A List In Numerical Order

It’s almost noon and I’m still farting around here. I need to buckle down and get to work. I have a list of numerous non-related items for blogging. I was going to post last night but I couldn’t connect. Technology: it’s not magic.

Item #1 — the Oregonian, not my favorite newspaper, had an article about blogging in the Living Section recently. Everything in the Oregonian living section feels like old news. It’s like they get their ideas by looking at what everybody else has already done, especially if it was done, like, three years ago.

Item #2 — we finally saw Punch Drunk Love last night. What a weird movie. I didn’t hate it but I’m not sure it totally worked. I liked seeing Adam Sandler doing something interesting for a change and Paul Thomas Anderson knows how to create a deep feeling of dread in his audience, and the scene with the sisters was great, but there were moments in the soundtrack that made me want to stick forks in my ears and I don’t think the story hung together very well. It was like since everyone gave him a hard time for Boogie Nights and Magnolia for being so long, so he whacked up this thing just to prove that he could and stuff felt disjointed and chopped up.

Item #3 — My book reading is unmanageable at the moment. I keep starting new books. I have at least four books on my night table with bookmarks but at least three more in my room. And whenever I have a moment to sit down and read, I find myself opening a new book. Probably not a real problem but the situation comes into conflict with my “project oriented” approach to living in which I like things to have a beginning and middle and end and dislike loose ends.

Item #4 — I sent a check to Movieline in November and still haven’t rec’d a magazine. I’m going to have to follow up on that.

Item #5 — I was at the library a couple of weeks ago (see item #3 on compulsive book reading) and I couldn’t decide between two books so the deal-maker was that one book had a note in it from a previous borrower. If the scanner was handy I’d post it — it’s a small sheet of yellow paper and on one side the person (guess: female) had her shopping list. She needed light bulbs and jewelry from Fred Meyer and deep conditioner and car supplies from WalMart. She also had holiday shopping items like snowboard pants or a scarf/hat for Meg and other ideas included guitar lessons and a Starbucks giftcertificate. On the other side she has notes for a health problem: something in throat, AM sickest, Nauseous, must eat but don’t want too. Also: sharp pains in ribs/back. The killer was the note at the top: I [heart] hummus.

Item #6 — I had another dream about my High School reunion. This time it was like a high school reunion Xmas party and Antje (not from H.S.) was there making me drinks. What are these recurring H.S. dreams all about? Is there some old business I need to revisit?

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Extra Scratchy

I have long recovered from my cold but the inside of my nose still feels like extra-scratchy sandpaper. I was looking forward to getting back into my routine, but now that I’m back into my routine I’m feeling like I’m rushing around and never getting anything done. I’m sure there is some meaningful insight in that last statement but I’ll think about it later when I get a chance.

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Binge TV

I think there might have to be a new rule that I’m not allowed to have a TV series on DVD. I watched the entire first season of 24 in about five days. I got Felicity for my birthday and I only watched one episode the first couple of nights but this weekend was a Felicity binge and I kept finding myself drifting away from my other projects to watch “just for a minute.” But if I did get another TV series on DVD it would be Buffy or any of the first three seasons of XFiles.

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Dinner for 5

Bob watched the original Solaris the other night which led to this discussion about Steven Soderbergh. So I asked Bob if he was going to do his Dinner For Five who would the five be: Soderbergh, Coen Brothers, Bob and who would be the fifth? And after a split second Bob said, “Jennifer Tilly.” And I said, “Um, gee. That’s an interesting group.” And he said, “I just think she’d be fun at a party.”

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A Form of Aggression

I forgot to say Happy New Year yesterday. They were talking about the futility of New Years resolutions in the paper and I was thinking that I haven’t made a resolution in a long time. Pema Chodron says “the desire to change is fundamentally a form of aggression towards yourself.” She goes on to say that our hang-ups contain our wealth. She says the idea isn’t to get rid of your [weakness or bad habit or whatever] but to make friends with it and see it clearly. (The Wisdom of No Escape, Shambhala pp. 14-15.) I’m going to see how far I can work this idea on my stuff this year.

