July 2006 Archive

July 30, 2006
Words just can't express it
As I walked in the door 30 minutes ago from my 2nd business trip this week, Kevin told me that a friend's dad was killed in an accident last night. I am completely overcome with remembering everything my family has gone through. And not only has this friend lost her father tragically, her brother was also severely brain damaged from a head wound he took in Iraq earlier this year. I can't even begin to imagine what she's going through when all I lost was my father. To lose both a father and, essentially, a brother in less than a year would just be too much.
I am so sorry she has to go through this. So sorry. My thoughts and prayers will be with her tonight. I'm going to try to go to her family's services, but I'm just not sure how I'll fair. I can probably get through a visitation, but a funeral will just be too much I think. Not yet. Regardless, I am so sorry for her family. Peace.
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As I began my arduous addiction of checking all my favorite blogs, I came to find that another friend's dad passed away. /hug to you. You're in my thoughts.
July 26, 2006
Almost goodbye
I had to go out to the farm last night. The closer we got, the harder it was to contain it. This was it. This was the last time I was going to see the inside of that house. This was the end.
I closed my eyes and envisioned myself standing in front of the house alone after everyone had gone, just looking at it. Memories flooded over me. Learning to play piano. Playing in the creek and the woods every summer day. Waking up to the sounds of mourning doves in the trees on Saturday morning, knowing that my mom would be found out front of the house weeding or planting flowers. Kicking my sister's ass at Badminton on the front lawn. Making giant snow forts in the yard. Trying to make our dog pull a sled in a harness of belts we had taken out of all of our pants. Deep, heavy snowfall in the pasture that we trudged through to sled down the back hills, our boots getting soaked as we broke through the ice on the creek. Ice skating on the lawn when we had a 3-day ice storm one year. Laying in the tall grass in a clearing in the woods, letting the sun warm my face in the crisp autumn air, while the barn cats lay near me, purring, pouncing, and blinking at me contentedly and my dog lay nearby, panting, her eyes closed as she faced the sun.
I wanted to collapse, to implode on those memories and make them all that existed. I saw myself falling to my knees in contemplation. I saw myself weeping with loss and acceptance. And I cried. I cried for all the things my children will never get to see or experience. I cried for all the happiness I had felt and others didn't. I cried because it was all I could do.
But as idyllic as this all seemed, it certainly didn't turn out like that. My aunt was there, and as usual, her and Lori got into it. I don't understand why people can't just let it roll off their backs and get on with their lives. They would be much happier if they did. It started pouring rain before we had even dented what was left in the dining room, so we had to scrap our plans of hauling the last of the stuff out. We got Kev's mom's tables out and a couple of other things. So my stuff is officially totally and completely off the farm. We'll probably have to go back again, now. I am less than thrilled.
July 24, 2006
Late last night I was looking through pictures
Flooded with memories I lie on the floor
And spread them around me like friends at a party
There faces remind me of all that I've known
Still I can't forget all the hushed who and why's.
All the fiction and lies and the tears and the laughs
Take a walk through the past you and I hand in hand
As we look at this thing called us
Late last night I was pacing the hallway
Reading the letters you'd signed x and o
I turned out the lights and imagined you with me
I tried my hardest to cry but it just wouldn't come
Still I can't forget all the hushed who and why's
All the fiction and lies all the tears and the laughs
Take a walk through the past
You and I hand in hand
As we look at this thing called us
All the hushed who and why's
All the fiction and lies all the tears and the laughs
Take a walk through the past, you and I hand in hand
As we look at this thing called trust.
--She Wants Revenge - Us
July 23, 2006
Lady in the Water: I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!
Spoilers. Big time.
To all the people who told me Lady in the Water wasn't a feel-good, life is great, chick flick...IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!!!! While this was no Kate & Leopold, it was definitely touchy feely, hope-for-the-world, trite crap and NOT, I repeat NOT a horror movie in any way, shape, or form.
Was the grass wolf scary? Sure? So was the wolf that ate red-riding-hood's grandma.
Anyway, the constant exposition in the movie really bothered me. I admit that without the exposition, it wouldn't have had that "bed-time story" feeling it was supposed to convey, but it still bothered me. I hate being spoon fed a movie plot that's already pretty damn transparent if it's a movie I'm expecting more from. And M. Night's "twist" for this movie was that the people assembled as the group ended up not being the right people. This group assembles to help save the day, and then they realize, "Hey, we're not the right people after all." Then there's a mad 3-minute scramble to find the right people, and everything turns out okay.
