bad.guys.

I like most of the law and order, csi, without a trace type shows. The one I'm not a big fan of is csi miami. David caruso really annoys me. His voice is my main issue- he has an almost patronizing way of speaking. Blah. Sometimes, like today, when I'm looking for something to watch, I try to overlook the fact that he's in it, and try to watch it for the storyline. Well. I just found someone else that bothers me- the coroner, alexx wood (played by khandi alexander). Really, the only thing that I don't like, is how she often refers to the corpse as "baby" or some other similar term. As in "the poor baby didn't stand a chance." It doesn't sound professional- like a coroner would be, and it's just plain obnoxious. I guess it's really the writers I don't like. I wonder if they're the same ones who write for csi, and csi new york. I like those shows.

fruitcake.

I don't watch jay leno, so had never heard of this lady until yesterday when *ja* forwarded me a video clip. She's pretty darn funny! This is a different clip than the one I got yesterday (although there's one or two of the same in there) and I thought it would be perfect to put up here. FYI- there's some iffy language, so take care where you watch it.

snow!

Today was the first "good" snow of the year, and *e* was ready for it. All she could talk about was playing outside in the snow. She had the whole thing planned out from the moment I picked her up. She'd go down the slide (in her snowsuit, so hopefully she'd catch some air), then on to the snowangels, and finally, the snowman (or snowwoman, as it turned out). This is elizabeth- her snowcreation. Keep in mind that *e's* a peanut- 39 inches, and she's on her knees in this picture. I'd guess that elizabeth's about 18 inches tall. *e* made her completely by herself- down to the stick arms, and craisin pupils (the eyeballs are made from snow- a fact you can't really tell from this picture) and the carrot nose and ears. She was so proud.

over.listening.

As I was sitting in the waiting area today, trying to read my book, I realized how much I missed being in europe. I went through books like candy over there. I could read anywhere, pretty much anytime, and never be distracted by other people. Here, I can understand what everyone around me is saying, and therefore have a hard time tuning them out. Throughout europe, everyone was chatting in a foreign language, and it was easy to focus on what I was reading. I suppose I should just learn to ignore people or something.

three.movies.

Today was spent watching three movies- before the oscars tonight. I thought I would be home early enough last night to watch one of them, but then we went out for drinks. First up was dreamgirls. I'm not a fan. In fact, I completely lost interest, and cleaned up my room for the second half. Second was babel. I didn't have high expectations for this one since a few people had mentioned not liking it. I however, loved it. I loved the way the four separate stories were all woven together throughout the movie. It reminded me of a book I read recently that had a similar style- not that the stories were similar, but the connections were. Third was united 93. I'm not aware of anyone I know having seen this yet, but I'd heard a little about the movie from reviews, etc- mainly that they used little known actors or real airplane personal, and that despite knowing the ending, it was still an intense movie. This couldn't have been more true. If it were simply a hollywood invented story, I'm not sure it would have made it. However, knowing that this was as close as possible to the actual event made it almost too hard to handle. I barely moved during the entire 110 minutes, and my heart was in my throat the entire time. After september 11, I remember hearing about how the crew and passengers on the flight thwarted the terrorists, and how heroic it was of them. While I obviously agreed, I didn't appreciate how heroic they truly were until now. I don't think I've cried this hard in a very long time.

short.term.variety.

It's almost *ap's* birthday, and tonight we went out to celebrate. There were nine of us- we met at stephanie's on newbury where I got the grilled tenderloin salad, which was delicious. Mmm. Delicious. Since dinner was early (six thirty) and we were out of there by nine or so, we decided to grab some drinks nearby. It was pretty cold and windy, so location was key. *n* likes city bar in the lenox hotel, so we showed up there around nine thirty, only to be stuck in a line. After ten minutes, we decided to try somewhere else, and ended up at vox populi, where we jammed ourselves in among the crowds. I drove in, so I stuck with one vodka tonic, while everyone else sipped their drinks. After an hour or so, we had to head out to pick up the car from valet at the restaurant, but since we were all still full from dinner (and therefore sleepy) we were ready to go home. As we were getting our coats on, I noticed a best of boston sign that proclaimed vox populi as the best bar for a relationship of the short term variety (aka- best pickup bar) for 2006. I can't say I was surprised.

running.vs.training.

