers. Fascinating to see all those since most of what I see at my feeder is house sparrows and starlings and other "dull" colored birds.

After we finished watching the first installment of the drugs series, we watched a clip from the Onion and then the starting of Big Love. I had mentioned I used to watch Dr. Who a long time ago on public TV when I lived in Vermont and K said there were new episodes on now and wanted me to see some of it so we watched part of an episode. I would like to be able to start watching Dr Who again, and start from the beginning. I think there is tons of it though, and I'm not sure it's available on Netflix although I have seen some VHS tapes of it at the library.

I headed home a little after 6 and got home at 7. I gave Blue and Trinka some pets and gave Sweetie (who was out getting our order from Szechuan Tokyo when I first arrived) lots of hugs and kisses. Then we ate our food and watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was a good day.

Watching: Charlotte Gray (2001) staring Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup and Michael Gambon. I've been wanting to see this movie for a while since it is about Vichy France which I didn't even know about until I took a European history class a few years ago. Although I enjoyed watching this movie (the acting, costumes and cinematography were excellent), the story didn't amount to much. I felt as if I had seen this before - there would be a shocking revelation (turns out Michael Gambon is part Jewish) and there would be redemption thanks to the courage of our plucky heroine. However, the redemption was very slight - she risks her life to type a letter? Roger Ebert's review sums it up well.

The West Wing, Season Three.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Three.

Reading: Victory by Joseph Conrad. I finished this last weekend, and I feel a real sense of accomplishment since it was something I should have read back in high school, but never did until now. It's a bit dense, and there is definitely an ethnocentric perspective, but it was still a pretty good read.

The White Hotel by D.M. Thomas. Now I'm reading this. Very intriguing with lots of sex and death imagery.

Labels: friends, reading, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 8/10/2007 09:13:00 PM

. . .

This weekend Sweetie, Blue and I headed up to Rockport. We left here on Friday morning and got there about noon. That afternoon we went to Old Garden Beach with my mom. It was a nice, warm day and although the water is always cold on Cape Ann, it wasn't exactly icy so we were able to go in and even swim around a bit. Often times I dive in and have to come right back out. The only bad part about the water was that there were a lot of rocks on the floor which made getting into and out of it difficult.

Afterward, we were able to get a free WiFi signal at the condo, so I checked my e-mail on Sweetie's Mac Book.



That evening Sweetie and I went for a long walk on seaside roads. It was a pretty good workout (we walked for almost an hour) and Sweetie wasn't prepared for such a long trek, but he adjusted pretty well and didn't complain. After we got back, we stepped out again to get some ice cream. Well, I got ice cream (chocolate chip with chocolate sprinkles) and Sweetie got a blue vanilla slush.

On Saturday we did something completely different- we sailed on the Appledore III! I credit Sweetie with getting us to do this. My mom said she always wanted to go on it, and Sweetie said why don't we, so we did. It was another sunny day, but after we got out of the harbor we heard the rumble of thunder. Sweetie and I started jokingly singing the Gilligan's Island theme ("a three hour tour, a three hour tour"). The water was pretty calm, and the sight seeing was beautiful, but the thunder started getting more frequent, and the sky to the west started getting darker blue. After a while, the captain got a message from the Coast Guard that there was a strong storm coming and that we should head back. He said if we didn't, he could lose his license. I said, "The Coast Guard? What do they know?" Kidding. Too bad though because our tour was cut short by about half an hour.

Then we went out for a late lunch / early dinner at this good Chinese restaurant. Afterward, I got ice cream again. This time it was Crunch-a-saurus which is a blue vanilla (what is it with this blue vanilla?) with chocolate covered rice krispies. Then we came home and I fell asleep on the couch for a while, and then Sweetie and I headed out to see The Simpsons Movie. It was playing at the Gloucester Cinema which looks like a real dump from the outside, and turned out to be a real dump on the inside too - dirty, messy, unkempt. Fortunately, I didn't need to use the restroom, which would have been a scary prospect. The were a gazillion teeny boppers in the theater with us, but everyone was pretty well-behaved which was a relief. I enjoyed the movie, but it didn't really seem that great to me. It was just a slightly longer and bigger TV episode.

It was a good weekend, but it's nice to be home too.

Watching: The Simpsons Movie (2007) starring Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith.
The West Wing, Season Three.
All in the Family, Season One.

Labels: family, summer, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 7/29/2007 08:41:00 PM

. . .

Watching: (I have some catching up to do here...)

Great Balls of Fire (1989) starring Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder. I saw this a long time ago in the theatre, and it really stuck in my memory, and I wanted Sweetie to see it.

