Update

Husband came home and we decided that I should flip the brackets (a thought that occured after I posted previous blog) and cut the two lower boards in half and bracket them up so it's more like steps. Like this: (that link credits the photo)


And I get that those brackets are cleaner, etc etc...but that's $90 just in BRACKETS. I love my cats, but I don't have $90 for brackets. Also, I like the l-bracket, personally. I feel it's got better tension and less a chance of being pulled out of the wall by my fat-ass cat.


I guess since I'm going up to ikea tomorrow anyway, I'll pick up 2 more sets of brackets and then cut the boards at my moms on Saturday afternoon. This weekend it'll all get sorted.

Now it's time for dinner.

Hating Cats and a Freaky Dream (not related)

First - what my cats hate. I got the idea from Lynn's blog about her cats, and then I hit Ikea Hacker for more ideas and THEN when I was actually in the store I picked the shelf system that works the best for me...and my cats HATE them. Observe:

Hanging shelves (And yes, the cats CAN make that jump. It's farther to jump from the floor to the cabinet and all I have to do is hint at Tuna and they're on the cabinet.)

(yes, they hate the mouse-shaped scratching pad, too. Except they chew on the tail occasionally.)


Polly, moments before I dropped the camera on the couch and rescued her. Kipper was too pathetic to even try to take a picture of.

Behold the embodiment of the term Fraidy-Cat. I know what you're thinking...Why didn't you put them on the lower shelf, first, Emily? Oh, I did. There was a brief recon of their situation and then immediate jumping to the ground. I might add some more shelves so that it's more like a stair-case, but they like to spread out. I have another shelf...maybe if they're more enthusiastic and I become re-motivated. I'm actually thinking I'll cut the third in half and put it in between the two.



On to the other subject of this blog: my weird-ass dream. I woke up at 4 in the morning PANICKED that I had missed Christmas. Not slept through it, but just didn't manage to get cards out/cookies baked/presents bought. Everyone else was all in the spirit and totally on top of things and I let everyone down because, even though apparently Christmas is next week (It was HOT and I was still recovering), I was unprepared. Something is wrong with me. Who dreams about missing Christmas in May? So I lay there for about half an hour listening to the cats play and my husband snore (love you, baby, but you were snoring) and I planned out how not to miss Christmas. It involves July. It requires October birthdays to be handled by August. It requires us to nail down which week we're in Switzerland...

I'm learning Swiss-German. It's like the most bizzare mash-up of German, Italian, and French. It's a dialect, so there's no written language. But I'm loving the program. I'm all over it. We're going to get there and I'm going to be able to not make a fool out of myself...because even though they all say "oh, they speak English, they love to practice it" they're lying. And we're not going to be in Zurich. We're going to be in a little town outside of Zurich. And there's a day-trip to an even littler town. The little towns aren't as English-savvy. I remember this from the honeymoon. Add to that the fact that the signs are in German, Italian and French and...you see where this is going.

Unrelated: I ordered a book today. It's called: If At All Possible, Involve a Cow. It's out of print. Luckily there were copies on Amazon. I also ordered a replacement for Steve's copy of To Kill A Mockingbird, which was missing key portions of several chapters. And I'm filling the gap with PG Wodehouse. He's very amusing. All of this is going to lend itself to the olliexcore story. FYI - next entry will happen soon. I'm solidifying the outline and then there will be dates that I know posts will go up. It's all got to be timed just right.

So there you go. I'm going to make the cats reconsider the lower shelf. It's even deeper than the windowsills, and they hang off of those all the time!

I <3 Hermes.

I've been saying forever that when I sell my first book, I'm going to buy a Kelly/Birkin Bag. I go back and forth - the Kelly is smaller, which I prefer when shopping/dining, etc. But the Birkin is less formal, and I'm certainly not a formal girl. I know I want a pre-owned one, though, and this one is stunning. I know what you're thinking if you followed that link: $16k for a purse?!?!? Anyone who's spent any time with me has heard the speech before. If not - follow this link for an article that explains it fairly well.

