Author Archives: Pamela

I remembered what I was going to write earlier.

Bob and I watched a fantastic move last night : Breakfast on Pluto. It was a teeny bit like Big Fish but not really. I don’t know how to describe it but we were surprised how much we loved it. Great music. Fantastic tone. It has a lot of heart.

It was directed by Neil Jordan based on a novel by Patrick McCabe (which I didn’t learn until writing this post) who wrote The Butcher Boy, a book that I read a long time ago and made a big impression on me, and became a movie which I never saw.

The lead performance is fantastic and I kept telling Bob, It’s the guy from Match Point. Wow, you can’t even recognize him. It doesn’t even seem like the same guy. And that guy is Jonathan Rys Meyers who also played the dreamy soccer coach in Bend It Like Beckham.

I watched this incredible performance, trying to find a trace of the soccer coach or the fantastic performance in Match Point and was speechless.

This morning I put the DVD into this envelope and learned there was a good reason he was unrecognizable. Because the actor in this movie was Cillian Murphy. DOH!

Mr. Murphy is another great Irish actor, (der, they all look alike, those pretty Irish boys) who was in Batman Begins and another odd favorite 28 Days Later. When I say odd, I’m not referring to the movie which is a great piece of filmmaking. I refer to my own reaction because it’s a zombie movie. Not normal movie food for me. But really a brilliant film.

My other update is the fantastic dinner we made tonight.

Bob found a great piece of salmon at the farmer’s market. I had a recipe for baking that involves butter and Worcestershire sauce. I had a shallot that was rapidly aging in the fridge so I sliced it and added it to the mix. We roasted asparagus, too. And we had some strawberries that I sliced and sugared earlier this afternoon which we put over ice cream. Fantastic. The house smells incredible.

It’s Saturday, it must be Chore Day
But I’m sitting here typing.

Yesterday I got all the dahlias in. I lost a lot in the “I’m going to divide my dahlias this year disaster (scroll down to Mar 2).” But I had plenty left and I bought a bunch of new ones which you will get photos of later this summer.

Do you ever go out to the yard with more tools than you come in with? Where do those tools go? I like to use a cheap kitchen knife for lots of stuff and now I’ve been through 3. I looked through the compost and everything. Now that the dahlias, garden and flowers out front are done, I’m losing interest in gardening. That must be why my yard always looks only about one third done.

This morning I started a new book and I can hardly drag myself away. If I’m going to be unproductive, I might as well go finish it. It’s book #2 of Midnighters. Nothing better than a book you can’t wait to get back to.

I’m working on my painting project which I will write more about tomorrow. I’m taking apart my room which feels like the end of the school year in college where you take down all the crap you’ve taped to the walls and goofball mementos you’ve nailed up all year long. Except in this case, it’s been about 8 years since we’ve moved into the house.

I had more when I sat down but now I’m drawing a blank. I guess I should get back to work.

Why, Why, Oh Why Do I Go To Jantzen Beach?
Every time I try to buy something in Jantzen Beach, I regret it. It’s an awful, awful place.

Today I was all hot on this home improvement project that I will write more about later plus I had several lists for several stores for things to help out with this project.

Jantzen Beach Target is a big store filled with nothing you need but lots of cool things to buy. I got totally distracted from my mission although I did do valuable reconnaissance for future home improvement projects. I only managed to find one thing that I was actually looking for, plus a few other things that kept it from being a total wash.

Then I made the super critical error of going to my most loathed big box worthless chain store: Office Despot. I used to buy the office supplies there because it was an easy place to stop and even then I always complained about what a bad store it was.

One thing I wanted was Magic Markers. Do they even exist anymore? Did Sharpie buy up all the markers so it’s Sharpie or nothing? Because I didn’t want a Sharpie. I wanted a Magic Marker and there were none to be had. I also like these certain neon highlighters that had to be bought by the dozen, so I nixed on those. I wanted those cardboard magazine holder boxes and they had a super ugly one available only in a 6-pack (I figured I could collage them and make them pretty) or some sort of simulated leather thing that was also super ugly in a 2 pack. I know I’ve seen nice looking magazine boxes. I probably should have looked at Target.

I found one other thing on my list and went to the only line I saw, you know, the old slow guy who also has to answer the phone while all the other employees are running around doing godknowswhat? He had some complicated deal where he had to credit something and recharge something else and while he was sorting it out, I chatted with the other customer. Ten minutes later they get it all finished and old slow guy says: I’m going to ask you to go to another register. We’re closing up.

Me, aghast: After I’ve been standing here for 10 minutes?

Then, like the perpetual Ms. Congeniality that I am, I put my stuff on the counter and said: I have a better idea. I’ll spend my money somewhere else. And I stomped out.

Which, yes, really showed him. Because now I’ve been in Jantzen Beach for almost 2 hours and I have accomplished almost nothing except getting cranky. Damn you Jantzen Beach!

I Forgot To Include This Below
I found this doing a research project this week.

IRS Publication 525 Taxable and Nontaxable Income actually says this:

Bribes. If you receive a bribe, include it in your income.