For the past few months, I've been half heartedly looking for some new gym shoes. I have some brooks running shoes which I got at marathon sports in september. (And fyi *j,* brooks are not generic shoes- they've actually been around a lot longer then nike.) Marathon sports is a great place to get sneakers- they make you roll up your pants, and walk back and forth in your socks. Then the guy (or girl) squats at one end, and watches how your feet move. Then they decide what type of shoe would be good for you (ie- stability shoes for pronating, etc). Then they put the shoes on, and make you do it all over again. Then they put you on a tread mill, and watch you run. Very thorough. I apparently have very straight feet, but low arches, so brooks are a good match for me. Anyway, I got the shoes a while ago, and have become privy to the fact that you really should replace shoes every so often. The other shoe fact that I've learned, is that there really is a difference between running shoes and training shoes. I'm regularly taking five hours of aerobics type classes per week, and have been wearing my running shoes until today. I've noticed that my feet slide back and forth a bit, and the outside of my left foot has been sore for a while. Apparently all that side to side movement is not supported by running shoes (surprise, surprise) and this could also be the reason my knee has been bothering me. So I got a new pair of running shoes (mizuno, this time) along with a pair of training shoes, which, while not attractive, are so much better for aerobics classes than the old running shoes. I'm now a convert, and will never buy cheapy shoes simply for looks again. I guess this proves I'm a grown-up now.

good.tv.

I love grey's anatomy. Even if it's a little overly dramatic at times. I especially like watching it on tivo so that I can skip through all the conveniently placed commercials.

nail.biter.

I have very specific requirements for fingernails. On girls, they can't be too long (think fake claw like acrylic nails) but they have to have a nice, even, clean line of white at the tip. Otherwise they look like they belong to a nail-biter or someone who has a little bit of an obsession with clippers. On boys, it's the opposite. (No- this doesn't mean that I want them to have long nails.) I like them to be as short as humanly possible without any blood coming from the nail bed. I want them to be obsessed with nail clippers. I tend to keep this bit of neuroticism to myself. That is, until I've had a couple glasses of wine. So. This past weekend, when *ba* and *ja* were over, I noticed that *ba's* nails were slightly longer than how I like them. So I whipped out my clippers, and went to work. I love this picture that *ja* took with *ba's* camera. He just sent it to me. I look a little crazy with the clippers, and he looks very nervous- like he's about to lose a finger.

stand.in.grandparents.

I had to go back to my endocrinologist for the third time in 11 days this morning. Everything's fine- they were just checking things out to get a better overall idea of what's going on. They asked me to come in at 11am, which seemed fine until I realized that the girls didn't have school today. They go to private school, so don't have the regular february and april vacations, but two weeks in march. For some reason, they also had today off. The oldest was going to a friend's house for the day, and I briefly considered taking *l* and *e* with me and having them sit in the waiting area for the 20 minutes I'd be getting scanned. I know the secretary really well by now, and since my doctor mainly does research, and therefore only sees patients two times per month (unless there's a special case), I knew there would be no one in the waiting area for them to bother. *l* (who's almost seven) would have been fine, but then I started thinking of all the mischief *e* (who's five) could get into. (She's notorious for it- here's a good example of her shenanigans.) So I decided to save that as a last resort, and checked in with my mom to see if she would be willing to hang out with the two of them. (She's a fifth grade teacher in acton, and they have this week off.) As usual, she was more than happy to help out (thanks mom!), and planned some activities to do with the girls, and my aunt *n* who would be tagging along. Apparently, when *a* told the girls that my mom was going to watch them this morning, they cheered. All went well. I went to my appt, got some blood tests (which would not have worked if I had the girls since I certainly wouldn't leave them alone in that crowded waiting room, nor could I bring them into the small blood draw rooms at mgh) and got home almost three hours later. They were all having a great time. They had a tea party (where they got to drink real tea with their own teabag and use a teacup, saucer and spoon), read some stories from one of my favorite childhood books (that was my mom's when she was a kid), played sorry, and made happyface sandwiches (openface sandwiches with fruit and veggies for faces- another one of my childhood favorites!). *e* asked me to "please go away again" so my mom and aunt could stay. I tell you, it's great to be loved!

