See, I told you so

Joss is getting lots o' love in all these end of year Top 100 lists. Here's one for his fans...EW's Top 25 Fansites

Joss Whedon with his vampires

8. Joss Whedon

whedonesque.com
Launch Date July 2002

What You'll Find Devotees of Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon will find a reservoir of material about anyone who's starred in (or, it would seem, breathed near) his nerd-magnet projects: Buffy, Angel, and Firefly/Serenity.
Nitpicky in detail and sprawling in scope, recent blog posts have singled out subjects like Nathan ''Mal from Serenity'' Fillion (Is the Desperate Housewives star, listed as one of PEOPLE's Sexiest Men, hotter than cover boy Matt Damon?) and James, a.k.a. ''Spike,'' Marsters (He's a singer. And a natural brunet. There are pictures, people!).
Then, just when you thought the panting was getting a mite too heavy, the Whedon fans move on to the finer points of filmmaking.

Why It's Essential Whedon himself has been known to break news here, like his February announcement that he'd quit as director for Warner Bros.' Wonder Woman project. ''[Now] you don't have to link to every rumor site!'' he wrote. What a guy!

Official Site He doesn't have one. — Nisha Gopalan

Couldn't agree more

On USA Today's Pop Candy Top 100 People of the Year list:

#26. Joss Whedon. Normally, we'd shower him with praise for his latest TV show or film, but this year Whedon tried something a little different: He created a comic based on a TV show and a film. Buffy Season Eight exceeded expectations, and it has brought many more folks, particularly women, into comic-book shops. Next year we get the best of both worlds, when Joss returns to TV for a series with Eliza Dushku.

Do not poke the crabby person

Just call me Ebenezer. I am so not in the holiday spirit. Our Christmas tree is still sitting in a box on the kitchen floor. I managed to mail two packages, out of the five or six I really should have sent. I started sending out cards but am only about a third of the way through the list. Oh, and don't even get me started about the stupid holiday photo cards. I should have just done my usual "hoilday = late January" instead of trying to get them done before Christmas. Thank goodness Joss is so hot! And I still haven't finished shopping. Wait, I think maybe I've finished shopping, I'm just not done with my list.

For real, do my kids need presents? Don't they already have enough video games (not that I'd buy them video games, mean old mom that I am) and fucking trading cards? I could literally wallpaper my entire house in those damn things. Drama queen, I know, although that's an interesting math question...bet I could.

Work is making me insane today. Insaner. Our computer systems are so slow, I think the gerbil died. Someone stole my sugar, so I'm drinking tea with soymilk and no sweeties. I've been eyeballing the candy canes on my coworkers desk, thinking that black peppermint tea might not be bad. I don't think she stole my sugar though, so I probably shouldn't steal her candy canes. What else? Today is Eid, so both of our Somali workers are gone today and tomorrow. Short staffed, not that it's anything new around here.

Listening to Nikki Sixx right now. He has the sexiest voice, I hadn't really remembered that about him. Although, come on. Everything about Nikki is sexy. The cute boy I kissed on my cruise met Nikki like a month ago. Had a photo of him on his phone and everything. "OMG! You touched Nikki?" I'm so easy.

Wait, this is a crabby blog. No more Nikki or cute boy talk. I need to book my trip to Europe...wait...even with all the work involved I can't complain about getting to go to Europe. Okay, the computers moving again. Guess I'm out of things to bitch about. For now.

Actual tears.

I just can't get over this.

edumacation

So I just got back from New Student Orientation. I still need to take a one day course at the end of February to rewrite my degree plan before I'll know exactly when I can graduate...but if I don't wuss out again it should be before Jboy. I hope. Instead of the three classes I needed two years ago, I think it'll be more like five or six. And I'm only going to do one at a time this go round.

I'm probably bugging my neighbors because I'm listening to Fair to Midland as loud as my crappy cd player will go. They were playing early 80's lite FM at the orientation. Thought I might have to poke my eyes out with all the new shiny pens I got, but I'm sure that would have only enhanced my hearing and made my head explode. The frikken Christmas carols on the boat weren't that bad, and my ears were bleeding then.