And M. Night's habit of putting himself in this masturbatory messianic role is just pathetic. It's all been pretty subtle in his previous movies. In Signs, he's this pivotal character that killed Mel Gibson's wife and so awesome that he can lock an alien in the cupboard. He also reveals the aliens' weakness, thereby saving Mel's family. In The Village, he's the guard who "allows" the other guard to give the blind chick the medicine and tells him to keep his mouth shut, proving he has some great knowledge of what's really going on and is in some supervisory position of keeping everything under wraps. And in Lady, he plays the world-altering martyr that the sea nymph has made a special trip for. OH COME ON. Anyone could have played that role. ANYONE. As soon as his character's awesomeness was revealed, I just wanted to dry heave.
Is it a good bedtime story? Sure. But the mis-marketing of this movie as a horror film was the worst idea could have come up with. Only the first teaser made it out to be what it really was. Every trailer after that had Evil Dead gopher-cams and shots of the big, scary, grass dog. OOooooh. In fact, as we were walking out, a group of teens was complaining that they thought they were seeing a horror film. It's exactly what they did to The Jacket, and it's ridiculous.
While The Village was billed as a horror story and ended up being a love story, the horror element actually played a strong role for the first half of the movie. You weren't sure if the monsters were real, but they ended up being a pivotal part of the plot. And it tied into his usual big twist.
And what's with the glasses/water theme in his movies? Unbreakable: water is the superhero's weakness, and the villain is Mr. Glass. Signs: water is the alien's weakness, and glasses of it, not a hose or a bucket or sprinkler system, kill the alien in the end. In this one. She's a sea nymph who spends a whole lot of time in the shower and the pool, and even a side character has an rant about people who kiss in the rain and how lame it is in love movies. And glasses of air save Paul Giamatti. Get over it already.
Save your money, and rent it.
July 22, 2006
Busy week. I finally made it out last night. It was good to just get out and do something normal. I couldn't dance much because my side is still the same, and what dancing I did aggravated it as suspected. I guess I'll go back to this new Dr. this week with my test results from the ER. Maybe that will make whatever this is more obvious. I'm pretty sure it's muscular, since the muscle relaxers are the sole thing that seem to help. Unfortunately, I can't take them as prescribed because they cause some other reactions. So I take them once a day for 3 days or so, and then I have to stop a day or two, rinse, repeat.
But on the whole, my side does feel better as long as I'm taking them. The Dr. had suggested physical therapy, and I'm beginning to think that's going to be the only way I'll be able to go back to the gym regularly in the year 2006. grrrr. I hate feeling weak and helpless. This crap is putting such a damper on my already shitty summer.
I had lunch with my m-i-l today. Again, it was really nice to go out and do something normal. We went to Pickety Place, and the sandwich I got was okay. It was nothing spectacular. I want to go back and try the other new sandwich they had. Although, their desserts make it worthwhile, even if you end up with a lackluster sandwich. I got a piece of their Bailey's Irish Cream Cheese Cake. /drool
Afterwards, we stopped at a couple places and did a little shopping. I enjoyed the day thoroughly. Tonight was Dragon Dynasty on Sci-Fi. Meh. The dragon CGI actually wasn't bad, and we had a few good laughs. I'm thinking about seeing Lady in the Water tomorrow. I'll have to see how the day shapes up.
July 16, 2006
The fever? Yeah, that was me catching a very mild cold that was apparently killed off by said fever. Kev has it 100x worse than I do. At least it's explained now. /sigh
July 15, 2006
Four hours in the ER, blood work, and a CT Scan later it's been determined I do not have a hernia, pancreas damage, or any apparent fractures in my rib cage. The pain in my side was pretty bad this afternoon, and after realizing I had a fever for no good reason, I decided to go to the Urgent Care. The doc there strongly recommended I go to the ER, so Kev drove me to the better hospital in the area.
I hate CT scans. I had one done a few years ago for a concussion, and I hate the metallic taste from the contrast dye. When they took blood, the nurse left a little tube in my vein, thinking that would work for the dye the CT scan required. Not so. When I finally was wheeled over to CT, the technician said the tube wasn't big enough, and he had to put another one in my other arm. /sigh. When wheeled back, I'm just sitting in there with my arms rigidly straight, trying desperately not to bend them in any way. Thankfully, the nurse took the smaller one out when I got back.