oscar.update.

I'm making headway in my oscar viewings. I saw half nelson with *nn* and *br* on sunday, and I went to the coolidge theater today to see all the nominated short films. There were five live action shorts (the saviour, helmer and son, one too many, west bank story, and binta) and nine animated shorts (nominated ones: the danish poet, maestro, little matchgirl and no time for nutts, and the other runners-up (or is it runner-ups?): one rat short, the passenger, the wraith of cobble hill, guard dog, and gentlemen's duel). I'd never seen any shorts before, and wasn't sure what to expect. Well I'll tell you..it was great. It was like seeing fourteen movies for the price of just two. I tend to get a little fidgety while watching movies, but when they're twenty minutes or less in length, it's kind of hard to get bored. Of the live action short, my vote would go toward west bank story. This was hilarious, and everyone should see it. It was a mock musical based on west side story, but between the jews and muslims. The jews owned a restaurant called kosher king, and the muslims, one called hummus hut. There're hilarious comments throughout it, and everyone in the theater (it was packed full, but was the screening room, so there were only about 60 seats) was pretty much crying by the end. As for the animated shorts, the one that will win is no time for nuts- the one with the squirrel from ice age, but the one I think should win is the danish poet.

i.cube.you.

Several years ago, I bought this book at urban outfitters. I was going through a stage where I liked to buy little books. Without giving too much away, this book has you visualize specific things, and then tells you what they mean with regards to different areas of your life. I was impatient, and didn't visualize a detailed image- just the basics- before reading the key. It was a sad day when I realized that I couldn't back up and get an accurate analysis of myself. So to make up for this, I literally cubed everyone I knew well in 1998 (when I picked up the book). Then I put it away and forgot about it, until a few weeks ago when I came across it while cleaning. This weekend, *ba* and *ja* came in (since I had the house to myself) and I cubed the three of us. It had been long enough that I didn't remember what most things stood for, so I came up with a fairly accurate image, and the analysis was dead on to my personality. Crazy. Let me know if you want me to cube you. It's a good time.

evil.question.

Evil made an interesting point in a recent post on his blog- basically, when people post less often, is it because they're busy? Or because they're not busy, and therefore don't have anything to write about? I hadn't considered that question before- too much going on, or too little? I guess I've always thought that the infrequent bloggers were too busy since the ones I actually know all have interesting, busy lives. I for one, have too much time on my hands, thus the lame, often pointless posts. However, if I were more considerate of all of you reading my blog, I might just post less, and save those posts for something really interesting. Hmmmm.

banana's.

As part of the bonus gift from my last clinique purchase, I now receive marie claire magazine- free for a year. I'm always looking for good mindless reads for the gym, and this is perfect for that. I brought it along for my last elliptical workout, and among other things, read about the rise of china's nouveaux riches. It's all about these super wealthy chinese folks who go way over the top- solid gold toilets, sports cars for their 7 year olds, an obscene number of servants, etc- all americanized luxuries in the orient. Basically like the paris hilton's of china. I wasn't very impressed to start with, and then I read this quote from one father- ye mingqin, "We live a Western life here. My kids are like banana's: yellow on the outside, but white on the inside." Excuse me? Banana's? Yellow on the outside and white inside? I'm offended, and I'm not even chinese. I almost fell off the machine when I read that.

i.really.like.these.shoes.

