4.29.2009

Photo Shoot

Espionage!
Ha!
Laiiid back! With my mind on my money and my money on my mind.
Wow, you're old. Look at all that grey in the beardage!

You know what this is! It's a celebration, snitches!!! Lolol!! I'm DONE with my first year of grad school!!!!!!! One year down, one to go!!! So to commemorate this stellar occasion, I present you with some pics of me and Rah from his trip here last weekend.

4.27.2009

Hey! You There!

Why is there a woman who works at Wal-mart who always wears a t-shirt (usally navy) and a headband with 15" gold and red ribbons hanging from it? And she goes about her life oblivious to the strangeness of this attire. Maybe she is. Maybe it's her flair. The first time I saw her I was confused. The second time amazed. The third time, flabbergasted. What and why?

Yesterday when Rashan and I were at Publix, the cashier says when giving me my change, "Do you want a 20 or do you want it broken down?" "Broken down is fine." "Okay how do you want it broken down? A 10 and 2 5s...?" "That's fine." "Or a 10 and five 1s...?" Mouth agape. (That's what she said! -- The Office) "A 10 and two 5s is fine." Wow... really? There's not a general rule for cashiers giving change? Or you can't just give me whatever unless I specify? And once I say that's fine, do you have to keep offering suggestions? Rashan said he had to walk away, then of course he offered suggestions for the next 5 minutes. I said $20 in quarters and he deemed that too easy. How about in nickels?

But the feather in the crazy cap? This song!
Hey! You there! I see you over there! HILARITY!! I couldn't stop laughing at the foolywang!!!!! Lololol. Really? So of course Rah and I had to talk about what that studio time was like after recording this song. "Man that was tight!" "Another hit!" "That's gon be the new club banger!" "All the girlies will be like, 'Hey! You there!'" "Ah yeah!" *snicker* And now I've just invited millions of groupies to tell me I just don't understand his genius. AWEEEEESOME! (This last part made me feel a bit like old crotchety Rashan not understanding the kids and their music these days. Lololol.) Hey! You there! ROTF!!!

4.26.2009

Crazy Movie Lady 14

April 19-25, 2009
213. So I Married An Axe Murderer. Pretty bad. Obvious twist and really drawn out story line. I was bored after 11 minutes but kept watching because I'm way behind in my quest for 750 movies this year.
214. Clockers. Spike Lee Joint. I'm knocking these out of the park like Alfred Hitchcock films this year. Can you believe this was my first time seeing it? I liked this one.
215. Sabotage. Hitchcock movie about sabotage. There were some cool twists. This movie falls somewhere in the middle among his films. Not one of the worst, not one of the best.
216. Risky Business. Amusing-ish teen comedy about a brothel-- I know-- which made Tom Cruise famous. I think I would've liked it a lot more about 5 years ago.
217. Land of Silence and Darkness. An early Werner Herzog documentary about people in Germany who are both deaf and blind, how they communicate. I liked it. It was both sad at times and intriguing.
218. Lifeboat. Another Hitchcock. This one about the 8 people who survive an attack on a naval ship and how they survive at sea. I liked it. 4 stars. The ending was a bit trite, though, in keeping with the time it was made.
219. Misery. Amazing movie in which Kathy Bates most certainly earned her Oscar for this role. She was CA-RAZY!!! I was cringing the entire movie. I recognized some scenes from commercials and knew immediately to brace myself for a movie full of psycho. I was right. I loved it. Don't want to see it again but I loved it.
220. Roman Holiday. My first Audrey Hepburn film. It was cute, but I'm not sure why she won an Oscar for this role. I think knowing that skewed my view of the film less favorably. Like I said, cute, but the more Oscar-winning films I watch, the less I think that means anything. I still want to win one, but (obviously) I don't really need that.
221. Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple. Wow... AMAZING documentary about what is considered the largest mass suicide in recent history where 909 people literally drank the kool-aid. I knew the phrase originated from that but had no idea it entailed all of this. Amazing footage and access to former members, some of whom lost as many as 19 family members that day in 1978. The story was skillfully executed. It built suspension. If there was one flaw I could point to easily, it would be that the exposition was so lengthy in explaining how it got to that point. That may be my impatience because I didn't want to wait to find out the details of this story I knew very little about. Overall, a fantastic film.
222. Young and Innocent. Hitchcock. It was pretty boring until the blackface. Seriously? I can barely focus on the rest of the meandering plot because of the blackface. God forbid we give a black actor a job. And don't say, "Well it was 1937." I don't care.
223. Body of Lies. Movie about a CIA spy in the Middle East during the Iraq war with Russell Crowe and Leo Dicaprio. Both had HORRIBLE southern accents. Why? Why couldn't they have neutral accents? It did nothing to advance the film's plot. Not a good movie.
224. White Diamond. Documentary by Werner Herzog about airship tests by a British engineer in Guyana and the people involved. It veered off course into the nearby waterfalls and the lore surrounding them and previous tests which killed an earlier filmmaker. It was weird but sometimes beautiful and yet didn't really hold my attention very well once it started wandering. The most interesting parts were oddly about the dead filmmaker.

