In which the self-discovery continues.

You would think that after spending over three decades on this planet, I would have figured myself out by now.  I really should have a handle on my likes and dislikes, where I stand politically, and how I feel about men wearing capris.  I'll tell you that I'm still discovering there are SO many things about myself I hadn't realized!

This belly-button gazing session was brought about by my weekly red-eyes and runny nose situation that would occur about halfway through the day at one of the clinics I am rotating through.  After about the third week, I started bringing Visine for my itchy eyes and just racked it up to the dry air in the hospital.

This past week was the worst on me!  By 10am I was a drippy, fuzzy-eyed mess.  As I was sitting dabbing my eyes while trying to salvage the last of my brave mascara clumping to my lashes, I looked over and saw one of the clinicians coats that hang in the workroom.  I think the coat was black, but it was hard to tell through the layer of CAT HAIR felted onto the surface.

Music Monday: The Black Angels

 

It took me a little while to come around to The Black Angels.

It may have been their instant listen-ability,

their popularity,

or their tight leather pants that kept me away.

Well, it's all those things that are keeping me around now!

I love their throwback sound and I'm sure you will, too!

In which I find embarrassment is a constant state of being.

I am, if nothing else, an opinionated person.  There are very few things that fall into a purgatory of indecision in my life: I know what I like and I'm even keener at what I do NOT like.  The one glaring caveat is that saves me from utter jerk-dom is that I allow myself to change my mind.

At a recent book club, which deserves multiple posts all its own, I brought up the subject of books I had read as a teenager that really affected me and after rereading them as an adult, how much they (and I) had changed.  One utterly embarrassing example was The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. 

As a young woman, I identified with the protagonist, an architect named Howard Roark, who was true to his vision and creativity.  He would never be a part of "the collective" that stole the ideas of these creative few.  On the surface, I thought as a teenager, this book was a-maz-ing.  Be yourself!  Don't follow the crowd!  Middle finger to the man!  It was only after a reread as an adult, when the subtext of Rand's individualism and objectivism was fully realized by me, the reader. 

I was appalled that I had allowed this book into my favorites list as a kid!  The xenophobia and disgust with the "weak" in The Fountainhead really scared me.  I was utterly embarrassed to admit to my book club that this had been a book that I truly enjoyed the first time I read it.  Of course, my perspective and opinion of the book has changed, but it got me wondering: what other books (or movies) did I adore when I was younger only to be embarrassed or bored by now?

Do you have any books that you loved as a kid, but on the second read as an adult they just don't hold up?  I'd love to hear your opinions!  I promise I don't think all of my opinions are the right ones anymore! (Pinky-swear!)

In which we learn the necessity of Photoshop.

One of the best aspects of our trip to Ireland was that we were able to travel with two of our close friends, Hall and Ciel.  We were honored last year with having Hall officiate our wedding and we really haven't had the opportunity to spend quality time with these ladies since then!  Suffice it to say that Shug and I were really looking forward to sharing our trip with these two!

Our last day in Dublin, before we headed south to Kinsale for the wedding, found us in need of a group pic to document our travels.  All of us were rather sheepish about asking for a picture to be taken of us and after being turned down by the sweetest-looking Irish grandma, we knew we would need to get creative to get our important group shot.

Solution: Photoshop.

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B.

 

Finished Photoshop MAGIC!

When I say green, I mean GREEN.

The one thing I had heard about Ireland from the lucky folks that had visited or lived there is that the Irish countryside is green.  Like, really really really green.  So green your eyes found themselves wandering skyward just to recalibrate when gazing long enough at the verdant countryside.

I got my first taste this when our plane was flying into the Dublin airport on a lovely Sunday morning.  The entire patchwork of farmland below was a mixture of every shade of green the human eye could register.  Having flown into dry ol' Utah a number of times, this was a new thing for me.  Instead of the usual Utah palate of sandy taupes broken up with the occasional patch of green irrigated farmland, Ireland was just the opposite.  Green, green, and more green!

Shug and I were lucky enough to stay in a little town called Kinsale right by the ocean, which was a breathtaking contrast to the rolling Irish countryside that bumped right up against the beach. 

Everything that wasn't stationary started to acquire its own living paint job.  If it wasn't moving too much, then it was the perfect place for plant life!

