Quick Update

Is that not the cutest baby in the world!? Wow! I get all superlative-filled when I'm around babies. Awwww! That's my cousin's youngest son who I had a blast with in Mississippi. That's my fave picture of us. AWWWW!!

So far I've watched 3 movies today and will get in at least one more. I'm still TWENTY-TWO movies behind. LAWD!!! I need to watch 5 movies a day. My goal for Saturday is 6... We'll see... One of those may be at the movie theater. I'm sooo sick of 2 hour plus movies because most of the time they're that long and they really don't deserve to be. EDIT.

I tried tamales and pig ears for the first time when I was in Mississippi. The latter? Stace and I thought they would be fried pig ears. Instead they were BOILED on a dinner roll with cole slaw, hot sauce and mustard. NASTY. The entire consistency was straight mush. UGH. Stace took one bite and stopped. I choked down the whole thing. Not delicious and at the end I felt a bit ill.

For the latter I can dig it but tamales will never replace my fave Mexican food: CHILE RELLENOS!! Speaking of which, me and Rah had Mexican food last night and it was BANGIN!! The only I'd had without cooking myselfin almost 2 weeks! I was going through serious withdrawal and we had to go on a mission to find it because... we saw his brand new niece yesterday! AWWW! Just one day old yesterday and the cutest in the world!!

OMG my grandma saves everything! Some of it she should throw away but some? AWESOME!! I have pics of her 3rd grade report card from the school year 1937-1938. Wow!! I also saw my mom's baby shoes (the white pair was dated her birthday: June 30, 1955) and her first socks! Awwww!! I was amazed that her foot was ever that small.









Guess what? I don't really want to do anything today... or tomorrow... we'll see.

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 6

1) I've realized there are some things in GQ Rashan will never wear no matter how much I like them because they will look far too "Twan" on him. In fact, there are some things I really like in there but know they would look silly on him.
2) As much as I miss the internet, I almost enjoy being unconnected sometimes... almost. I still have a need to know what's happening in the world and miss things I would otherwise be all over (family response to MJ's death, resignation of the killa from Wasilla (I think that's Palin's most hilarious nickname), the most popular stories on the NYT daily).
3) My grandmother could live without A/C because she says it gives her a crick in her neck. We love you, but my mom and I can't roll like that. Heat index of 100+ daily and we're gonna be sweat boxing it up in the house? That's a no. My mom's brothers (she's the only girl) will suffer in silence with sweat pouring down their faces. My mom? Yeah right. I don't know if she's always been the one most willing to stand up to my grandma but she certainly is now.
4) Guess who got 4 fab new hats from her grandma's collection? MEEEEEE!!! Le sigh! So great except... there were 2 others I wanted which she says she still wears. She wouldn't part with any of the jewelry. Bah humbug.
5) I brought 9 pairs of shoes (including one pair of tennis shoes) to MS with me for a 9-day stay and am determined to wear every pair just to prove to Stace I can and will!! Lol. She was with me when I packed and appalled. As of Saturday night I only had 3 more pairs to wear including one set aside for Sunday morning and another ready to be applied for Sunday afternoon. Score!! As the church folk say, "We're gonna make it!" And then I didn't go to church... hmmm... I still think we can make it!
6) Sometimes when I get behind on movie-watching like I am right now, I freak out for a day or 2, then become incredibly zen. Like well... I'm either going to get these movies watched or I'm going to spend time with my grandma and cousins and uncles and Stace when she was here. Family time, it is. That deficit can be smashed in 2 weeks of heavy movie-watching. I hope I won't have a reason to come back to MS before next year (one of my uncles just lost his transplanted kidney and is back on dialysis BUT if another kidney becomes available he might get one).
7) I'm seeing most of my family for the first time in 5 years. They never come to NC and I haven't been here since one cousin's wedding 5 years ago. I met my cousin's 8-month-old baby for the first time-- such a cutie!-- and if I see my cousin Chasity it will be the first time in probably a decade, at least 10 years. I've never met 2 of her 3 children. She was missing in action a lot of that time. I haven't seen one of my uncles who lives in Atlanta in at least 9 years, since my h.s. graduation. I keep meaning to call him but I really don't want him to ignore my calls, too, like he regularly does to his siblings who are quite exasperated with him-- he's the baby.
8) It makes my mom sad to come to Jackson because of how run down it looks. There are an outrageous number of abandoned buildings and homes. There will be 2 abandoned homes right next to an occupied one, then one more occupied, then another abandoned or extremely run down.
9) Mississippi white people are different from Charlotte white people. They looked way too shocked to see us in a decent restaurant which served brunch Sunday morning. My mom said blacks and whites still don't really interact down here or make an effort like they do in Charlotte. My grandmother says she doesn't know any white people her age other than this one white woman at her senior center who seems extra comfortable surrounded by blacks like those white women who always dated black men and probably had black children, too. How weird is that that she doesn't know any white people? It makes sense seeing as she was born and raised in MS and in a completely different time (the 1930s), but still weird.
10) My mom's first love sang at her wedding to my father. I saw the church where they got married and my grandma still had bows and flowers. So weird. Especially because she didn't want to give them to my mom. Only one of the lace bows is something I might be able to reuse.
11) I just found my mom was the secretary of the SGA her senior year in high school. Random, I know.
12) My cousin Amber asked when she found out Stace left MS early, "It ain't that bad is it?" Lolol. No, she already had a previous engagement.
13) I have THE WORST country accent when I'm down here because everyone I know sounds like that and I'm an accent chameleon. I've never had a discernible accent but I've just found it easier after years of ridicule as a child for sounding white to blend. It's unconscious now unless I'm around other people who don't usually hear me like that (it also comes out when I'm talking to my mom). I didn't even previously realize the reason behind it. That's the one that makes the most sense. Actually now I really only sound different around (usually black) people with southern accents.
14) I know you're trying to be helpful and nice, but if you're a senior citizen assistance agency, please stop giving my grandmother crap she will never use. She has enough clutter without you helping. Give her some food or some sort of non-tangible help like with her will or something. No more trinkets!!!!

