Gall Stones and Armadillo

After 3 days on the couch, I have decided to come back to work. Granted, I am not totally well. But, I couldn't stand sitting there anymore. I have also convinced myself that I have Gall Stones. This may or may not be true. I have a pain on the upper right side of my abdomen. Since I have had plenty of time on my hands, I have researched gall stones. The symptoms can be applied to my mystery disease. I am just hoping the pain will go away. I'm going to give it a week. I will be really pissed if I have to deal with yet another sickness. geez.

So...Mandy was offered the job here. She told the guy at Arena (and me) she needed a couple days to think about it. That was Wednesday. So, I am hoping to hear from her today. You may be thinking, why would anyone turn down a job in DC to go to Houston. My thoughts exactly. However, I guess Mandy is a little torn since she already signed a contract for the theatre in Houston. And, she's the type of person that would want to follow through on her commitment, even if it meant sacrificing something. But, my point is, thats OK if you are say...not going to a bar because your mom wants you to go to church with her. But, it's NOT OK if this could possibly affect your life. So, I have come up with some mighty good reasons to move here to DC.

• Penny the Pug (an extremely cute reason)
• 70% of the coolest people in the US live in DC (the other 30% is scattered throughout Columbus, Dayton, New York, Wisconsin, Mass., Illinois, and pretty soon Washington state)
• Spy Museum. Enough said.
• I have never seen an armadillo here. And, I'm OK with that.
• We have snow. And, it's extremely fun to watch people freak out about it.
• In a matter of 1 hour, I can drive to 3 different states and a district. In Texas, you can only drive to Texas.
• And, best of all, I live here. (Yes, thats a positive).

So, everyone keep your fingers crossed.

 

 

Apparently, I am the best sick person ever.

Ok, I was sick all last week with a cold and a gruesome cough. Then, as you might expect, I got over it. But, as lucky as I am, I got sick again exactly one day later with something else. I was feeling fine yesterday. Then, I woke up today and thought I was dying. Seriously. I was so achey my clothes hurt to rub against my skin. As it turned out I had a 101 degree temperature. And, I had to go to two doctors to rule out pneumonia. It sucked. However, I did discover a drug called Vioxx that apparently is a wonder medication. Because, as of right now I do NOT feel like I am going to die.  Although I do think I have a mild case of the flu.

On a much better note, Mandy called me today to let me know the TD from Arena (here in DC) has an opening again for a carpenter. Which means, if they offer her the job there's a good chance Mandy may be moving to DC and not to Houston. I do currently hold a plane ticket to Houston for September, but hopefully I could figure something out.

Speaking of Seinfeld...

I read a couple days ago that the much awaited Seinfeld DVDs will be coming out in November. I guess they are going to release Seasons 1 and 2 together in a box set for around $50. The story also said that Season 3 will be released at the same time separately for $50.  I guess they milked the syndication for all it was worth. It sure did take awhile to get this in the works. I also heard that there will be cast commentary. Which, a few months ago, was up in the air. Some of the cast members were against doing interviews for the DVD. They were upset because the Seinfeld franchise had raked in so much on merchandise and syndication and they didn't get a cut. I really can't blame them.

So, speaking of Seinfeld, what is your favorite episode? Mine is..."These Pretzels are Making me Thirsty!"...and I also enjoy the "SERENITY NOW!" episode.

Mr. Peebles.

Shirley suggested I take a look at this site. It's a story about Guiness' smallest living domestic cat. I find it somehow a little disturbing. However, I do like that he is named after a Seinfeld reference.

Back at work

Back at work today. I am pretty sure I didn't miss much yesterday. The reason being, I am currently done with all my work and it's only 11:30am. I will have to find creative ways to entertain myself without online shopping. If anyone has any ideas, bring 'em on.

I got some of my Pug Meetup pictures back, so look forward to seeing those posted. :)

On tap for the weekend, Drew and I will probably go to Live on Penn. It's an outdoor music concert on Pennsylvania Ave. The bands are decent and it's only $7/pp.. I think this weekend They Might be Giants are playing. So, that will be fun. I also want to see Kill Bill: Vol 2 at our local Cinema and Draft House. They've been running it for awhile so I think this will be the last weeked it's there. I hear there are comfy chairs to sit in while watching the movie. Usually, I've seen all the movies by the time they get there. But, I actually just rented Kill Bill: Vol 1 and really enjoyed it.