My results came back pretty quickly, and they discharged me right after. I've been having the metallic taste in my mouth come and go all evening. I forgot how long it lasts. And now that I'm trying to lay down and go to sleep, I keep having this overwhelming feeling that I'm about to die. My heart races, I start breathing hard, and I get an intense metallic taste in my mouth from the contrast dye. It's genuine terror. Today's events would normally be enough to cause such a panic attack, but I've been told recently that it's normal for someone who's been through a sudden loss to have such feelings of impending death. So the two combined are just not working out. I've decided to just stay up all night if I have to. I'm not taking a sleeping pill or a muscle relaxer or anything else that's going to freak my heart rate out even more. It's too terrifying. I feel okay as long as I'm sitting upright.
I guess I'll play some WoW and hope this wears off in the next few hours so I can grab a handful of Z's before dawn.
July 14, 2006
Priests, and nuns, and money. Oh my!
Bad day today. I went to work early today, so I could leave early enough to get to Piqua about 5pm. I helped mom out by working a shift in her Catholic Church Festival waffle booth. Nothing like working around deep fryers in 90° heat with 90% humidity. Luckily, the booth had an industrial fan pointing right at it this year. Other years, we haven't been so lucky.
Mom was upset because the church wants her to raise her prices from 50 cents to 75 for the thin, crispy fair waffles. She fought it last year and won, and despite the total bitch that shoved a spreadsheet in mom's face with fake numbers, mom staved them off again this year. Here's the thing. Last year, they sold more waffles than they had in the last 3 years. And yet, the numbers say it was $600 down than the year before. So one of two things happened. 1) Someone stole money from the money box during the festival or 2) Bitchy McBitcherson faked the numbers on the spreadsheet to try to force mom to raise the price. I'm pretty damn sure it was #2. They've been strong-arming her like the mafioso assholes organized religion really is.
She fought enough today that they told her they could stay 50 cents this year but, and I quote, "Next year, we have to be business people. We're here to make money." Yeah. That's why I left the church in the first place. Churches don't give a DAMN about helping people. They're in it to make money. And yet, the cake wheel is still a quarter. All the cakes, pies, etc. are donated, and yet, you only have to bet a quarter on your number. Make THAT 50 cents. It's pure profit. If they want to be business people, then start jacking up the beer prices and the prices on gambling.
Anyway, enough bitching about that. While I was in the booth, I noticed mom wasn't wearing her wedding ring. I almost lost it. My heart broke like it has never broken before. It just crushed me. Completely. Utterly. I held it together because we were just about to leave, and I wasn't going to make everyone think I was nuts in my last 5 minutes of being there. But when I got home and Kev asked me how my day was, I started out bitching about the festival stuff, took a 90° turn into the wedding ring, and lost my damn mind. Want to make male houseguests leave? Just start crying hysterically in another room while gasping, "Shut the door" to your onlooking husband. They'll flee in terror in less than 5 seconds. It actually made me start laughing. lol
But the festival was kind of sad this year. Every year since I can remember, Carl was sitting in the announcer's booth hocking the festival in a way only he could. "Chuck-a-luuuck! Showdoooown! Black Jaaaack! Win them all! Buy a raffle ticket and win big!" His distinctive, booming baritone voice was a staple at that festival. But Carl, somewhere in his mid-90s, passed away earlier this year. It was markedly quiet, and it just didn't feel right.
It didn't help that today was busy as hell at work, and the last 2.5 hours of it was spent being treated like an idiot child, along with the rest of the marketing team because something isn't making an obscene amount of money after being launched a whole four months ago. /sigh. So I was REALLY pissed when I left that meeting, immediately heading to the waffle booth where I faced more bitchery and stupidity from church financiers.
And all I wanted to do tonight was log on to WoW. Could I? Of course not. I guess I'll take a shower, watch HEX, and go the hell to bed.
Mom did win me some brownies on the cake wheel, so the day wasn't a total loss. heh
July 13, 2006
All the Asian kids are doing it.
I ate at SAKE the other day for a co-worker's going-away lunch. I'd never been to a Japanese steakhouse before, and it was pretty good. We reserved one of the seating areas by the grill, so we could get the little show from the chef as he cooked.
When we came out of the place, one of the waiters was crouched on top of the flower bed wall, doing the Asian Squat. I almost cracked up. My co-workers commented on him being perched up there, and I told them about the short film. When we got back, they insisted I pull it up, so they could all watch it. Afterwards, they all took turns trying to do the Asian Squat. It was cracking me up.
