... Likes Sands Through an Hourglass

My birthday was Sunday, and the weekend became very Me-centric. Since I turned 25, Mom and Dad felt that a celebration was in order. Friday evening, I met my parents at the Asian market near the university, and we bought salmon, halibut, grouper, and beef tenderloin for Saturday's cookout. In addition to this preparation, I baked a chocolate cake (with homemade milk chocolate frosting) for the festivities on Thursday.

The cookout was suppose to be a pretty small affair but quickly ballooned to a full-fledged party with twenty-two people, games, an impressive buffet (there's still food left), and many birthday cards. Dad and Poppy grilled all of the fish and beef as well as shrimp, chicken, and all the vegetables Mom didn't roast. My brother and his girlfriend drove up, and all the area family came. After we ate and most of the people left, we played a few games of Blokus, two games of Liverpool Rummy (the variation my family plays), and a game of Fluxx. Afterward, I was exhausted and went to bed after watching Rocky which I got as a promotional from Columbia House a few months ago.

The next morning, Dad made waffles, and I left for Jason's after breakfast. For my birthday lunch, we went out for Cane's chicken (one of my favorite places to eat). I opened gifts. Jason introduced Stephanie and me to Spades, a card game the bears a slight resemblance to Hearts. We played three games and all won one apiece. We watched the Ross Kemp episode of Rick Gervais's brilliant Extras.

We used the DruidCraft tarot deck that Stephanie got me for my birthday. She did a reading for me with a spread new to us. It was extremely interesting and fun. Sunday night, I did a Celtic Cross reading for her which wrapped up at around 5:30 in the morning.

Usually, I get very depressed and inconsolable on my birthday, but this year was different; I was in a pretty good (if somewhat unstable) mood. On the way home of Monday, I did have a moment of nervous anxiety and irrationally low self-esteem.

Last night, I was able to get away from most human contact and had some alone time. I watched Olivier's Hamlet and a 1934 Dick Powell film called Dames which was very low on plot and high on humor and spectacle.

Breakdown of birthday presents:

• Ticket to see The Drowsy Chaperon (Mom and Dad)
• White FiestaWare pitcher (Nana and Poppy)
• Autographed and framed photo of Joan Fontaine (Jason)
• Autographed Jason baseball card (Jason)
• DruidCraft tarot deck (Stephanie)
• Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant (Stephanie)
• Metallic necklace (Stephanie)
• Color-it-yourself tarot deck (Stephanie)
• Zen: the Perfect Companion by Seung Sahn (Stephanie)
• DK Eyewitness Film (Trish)
• Merchant-Ivory's The Bostonians (Shari)

I'm Glad I Was Asked: Memorial Weekend Post #1

During the summer session, I've switched to four day work weeks and get Saturday through Monday off. Since I was not working on Memorial Day, I got Tuesday off and had a nice four day weekend.

Friday evening, I went to my parents' house and spent Saturday with them. The official plan was to go through the boxes I have stored there, but I decided to have fun instead. Jenna and I watched several movies, and I did a bit of reading. Dad and Joel attended the Byron Nelson golf tournament in Irving, Texas. Mom worked on a quilt for my cousin. It was such an enjoyable visit.

Sunday morning, I left my parents' and went to stay with the Stephanie's family. (For a detailed breakdown of the weekend's events, read Stephanie's stellar post here.) In addition to Stephanie and her parents, Shari and her family and Jason spent the weekend having fun and hangin' out, yo. We played games, watched movies, ate excellent food, drank mixed drinks, beer, and wine (not all together, mind you).

Stephanie, Jason, and I went to scope out the sale at Hastings which culminated in me buying too much and coasting into line minutes before the store closed. When the store is about to close, there is a soothing woman's voice that asks you to make your final selections and please proceed to the checkout line where you will be served with a smile. The promise of a smile is so prominent that I imagine not making your final selections and proceeding to the checkout line will result in being served with a scowl and/or snarl. Thankfully, our cashier was terribly nice.

I also watched a Redbox being used for the first time. Does anyone rent from Blockbuster anymore? If so, why? It was such an easy process and so cheap! We had a code to get a movie for free, but had we not, it would have only been $1.00! I'm genuinely excited about this. One of the reasons that I acquire so may DVDs is that renting is so expensive. This gives me another option to see a newer film without finding space on my shelves for it.

Over the weekend, I learned that I sporadically suck at games. Over the course of a couple days, I lost Monopoly (new with credit cards and an earnest worldview), Monopoly Deal (a fun card game), The Friends Trivia Game, Television SceneIt!, MarioKart, and croquet. I warned Stephanie that next time I visit, I'm going to bring something that I can win. (This may mean playing chess with her kid nephews.)

Unfortunately, there is always a drawback to so much time off. It was incredibly hard to go back to work, especially ten hour work days.

Remembrances of Days Past; or The Man Who Talked Too Much

Last week I happened upon a wonderful deal on Fiestaware at a pharmacy/gift shop that's merging in with Walgreens. So I coordinated Mom's birthday presents from me and my siblings. (By "coordinated," I mean I bought things and notified them that they owe me money.)