*Movies of the week are posted below.

Crazy Movie Lady 23

June 29- July 4, 2009
This was a HORRIBLE week in terms of movie-watching!!! No docs, and I'm more than a dozen movies behind!! I'm going to have to spend at least one entire day at the library next week using the wifi to try to catch up. I have no internet here at my grandma's house in Mississippi and Stace the movie hater's been here most of the week. Life's gotten in the way. I've enjoyed it but I want to get back ahead of my movies. As half of this next week will be spent in Atlanta, I'll have a chance to buckle down and see at least twice as many movies as I watched last week. Not saying a lot is it? I should at least triple it! Lol. I have a few movies available to me so I definitely should say triple. Let's say triple!! Lol
358. Confessions of a Shopaholic. First, I must confess this isn't the week I'm going to catch up on my anything. Not my thesis, not my movie watching. Maybe my family history. That's it. That's what Mississippi is here for in my world. Anyway the movie. It was okay. Very predictable and quite silly at moments. Heavily laden with music in an odd way. Let's have a break in the action and play 8 bars of a popular song... and.... we're back! I've read many of the shopaholic novels and enjoyed them as those mindless airport reads. It didn't really seem like the same person but I wasn't terribly annoyed by that. This movie was just there. I was somewhat amused but then somewhat bored. Stace hated it for its predictability. We can agree it shouldn't have been more than an hour 30. Isla Fisher (the lead) is being put out of work by Amy Adams because they have the same typecast: ditzy redhead. Hmm... I think I like Amy better but this movie was still just there. Didn't hate, didn't love. 3 stars.
359. Panic Room. Wow... Forest Whittaker and Jared Leto are two of three robbers who need to get into a panic room where Jodie Foster is holed up with her daughter once she realizes they're in her house. Excellent suspense thriller by David Foster. I had issues with the effects not because they weren't cool... they were... but because they took me out of the moment and reminded me I was watching a movie. The more I can get lost in a movie, the more I enjoy it. Still 4/5 stars.
360. Good Luck Chuck. Yeah... no. Dane Cook and Jessica Alba in the most predictable film ever about a man who dates women and they marry the next guy they date which prompts women to flock to him but he likes klutzy Alba. Womp womp. And I need to make sure Netflix never sends me the unrated version of ANY movie again. Really? I never EVER need to see that much of anyone's anatomy. Also, I think my being so behind is making me even less patient than usual and perhaps another week I wouldn't have been so exasperated. Nevertheless. 2.5/5 stars.
361. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. George Clooney directs himself, Sam Rockwell, Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore in a film about game show creator Chuck Barris (Newlywed Game, Dating Game, Gong Show-- LOVED the first two shows) who claims while he was creating those shows he was also a CIA operative. Included interviews with some of the actual people which made it a little more interesting as well. Still somehow there was something missing... Not enough to be uninteresting but enough to drop it down to 3.5/5 stars. (18 movies behind)

