A majority in the gifted population.
Paper is not dead.
The world's most amazing all-terrain high-altitude human.
Curiosity's big news.
Chocolate-flavored stamps.
And the nerds shall inherit the earth, or at least the video game worlds.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
War Horse
I wrote two days ago about how Mom and I went to see the Emmylou Harris concert the Sunday night that she was here. What I had originally planned to do that night was go see War Horse at the Fox, but I had only bought a single ticket. I gave it to my cousin A instead, but Mom very generously bought me another ticket for Wednesday night instead!
The show was awesome, but so, so intense. I saw the movie some time ago, so I knew how it was going to end, but the action takes you right up until the last minute. And I suppose it's a good thing that the show was never dull, because it was long - almost 2 hours and 45 minutes.
During that time, it's amazing to see what the crew can do with the mechanical horses (and the smaller animals too). It was easy to forget they weren't real, and I didn't find the crew members who were controlling them to be distracting at all; they did a great job of staying out of the sight line between the horse and the audience.
Perhaps the most notable thing about this play (and the movie) is its poignancy. The human protagonist is pure of heart and mission, a stark contrast to all the conflicted, often-hard-to-like main characters that are popular today. It's a simple story - a boy and his horse trying to find their way back to each other - but a good, classic one.
The show was awesome, but so, so intense. I saw the movie some time ago, so I knew how it was going to end, but the action takes you right up until the last minute. And I suppose it's a good thing that the show was never dull, because it was long - almost 2 hours and 45 minutes.
During that time, it's amazing to see what the crew can do with the mechanical horses (and the smaller animals too). It was easy to forget they weren't real, and I didn't find the crew members who were controlling them to be distracting at all; they did a great job of staying out of the sight line between the horse and the audience.
Perhaps the most notable thing about this play (and the movie) is its poignancy. The human protagonist is pure of heart and mission, a stark contrast to all the conflicted, often-hard-to-like main characters that are popular today. It's a simple story - a boy and his horse trying to find their way back to each other - but a good, classic one.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Weekend with Mom
Mom came in town to visit me last weekend (two weekends ago, I guess). It was a pretty last-minute trip, so we didn't have much in the way of plans. She arrived on Friday around lunch time, and I briefly escaped from work to retrieve her from the airport, but then I had to go back. While I was toiling away, Mom saw some old friends then picked up Mai Lee for us for dinner.
Saturday morning we started off by taking R the Wonderdog on a nice long walk, then ventured out into the suburbs to do some errands. This is Saturday, March 16th we're talking about, so all the St. Patrick's Day festivities were in full swing. We made it back downtown in time to go to a pig roast at A's house, though by the time we made it up to the roof, the pork was mostly gone! There was still plenty of other food and lots of beer, so it was all good. Mom was a social butterfly on Saturday night, but I stayed home to sort through some boxes and do brunch prep for Sunday.
Oh, but before mom left to go out, we did some handiwork. Remember way back when I had my housewarming party? Well, my friend E found the perfect housewarming gift, but I wasn't sure where to hang it. Mom to the rescue!
The brunch, which really would have qualified as lunch time-wise, except that we had breakfast food, was me, Mom, and C, who ventured downtown to join us. We ended our day with a trip over to the Peabody to see Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, along with Richard Thompson as the opener. Good show!
I really liked Richard Thompson's Keep Your Distance (acoustic version) and Tear-Stained Letter (1984 version; 2013 version, with a pretty wicked solo starting at 3:30). As far as Emmylou and Rodney, who played the whole concert together, I loved Earthbound (studio version) and of course the classic Pancho and Lefty (live version).
Our last hurrah was lunch Monday with G&G at Cafe Napoli (I escaped from work again!). I don't know why I was so hungry, but I went through about a basket of bread, the ravioli special, and a dessert! Sheesh.
Anyway, it was great to see you Mom, thanks for coming!
Saturday morning we started off by taking R the Wonderdog on a nice long walk, then ventured out into the suburbs to do some errands. This is Saturday, March 16th we're talking about, so all the St. Patrick's Day festivities were in full swing. We made it back downtown in time to go to a pig roast at A's house, though by the time we made it up to the roof, the pork was mostly gone! There was still plenty of other food and lots of beer, so it was all good. Mom was a social butterfly on Saturday night, but I stayed home to sort through some boxes and do brunch prep for Sunday.
Oh, but before mom left to go out, we did some handiwork. Remember way back when I had my housewarming party? Well, my friend E found the perfect housewarming gift, but I wasn't sure where to hang it. Mom to the rescue!
Now I just need one for summer that says "Ice Cream"
The brunch, which really would have qualified as lunch time-wise, except that we had breakfast food, was me, Mom, and C, who ventured downtown to join us. We ended our day with a trip over to the Peabody to see Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, along with Richard Thompson as the opener. Good show!
I really liked Richard Thompson's Keep Your Distance (acoustic version) and Tear-Stained Letter (1984 version; 2013 version, with a pretty wicked solo starting at 3:30). As far as Emmylou and Rodney, who played the whole concert together, I loved Earthbound (studio version) and of course the classic Pancho and Lefty (live version).
Our last hurrah was lunch Monday with G&G at Cafe Napoli (I escaped from work again!). I don't know why I was so hungry, but I went through about a basket of bread, the ravioli special, and a dessert! Sheesh.