Shug and I tried to match the greenery of our surroundings, but clearly we were no match for the vibrant hue!

The Body Amazing

the diva and the emcee from Krishna Nayak on Vimeo.

I sometimes forget a body is a delicate jumble of moving parts.

This is an MRI of a diva and a beatboxer.

Neat.

Have a lovely summer weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Here's a little romance ditty. I hope your day is sweet! xo

Birthday Present

Shug got a Blackbird for his b-day!

I love that it looks vintage and uses *gasp* film...

I think I may have to borrow it just a little,
but Shug has to load the film.

I still can't get it right.

Sleepy Sunday

Shug and I are so sleepy today!

We went to another screening of ODDSAC yesterday,
ran into some old friends,
drank delicious wine,
ate king crab legs,
drank fizzy champagne,
and watched cable for hours and hours.

We gave up cable years ago, but when we stay in a hotel
we can't help but catch up on our reality television!

Have you seen Jersey Shore?
I know.
SO.
GROSS.

Our brains feel like mush today.

Source.

Best Acceptance Speech Ever

I know, right?!

In which I find myself rooting for blue people...

Never in a million years would I have thought the following would occur:

• I would willingly purchase tickets to a James Cameron film.
• Use an oh-so-precious Friday night to watch a 2 hour and forty-odd minute film.
• Sit through a 2 hour and forty-odd minute film about 10-foot tall blue cat people.
• Become emotionally invested in these blue cat people and cry when their FernGully gets blown up.
• Actually like one-dimensional characters and a dicey storyline.
• Get seasick at the movies.

I know there are many folks who hatehatehate James Cameron (Shug included) and rightly so. I am still one of the three people left on the planet that hasn't seen Titanic. And I was one of the three people left on the planet that hadn't seen Avatar.

The technical beauty and groundbreaking animation of this film cannot be overlooked. Seeing the world of Pandora (dumb name, agreed) felt a lot like watching Planet Earth on mergatroid steroids. Scene after scene of floating mountains, glowing spindles of trees, and fluorescent seed pods, in 3D IMAX no less, left me a little nauseated and utterly amazed. The reverence and care taken in creating this world was evident in every little detail, from the Latin names every plant was given to the premise of chemo-receptor communication (mirrored after the human brain) between all living things.

After being bludgeoned with the message to take care of our own planet (which we absolutely should), I really started to enjoy the subtext of other messages the movie had to offer...I'm sure these messages were purely accidental since Cameron is about as subtle as a nuclear bomb. Case in point: the precious ore the humans were raping Pandora of was called Unobtanium...yes, unobtainable Unobtainium. (Dumber name, agreed.)

BUT, some of the less obvious messages the movie conveyed were downright spot-on.

From a feminist perspective, the importance of a matriarchal society, deity, and leadership was awesome. The female characters in the movie are important because of their intelligence, hunting prowess, leadership skills, and groundbreaking research, not their beauty or cup size. My newly engaged friend, Supermodel, pointed out that the interface between the indigenous people of Pandora and all other living things is a very asexual connection shared my male and female inhabitants alike. The bodies of the main female characters are lithe and strong, and while under-dressed by human standards, the males wear just as few clothes.

I also really liked the examination of our connection to our bodies in a digital age. Jake Sully, a paraplegic, is lucky enough to embody an agile avatar of himself. Much of the movie is spent following Jake through a celebration of movement and tactile sensation. He cannot NOT touch plants that rebound from his grasp, he cannot wait to run and feel the dirt between his toes when he first synchs with his avatar, and he follows his indigenous guide off of treetops and branches to the forest floor. There was rarely a moment in the movie, while in his avatar, that Jake is still.

I wondered why Jake was paralyzed and how this was important to the film. We are forced to join Jake as he struggles with his wheelchair and atrophied legs. We join him in conversation about getting "fixed" in return for the secrets of the indigenous culture he's infiltrated. While in his human form, he refuses to let people touch or help him, he is an island. While many would see his paralyzed state as a bargaining chip for information, we come to find out he embodies American culture - a hooah, an answer-to-the-man drone, a sedentary creature, without personal connection or physical interaction. Only when he begins assimilating into the indigenous culture does Jake let touch and physicality occur with others while using his own faculties and heart to make life-changing decisions.