After procuring such a kick ass gift for Mom, I started obsessing about Dad's gift. My dad is notoriously noncommittal when it comes to giving ideas for gifts, and Mom's idea was socks. (I should explain that Mom and Dad's birthdays are insanely close together.) Finally, Joel told me that Dad wanted a hybrid golf club and that his three iron had recently broken. So we bought him a new hybrid three iron, and he used it Tuesday and really liked it.

Jenna was over last weekend, and as usual, we watched far too many movies. We watched The Trojan Women, My Fair Lady, and Anastasia. On Sunday, we visited Grandma and Grandpa and chatted about poetry and graduate school.

I also had a spontaneous burst of creativity and wrote three poems as well as the second part of another and the beginnings of several others. I've been writing much more than I did last year which is very encouraging. Also, I recently took a major step and actually read several of my recent poems to Nanny, Poppy, and Mom. Either they enjoyed them or imagined that I would throw myself in front of a train if they didn't. So my spirits were lifted, and while I can't let them see some of my racier poems and poems dealing with subjects they probably don't want to deal with, I feel that they now have some small idea of the things that I do with my spare time.

Monday evening, I watched George Cukor's The Women which was a lot funnier than I thought it would be. Much like Robert Wise, Cukor is one of those prolific directors who has directed quite a few movies that I've seen and love. I'm a fan of Joan Fontaine, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, and Marjorie Main so I enjoyed seeing all of them performing together. Russell especially is a riot to watch; she so ostentatious and relishes every manipulation and drama with almost irrepressible glee.

I loved the movie so much that I needed more and attempted to watch the 2008 remake. Okay, I realize this was a stupid thing to do, but how was I suppose to know that something with so much actresses I adore could be so bland. Maybe it was unfair to try watching it so soon after watching the original, but I doubt that I could have made it past the 24 minute point in any situation. It wasn't even bad; it was mind numbingly adequate.

Since the remake proved unwatchable, I watched Robert Altman's Dr. T and the Women instead since it too sports an eclectic set of actresses that I love. Now, I bought this for secondspin for two dollars, and I was expecting a bad movie and ended up completely surprised. It was so vibrant and funny.

Then I blissfully got online... People hate this film. No, I think that's too lenient. People loath this film. Even die hard Altman fans despise this film, and I have no idea why. It's not as good as Nashville or Short Cuts, but it's still Altman being extremely Altmanesque. It's hysterically funny, poignant, and whimsical. I mean Farrah Fawcett's character is suffering from a "Hespia Complex," a fictional mental condition where women who are loved too much retreat into a childlike state. And despite the ludicrous nature of her condition, the film makes the pain it causes her husband very real.

Now, I'm getting ready to spend the weekend plus Monday visiting Stephanie. (I may have to call in sick Tuesday.) All week I've been stuck at the circulation desk so I'm very tired and looking forward to relaxing. I've also been melancholy for the last two weeks. So much time at the circulation desk has been it crushingly clear that I currently have the same job I had in high school and most of college. This makes me wonder what the hell I'm doing.

Anyway, I'm over it now and hoping that this control that I've recently had over my bad moods will continue to grow. I need to learn to take my natural depression and use it to my advantage. Still, I'm looking forward to visiting Stephanie! I'm sure there will be merriment and spirits, movie watching and possible tarot reading! I've also decided not to bring a large amount of films this time. I'm bringing three things, one that we will watch and two that she can decide yes or no at her convenience. I'm such a good friend.

Feeling Better

I still wasn't feeling well yesterday morning so I called in sick and went to a doctor to make sure I didn't have Strep throat or something comparable. He said I only have a viral inflection so I went home, drank lots of fluids and went to bed. I'm feeling much better today. I do have a slight headache.

One effect of my doctor's visit is that I now know how much I weigh. Apparently, I've packed on 20+ pounds since graduating from college. Since this has happened gradually over a span of three years, I hadn't really noticed. Unfortunately, I haven't grown any height to balance out the extra poundage. As of the writing of the entry, my plan is to "do something about that."

Yesterday, Nana and I watched the third episode of Castle, and she really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it comes on rather late due to Dancing with the Stars. (Apparently, this season's contestants are spectacularly lackluster. I don't watch because it's a reality show and also because I refuse to believe that Steve-O is a "star.") Today, there was nothing on so Nana and I watched a first season episode of The West Wing which is one of my favorite shows.

Testing Room as Dark as a Dungeon

Yesterday, I took the Graduate Record Examination. I'm not fond of standardized tests (I don't think I've met anyone who is particularly fond of them.) and was dreading it. Though the study guides and testimonials of people who have and haven't taken the test assured me it was easy, my nervousness wasn't assuaged. During the actual test, I wasn't nervous at all; I was resigned.

It was an interesting experience. Nervous, I arrived forty minutes early. You have to write a confidentiality agreement before you take the test. My dyslexia flared up, and I paniced because I kept misreading words and my tendency to misread had been the main reason I missed question on the practice sets that I'd taken. However, I got my nerves under control and didn't have a problem during that test.