 

Sickness

Sigh...I hate being sick. I took the day off to recover. I got negative sleep last night (if thats possible-not "No sleep" but even less, "Negative sleep"). Because we have HBO and a cable box I managed to watch Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle from 4-6am. Maybe it was because I was deliriously tired or just plain sick, but it held my attention. No, that was not a "it was good". But, I guess it was fine for being free.
 
I am now sick of watching TV and sick of being sick. All day, I watched moderately good movies on cable. I am super bored. I did sleep and read a little in between. I guess I'm feeling moderately better, so I better go to work tomorrow. Wow, I just read through this whole post and it's pretty boring. Sorry, it's just been the trend today.

As predicted...

As predicted, my apartment is dirtier now. Although, I have managed to keep it under control. But, then again, it's just been two days. Messy apartment also equals the return of Drew, which is nice. He told me all about his trip and the Tour. And, I even got an Italian linen top! It's very pretty.
 
I did catch a cold this weekend. So, I am not 100% today. Good thing my job only requires about 30% most days. Maybe I will go home early. So tired...

Tell me all your thoughts on God...

This evening when I was driving home from the mall I heard both Dishwalla's Counting Blue Cars and Beck's Loser. It made me very reminiscent of high school and the days of Jeff. Jeff always liked the lyrics "drive by body pierce" and "getting crazy with the cheese whiz".
 
Coincidently, my 5 year high school reunion is tomorrow. Needless to say, I can't be there. Although I understand there will be food, a cash bar, and lots of married people. I can't believe how many people in my class have gotten married. I am actually kind of curious as to what everyone is doing. But, I think I'll survive. Maybe I'll make it in another 5 years. I wonder if there will be more married or divorced people there. :)

Anchorman

I totally forgot to post my review of this movie.
 
I saw Anchorman last Friday with Nate and Trey. Sidenote-Nate is my ex-roommate from the leaky basement and Trey is my replacement. The movie was really funny. I'm not sure I liked it better than Dodgeball: A True Underdog story. But, it's definitely worth renting if not seeing in the theatre. To tell you the truth, I didn't have high expectations of the movie. I mean, I like movies like this, but in the previews it seemed like it was trying to hard.
 
My favorite character is the weatherman. He is a live action Ralph from The Simpsons. As many of you know, Ralph is my all time favorite Simpsons character. The weatherman delivered classic lines such as "I ate a red candle" and while riding a bear "I'm riding a furry tractor". Will Ferrel was pretty good too. "I love Scotch. Scotchy Scotch Scotch". It's doesn't top Old School, but this is quality.

Last night I met Buddha

Budda the Pug that is! Penny the Pug and I went to our weekly pug party at the dog park. Naturally, Penny and Elvis were happy to see each other. Buddha kind of looks like Bean (Bean's full name is Bean Burrito). They are both tall and skinny. We stayed for an hour and a half!
 
Then we went to K-Mart to buy some new sheets. Nice sheets, they were on sale, Martha Stewart. Even though Martha is going to jail, she still makes nice sheets.
 
I think I will try to watch the 2nd season of Six Feet Under tonight. Even though I have skipped ahead and started watching the 4th season, I think it will still be super good. Plus, Peter Krause (who is my husband) would appriciate it if I watched all his episodes. We're trying out that new Blockbuster Movie Pass thing. It's pretty cool because you can go to Blockbuster as many times as you want in a day and just trade movies. We had such bad luck with Netflix, I hope this works out.
 
And, like Aaron, I am also very excited about the new COLORS.
 

Blog---Interactive

I want to go see a band called Carbon Leaf this weekend. They are a melding of pop and bluegrass Irish. Anyway, they are awesome. Really addicting music.

Anyway, this is where I need your advice. Carbon Leaf is playing at the 9:30 Club on Saturday. And, I KNOW Drew would want to see them. But, I don't know if Drew would want to see them after flying back from Italy all day. He gets in around 7:30pm. And, he would be dealing with a 6 hour time difference. But, he really loves concerts. The tickets are $30 total.

So, should I risk it and buy the tickets? I suppose I could always sell them later. Let me know what you think!!

People should give me money

I am poor!

That is all.

