Monthly Archives: August 2011

Weekend warrior

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I have no clue what that means, but it sounds good to me for today and tomorrow.

Things are bizzy around the Fink warren. I’ve been up since 6, paying bills, calling my vision insurance company (funny how it falls to the customer to solve the problems between insurance and doctors), making a grocery list and getting ready to dig into the JECO website for the first time to do some much-needed updating. I need to order my fall bulbs, get in the shower, do the errands and get ready for Drago’s 6-day visit with us, while BFF Kay and Bob are in Pennsylvania. Should be a hoot, having a puppy in the house along with Old Granddad Rousseau.

So, all that and a bag of chips. Monday it’s all day at school, then Tuesday the insanity officially begins. Again: my life is one big party.

What about you? I hope you’ve planned something relaxing and fun for the weekend. Do tell.

Review: The Help

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BFF Kay and I went to see The Help yesterday, and I can tell you one thing for sure: do not leave home without a box of Kleenex. Another thing, as with all movies: you need to suspend a little disbelief.

This engaging, “you go, girl!” story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, during the very beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement. It was the norm for wealthy white folk to have black maids who not only cooked and cleaned, but nannied (and in many cases, actually reared) their children — children who spent their childhood years loving and growing quite attached to the maids, but who grew up to treat the women like slaves.

The script was harsh at times. You can’t have a period film about racism and that not be the case. Yet, as I think back on the movie, there were A) attempts to downplay what likely took place back then, and B) overblown stereotypes, designed to sway the audience. I know, that sounds overgeneralized. Here are some for instances:

  • The Klan was mentioned only once (almost whispered), and never portrayed. And we’re talking Mississippi here, people –– the epicenter of racial violence in the early 60s.
  • Abilene, the maid (played brilliantly by Viola Davis — you will no doubt hear her name when Oscar nominations come out) lives alone in the outskirt slums of Jackson, but owns what one would consider a lower middle-class home — simple, but clean and almost roomy — complete with running water, modern appliances, and a telephone. That just seemed “off” to me.
  • Hilly Holbrook (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), the film’s snooty antagonist, is so mean, it’s hard to take her seriously as a contributing character. She’s more like sick comic relief, particularly when she receives some tasty revenge from a maid. She never struck me as a real character so much as a well-acted caricature.

However, there’s a bright side, and it’s a big one.

The performances by the primary and secondary leads were a delight. No one misfired or failed to deliver. With the highest of highs and rock-bottom lows, this film rates 100% on the emotion scale. Kay and I were both alternately giggling like teenagers or bawling like fools. Some mother-daughter scenes between lead character Skeeter and her mom, played nicely by Allison Janney, hit particularly close to home. Oh, and it was great to see Cicely Tyson on film again.

There is no doubt that this is a woman’s empowerment movie. There’s not a single male lead (and it was fun to see Lafayette from True Blood playing a nice guy!). Many times, films with heavy female dominance tend to stick it to men. Not this one. Women are the heroes and the villains in this story, and all are played well, if not a bit over the top. A bit. The story is a smidgen slow in places (almost two and a half hours runtime), but totally satisfying. The writers and actors did their jobs: we both bawled on cue. :-)

Oh, and a confession: During a scene where Skeeter sits at a typewriter and corrects a mistake, I leaned over to Kay and said, “No way they had Liquid Paper back in 1964.” Thought I caught them in an anachronism. Alas, I was wrong.

Still, it was a fantastic story, well acted. It was easy to cheer at the end — and you don’t hear people applauding at the end of a movie very often anymore. That was nice, too. Go see it.

On the Rat-O-Meter scale of five cheeses, I give The Help:

Insomniatica

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Today I am Rattus norvegicus insomniatus, mistress of sleep deprivation. OK I just made that up. But why have I been awake since 2:30 a.m.? Well, it goes down like this every mid-August. I know I’m coming up on the last week before school starts, and the hyperdrive brain functions kick back in. Infuriating. Pavlovian, even. My hours of sleep time will now be inversely proportional to the number of commitments I have the following day. Tell ya what, it just makes me mad.

But hey, enough complaining. I am beyond fortunate to even have a job I can lose sleep over. After what BoomR and others have been through, I should be nothing but grateful, which I am. Just not today. :P

What do you do when you can’t shut off your brain? I’ve tried:

  1. visualizing being on the beach at night, listening to a calm sea
  2. silently counting backwards from 1000
  3. self-talk (“relax, go to sleep, it can all wait”)

As much as I want it to work, it never does. And reading or a glass of warm milk (eewwwww) doesn’t cut it, either. Once I’m up, I’m up. Can’t take any over-the-counter sleep meds because they give me restless legs.

