Holiday debriefing…

Since this year’s holiday plans did not include traveling, I decided to make a to-do list of vacation activities, not only to avoid boredom, but to give me crap to blog about. It went like this…

1. Clean apartment from top to bottom



Not a particularly fascinating blog topic, but since we’re here… I did clean from top to bottom (bottom to top) and once I recovered from the headache caused by my very liberal use of bleach in the bathroom, I was quite pleased with the result. It didn’t even take that long. Having my own place has made me much neater, although I’m still prone to clutter (magazines, books, clothes). What I’m not so good at is dusting and organizing. I still think dusting is a waste of precious time, but organizing is always a good thing because it helps me gain control in a world of chaos.

2. See at least one movie in a theatre



Li’l Sis and I took in Twilight (finally!). It was alright. I thought the girl playing Bella did a good job, in that she was just as frustrating on screen as she is in the book. I mean, I don’t pretend to understand the hearts and minds of teenage girls, but would any self-respecting emo, hormonal, impressionable, high school girl act like Bella? Granted, Robert Pattinson is swoon-worthy, but he eats wild animals, sparkles, and doesn’t seem to own a hairbrush. Love is great and all, but not when bodily harm is involved. In other words, JUST BITE HER ALREADY! Anyway, I did like the movie, but only because I’ve decided not to let my dissatisfaction with the conclusion of the series color my appreciation for the first book.

3. Start a new knitting project

I can’t say I succeeded here. I thought about it a lot; I looked through all of my patterns and books, organized my yarn, etc… but I didn’t actually settle on anything. I crave a massive project, but looking at all the barely started, half-finished, sitting in a bag, never to be seen again projects next to my yarn stash gave me pause. I should probably finish some of those before starting something else, but I couldn’t find the motivation. Therefore, this holiday activity will have to rollover.

4. Listen to all the CDs I’ve purchased this year

So THAT’S where all my money goes! I have a terrible habit of buying music and then not listening to it, which is just CRAZY, considering how much I’ve spent. I managed to plug through everything between lots of walks and mindless internet-browsing, and I was very proud of myself when I was finished. However, since I listened to almost 50 albums (I know, it’s ridiculous) practically back-to-back, I don’t remember any of it. Perhaps it wasn’t really worth it?

5. Read the entire Harry Potter series



I’ve actually been meaning to do this for quite some time. I was so exhausted after the build-up, release, and manic speed-read through the final book two summers ago (god, has it been that long?), that I figured I needed a break. And since movie 6 comes out this summer, it seemed like I was ripe for a review. I’ve read the first four books more times than I care to admit (actually, I can’t admit anything because I’ve lost count), but prior to this holiday Potter-blitz, I’d only read the last three books one time each. I know, I’m a bad Potter-fan. I thought this would be an easy thing, but I underestimated how long and involved these books are. I have just now finished reading all seven, and it is one week past Christmas vacation. I’m really quite tired.

Since this was my first complete read-through of all seven books, I was able to take in the entire scope of the series. It really is an amazing feat of literature. Some of the best fantasy fiction being written today is absolute GARBAGE compared to Harry Potter. Often times, these huge, sprawling epics are littered with unworthy installments. Even The Lord of the Rings has been criticized for the plodding and drama-leaking second book (The Two Towers), and that’s frikkin’ JRR Tolkien, for god’s sake. But all seven books in Rowling’s series are gems; perfect within themselves, and yet perfect parts to the whole, too. One of my main goals after this re-read was to be able to confirm which one of the seven is my favorite. It’s still The Prisoner of Azkaban, but now that I see how they all fit together, The Half-Blood Prince almost caused an upset.

I love PoA because of the seamless blend of magic, mystery, and action. While the first two books are genius, I feel like the darker tone and thrilling twists of this third novel make it the one in which the series begins to take off. But H-BP is really amazing, too. I didn’t fully appreciate it the first time through (all those years ago), but it really is a masterpiece. Such a fitting prelude to the final book…

Finally, I’m glad I did this because now I can say I actually like the last book. I won’t lie… when I first read it, I was a tad disappointed. I suppose I thought it would end differently (too many nights spent on fan-sites soaking in all those theories about how the series would end kind of backfired), and I found so much of it to be frustrating (why are we still camping!? DO SOMETHING!). I’ll also admit that I was incredibly confused at the end when I read it the first time, which probably informed my bad attitude about it. This time, I followed the twists and turns much better, so it was fascinating rather than tedious. But let’s be real: all those horcruxes and all those hallows – that’s a lot to keep up with. No wonder I was lost. But now that I understand everything, this book is a tremendously entertaining climax to a tremendously awesome series. I doubt very much that any series will ever be as good, or as universally beloved. That is, unless she plans to do a spin-off. Personally, I think she is. How else do you explain that awful, awful epilogue?

(and don’t get snippy with me. You know that epilogue was bad. Unnecessary, sentimental, pointless… awful)

Oh, and as a sidebar: I also read the recently released Tales of Beedle the Bard. Very cute.

6. And finally… get a root canal



My mouth added this one to the list last-minute. See what had happened was… one of my wisdom teeth had a bad day and decided to end it all by coming down hard on a stale pretzel and breaking in half. OH THE PAIN!! So, yeah, I got a root canal. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. It was almost pleasant. Just kind of sat there for 20 minutes with some dude’s hand in mouth. No biggie.

This is Cam Gigandet...

He is wearing a skirt. And argyle stockings. And strappy boots. And the piece de resistance: a twee little man-purse.

What do we make of this?