There are some MAJOR issues with the story and plot-points of this film, but you know what? I ceased to care. I let the fact that Cameron is a megalomaniac that creates one-dimensional villains, the white-man-saves-everybody plot twists, and horrible one-liners roll off my back.

Why? Because this was the most beautiful movie I have ever seen.

Weekend.

What are you doing this weekend?

We plan on donating to this.
Finally seeing this.
Getting rid of all of these in the house.
Singing "Happy Birthday" to this sweet girl.


And, of course, taking a snoozer with Ruby.



Source.

Hoo. Ray!

Guess what?
Shug and I were able to get tickets to Oddsac yesterday!
Better yet, it's opening night!

We waited in line with other nervous locals, flipping through the film catalog
then dashing up to the calendar to see if our selected movies had sold out yet.

All of the movies we wanted to see were already sold out, except for our number one pick!

Some of the movies with hella buzz weren't even available for locals to purchase.
Bummer.
We really wanted to see Hesher and Blue Valentine, but I'm sure these movies will get picked up for major realease.

We might have been nerdy enough to get another set of tickets to Oddsac on Shug's birthday...

We're pretty excited...!

Holiday Love

We are going to see this tonight!
I'll tell you all about it next week!

I'm not really a Broadway musical type of gal, but the subject material of this show makes it on my "must-see" list!

Oh.
And P.S.
Schools out for the holidays!
xo

Self-Care? Sounds dirty.

Guess what? Asinine paper has been written and submitted! Now what am I going to cry about?

I've had the rare privilege to watch my lack of self-care slowly being flushed down the toilet this last year. Before the wedding insanity, I'd managed to carve out a piece of time for myself each day so I could read, work out, make crafty stuff, blog, whatever. The only stipulation was that it had to be something I enjoyed and was for no one else but myself. It might sound a little selfish, but I firmly believe that if you don't take the time to care for yourself, how can you care for others when your reserves are kaput?

I'm sure you know many women who have dropped the time for self-care to fit in another page of homework, another chore completed, another task at work, or another person looked after. I always thought I'd be able to stave off the usurpation of my self-care time, but, lo and behold, it's gone...and it left me last fall.

I've noticed with the lack of my self-care time I'm crankier, exhausted, and have a really negative outlook on situations I am lucky to be in. Take, for example, my extreme distaste for some of my graduate courses...C'mon! Wah! I mean, really? Poor me has to go to graduate school and take graduate classes I don't like. Could I be any snottier? Not really. I am lucky and I am blessed. Now just to get that through my thick skull.

I realized that my usually positive personality was struggling to emerge from a carcass that hadn't taken any real self-care time in over a year.

So, this last weekend, I didn't do a page of homework. I read an amazing book (I'll post about it tomorrow!). I cooked some yummy meals for Shug and myself. I spent some much-needed time with friends. I decorated a little for the holidays. I took a nap with Ruby. I bought a treadmill and ran for miles to my favorite songs.

I feel better already.

I want to know, as the hectic craziness of the holidays approaches, what do you do for self-care?

Autumn

How long does fall last where you live?
It lasts for about a week here in Utah!
It's too bad, since fall is one of my most favorite times of year!

Get outside this weekend and enjoy the fall colors!
I know I am.

Shopping Lists Turned Typograpy Dream

Going to the grocery store seems so fancy now.
Simon at ShoppingLosts changes the mundane to marvelous!

Shug...

...it's so nerdy and true.
xo.

Via ffffound and teaspoon of sunshine.

Have a lazy Sunday...

...Ruby is!

Inglorious Basterds

Quentin, I really, really love you.

I know that whatever the genre or storyline you choose, I'm going to be supremely entertained from the opening scene to the final credits. You can make a dark subject pretty darn funny and fulfilling.

Inglorious Basterds was just such a movie. Really graphic violence that included scalping, skin carving, baseball bat beating, and swiss-cheese bullet-holing was actually really necessary for the ultimate Nazi-killing escapade. Entire families being likened to "rats" and being exterminated as such was crucial to the awesome payback at the end of the movie. Women were strong and vengeful, even if they had to show their painted toes...we all are quite aware of Quentin's foot fetish by now, right?

Now, this movie was not the oeuvre everyone was saying it would be...I mean, Pulp Fiction can only happen once. But this was a really fun, straightforward story about really sticking it to the bad guy...and sometimes, that's really all you need.