So what — am I just out of luck here? Fortunately it doesn’t happen every night; rather, just once a week or so. Indeed, we throw the term “insomnia” around pretty casually, when in fact, it’s a serious chronic disorder, unlike occasional sleeplessness, which is what I suffer from. Still, it throws a huge pipe wrench into the following day. I mean, I know we’re supposed to sleep less as we get older, but criminetly…

Upside: I get to have breakfast with Bando this morning. That’s worth staying up for all by itself. Not so sure about the Cowboys and Aliens matinee with the Thriller this afternoon, though. ZzzZzzzzzZZZzz….

RNF XLIX

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This is one of those “do NOT go there” sites, especially if you provide some kind of contracted service for people. This particular site is populated by graphic and web designers, and they share their true stories from the battlefield. I couldn’t stop reading; it was like watching a wreck, except funny. Some personal favorites:

CLIENT: We want a website that looks minimalist and fresh, like [a local department store]’s.

ME: That’s a great starting point

CLIENT: The most important feature is professionalism. Clean lines, lots of white space, so our customers know we mean business.

ME: Sounds great! Any other fundamentals?

CLIENT: Have you seen the website for Chiquita Banana?

ME: I – no, I’ll have to check it out. What do you like about the site?

CLIENT: It has these cute bananas with sunglasses that walk around and dance and stuff. We want something like that.

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CLIENT: This website is about GOOD wholesome music! No Lady googoo, or the Mr Cisco thong song, or, uh, Ozzy Osmund. Just good wholesome music.”

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CLIENT: We need to submit our app to the store before it closes for the weekend—what time does the app store close on Friday nights?

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At the grocery:

CLIENT: “Aren’t you supposed to be designing my brochure?”

ME: “It’s Sunday morning. I’m just buying milk because I ran out.”

CLIENT: “Oh, you did? Well, what should we do then if we run out of time for the project, huh? Just leave the last two pages blank and write ‘sorry, ran out of milk’ on them?”

ME: “I don’t know why you’re getting so upset over this.”

CLIENT: “I don’t know why you can’t just eat your cereal dry.”

ME: “What!?”

CLIENT: “I just… Okay, sorry I snapped. I just came from church. That place leaves me feeling so angry for some reason.”

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CLIENT: Last night I dreamed that the site was made out of roast pork and corn juice. I know it sounds strange, but I really like the essence of the idea. Can you do something with that, with the essence of the idea?

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CLIENT: … And whenever anyone refreshes the page, the opening of “The Circle of Life” will play as loud as possible. Does anyone own rights to that song?”

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CLIENT: “Oh and by the way, we don’t want you to draw udders on the cows.”

ME: “Why not?”

CLIENT: “It’s too suggestive.”

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And the best one, especially for musicians…

CLIENT: What do you mean, ‘payment?’ You told me you were freelancing!”

Haaaa

Just when I think I’ve heard the strangest things ever, working in public education…

Off to have coffee with Meg. :-) Happy Monday, if there is such a thing.

Crabby? Me?

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Do you ever finish a yummy breakfast and your stomach is full but your mouth is still hungry? I hate that. Had a fantastic strawberry-pineapple-mango-vanilla yogurt smoothie this morning, drank it all down (a huge cup and a half serving for about 150 skinny calories) — and then it was over. I wasn’t even nearly done tasting it yet. Well, that tends to make me a skosh tetchy. So naturally, I have to make everyone around me tetchy as well. I’m just awesome like that. :-)

This morning I happened on a site that seems to be run by a young gal who asks people to submit quotes to her, after which she puts them on interesting pictures and offers them as graphics for your website, Facebook page, MySpace profile, cubicle, desk, bedroom wall, etc.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find these incredibly heavy, deep sayings a trifle annoying? A little over-dramatic, mayhap? Heaven knows we’re all (even I, gasp!) given to histrionics and lengthy rantings now and then, and even the occasional lofty discourse, right? I generally try to avoid all three. But sometimes the situation becomes untenable, and I have to, well, tetch. It’s Snark Week, after all. :P

I mean, look at these. Seriously.

 

How about we elect this guy to the school board.

 

a n d then, i ran o u t of meth

 

Um…

 

Shut up, hippie. I will cut you.

 

As I am cloaked in failure.

 

daisyrifle daisyrifle daisyrifle daisyr

 

The only thing worse than quoting Jerry Maguire? Quoting Olivia Newton-John.

 

As outer Mongolia leads to China.

 

Son…

 

OK OK. I’ll quit. Actually, I’m not feeling that surly anymore. Writing to you has cured me. Besides, today is a good day; I’m going to get a lot done this morning after getting lots done last night. Then, this afternoon, the Js come for a sleepover, and there’s a Browns game on tonight. A good Saturday indeed. Hope yours is fab!