I zipped out to get a new blanket to keep me toasty, and since I was parked in front of dsw, and I had such good luck last time, I stopped in tonight. No luck in the sneaker department again, but I came across these shoes which I keep noticing every time they're nearby. I really like them, despite the fact that I don't have anything that would match them. I saw them at another dsw, but kept moving. Tonight, they even had my size (a rarity for dsw), so I tried them on. They're super comfortable, but I had to talk myself out of them. They're orange, they don't match anything I own, and I don't need anymore sneaker type casual shoes. I can't help thinking about them though. I clearly have an obsession with shoes. It's unhealthy.

tivo.

The funny thing about tivo, is that it makes me like to "save" good shows instead of watching them right away. Before tivo, my nights revolved around my favorite show lineup. I had to either be home, or have my vcr set to record the show at the specified time. Now, I find myself forgetting when stuff's on, and it becomes a treat to look through the "now playing" list to find a new episode of grey's anatomy or house. It gives me a whole new appreciation for television.

wet.snow.

It finally snowed here in boston. For a little bit at least. By the time I got up (at 8:30) the snow had turned to hail, which stayed with us for most of the morning before turning into rain. My car stayed nice and snug at home while I drove the minivan to get the girls from school. Driving this thing in any sort of inclement weather is pretty much like driving a stick of butter across a hot pan. Luckily, I've figured out how to tell when I can keep it under control, and when I need to get out and shovel the snow out of the way. I shoveled the driveway around noon so I could get the car up, and decided to tackle the sidewalks around 4 since I knew the temperature would drop and everything would freeze tonight. (Ever since *ja* and I started our four mile zig zag in my neighborhood, I have a new appreciation for people who clear off their sidewalks.) I seriously think that this was the worst shoveling experience of my life. There was probably about 3 inches of slush out there (so it was like shoveling a pile of bricks, and therefore made it impossible to use the snow blower), and it was raining. My hair was dripping in my face, my glasses were both fogged up and covered with rain so I couldn't even see what I was doing, and my pants were so wet and heavy that I worried they'd fall down. It took me an hour and ten minutes to do the entire thing. Since we have a corner house, there's probably about 125 feet of sidewalk to take care of. When I finished, I was literally dripping wet from head to toe, through three layers of clothes- even with a hooded jacket.

null.and.void.

I was sitting downstairs in the kitchen when I overheard something about this on the news. Of course, what I heard was just the part about requiring couples to have a child within three years of marriage, or their marriage would be null and void. Once I read the whole story, it made a little bit more sense, but still, null and void??? It's a little ridiculous even if it's just to prove a point.

who.needs.tv?

I have my own real life soap opera to watch. During *e's* ballet class on monday from 2:15 to 3pm, I sit in the waiting area of boston ballet school, and pretend to read my book. I lean forward or back with my legs crossed, and flip a page every so often just to maintain some sense of believability. In fact, I'm really listening to the two yuppie moms who sit nearby. I've never thought much of eavesdropping (or of the people who do it), but for some reason, this feels different. At first, I really was trying to read, and was annoyed that they were chatting enough to distract me. Then I started listening to what they were chatting about, and became engrossed in the dramatically complex lives of the well-to-do mommy crowd.
At first, it was all gossip between the two of them. Then, a few weeks before christmas, I heard mommy 1 (m1) discussing her marriage, or lack thereof. It appears that she and her husband were separating, which seemed a mere formality before the inevitable divorce. My curiosity was peeked. Could it be that these otherwise "perfect" women were really just a wealthier, more attractive version of the middle american mom? Over the next few weeks, I learned that the husband of m1 was seeing someone else, something she suspected had been going on before they split up. How did she know this? He left his cell phone at the house (where she stayed with the kids) after dropping them back to her after a visit. She looked through the dialed and received calls, and found many to one number- which she then called. There were also text messages that left no need for further confirmation. Surprisingly, she claimed that this made her feel better. I'm not sure if it's because she thinks she'll get a better divorce settlement, or if she's just in denial. She's keeping this bit of info to herself (and her sister, and mommy 2 (m2), and now all of you) for now, and put the phone back where it had been. In the morning, it was gone. (Presumably taken on his way to work). M2 pretty much played the supportive, yet dirt seeking friend, and nodded affirmingly every so often. Today, m1 mainly talked about school problems, since apparently, she and the kids are moving. She's debating between the spanish language school, the art focused school, and the school that some friend's kids go to.
M2 piped in with some noteworthy remarks today, which was a change from her usual backup mode. She was discussing all the instructors her kids have (tennis, piano, ski, etc), and how they all think she's attractive. I'm not sure how this came about- whether one of them actually told her so, or if she's just full of herself- but she mentioned how nice and flattering it was to have younger men think she (and other mothers, of course) was hot. For the record, she is attractive, and I could see younger men thinking she's hot, but who would actually go around bragging about this in public? It seems she has much lower self esteem than I would have pegged her for.
I've started looking forward to these weekly tidbits, and will be sure to update you all on the happenings of m1 and m2 as they unfold.

