Rambling from a couch

I've recently had to begin to come to terms with the fact that I don't have that many people in my life. I have a good number of friends, sure, but I'm really not the type that randomly calls people to hang out or has people calling me to hang out (at least not as often as people call my boyfriend). My boyfriend and I are two separate people when it comes to that. He has a lot of different friends who will call him just wanting to grab a drink. I have a few close friends that I plan to hang out with, but it doesn't usually happen spontaneously.

Part of this could be chalked up to the fact that I have moved to a new city and had to make some new friends, while he is getting ready to move and is still surrounded by people he's known for a long time. But to be fair, I'm just not the type to have a huge group of people that I hang out with. I've had moments in my life when that was the case, but I would always end up clinging to a best friend or a boyfriend and alienate everyone else. This is basically why my senior year of college was a rebuilding year of sorts. It was my first college year alone, single, and I had to realize that I'd previously based all social activities on my ex-boyfriend. I had one friend that stood by me (sorry I don't call much anymore, Kevin). I slowly made new friends and became social again, and eventually met my current boyfriend and was introduced to his circle.

And then I moved. I knew a few people in Austin and was living with my cousin, but everyone already had their groups formed and I was going to have to find my own. I have met new people and have definitely found a very small (for now) niche in this town. But I still find myself sitting alone on the couch most nights. And really, I can't blame anyone but myself. I either forget to call people just to say hey, or I just don't find myself wanting to do something at the end of the eight hour day. I'm not sure how exactly to remedy this, or if it's even something that needs to be remedied. Is it necessarily a bad thing that I'm a bit of a loner at this stage of my life? I don't always want it to be this way, because I do enjoy seeing my current group of friends (both in Austin and Huntsville) and I always feel good after hanging out with people. But it's difficult for me to initiate social activities with others.

Having a small group of people surrounding you isn't a bad thing. But at some point I've got to remember to reach out to everyone so that my small group doesn't turn into just me.

And my god, the Cowboys beat the Colts. Romo, you crazy kid, you pulled off the best upset of the year.

Saturday

The parent visit went well, surprisingly. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents. But we were planning to try and move our satellite dish to a more productive spot, and when my dad gets into his projects he sometimes gets into a project mood. I know all about it, because a)I grew up with the man and b)I inherited it from him. But today went very smoothly, and now our beloved satellite is working again. The first thing I did was turn on Comedy Central. And lo and behold, The Royal Tenenbaums was on. Nothing else would do.

Right now Jared and I are sitting here mindlessly watching Zoolander. And while I enjoy this movie, I really don't think this is what we should be doing on a Saturday night. So now I'll try to find something to do in a city full of things to do. Wish me luck.

Network TV

I've started writing two different posts, but can't seem to find a subject I want to expound on. I'm currently waiting for Jared to arrive, and hopefully I soon I will be in a restaurant somewhere waiting for food to arrive.

Since our satellite dish was blown down by strong winds the other day, there's not much to distract me in the way of television. We have the rabbit ears, and that's it. It gets us the necessary network tv, but geez, have you watched network tv lately? This has got to be some of the worst entertainment I've seen. The Biggest Loser? Deal or No Deal? I do admit to certain tv shows. Namely Gilmore Girls and House. And I was happy that I got to catch 30 Rock and some of The Office last night. I would have never watched those if our satellite dish had been working. But my god. Howie Mandel is creeping me out.

I've got to go take my curlers out.

Whaaa??

Just read that the Pentagon used to list homosexuality along with mental retardation and personality disorders. And people wonder why this country is going to hell.

Here are links (for previous entry), as promised:

Toy Joy
Theremin
The Octopus Project
Trigger Happy TV

Quick! Post!

I'll be getting this in just under the wire. I got a wild hair up my butt tonight and decided to clean. Maybe it's because Jared (formally known only as "the boyfriend") is coming up, and I haven't seen him in two weeks. Maybe (and this is a little more likely) it's because my parents are coming over this weekend. They rarely show up in Austin, so this is an occasion to clean.