Anyway, it was great to see you Mom, thanks for coming!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Goal #12
Goal #12: OMG, I need a minute.
Everything in my life is changing. I need to catch up.
Recap of goal #11: um, no. Hopefully with the minute of downtime I'm going to get this week, I can have some me time. Not holding my breath, but fingers are crossed.
Everything in my life is changing. I need to catch up.
Recap of goal #11: um, no. Hopefully with the minute of downtime I'm going to get this week, I can have some me time. Not holding my breath, but fingers are crossed.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Random Links
Inside a dog's mind.
The implications of being a person in an ever more tech-savvy world.
Old abandoned places (I've been to one of them!).
A proposal to reform government pay with step decreases.
Ever wanted to see a real-life vampire?
WTF is Sugru?
The implications of being a person in an ever more tech-savvy world.
Old abandoned places (I've been to one of them!).
A proposal to reform government pay with step decreases.
Ever wanted to see a real-life vampire?
WTF is Sugru?
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Bon Jovi
I wish Bon Jovi would come to St. Louis more than once every two years, since both of the shows I've been to now have been a total blast! The first time I saw him was almost two years ago, but his band was minus one Richie Sambora. This time Richie was playing his heart out, and it was such a great show!
I went with T's friend M - which was a great bit of luck actually. Originally I was supposed to go with T and was bummed when he got a fever and had to bail. I was willing to just go by myself, but he offered the ticket to his friend M. Now, this all happened during one of my first hectic days at a new job, so I was really not in a position to handle something like this in the middle of the work day.
I shot a text to M in the afternoon but didn't hear anything back (I discovered later that I transposed two of the numbers in the prefix of her phone number). Then it's about 6:45 and I'm heading home; the show starts at 7:30. M called and we made tentative plans. I got home and realized how much I had to do before even leaving for the show, then realized when I was halfway to M's house that I had forgotten the tickets! It was after 8:30 by the time we got there.
I think we missed a lot, but no matter - we still had a great time!
I went with T's friend M - which was a great bit of luck actually. Originally I was supposed to go with T and was bummed when he got a fever and had to bail. I was willing to just go by myself, but he offered the ticket to his friend M. Now, this all happened during one of my first hectic days at a new job, so I was really not in a position to handle something like this in the middle of the work day.
I shot a text to M in the afternoon but didn't hear anything back (I discovered later that I transposed two of the numbers in the prefix of her phone number). Then it's about 6:45 and I'm heading home; the show starts at 7:30. M called and we made tentative plans. I got home and realized how much I had to do before even leaving for the show, then realized when I was halfway to M's house that I had forgotten the tickets! It was after 8:30 by the time we got there.
I think we missed a lot, but no matter - we still had a great time!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
What I Watched -- Stoker
My friend H got free tickets to a screening of Stoker last week, and I agreed to go really having no idea what I was getting into -- but I didn't have anything else to do on that particular night, so why not?It was a weird, weird movie. The poster sort of makes it look like a modern, single-child remake of The Addams Family. It's not. This movie came from a seriously dark place, and it's really messed up.
At the opening of the film, a man by the name of Richard Stoker dies in a car accident, leaving behind his wife Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) and daughter India (Mia Wasikowska). Evelyn and India are not close, and their relationship is further strained by the arrival of Richard's long-lost brother Charlie (Matthew Goode) for his funeral.
Something is off about cool-as-a-cucumber Charlie, and you spend much of the movie trying to figure out what he's up to and why. And it all goes terribly wrong with Evelyn and India. There's jealousy, there's violence, there's sexual tension.
There's also really interesting camera work - some fantastic shots and scene changes that were excellently shot.
Bottom line: psycho-sexual drama is certainly not for everyone.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Goal #11
Goal #11: make a little me time.
This is sort of lame as a goal, but I've discovered that if you don't make it a goal occasionally, it usually doesn't happen.
Mom was here this weekend and we got done a few things that I needed to happen, but there are more. Letters to write, books and magazines to read, errands to run, the business of life to attend to. I'm hoping to feel a little more caught up by the end of the week.
Recap of goal #10: I made some progress sorting through the boxes from my office, but there's still a long way to go. Part of the problem is that I'm not actually in my office yet; I'm in a temporary office until construction is finished on the other side of the floor and I can move into my more permanent home. So a bunch of the stuff I still have at home will hopefully go into my office once it's ready -- at least two boxes of that.
I have three or four boxes of stuff I've decided to get rid of once I can get around to making that happen, and then there are probably three more boxes of papers and miscellany I just need to deal with.
This is sort of lame as a goal, but I've discovered that if you don't make it a goal occasionally, it usually doesn't happen.
Mom was here this weekend and we got done a few things that I needed to happen, but there are more. Letters to write, books and magazines to read, errands to run, the business of life to attend to. I'm hoping to feel a little more caught up by the end of the week.
Recap of goal #10: I made some progress sorting through the boxes from my office, but there's still a long way to go. Part of the problem is that I'm not actually in my office yet; I'm in a temporary office until construction is finished on the other side of the floor and I can move into my more permanent home. So a bunch of the stuff I still have at home will hopefully go into my office once it's ready -- at least two boxes of that.
I have three or four boxes of stuff I've decided to get rid of once I can get around to making that happen, and then there are probably three more boxes of papers and miscellany I just need to deal with.
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