Hermes in general strikes my fancy over and over. It's as though the Design Director knows my tastes and designs to them. They started off making equestrian tools - saddles, bags, etc - which is why so many of their prints have that theme. They're one of the only Luxury firms still family owned (Armani being one of the others) and they've been injected with a thorough shot of whimsy. Emily like.

So, since I've decided that the Publishing houses can bite me, I'm going to take the ad revenue that comes in the from the adsense links I put on the olliexcore site and use that to finance my bag purchasing. I also think I'm going to pick up some pocket squares for Steve for Christmas. I've always been keen on those, and with the Sartorialist's enthusiasm and Steve's wardrobe, it's a must. He's so on his way to becoming a full-on Dandy.

So it's memorial day. And I'm going to IKEA. I think something is broken in my brain. There's really not much else to write. I spent the entire weekend working on this family tree project...ran into a minor mystery that I think might involve the 18th-century version of Witness Protection but other than that I was a complete slug. It was nice. :-D

Happy Memorial Day!

Oooohhhhh....my boss

A month later, I've found the video:

http://www.wfaa.com/video/youngstreet-index.html?nvid=231627&shu=1

skip ahead to the segment on LIFT after the segment on the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. And the guy talking about where he gets to park...yeah that's my boss.

And now you understand so much more than you did before. For reals.

Oh -- and rss the olliexcore site because there will be a plot-related gap in the posts. Roughly a week or so. That's all I'm saying. And since I want it to log in "real time" the gap will actually have to happen.

And now I'm working on the 2007 photo book (I'm hoping it all fits in one book) and realizing that while I take a TON of photos, there just aren't that many of me. Every now and again there will be a string of me holding the camera and taking my own picture, but mostly they just don't exist. I'm good with that :-)

Happy Long Weekend!

a new model

I decided - after too many rejections for me to feel positive about getting published - that there's got to be a new way to do it. So I took a page from the music industry: self-promotion. Granted, there's a difference between recording your own cd and publishing your own book; the former makes you hip and cool and honest and the latter makes you a hack who couldn't cut it. And there aren't really blogs out there devoted to pimping new/unheard of authors the way the Stereogum and Music For Robots pimp musicians. And the few sites that are out there ultimately require you to pony up cash up front and then you wind up with bound copies that you have to market. Which is just as bad as trying to find an agent.

That being said, I'm putting my next novel online as it's written. It's call olliexcore (see link to the right) and it's told from the perspective of a 15 year old girl. Blog-style. When I'm finished, I can use one of the many many services out there to bind the blog in book form and if I want to pimp it, I can. I can also, after it's finished and bound - take the blog down so if people want to read it they have to pony up the cash to own it. But that's putting the cart before the horse because there's exactly ONE entry. Since it's blog form.

So what I'll do is write as I write and then publish it so that the dates work like "real time." I also adsensed it so that it can monitize.

At this point Steve and I figure that I'm going to write whether I make money or not - much the way I have been since before I could spell. Might as well put it out there and see what happens. And since I've always been a bit gun-shy about my writing I'm going to just say it now: pimp it. I'll do my best to make it something worth reading.

And now...you guessed it. Bathtime.

Emily Saves the World in 12 Easy Steps

Step one: get appointed to presidential cabinet. I'm not crazy. I know very well that the guy giving the speech at the white house rarely writes what he says nor does he have a whole lot of influence getting things done. There's a lot of gridlock in our government, which is as it should be or there would be a lot of reactionary/impulsive legislating going on. Scary. In a cabinet, however, I can voice my opinion and throw around new ideas and I'd be in a position to get the people who actually make decisions to listen to me. It's that, or wake tomorrow as Bono/Angelina Jolie.

Step two: Get people like GE to listen when I say "Hey - you know what would make that EVEN better? Flanking those very pretty wind turbines with a couple of solar grids - ultimately the added up-front cost is a drop in the bucket when you consider your long-term plan and the profit you can expect to get from it is really the gift that keeps on giving."

