what i’ve been watching
26
Aug 10
A hodgepodge, mishmash, melange, medley, jumble, gallimaufry, farrago of a blog post
Working with words all day, of course I have to say more than just “hodgepodge.”
Earlier this week, San Francisco had a mini heat wave. Three days of temps in the upper 80s and low to mid 90s. Of course here it’s not too humid, but the sun is much stronger, and walking around on Tuesday was killer. MB and I had lunch in Union Square, and there was absolutely no one sunning himself. Everyone was hiding in the shade – aside from one drunk homeless guy – and all the birds were breathing with their beaks wide open, a definite sign of hotness.
It was tough to sleep even with both ceiling fans going and MB’s ghetto A/C (the bathtub filled with cold water). Thank goodness yesterday it started to cool down. By the time I got home, it was foggy and chilly, and last night was prefectly cool and comfortable.
Carolina Baker over at GirlHabits interviewed me, and the write-up is now up. It was a lot of fun, and some of my own answers surprised me. When I thought about what I wanted to be known for, I realized I didn’t really want to be known for anything. It’s funny how others’ perception of me isn’t that big of a concern anymore. I mean, in individual situations, sure. Are people interested in something I’ve written? Am I saying something different? Am I being putting myself out there enough before calling out other people? But I’m not too concerned with how I come off, or how I’m known, apart from my writing.
The superpower question was fun too. At first I thought, Of course I’d fly or be invisible, but then I realized more than anything, I want to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Echo from Dollhouse. I want to be essentially normal except that I’m very strong and fast and can kick anyone’s butt.
We just started watching The Wire. I know: two years too late. I’d always heard it mentioned and thought it was about a newspaper for some reason. But it’s not. It’s about police in Baltimore and it’s a damned good show. At first I thought it was a little boring, but now I’m completely obsessed by it. We’re finishing up season 1 tonight. No spoilers please!
My boss lent me Kathleen Norris’ Saturday’s Child, a novel written back around 1915 and set at that time in San Francisco. It’s kind of fluffy but I’m enjoying it all the same. It’s basically a romance between a young working woman and a rich flighty dude. I love all the mentions of SF, as well as what everyone is wearing and what they’re eating.
Well that’s enough of this farrago. Off to the gym and yoga!
30
May 10
Prince of Persia, Prince of Puke
Last night MB and I saw Prince of Persia, despite its dismal ratings on Metacritic. We figured a) Clash of the Titans did even worse and we didn’t think it was that bad, and b) how terrible could a film be coming from the guy who did the Pirates of the Caribbean (at least the first one)?
How bad? Very very bad. A stinker. Literally.
First off, Jake Gyllenhaal looks about as un-Persian as you can get. It’s not just the blue eyes, but his features are so, I dunno, American. I even accept all the British accents. It’s a way to make the movie seem old and otherworldly, otherwise we can never forget that, say, Tom Cruise is heiling Hitler. But Jake’s face? No, sorry.
Second, it was boring. Yes, there’s lots of action, but that’s all there is. No build up, not much susspense. I found myself daydreaming throughout much of it, and at times thought, Goddammit, just do whatever you need to do with that fucking dagger so we can all go home!
Third, love story = lame. A contrived love interest in an action flick is a pet peeve of mine, but this was worse than usual. The I-hate-you-but-secretly-want-to-do-you “banter” between Gyllenhaal and that same chick from Clash of the Titans (playing basically the same character) was, how can I put it. . .wanh wanh waaanh. No Brendan Fraser-Rachel Weisz were they.
And by the sixth almost-kiss scene, I wanted to throw my shoe at the screen.
Fourth, the whole time traveling thing is a cop-out. Might as well as say it was all a dream.
Fifth, and I have to admit this is not the movie’s fault, someone’s feet smelled. We were sitting there, peacefully watching the movie, when suddenly a cloud of stinky foot odor washed over us. We looked at each other like, What the hell is that? I can only guess that someone near us thought it’d be a good idea to take their shoes on and off throughout the whole film so we could be intermittently enveloped in vapors of odoriferousness.
The only redeeming quality of the film was Ben Kingsley, who in my book can do no wrong. He was the only one who got Jake Gyllenhaal to actually act instead of just flexing his guns and batting his pretty eyelashes.
But good ol’ Ben wasn’t enough to save Prince of Persia. When I got home, I had to take a shower to wash off the stank, from both Mr. Stinky’s feet and the movie.
10
May 10
Babbly little update
It was nice to take a small break from writing this weekend, after last week’s busy schedule. I did work on stuff, but in a leisurely way.
I’ve decided to continue with my corporate mystery. I can’t remember if I wrote about this, but I was going to throw in the towel since I was so bored writing it. I had an idea for another novel, but I was just as bored starting that. At least with the corporate mystery, the characters are more developed in my head, and I know where the story is going.
We saw Iron Man 2 over the weekend. I was expecting it to be lame, but we both enjoyed it. I had read something about “too many villains,” but I didn’t think there were, especially compared to that one Batman.
I finished the fifth Harry Potter and now am reading Love in the Time of Cholera. I like it, but I really love the Harry Potter books. Just two more in the series!
This weekend I started my “diet,” which for me means “not eating like a pig” as well as making sure I eat enough so I don’t binge later. For instance, at Nick’s Crispy Tacos, I usually just get one fish taco (fried: baby steps), which doesn’t quite fill me up and then I end up eating a meal at 4, as well as dinner at 8. So this time I added the tortilla soup, which was AMAZING by the way. That satisfied me but I didn’t feel stuffed and gross.
I have to remember to incorporate soup whenever I can. One, I love it. Two, clear soups are pretty healthy I think, usually full of veggies and lean meat. Three, like I said, they’re filling but don’t make you feel gross.
Last night we had fish dinners at Grub Stake, and I refrained from eating my potatoes. Just my salmon and veggies. MB got an apple crumble dessert and I had just a bite to taste it. Later I had part of Luna Bar for my “dessert.”
Today I need to work out!
In other news, I finally got an interview! I haven’t had any luck so for this particular position, I decided to have fun and be honest. My application email wasn’t so much an application as an essay incorporating what they asked for. Not a dense essay but sort of ranty and conversational, the way I write some stuff for The Nervous Breakdown. The interview’s on Wednesday.