a.c.r.o.n.y.m.s.

Last night I was talking with *ce* about acronyms that are geographically understood. She had gone to a cocktail party with some couples from dover (a wealthy suburb of boston) and was somewhat lost by the talk of r.l. and y.h.p. One woman in particular went on and on about how important it was for her son to get ahead in school so that he could go to r.l. Because if he didn't get into r.l., then he might not get into y.h.p. Eventually one of the hosts pointed out that not everyone knew what she was talking about. Surprised, she clarified that r.l. was roxbury latin, and y.h.p. was yale, harvard, princeton. *ce,* who's originally from l.a., was amused by the distinctly upper class, new england style of abbreviations, and pointed this out. I'm not sure what the guests' reactions were.
In the same conversation, she talked about one of her sisters, who still lives in california, and who used the acronym i.t.s. Neither *ce* nor her other sister (the acronym user's twin) knew what this meant, despite the fact that they all grew up in california, and two of them still live there. Her sister complained that, while pregnant, she was losing her i.t.s, and was very upset by it. Turns out that i.t.s. means "inner thigh separation" and even though *ce* and her other sister didn't know what it meant, their brother confirmed that it's a widely used abbreviation in parts of california.
I pray that I never use any of these acronyms. Mostly because I can picture the type of people who would use them, and they're not who I want to be.

happy.birthday.*nn*

Today's *nn's* birthday. Happy birthday *nn*!! She's having a party, and her parties are always the best. Unfortunately, I can't go this year, because it's also the night of the big winter ball at *a's* law firm, and I committed to watching some friends kids for it several months ago. When I realized that they were on the same night, I first tried to figure out if I could bail on the kids. Unfortunately, due to my pathological need to keep my word, that wasn't possible. I tried to see if they could get a babysitter, but since I'm suppose to watch them overnight, no regular 16 year old would do. So I've resigned myself to missing the party, despite how much fun I know it will be. Have a drink for me guys.

i.love.my.endocrinologist.

I've been seeing her for eight years, and she's like my second mother. Every time I have an appointment, she always makes sure she knows what's going on in my life, and will offer up advice or support if I need it. Not only do I feel like she knows me (today she said that she can always tell if I'm happy with myself when my eye makeup looks really good!), but I know her as well. She'll talk about her own personal experiences, family, and ideas and always makes sure I know I can call her if I have any questions. Because of this, I love going in to mass general every four months. I had my appointment today, and lucky me, get to go back next friday. Which also means that I don't get to eat fiber for another three days next week. Yee haa.

bloomingdale's.

It looks like clinique bonus time at bloomingdale's is from february 18th to march 4th. Not sure that this is for all bloomingdale's, but it's definitely at one in nj, ny, and ca. I'm guessing they do them all at the same time, so hopefully this applies to boston.