Step three: Meet up with execs at companies like Exxon-Mobile and say "So, you've made more money in the past few fiscals years than anyone else in the history of money. Ever. Why don't you take some of those ridiculous profits and instead of continuing to ass-rape your customer base, become the forward thinking people that you are and replace two pumps at every station with hydrogen and/or electric filling stations so that you can call yourselves the innovative American company that you want everyone to think you are. And while you're at it, take a page out of the Bill and Melinda Gates book and allow yourself to be forced to set up a foundation that helps restore the environments that you've so blatantly destroyed. Valdez, anyone?"

Step Four: Make nation-wide recycling mandatory. San Fransisco is considering it. And since we all know that trash never really goes "away" we can all rest easier knowing that our consumer-happy lifestyles are a closed-loop in terms of Using Stuff Up.

Step Five: CSAs/Urban Gardens/Vertical Farms/general removal of chemicals from our lives: after things like asbestos, pvc, bpa, pesticide leeching, Crop Failure, Natural disasters, the use of foodstuffs for energy, and the use of HFCS instead of Salt and sugar as preservative and sweetener, the shorter distance between growth and plate the better. (I didn't link to any of the causes I just listed because really, if you've been paying attention to the news, you can think of an example. If not - news.google.com should set you up well.)

Step Six: Get all of the celebs that people are watching to put their money where their mouths are. Paris Hilton and all her dogs? She built them a beauty parlor now she should set up a rescue foundation (and pay someone else to run it). Some good examples here. Oh, and: Duh. (BTW - she's on record as having said "If you make $10million a movie, you can give $5m away and not miss it.")

Step Seven: Get on my own city. Think Global, act Local. The hardest part is getting started. As soon as I'm finished recovering, I'm going to show up to meetings and be the loud squeaky wheel. As it is now, I'm lucky if I'm awake past nine. I'm lucky if I function past 6. Healing takes a lot of energy. If everyone got involved -- found what they were passionate about and Made Something Happen -- think of the difference that would make. Homeless shelters, Nursing Homes, Literacy Rates, usable skills, animal shelters...the list goes on and on. And for a little global help: THIS is a totally fun organization.

Step Eight: SLOW DOWN. Everyone. Find the joy in your life -- if it's gardening, playing with your kids/pets, cycling. Slow down, look around. Ferris Bueller had it right: "Life comes at your pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you might just miss it."

Step Nine: instead of building new highways, we lay track. The new NAFTA highway needs to be a rail line. And since they haven't even started it, it wouldn't be hard to re-direct. And while they're at it, let's divert some of the funds we're throwing at stagnant industries (hello, Detroit, and American Airlines) to Amtrak or other rail lines. Force these old-school companies to innovate. We're fucking AMERICANS - our country was built on innovation!

Step Ten: Reward innovation. Seriously. Incentivize these companies to look forward with their developments and then reward it.

Step Eleven: One word: Hoverboards. (want but on the same principle as the mag trains rather than gasoline because we all know *that's* a dead end) Ok, three more: Mag. Lev. Trains. (Have I mentioned that general happiness is a way to save the world?)

Step Twelve: History. Culture. All of it - not just yours. Preserve it. Embrace it. Celebrate it. Vive la Difference!

So there you go. I've probably left a lot of things off. But I'm sure that they fall into one of those steps somewhere. After all, this is just the first blurt.

I thought of some things to talk about

1) I take a LOT of pictures. I come by this honestly, though. In a bid to fill my afternoon, and inspired by a friend who - upon looking through *actual prints* of some of the wedding photos I took at Celeste and Vinny's - said "Wow, I miss real pictures" - I decided to fill a previously un-filled scrapbook with pictures. It's mostly 2007, but I have a feeling that there will be a 2006, a 2008, etc etc. I also know that there will be a high school one in the works. I have boxes and boxes of pictures. And the list of images that need printing because they happened on the digital camera only is 4 post-its long. And that's cutting out some events because I'm not sure if I want to bother with them. In one of these boxes, I have copious copies of a few pictures. That is - there aren't that many different images, but there seem to be at least 4 copies of almost all of them. It's insanity.