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 5

I know I'm late... hush. I haven't had the computer since I got to Jackson, Mississippi days ago. Ack! So here it is.

1) When given a choice between two things that I like equally I'll ask, "Why do I have to choose? Can I have both?" I've been like this as long as I can remember. As a child my grandpa made me choose between riding with him on the tractor and going to South of the Border (which is only about 30 minutes from their house). I asked if I could do both and he said no. My sister chose the former, I chose the latter. Then when me and my dad got back from SOTB, the tractor ride was in progress. I asked him if I could get on. He said no. I was maybe 7 and he died when I was about 9. Guess what one of my only memories of him is? That. Oh yeah and the time I said I wanted to pick some of his veggies and he told me to go pick some squash. I joyfully ran over there to pick and yanked my hand back in pain. Squash has prickly hair all over it and most people pick it with gloves on. Thanks grandpa.
2) My mother never let us eat fast food when we were younger so I LOVE fast food today.... or at least I did. Umm... there have been too many bad fast food experiences of late and I'm getting more and more to the point where I would just rather eat at home. I know it's safer and cheaper but way more time-consuming!!
3) When Rashan hasn't posted for several days or weeks, I make a point of sitting next to him on my laptop, making sure he's looking and pulling up his page and saying, "Hmm... nothing new." Daily. Until he posts.
4) I've been thinking about one of my old college standby drinks lately and I think I need one soon: a Tom Collins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Collins We used a mix but I think I'm ready for the grown up version-- with real lemon and simple syrup. I really love how simple simple syrup is. Actually my original standby drink in college is a rum and coke. MAN!! I loved those.
5) I saw a woman buying a pregnancy test at Target the other day and was fascinated. She was about 35 and I instantly wanted to know everything that precipitated the purchase. Not like conception-wise but was she excited about the possibility? Did she already have children? Was she married? Did she like or know very well the father? I even inspected her for a baby bump. There was a little pudge but not more than someone who gained 10 or 15 lbs. in their midsection. But I wondered since she was looking distracted and even mildly embarrassed, do some people look at buying pregnancy tests the way they look at buying c.ondoms? Are they mortified to be making such a purchase? I've always felt like whatever it is, if I'm buying it, I need it and your job is to check coats (check 'em -----) I mean my items out. Lol.
6) When I first got to Rah's, I was like, "There are so! many! movies! to! watch!" Now I'm like every 14-year-old in America with too many channels: There's nothing on tv. Awesome.
7) After 2 really bad movies in a row last week, I took the (maybe melodramatic? no...) line of thought, "Will I ever watch another good movie?" I haven't even hit the halfway mark but I think 350 films IN LESS THAN 7 MONTHS is big enough of a milestone to make me WEARY of movies!! Geez.
8) If I found out I was allergic to limes I would consume them anyway. Why not? When I make a recipe and it calls for lemon, sometimes I just use lime if I think it will fit. One citrus fruit may as well fill in for another. The farmer's market? 3 POUND BAGS OF LIMES FOR 99 CENTS!! Rashan was like, "Why did you buy all those limes?" WHY NOT!? I'll figure something out!
9) I don't like scones. I tried since they seem very jetsetterish and I like food but yeah no. They're like hard biscuits. I'm not a big bread person & I don't really like sweets like that. I'll save em for the Brits.
10) If I was gay I would be with a beautiful woman. I'm always baffled by gay women who are with manly women. What's the point? Date a man.
11) I accidently skinned myself the other day while cooking. Okay it was only my thumb.... and a very very small piece of my thumb. Not even any blood.
12) Mexican food is the love of my life. When I say to Rashan, "I feel like Mexican food tonight." and he responds enthusiastically, "Okay!" I get really excited. Then when we're there he says, "Can we eat Mexican every night?" I can hardly stay in my skin.