4.24.2009

Up All Night

Remember that show? I used to watch it all the time. Not to be confused with Out All Night which made me fall in love with, not Morris Chestnut, but Duane Martin! I loved that show! I didn't like his most recent show. It never did anything for me. Can't remember the name of it, don't care to look it up. I loved his wife's (best known as Gina on "Martin") show, "My Wife and Kids." I usually watch it at 1 every afternoon.

I know you're thinking, what in the HE... what is this post about and why are you typing it at 4 a.m. I have not been able to go to bed much before 5 a.m. in about a month. I don't know what my problem is. Well, part of it stemmed from unnecessarily stressing myself out about that paper and part of it is a desire for this school year to just END already!! Since I'm up, I decided to give you guys a life update. How terribly exciting for you!! Right now I'll be going home for the summer with some extended stays in Atlanta, maybe a visit to Savannah, likely a visit to Brunswick, GA for my friend's father's 70th birthday party which should be a BLAST. I'm pretty sure all my friends will be there since her father is always the life of the party. I had a great time hanging (and drinking) with my friends' parents homecoming senior year. I had these off weeks in college where I would have enough money for a $5 party and since I lived on campus, I could eat in the cafe, but a $40 homecoming party in a place that's $10 any other week? Yeah... this wasn't one of those weeks where I could afford that which sucked but I partied so much in college, that particular party was really just a drop in the 12,000-gallon party bucket (Can you imagine what such a bucket would look like???).

My partner and I are in the midst of working on our latest project, which is a short film based on our thesis. I really am learning a lot from my quest to watch 750 movies this year. You begin to see what things work and what doesn't and learn how to incorporate those things in your own films. That's exactly why I began the quest to watch this many movies. It's a crazy goal but why not try it? I'm about 11 movies off pace as I work 2-8 hours a day on this film but the summer will allow plenty of time to play catch up. I have a feeling I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the library renting movies and books. You know what's great? Our library at home! It's only 5 minutes away and the building is about 5 years old. I also want to do some shooting of my family history.

Another thing that has been stressing me out is the dean of journalism's (John Wright) decision to cut my program despite the fact that films from our program have won student Emmys the last 2 years. Another film was a finalist the year before that. Wright has deemed the Documentary Institute (DI) "not as central" to the mission of the college. That is clearly all about semantics. How is nonfiction filmmaking not central to the college when some of the best documentary programs in the country, including OURS according to Independent magazine are in journalism departments? Syracuse just started its documentary program in its j-school within the last 2 years. All 4 of my professors, including 2 with tenure, will lose their jobs if the program is cut. The final decision by the president of the university, Bernie Machen, is set to be made by May 1st. Can you tell me how you expect to attract professors to the university if you're cutting even tenured professors? How are layoffs not your last resort? Why is education so undervalued in this nation that cutting it is considered acceptable?

Our program at this point is not accepting a fall class and we will be the last class if the DI shuts down. My education is not expected to be compromised, as our professors have assured us, but it's still disheartening that our program is not considered an asset. It also makes me quite sure I won't ever give a dollar to UF unless it goes to the DI. So Hampton has UF and John Wright to thank for not having to split my donation money when it comes. Hampton will always (and always would have, but it won't be near even now) get to billing. Some alumni and students have started a petition site to try to save the doc institute. We hope for at least 1,000 and are close. Please sign it here and help take us over the edge.

I actually fell asleep around 10 p.m. but woke up at 1:30. Now that it's 5 a.m., aka my new bedtime, perhaps I can fall asleep until Rashan calls at his regular time on the way to work, aka my wake-up call, 11:30 a.m. Sometimes I go back to sleep but rarely. Know what would be nice? If staying up until 5 meant I got more work done. Yeah... about that... that's gonna have to be a no. I'm constantly thinking about going to bed rather than doing something constructive. I know it's stupid and I really, really hope to break this foolish cycle in the near future.

4.22.2009

Who Needs A Whole Toenail? or The Night I Befriended Classy Jojo

For a long time I used to see Classy Jojo and think, "Why is she so hyper?" I didn't know her but I didn't like her because she was ALWAYS on 10 (like a hyper scale goes 1-10, 1 being the lowest). Always. I'd see her in the cafe, the lobby of our dorm, whatever and be like I need her to calm it on down. But one night me and the drankin patnah (it used to be drinking partner until the Youngbloodz decided to come out with that cd while we were at HU) decided to go out with Z, D and A. D was another who was usually on 10, or at least 9.5, but for some reason I liked her. I think because I got to know her. I didn't know Classy Jojo was gonna be there, too, I was just down for whatever in college when it came to going out. If we were friends and you invited me, the answer was yes. That is a large part of why I had a blast and knew a huge swath of random people.

Anyway so I knew J was in my abnormal psych class and that was the closest I'd been to her, but this night we were at a "house party." I use that term loosely because it was really just a bunch of people sitting around an apartment drinking with music happening to be in the background. I guess that's as much a house party as the ones where we danced all night because I definitely went to enough of both. I think of the former of more of an every day gathering. Regardless, we went there and got the night started but our level of excitement far surpassed the super low key "party" so we decided despite being juniors and normally thinking ourselves above such things, we decided to go to the gym jam.