2) Steve has gotten me listening to Marketplace Money. I podcast it and listen in the car on the ipod. It's the height of nerdity. I'm quite sure of it. But after I'm all healed and Steve has recovered from being my nurse, we're going to get our act together and make a home-inventory -video of all our crap. For insurance purposes. If you need other stuff, this is the marketplace and this is the home inventory they recommend.

And now dinner is ready. Happy Friday!

Some things never change

It's 5:22 on a friday and I'm at that weird restless point. Could go out but Steve isn't home yet and I can't drink. 5:oo always does it for me. Too late to start anything productive, too early to start dinner or head out for the night. It's been this way since I was a kid. I actually remember napping at 5 when I was little. Like - elementary school little. Mom would almost be home from work and the homework would be done and tv would promptly start to suck. All of my friends would have to go home - we'd all have to head home if we'd been out in the park (OMG those days when we paraded around right under the noses of people who'd want to snatch us up. Playing at parks outside with No Parents. We were so Pushing The Envelope...) So I'd stretch out on the floor with a book and a snack and more times than not mom would walk in and wake me up.

Ok, mostly that was when I was having a growth spurt, I guess. And probably didn't happen as often as I remember it, but it stands out. So there you go.

I don't really have anything to say. I picked up canning supplies today. Wish me luck with that...

And here, for your kohl-rimmed eyes and moussed -up hair enjoyment: the new Cure single. (that's another that hasn't changed in 20 years: Robert Smith's hair.)

A few random thoughts

1) I put "In Defense of Food" on hold at the library. I'll read it with a snack.

2) The Greatest Show of Our Time just keeps getting better and better. Here's photo slideshow with a bit of real life gossip...leading to two questions: a) are her boobs *real*? and b) is she a beard? Is he gay?

3) There's a HUGE debate among "treehuggers" about whether or not it's environmentally ethical to have children biologically rather than adopting, given the fact that overpopulation is contributing to the rapid depletion of resources. here, here, ...and this...the VHEMT...you can't make up what the last one is. Trust me. Click it. I'm actually in the middle somewhere on this one. I'm not on board with outright population control, nor am I naive enough to think that people will realize on their own When To Stop.

So here's where we landed (of course Steve and I have talked about it): given the number of people we know who are opting out of the parent-track, our 2 kids will actually account for negative growth within our circle of friends and families. How many people aren't having kids? at least 6 couples off the top of my head. Couples already married, stable, and a few have even taken "measures" against accidental conception. I no longer worry about contributing to overpopulation. Also, I saw Children of Men and Idiocracy....if anything, I should griping at those 12 or so people to reproduce. Because, as has already been established, I'm a total snob. And I'm only friends with smart, funny, attractive people. I'm also only related to smart, funny, attractive people. And 4 of those twelve people are relatives. You heard me.

So in case you need incentive (you smart people out there who will produce the next leaders of our world...and raise them on Guitar Hero and Weeds....) Here's the intro for Idiocracy:

[going] to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches...

Ok, the lyric really goes "movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches" but we're not moving to the country anytime soon.

We did visit the country yesterday. We'll be visiting the country in two weeks. And then I'll be taking my favorite blondes out to the peach orchard after their school is out. Woot!