In Her Shoes (2005) starring Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz and Shirley MacLaine. I really liked this movie.

The Sound of Music (1965) starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Always a favorite.

The Big Lebowski (1998) starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi. We saw this one a while back in the theatre, and Sweetie wanted to see it again.

Pirates of the Silicon Valley (1999) starring Noah Wyle and Joey Slotnick. Not a very flattering portrait of "El Jobso."

Breaker Morant (1980) starring Edward Woodward and Jack Thompson. Pretty disturbing to learn this was based on real events. Good movie nonetheless.

Thank You for Smoking (2005) starring Aaron Eckhart. Gah - darkly funny.

More of The West Wing and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and most recently, Wimbledon tennis!

Labels: watching

posted by Miss Rachel 7/07/2007 09:37:00 PM

. . .

Have a lot of catching up to do here...

Watching: Poirot: The Classic Collection starring David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson and Pauline Moran. I'm still working my way through this set and loving it. I just started disc 7 of the 12 disc set.

Six Feet Under, Season Five. We finished this. Watched the entire series. Very good.

The West Wing, Season Three. Picked this up again. Still good for the most part. Bartlet would be a much better president than Bush. Martin Sheen would too.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Two. This is pretty good, but I still don't see what the big deal is about. Sweetie thinks it's starting to get really good now though.

Waitress (2007) starring Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith and the (sadly) late Adrienne Shelly who also wrote and directed. This was a lovely, funny, feel-good movie, but for some reason I just cried and cried at the end.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) starring Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin. Boy, this was a real downer, but a good movie nonetheless.

The Puffy Chair (2005) starring Mark Duplass and Kathryn Aselton. A total indie movie, and I mean that as a compliment. Odd, funny, bittersweet. You'll feel better after reading more about the movie: Duplass and Aselton are engaged in real life, Duplass's real life brother directed and those are the real Duplass parents in the movie. Cool.

Labels: watching

posted by Miss Rachel 5/29/2007 08:51:00 PM

. . .

I forgot to mention that school's over, and I got an A on my paper and I think I will get an A in the class and that's happy. The teacher said our class's papers were "the best she had read" and that in addition to our topics' being interesting that we were "elegant writers." Wow. I don't seriously think mine was that great, but I would have been upset if I hadn't at least gotten a B on it.

Of course, interviewing the person at the library consortium is what made my paper two ways: one, the bulk of the paper was about her and what she said and two, what she said was interesting. And yes, I write decently. Certainly better than what I read about on Miss Kitty's blog, but then, that's the least I could do. I bought a thank you card to send to the interviewee. I did give her credit on my Works Cited page: "this paper would not have been possible without the generous contribution of [librarian's name], [her title], at [consortium name]," but of course she didn't see that. So I need to send that card.

********************

I get to thinking sometimes... today, I heard that Jerry Falwell had died. Here's an article in Slate that gives a rundown of some of the worst things he's said: Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade. They're all awful, but I'd love to speak to the one on feminists: believing that women are of equal value to men means you hate men, how? Of course, if all men were like Jerry Falwell (shudder) then I probably would hate them all.

But that's not what I was going to talk about. I was going to talk about Tammy Faye Messner more popularly known as Tammy Faye Bakker. I remember a friend of mine in college saying at the dinner table, during the time when the Bakkers were being lambasted in the media, that Tammy Faye Bakker wasn't "that bad," and I had to agree with her. I do think she spent lavishly and had some shady financial dealings. But that doesn't really affect me and is not my business. What's to get all upset about?

A few years ago, I heard there was a documentary movie about her called The Eyes of Tammy Faye. I love documentaries and was intrigued by the topic of this one, and it was playing at Real Art Ways, so Sweetie and I went to see it. See, the thing about Jim and Tammy Faye is that they were Evangelical Christians who actually had gay AIDS sufferers as guests on their show. In Wikipedia it says that Tammy Faye "[urged] her viewers to follow Christ and show sympathy and pray for the sick." The movie shows one of these clips and it also shows how the Bakkers were viciously betrayed by Jerry Falwell.

I urge you to see the movie (I checked and it's available on Netflix). It has sympathy for its subject matter while still showing the possibility of the financial wrongdoing and the camp value of her highly made-up persona. It's also just a good documentary. Sadly, Tammy Faye is now gravely ill with cancer; most likely she will not live much longer. I truly admire this woman and think she is a kind person who was treated unfairly by the media. I hope she has found peace.

Labels: school, the world around us, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 5/16/2007 08:03:00 PM

. . .