Best decision EVER!! Lol. By this time we were all feeling quite happy and I was loving J. I thought she was hilarious! Of course I blamed it but after that night she didn't annoy me anymore and we had a blast from there on out and now that she lives in Charlotte (for now), we always hang out when I'm in town. We are RIDICULOUS together as Rah can attest. LOL!!

Back to that night. We headed to the gym jam. I see this freshman, Six (because he was the 6th... yeah...) who I'd asked already if I could call him Dynasty or the Roc or some other crazy names. He said no to all of them but I'm pretty sure I said I wasn't gonna call him what everyone else called him and called him Dynasty anyway most of the time. Lol. I can't remember why I knew him. I think b/c I was a student leader. No matter. I see him and I say hey, give him a hug. He steps on my toe and I feel a tug. I look down at my flip flop-clad feet and I'M BLEEDING! Thanks big 6-0, 250 lb. dude! Half of my big toenail is hanging off!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!! I'm freaking out! Not because it hurts. I barely feel it. Because it looks scary!! Lol. Since we're all blaming it that night, we create a faux E.R. situation in the gym. We run downstairs to the locker room giggling and overreacting (it is entirely possible that someone, likely J, was doing a siren even though I don't remember this) where I contort myself to put my foot in sink to run cold water over it and stop the bleeding. A brings a cop downstairs. I'm like, "What?!? Why????" She's like, "She hurt her toe! Do you have a first aid kit!?" He's very bored and says no. I shoo him away and out of the ladies locker room and go about my business. (She was by far the funniest blamer of the night. HILARIOUS while drinking.) I go for it and rip the toenail off, since I can barely feel it anyway. It hurts but only for a minute and just a little. I wrap an outrageous amount of toilet paper around it, mummy-style and... keep the party going.

HAHAHAHA!!! Yes I did!! I tell Six what he did and he's aghast and apologizing. I'm like, "It's cool! I had a little bit to drink and can hardly feel it!" He looked at me like I was nuts. Lol. But that's why to this day I only have half a big toenail on my right foot.





Sike! Just playin. I'm fully toenailed up. But that was a funny night! And still cracks me up! Lol.

Oh! And I forgot to say, I met fave roomie through Classy Jojo!

4.21.2009

Lazy?! That was a lot of work!!

Rashan posted this facebook status: Rashan thinks the thumbs up is lazy facebook feedback.

And you know what happened to me, right? I took it as a challenge. I can't help myself. I get these ideas and I have to run with them. Especially since he's not feeling well and I think a dose of Jameil is just what he needs. Poor thing.

My response: And I will now give a thumbs up to every status you have.

I started with that status and meant going forward I'd thumbs up every status. We had had this conversation before but it was even funnier seeing him actually mention it on FB, complete with some people's only comment to that post being a thumbs up. I WISH I had that level of restraint. Blogging has nearly ruined my ability to stay mum. It's ridiculous. Usually on fb I can keep it to lurking with people I would not know anything about if said site didn't exist. (BTW I've had to deny 3 or 4 people in the last couple of days because I barely remember their names from middle or h.s. I (sometimes) hate to be mean but that's gonna be a no. I'm seriously contemplating deleting a whole mess of people I knew before college because this is getting claustrophic. I don't need to know about your life when I didn't care when I saw you daily 10 years ago. I've already hidden status updates of at least 10 people. Even more creepy and horrid? That 2 of my mom's actual friends joined and friended me. Ugh. Restricted status. RESTRICTED!!! I told my mom she was not to follow suit even though she can look at any picture of mine!! No mas!! (Side note: She asked me the other day if I was on "tweeter." Lol. Too cute. Yes, mom. Over a year now.) Annnnnd scene.)

I ended up giving the thumbs up to Rah's quizzes, statuses and netflix ratings dating back to April 4th. That may not sound like a lot, but trust me, for an old man who prides himself on being antisocial, it's a lot. I can't wait to hear about his expression when he sees the 95 fb emails and that they're all from me. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! I wish I was there!!!!!!!!!

Something I'd forgotten and found again? Rashan's Cajun Name is Clovis Comeaux. Pretty sure I need to call him that henceforth and forever more. Thanks FB name generator! I love you, Clovis!!!

