So Jim Is My Friend....

So I started watching The Office a little over two years ago. I hadn't been with it from the beginning, and I actually started watching the second season on DVD. Of course I loved it. I had heard it quoted and talked about before, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of humor--though sometimes uncomfortable--that I saw.
Lately, the show has been a bit different. I still laugh, I still like the episodes (Pam and Jim's wedding), but it doesn't seem to have the same caliber as the old Office. Pam has gained more confidence and no longer plays the scared little mouse afraid of what she really wants, and I'm not sure if I like the transformation. Michael is also gaining some maturity and isn't quite as horrifically difficult to watch, therefore I'm not as grabbed. I don't know quite what it is that has changed the general flavor, but something is different.
However, I just watched the Halloween episode of the show wherein Michael falls into the Koi pond. It was very entertaining. I laughed a lot and I kept thinking, "this is great writing." It was like the old days. Andy was weird, Pam was unsure, Michael was awkward, Dwight ranted about Jim, Creed said something completely off-hand and bizarre, Meredith provided evidence yet again that she is a disaster, and Angela ate like a squirrel. It was fabulous.
Bravo, Office. Bravo.

It's a....rock.

RANT OF THE DAY:

Unless you are a professional photographer or at least a monkey with a nice camera and an interest in photography, NEVER TAKE PICTURES OF NATURE UNLESS THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THEM. I'm sick of going through your photo albums only to see a million pictures of rocks, trees, mountains, flowers, etc. with bad lighting, blurry images and not a person to be seen.

That is all.

The sun is chirping, the birds are shining, the water's wet, and life's good, baby. Or so they say.

The trouble with getting what you want is exactly what one might think the trouble might be.

We are ruined, not by what we really want, but by what we think we do; therefore never go abroad in search of your wants; if they be real wants, they will come home in search of you; for he that buys what he does not want, will soon want what he cannot buy.

It is not from nature, but from education and habits, that our wants are chiefly derived.

Modern man lives under the illusion that he knows what he wants, while he actually wants what he is supposed to want.

Do you ever feel trapped in a tiny box? A tiny, little box with no windows and the walls are closing in?

Craving, not having, is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself.

I am hopelessly and irrevocably reckless, I suppose.

My Horizontal Blog.

Hello, peoples.

So it's October. And the weather is LETTING US KNOW IT. Much to my chagrin. October does mean some fun things: Halloween, football, crisp, clear air that smells like sweet decay...

I HATE winter.

Anyway, this means I have a lot of time to sit inside and read stuff. I finally got my Salt Lake City Library card! And that means books, movies, and cds galore! Huzzah! So I just finished "My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands," by Chelsea Handler. She is hysterical. I've always enjoyed her various shows. She is a talented comedienne and apparently an even more talented author. Her memoir is spun with humor, heart, and colorful prose.

Next I hope to read Carrie Fisher's memoir, "Wishful Drinking." The cover made me laugh: Carrie in her Princess Leia costume, her hand clutching a spilling martini, a bottle of pills strewn before her. Awesome.

I also checked out a bunch of flicks, some I'd seen, some I have been meaning to watch forever.

"Say Anything." Though I knew of the "classic" status of this John Cusack film, (the one where he holds a boom box over his head as it plays "In Your Eyes) I had no idea how good it is. I expected a John Hughes teen comedy, not a drama about finding and losing love, young people experiencing their first adult relationship and figuring out what the "real world" means. It was touching, funny, and you gotta love John-John.

"Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask.)" Once again, I watch a Woody Allen hoping I'll finally develop a taste for the legendary film maker, and once again all I have to say is a big fat MEH. I mean, parts of it were funny, it was a good concept, but it just came short. Pun intended.

"Hamlet 2." Ok, this was brilliant. A film about a struggling actor who becomes a high school drama teacher to "pay the bills." He really is terrible. I won't give away too many plot points because it's definitely worth seeing, but some key phrases for your enjoyment are as follows: "time machine," "ovulation," "raped in the face," and, last but not least, "Rock me sexy Jesus."

"The Road to Zanzibar." I was raised on this series of movies starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour. Though all the films have the same plot, (Bob is funny and Bing gets the girl) they are always enjoyable.

"Saturday Nigh Live: The Best of Will Ferrell." Yes, I've seen it a million times. Yes, it keeps getting funnier every time I see it. Favorites are "Harry Caray," "Lovahs," "Cowbell," and "Celebrity Jeopardy." If you haven't seen this, go out and rent it, sinner.

All I have to say is, outside it may be raining, but in here it's entertaining! (Thank heaven for libraries.)