Speaking of the boat...I'm ready for another vacation. Why do human beings still live in Minnesota? It's fucking cold. And it's not even technically cold yet. Macaroni loves the skiing, that's what he's doing right now, but I'm not an outdoorsy person even when the weather's nice. Need to work on moving somewhere warmer. Or Scotland. In like eight years.

Nothing good on the interwebs to link to. No good Netflix reviews...I fell asleep during The Limey...so I don't know if it was good or not. So instead I'll give you this, little Summer all grown up and dismembered. Hopefully the strike will end soonish so that we can get an entire season. I hate that another FOX show looks good. It's the kiss of death.

And that's what it's all about

Cool interview with Joss, hope I'm linking to this correctly. Just have to get past the annoying commercial at the beginning. Just remember, there's no advertising money to be made on the internet. The studios suck.

The interview was done the day of the pencil drop.

Joss sees snow

There was another rally for the writers today, this time in Boston. And yes, I did check to see how much last minute airfare was. Couldn't justify $800 so I'm stuck in MN snow.

Fun article here about the rally and what I think is my favorite strike photo yet. Except of course that photo.

"My mom let me skip school to support the WGA!"

How'd I miss Alan?

Alan Tudyk showed up to ME Day late but damn, he's much too pretty not to include. I wonder how much shit he got from people for starting the Serenity sequel rumor.

Funniest thing I've seen lately

And also, sad because it's true. Taken from here:

December 10, 2007

We are heartbroken to report that despite our best efforts, including sending them a muffin basket, making them a mix CD, and standing outside their window with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel songs, our talks with the WGA have broken down. Quite frankly, we're puzzled as to why this happened. We talked about it all the way home – after we walked into their hotel room, slapped our list of demands on the table and abruptly left the negotiating session – and none of us could figure out what went wrong.

While we're not going to point fingers or assign blame, we do feel justified in saying that they are entirely at fault. The AMPTP has successfully concluded 306 major agreements with unions since its founding in 1982, and there has never been an incident like this. Except for that writers' strike in 1985. And the directors' strike in 1987. And that other writers' strike in 1988. Aside from three isolated incidents, however, this strike is completely without precedent.

We believe our New Economic Partnership™ proposal – under which the average salary for writers making between $220,000 and $240,000 would be $230,000 – is the single greatest document since the Magna Carta. And we have proved, over the last five months, that we want writers to participate in producers' revenues. Mostly by repeatedly saying, "we want writers to participate in producers' revenues." Still, we must be clear: Under no circumstances will we knowingly participate in the destruction of this business. If we destroy this business, it will only be through accident and incompetence – that's the AMPTP Pledge®!

While the WGA's members can clearly stage rallies, concerts and mock exorcisms, maintain unity in a large and diverse workforce, gain the support of a majority of the general public, prompt a sharp dip in our stock prices, derail half a dozen major movies and force us to refund advertisers' money after they learn that they'll be getting "American Gladiators" instead of "Chuck," we question their ability to get things done. It is now absolutely clear that the WGA's organazis are determined to advance their own personal ideologies, political agendas, sexual preferences, barbaric tribal customs, canine wardrobe choices, religious beliefs and blood rituals upon working writers and other working persons who depend on our work industry for their work.

Instead of negotiating, the WGA organizateurs have made demands, then expected us to counter with our demands, and for them to adjust their demands, and for us to do likewise, until we reach a mutually acceptable resolution in some sort of "give-and-take" process. Needless to say, we consider this to be a roadblock to progress (of both boldface and italic proportions). Thus, we have asked that they withdraw these demands:

They demand full control over reality and animation programming, despite the fact that neither genre requires any writing at all. It is, after all, a well-documented fact that "Flavor of Love" is a Frederick Wiseman documentary about a man who happens to be choosing a bride from among 20 whores, and that "Family Guy" is entirely improvised by a cast of extremely precocious illustrations.

The WGA is demanding the right to join in strikes of other labor organizations. This is simply unacceptable, as we plan on gutting the contracts of many other unions in the upcoming year.