4.19.2009

Crazy Movie Lady 13

April 12-18, 2009
I did something amazing this time for the first time since I started this quest to watch 750 movies this year, two things, 1) watched the lowest number of movies in one week-- bah humbug!!, and 2) watched only documentaries.
203. Symbiotaxiplasm: Take One. Black documentarian William Greaves' experimental film in which he experiments on the actors and his entire crew.
204. Discovering William Greaves. Documentary about the aforementioned which made me understand Symbio much more easily and made me laugh at Symbio and the cleverness and creativity of Greaves.
205. A Question of Color. Documentary about color consciousness among blacks in America. Strong beginning but the film seemed to lose its way and become really obvious about halfway through. I thought it would break new ground but for me, it didn't.
206. Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice. Documentary by William Greaves which I will give you another snippet of my paper on black documentary. Ida B. Wells is an excellent film which not only teaches, but beautifully presents a difficult story to tell as the subject was long dead and for much of her life, video cameras had not yet been invented. Greaves had to rely on creative storytelling techniques, skillful narration, illustrations, photographs and an abundant wealth of Wells' own writings to allow her voice come to life. In the final moments of the film, the narrator intones Wells' words from her autobiography Crusade for Justice, "Our youth are entitled to the facts of race history which only the participants can give." This same thought is what propels black documentarians to take the reigns of their history and allow black stories to be told and black lives forever considered.
207. Langston Hughes: The Dream Keeper. Another documentary I used as research. I expected this film to be a lot more riveting but St. Clair Bourne (the filmmaker) himself calls it a "cheerleader" film which I suppose is why it skirts most of the controversy Hughes faced in his life, which as you can imagine, included the more interesting and unknown facts.
208. Hearts and Minds. Excellent documentary about Vietnam. Some heart-wrenching and graphic footage but really brings home the futility of war and of course reminds you in some ways of Iraq. Very slanted and propagandistic which is why I ranked it 4 out of 5 but still a great job in terms of structure.
209. Methadonia. Documentary about a bunch of addicts in NYC. Addicts are annoying. The film was pretty good, though, despite the less than satisfying narration.
210. Startup.com. Documentary about a company caught in the middle of the dotcom bust. The filmmakers were there from start to finish. That is a filmmaker's dream! You don't want bad things to happen to the people you're filming, but when you're doing a cinema vérité-style film where other than the start of the company, you don't really have an end, it helps to have the end happen for you. As harsh as that sounds. It absolutely is harsh.
211. Maya Lin: A Strong, Clear Vision. Academy Award-winning documentary about the woman who designed the Vietnam and Civil Rights Memorials. I liked it a lot. Had a very clear story trajectory and I felt I could somewhat identify with the designer.
212. When We Were Kings. Great documentary about the rumble in the jungle: 1974, Foreman v. Ali. AWESOME because I had heard about the fight and of course was amazed by hearing about Ali as a child, but didn't know the outcome of this fight. It was built up to well with appropriate music all the way up until the end of the film with the title song and false ending montage. Meaning that song was so out of keeping with the tone of the movie of a powerful, cocky man and the montage made you think it was over and here they come with more movie... really? Bizarre. But overall I really, really liked this movie and was screaming my head off throughout the fight. Lol. Rashan was getting a kick out of me liking a boxing movie so much.

4.17.2009

Having A Blast

I don't know what it is about being finished with that paper but it's got me all kinds of giddily giggly! For the last two days I have had episodes which made me absolutely inconsolable!!! WAIT! Remind me tomorrow to tell you about the time I lost half of my big toenail. I was telling this story to Rah through unnecessarily ridiculous giggling fits. I couldn't stop laughing!! It was so funny to me!! I don't even think it's this funny today. I was all heady with happy.

And today I thought about Miss Honey since Rah and Stace talked about her in the last 2 weeks or so. I think it's time for a re-post. And if you missed the first post, you really, REALLY should read the comments because they brought me to TEARS!!! Lololol!! Too funny!!!! Lolololol!! Without further ado, Miss Honey.

4.15.2009

Ow!

That girl is GOOD!!!!!!

I turned in my paper, paid 2 bills, changed my 401k beneficiaries to my mom and sister and prevented myself from incurring a $20/year bill from the company by going internet w/my statements (like I want to look at those anyway considering I had to just start laughing when I looked at performance since I started the 401k in 2006-- in 2 months of 2008 I lost more than $745 and in one month I lost more than $1100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I blame the Republicans. Those numbers are so outrageous for one month losses AND I've lost half of my retirement fund in the last year I could do nothing else but laugh. MESS!! But at least I'm young and hot and have the next 30 years to recoup it.), and PAID MY TAXES!! I will be getting my largest return ever this year thanks to being a student. Wheeeeeeeee! I'm feeling SO much better now even though I'm still not quite done with the semester, I have one giant 16-page monkey off of my back!!

That is all! If you want a copy of my paper, email me! Smooches!!

4.14.2009

Ogre Smash!!*

Easter Sunday morning I woke up with hate in my heart. Yes, I know that's wrong but I couldn't help it. Rashan couldn't sleep Saturday night-- lots of waking at random intervals, including one nightmare where he jolted awake talking about he couldn't breathe and he thought our DELICIOUS meal was the culprit. (Ti Amo tasting menu from which we culled all deliciousness: spanikopita with blue crab, sweetbreads with fried egg and housemade chips, pan seared scallops with bacon risotto cake, roasted quail with chorizo stuffing and lamb slider with housemade chips (this being my least fave as the turmeric aioli was too cold). YUMMMMMY!! I don't like scallops in general but had to admit these were pretty good. He wasn't feeling the spanikopita but we were in whole-hearted agreement about the overall deliciousness. We both really liked the dishes the other wasn't a fan of.) Bruh, that yumness? It wasn't that. You would've felt it earlier than 6 hours later. It was a nightmare. Then there was the time he woke up, heard me wake up and wanted to stare at me. CLOSE YOUR EYES AND GO BACK TO SLEEP!! If spoken to, I will absolutely sigh or suck my teeth and roll my eyes and roll right back over.