Well, first… I liked Cam in Twilight, even though he only had like five lines. He was adequately smoldering and shirtless during his brief appearances on screen so I say job well done.

But this…

Ok, let’s deconstruct.

First of all, this is an actual kilt. My first reaction when I saw it was to say, OMG he’s wearing a pleated skirt. (I don’t have any kind of problem with men in skirts/dresses/all forms of non-pants; actually, I think it’s kind of awesome, but it has to be done right…the man skirt surfaces every year in one form or the other, but it has yet to really catch on). But what Cam is wearing, I believe, is a Utilikilt. Yeah, I know right? Who even knew? But apparently they exist.



So, Okay, it’s a kilt. Maybe it’s the fact that it falls above the knee, as opposed to below the knee which is wear a kilt would normally fall, that makes Cam look like he’s about to enroll in a particularly progressive Catholic school. I still think it looks like a skirt.

Second, those socks. God I hope they’re socks. They’re either knee-highs (what time does the bell ring, Sister Mary Francis?) or stockings, but because of the kilt, they are dangerously close to looking like tights, which is probably more than I can handle. Then again, tights would be the polite thing to do, especially if he’s wearing the kilt the way nature intended.

The boots are a stroke of genius, though. They add a touch of masculinity to a look that is careening recklessly towards cross-dresser, so I have to give that one to him.

Now, I can totally get behind the man-purse, or murse. I wish the world would just get over it. I hate stuffing all my crap into my pockets! No wonder I’m so attached to my hoodies – I can store my whole universe in the kangaroo pouch. I wouldn’t have to resort to a dumpy looking hoodie if the world would let me carry a purse. As it is, I carry a bag most of the time (my pockets just can’t accommodate my iPod, checkbook, lunchtime reading, camera, etc.), but it’s like a gymbag, for god’s sake. I used to carry a sleek, leather messenger bag, but I got tired of the nasty looks. I got tired of telling people around here that in the big cities, ALL MEN CARRY BAGS LIKE THESE! So, I’m totally on his side on the murse issue.

When you add everything together… it’s a look. I don’t hate it. He’s still hot. But I’m almost positive he dressed like this to stir up the paparazzi.

So, as I approach him to pin this Red Badge of Sartorial Courage upon his chest, I’m also asking him if this was some sort of dare, and if so I hope it was worth it.

Le Sigh...

I haven't been feeling very organized lately. Seems like the perfect time for a list...

1. My job negotiations started today. I met with my new supervisor, her supervisor, and HR. It started out bad - they told me I wasn't going to get a raise. Well, CLEARLY they don't even know me. Like, at all. After an hour, I managed to convince them that a raise was not only a good thing, but the right thing. The good news is I'll probably get the raise I've been hoping for. The bad news is they have to start the process all over again to make that happen. I may have to wait up to six months before any salary change takes place. HR fell over themselves promising it wouldn't take that long, but I've been around enough HR people to know that I shouldn't expect anything until, oh... Christmas. Well, a raise is a pretty good present, I suppose. Meanwhile, I need to stay positive and keep my attitude in check and NOT focus on the fact that a lot can happen in six months - a very hard thing for yours truly.

2. I've been knee-deep in Alanis Morisette for the past couple of days. I celebrated her new album by listening to all her others before going to buy it. It was like my own personal Angst-by-Alanis Fest. Her lyrics are soooo amazing, even if they do make me giggle sometimes (I mean, talk about overwraught!). The new album is, as expected, incredibly wonderful. For me, it harkens back to her first two albums, in that it's so intimate and emotional. Alanis is one of my favorite song-writers because the emotions are so raw... she somehow manages to find that perfect emotional clarity... one can't help but relate. In fact, the new album is so deeply personal that I kind of feel uncomfortable at times. She's brave to expose herself through her music like she does. And seriously, if I dated Ryan Reynolds for even a hot minute and he dumped me and got engaged very shortly thereafter, I promise you I wouldn't be writing an album about it. I'd be too busy stalking him (I mean, have you seen him? Maybe I'll stalk him anyway!) and sending hate-poetry to Scarlett Johansson.

3. Have you heard of the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer? The receptionist where I work turned me on to them and I really hate to admit it, but I might be obsessed. Why am I embarassed? Well, it's young adult fiction for teenage girls. I don't have anything against young adult fiction (Helloooo... Harry Potter), but the fact that I love these books so much convinces me that I have the sensibilities of a 14 year old girl. I'm two steps away from prank-texting my crush and getting a subscription to Tiger Beat. There's hope for me, though - I'm still not into the Jonas Brothers. Let's hope I stay strong.

4. Let's talk about Garbage. Everyime I think I'm getting the hang of this domestic stuff, life throws me another foul ball, and by foul, I mean FOUL! Li'l Sis and I made fajitas the other night (they were fabulous, btw), and I was really stupid and threw the cooking waste into the garbage and forgot about it. Well, I got home today from work and the smell... Good GOD the smell... It was like an olfactory bitch-slap! I immediately took out the trash, but my apartment still REEKS! I Febreezed and everything, but now it just smells like Febreeze and Trash, which is not a good combo. I opened up my porch to air the place out, but I had to close up after killing the 9th giant bug. The worst part is I think the smell burned the inside of my nose. I smell landfill all the time now, regardless of where I am. Tomorrow I'll be paranoid that the smell is following me.

5. I'm super-pumped about *Wall-E* and am now accepting applications for a movie buddy. Bachelors Degree required. And please have all your teeth. I'll buy the popcorn if you'll drive.