Crazy Movie Lady 22

June 21-27, 2009
345. Tropic Thunder. Ben Stiller directs and stars in a spoof of the making of a war film. Jack Black, my boy Matthew McConaughey, Robert Downey, Jr. Of course I was reluctant to watch this film because of the black face by RD but Rashan watched it first and turns out it was really funny. I was shocked. I never expect to like Ben Stiller in films and yet I always do. Tom Cruise had one of the worst fat suits in the history of movies. The last bit of him dancing was a misstep but still an amusing movie. I can't believe I'm saying this but 4 stars. What? Wow...
346. Some Like it Hot. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in a film about two men who witness a mob shooting and have to get out of town by dressing as women. All sorts of things commence in this screwball comedy. I liked it. It made me laugh, but it was a little long. I hated Marilyn Monroe's dumb blonde act. 3.9/5 stars.
347. After Innocence. Documentary about people exonerated from wrongful convictions mostly via DNA evidence. I thought it only happened to black people and hispanics until I watched this. This film had the potential to be really powerful but lost some of it in the slow pacing and the fact that they used so many cases. It made it hard to connect with any of the exonerees because you didn't know how many more were coming. Strangely among the what felt like dozens of exonerees profiled, there were no women. I did want to get involved but I already felt that way. Huge slant. Horrible music. 2.9/5 stars.
348. How to Lose Your Lover. Pretty bad mostly because of the obvious similarities to "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Then it meandered too long. There was some pretty subpar camera work, too. 2/5 stars.
349. Enchanted. Disney animated film transforms when the wicked queen drops the future princess (Amy Adams) into Times Square and the prince follows her from the land of make believe. She's hilarious. One of the unexpected twists involves McDreamy (aka Patrick Dempsey). I didn't expect to laugh out loud like I did. Of course the predictable Disney ending but up until that point a very amusing film. 3.8/5 stars.
350. I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon W.iesenthal. Documentary about the architect turned N.azi hunter who survived in concentration camps, then made it his mission to track down tormenters. Over-reliance on narration for someone who can (and did) dynamically tell his own story. Some excellent archival material though at times its usage makes you wonder if it's just background from the time or directly related to his life. The Boston Globe reviewer talked about the bad score in its melodrama and I absolutely agree. It cheapened a powerful story. And I've noticed reviewers are more reluctant to be honest about a film's flaws if the topic is a sensitive one. That is ridiculous. The more important the story, the more important it is to tell the story in an honest and balanced way. As this film was commissioned by his namesake center that was never going to happen but still... 3/5 stars.
351. A Woman is A Woman. Film by legendary French director Jean-Luc Godard about a striptease artist who wants to have a baby and her boyfriend who doesn't and how they solve their dilemma. References to Godard's other films. Very strange. Some of it I completely didn't understand. 3.3/5 stars.
352. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day. I picked this film because Amy Admas cracks me up. She didn't so much in this one and her roles seem to all be a little bit too similar. The ditzy red head. Hmmm... Interesting movie about a fired nanny who stumbles upon a job that happens to be just right for her assisting an American star. 3.5 stars.
353. Love and Other Disasters. Film starring Brittany Murphy who plays an assistant at British Vogue who sets up her friends with people all the time with mixed success. Not to spoil or anything but at the beginning it says something about her having an accent sometimes British and sometimes American. Really? I immediately thought, "Wow... Brit's British accent was that bad that they had to put a cop out disclaimer at the front? Bad." It really wasn't that bad, though. I actually laughed out loud several times and was caught up in the romantic comedy. Still... 3/5 stars.
354. The Spiral Staircase. 1946 film about a woman who can't speak in a town with a serial killer on the loose murdering women who can't fight back. She of course is expected to be his next victim. Interesting enough murder mystery though a bit slow-moving. 3/5 stars.
355. He's Just Not That Into You. Really? You show Africans in huts surrounded by goats? In the first 2 minutes of the film? Wack. And why is it more than 2 hours long? And why are the people in this film already so stupid 8 minutes in? I should've known I wouldn't like 1 million things about this movie. Like the bunch of stupid women who give their even dumber friends the dumbest advice of their lives. Did you think it would be predictable and full of cliches? Oh because it was. 2 stars.
356. Bonnie and Clyde. Classic film about the bank-robbing outlaws starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Lots of action and drama. I liked it. 4.1/5 stars.
356. 84 Charing Cross Road. British film starring Anne Bancroft as a cheeky American who writes to London for out of print British books. The recipient of her letters is Anthony Hopkins as a man who works for a bookseller. Cute film I think mostly because I like snail mail for some things and love books. Very appealing even though I didn't really like the end. 4/5 stars.
357. Fools Rush In. Uber romantic comedy with Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek playing a couple who get married on a whim. Of course mayhem ensues. Stace hated it. Rah liked it. I was somewhere in between. I thought it definitely didn't need to be 110 minutes. 3 stars.