The film cracked me up the first time I saw it because, being a huge Asian martial arts cinema fan, I noticed "the crouch" in a lot of them, especially Jet Li films like Fong Sai Yuk 1&2. I've noticed it in more modern Asian cinema, such as Time and Tide, but not as much.
July 12, 2006
Nap a go-go
Busy week. They got the calves tagged Monday night. They tried to separate them, so we could release them one by one on Tuesday and document who they ran to to nurse. That way we could match up for sure who belonged to who.

However, the calves completely freaked out and started trying to crawl through the gate. When the guy helping us take care of them went in to pull them out, they berzerked and pinned him against the fence...right on a big bolt sticking out. So he's done. He's not helping with these psychotic shits ever again, except to throw their grain at them.

I had talked to him last week about trying to get them penned up, so we could do this. After the last failed attempt, those cows would have nothing to do with him and wouldn't come back in the barn. The guy commented that he once had a breed this smart. He said he ate them and got a different breed. He said he liked his cows dumb. I added, "Dumb and tasty would be the best combination." He laughed at that.
We saw PotC2: Keith Richards Revenge. I really wasn't that impressed. As usual, spoilers ahead. I really felt like everything that happened in the first movie was totally negated and for no reason. Sparrow's redemption at the end of the first movie was thrown out the window from minute 1 of the sequel. I just didn't like the direction it took. And the total lack of an ending just pissed me off. I felt like I had just sat through Back to the Future II, again. Yay! I get to wait 2 years to see how the 2nd movie ends in another sequel that will probably also be unnecessarily long, boring, and filled with things to make rednecks laugh. Hurrah!
I started taking the muscle relaxer my Dr. prescribed last week for my ribs. I figure I can take one in the morning and one before bed, but I can't do the 4 a day she wanted me to take. It's a new type that's non-sedating, but having every muscle in my body turn to rubber doesn't do much for my alertness. I'll do this for a week and see how I feel. I'll probably have to go back next week and see the osteopath.
July 7, 2006
Prisoner of Teenage Rage
I helped Amy and Bill unload their Uhaul into their new townhouse today. Welcome back. You're very, very lucky I'm man-sized.
After putting a 5-inch cut in my left bicep and putting multiple bruises on my right forearm from losing my grip on a filing cabinet while carrying it, I was really looking forward to a cold shower and some HEX.
Next, I made myself sit through In Good Company. God that was painful. I'm all for chick flicks, even some bad ones, but this movie just sucked. I almost deleted it from TiVo twice while watching it. I don't know what held me back; I guess it was some masochistic impulse. Every time I see Dennis Quaid, all I can think of is the stick-figure parody of Cold Creek Manor I once saw. If anyone can find a link to that, post it in my comments. I haven't had any luck re-discovering it thus far.
Then, we watched Cry Baby. I've seen bits and pieces of it before, and I'm a big fan of Johnny Depp (probably the only "pretty" man I find attractive). Watching that chick drink a glass of her own tears made me almost throw up. I gagged. Blech. But I love that movie.
And after that, we watched Skeleton Key. Wow, was that crap. Movies that advertise a twist ending do nothing but ruin the movie. We decided to make it a game to try and figure out the twist ending. Two options were Kate Hudson was a robot (in the movie, not in real life...although it's hard to tell) and something about Kate Hudson being a Time Lord. Unfortunately, the ending was not as creative or exciting as either of those two options. Suck.
Tomorrow, we're all going to go see The Pirates of Keith Richards.
July 7, 2006
I had to go to the theater to do checks on Pirates of Keith Richards tonight. Several of the theater's employees were dressed up like pirates and manning the Unlimited Pirate Cornhole in a roped off section out front of the theater. When I think of pirates, I immediately think of cornhole. Doesn't everyone?
July 6, 2006
Ugh. My car window was $450 to fix. And no, I wasn't ripped off. Dealerships would have been even worse.
And I saw a different Dr. today about my ribs. Her office was kind of ghetto, but I really liked her. I wasn't too keen on waiting 35 minutes past my appt. time when I was the only person in the lobby after lunch. Oh well. She said she disagrees with sending me to have a bone scan. If anything, she'd send me to have an MRI to check for muscle damage. But from the how I did it--yoga--it's more likely that I've torn muscle, ligaments, or tendons off the bottom of my rib cage. Duh. I've known that. So I'm doing the anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxer for a week. If I'm not better after that, I'm going to see the osteopath in that office, and she's going to manipulate my rib cage. Freaky. All I want is to be able to go back to the gym, do ab exercises, and be able to do twists in yoga sometime in the near future.