We might be getting an addition to our little family soon. It will be fluffy, with four legs and a tail. Keep your fingers crossed.

My clock says 11:53 PM. Gotta hurry.

We passed Toy Joy tonight (I'll provide the link later, must write!) and outside of their new vegan cafe was a sight to be seen. A band of three members wearing masks (one was a dog mask!) was playing in the parking lot. The dog masked guy was playing a theremin (I promise another link later), which made me the happiest girl in the land. I've grown a little obsessive with the theremin after seeing The Octopus Project live (seriously, it's coming). And I have a weakness for humans dressed up as animals. This is the main reason I LOVED the series Trigger Happy TV. Anyway, this sight is something I wouldn't have seen living in the previous cities I've inhabited, so it was basically just another reason to say that I truly love Austin.

11:58!! Publish!

Cough

That's all I've been doing. Coughing. And yawning. So I think this will be a very short entry tonight. Here's a picture of the boyfriend and I. His name is Jared. I'm on the right.

I knew it!

My health has been getting progressively worse with each passing day. Today was the worst by far, with the sneezing and the coughing, the runny nose and the imploding head. I finally took control (as well as you can take control of your health) and checked the weather for central Texas. A COLD FRONT!! As in, a real cold front. Temperatures will be getting down to the upper thirties tomorrow night. I know, I'm excited too! Mainly because this means my allergies have just been warning me that some major shit is coming, and they'll go back to being only mildly annoying in a day or two.

This also means I can pull out my winter music. I have a lot of cds, but really only listen to about half with any consistency. Of those, some seem to show up more during certain seasons. For example, The Arcade Fire is a winter band for me. Mainly because I finally bought their cd just as the weather turned cold last year. I wrapped presents to it. Good times.

I also have music that seems to be my "the seasons are changing" music. I've been listening to Whiskeytown and Wilco a lot lately. Almost exclusively. I (rather embarrasingly) didn't know much about either before I met the boyfriend. After a month of dating, I moved to Austin. A few weeks later, he went to Mexico for a month. He ended up leaving me some of his books and cds that he thought I'd like. Some of those were Whiskeytown and Wilco cds. I think I fell completely in love with him when I listened to them. While I listen to both pretty regularly, these two bands sure can accompany a change in the weather. If you've never listened to either, I suggest you grab them now while the weather's changing (assuming you're in Texas too).

I'll help get you started. Pneumonia will change your life. (Maybe. Or you'll just really enjoy a cd. Either way, it's good.)

Borat

*Disclaimer: This post contains generalizations for the purpose of making an argument. I don't think all persons living in the US (particularly the midwest) have the same opinions. After all, I am a liberal Texan.*

Just went to a blog that I semi-regularly read, Mighty Girl, and read a post she had about Borat. She basically disliked it, and I assumed a lot of people would. I don't necessarily object to her opinion, because there are some parts in the movie where he, Borat, could be seen as being mean to others. But I don't think it's what defines the movie. There were also some comments from readers who thought that by watching and laughing at this movie, we were all part of the joke. Again, I don't think that's the point of the movie.

Here is my grand overview of the opinion I formed after watching this movie. I know you are all waiting with bated breath.

I don't think Sacha Baron Cohen went into the making of this movie with any malice intended. I think he used (admittedly) easy targets for his jokes, but the reason these people are easy targets is because they have made themselves just that. The frat boys, the Secession Drive dwellers, the people at the rodeo who actually clapped when their President was called a warlord premiere, they are they type of people who, in my opinion, need to be laughed at. Mainly because their ideas are so archaic by today's standards that they are out of step with the rest of the forward-thinking world. They don't want to accept homosexuals, liberals, or those of a different race. I'm all for marching to your own drum and being true to yourself, but when your beliefs end up killing others, you might want to take a step back and wonder why everyone's looking at you funny.