Countdown to Messy Apartment (AKA when Drew gets home)

Ahhhhh...I love cleanliness. Granted, I am known to leave a glass or shoe here or there. But, for now and the past week and a half, the apartment has been wonderfully organized. But, I fear, this will all change in a matter of days!!!!!! Yes, the dirt will come back and there will be many clothes on the floor. Which only means one thing, Drew has returned. Not that I'm not looking forward to him coming back. No, no. I will be quite happy to see him. But, in that same thought I think about all the dirty laundry coming back with him. I know, I know, I'm a bit ridiculous. So, for the next 3 days, I will bask in the glow of my clean floors, countertops, and pug dog.

A Message from Shirley...

Don't eat Monkeys!

http://www.bushisnotachimp.org/

I enjoyed this site so much, it needed it's own blog post. Enjoy.

Fabulous Weekend Surprise

I had SUCH a great time this weekend. Not because I did anything extraordinary. But, because an extraordinary person came to visit me. My best friend Mandy came down from Vermont and stayed Saturday (OK Sunday at midnight) until Monday afternoon.

OK, time to pause and have a little background on Mandy. Mandy (or A-dawg as she is widely known) and I went to school together at Wright State in the Theatre Design/Tech program. We both transferred there after our first year at private colleges in Ohio. And, we're both from the Columbus area. She has a Technical Direction concentration and I have a Stage Management concentration. Mandy is truly the best friend I have ever had. If I moved to Egypt, I know Mandy would still come and hang out with me. I love her to death (even if she is moving to Texas). She has been there for me through some very tough times. Despite the fact that we will soon live 2000 miles apart, I have no fear that our friendship will change one bit.

Mandy is currently working at a theatre in Vermont (the technology hole of the US) as a carpenter for the summer. Then, she is planning to move to Houston in September. I hope and pray she will live here in DC by 2005. But, we'll see.

OK, so the weekend. Mandy came down on Saturday evening. We decided to watch The Station Agent. Don't get this movie. Really not worth watching. Although, we decided it was funny, but we are pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be. Sunday I had plans to go to my bosses house for a housewarming and then go to the Dave Matthews concert with friends from work. We bought an extra ticket and headed out to the suburbs. The party was great but the concert sucked.

First of all, we saw the concert at Nissan pavilion. The last time I went there, I promised myself I would not go back. I must have been off my screw. Even though I enjoy Dave, I HATE HATE HATE nearly 90% of the people that go to his concerts. There were belligerent drunk high school kids all over the place. I could barely hear the music at all (only drunk people singing along) CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH INTO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....The worst part of the evening was sitting in the parking lot for over an hour waiting to move. This place has one exit. One exit to a one lane road, I might add. This is the part of the blog where I must add a Public Service Announcement. Men: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...Wear a shirt. All the time. OK, maybe not when mowing the lawn. But, when you are generally out in public, put on a shirt. It's gross.

It was truly an adventure. I have to say, my friends made it bearable. It was great to see Mandy. But, I wish we would have just popped in the DMB CD and hung out on my patio with some Margaritas.

Also, the weirdest part of the excursion was driving out to Bristow. We saw a girl driving oh...I think a mid-90s Ford. Painted on the windows (in that soap stuff) was a message to all: Buy Hanson's new CD. Out April 20. Visit www.Hanson.net. It was all over the windows. Could this be the same mmmmm bop Hanson? Who knows. But, at least they have one devoted (ghetto) fan. RANDOM.

And, despite the sucking of the concert, I still had a wonderful time seeing Mandy. I think she might resent me for STILL not taking her to the spy museum (I think its the 4th visit with no spy museum). But, hey, one more reason to come back (or even live here).

The all knowing Pug

As a pround Pug mother, I decided to devote a whole post to Penny's tricks.
Here's what she knows:

Sit
Down
Stay
Shake
Up

We're working on:

Speak
Play dead
Roll over

Speak is so freaking hard. I am trying to teach it to her before Drew gets back. I kind of got her to do it last night. But, I can't figure out why she can't sit and bark. She's like jumping and barking. And I feel like I am rewarding her for being annoying.

Blue Suede Pug?