Sir, Fall Back or Why You Should ALWAYS Wear Sunglasses

My parents have this thing about them that I've talked about before, actually lamented would be a more appropriate description. They both have this uncanny something that makes strangers carry conversations with them EVERYWHERE!! In the doctor's office, shopping for my dad's latest toy, the grocery store, a restaurant, everywhere!! My dad is awful because he really encourages it. As friendly as he is with strangers, you really would think he would have more friends but I can't name a single one of his friends other than a few of his siblings. I guess with 8 brothers and sisters you grew up with at least one good friend, huh?

Anyway, he can absolutely hold his own surrounded by strangers. I got that from him, but I only like to use it at my discretion. He's wild with it. My mom is just very polite. Unlike my dad, she won't initiate it, but like him, she won't try to nip it in the bud once it starts. Me? I avoid eye contact and when on planes, have a newspaper (preferably the NYT and maybe a local in a large city), a magazine (something light like InStyle), a book (something VERY chick lit that I can read in 1-2 plane rides depending on length and interest), AND my ipod... all out at the same time. Can you send anymore signals to LEAVE ME ALONE!? Yeah I don't think so.

Unfortunately, I was utterly unprepared after leaving our mini Hampton reunion in Brunswick, GA this weekend. I stopped at a gas station on 95 and the old black man (at least 65) on the other side of the pump said, "How you doin?" UGHHHHHHHH!! WHY ME!!?? I could just tell from the way he said it that he was the type to carry on a long conversation. At this point I haven't even gotten the nozzle out of its holder.
"Fine, thank you."
"You on yo way to the beach?" What?! Shorts and a tank mean beach? Wow... don't you realize it's like 95 degrees and feels like 100 at 10:30 in the morning? I wish I wasn't wearing this many clothes.
"(laughs) No." I probably shouldn't have laughed but it was involuntary. What a strange question.
"Oh. You look like you on yo way to the beach. What part of NC you from?" Ugh! Stupid NC tags!
"Charlotte."
"Oh yeah? I was just up there 2 weeks ago and I'm going back 4th of July."
"Oh okay." ...
"You know where Concord Mall is?"
"Yes."
"That's where my brother stays. I'm originally from Greenville, NC."
"Oh okay."
"Your people still stay up there?"
"Yeah."
"You married?"
"(laughter) No!"
"Why you laugh like that? You young but you not that young." I laughed like that because that question from men is usually followed by 'Can I have your number' and if you were to ask I would certainly hurt your feelings with something like 'You are old enough to be my grandfather! How old are you????'
"I don't know. That's just funny."
"Oh. You in school?" WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME SO MANY QUESTIONS!?! FBI man!!
"Yes."
"Oh where you go to school?" WHY ISN'T THIS GAS PUMPING FASTER!?!?!
"The University of Florida."
"What?! All them good schools in NC and you go all the way down to Florida? Why you go there?"
"I like the program."
"You like the program? All them good schools in NC!" FINALLY THE GAS IS DONE!
"Alright, well you have a nice day."
"Thanks, you too."
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??

This is why I shouldn't have left my sunglasses that day. You can't see my eyes, you can't catch my eyes.

