Last week, I decided that now that I'm unemployed, I should watch day time television. So I watched 20 minutes of Maury. The topic of which was something about DNA tests and baby daddies and lots of cussing.

Tonight, my tivo has decided to record Amputee Admirers.
Apparently a stump feels like a breast without the nipple. What do you know...

Coincidence? I think not.

Tags: the_good_life

that is all....

I'll be lining up to see this when it opens. Who wants to come along?

Thursday, July 30 I’m celebrating my birthday with another movie party with my LJ friends.

The movie is the riotously funny screwball comedy What’s Up, Doc? starring Ryan O’Neal, Barbara Streisand, Madeline Kahn, and Kenneth Mars, along with Austin Pendleton, Michael Murphy, John Hillerman, Randy Quaid, and M. Emmet Walsh, and at least half a dozen other character actors you’ll recognize. The movie made the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Comedies list, above Victor Victoria, Sleeper, and Beetlejuice!

The movie screens at 7:00 pm at Chelsea Cinemas at 260 West 23rd St (off Eighth Ave). Admission is only $7.50!

Afterwards – around 9:00 pm if you can only make that – we’ll head down the block to R.U.B. (Righteous Urban Barbecue) for some BBQ and desserts that include bacon chocolate chip cookies and deep-fried Oreos! Sandwiches run from $9-12 and BBQ platters are $12-$25.

Movie and dinner are dutch treat, so please no gifts – just your presence there! So far
Brian/wonderboynj
lolitasir
Cliff/jazzbearny
Scott/ sirpupnyc
Katherine/deafdyke
Olli/ejo_mucare planning to come.
How about you?

BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

Instructions:
Copy this. Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien x
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling x
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee x
6 The Bible x
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell x
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman x
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Total: 6

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare x
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien x
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

Total: 2

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams x
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck x
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame x

Total: 3

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis x
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis x
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne x

Total: 3

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell x
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding x
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

Total: 2

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert x
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley x
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Total: 2

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville x

Total: 1

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker x
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce x
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

Total: 2

80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens x
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White x
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle x
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

Total: 3

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams x
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare x
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl x
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Total: 3

Grand Total: 27

Not as great as some of my friends, but better than 6, I should say.

-woof

Current Mood: pissed off

BBQ pork, coconut curry khao soi, drunken noodles with pork
fried money bags, green mango salad
pad thai, soy sauce noodles with beef and broccoli, spring rolls

If you like great Thai food and/or would like to meet Jason/ink_ling while he’s in town, join us tonight at one of NYC’s best Thai restaurants, Sripraphai, just a short subway ride away on the 7 train.

You can check out the menu here. Most dishes are around $8, more for soft shell crab and whole fish.

We’re meeting there at 6:45. Just take the 7 train (which crosses all north-south subway lines in Manhattan) to the 61st St-Woodside stop, then walk forward four more blocks to Roosevelt & 65th. Srupraphai is on your left at 64-13 39th Ave, right where 65th St & 39th Ave converge at Roosevelt.

Comment here or at danbearnyc’s original post to let us know if you’re coming; if you arrive late you’ll likely find us on the beautiful and peaceful back patio.

Tags: food, friends

The alarm went off at 515 this morning - and the day got started. Dave had trouble sleeping so he grumbled and went back to sleep. I went to my office - lit some incense and meditated. The house was cool - and felt so quiet. It was lovely. As I finished the meditation - the house started to fill with the aroma of fresh coffee. I hit the shower - and Miss Kate was waiting outside the door for me when I got out. She had this look on her face that said "I'm sure you are getting up early so that I can go out - I mean, is there another reason?" - I poured myself a cup of coffee and we hit the trail for walk around the block.

The air smelled fresh - and it was fun being around as kids were being taken to daycamp by their folks, other dogs and their humans were out for walkies, and construction workers were showing up at the various projects. (The elementary school up the block is getting a MAJOR facelift and new soccer field) Miss Kate and I had a great walk - and as soon as she realized that now that we'd been out for walkies she could go back and snuggle in the warm bed with Dave for several more hours - she raised up the stairs and was waiting patiently by the bed by the time I got my shoes off. I helped her up and she snuggled right in against Dave - Dave giving out this little barely awake noise acknowledging her, stroked her head a couple of times then was right back to sleep. I hit the kitchen for a bowl of shredded wheat - then it was time to refill my coffee cup and walk to Caltrain.

University Avenue is the main drag through town (it leads to the gates of Stanford University) - and most any hour of the day it is a crazy bustling street filled with cars and people. At 645am though? Mostly empty, except for those of us walking like migrating zombies to Caltrain. There is Madge (my name for her) the homeless gal who sits outside of Peets Coffee - listening to an ipod. (LOL! Only in Palo Alto do homeless people with shopping carts have iPods.) Her selection this morning had her grinning ear-to-ear and singing along in something that resembled happy Klingon. (chortle) I made it to the train platform a few minutes early - so I got the validation stamp on my Caltrain ticket and finished my coffee. The train was right on time at 7:05 - and I'm typing this while sitting in my seat on the train. We just left Millbrae station and are heading into the city. (oh - and I went with the Verizon wireless USB card, it's only $50/mth - and I'd have to work HARD to go past the usage bandwidth - but it's nice that it reports my usage each time I log on.)