I felt like somebody's mama. I am THEEEE WORST!! when it comes to not getting adequate or consistent sleep. I will lash out at the closest person. So when my alarm went off at 9:45 am, and that one had just gotten back to sleep and seemed like he wouldn't be roused and was dozing quite peacefully, I poked him on his eyelid.

Yes I did. Not hard, but I poked him and his eyes popped open like, "What and why!?" and he said, "I didn't like that." I started laughing and said, "I knew you wouldn't. I didn't sleep well AT ALL last night thanks to you." He said, "I'm sorry. I didn't either." Me, "Yeah, I know. I was awake when you were." Oh yes, I was still in hater mode. Him, "You forgot about that 3 hour stretch where I was on the floor watching a dvd on your computer." "I heard you when you went down there and when you got up and..." I kept giving him the non-sleep itinerary. He apologized again and went back to sleep while I fielded his many many alarms. Dude, why do you have 3 alarms going off at 2 minute intervals? That is outrageous. So as he slept, slept on (did you say that like, float, float on?), I got out this 90-day daily devotional I bought at Wal-mart that mostly does NOT cut it for me. Too cutesy and too much about this woman's life instead of practical application for my life.

Then I hit up "My Utmost for His Highest" which is a 365 devotional and is AWESOME! Apparently April 29th did it for me so much last year that I starred that day. Can't wait! I'm gonna save it up! I also decided I'll read each passage when Rah calls me on the way to work weekday mornings. We can all use a little Jesus break in the am. I forgot to tell him this in the hours and hours we talked but no matter. While reading the devotionals I started to feel sorry for him for being the one who originally couldn't sleep and got even less than me. Poor thing. So Rah can thank Jesus for not getting eye-poked more than once. It should go like this, "Yo, God, thanks for my gorgeous and talented, loving girlfriend. One love." He made me breakfast (bacon, eggs and grits) and then.... went to get my Krispy Kremes!!!!! while I wrote my paper. I ate 3 in a row when they arrived. There were pictures taken but it's just me stuffing my face, looking quite the pig. I'll spare you the visuals! Lol.

Before Rah left (boooo! don't go!!), I fixed his eyebrows (lol! preempting a crazy question... no not pluck them! just smooth them down so they're not going in crazy directions!!! hilarious), then apologized remembering he doesn't love that so much, to which he replied, "I have a new thing I don't like." "What's that?" "Being poked in the eye." *snicker* ROTFL!!!

*This is what I want to yell when I wake up without sufficient sleep-- 7.54+, please.

4.13.2009

Crazy Movie Lady 12

April 5-11, 2009
192. State and Main. It kept me engaged. William H. Macy (who I really liked), Alec Baldwin and SJP in a film about the making of a fictitious film. Amusing at times. At least I didn't want to stop watching it.
193. Tell No One. AWESOME French film about a doctor suspected of his wife's murder 8 years ago. When he finds out anonymously that she's still alive, he's supposed to tell no and he has to find out what happened. More than 2 hours but a thriller and it kept me engaged. Loved it.
194. Charlie Wilson's War. Tom Hanks is a great actor. Julia Roberts's southern accent didn't hold for all words. (I noticed this as a southerner and it bothers me just a little.) I liked Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, as well. I liked this movie.
195. The Fall of Fujimori. Documentary about the son of Japanese immigrants who became President of Peru and resigned amid cries of corruption among other things. Great character profile with lots of drama. Suspense was built nicely if overplayed at times.
196. Small Town G.ay Bar. Documentary about a g.ay bar in a small Mississippi town which also included the history of g.ay bars in northern Mississippi. Way too many false endings. The over-reliance on fade to blacks made you feel like the movie ended 4 or 5 times before it actually did, maybe more. I felt the same sympathy for the characters as I usually do in movies with angsting g.ay characters who just want to be allowed to live their lives, but the film began to get redundant after about 40-50 minutes even as it tried to weave in the history. I guess part of my issue stemmed from the misnomer aspect of the title. I felt like the movie was going to focus on the main bar with maybe following some of the customers and owner and it did but then it veered off track.
197. Torn Curtain. Hitchcock film about espionage beyond the Iron Curtain starring Julie Andrews and Paul Newman. Painfully slow and too long. Good ending.
198. The Lady Vanishes. Another Hitchcock, this one about an old woman's mysterious disappearance on a train and the lengths a couple goes to to find her. I liked it better than Torn Curtain but there were some extremely cheesy, hijinks-type things in this film. Not the best Hitchcock.
199. Happy, Texas. Funny indie film about two escaped convicts who manage to stay on the run because of mistaken identity as gay lovers. I found it because of William H. Macy and it amused me. I giggled throughout.
200. Capote. Fabulous film about the American writer, Truman Capote. I liked it a lot.
201. Goodfellas. For those of you who know me, this will shock you. I wasn't impressed. I knew there was a reason I avoided this movie for YEARS-- nearly a decade. Not my style. I was in it for the first hour and a half or so but with 42 minutes left I was like, "Enough already!"
202. Transamerica. Pretty bad. Really slow script. But the hype about Felicity Huffman is right. She was magnificent in this film. Just as awkward as the trans woman I know with the same bad clothing. And the makeup artist did a great job of making her look like someone who was transforming.
202. Number 17. Hitchcock film about a diamond necklace theft plot. So so. Some good action sequences.