The test took place in a backroom with no lights or view of outside. Since I forewent my breaks, I had no idea what time it was since I hadn't glanced at the clock as I went in. I signed out at 3:18p so it took about three hours to take the test. You cannot take anything into the testing area so my phone, wallet, keys, book, and pencils were put into a locker. I had only a locker key and my drivers license (I suppose this is so if the building where bombed, they could identify my body, but I don't want to believe that anyone's last moments were ever spent taking the GRE). I was also warned that if I wanted to remove my hoodie, I would be required to leave the testing area.

So it's over and done, and I got good scores considering the amount of time I actually spent studying for the thing. Initially, I was upset with my nonspectacular scores, but I'm content with them now. When I was in grade school and high school, comparable tests held a lot of importance to me. Though the results of many of the tests didn't have any bearing in the real world, it was imperative to me that I excelled.

In celebration, I went over to my Aunt Mary's house to watch Australia. John Paul and I went through a bottle of Merlot, and I was able to spend time with my infant first cousin once removed. She was born last November 4th so the political event on her birthday totally trumps that of my own. (Walter Mondale named Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate on my birthday.) She's learned to roll and is experimenting with crawling. From her reaction to the film, we surmised that she either likes animal noises or Hugh Jackman.

Aunt Mary and I really enjoyed the film. I'm not sure that John Paul liked it as much as we did. It's a very postmodern take on epic cinema that I really enjoyed. It's a sprawling, romantic epic, and I'm a sucker for things like that. Just as I did with Doctor Zhivago, A Passage to India, and several other epics, I was swept up into the story and cried. I know that the reviews weren't the greatest so I'm not looking up anything. I'm just going to be happy that I saw it and assume that the naysayers are wrong.

Right before I wrote this, I watched John Ford's The Searchers, and I've been listening to Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison while I've been writing. Thus, I would like to observe that John Wayne and Johnny Cash share a certain vocal quality. I'd never realized.

A Lost Weekend Sans the Alcoholism and with a Cat Brush

Three items I ordered from amazon.com came in during the latter part of last week, and I spent most of the weekend watching/utilizing them.

One of the items was The Rodgers and Hammerstein Collection which I only ordered because it was so damn cheap (one of the lunch lightning sales). I wasn't really excited about it. Then I got it in the mail, and it's awesomeness was tangible. My sister came over Friday evening, and we watched The King and I which is my second favorite. (My first being South Pacific, but Jenna didn't want to watch it.) Since I've been reading about Buddhism recently, I realized that at the time they wrote their musical neither Rodgers nor Hammerstein knew anything about it beyond the obligatory grandiose statues. We then watched the first half of Oklahoma!.

Saturday morning we went to help my brother and parents pack up his furniture for his move to Durant. Joel chose an abysmal weekend to move. The temperature was in the low 20s, and the wind was frigid. Carrying things from his apartment to his truck and my parents' trailer, I lost feeling in my hands, nose, and ears. My new piercing started to hurt a bit, and I finally had to forsake dignity and tie my scarf around my head Yente the Matchmaker style.

After lunch at Long John Silver's, Jenna and I went back to Nana and Poppy's and finished Oklahoma!. We then watched the 2004 BBC miniseries North & South, the one movie that we intended to over the weekend. As Jenna promised, it was spectacular, and I greatly enjoyed it. Jenna had decreed we watch it after we watched the newer Cranford in February. Both are based on the writings of Elizabeth Gaskell. After this, we should have stopped. Instead, we watched Rent which seemed more cinematically flawed than usual. I suppose watching lavish musicals in glorious Cinemascope and Technicolor and a meticulous BBC production would make any Chris Columbus film feel a bit lacking. Anyway, Jenna enjoyed it very much, though she spent the entire film certain that Mimi would die.

Also, Lillian's new Furminator brush arrived. Since it looks a bit like something from the Spanish Inquisition, I decided to follow the instructions carefully. These stated that for best results you should use it after washing your animal and drying them completely. While Lillian is always well behaved while being bathed, she doesn't especially enjoy the process so I usually forgo completely drying her; usually, she squirms away after a quick rubdown with a towel, and I let her sulk and dry in a corner. However, the instructions said completely so she had to suffer through the added aggravation of the hairdryer. I'm very pleased with the results of the brush. The fur seems to fall away in clumps. I just did a light brushing because she became fussy and yowled when I touched her. I'm not sure if the brush irritated her skin or if she was just upset about the bath and hairdryer. I'm going to brush her again this weekend without the bath and see if she still fusses.

The other item was Ugly Betty: Season One which is a show that I started watching and then stopped for reasons that are unclear to me. Anyway, I asked Nana if she wanted to watch the pilot with me, and I think she may be a bit addicted. We're on episode nine which is a few episodes before I stopped watching.

Most of Sunday I spent reading, playing The Sims 2 (one of my Sims is now Mayor of SimCity) and watching the Golden Girls marathon on Hallmark Channel. I hadn't realized that I'm seen ever episode of this show. So while I didn't complete several of the tasks that I set for myself, I had a lot of fun.