When I got home from work last night, I was really hoping I would hear from Drew. He had called me on Sunday to let me know he got to Turin Ok. But, other than that, we haven't been in contact. Sure enough, my telepathy skills were on. He called. And, although we got disconnected, we talked for about 20 mins. He told me him and his dad were cycling around Italy a bunch. And, he also said he was painting the house. Which I found kind of odd, but whatever. I guess they are leaving for France on Monday. Hopefully, he will be able to call before he comes back. I remembered a ton of things I forgot to tell him right after we got disconnected.

Also last night, Penny and I went to the dog park. And...Penny was reunited with her Pug brother, Elvis. Elvis is adorable. I took a couple pictures of him, so hopefully I will be able to post them soon. Penny and Elvis took right to each other. It kind of makes me wonder if they remembered each other. Basically Elvis is a round version of Penny. When you pick him up he snorts a whole lot. He had never been to the dog park so it was funny to watch him get in the water and just run around. We are planning to meet up every Thrusday.

Lance Armstrong, of Austin, Texas, left, pedals in the rain behind his US Postal Service teammates during the 5th stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Amiens, northern France, and Chartres, west of Paris, Thursday, July 8, 2004.  

Since I have been missing Drew, and I am sure all of you are anxious to see a picture of him--here you go. Drew and Penny on Penny's first day. They were taking a nap. Thats why Penny is in the middle of a yawn and Drew looks so tired. 

Beauty-licous (New Look Part III)

YEA! YEA! (currently I'm dancing around)
My blog is dots again. And, I have fixed it- WITH LINKS. Lovely!

Enjoyable Quote from Kerry

Asked yesterday for the difference between Edwards and his own running mate, Bush tersely replied, "Dick Cheney can be president. Next?"

"He was right," Kerry said."Dick Cheney was ready to take over from day one and he did and has been in charge ever since."

Like we needed another reason

Here's just one more reason not to vote for Bush:

NAACP spokesman John White said Wednesday that Bush has declined invitations (to speak at the NAACP convention) in each year of his presidency -- becoming the first president since Herbert Hoover not to attend an NAACP convention.

from CNN.com

New Look Part II

So, if you want an explanation to why my blog has changed looks ONCE AGAIN please refer to Brians Blog. The IM from yesterday when I was trying to solve his computer problems is classic.

Another Test for BRIAN

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Test for Brian

This is a test for Brian to investigate comments

Bored?

You have to check this website out. It lists the Top 10 Worst Album Covers. HILARIOUS

Tour

Although I am not a avid cycling fan, I am becoming more intrigued with the Tour de France as I check for updates each day. Having Drew over there, I figure I should stay up to date. I love this quote from yesterday's sports update:

As Mayo struggled back to his feet with a gaping tear in his shorts and resumed racing, Armstrong and his Postals zoomed ahead.

Pug DAWG. 

Weekend of Movies

While talking to Brian, I realized that all I did this weekend was watch movies. Granted, I did get off early on Friday and I had Monday off. But, in that span of time I managed to watch: Spiderman (the first one just to compare), Cold Mountain, Fahrenheit 9/11, Along came Polly, Sleepaway Camp, The Perfect Score, Shatterd Glass, and 10 episodes of the 1st Season of Six Feet Under. It would take too much time to review ALL of these movies, so here's a mini review.

Cold Mountain: Probably the best movie I saw all weekend. Although F 9/11 comes close. They are so different. Anyway, I usually don't like period films (or generally movies where people are dirty). But, I have to say, this is a really good film. Renee Z. was awesome.

F 9/11-See Below

Along Came Polly-I'm glad I didn't see this in the theatre. But, it isn't a total wash. Definitely not Ben Stillers funniest movie, but worth renting or catching on HBO.

The Perfect Score- Dear lord, this one was horrible. Don't even think twice about passing it by in the movie store. Even Penny hated it.

Shattered Glass- A great movie about Stephen Glass. He's the guy that fabricated over 30 aricles in The New Republic Magazine. Really interesting story. Plus, there's a bonus feature on the DVD of the real Stephen Glass on 60 minutes.

And finally....

Sleepaway Camp- By far, the BEST B movie of all time. This is a REALLY BAD horror movie from 1983. It's so bad, it's hilarious. By far, one of the best movie endings of all time. I've seen it 3 times.

In an alternative nighmare universe. Way to go NYP.  