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 4

1) Whenever Seinfeld happens to be on my screen and Kramer shows up I say "N.igger" at the screen. I know. It's crazy. I can't help myself. I never liked or "got" that show and his screaming rant a few years back made me what some would probably consider hostile. I know what "Jewish classmate" would say (he hates when I call him that on the blog which is why I do it), "Yeah, it's unfortunate. You should really give the show a chance." Nope. No more chances. I won't yell at Rashan if he stays on it for a few seconds, which he does frequently, but I'll pass.
2) At my old gym the people who worked at the desk used to eat fries all the time. THAT IS WRONG!! They should be banned from eating the bad food while we're there trying to refrain!!!!!! I mean come on! I love fries and you torture me w/them!? Hmph! That's why I used to get fries AND a beer after leaving the gym.
3) Someone at the farmer's market last week was apparently making goat stew for millions. Why do you need 8 pounds of goat meat? I know it's only about $2.39/lb. (I know... makes me wish I knew what to do w/goat meat or what it even tasted like... no, I don't know anything about any Caribbean roots in the fam) but really? Stock up for the next year ON A SUNDAY with a huge line? And while you're at it get your lamb kidney and liver? WHAT ARE YOU MAKING!?!? I try not to be that kind of food snob but... I must say, to my American-food-only raised eyes that are becoming more and more open... it looks disgusting. LIVER? Ick.
4) That being said... after hearing about sweetbreads for years on Top Chef (and never having heard of them before), I knew they weren't really very sweet, or breads, and cooked poorly would be disgusting as they were some sort of indiscriminate animal product. I decided to go for it at this Gainesville restaurant I'd heard nothing but good things about still not knowing what they were! GOOD CHOICE! They were great!! (And they're the thymus and pancreas glands of lamb, beef or pork.)
5) I've been watching a lot of crazy movies lately which is prompting a lot of crazy dreams. I'm a several times nightly dreamer, as in I usually have multiple dreams a night. I have been working very hard to forget all of them as soon as I wake up. All I know is they make me uncomfortable and I wake up extraordinarily grateful they are not my reality.
6) GQ's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. It's part savvy, fashion-forward businessman, part silly frat boy and everything in between. The fashion is on point but the articles range a wide gamut from Newsweek-esque to curse-strewn diatribes. From what I can gather from the 6 months I've been a subscriber, it's target audience is the 25-year-old former frat boy who is now playing house but loves to reminisce on the good ole days nigh on 3 years past. I prefer the part that caters to the adult (duh). But how about one of my friend CC's friends is absolutely in that target. I forgot self-absorbed as a descriptor for the GQ reader and that one SO applies.
7) When Rashan's sister was here last weekend I kept laughing loudly at Rashan and I was thinking, "I know she's like, he is not that funny." Because that's exactly what I would say about any woman laughing like that at my brother. Except my brother really is hilarious... but still.
8) I LOVE how my voice sounds when it's hoarse. I think it's so hot! That being said, right now, after screaming the lyrics to lots of songs over the weekend with Stace, Bran and CC at Bran's daddy's birthday party, I'm pretty hoarse. Ah yeah! I don't like the accompanying sore throat but I know it's only in passing so I don't complain.
9) I'm tired of driving!! I don't want to drive anywhere for like a year!! And me, my mom and Stace are going to visit my family in Mississippi next week...
10) I'm getting to the point where I miss Rashan after a couple of days apart. I know... sickening, right? Lol.
11) The best friends of 2 guys I dated in college were staying in the same house as me when I went down to Brunswick for the party... umm... potentially awkward (and really mostly in theory) but turned out to not matter at all.
12) Rashan met one of my aunts, who also happens to be my fave. One aunt/uncle down, 11 to go. Lol.
13) I love the song "Halle Berry" because it makes me laugh. Especially after seeing her dance to it on Ellen which was actually the first time I"d heard the song. Anyway I wondered what "let's get ratchet" means so in true old person fashion (Lord... I'm out of the loop at 26... but let's be real. I was rarely up on slang. Doggone suburban upbringing.), I relied on someone's little sister... Adei's sis says it means let's get wild. So there you go. I guess urban dictionary could've helped too. This was easier.
14) Why did me and Rah see 3 guys sitting outside Starbucks wearing long-sleeved tee-shirts, and drinking coffee in 95 degree weather!?!?!