*It does! I finally found it on clinque's website. You can check it out here.*

low.fiber.kick.

I've been kicked off fiber for three days. Yesterday was day one, today's day two, and tomorrow's day three. I usually get a ton a fiber throughout the day, so it's really been challenging to keep it minimal. The hardest thing I've noticed, is that most healthy food (veggies, whole wheat stuff, fruit, etc) has a bunch of fiber in it. This means that the only foods I can keep eating from my usual stuff are meat (chicken and turkey mainly), yogurt, cheese, and eggs. My doctor told me to eat all the white stuff that you're normally supposed to limit- potato's, white bread, pasta, etc. So instead of my normal fiber filled cereal, I'm eating fruity cheerios. They're pretty much a healthier version of fruit loops. They taste exactly the same, but have way less sugar, and a ton of vitamins added in. I tried white bread with my turkey for lunch (no more lettuce or tomato for me) and I realized that I don't even like the taste of it anymore. It tastes fake. Gross. I had spaghetti for dinner, and couldn't believe how small the serving size really was. Two oz of dry pasta is only about 50 sticks of spaghetti, and that has a bunch of calories and carbs in it. 50 sounds like a lot, but when you look at it, it's tiny. So I had 3 oz with some chicken and spaghetti sauce. The biggest difference I've noticed, is that even though I'm eating about the same amount of calories and protein, I'm much hungrier than usual. Probably because you can eat so much more food when it's good for you food. I can't wait until friday. I definitely couldn't keep this up.

blah.

Today was an uneventful day. No one e-mailed me, no one called me, and no one updated their blog. What's up? I didn't even get any spam mail. Maybe my inbox is screening. Oh wait. It looks like the twins did update their blog at some point today. Maybe tomorrow will be more eventful.

bonus.time.update.

I stopped by macy's today to see when they have clinique bonus time since no one else seems to know. It's in april. I think she said april 4th, but it may have been april 6th. So I think their months are april and october. Next time I'm near bloomindales and lord and taylor, I'll ask them and let you all know.

(According to google analytics, I'm getting tons of visits with "clinique bonus time" keywords. I've even made it up to a page rank of 3 now!)

my.shoes.

I finally found the perfect pair of high heeled shoes. I've been looking for them for a while (since well before christmas) and while I had the exact image in my head (deep purple or wine colored with some sort of seaming or other embellishment that would make them stand out instead of blend in), I had only found one pair that were remotely close, and they cost $398 at dsw. They were marc jacobs. Since that was a little out of my budget, I went barefoot at my christmas dinner (the event that had inspired my frantic shoe search to being with). I did paint my toenails the same color- a deep wine hue- so they looked pretty. I'd pretty much given up on finding the ideal pair, and had stopped looking. A few months ago, I'd received a coupon from dsw for $20 off any pair of shoes, and it expires on march 4th. I'd gone to four different stores for a total of seven times since receiving the coupon, and found nothing every time. So today I was out near the natick mall using another free $25 coupon, and I decided to stop by dsw to see if I could find a cheap pair of sneakers to use in the aerobics classes I've been taking. (My current running shoes are a little big, which is perfect for running since your feet swell, but they feel a little floppy when I'm jumping side to side.) I didn't have any luck in the sneaker department, so I decided to check out the clearance section, although I've never found anything there before. Today was my day. The exact shoes I'd pictured in my little mind- moda spana, deep wine, seamed (so they're a little funky), eel skin high heels. Here's a link if you want to see them. The best news was the price. They were cut back to $54.95, plus an extra 30% off, plus my $20 coupon. They were pretty close to free if you ask me.

optic.nerve.

*ja* and I still managed to get out on our walk tonight even though it was sub-zero with the wind chill. Very nippy. We only did two miles instead of our usual four in order to save our extremities from frostbite. Afterwards, we were eating dinner and watching an old episode of malcolm in the middle. It was one where lois is trying to get dewey's ratty old teddy (domingo)away from him, and he won't give it up. She grabbed it from him, but he snuck it back. Here's a transcript of what happened next.