Their proposal for Internet compensation could doom the Internet media business before it ever gets started. (Projected start date: October 4, 2012.) We have already offered the writers a very generous $250 per episode for using their work on the Internet. Sure, $250 may not sound like much, but it adds up – a whole season of "Heroes" would cost NBC.com nearly $6,000! Who's going to pay that money? Go look at at the "Heroes" web site – unless you count Nissan, Cisco, Sprint, and American Express, nobody's willing to step up and advertise on such a risky and unproven medium. And who knows how much longer those fly-by-night operations will be around? (I mean, have you seen the Nissan Rogue? It looks like a Pontiac Aztek fucked a PT Cruiser, am I right?)

The writers are demanding that, when we sell content within our own companies, we have a neutral third party ensure that we aren't deflating the price in order to cheat them out of their share. This lack of trust hurts, quite frankly, especially after all we've done for writers over the years. I mean, we've stuck with them through thick and thin – even going so far as to bankroll their unprofitable vanity projects, like Forrest Gump, Lord of the Rings, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

In summary, the writers are demanding respect they haven't earned, privileges they don't deserve, and money for work they haven't done. And those are perquisites we reserve solely for the severance packages of departing CEOs. Simply creating a hit show isn't enough – if they want tens of millions of dollars, they will have to earn them by driving a company so far into the ground that it's worth $85 million to shareholders to be rid of them.

We urge the WGA's pedophorganizers to abandon their Quixotic pursuit of radical demands. We will not let you tilt at windmills. (We have placed all studio windmills under heavy security). The fact of the matter is, we're going to win this thing. We've got enough material to wait out the strike. On the feature side, we've got great scripts ready to shoot. How do we know they're great? Because they were already
hits! Get ready for "Talladega Nights" starring Dane Cook! Wait until you see "Titanic" with Keira Knightley and Zac Efron! And on the TV side, we've got enough reality shows to choke a horse. Literally – one of the shows is "Can You Choke This Horse?" And for the fall, we're already working on "Can You Choke This Horse With the Stars?" (Pepsi, you want a logo on the horse? Consider it
done.)

We look forward to hearing from the WGA. Once they've unilaterally
dropped the majority of their demands and acceded to our wishes, we look forward to having a full and frank exchange of ideas with them.

Can you tell my own union is in contract negotiations right now? Wish I could fly to Boston for tomorrow's rally. I wanna hang out with Joss everyday.

Time flies when you're lazy as hell

I can't believe it's already the middle of December. Crap! I've got way too much going on; recovering from my vacation, enrolling in classes, getting the remodeling project going. And now I've got to do Christmas shopping too? Uggh, this is why I need a personal assistant.

Been dragging my feet on all the stuff I'm supposed to be doing, looking at photos from the cruise and the picket. I want to go back to Mexico. Or LA. Minnesota winters suck for my knees.

Earring

That's us

Look at all the pretties!

i heart this man

Summer Glau = future Terminator

Eliza Dushku = I can't wait for Dollhouse

Brett Matthews, Jossy, Brian K. Vaughn, Drew Goddard and Jane Espenson, so much big brainy goodness!

J. August Richards, Tim Minear and my captain Nathan Fillion

Vacation Highlights

Mary and I tried to make friends with many of the 200 people in our group but only a handful of them would talk to us, even after the speed friending thing we did. Oh well, we hung out with the cool kids.

I got a nasty case of SeaWhiskeySickness and spent the entire first night puking in our cabin.

Got accupuncture for the first time. Totally helped with the seasickness too.

Cabo San Lucas was beautiful and the only hot day that we got.

We laid out in sweatpants and hoodies and our towels wrapped around us, but dammit we got some sun.

The food was mostly crap.

Our VIP guests (Ron Glass, Michael Fairman & his family, Jonathan Woodward, Nectar Rose and Sonny Rhodes) were amazing! I could listen to Ron Glass laugh all day, Jonathan is totally insane and very entertaining and Sonny is one of the sweetest men ever.

Had my first Tarot Card & Palm readings. Cried my eyes out.