Crazy Movie Lady 21

June 14-20, 2009
I was having too much fun this weekend to watch movies. I have a lot of catching up to do next week.
336. The Woman in the Window. Classic thriller about a professor who gets ensnared in a murder with a beautiful model. I couldn't believe how bumbling they were. The end killed this movie for me. Cop out. 2.8/5 stars.
337. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father. Documentary about the director's childhood friend who was murdered just after he fathered a son. His plan was to have the baby's father's many friends tell stories so he could get to know him. It took an extremely unexpected turn a little over halfway through. There were some parts of the film I felt moved too quickly which I attribute to the filmmaker's experience primarily with feature films. Still, overall an excellent film. 4.8/5 stars.
338. Ira and Abby. Funny movie about a neurotic guy who marries a free-spirited woman a week after they meet and how their lives change and in some ways unravel together. This film moved really nicely. I wanted to see more from the scriptwriter and the director, whoever they are. I wasn't in love with part of the ending (multiple story lines) but I really liked some of it. 4.2/5 stars
339. Why Do Fools Fall in Love. I hope you guys have stopped being shocked by all the movies I haven't seen. Lots of B actors in this film about a doo-wop star who married 3 women who didn't know he was married to all of them simultaneously and after his death fought in court over his estate. Mildly interesting but dragged on too long. Larenz Tate never looked like he was actually singing. 3/5 stars.
340. Two Days in April. Documentary follows 4 players trying to get selected in the 2006 NFL draft. It's an inside look at how they prepare themselves to get selected. I was appalled by the weigh-in. All these black men with their shirts off. Umm... reminiscent of the slave trade anyone!!?!? It was more emotional than I expected. Toward the end it dragged on unnecessarily. The film ramped up drama where it already existed but still a pretty good showing. 3.8/5 stars.
341. Victor/Victoria. Julie Andrews stars as a down and out soprano who can only secure work by posing as a female impersonator. Excellent acting in this 7-time Academy Award-nominated musical. Julie Andrews rocks. I could listen to her sing all day. This was more than a little long at 2hr9m but I thoroughly enjoyed it. My only real issue with this film is that it was allegedly set in the 1930s in Paris and some of the dialogue was markedly un-1930s and some of the handling of the issues (h.omosexuality primarily) seemed anachronistic. Plus it's always strange when a movie set in France has no French and very few accents. 4.2 stars.
342. Nine Queens. Argentinean film about a rare sheet of stamps two swindlers are trying to sell and the issues that arise surrounding them. Interesting story line, moved swiftly. 4/5 stars.
343. Surfwise. Documentary about a surfing family of 9 children living in a 24-foot trailer traveling constantly, surfing, and never going to school. Hmmm... obviously a very interesting family and a film which actually got all 11 immediate family members to participate but somehow it never really all came together. I was absolutely intrigued, but some of the things that came to light in large ways throughout the film would have been more effective if they'd been alluded to earlier on. In a way because of that lack of cohesion in multiple story lines, it felt like 2 or 3 very different films. It was trying to show the totality of one man's impact on his children and the world and it just needed one scene or something to tie it all together. 3.5/5 stars.
345. American Gangster. Denzel Washington plays notorious NY drug lord Frank Lucas who involved most of his family. Although the movie was interesting, I get tired of seeing black criminals. And at 2 hours and 30 minutes, it took me about a week to watch this. Though the movie was well done, I just couldn't get into it. 3.5/5 stars.

Adventures with M Pt. III

I got new phones for my mom and myself while I was at home and my goal was since it took about a million steps on the Tmobile website to upgrade phones, to go to the store right up the street from my house, walk in, upgrade and walk out with my first new phone in 3 years. I don't like phones. I love talking on them and the convenience of phones (see: the 7hr+ convos Rah and I have several times a week) but I don't see any reason why I need my phone to do anything other than look nice, dial in and out, tell me the time and be my alarm clock. I don't text, get on the internet and I'm a bit too much of a snob to want that little crappy 1.3mp camera.

Anyway, I ask the guy what phone I should get for my mom and he says, "A lot of older people like this one." Why when I got home did I slip and tell her this? LOL!! She said, "I'm not old! He doesn't know me!" I said laughing, "He didn't mean like elderly! I told him it was for my mom!" I didn't tell her he also said, "Because the numbers are big." HAHAHAHAHA!! She really would've been mad then! What? You wear glasses! I told her, "Well, if you don't like your phone, you have 14 days to take it back." (I knew there was no way she was taking that phone back. She doesn't do additional steps and hates returns except at Harris Teeter where if something's wrong you get double your money back.)