I don't feel like posting, but I want to get back into it so here are some random bits:

I finished my paper, presented it to my class and handed it in. There is one more class (with other students' presentations), but my work is done until the summer session starts.

My workout plan for the week: weights today and Thursday, plus three cardio workouts.

Spring is beautiful, but I'm already mourning the ephemeral quality of some of the blooms. Forsythia and magnolia are almost gone by. Lilacs will be out soon.

I started reading Pride and Prejudice yesterday, but mostly all I want to do is watch videos.

I have been watching tons of vidoes, especially Poirot. I also caught up on some Ugly Betty yesterday. I got hooked on The Amazing Race, but now it's over.

Watching: Battlestar Galactica, Season 2.5.
Six Feet Under, Season 5.
Ugly Betty
Rocky and Bullwinkle, Season 1.
Poirot: The Veiled Lady, The Lost Mine, The Cornish Mystery, The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim, Double Sin, The Adventure of the Cheap Flat, The Kidnapped Prime Minister, The Adventure of the Western Star, How Does Your Garden Grow? The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor, The Double Clue, The Mystery of the Spanish Chest.

Labels: physical fitness, reading, school, spring, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 5/07/2007 08:02:00 PM

. . .

I started listening to the 78th Hip Tranquil Chick Podcast on the way to school yesterday and found it to be one of the most boring ever. It didn't help that the guest had a really dull speaking style, but I have never understood people's fascination with talking and writing about creativity as a topic. I like to experience the fruits of people's creativity - books, music, movies, food - but I don't really have any interest in hearing about how they did it. For instance, I have NEVER wanted to watch a " the making of" movie - bor-ing. And I never want to listen to the director's commentary on a video. I tried it once on The Mary Tyler Moore Show first episode, and I had to turn it off. I'm like "shut up so I can hear what's going on."

********************

Watching:
Futurama, Season Two

Idiocracy (2006) starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph. This was kinda funny, but I also found it somewhat disturbing. I guess it's too close to reality that I really couldn't laugh that much.

Heathers (1988) starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. This is one of those movies that I think is becoming a classic that you "have" to see, and Sweetie had never seen it so we rented it last night. Very darkly funny, but good.

Labels: listening, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 4/22/2007 10:53:00 AM

. . .

I can't stop watching Poirot. I have watched a number of these over the years, and just recently I've gotten back into them. Today I ordered a boxed set of 36 "classic" episodes: these are the one hour episodes. The ones I've watched in the past week have been feature length, very enjoyable, although some of them didn't have Hastings who I always find to be a rather humorous fellow.

Watching: Poirot starring David Suchet in the following episodes:
Murder on the Links (1996)
Death on the Nile (2004)
Five Little Pigs (2003)
Death in the Clouds (1992)
Dumb Witness (1996)

Labels: watching

posted by Miss Rachel 4/18/2007 09:13:00 PM

. . .

I did my new workout, and it was really really tough. Sweat pouring down kind of tough. It also took kind of a long time (over an hour), but I'm hoping that now that I know what to do (yesterday I was learning it for the first time), it will not take as long. I recorded it as a 45 minute workout because there are rests between the exercises. I'm feeling sore now, but in a good way. Today I was rewarded for my efforts with another half pound down from my low weight of last week.

I am still struggling to get myself to work on my paper and other schoolwork. Last night I read another article and then made myself type up a few sentences about it. I thought if I just put something down maybe it would help get me doing some more. I saved what I had typed and e-mailed it to myself at my work address. Work has been really slow lately, and I'm thinking I should use the slowness as an opportunity to do schoolwork.

Around 9:30 last night, I turned on the TV and started watching this American Experience about the People's Temple Church. Of course, it's a very creepy story and the show had many clips and tapes of the church, including a tape of what was said during the famous mass "suicide." Creeee-py, but I was drawn in and kept watching. There were also a number of survivors talking about their experience which was very sad. All in all, I don't regret watching it, but it wasn't the positive stuff I should be watching. This from a girl who watches Six Feet Under. And, let's face it, the other stuff I watch (Battlestar Galactica and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for example) is not exactly positive either.

Labels: fitness, school, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 4/10/2007 06:43:00 AM

. . .

I can't believe it's Easter. It's the most un-Easter-y Easter I think I've ever had. I even forgot it was Easter. But then it's not as if I usually do much for this holiday. The Easter bunny no longer visits and brings me a basket of candy as he did when I was little. And coloring eggs is fun, but you kind of have to do it with other people and have some people to eat them too. With Sweetie's having gone vegan, he wouldn't be that much help in that department. Anyway, happy Easter to those who are celebrating.