We didn't get to go to Ensenada because the swells were too high. And we didn't buy souvenirs in Cabo because everyone kept saying Ensenada would be so much cheaper. Sucks.

I kissed a cute boy.

We went to the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego while waiting for our train.

Ate at Red Pearl Kitchen in LA...super yummy dumplings and spring rolls.

Saw Fair to Midland play at the Troubadour in LA...you know you've been to a good rock show when the lead singer pukes on stage.

Joined the writer's strike in LA, walked the picket line for four hours.

Saw the following actors:

Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Eliza Dushku, Alan Tudyk, Juliet Landau, Amy Acker, Morena Baccarin, Nicky Brendon, Felicia Day, Raphael and Yan Feldman, Ron Glass, Harry Groener, Tom Lenk, J. August Richards and Camden Toy.

And writers:

JOSS WHEDON, Jeff Bell, Steven DeKnight, Ben Edlund, Jane Espenson, David Fury, Drew Goddard, Brett Matthews, Tim Minear, Marti Noxon, Doug Petrie. Plus Loni Peristere who is a special effects wizard and oh holy crap, Brian K. Vaughn who writes all of my favorite comic books! Plus, Sarah Michelle Gellar dropped off donuts for us. There were probably a lot of other people too that I just didn't recognize.

Went to a little "after strike picnic" and hung out.

Got my photo taken with Joss Whedon and didn't even care when he rubbed my fat roll.

Saw Serenity at Midnight.

Came home and slept for over 15 hours.

Mary and Jonathan Woodward

BLISS

I'm way too tired to blog about the vacation (even after sleeping 15 hours straight) other than to say it was great. Mary and I experienced a little something we like to call Revenge of the Nerds and I got a serious case of SeaWhiskeySickness but still it was so much fun. I went into this wanting nothing more than a decent photo with Joss. I'm a very happy girl.

I can't wait!

Let the reviews begin:

No more Mr Nice Guy: Ewan McGregor stars as the scheming villain in a revival of 'Othello'
Paul Taylor discovers why this usually charming actor was cast in the role

Published: 29 November 2007

There's more than a smack of the sordid bullfight about Othello. That parallel is subject, though, to several twists. It's a human being of a different race, not an animal, whom the scheming Iago reduces to a tortured, jealous wreck in the throes of a frothing fit at his feet. It's no red rag, but an emotionally charged handkerchief that the matador waves goadingly at his prey. Dragged into the ring, the innocent wives of both antagonists are killed during the course of the contest. And, also against the rules, the matador is, in the end, upstaged by the victim who is felled by his own hand.

Othello is arguably the most intense and immediate of Shakespeare's mature tragedies. Yet productions that release the play's full potential are rare. The problems that it poses for a director are part and parcel of its tremendous yet tricky brilliance. On the one hand, it would be a sentimental reading of the play that accepted Othello at his own valuation; on the other (which, for a while, was the modern orthodoxy) it is a cynical, reductive interpretation of the play that takes a steadfastly censorious view of his self-protective magniloquence. Avoiding both of these distortions and achieving a balanced view of the hero is the moral challenge to our perception that lies at the heart of the play. Few productions successfully rise to it.

Without doubt a key factor in this production selling out so quickly with tickets changing hands for up to £1,200 is the casting of Ewan McGregor.

It's sometimes argued that the play should be called "Iago", for it is Othello's right-hand man who drives the hero towards his doom. Iago is a warped, surrogate dramatist and his genre is revenge pornography (his account of Cassio's alleged horny dream about Desdemona brilliantly presses every button of perverted sexual arousal). Initially incited to vengeance when he is passed over for promotion in favour of a Sandhurst type, this chippy army man is revealed in soliloquy to be a psychopath who has to invent absurd reasons for his nihilistic hatred of the Moor.

But though Iago is a playwright who takes the exploitation of living creatures to a chilling extreme, it's sometimes forgotten just how improvisatory and hand-to-mouth are his methods. And in emphasising his diabolical ingenuity and recklessness, productions often overlook the fact that, for his plot to work at all, the character (and the actor playing him) must plausibly show why he has achieved his ironic reputation for honesty.