So here's the story of our saturday:

We eat some lunch and then we grab our bags and hop in the car and head east. To Terrell. Not far - about 40 miles out on 80. We leave the city, drive past some small towns, through downtown Terrell and then find ourselves in the bona-fide country. Like something that most people only see in movies. Two lane roads, rolling green, pastures with grazing livestock....and because it's spring there was a lot of nursing baby animals and twitterpated adult animals going on. At one point I said to Steve: "you know, that guy in that movie was right -- there's the city and the country and everything in between is a wasteland." "Wasteland" in this case refers to those horrible tract developments that are happening on what used to be farmland. You know what I'm talking about -- the ones where every house looks the same and they have no regard for the nature that used to exist there. I'm inspired to become Beatrix Potter, minus the tragic loss of her fiance, of course. I do plan on being published...if only I were a little bit crazy, too....oh wait.

Anyway, we found Akin Farm and pulled in. About halfway down their little road I noticed that my car was making a high pitched noise that was distinctly not there before. We parked, and I checked it out but found nothing amiss. So we hiked out to the snap pea rows and started picking. Not too labor-intensive and over a pound later we decided we were finished with the peas. One of the owners, Mr Akin, drove out on his solar powered golf-cart with his two dogs. A dark male whose name I have forgotten, and Misty the Grand Pyrenees who instantly became Steve's New Best Friend. She was pretty shameless about the amount of love she expected and Steve didn't let her down. There was much rolling in the dirt and scratching of the belly. It was very funny. Next time I'm taking pictures of *that.*

Next to be picked - masses of spinach, a turnip (yes, only one because we're not sure if we even like turnip), and leaf lettuce. Leafy greens don't grow well in Tx because it gets too hot, but if you plant them early they'll be ready for harvest in late April early May and then you can have yummy salads. I did take pictures of Steve being Super Mario 2:

Turnip in the ground. (Yes, those ladybugs are making more ladybugs.)
And below is Steve pulling it. I should have made him throw it over his head, but that might have hurt:



And here's me with the lettuce (I took my digital camera and it's hard to see the screen in bright sun so Steve was having a rough time getting me in the frame....luckily I have many photo-editing programs...)



And yes, that is just about the dorkiest smile ever on my face. I blame the (ridiculously free of pollution) air.

So then we rounded up our haul and headed out...grinding noise and all. When we got to the "main road" I decided that it was not going to miraculously cure itself and I didn't want my brake pads (the location we decided the noise was coming from) to catch fire. So we pulled over and I jacked up the car and pulled off the tire. It all looked to be in order. Steve called Duc in case he had an genius ideas but no such luck. So I put the tire back on and we try again. The noise is even worse. Think of the worst brakes you've ever heard in your life and then make it happen when the car is moving and the brakes are not applied. So we go ten feet and I pull over again. And take the wheel off. Again. And then, while Steve is on the phone with Honda I slide under the car and see the source of the noise: a tiny-ass fucking pebble has lodged itself in between the brake disk and it's housing, so when the disk rotates with the wheel it was grating across it - fingers-on-chalkboard-style. I threw the pebble very hard into the bushes, replaced the tire (again) and cleaned my hands with the wipes and anti-bacterial gel that Muffin so thoughtfully provided me with when I purchased my new car (Thanks!!!!!) and we got back in the car and moved forward (again) noiselessly (yay!)

I know what you're thinking: "Emily, doesn't changing a tire twice in 15 minutes fall directly under 'strenuous activity'?" Yes. Yes it does. But the fact of the matter is that while I could have - with the right tools that were distinctly NOT in my trunk - repaired the brakes had that been the problem, my sheltered prep-school husband has never changed a tire before. Ever. Hence, Emily's physical activity. My manicure is shot.


Today is Mother's Day. We had brunch at La Cubanita with Mom and Richard and Kris and then we hit whole foods for the things the farmer's market/farm can't provide (cheese cloth, cream cheese, bread flour) and are now lazing around vaguely doing chores.

