You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2008.
So, you ask, how about those lofty New Year’s resolutions? Are you keeping them?
Welllll, sort of.
I’m proud to report that I am exercising more. More than in 2007, that is. I’ve been to the gym a handful of times, and thanks to a persistent neighbor, am now walking a few nights a week (indoors!). My equally nutty spouse committed to ‘walking, running or cycling more miles than he drives in 2008,’ which has also motivated me to get off the couch.
Starbucks….well, I had one infraction this month. A two and a half hour drive to a meeting ‘forced’ me to utilize the nearest clean restroom available, which of course, belonged to a Starbucks. I felt compelled to buy something since I did use their restroom. I decided to buy an iced tea, which probably didn’t make any sense, but I didn’t know what to do, really. I figured I was making a sacrifice by drinking iced tea instead of a latte?
Community involvement. Honestly, I haven’t done anything out of the ordinary yet. But, the Mission is having a fundraising walk next Saturday to buy kitchen equipment. When I first saw the brochure I was determined to participate, but as time has passed I keep finding reasons (excuses) not to. I’ll sign up tomorrow.
And as for the matter of ‘not buying anything.’ Well….technically, I did not buy any clothing or items for my house. I did, however, buy a book for J (as a Valentine’s gift, I reasoned). And I did buy items at the grocery store I normally would not have purchased….but nothing on the ‘verboten’ list. Truthfully, I’m cheating a little bit to get what I ‘need.’ I mentioned to my mom that half of our socks had holes in them. She showed up today with socks for us. I also mentioned to J that my black long-sleeve t-shirt has a rip in it and that I’m nearly out of thank you notes. (Valentine’s Day IS just around the corner.)
So, as I enter February, I need to revisit my conviction for making these resolutions in the first place, to keep this from turning into a pointless game. Conviction aside, I will say it’s a nice feeling – opening a visa bill and seeing a $0 in the balance box.
Perhaps I should add to my list of resolutions ‘make complete stops at stop-signs’ and ‘turn car lights all the way on at night.’ I’ve been pulled over twice in the last seven months….
Considering I spent four years holed up in a practice room as an undergraduate student, it’s pretty odd that I never listen to music. So I’m trying to do a little more of that this year.
Yesterday I listened to an Astor Piazzolla CD on the way back from Chicago. His ‘Libertango’ is pretty amazing. Check out this video on youtube which features Yo-Yo Ma.
This brought a smile to my face as I was driving to a meeting earlier today.
I find I am most appreciative of a gift when it is unexpected.
On Saturday morning I got an unexpected gift of a quiet hour at the Chicago Art Institute (with my sidekick H in the Baby Bjorn). I’d actually hoped to see the Winslow Homer/Edward Hopper exhibit, but apparently I’d missed the crucial bit of information that it doesn’t start until mid-February. Story of my life!
Nonetheless, I enjoyed the photography exhibit, featuring Rineke Dijkstra’s and Hellen van Meene’s work. I am NOT an art critic by any means, but I love the colors in van Meene’s photography and how she poses her subjects.The contemporary art section had a beautiful landscape by Gerhard Richter on display. I am always amazed by the photographic quality of his oil paintings.
H was the recipient of much attention from the museum staff and visitors alike. If you had hair like this, people would stare and point at you, too.
He was most intrigued by Doug Aitken’s work. Not sure if it was the dark room, the images or the sound, but he is definitely a fan.
I concluded my perfect hour with a quick stop at Intelligentsia for a pound of Decaf Black Cat and the best cappuccino I’ve had in a long time. (Complete with latte art.)
(Really, a haiku)
Blue dust everywhere
Clinging to bed, clothes, toys, floor
I won’t buy again
Perhaps it’s the 2008 preschool version of that Nirvana song from a long time ago. It’s hard to keep a straight face when your almost four year old son proclaims random things (his baby brother, for one) smell like ‘apple cry.’ What is apple cry, you ask? No idea!
We were having a ‘talk’ the other night following a particular behavioral infraction. ’Why did you scratch me,’ I asked? ‘Because you had black bugs on your face,’ he offered without missing a beat. ’I don’t even know what to say to that,’ I replied, stunned, as J unsuccessfully tried to muffle his snorty-laughs in the hallway.
He learned ‘The More We Get Together‘ at preschool this week….but the words aren’t quite right…or maybe he’s customized them? ‘Cuz your friends are your friends and my friends are my friends….the more we get together the happier we’ll be.’ It kind of reminded me of my altered version of that Easter hymn. To my own great amusement, I used to sing: ‘when I fall on my face with my knees to the rising sun.’ The mental picture caused me to chuckle each year. (Yes, I was in high school.)
I’m not sure if it is because we (1) live in a somewhat ‘boring’ town, (2) are too lazy or cheap to utilize the entertainment options that DO exist, (3) have small children and therefore zero energy and creativity…but it seems our only form of entertainment is watching movies.
Before or after watching a movie, I will check its rating on ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ just to see if my opinion of the movie meshes with its rating/reviews. If the rating is particularly appalling (and I find out prior to watching the movie) I tend to avoid the movie altogether. Last month, I was in the mood to watch a holiday movie, and requested ‘Deck the Halls’ through Blockbuster online. Prior to watching it, I went online and saw that it had a rating of 2%! I decided not to watch it.
So, in an effort to keep you from wasting time on a bad movie, I present my short-list of the good and the bad that I saw in 2007 (in no particular order).
Bad
Evening. Rotten Tomatoes rating 27%. Yikes….what were they (Meryl Streep, Glen Close, Toni Collette) thinking?
Knocked Up. RT rating 90%. Explanation…one reviewer described it as a guy movie disguised as a chick flick..which might account for my disdain for this film. That, or watching it too soon after I’d given birth.
Conversations with God. RT rating 9%. Wow, this movie was painful to watch. All I can say is J picked this one. It was a semi-interesting story just completely ruined by bad-everything-else.
I Think I Love My Wife. RT rating 19%. We watched the whole movie just to see if there WAS a funny line.
Good (all foreign except for one….coincidence?)
Best of Youth. RT rating 95%. Thought the second half petered out (or maybe it’s Blockbuster’s fault for waiting two months to send me the second DVD). But I liked it. If you think about the story and the characters long after the movie is over, that’s the sign of a decent movie (in my opinion).
Black Book. RT rating 76%. Not a movie you want to watch with your mother…but an interesting film. However, once you watch ‘Fateless’ this movie seems really trite!
Jindabyne. RT rating 66%. My lowest-rated movie, but I thought the cinematography was great and the movie really conveyed a sense of suspense and dread….even if it didn’t necessarily go anywhere.
The Lives of Others. RT Rating 94%. Really good….love a movie that makes you think about something in a new way.
Traffik. RT rating not applicable since it was made for television. The BBC version that inspired the movie Traffic – much better, and really gives you a sense of the ‘drug-chain’ if that is the word for it.
Little Miss Sunshine. RT Rating 92%. This movie made me laugh out loud. The ending is too cheesy for my taste, but that’s my only beef with it.
On a related note..we watched Superbad (RT rating 87%) last night. I did find it funnier than Knocked Up, maybe because it in no way resembles my life…yet…but wow, do high school boys really talk like that? If so, I’m really looking forward to life with two teenaged boys.
Tonight’s supreme time waster….I will say the results changed slightly depending on which picture was used, so it can’t be quite as scientific as the website proclaims. Ah, perhaps the in-laws will now stop saying G is J’s ‘mini-me.’ 
MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage – Pedigree
I wonder if J is impressed that Gisele Bundchen is one of his look-alikes? I got David Beckham….??? 