(Lois walks into dewey's room sniffing the air. Dewey's in bed.) (*If you've seen this show, try to hear this with lois and dewey's voices. It makes it much funnier.)
Lois: "Okay. Where's domingo. Come on, I can smell him. (pause) Honey, do you think I just took domingo away from you because I'm mean?"
Dewey: "Absolutely."
Lois: "Dewey. The reason I had to take your teddy bear away is because he's very dirty. He's covered with germs and he could make you very sick."
Dewey: "He wouldn't do that. He loves me."
Lois: "It's the germs sweety. They're tiny bugs carrying disease, and domingo is covered with them. Now when you touch them, they get on your hands, and what do you suppose happens if you touch your eyes? Well I'll tell you what happens. The germs get in there and they infect them, and you get very sick, and eventually your optic nerve rots away and your eyes fall out. Now, if you want to keep domingo, you can. But if you want to keep your eyes, you'll give domingo to me."
(Dewey whips the bear out from under his covers and hands him over to lois.)
Lois: "You made the smart choice sweety. Sleep tight."
(The rest of the episode shows dewey wearing gas masks, wrapping himself in saran wrap with a bug net over his head, and cleaning everything in the house from top to bottom. Lois eventually puts an end to it by eating a bug that dewey was scared of.)

So, *ja* was drinking water at the exact point where lois talks about the optic nerve rotting and the eyes falling out. She started to laugh, and shot water up her nose and all over the place. It was hilarious! So funny, in fact, that I just had to write it up here.

bad.itunes.

I've been listening to a cd that my brother left in my car when he borrowed it in august. I have one of those trunk loading six cd changers, so I rarely make the effort to change cds- I'm usually listening to my ipod anyway- so anything that he left in there is still there. I really like a couple of the songs that are on this cd, so tonight I finally remembered to grab it so I could put the whole thing onto my computer. He must have burnt some songs onto the disc, so the only info I had was that they were by kgb and switchfoot. I had to do some searching to figure out what discs the songs were from, and then input the names into itunes. Now I'm not sure if it's because the disc has been in my car for more than six months, or because my twenty year old brother was the owner, but this thing is pretty banged up. Not only are there are some scratches, but there's a weird corroded type stain on one side near the edge. Needless to say, this cd has some trouble playing several songs- most of which are from the kgb disc. Instead of ending up with choppy music, I figured I'd buy the kgb album, and keep the switchfoot one since the disc condition doesn't seem to have affected that music. The problem arose when I went on itunes to find the album. I couldn't find it. Anywhere. I even tried searching for one song from the album, but just ended up with a bunch of other artists. I'm frustrated. It's not like this cd is old or anything- it's from 2001. I don't understand why they don't have it. Maybe they do, and I just can't get it. Who knows. Anyway- here's the link to the disc on amazon. If anyone has it and wants to share, let me know.

movie.reviews.