By laughing at this movie, I acknowledged sadly that these people represent the voting majority in our country. (Actually, we did just replace a lot of Republicans with Democrats...maybe the country saw this movie and finally realized how appalling we all look to others...) I don't think that by laughing at this movie I've managed to include myself on the losing end of the joke. I feel that those who believe that's the case are just trying to make those of us who enjoyed the movie feel bad or stupid for doing so. It won't work. Mr. Cohen wasn't making fun of me for thinking slavery should still be around, or believing that the Iraq war is what's best for this country or this world. He wasn't making fun of me because I don't believe those things.

I'm tempted to say that this movie is getting too much attention for what it's worth, but I know that'd be wrong. This movie needs to drum up all of this talking and love and hatred. By making this movie, Mr. Cohen has forced everyone to look at themselves and others with a more careful eye. And I think that's exactly what this country needs, me included.

So in the end, I'll always like this movie. It's not a masterpiece, but it is more important than some would like to admit. It's easy to write it off as rude, stupid humor, but you're not giving it a fair shot if you do that.

And anyway, I'd be interested to see how many Borat haters watch reality TV every week. You can't tell me that some of those programs don't subject some people to ridicule.

If people have differing opinions and want to let me know about them, I'm all for 'em. After all, I'd be a hypocrite not to listen to them after this post.

I am woman

Well, I watched movies and cried again today. But this time, it was Rudy. I'd seen it a long time ago, probably while I was lying with my bean bag in my parent's living room. So today when I started watching it, it was like I was seeing it for the first time. All I remembered was that it was a tear jerker or heart warmer or anything else you say about inspirational true story sports movies. And it sure was all of those things. It jerked several tears from my very willing eyes. Ahh, football.

My friend Marci is going to be a football player. And I mean a real football player. She's not playing touch football, but serious "I'm going to take your head off" football. I'm buying season tickets.

This weekend wasn't extremely productive, but I did get the front and back yards weed whacked. I would say that I mowed them, but our mower is not a great one, our front yard is really too small to mow, and the back yard has a lot of potentially lethal rocks tucked away. So the weed whacker got a good workout today. As did my arms. I really don't have a lot of arm strength, and for hours afterwards, I couldn't lift them without a lot of motivation and momentum. And the only reason I'm typing right now is because I had a beer and three Ibuprofen. The pain is numbed for now. And the yards look great, which makes my Sunday complete.

Hormones

God help me. I'm watching The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. And I'm crying. Why oh why do we have hormones that force us to watch chick flicks and shed tears?

OH MY GOD. CAN'T STOP TEARING UP.

I should have left it on Inside the NFL.

Movie

I should have read the book before I saw the movie. Running with Scissors was the last movie I needed to watch tonight. A bit more depressing than I thought it'd be.

Always read the book. Always.

My own personal date

I'm usually driving to Huntsville or waiting for the boyfriend to arrive on Friday nights. But tonight is a bit different. We've got a girl's night planned for tomorrow, so the boyfriend isn't showing up this weekend. Almost everyone I know has got things to do, and even if some people don't, I've been a bit anti-social lately. I should remedy that, but it's hard when half of your life is in a different city and you're still fairly new to this one. But I digress.

Since I've got a lot of time to myself tonight, I think I'm going to treat myself to a movie. I'm trying to decide what to see. I've narrowed it down to Babel, The Queen, or Running with Scissors. If I'm feeling like I want to be enlightened in some way, I'll see Babel. Or The Queen. If I'm feeling quirky, it'll be Running with Scissors. I'm not sure what movie I'm more likely to see with someone else. I'll probably end up at Running with Scissors. I'm sure you're riveted by all of this.

It's been a while since I've seen a movie by myself. I think the last time was when I saw Thank You for Smoking. The first movie I ever saw on my own was Ladder 49. It was a big step for me. I was newly single, trying to remind myself that I could do things on my own, and, well, it had Joaquin Phoenix in it. (By the way, if you're not following the links, I highly recommend clicking on that one.) I'd always been nervous about seeing a movie alone, and the first time was tough. But after a few tries, I think I've got it down pretty good.