Michael Grandage, whose Donmar revival of the tragedy begins previewing tonight, is alert to the problems which are possibilities in disguise. Well aware of the performance history of Othello (in his earlier career as an actor, he played the idiotic Roderigo in the celebrated RSC production starring Willard White and Ian McKellen), he talks of the cultural shifts that have seen alternations in which of the two main male parts was regarded as the better role.

In the days when it was considered acceptable for white actors to play the Moor, leading thespians – such as Edmund Kean – played both roles during their career, as did Laurence Olivier, who portrayed Iago to Ralph Richardson's Othello at the Old Vic in 1938 and then blacked up as an ostentatiously African Moor to Frank Finlay's Iago in the 1964 National Theatre production.

But Grandage has been intent in rehearsal on shedding the weight of theatrical tradition. "Everything is on a knife-edge in this play, so you've got to get across the sense that nobody knows what is going to happen next." Iago takes enormous risks in the tissue of lies he concocts. No other Shakespearean tragedy could be averted so easily by someone stalking on and administering a strong dose of the facts to the deceived hero.

Casting is crucial to the chemistry that bubbles in a production between hero and villain. In this account, Iago is played by Ewan McGregor, last seen on stage as charming, personable Sky Masterson in Grandage's production of Guys and Dolls and better known as a screen actor who embraces both the indie end of the spectrum (Young Adam) and the mainstream (Star Wars, Moulin Rouge!).

The role of Othello is taken by Chiwetel Ejiofor who, though he has lately concentrated on movies (for directors ranging from Woody Allen to Ridley Scott), boasts an impressive list of theatrical credits.

The director talks of Ejiofor's "natural goodness" as a person and of how as a performer "he has access to such extraordinarily open qualities. He's somebody who manages to keep hold of something very, very childlike, who takes people as they come, and has faith that people can be like himself".

In casting McGregor as Othello's nemesis, Grandage says that he is getting away from the "bushy-eyed, fruity, over-sophisticated villain who seems to have it all worked out in advance" to someone who can move between "a charm that is not feigned" in the public scenes where he is "honest" Iago and the dark and perverted confidences delivered in the soliloquies.

Grandage is alert to the ways in which Iago can be construed as the malign step-brother of Hamlet (a perception that Simon Russell Beale drew on when he played the part for Sam Mendes). Both characters are essentially on suicide missions; there is a mystery at the heart of both their stories (the cause of Iago's malignity; the reason for Hamlet's fatalism after the sea voyage). And silence is the end of the road for both these loquacious soliloquisers who, in Iago's case, break the rule that characters tell only the truth when speaking directly to the audience.

The irony is that while Iago may wrestle with the unknowable nature of his motivation, he knows one thing for sure: that Othello has "a free and open nature". As with the jealousy of Salieri, the composer destructively fascinated by Mozart's genius, Iago's envy is an inverted, glowing tribute. Grandage's production looks poised to bring out the full balance of forces in this fierce, bloody bullfight.

'Othello', Donmar Warehouse, London WC2 (0870 060 6624),to 23 February

Source: The Independent

I don't think you should put that there

Salt scrub = comfy sleep. It was awesome, despite the knuckle in my ass-crack. If I ever win the lottery I'll splurge on daily massages. I had forgotten how good they are.

And I even passed on the paper panties. I can do a silly spray tan without getting drunk first. Right?

Is it scaly or scaley?

I'm off to get a salt scrub at the salon inside Macy's. Never been there, hope it's nice.

Can't believe I made it through the entire work day. My back is still killing me. I was on phones so I had to sit here all day. I think I've had six cups of tea. Big cups.

Oh well, hopefully this de-scaling won't be too painful. Or embarrassing. I probably should have shaved my legs, huh? I'm easing myself into the horrific spray tan tomorrow. I feel so bad for the poor girl who has to spray me. That's really a job for a robot. Uggh.

Jinx

What's worse than saying out loud how perfect everything is going? Maybe blogging about it? Can you say dumbass?

