Live Today As Though It May Become Your Last

I watched Nine the other day. I took myself to the movies. I had never gone alone before. It turned out to be just what I needed. If you go and see it, those of you who know me best will know EXACTLY what I mean. The only thing I thought could have been improved is the casting choice of Daniel Day-Lewis. A fine actor, though not one of my favorites; he made the whole thing a lot more depressing than it had to be. Antonio Banderes would have been a much better choice. The women, however, were all dazzling.
In one of my favorite moments of the film, Nicole Kidman, who plays Day-Lewis's muse, sings to him a song about their relationship. The lyrics, combined with Kidman's haunting, liquid voice were pure magic. This was the point in the movie that I just broke down and cried like a little girl...


In a very unusual
way, one time I needed you.
In a very unusual way, you were my friend.
Maybe it lasted a day,
Maybe it lasted an hour,
But somehow it will never end.
In a very unusual way, i think I’m in love with you.
In a very unusual way, i want to cry.
Something inside me goes weak, something inside me
surrenders,
And you’re the reason why,
You’re the reason why.
You don’t know what you do to me.
You don’t have a clue.
You can’t tell what it’s like to be me looking at
you.
It scares me so that i can hardly speak.
In a very unusual way, i owe what i am to you.
Though at times it appears i won’t stay,
I never go.
Special to me in my life,
Since the first day that i met you.
How could i ever forget you,
Once you had touched my soul?
In a very unusual way, you’ve made me whole.



Go see it. Really.

Santa came, Scrooge jumped on his bed, I'm five pounds heavier so who's gonna eat this cheese ball?

So Christmas came and went. It was a pretty fabulous one! I got to spend it with all the people I love best in the world, which made me so deliriously happy! (Of course, it could have been all the sugar.)
I got some pretty sweet gifts, too. Jesse got me a couple movies, including Sex and the City and DeLovely (which we actually got for each other, so we did the old exchange today), and a book on the Crusades and, best of all, a hookah! YAY! We smoked it last night. He also loved my presents to him, which I was glad about. I love shopping for people and so I was so happy I actually had a job this year and was able to afford gifts for all my closest friends and family! Hooray!
I watched a ton of holiday movies that I hadn't seen before this year, including "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", which was funny but not a classic like "A Christmas Story."
Now there's just a few parties left...here's hoping somebody kisses me on New Year's!

This is not my office!

My GOODNESS it's been a long time. Halloween came and went, and what a fun evening that was. I went as Amber Sweet from "Repo! The Genetic Opera."
And then there was Thanksgiving. Now, I've always been a huge fan of the holdidays. Family and old friends gathering, the decorations and the warmth and the food (oh, the food.) I've had many good and memorable Thanksgivings in my 23 years.
This one topped them all.
First of all, I have someone to take to my family's Thanksgiving festivities for the first time ever. My family adores him, which makes me happier than you could possibly imagine. Or maybe you can, I don't know. In any case, it's great to be in love around the holidays. Secondly, I was able to go to a lot of events. My dad's side has the lefsa party, my step-mom's has the night before Thanksgiving feast, the Barnetts have football and Thanksgiving lunch, and the Hansons have a dinner. I unfortunately had to miss Jesse's family party for work, but all in all I felt pretty good about being able to attend all those parties. I also got to hang with my cousin Liva. The Siufanuas (my Samoan cousins) used to come around for Thanksgiving every year, but then the families got too big and so we started having to have separate parties. But Liva and her mom came this year, so it was like old times!
A lot of good things have happened this year. My mom was married in March, Andrea was married in April and is now expecting her first child, a boy. And Heidi got engaged.
Some of you know about Heidi's estrangement from my dad. They don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, and there has been a lot of baggage in the past. I didn't ever really expect Heidi to come around and want my dad to be a part of her life. I still hoped for it and prayed for it, but I had accepted that it might never happen. When Heidi was engaged, after my initial happiness for her, my next emotion was an overwhelming sadness that my dad wouldn't be involved in her wedding.
To my surprise, in the weeks that followed, I observed Heidi calling my dad to tell him of her engagement, sending wedding announcements to my dad and his entire family, and, miracle of miracles, she showed up at the Hanson Thanksgiving dinner.
I couldn't believe it. There she was, standing in the kitchen with her fiance Andrew, chatting with everybody like nothing had happened. I must admit I got a little more than teary and had to excuse myself to go cry in the study like a civilized human being. She and Andrew stayed for a while, making jokes and singing some Beatles songs on the karaoke machine. I was so happy.
Best Thanksgiving EVER!

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.)