I think I'll go with Running with Scissors. I need to laugh. Has anyone else seen their first movie alone yet?

Harry and the Hendersons

I'm sitting in my living room having a drink with Casey when I discover that Harry and the Hendersons was actually on TV. An HBO channel I think. How this movie brings back memories. I wore the tape out when I was young, and watching it tonight I could still remember how I felt every time I watched the mom put a bandage on Harry's wound; or when Harry imitated a police siren to get through the traffic. Does anyone else remember this movie? I must buy it. It made me feel like a kid again.

As I was watching it tonight, I started to wonder about Harry. How did they do that? It had to be a real person under there, but was he really that tall or was it trick photography? While I was looking up the movie on IMDb, I clicked on the actor's name, Kevin Peter Hall. Turns out he was really that tall; 7'2". He was an African-American actor who was in the Predator movies, among other things. His bio states that his face is only seen at the end of Predator, a movie in which he plays the Predator and a helicopter pilot. Apparently he died in 1991 after getting a tainted blood transfusion after a car accident. He ended up with AIDS.

While I never followed this man's career, I feel a certain sense of loss in learning that he died so many years ago of something so tragic. Even tonight watching that movie from so long ago made me feel like a kid again; somehow made me feel OK. Comforted. And now that I know the man who played Harry is dead, I feel like my grown up world has somehow forced its way into my childhood. Reality has reminded me that I can't ignore it. Just makes me sad.


Anyway, I highly recommend this movie. It's not great, but if there's still some kind of child left inside of you, you might appreciate it.

So......

Rumsfeld is gone. Why did this take so long? Oh yeah, our President's got blinders on.

Walking home, I ended up behind a student finishing his cigarette. The downwind was blowing the smoke in my face, and immediately I hated it. I'm not going to say that people shouldn't smoke at all, and I'm not going to try to tell smokers when and where they should smoke. I don't understand the allure, but that doesn't matter right now.

The second I'm around smoke, my head or chest tells me what it thinks. It's worse when I'm walking rather briskly, breathing a little faster and harder than usual. I don't have asthma, but my allergies frequently make it a little more difficult for me to breathe at the same level that most others do from day to day. (I realize that asthmatics have it a lot worse, so don't get angry with me) And once that smoke gets in there, you can forget it. It just doesn't feel good.

I guess I just wish I could either a) breathe much better than I can so that smoke doesn't bother me so much, or b) figure out how to navigate the wind successfully every time I'm around a cigarette.

So anyway, I should tell you how much I love the commercial on the TV right now for Senokot. "Naturally Gentle, Gentle Naturally." It's a laxative. The commercial contained: a man giving a woman flowers he picked, a deer running, a basketful of puppies, a little boy petting a kitten, etc. Does this make you want to go to the bathroom? Or at least take Senokot if you can't? Tell me someone, because all I can do is laugh.

Thoughts thought whilst walking home and sitting on my porch

If I had a cell phone that had all kinds of capabilities, I'd never use anything else to do anything else. I'd take pictures, download music, get scores (god help me if I ever have one during baseball season), play awesome games, chat, and cuddle with it at night. I'm already one of these people who can't STAND to be anywhere without my cell phone.


My iPod loves me, despite its many scratches and drops. I know this because it randomly played three (count 'em, THREE) Elliott Smith songs in a row. It knows me so well.


A mosquito is, once again, going to prevent me from staying outside on my very nice porch. The little fucker.


I'm not sure if we're supposed to keep the grass short on the other side of the fence (the area between our fence and the sidewalk). I only wonder because it's starting to look like shit.


I told my boyfriend to write down everything he loves about me before this weekend, because I might (MIGHT) take all of my PMS aggression out on him. He'll need a list to reference when I'm crying for no apparent reason and blaming it on him. ("Wait, why do I put up with this every month?") After a year and a half of dating, should he be used to this by now? I sure as hell hope so. And I hope he takes my advice, because I'm already feeling physical pain. Emotional distress shall soon follow. It's a good thing the girls are going to get me drunk this weekend.