I threw out my back yesterday picking Ruby up. Okay, I hurt my back sitting sideways and changing her diaper, then twisting at the waist while holding her to look at a woodpecker out the window. (I've never seen an actual woodpecker before so I thought it was cool. I don't think Ruby ever saw the frikken bird, she was too busy watching the reflection of my finger pointing to it.)

Anyway that was stupid enough on it's own but then I bent down to pick her up and toss her in the air. Half way back up and my back decided to fuck me over. I couldn't move and was worried Ruby would take off for the stairs again, little girl can run now. Luckily she found all my groaning and moaning fucking hilarious. She started doing baby yoga moves, bending over and grunting. We came up with a great new game.

I didn't get any of my shopping done, sat and sewed a pocket into my new geek bag, and can barely move today. I know I should just stay in bed and rest it but I've got way to much to do. I'll be on the cruise in a fucking wheelchair at this rate. But at least Mary can dump my ass out into a chair poolside and just leave me there. And that bitch Laverne finally showed up. Uggh. I'm gonna try something new: Everything sucks! Really Fate, I promise, my life is so shitty. Go screw with someone else now.

More boring me

I'm barely awake, drinking tea and checking the web for gossip and updates about the cruise and the strike. I should be in the shower, going to babysit Ruby in about an hour. And since I didn't spend a penny yesterday I'll probably go downtown and do a little shopping. Not Christmas shopping mind you, that would be way too organized. I want to buy a new camera for my trip, and have a bunch of little things I need. Sunscreen, pony holders, travel size shampoo bottles, Jack Daniels mini bottles maybe?



Netflix Review: Knocked Up
4 1/2 stars. I remember wanting to see this at the Riv and missing it. Amanda assured me I'd love it and she was so right. For more than just the cute movie too. First, Nathan Fillion's movie was one of the previews. Yummy. Second, so many of my favorite people were in it. Alan Tudyk (who you already know I adore), Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, Craig, BJ & Steve from The Office and freaking Paul Feig! I think Craig as the Doorman (doorman, doorman, doorman, doorman) may have been the best part of the entire movie. He was so funny. And if you end it early, like right as she drives away after their big fight, it's pretty representative of what it's like to have a kid with a guy you don't know. Although mine wasn't a one-night stand. More like a six-week stand. It was a very cute movie, though the birth scene may have guaranteed that Jboy will never have kids. Funny commentary too.

Fat and Happy. And thankful too.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. Ate too much, played with Ruby, the boys both went to see their dads and I was back in bed by 4 PM. Can't ask for more than that. Finished watching My So-Called Life and started thinking about packing.

I can't believe how fast the cruise is coming up. 8 days! We're gonna do a little tour thingie in Cabo and I'm really looking forward to lots of lounging. And apparently I'm gonna have to dance because Kathleen and Mary talked me into buying a sequined tank top thing. I hate clothes.

After the cruise Mary and I will be heading up to LA to join the writer's strike. And Joss, Sweetest Man Alive™, has promised to show up even if the strike is settled by then. Love him. And, we just found out that (I think completely by coincidence) they're showing Serenity at midnight at a theater in LA. Not sure this trip could be better if I'd planned it all out myself. I'm gonna call it karma for not eating that bird yesterday.

And because awesome is never enough, I just found out that tickets to see Ewan in Othello are selling for as much as £1,200! £1,200.00! I paid £29 for them. Thinking about selling my tickets for one night to help pay for the trip. But then what if Ewan's understudy performs the night I go? Crap. Don't know what to do. Not sure I can chance going all that way and then missing him.

And finally...Shayne, how about we nail down a date for Disneyworld for your birthday present instead trying to pull off Europe? Sorry to put you guys in a weird spot. I had totally forgotten that you were planning Mexico. We've been talking about WDW anyway and there's no need for a babysitter that way. We can fit it around your schedule. Unless of course you've decided to come to Europe.

Talent

This is what I brought to Jon, the little koi from KK's jacket...

...and this is what he came up with. A more traditional Japanese koi, but still very close to the original.