Fahrenheit 9/11

Well, I saw it. Although, I did have to buy my ticket 5 hours prior and arrive 40 mins early just to stand in line outside the theatre. But, I saw it. It was a persuasive movie. And, for the most part, it served it's purpose. I can't say I agree with everything Michael Moore did as a filmmaker. And, that's basically what my review of this movie is about: the film. It's unfair to criticize anything but.

The passionate tone of Fahrenheit is my favorite aspect of the film. It is also the reason it has the problems it does. For instance, I felt insulted as an audience member when Michael Moore did the piece on the mother from Flint. For those of you who have not seen the movie, MM interviews a woman who's son was killed in Iraq. She has sinced changed her views on the war. When the woman reads the last letter her son wrote, I was sad. But, I was also shaking my head. I was shaking it because I MM didn't need to play the audience the way he did. I didn't need that story to pull at my heart strings. It was manipulative both to the mother and to myself. Her story was genuine, as was the general reaction to it. And, it's not that I felt that the story was too hard to watch. But, MM should think a little more highly of his audience. He should know, we don't need that to convince us.

I did love the way he presented the attacks on 9/11. It was a bold move to only play the sound with a black screen. It was a unique take that has never been presented to us before.

The greatest thing about F 9/11 is that it will get people asking questions. Any film that can get people to research and create their own views is worth seeing. My only fear is that some will just accept MM's views as their own, without any thought of their personal views and experiences. Those people are just as bad as the losers who believe all the crap Bush has fed to them.

Overall, worth seeing in the theatre. However, PLEASE (I plead with you) do not CLAP at the end. That is the most ridiculous behavior. There's NO ONE there from the film to hear you. It is not live theatre, please do not treat it as such. Although I SUPPOSE the clapping is at least for a quality documentary. Unlike those freaks that clap at the end of Lord of the Rings.

Leaving Early

I get to leave work early today. Not that I actually DO all that much at work. But, it's still fun to get to leave early, especially on a holiday weekend. Although, my reason for the early departure isn't exactly fun. I'm taking Drew to the airport. He's leaving today to go on a much anticipated trip with his Dad to Italy and France. They are both really into cycling, so they are following the Tour de France. Plus, Drew's family owns a house in Italy (yeah I know, OWNS), so they will stay there for awhile. MEANWHILE, I'm stuck here in DC with NO vacation. Oh well, perhaps I will get to go to the free Italy house another time. Drew's taking a picture of me and Penny. So, I guess we're sort of getting to go (yeah right).

I do get to see the 4th celebration here for the first time. Last year I had gone back to school, so I missed out. From our new place, we have a great view of the Washington Monument. So, I'm hoping we can see the fireworks. So, at least there's that. I mean, Drew won't be able to see them from Italy. So there.

Weirdos

Someone wrote to me at work today asking for a free subscription. Just randomly. And, they didn't even write a letter. They just got a subscription form and wrote a note on it asking for two free subscriptions. It was very odd. I gotta say, that takes some guts. Needless to say, we aren't going to give the random person their free subscription. I feel like thats comparable to walking up to Wendys, ordering, and then saying, oh yeah and I want that for free. Weirdos.

New Look

As you may have noticed, the look of my blog has changed. Due to technical difficulties, I had to do this. I miss the dots. But, oh well. I tried to make this one look acceptable as well. But, now I have links! So, I guess it's a fair trade.

Spiderhead Jr....I mean Spiderman 2

There you go, Brian. My own special salute to you in this blog title.

Last night. Spiderman 2. Good Sandwich. Excellent movie.

That about sums up my evening. I can't decide whether the highlight was the good sandwich or excellent movie. Probably the movie, but it was close. The only problem I had with the movie was my lack of memory of the first movie. I couldn't remember until Drew filled me in later why the heck Tobey MacGuire became Spiderman. I know it sounds retarded, but since Hollywood has been remaking so many Marvel comic characters into movies, I can't remember the Hulk from Spiderman.

OK, here's the part of the blog where I either praise or bash the movie. Definitely worth seeing in the theatre. I'm not one for action flicks, but the special effects in this were really impressive. Plus, the story was well written. I love Tobey Maguire anyway. I was a bit sceptical about him playing such a mainstream character, but he gives Peter Parker a great innocence, as does Kirsten Dunst (for MJ). The best scene has to be when Spiderman has to take the elevator. It's hilarious.

To sum it up, it's no Spiderhead Jr, but it's worth the $9 (or $5 if you're Aaron..grr).