*I also watched one of my faves, Brown Sugar, for the first time in literally months-- more than 4, ACK!!-- which is likely the first time in a long time I've gone w/o watching it.

4.09.2009

Sir... No

I was in the grocery store about a week ago on the phone with Rashan, as usual. I walked in and what do I see? A large guy helping another large man into a motorized wheelchair, both staring at me. My internal monologue is, "Head up, as usual avoid eye contact and keep it moving." I head to the produce section and I'm okay, work it up to the meats and there's wheelchair man staring at me as I pick out some sausage. Sir... please.

I scurry away to another aisle and hear the mechanical whirring of this chair as I try to make a speedy getaway. Not happening. "Excuse me! Can I talk to you for a minute?" To Rah, "Ugh. Hold on." To the man, "Yes?" Why did you teach me manners mom??? And why is there no one else in this store?? "Do you like to go to concerts and go out?" "Oh no thank you." "You don't?" "No." Not with you. "Oh well I was gone give you some fliers to the Gucci Mane concert I'm promoting in a couple of weeks." Sir... again... No. "Oh no thank you." For real, bruh? Gucci Mane? You aisle stalked me for Gucci Mane? Mess.

4.08.2009

You're Such A Tease

I'm trying to figure out how I could have an environment more conducive to studying and getting this paper written. I have exactly one week (assuming the paper is due by 5 p.m. but it's probably due much earlier than that) to finish and right now I have 4.5 out of 15-25 pages. Um... MOVE FASTER. I figured out if I write 2 pages per day, even skipping Saturday and Sunday I can be done in time but I want to be done earlier so I can have a couple of people read it. If you would like to volunteer to read it, let me know and I can email it to you. Preferably, people with some grammar skills and the ability to have intelligent opinions and can tell me which parts are good, which need to be fleshed out, etc. First, I need to find a focus. Right now it appears to be Struggles for Representation: Making Black Documentaries in a White World. Provocative title, right? And the paper so far is not quite as militant as the title which does and does not surprise me. I'm actually fleshing out my stance on the creation of black docs while writing this paper... me likey. See? You'll have to edit out stuff like that.

I'm kidding! I hope y'all don't think I got into a master's program saying me likey! Lol. So here's a teaser of my paper, copyrighted by me with all citations in this section from essays in the book Struggles for Representation.

The Bakers allude to an interesting parallel in mentioning, "the more his [the slave's] cultural forms differed from those of his master and the more they were immune from control of whites, the more the slave gained personal autonomy and positive self-concepts" (215). Upon reading this are we to then notice a similarity between the slave seeking to wrest some faction of his or her life from the slave master and the black filmmaker seeking to wrest funding and black stories from white control? If so, I have not been convinced this is true. While there is undoubtedly a need for an unfettered presentation of black history, it has not been proven that white influence must be ignored for this to occur. However, it is clear from whence the question arises: a history of black thought and culture being obscured or stolen by whites which after centuries of rampant manifestation has become anathema to millions of black Americans.

Essayist Clyde Taylor points to independence as necessary for the "expression of themes and attitudes that would otherwise remain repressed in a culture where the views of the black minority, particularly those that smack of self-determination, are heavily filtered or blocked" in "Paths of Enlightenment: Heroes, Rebels and Thinkers." (142) To Taylor, the ultimate goal of the black filmmaker is "making an original and provocative contribution to knowledge" (143). While no doubt originality is foremost in the mind of most any filmmaker, it would be more than a stretch to assume or even hope for provocativeness in every endeavor. I imagine there are a great many filmmakers whose primary goal is to inform. Should the possibility of provocativeness arise, it may or may not be sidestepped, but it is likely not on par with originality.

4.07.2009

It's ON!!!!

I don't know if I ever mentioned it here, but I gave up Krispy Kreme doughnuts and soda for Lent. I broke both of those while in Atlanta. Rashan took me to the World of Coca-Cola [where I tried all 60 varieties all over the world (if you're going to slip, you may as well fall)] and Flip for burgers which had to be finished with a Krispy Kreme (KK) milkshake (studded with bits of Krispy Kreme doughnuts). Ever want a bad influence, call Rah and he'll hook you up. Except he probably won't ever call you back. I don't have that issue of course but you will because you're not me. Lol.