Momma Got A New Tattoo

I forgot to bring my camera last night and Jon didn't have his either, which sucks because the tattoo looked so cool before it was colored in. I was tempted to have him stop there and just have it black for a few months. Kind of like having two tattoos. But that was probably just because this one hurt like a mother.

It didn't hurt enough to stop getting tattoos, but I was surprised. My first tattoo not only didn't hurt, it actually felt good. And the other four didn't hurt, except for the sunburn I had getting my 22.


So, the photos don't show the progression or anything and I forgot to take more before covering it with goo, but I think you get the idea. Ignore my oh-so-sexy pj's.

Oh, and Macaroni loves the bloody bandage shot, sorry.

Just after taking off the bandage, still covered in grossness

Now I just need a name for her. Or him. Haven't decided that yet.

Edited because I kinda sounded unhappy about it: I love my new tattoo. Pain and all.

Punk rock hair

So tonight I told the woman who does my hair that I wanted something weird and "kinda rock and roll". And about two torturous hours later a girl who works in the salon walked by and said "whoa, very rock and roll". So mission accomplished, I guess. I totally remember why I vowed to never be mean to my hair again though. Bleach should never touch scalp. It's a very bad thing.

Tried to get a decent photo but they aren't really turning out. And I didn't think to take any before scrubbing off all my skin with my new exfoiliator and putting on my pj's. Oh well, this is the best I could do. Ignore the pasty white makeup-less skin and imagine lots more red.

I love a good fight

Sorry that I can't stop blogging about the strike, must be that hard on I have for the underdogs of the world. I should just leave the internet alone until it's all over. Of course, with the elections kicking into gear I'm going to have to leave the TV alone too. Sheesh, it's gonna be just me and the microwave pretty soon.

Here's some interesting quotes from one of The Office writers/producers, Greg Daniels:

“The Office is a perfect example of a show that has a vested interest in the
issues on the table. We’re one of the highest downloads on iTunes. We made a lot
of money there, and the creative people didn’t see any of it. And this is the
future of the television business. People are going to sit in front of a box
that has computer guts inside and watch their shows, and just because it’s not
called a TV, it doesn’t apply to our contract. All we’re saying is that it’s the
same thing. We’re watching the same show from our couch or from our chair on a
screen, and just ’cause it’s delivered through the Internet, we’re not [being
compensated for it].”

and

“You know, we had 7 million downloads on iTunes. We are the big draw on NBC.com.
We did webisodes before anybody did webisodes. We won the Daytime Emmy for our
webisodes. None of this stuff did we get paid for and, you know, this is the
future of TV. We’ve seen the future because we’ve kind of lived it, and so we’re
very much aware that the business model is fantastic for the companies. The ad
rates are much higher for Internet ads than they are for TV ads, because you
can’t skip ‘em. You have to watch ‘em, and they can tailor them to the
consumers. So, they’re very valuable ads.”

del taco?

** deleting the video of Joss because he hates it. He's been really sick and was hoping the interview wouldn't show up on the interwebs. Silly, silly Joss. Just like a certain boy in high school, if he sneezes I'll find out about it. **

** joss doesn't want you to see this **

I really don't have anything to add that Joss doesn't cover in this little video **that's gone now ** (isn't he adorable?) ** trust me, he is ** except that it's amazing how the press is totally one sided on this issue. I'm not surprised that the press is totally one sided - hello? fair and balanced coverage of the Bush Administration, where are you? - but this issue is so simple. The writer's are asking for a TINY percentage of new media profits. Profits. Not a specific amount that could in any way hurt the studios, just their fair share of what the studio will make.

It's insane how greedy we are in this country. Obviously the writer's strike isn't the most pressing issue in the country but it certainly shines a light on what we value. Or, don't value. Will the rich ever have enough? Will the fact that we have starving children in this country ever bother any of those billionaires? Maybe it's because of my job but I hate money. Hate it. Uggh, it makes me crazy.

So, I'm off to make a new reading list because I will not be watching any freaking reality TV or downloading/streaming any shows during the strike. Good thing most of my favorite shows are long off the air and already sitting on my bookshelf. And thank goodness I pre-ordered and paid for Ewan's new show, Long Way Down, a million years ago. It kills me that I can't watch that right now but hopefully the US discs will be released soon.