I've decided I'm going to learn how to make bread from scratch. We're in the midst of "How To Cook Your Life" which is like Zen and the art of Bread Making and I'm all inspired. He (the subject of the documentary) talks about how important it is to bake bread from scratch because of the moving meditation and the connection it gives you to your nourishment and a bunch of other Zen edicts....which makes a lot of sense. When I'm stressed (and not injured) I bake. From scratch. Copiously. So if you just add bread to that and consider that bread dough needs to be punched down from time to time...you can imagine the catharsis a single loaf might provide. ;)


I'm also inspired to get my yoga teacher certificate (once I'm healed, natch) and do something about that. Not only because I could teach a few classes and make some dough on the side -- teach ANYWHERE, even -- but because the deeper knowledge will help me get more in touch with my body so that I can stave off further complications (not that there will be any - I've hit my weird ailment quota for this life and the next).

Also - how cute would it be to conduct yoga classes with 6 year olds?


Now, one of the seminal videos of my high school years...fruit and ninjas :-)

So I'm thinking of buying my Grandfather a wii

I love ours. Wii sports would be something he'd get into. Tennis. Bowling. Baseball. Golf. He had to give up golfing after a leg injury, but this might be fun for him. And he could invite people over and have tea and gossip and play a round of golf. Even in a hurricane. Probably he wouldn't get into the boxing (although I wouldn't be surprised) and Mortal Kombat and Guitar Hero would be off entirely. But the new mario kart might be fun - especially if we got him the little steering wheel...

check it out:




In other news, I'm healing up nicely. I've been at work all week...so crazy again but there's an upside: SLEEP. I get to sleep again. I've had two nights of a solid 8 hours and it's lovely. Seriously. There are no words for how lovely sleep is.

And completely random (not if you know me, though) this weeks GG surpassed even my expectations. I have some theories but I've promised myself NOT to watch any more spoilers until the end of the season. Next week I'll be up with the Female having beer and pizza and swooning (Chuck gets better every time I see him).

But here's a little season two info: starts shooting late July...and (from a reputable source whose name escapes me) "3 words: Hamp. Tons. Baby."

Word.

Ok. Now a mid-day bath (yippie) and then some more office attacking so I can get some of the shit out of my closet so I can attack that. You know you're jealous of my afternoon. ;-)

The Only Sober Girl in the Room

That's what I was last night. It was funny. Ok, Steve was sober, too. But still...no one else was. There was dinner at Gloria's in Addison (where people were dressed the way I see people dressed to go out to the higher-end bars/restaurants downtown...and there were a LOT of birthday parties and bachelorette parties...) Of course, we went so that Rick and Elizabeth could have the margaritas, the black bean dip, and quesodillas. (Friday night we were at Sol Irlandes for the margs, the queso, and the fish tacos) Then we headed up to Jim's where there was Mario Kart wii action (which is alright to watch, but probably more fun to play) and GTAIV, and more beer. There was a lot of debauchery and a really loud chick (you know - there are people whose volume does nothing but rise in relation to how much alcohol they've had.)


It was totally funny until said loud chick started waxing poetic about how she needed to get back on her red bull and easy mac diet so she could get "skinny" again (hello - she's in her mid-30s and she's had 3 kids...AND she doesn't work out...what does she expect? She's not fat. She was a respectable - if not enviable- size. She shared, but I won't. Just trust me.) What inspired this rant? Me. In my mini-skirt and black crocheted tights. Apparently, the only way to cure me of being so dang skinny is to get me good and knocked up. I wanted to punch her in the face. Instead, I made some comments about a swollen brain and the recent surgery and the fact that I'm now going to REALLY PUSH IT and do some post-natal yoga as my new workout...but she wouldn't let up until someone pulled her out of the kitchen and the topic changed to other unsavory topics (drunk people are RAUNCHY) and then Rachel saved us all when she - apropos of nothing - said "Emily, did you really wear your little converse with that outfit? That's so cute and eclectic." And because she's Rachel and doesn't have a mean bone in her body, I took it as a compliment.

So then I wake up and there's GOOD NEWS in the world: The Cure (via stereogum) is releasing singles in the months prior to their 13th studio album release: "First single "The Only One" (released May 13th) includes the b-side "NY Trip"; second single "Freakshow" (released June 13th) includes the b-side "All Kinds Of Stuff"; neither b-side will appear on the album. Both tracks were produced by Robert Smith and Keith Uddin. July 13th and August 13th singles will be announced shortly..."