I'm going to miss him when the girls get me drunk this weekend.


We need a pet.

Beck

I'm sure this will be taken off of You Tube by the time people try to watch it, but I thought I'd try to post it anyway. It's a video of Beck's performance on SNL two weekends ago. It's pretty good, but I'd have to argue that it sounds like Beck stole his catchy little riff from The Unicorns. That little guitar bit is contained in their song "Child Star" near the end. If you have the cd, listen. You'll hear it. It's a tiny bit different, but it's close enough for me to think "I've heard that before. That's not his."

Beck, I think you're good, but Canadians beat you to that melody.

A post full of hearts

I sometimes wonder how I ended up dating the person I'm with. He's one of those great people who I thought would never be interested in someone like me. Not that I'm a totally lame person or anything; he was an English major and I was a bored Theatre major. We had an English class together that focused on the rise of drama in America, and the English major (of course) had much more interesting comments to make than the Theatre major. So I just naturally assumed he'd think I was some kind of flake and that'd be that. Apparently he didnt.

He's a writer; much better than most of the junk that's published these days, light years better than I could ever be. I, though, am probably a better Googler than he could ever dream of being. (These are of the same caliber, of course.) He likes a room to be freezing at night. I like a room to be just cool enough to use more than one blanket. He doesn't watch any sports. I watch football, baseball, some basketball, and The Lonestar Rollergirls. (To be fair, he likes the Rollergirls too.)

My point is that he and are probably quite different if you were to write us down on paper. But we've got the essentials: we like the same music, the same movies (mostly), the same politics, the same jokes. We grew up with similar parents, beliefs, and activities. It's just amazing to me that someone I initially thought would be so different than me is the one person I feel is most like me. Just thought I'd share that.

In other news, has anyone else seen the 5 Hour Energy commercial? It first shows people falling asleep at work (one's even a doctor--how secure I feel!). Then, after they drink the 5 Hour Energy drink, they're BAM! Back in action. It even shows this one man walking down a cubicle hallway mysteriously upper cutting the air with his fist. I mean really, have you ever felt so energized you've just HAD to throw a punch? This is excluding the boxers out there. We know how you roll.

If you don't watch the Colbert Report, allow me to tell you what he did tonight, the bastard. He has a balloon drop planned for tomorrow night after the midterms. Of course, all of the balloons are red. So if people want to see a fabulous balloon drop, they have to vote Republican. To drive the point home, he had two very cute children come out and say to the camera, to America, "Vote Republican!" Yeah, it was cute.

I'm about to post this at 11:20 PM by my computer clock. Hopefully Blogger won't screw me over and show it as a 12:01 entry again.

I swear

that my computer clock said 11:59 when I hit "Publish Post." Damn you Blogger clock. Damn you.

I have failed

I gotta say, I'm not surprised. I knew it would be hard to post when I was in Huntsville, since there are not very many opportunities to get a good internet connection there.

Does anybody else hate that Rascal Flatts cover of "Life is a Highway"? I know I do.

Does anybody else LOVE the LeBron James commercial on ESPN where he's trying to fix the copy machine? I know I do.

I've got 3 minutes until the end of Sunday, so I'd better make this quick.

My Cowboys lost, my Bearkats won, and I got to take my boyfriend out to see Borat this weekend. All in all, not a bad few days. I hope you had a good one too. See you tomorrow.

Since I said it...

Since I said the cat video wouldn't be my only post today, I have to write another one. But this one will again be short and sweet, as I have 10 minutes until the end of this VERY long work week.

It's the boyfriend's birthday today, and tomorrow I'm taking him to see Borat. I'm rather excited, and I think I'll like Sacha Baron Cohen a lot more after this. In fact, I already do. I appreciated Da Ali G Show, but I never really hooked on to it. I'll have to post a short review...although I wonder if everyone else who sees the movie will post a short review.

Now for the sweet part: I send you my cuddles. Have a good Friday evening!




Seriously, look at the Karate Cat again.