Those two times were the only ones, though, where I've slipped this entire Lenten period. I have definitely had opportunities to cheat by getting a regular old doughnut and I thought about it but abstained. Aren't you proud? Me, too! I'm so fab. BUT Easter is Sunday and me and KK have a date. You're not invited. It's just me and KK. I might even sit in the store and act up. I'm talking about eyes closed in HEAVEN at the taste. Savoring each bite for the first doughnut and just shoving the next 2 in my mouth. I will sit in that store or in front of it until the hot light comes on if I have to. Oh yes, it's that serious. The soda was really just an add on. I don't drink soda like that but when the hot light is on, it's ME at the KK. Only when the hot light is on and not every time.

After 3 years in Pittsburgh with at best sporadic KK (the one near me opened and closed within a year-- SHAME-- and I had to go 45 minutes away from my house, 20 mins from my job for some KK, which at one point prompted the fat tour -- excerpt from 1/23/08: "suddenly I had to have some. YUM!!! But they're so out of the way here that you have to PLAN to go to them. So I said to myself, "Self! It's my Friday; let's do a fat tour!! Go to the fattening places and eat fattening food!" Mmmmmm. First I got my case of Honey Brown. Then I headed to out of the way KK for my half a dozen glazed donuts (polished 2 of those bad boys off in the car), then out of the way SONIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've had neither of these in many many months. They just added Sonic to Pittsburgh in the last few months and I hadn't been yet. Cheeseburger, tater tots and limeade!!!!! YAY!!" I even took pictures...)... I am a fiend. I can admit it.

I introed one of my classmates to the hot KK early in the semester. It was her first ever hot KK. Yes... I know... that is a sin and she should repent BUT she was a convert! (I also got Rah on those hot KKs. Yeah I deal hot KKs like drugs, so what?) Yessssssssssss. Converts are the best. People who ignore the draw of KK or say they're too sweet, *GASP! SHUT THINE MOUTH!!* are the worst. And Dunkin Donuts fans? Not even worth talking about. KK! What up, yo! Me and you on Sunday. *wink*

4.06.2009

Reorganisation

I really, really needed a few days where I had minimal responsibilities. Now that I've had those I feel ready to reconquer the world and vanquish those who get in my way. My official last due date for the semester is April 28th. We have a grant proposal due that day. We as in my thesis partner and I. My thesis partner is AWESOME!! We are a great team. We don't fight and communicated well. Plus he loves the technical side which I'm not so much a fan of and I love the directing/producing/script writing side. Wheeeee!! The week before that, April 21st, we have a short film or thesis preview tape due.

The week before that, as in next week, on April 15th, my 15-25 page paper is due. Yippee skippee, right? Luckily I'm really enjoying the research on this one. By the way, April Fools! Thanks so much for your congrats, though. That was really sweet and thoughtful! Emails, comments, etc. You guys are great. Anyway, I'm reading, Struggles for Representation: African American Documentary Film and Video and I'm alternating between loving it on one page and being absolutely vehemently in opposition to the views expressed on the next. It's crazy! I have about 9 other books my lovely book carrier, Rashan helped me transport back to my apartment from the library. So now I'm back in the throes of getting work done and trying not to get too behind on my film viewing which is such a hassle considering this book is more than 350 pages and the rest aren't exactly short, either. C'est la vie! Have a great day!

4.05.2009

Crazy Movie Lady 11

March 29-April 4, 2009
179. Chisolm '72: Unbought and Unbossed. Documentary about Chisolm's legendary run for president of the US and how she wanted to fight for change. Made me think about Barack Obama's improbable run and how he was opposed all the way but won nevertheless. It also made me think about paving the way for black women in documentary filmmaking who want to be successful on a massive scale and will make it happen. If it has to start with me, so be it.
180. This is Spinal Tap. Rock mockumentary. Silly movie. I won't become part of the cult following of this film but it did make me giggle in spots.
181. Definitely, Maybe. This movie about a divorcing father telling his 11-year-old daughter a mystery love story about how he met her mother was definitely too long, no maybe about it. If the plot was trimmed and they had removed about 20 minutes of unnecessary filler, it would have been a lot better. 1hr50 is way too much of a commitment to ask someone to make for a romantic comedy.
182. The Real Dirt on Farmer John. I was surprised to like this documentary about an eccentric farmer but I did. The story line flowed nicely despite the inclusion of a few scenes at the end that were completely irrelevant to the plot already in place and should have been in the extras.
183. My Best Fiend: Klaus Kinski. Werner Herzog documentary about his longtime actor and crazy man Klaus. The most annoying part of this movie wasn't even the antics of Kinski, but the too large percent of the film (about 25%) in German... without subtitles. Really? Why make an English version of the film if I can't understand most of Kinski's scenes?
184. The Education of Shelby Knox. Documentary about a Texas girl who tries to get comprehensive s.ex education in her school system. I wanted the story to move more cohesively. It meandered way too much for me.
185. Ma Vie En Rose. Belgian film about a little boy who desperately wants to be a little boy. Once again made me glad not to feel trapped in the wrong body. Poor thing. I kind of liked it.
186. Fatal Attraction. I don't even need to tell you what this one's about or that it's AWESOME!! I love to jump out of my skin while watching films! Wheee!!
187. The Man Who Knew Too Much. The 1934 version of the Hitchcock film about a man who's daughter was kidnapped because he knew too much after witnessing a murder. Me likey.
188. The Jane Austen Book Club. About a book club which reads only Jane Austen books. I liked it a lot. I wasn't expecting to. It made me want to read Jane Austen and also to get my book club going again. My first and only book club is now spread across 4 southern states (NC, SC, GA, FL).
189. Being There. Really bad old film with Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine about a slow gardener who's mistaken for a political savant. I had high hopes for this movie that were dashed by the few and far between comedic moments and shattered by the ending.
190. Bella. Movie about "two lost souls" who "find solace in each other." Yeah it was kind of corny in some parts and moved a bit slowly in some points but it wasn't terrible.
191. Keeping Mum. Very British comedy about a nanny with a few tricks up her sleeves who comes to right a family with issues. Wittily funny and quite fun.

