Glurgsday

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Glurg.

That’s kind of how I feel this morning, and I don’t even know what “glurg” is. Just sounds right.

I think once I get back home from this meeting in Columbus, I’ll be less glurgish. In 15 minutes, I need to be hitting the showers and the road. Does THAT sound familiar? Oy. Maybe that’s why I’m glurg-y this morning. It is right around the corner. It starts unbelievably early this year. Usually, it starts around my birthday, on the 25th of next month. But this year, faculty have to report on what…the 16th? (Hey, that’s our fiend Stoney’s birthday.)

It makes my tummy get all glurg’d up.

Not sure what to expect this year; there are some huge changes, not only in my program, but in the district as well. Y’know…I used to love big changes. The anticipation and the mystery were real motivators. Now? Not so much. I know, I’m showing my age. But can’t a girl just want some peace, and not all this upheaval? Honestly. People just need to SIMMA DOWN.

OK, I’m fine now. :-)

I just found out that an old girlfriend of mine from high school moved back to the area after living in Florida for decades. It’ll be good to see her again after all these many moons. If all goes well, we’re meeting at Bux tomorrow. How about you? Any plans for the weekend I need to know about/approve? Let fly.

FO — to Columbus and beyond. Glurg.

Guilty pleasure

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I admit it. I have a free account at the Norwalk Reflector so I can read the neverending cavalcade of completely asinine, idiotic, crack-brained comments on the articles. Hahahaaaaa

I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!  :mrgreen:

All right, be serious here. Cake Decorating Class #2 coming up tonight — I’m ready for it! I’ve been practicing all week (two cakes baked and hours of pastry bag practice), so I’m hoping I won’t look like a total dork in front of my classmates tonight. En garde…here we go!

Review: Moonrise Kingdom

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Just enough dysfunction to be interesting; just enough precociousness to be endearing; just enough fairy story to be completely enjoyable. Such was the recipe for Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson’s (Rushmore, The Life Aquatic, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited) new film.

It’s 1964, and Suzy and Sam, two serious, intelligent, square-peg 12-year-olds, have gone missing on a New England island called New Penzance, having run away from their unhappy lives in order to get married. Suzy, the daughter of two estranged, dysphoric lawyers escapes into the jungle-like recesses of the island with foster child Sam, who gathers a bunch of camping supplies and deserts his fellow Khaki Scouts to make a life in the wild with his new lady.

Understandably, this causes the scoutmaster (Edward Norton) and the girl’s parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) a great deal of panic, and the search is on. Led by the bumbling and gentle-spirited police chief Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis, in a refreshing departure from his standard tough-guy roles), they all set out to find the kids.

As is Anderson’s signature style, the characters are all slightly…how do you say…off. Quirky. Not quite in control of their situations, but likable enough for you to want them to be. The child actors are perfect: deadpan and serious and totally effective — yet entertaining, in a Macaulay Culkin/Home Alone kind of way. And as my awesome fiend and Finkite Tom Hanks pointed out, no words are wasted. (We agreed the same about Aaron Sorkin, by the way.) Every line means something; there are no fillers.

This wasn’t a silly story with a happy ending. This was a silly story with a happy ending where you walk out of the theater just a bit ennobled, and maybe a little nostalgic for your own private reasons. It was OK that Suzy’s parents were still struggling in their marriage, or that we really don’t know what happened with Captain Stark’s previous unrequited love relationship. In other words, nothing about the ending — while it was satisfying and basically hopeful — smacked of contrived, predictable Hollywood drivel. While the characters were not well-rounded (not by a longshot), they were well-portrayed. That alone earns it another half a cheese.

Of course, the best part of the afternoon was picking TH’s awesome cinematic brain about filmmaking and what he looks for in a movie. Not only is seeing films with him fun, it’s educational. I always learn something new after talking with him.

So. First off, if you’re a Wes Anderson fan, this will be an instant favorite. If you’re not, or if you have little patience for not-quite-balanced people trying to deal with life in outrageous situations, you may want to take a pass. I’m somewhere in the middle, and I loved it. And Bill Murray was great.

On the Rat-O-Meter scale of five cheeses, I give Moonrise Kingdom:

Images: Focus Features

Running start

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Whee!

J’ever just hit the floor running from a dead sleep? I haven’t done it in years, until this morning. I’m comatose, and suddenly, a white, puffy puppy (we’re entertaining — and being entertained by — Drago, while BFF Kay and Bob are in Chicago for the weekend) jumps up and says, “OK, I’m ready — take me outside NOW!” *wagging tail thrumming body crazy miniature canine playful growl*

So I’m like whooooa, git up, and hit the carpet. Barefoot, even. And those who know me know I *never* walk about the house with no moccasins on. The Thriller must have noticed the bizarre state of things, too, because he said to me from the kitchen while I had dogs outside, “Good morning — I brought your phone downstairs.” HA. I’m rarely without that thing, either.

I’ve never been a person who “needs time” in the morning. I can get out of bed, go down and make coffee, and have a conversation if I need to. I like my quiet time, no doubt, but I don’t go all Linda Blair if someone needs to talk to me before 7 a.m. (Truthfully, I think the whole “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee” is a lame crutch; an excuse to be mean and get away with it.)

Speaking of time in the morning — gotta go make the best of it. Still much to do, and on today’s menu: choir music for school. Goin’ shoppin’, goin’ shoppin’…always fun with someone else’s money.  :mrgreen: Then there’s the Sunday Big Three tonight: True Blood, The Newsroom, and the premiere of the final season ( :-( ) of Breaking Bad. Wahoo!

Aaaand the inevitable

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Yep, I’m on about stuff this morning.

I hate it when things pile up on my desk and in my brain, and I feel like I can’t do anything about it. Too many things to do beforehand, making it so there’s not enough time to tackle it now. Frustrations are mounting. Before I suck it up and get on with it, I will barf it out onto the page, to wit:

  1. I have got to get started on choreography and song selection for Dinner Theatre, but I just can’t carve out the time this week. Is that insane or what? I’m on summer break, fuh cripesake.
  2. I practiced for an hour yesterday, and still can’t get the icing roses right. My wrist has now fallen off.
  3. I have webmaster stuff for three different sites to take care of, and I haven’t even begun. Time’s a-wastin’.
  4. Can’t believe I’m worrying about all this garbage when the Js will be here for a visit within the next 45 minutes.
  5. Rousseau is moving ever more slowly. We could see the difference even after the 12 short days we were gone. It’s weighing on my mind and heart like a big ol’ boulder.
  6. Many changes are coming at school for me this fall, and I’ve done nothing to prepare for them. Calgon…
  7. I hate my hair. Time to make the call.
  8. My house needs a deep cleaning. It’s bugging me to death.

So, you say, “Why sit there and complain? Get up and do something about it!”

Why thank you, fiend. I will do just that. So STOP YELLING AT ME

:P (You know I luv you.) And it’s Finkday, for all you private sector cats. Rejoice and be glad! Have a party! Eat chocolate! Read a book! Wear a lampshade! I’m with you in spirit.

FO