I must own these rare b-sides. I'll have to be on the lookout for their release so I can purchase.


also odd - in this morning's NYTimes there's an article about how saving a species sometimes require's eating it. Check it out. There's even a picture of a fainting goat.

Alright, so I'll leave you with a little funny for your enjoyment. Don't worry, it's totally safe for work...unless you work for Microsoft ;-)

Closet Update

So I woke up this morning in pain (right) and decided that even though the rest of me is going stir-drazy I should spend at least some time on the couch resting...which led me to throw in Clueless (also I was feeling old and Clueless makes me feel young again....or at least reminds my that I'm really an airhead. And dating myself by using the term "airhead".)

Anyway, I saw her software and (though many people have said "you mean like clueless?" when I've shared my plans) I was inspired to come in here and google it. Amazingly, the words "clueless wardrobe program" brought up a ton of hits -- this one that's totally online based, but judging solely from that fact that the guy in the picture looks like one of the zombies from I Am Legend, I'll be going with this one. That, and I'm on a mac. It looks a lot like polyvore, which I love to play on. The difference being that polyvore scours retailers and the mac program scours my closet.

I'll keep you updated.

License to Ill

I got the OK to drive yesterday. But sitting the way I need to sit in order to drive hurts like hell. Luckily my boss is more concerned with my health than anything, so as long as I can use the phone/computer, he's good. And I get to do it in pajamas. Ok, today I'm in yoga pants.

I think I'm less snarky now. I finished The Devil in the Junior League. It was good. I spent most of the book telling the main character to take the giant stick out of her ass. It was also weird that she was talking about all of these grown-up things (like being married for 7 years and being president-elect of the Junior League, etc etc) and the Character is 28. I'll be 30 way too soon and Most of the time I felt like she was older than me. Also odd: a coming of age story about a 28 year old. And she's not Forest Gump. But it was enjoyable. Good Beach Reading.

We watched I Am Legend last night. I can see why it didn't do well in the theaters. Because it made me sob. Well, part of it did. I'm not even kidding. Maybe it's because I'm in pain and I tend to be weepy when I hurt, and probably the fact that we watched it on our couch had a lot to do with my lack of reserve, but seriously: SOBBED. And then the end I was like "WTF?" At the risk of spoiling: If you've seen 28 Days Later (also a zombie movie...directed by the illustrious Danny Boyle) and you're a big honkin' nerd who's watched the bonus features then you know that the original ending for movie was changed. I forget how far they got into filming it (for some reasong I'm just seeing storyboards) but they changed it. This sort of movie HAS to end a certain way or you lose the audience. Danny Boyle knew that. The dudes who did I Am Legend must have thought, since they were doing a book, that it was ok to change the rules. Yes, it ends on a hopeful note, but it's Bot Hopeful Enough. Ok - so I just linked the movie title up there to the website and apparently there's a "controversial non-theatrical ending" on the second disc. I want that second disc. I want to see the OTHER ending and maybe I won't have such a crapped-out opinion of the potentially stellar zombie-flick.

In reality, it does have all the components:

1) a feasible apocalypse
2) a recognizeable landscape
3) a sympathetic and noble main character (at one point he looks at his daughter and tells her that "Daddy's going to make the monster's go away") whose only companion is a German Shepard
4) feasible "zombies" who have the Startle down
5) Nice suspenseful build-ups that make you *have* to see what's going to happen
6) A HIGH creep factor
7) a couple of explosions

and then it falls short.

Luckily, Hancock is going to be funny. Can't wait for that. I <3 Will Smith.


One of Steve's best friends is in town this weekend. It'll be nothing but queso, margaritas, and fish tacos as far as the eye can see... :-D

oh - two links for you.

On about sustainable seafood and one about an Amputee Goat who finds a home.

Happy Thursday!