4.03.2009

Animal Nut

I have this crazy classmate. We get along great until it's time to talk about animal rights. He thinks animals have souls and the only difference between an animal and a human is a bigger brain. Um, what? I don't even know where to start when refuting that statement. He also believes the must unethical thing he does is eat meat. Really? I guess if you believe animals have souls, then that does make you a bad person. But I'm not to the good part yet.

First, he said, if an apartment building was on fire and he had to save a dog he raised from a puppy or a baby he didn't know, he would save the dog. Wow. That is ridiculous.

Second he was talking about throwing paint on a fur coat and I said you better not ever do that to me. Then everyone's all up in arms about me wanting to own a fur coat. What's the problem? Fur coats are pretty. I bought it (hypothetically in the future) and if you ruin it I'm coming after you the same as if you threw fur on my leather boots. They also tried to tell me leather is okay but fur is not because the animal is being killed solely for its fur. Does an animal die or does an animal die? Because for me you can't have it both ways. You either need to be anti-fur and anti-leather and not eat meat or stop quibbling over semantics. MURDERER!!

Then, here's my favorite part, while looking at me in disgust, he says, "Well Jameil I hope an alien comes and invades the earth and kills you and wears your skin as a coat." I couldn't help but laugh. I'm dead! How will I know?? So funny and utterly insane and ridiculous at the same time. That's what you hope for me? What a sweetie. But that's not unethical, just your meat eating.

4.02.2009

Thursday 13: Things I Want NOWHERE NEAR My Wedding

1) White tuxes. This is so unacceptable. You look very very hood wearing all that white. And I don't need you competing with my blindingly white dress (which I have already designed in my head and will have made).
2) A non-dancing husband. I am a reforming party animal and this includes my wedding night. Let's get down!!
3) Orange. I hate this color. (I know, I know, it's one of my school's colors but I only allow it even on my Gator para in small doses.) Everyone who knows me knows this. I'm okay with coral, love peach, but orange? Vomit-enducing.
4) White shoes. They go right along with white tuxes. You are hard-pressed to find a cute white shoe so just stop.
5) Fondant. This is one of the most popular wedding cake additions and has been used to cover too many of them for probably more than a decade now. Everyone loves the fondant. I do not. No fondant. That being said, I don't like cake so I don't really care what the cake tastes like and hubby gets to pick that out.
6) Carnations. This is the cheapest, ugliest flower in the world. I don't want to go broke over flower arrangements so I want whatever are the prettiest flowers in season. HOWEVER carnations are not an option. Neither is baby's breath.
7) Snow. See any winter post from my time in Pittsburgh. 'Nuf said.
8) Tiaras. Not on me, not on the flower girls. Sparkling headband or hair adornment? Absolutely if it goes with the dress, but no tiaras.
9) Short or ugly bridesmaid dresses. Short fits when it's a less formal wedding. It doesn't strike my fancy when I have a long dress and hubby's in a tux along with his groomsmen and here come the bridesmaids chillin. I also don't want your ugly dresses in my photographs for LIFE so there will be no torturing the bridesmaids in that manner. All eyes will be on me regardless.
10) Very small children in the bridal party. I saw this on "Whose Wedding is It Anyway." Anyone younger than kindergarten doesn't know how to be still and may be too shy/sleepy/tantrum-throwing to go down the aisle when the big day comes. Good tip!
11) Custom vows. I don't need another thing to be bothered with writing. You know how I feel. I'm marrying him, aren't I? Plus I think the traditional ones are beautiful.
12) Short veils or trains. It's all about the DRAMA when it comes to veils and trains! I want at least a 3-foot train (up to 6 feet, yes almost a foot taller than me), possibly detachable since it will be a hassle to dance in and a detachable cathedral length veil. HAWT!!
13) Stress. At the end of the day, this is about me and the hubster and our lifelong commitment so if something small goes wrong in this ONE day, I'm pretty sure we'll be okay.

4.01.2009

Yes!!




That is what you think it is despite the crazy Mac method of flipping images on the webcam! :)