Another thing that makes it seem un-Easter-y is the weather. It's cold, and it even snowed a little last week. Thank god it didn't snow for that long nor did it accumulate. I'm kind of done complaining about the weather though. It's not that unusual here in New England to get some snow in April. That's just the way it is. And there are some flowers starting to come up. Soon we'll have a few clumps of daffodils in bloom.

********************

I'm starting a new weights program at the gym tomorrow. I'm meeting with the trainer to go through it. She e-mailed me a spreadsheet of the new program. Here's what I'll be doing:

Bicep Curl/Over Ball
Reverse Hyper/Leg Lift
Isolated Bicep Curl
Dead Lift Row
Rest & Repeat

Lying Single Arm Tricep Crossover
Dead Lift Elevated Heels
Tricep Dips/Bench
Rest & Repeat

Wall Squat/Alt. Front Shoulder Raise
Push-Up/Row
Reverse Curl In/Ball
Rest & Repeat

Single Arm Chest Fly/Ball
Superman (reps)
Push Up/Step
Rest & Repeat

Inner Thigh/Ball Squeeze
Slow Double Crunch
Plank Hold
Rest & Repeat

Lying Hamstring Curl/Machine # 3
Plie Tap
Rest & Repeat

Yikes, doesn't that seem like a bit much? (But at least there's not the 80 squats I had to do in the old routine.) I don't want to have to spend forever at the gym. Of course, I'm of the mindset that if I'm going to the gym, I should get a good workout when I'm there or what's the point? I still haven't seen much progress in terms of my weight on the scale, but I do think my butt seems a little firmer so I think working out may be helping.

********************
As you can see, I don't have much to say, but it's been so long since I posted I thought I should check in at least.

Listening: Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Judy Garland - The Capitol Years

Watching: Six Feet Under, Season Five
Futurama, Volume 2
Miss Marple: The Sittaford Mystery (2006) starring Geraldine McEwan
Survivor: Fiji (and tonight I watched an episode of the Amazing Race.)

Labels: fitness, listening, spring, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 4/08/2007 09:13:00 PM

. . .

We're having the biggest freaking snowstorm of the season today. When I got up, it was just gray and windy so my plan to go to Rockport was still on. Then around 10 something, it started to snow a bit. I packed the car and then I went to the mechanic to get one of my headlights replaced before leaving. It ended up taking a lot longer because the headlight the Honda people sent over didn't fit so he had to rush order another one and said it would be there in about 20 minutes.

By this time, the snow fall had increased in intensity, and I was starting to have second thoughts about my trip. I decided to call Rockport and it was decided that it would be a bad idea for me to come up because the weather was supposed to be AWFUL and we'd be cooped up inside. And of course, you know I have un-done homework and a weekend at home sounds good anyway, so that's what I decided to have.

After FINALLY getting the headlight replaced (to the tune of $48), I went home and Sweetie arrived a few minutes later having left work early. So the afternoon was spent unpacking (!) everything, folding laundry, watching a little NCAA action, having a little nap with Sweetie, yelling at Blue to stop barking already (when not telling him how cute he is) and surfing about on the computer. Additionally, I read two articles on my paper topic while I was waiting at the mechanic.

And it's still snowing.

Watching: Battlestar Galactica, Season 2 or 2.5 or whatever it's called. Whatever it's called, it totally rules.

Monk, Season One. This show is all right, but the mysteries don't compare to the Miss Marples and Poirots that I love. I do like the two main characters, and the crime solving duo who solves mysteries the police can't, is a time-honored premise that always works. However, I get a little sick of the rather heavy handed depiction of Monk's OCDs for comic relief. It's just too obvious and unrealistic after a while.

Labels: life at home, watching, winter

posted by Miss Rachel 3/16/2007 08:17:00 AM

. . .

I'm planning a trip to Rockport on Friday and this is the forecast: "The potential exists for 6 or more inches of snow and sleet accumulation late Thursday night into Friday... with the highest confidence north of the Massachusetts Turnpike." Yes, the storm is scheduled for exactly when and where I'm driving. And yesterday and today I drove home with my sun roof open. Such is New England weather...

I have been being a total slacker as far as schoolwork is concerned. There is a homework assignment due next class, and I haven't done it yet, but the main thing I should really be doing is gathering and reading material for my paper. And I haven't been doing that either. I have no idea how I'm going to write a 10 page paper on errors in cataloging. Of course, it would help if I started reading up on it, right? Well, maybe if the weather really turns out to be bad, I'll stay home and study this weekend.