Caltrain's voiceover has an australian accent. (The "warning: doors are closing" voice?) People are reading the paper, or typing on their laptops like I am. We just came under the fog layer into the city - - and me without a jacket. (i'll have to find a jacket that I can fold and pack in my briefcase) anyhow - I just wanted to capture this first snapshot of my first voyage into the city commuting. It may sound pedestrian. (honestly with wireless to read LJ and the newspaper online, it's luxurious!)

I haven't been at work for four days - and I'm sure I'll have a dozen or so "emergency" level things that folks need done as soon as I hit the office. :) but with this amount of time to get awake, meditated, caffeinated - - nothing they can throw at me can phase me. I'm going to like this a lot.

tah for now.

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Doctor Who fans have been given their first look at the new costume being worn by Matt Smith, the 11th actor to play the role.

The Time Lord's new look consists of tweed jacket, bow tie, rolled up trousers and black boots.

Filming on the new episodes begins on Monday in Cardiff, with the new series going out in spring 2010.

Smith is taking over from David Tennant, whose last episodes will be shown at the end of the year.

"I feel very privileged and proud to be part of this iconic show," Smith said after arriving on set for his first day of filming.

'Come alive'

"The scripts are brilliant - I'm excited about the future and all the brilliant adventures I get to go on as the Doctor."

The Doctor will also have a new companion - Amy Pond - played by Karen Gillan, who meets the Time Lord in episode one of the new series.

There is also a changed team behind the scenes, led by new lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat who will be responsible for the overall creative direction of the show, as well as plot and character arcs.

"Matt and Karen are going to be incredible, and Doctor Who is going to come alive on Saturday nights in a whole new way," Moffat said.

Since its return in 2005, Doctor Who has won a number of accolades, including Baftas and National Television Awards.

I posted this question on FB, and thought I'd repost it here:

Why keep federalism alive in the US? (Yes, I see the irony of referring to America that way in this context, but I also see that America isn't confined to the US.) Hasn't federalism outlived its usefulness?

Dave and I worked all day again to get things settled... we put up art around the house from my art - and worked to get my office finalized getting the photowall up.



I love the photo wall! I originally set it up in Boise and it has been in boxes for three years here in SF. Most of the wall is pictures taken by me of some of my favorite people. This incarnation also includes photos by my favorite LJ artist, bitterlawngnome - poetry by Michael Arcalengeli, the set model for "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" (from spring 2005 in Boise, ID), some of my favorite sayings on canvas blocks, signed pieces of art from different shows and productions, and so many of my dear friends. In no particular order, on this wall are pagerbear, poohbearjim, bootedintexas, notdefined, mh58, mrdreamjeans, bearfuz,trulygrateful, nanocub, dr_scott, excessor, bjarvis, kentstr, cuyahogarvr, septimuswarren, joebearsandiego, althrman, f8n_beggora, jodfoster, whiskerfish and I'm sure a few others. I've left room on the left for some new shots of Dave and I's adventures with the Adorabears (sfleatherbear and bibliocub), my chorus sisters Eric and Mark (nonlj) and Shaun and Jeff. I also have my Mom, my sister, my lovely dog Miss Kate - and all kinds of memories on this wall it makes me all kinds of very happy.

The best part - is when I was done and had my office all showed up Dave came in and said "well, this space is now officially you-itized!" I am so lucky to get my own space here in my new home that is creatively, and honestly - emotionally/spiritually mine.

We also had a long chat today about my art - and putting up throughout the house so as Dave put it "you can feel like this is our home and your touch is on and in each room." (gosh I love this guy) The biggest kick being that he wants my painting above the fireplace in the living room; taking down a large watercolour he purchased. It's been a long busy day - but really quite worth it all. Dave and I are really relaxing and enjoying "setting up house".

Now to get Miss Kate for some sunset walkies - then settle in - and do my first early commute in the AM. (yikes!)

The coffee maker is already programmed.....

For those of you who asked, we are moving about 45 minutes north, into the middle of nowhere, to a house in the woods, by the water, a cliff and a ravine. We will have land to build things on, and quiet for recording. There are horses, tall trees and fireplaces. And we will be that much further away from reality.... Its a good place.

I think it was Thursday when I ran across someone (an interesting someone) online who had the same unusual first name as an ex of mine.  Well, the same name except for the silent 'E' at the end of it.  I promptly overwhelmed him with questions and information, of course, as I am wont to do.   So I haven't heard back from him all weekend.  *disappointed sigh*

I needed to do something different before the weekend was gone, so today I joined someone for a few beers in Minneapolis on Sunday evening.  While there, I saw somebody who looked exactly like this same ex of mine.  I was brave (either me or the beer) and I asked the guy at the bar if his family was French or if he recognized the last name of my ex.  He didn't.  He was actually from Wisconsin and had Irish roots.  We talked about that for a little while and then went our separate ways.  *more sighs*

After I got home, I emailed a photo of my ex to the guy who joined me earlier, and he agreed that they looked alike.  "Yeah your right. LoL." 

I emailed my ex to let him know about the doppleganger sighting.  Dunno what it all "means" in the cosmic sense.  I think I'm going to try to go to sleep already and see if maybe it'll all go away by the time I wake up.  It's not nice to tease the bears (or the tiggers).

Tags: daily life

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