Amy and Bill move back tomorrow. Yay!
July 4, 2006
I had to drop my car off at my mechanic this morning. Yesterday, as I was gleefully leaving work, my window made that tell-tale ka-chunk noise and slowly, sadly sank down with a pathetic whhiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrr. And wouldn't you know it, it was the driver's window. Last year, it was the back driver's side window. /sigh This morning, I roused Brian from his apartment to drive me to Piqua to drop it off.
When I got back, I decided that since the jackasses at Blizzard were still going to run maintenance on a holiday that 90% of the U.S. has off work, I'd do some house cleaning. Now that things have settled down, and I'm no longer carting into my apartment piles of my father's belongings and things I had stored at my parents, I can start to make this place not look like a disaster setting from a bad sci-fi movie.
Then I decided to treat myself by watching Bukowski: Born Into This that I got for my birthday. It was amazing. It really humanized him and showed that, amazingly enough, he was human...sensitive, fragile, and looking for his place in the world. I envy people who are drifters, rovers. What experiences.
Finally, WoW came up, and I played that for a bit. We broke for dinner and watched the new Venture Bros episode. Good stuff. Then I watched Ice, a sci-fi original my TiVO lovingly recorded for me that I really think was ripped off by Day After Tomorrow, a movie that was bad enough on its own. And after that, I watched Must Love Dogs. I have to admit, I was really afraid it was going to be an America's Sweethearts horror show. My devoted husband and father of my nine children, John Cusack, has been in a few bombs, A.S. being one of them. But I was pleasantly surprised. There were actually a lot of honest, laughable moments. The only thing I didn't like was the stereotype of the overbearing family trying to run her life. I dunno, maybe I'm just good at setting personal boundaries, but I don't know anyone whose family is really like that. Overall, I recommend it.
July 2, 2006
The cattle wouldn't cooperate, so after an hour and a half of trying to lure them to the barn, the breeder gave up. They're going to try to coordinate with the guy feeding them, so he can just lock them up next time they're in the barn. Then after that, we're going to have to separate the calves for about 10 hours, so we can release them 1 by 1. It's the only way we can determine who belongs to who. This particular breed will allow 3-4 calves from the herd to nurse on them, besides their own. Great.
I am so glad we waited for these calves to be born. What a great idea.
July 1, 2006
We ended up getting home a bit earlier than expected, which I'm grateful for. It's been a long week, and I'm looking forward to having Tuesday to myself.
We demo'd Hero Cards: Shogun today, and I really liked it. We also picked up the expansion for Dungeon Twister and played it when we got home tonight. My mind is fried and empty from being so tired, so most of the interesting things that happened today are just not coming to mind right now.
Although, on the way home from Columbus, we spotted some friends of ours on the side of the highway with a flat. We stopped to make sure they were okay; they had called AAA and were waiting for them to show up. So we took off and had dinner at Gran Rio once we were sure they were all right.
The night culminated in Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove. Amusing and bizarre with the usual twist ending that pretty much all Sci-Fi originals have. Braa-vo.
June 30, 2006
Day 1 of Origins is over. Kev and I had a good time. We demo'd Dungeon Twister and Hero Cards: Galaxy, both of which were big fun. I want to demo Hero Cards: Shogun Saturday. That's probably the set I'll end up getting; it's just more appealing to my tastes. I really don't care much for spaceships and laser blasters; I prefer samurais, shoguns, and sword fights.
We picked up a copy of Dungeon Twister towards the end of the day. It was odd. The creator's booth wasn't selling copies; they said they weren't allowed. So the creator, a kind of hot Frenchman (also odd), had his 20 design copies, and he was trading them to the Magic® dealer, so the magic dealer could sell them to interested people. It was bizarre. And none of the other retailers brought any because they all thought the creator's booth would be selling it. Bizarre.
Then we had dinner with GR, which was big fun. Kev and I had never eaten at a Buca di Beppo; I've heard about them from my co-workers who travel a lot and have wanted try it. The pork chops with blueberry sauce were unbelievable. The restaurant has different kitschy-themed rooms set up, one table being situated right in the middle of the kitchen, something I'm not so sure I'd like.