One thing I haven't been slacking on is working out. I did weights on Monday, 30 minutes of cardio Tuesday, 40 minutes of cardio today, and tomorrow it's weights again. I haven't gotten on the scale because I don't want the potential number to discourage me. I was really being a chunky monkey, bingeing a lot in the previous weeks, but my eating has been good this week. Still, there's always the possibility that it won't show on the scale, plus I may still have some of the previous "chunky monkey-ness" to work off.

Watching: The Simpsons, Season Two.
Listening: Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark.

Labels: fitness, listening, school, watching, winter

posted by Miss Rachel 3/14/2007 08:48:00 PM

. . .

One of the things about my new job is that "they" like someone to work until 7 PM to answer requests that come in from the west coast. Since I started a couple of weeks ago, I haven't stayed late once and no one seemed to notice. My boss hadn't said anything, but I suggested that I would try doing the later (10:30 to 7) schedule on Monday and Wednesday this week and he said all right. I made it clear I don't want to do it more than that. The schedule was part of the bullsh** deal that was never discussed when the job was offered to me and just assumed I would do.

********************

School is going all right. I'm not that crazy about my class this semester. The subject matter is very dry, and I don't feel engaged with it, but I'm hoping to I will eventually. I took Friday afternoon off to do my homework, some very technical catalonging coding stuff called MARC. No homework was assigned for this coming week, except for reading so I'm feeling pretty relaxed for now. I do like the teacher and she does a good job of getting us involved in class, but the some of the stuff is just pretty dry, and there's not much that can be done about it.

Week after next is spring break, and dude, I'm gonna get so wasted, and it's gonna be totally awesome!!! Yeah, right. I never even did "spring break" when I was in undergrad in the 80s. I am going to take an extra day or two off though, and take Blue and go up and visit my mom and sister that weekend. I hate shopping alone, but I do like shopping with them, and I need some shoes so a shopping trip is on the agenda for the weekend. How girly, huh?

********************

I went to yoga class yesterday morning. I know that being critical of and comparing onself to others is totally not a yogic way of thinking, but... do you ever do this? I feel bad about it, but I do find myself my doing it anyway. I especially get annoyed with the people who do the hardest form of a pose, when the teacher doesn't suggest it. I feel like they're showing off, and it bothers me. I mentioned this to my sister, and she said that once she was in a class and everyone was struggling to learn how to do a split and no one could really do it, except this one woman, and she was sitting there looking all bored while the rest of them struggled.

I never had this feeling in the kundalini classes I used to take in a church basement, but now that I am going to an actual "yoga studio" I find myself getting irritated with some of the "glam" people who go there. Like sometimes there's this woman who wears really sexy clothes and sets up in the middle of the room and not only does the most advanced form of poses, but does completley different poses from the ones that are being taught. Huh? I just feel that's showing off. I mean if you're not going to follow the class AND you plunk yourself right in the middle of it, you must be showing off. I know my response has to do with my insecurity, but I can't help feeling really annoyed with this woman. Fortunately, she wasn't in class yesterday.

********************

Watching: Fight Club (1999) starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter. I wasn't too keen on seeing this, but after I found out it was based on more of a "therapy" idea, as opposed to just fighting, I watched some of it with Sweetie. I did find the violence a little too much, and I covered my eyes during parts of it, and even left the room sometimes, but it was kind of interesting. Sweetie said he felt it was getting to be one of those movies he "had" to see because he was always reading references to it. I'm guessing especially on those geeky Mac message boards he visits.

Labels: family, school, watching, work, yoga

posted by Miss Rachel 3/05/2007 08:22:00 AM

. . .

Here's an update on what I've been reading, listening to and watching for the past few weeks.

Reading: The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. I picked this up again the other day while the people were here assembling my desk.

Listening: Hip Tranquil Chick and This American Life podcasts.
Judy Garland - The Capitol Years. For some reason, Judy Garland was the only music I listened to for a while there.
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks. Listened to a bit of this yesterday.
Oh yeah - and I played my Soul Mix for the guys who assembled my desk. I said, "Want some music?" and they said yes, so I put that on.

Watching: Little Miss Sunshine (2006) starring Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette and Abigail Breslin. I loved this movie. To quote Sweetie, "Truly funny. And it goes over a lot of well-trodden territory without ever being predictable or cliched, which is always one of the most impressive artistic achievements to me."

Battlestar Galactica, Season 2.
Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist, Season 2.
Six Feet Under, Season, Season 5.

Labels: listening, reading, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 3/02/2007 07:10:00 AM

. . .