Unoriginal Content

Fantastic News!!! (not the part about Legos) This September: Original Unaltered Trilogy on DVD
Fans can look forward to a September filled with classic Star Wars nostalgia, led by the premiere of LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy video game and the long-awaited DVD release of the original theatrical incarnations of the classic Star Wars trilogy.

Fungal Infections Found in Users of Eye Products
A Wall Street analyst is predicting Bausch & Lomb will be forced to issue more product recalls after the Centers for Disease Control determined that almost all of the company's ReNu eye care products were linked to severe fungal eye infections.

Apparently real Eau de PLAY-DOH – Play-Doh perfume
Those fresh-from-the-can, full-of-potenial, childhood memories. Now in a convenient spray.

New fave site: Vegan Lunch Box Sample menu item:
For lunch I made cream cheese spirals: wholegrain dough spread with vegan cream cheese and a sprinkle of chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, thyme, and dill), rolled up like a cinnamon roll, cut it into slices, and baked.

I read this not because I’m vegan but because I marvel at the time and trouble this woman goes through to prepare her kid lunch. I don’t put this much effort into my own meals. If I had kids and I made them lunch and they were vegan, those poor kids would be eating almond butter on celery sticks every day.

Yesterday I thought it was a fluke but this morning I had to wonder. Why are my pants baggy and my arms can barely fit in my shirts? How did my ass shrink while my arms got fatter? Is is possible I’ve finally achieved my goal of looking like Popeye?

The shirts I wore today and yesterday are for warmer weather and had been in the back of the closet since September. I got crazy and washed them before wearing them instead of wearing them all wrinkled and spotted from when I shoved them in the back of the closet last Fall. Then I carefully ironed them. I only iron about 3 times a year so this is indeed, big news.

So where the armhole shrinking part comes in, is that I buttoned the cuffs and both shirts are the style where you roll up the sleeve up to the elbow and there’s a little tab you button to hold them up. If I had my camera handy I’d show you a picture. It looked very nice and neat while I was ironing but the buttoning makes the opening too small for my Popeye arms.

I’m almost always running late on Wednesday mornings for reasons that aren’t clear so I unbuttoned the tabs and rolled the sleeves down, unbuttoned the cuffs, shoved my puffy arms in and then put on a sweater over the droopy sleeves. It’s a fantastic look.

I don’t know what to tell you people about the redesign. When the weather is nice, I’d rather be outside working. And after busting ass in the yard all day, the last thing I want to do is sit at the computer.

The other thing working against us is that Frodo’s color display has gone all plonky again. This happened at the end of last year and I made some calls and it’s not uncommon with the eMac and I can’t remember precisely what it is, a tube or board or something, but for what it would cost to fix I could be a third of the way to a new computer, so why bother?

Bob and I talked about buying a new computer and Frodo must have heard because all of a sudden he flickered a few times and color was back. He’s out again so playing with photoshop, photos or anything with colors is a drag. Bob needs a new computer, too and we’re not made of money so I’m not sure how we’re going to proceed. I’ll probably deal with it as is for awhile longer.

One project I managed this weekend was I did all my mending and hemming and I cleaned out my closet and drawers. It seems like I just did that but there were dustbunnies the size of VWs in the closet. For someone who loves to throw things away, I have a hard time in the closet. I have several items of clothing that I rarely wear and would never miss except they were gifts and I don’t want to get rid of them. There are shoes that I haven’t worn in decades but I hang onto: just in case I need a pair of heels. Which I haven’t in decades. I did grab my heels to wear with my holiday outfit and they didn’t even fit. My feet have shrunk. I was going to toss them yesterday except they don’t take up that much room and they are a link to my eighties rockergirl past. They are part of the PamSmithsonian. I don’t need that much new stuff. Maybe a pair of light pants and definitely a pair of shoes.

So did anyone else notice all the crusty old songs broken out for TV shows this week? Probably not since no one has my exact show scheme. (I’m glad we’re getting to the end of the TV season as well, because when the weather is good, I don’t like spending a lot of time in front of the TV, either.) Did the Doors just have some sort of meeting of the minds in terms of pimping out their music for TV? I have a vague recollection of something but too lazy to look it up right now.

Riders on the Storm was in both Invasion and Alias. Music should enhance the viewer’s experience (see: Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola) not bring attention to itself (see Invasion, Alias). I thought Riders was a bit distracting on both shows although it was used to better effect in Invasion. It had nothing to do with anything in Alias. Supernatural had Carry On My Wayward Son which was also distracting and one of my favorite songs when it came out. I’d listen to it over and over and over and over and over and couldn’t imagine there would ever be a moment when this wasn’t my favorite song. I still like it.

The Sopranos also had a classic song but I can’t remember what it is and my attempts to track down that information led to sites that were downloading so slow they were going backwards. That doesn’t have anything to do with the work walk out today, does it?

Last tidbit this morning I have the thermostat turned incredibly low but the heater bumped on the last two mornings. And, there was ice on my windshield.

Last night was my last class at my second yoga home downtown. Yoga Bhoga is moving across the river next month. It isn’t far, but too far to walk from the office which means I have to drive. It’s not bad, just not as nice as walking.

I have about 80 things I want to do today and sitting here typing is not one of them. See ya.