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Adult Onset Fear of Dogs

This morning I walked to the mailbox to toss our stuff in so I took a different route for my walk and I got bit three times by a dog. I wasn’t even in the dog’s yard — he ran out of his yard, fangs bared to come get me. Of course I started freaking out while trying to remember what to do when attacked by a dog and I was pretty sure you weren’t supposed to start freaking out. It’s hard to stand still (advice) when something is jumping on you and biting you and growling at you. Some little girl calls him back and takes him in the house and shuts the door. No “sorry,” no “are you okay?” which makes me even more pissed. Since it’s cold I had on several layers so none of the bites broke the skin and two of them didn’t even make a red mark. There’s a tiny red mark on my hand so I suppose I’ll survive but I’m still feeling sorry for myself and vindictive towards these people and their mean dog Charlie.

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THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MY BIRTHDAY

1. It rained all day. Bucket after bucket. We went for a walk in the morning but good thing because that was the last chance. The gutter on the front of the house is screwed up and creating a large gully in my flowerbed.

2. OMSI: We saw Attack of the Clones on IMAX at OMSI. It was so cool I thought I would cry.

3. MINT: We tried a new restaurant in North Portland industrial area (sorta?). I tried a Splash: tequilla, mandarin puree, lemon lime juice and a float of amaretto. I could imagine drinking a bucket of these. We tried a bunch of stuff, I wish I was better at names. I had a spicy soup with lobster broth and mussels and prawns that was fabulous and we shared a dessert of spiced apple flan. It was a fantastic birthday.

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Crushingly Tedious

Well, starting in on 24 wasn’t such a great idea. All I want to do is glue my butt to the couch and keep watching. I’m doling it out to myself. I watch an episode, then I do something from my list. I just answered back all my snail mail correspondence so now it’s time for another episode.

I’m still coughing and gagging but I got a decent night’s sleep and exercised this morning. I think I’m about 48 hours away from optimum health.

Bob gave me Collected Screenplays 1 by Ethan and Joel Coen for xmas printed by Faber and Faber Ltd in the UK — one of our favorite publishers. The intro by Roderick Jaynes is hilarious (yes, I’m in on the joke). My favorite line is when he describes the explanation of Barton Fink as “crushingly tedious.” You have to read the whole essay to get the full flavor.

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No One Went Hungry

Joe Strummer died. How tragic and unfair is that?

We’re back from Cali and a fantastic time was had by all. I ate roughly 100 times my body weight in a matter of several days and my exercise program went out the window between the rush for writing class, the weather, and the travel. Once you let that momentum go, inertia rushes in. I think that’s an oxymoron and probably defies principles of physics, but it happens to be true. I made the Cook’s Illustrated shrimp Creole gumbo recipe and it rocked on 10 planets. Everyone thought so. I can’t wait to make it again. I also made a big breakfast strata and brought up a basket of lunch meat and wurst from the German deli. Mom made 4 kinds of cookies, all my favorites and any time there was tasting to be done, I had to eat one of each. Let me just emphasize that no one went hungry.

The drive down was perfect weather: clear and sunny. The drive home consisted of grey, hard rain continuously from Happy Camp to Albany but no snow on the pass which was nice. We were prepared for the worst.

I’m recovering from a nasty cold. I have zero patience when other people complain about their colds, but man, a cold is so rotten. And I couldn’t sleep because of all the gagging, phlegmy coughing so yesterday we bought a cough suppressant which had something in it that kept me awake. At least I wasn’t coughing. I managed to finish all the reading in the drawer and half of Lee Maracle’s book Will’s Garden. We’re still unpacking stuff and cleaning up, doing laundry, restocking the fridge, etc. We got the boxed set of 24 for xmas and I broke that open. I suspect I will be glued to the screen for some time.

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Newsletter Time

Pam Newsletter 2002 is up.

It could probably use some editing and tweaking but I don’t have the energy right now so this is what you get. Enjoy.

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