When after a protracted week of issues I won't even get into, I finally got my phone she says, "Yours is cute! I want a pewter phone!" I said, "Well good luck. You can go wrangle for your own phone." Stank, I know. She said, "I thought you were going to trade with me." So I can have the elderly phone? Lololol. "Yeah right." She said, "This one looks like too much to learn, anyway." Sigh. I know. Look at all that crap on it. I loved it the second I had it in my hand but I don't want to be bothered with learning it.

Rashan had to look up the alarm for me because it was this ridiculously convoluted process. Last Samsung phone it was directly under settings. This time? Under fun and apps, then organizer THEN alarm. What in the bloody blue blazes? And why is the screen ORANGE when I dial out and I can't figure out how to change that fuglyness? I hate orange. I figured out wallpaper but that crap? Ugh. The girl with 2 blogs (3 if you count the one I don't update, LinkedIn, facebook, twitter, utterli (formerly utterz, which Stace and I are bringing back now that twitter is so overexposed), and myspace (never checked anymore) can't figure out how to change the dial out screen on her phone. Figures. I did discover the whisper mode, though. So cool! It magnifies your voice so you could answer, put the phone on whisper mode and proceed sotto voce to tell them "I can't talk, I'm in church!!" Lol. How about you just don't answer the phone! I HATE when my mom answers the phone to tell me she can't talk!!! Just call me back!!!! Lololol.

Done with Donna

From a recent NYTimes article:

Asked if she was pleased to see the new talent being recognized, DonnaKaran said, “Thanks for telling me, I hadn’t noticed.” No, really, she said, the industry has collectively made efforts to welcome new businesses in fashion, promoting mentoring and networking programs through the council in recognition of the need for fresh talent.

“We’re all young,” Ms. Karan said, “In fashion, nobody grows old.”

Except you... Burn. This article was all about how those in the fashion industry tried to prop themselves up at their annual awards show despite the recession's effects on them. Was not that first response snarky? Did not it deserve the burn? Methinks it did.

Oh but this is not the first from Ms. DKNY. What really sparked this vitriol from me is her comments with others from the fashion crybabies oldies several months ago during my first lady's much fashion-touted trip abroad to England and France (in which I was SO excited that she looked better than former model-turned-first lady of France, Carla B.runi). They were upset she was wearing unknowns and J.Crew on her trip. I was pissed, but just let my anger reside on my line sister's page when she wrote about it. But now this? Let's recap what she said about the Europe trip and the worst remarks. "I hope and believe that this is just a moment," she said. "And I hope to be able to dress her, and not only dress her but address her, sit down - I'm interested in her totality as a woman."

Excuse you? That is a GROWN woman. Not a child who will just "outgrow" her fashion choices. She can AND WILL wear what she wants and look good doing it. At least DK tinged her comment with some hope and (probably possibly) fake admiration. I love Oscar de laRenta's clothes but I'm going to have to one day pass on them after this, "I don't object to the fact that Mrs.Obama is wearing JCrew to whatever because the diversity of America is what makes this country great. But there are a lot of great designers out there. I think it's wrong to go in one direction only.... You don't...go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater." Face. ARE YOU SERIOUS!? And what does diversity have to do with anything!?

And the least relevant? VeraWang, "I love seeing young designers and their vision and how they grow... On the other hand, I wish she would consider some of us, because I think we also have contributions to make." Have you seen your clothes? I wouldn't wear them, either. You should really stick to wedding dresses. AND I DON'T EVEN LIKE THOSE.

But really, tell me, why do you think this will work? Do you really think by "shaming" her she'll cave to your demands and wear your clothes? You must not know black women. Create something wearable or at least relevant and you wouldn't have to beg for her business. She didn't ask for that job, but guess what? She's pretty good at it and looks good doing it. Don't talk about my first lady!!! I hope she never wears any of your clothes, ESPECIALLY YOU OSCAR!! I know I won't. (Maybe Oscar...)