I made great headway in my oscar movie viewings this weekend. I saw little children at the end of the week, the devil wears prada yesterday at home (*nn* and *tm* came over to watch with me), and both volver and notes on a scandal today at the coolidge theater. I even renewed my membership to the theater, so the tickets were only $6.50 instead of $9.50. I paid for both movies, because I only believe in two-for-one at large cooperate movie theaters. The first movie (volver) I saw by myself, and really liked. It was definitely a darker, less commercial movie, but I thought it was well done, and I'd be happy if penelope cruz won best actress because of it. If you like almodovar's stuff, and feel like doing some reading (or better yet, understand spanish), I'd recommend that you check it out. For the second movie, *ah* met me since we watch the awards together and she'd been wanting to see it for some time. I loved this movie. It was incredibly intense, and I understood why someone had recently said it was "so scary". My body was tense for most of the 110 minutes, and I think I even bit my hand several times. Judi dench's character was a whack job, and right now, she would be my top pick to win for best actress. (The only one left to see in this category is helen mirren in the queen.) Little children was better than I expected. I read this book while traveling in europe, and thought it was so bad that I left it on the train from switzerland to italy, even though *tm* and I were trading books. I thought it was so poorly done that I didn't want her to have to read it despite our limited number of english books. I was a little disgruntled when I realized that I'd have to see the movie since kate winslet was nominated for best actress. While I definitely don't think she should win over the other nominees, the narration and direction helped to pull some otherwise very random story lines together, which helped the movie flow better than the book. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. Last but not least- the devil wears prada. I also enjoyed this one, and also wouldn't be disappointed if meryl streep won for best actress (although I doubt she will), but it wasn't anything that will make a lasting impression on me. It was enjoyable while it lasted, but that's about it. We also watched the deleted scenes, and felt that there were several scenes that should have been included in the movie. They were fairly short (so wouldn't add too much extra time) and would have helped to make sense of other things that happened. So there you have it. My overall ratings:
little children- C
the devil wears prada- C+
volver- B+
notes on a scandal- A

new.gym.clothes

I'm sold. For several years, I've been working out in old cotton t-shirts, mostly the freebies I get from children's hospital. *a* kept telling me that that I should get a "real" gym shirt- aka the moisture wicking breathable kind. It seemed silly to pay money for the fancy kind of shirt, when I could both promote blood donating, and save money while doing it. Alas, as time went on, I got tired of leaving the gym in baggy wet sweaty shirts, and freezing as soon as I went outside. So a couple of weeks ago, I stopped by the new balance outlet on my way somewhere. I went in looking for warmer sweat pant type things, and left with a running coat, a long sleeved base layer shirt, and a moisture wicking breathable kind of gym shirt. I figured I'd give it a shot, but would probably end up rotating it into my "give pints for half-pints" shirt lineup. After my first gym trip wearing the new shirt, I knew there would be no more cotton t-shirts for me. It was so comfortable, and was just as light when I left the gym as it was when I arrived there. Over the past two weeks, I've resorted to washing it every night, and then hanging it to dry so it would be ready for me to wear the next day. A little ridiculous I'll admit, but I just couldn't regress after making so much progress. It became obvious that I needed to buy at least one more, so I met up with *ja* (who desperately needed new shoes) at the outlet today. It was the right time to go, because there was a ton of stuff on sale. I got three more short-sleeved shirts for $10 each (they were $16.99 when I got the first one), one long-sleeved shirt for $10, and a pair of gym pants for $5. What a bargain! I suppose I can wait until friday to do my laundry now.

jar.head.

I watched jarhead today. I tivod it a while ago, but hadn't started it because watching a marine movie about desert storm wasn't really my idea of a good time. (Especially when I have so many oscar movies to catch up on.) I wanted to see it because I love jake gyllenhaal, and it turns out that I actually enjoyed the movie. If you have a couple of hours and are looking for something to do, go watch it.

triple.product.

Today was a notable day. It was the first time of 57 platelet donations that I gave triple product. Generally, people give single to double product (one product is 3.2 units), and I've been stuck in the double product category for some time. I have a really high platelet count, but the anticoagulant that they send back in with your red cells makes me feel gross. Once I almost vomited and passed out, but they paused the machine before that happened. It was not pleasant. Since the volume of anticoagulant pumped in depends on the volume of platelets taken out, they have to run the machine at a slower rate so I don't get too much of the bad stuff. Over the past few months, I've tried to get a lot of extra calcium (since that reduces the effects of the anticoagulant) and eat plenty of tums while donating. They've gradually increased the flow part way through the donation. Today, I made it up to a flow rate of 10.0 (normal for me is 8.1 and for most people is 11.0), and the total collected amount was 10.1 units. Just over the 9.6 triple product amount. I was very excited, as was everyone for me. *k* said I should go out for a drink tonight to celebrate!