And last but not least...

Thank you veterans!

I not only appreciate your service but I gotta say, I love the day off. Here's to bringing our active troops home soon, and safe.

Yawn

Who wants to hear about my boring life? I'm sitting here, listening to Billie Holiday, filling out a stupid food log for a market research thing that I forgot to say no to, wishing I could just go to bed. At 7:31 PM.

Mandy went home last night after staying with us all week. I love having her around and spending time with her, but it's nice to have the house back. Not really comfortable sitting around in my undies in front of Mandy and her non boyfriend boyfriend. Mandy, the non boyfriend boyfriend, Jboy and I went to see Dan in Real Life last night, after spending the day shopping with Mandy. The boys didn't really like the movie but Manda and I did. Lots of "Michael" moments and cute, although sappy.

Today I went to a home improvement show with my parents. Again. I wasn't going to go because I love nothing more sitting around the house all weekend, but they lured me out with Rubytime. She was as adorable as always, but they didn't mention the cold she's coming down with until I had her entire hand in my mouth. Hopefully I won't get sick because I'm getting a new tattoo next week and have tons of stuff to do before the cruise.

Started watching My So-Called Life today. Jboy was even interested, for a while.

V34. Partially obstructed view. Of Mexico!

It could be a long, cold winter

Some boyfriends are nice

Mandy's staying with us for the week and last night, after getting all tucked into bed, her sweet boyfriend Teddy brought me a yummy Mexican cocoa. He brought all of us goodies after he got off of work.

A boy who brings late night treats and then goes away. Sounds heavenly, huh?

Finished reading Heroin. So good, in a really sad, monotonous way. I still love Nikki but am so thankful that I never got backstage. Some wishes are not meant to come true. Especially ones that come with an STD.

Happy Birthday Jenee!

Spent the morning with Bob the Remodeling Advisor Extraordinaire™, who shot down my plans for the back of the house but was still very helpful. He thinks we could get a laundry room in the back of the house but that the foundation just can't support a bathroom. So it looks like we'll be remodeling our current stupid, gross, disgusting bathroom and adding a laundry room/mudroom to the back of the house. Now I just have to find an honest and reliable contractor.

I should only work three hours every day, that rocked.


Today is my much older sister's birthday. Hope you had a good one Jen.

Jen's last visit home...the day we got matching tattoos.

Randy, me, Jenee and Bobby

Nieces and nephew

Yesterday we took all of the grandkids to Proex for a surprise Christmas photo for my parents. We were at least 15 minutes late for our 15 minute appointment. The boys and I rode out with Shannon and Ruby. I don't pay attention to the traffic reports on TV because I don't drive and don't know which freeways are which. Which is a shame because the freeway to Southdale (62 by the way) was closed yesterday. I think we made Ron and Kim nervous because everyone was pretty tense when we got there.

Shannon dropped us off and went to park. Ruby was fine until we actually went into the little studio and I put her down. I didn't know little tiny fingers could dig so deep. Needless to say she started crying and looking around for her mom. Then Jacob decided that the last thing he wanted to do was get his photo taken. We did manage to get two very cute photos, one purely by accident.

I guess all the stress of the photo session kind of turned me off of taking photos later on after dinner. I got one photo of Katie, Jacob and Ruby and none of Jboy.

Macaroni & Katie, who is five days older than him


Jacob


Ruby scratched herself with the velcro on her shoes.
Thankfully after the photo session. Poor baby.

The mohawk gets longer, harder to put up.

Look at the happy couple

My Angel boxset finally arrived, and just in case the shelf full of jossy goodness didn't already scream geek, check out who's protecting all my good stuff...

I was a little disappointed that Angel is so much shorter than Buffy (5 seasons versus seven) but I got over that as soon as I read the little letter from Joss. I can't wait to have him back on TV.

Hopefully the writer's strike will be fast & the writer's will get a good deal and I'll be sitting in my broken recliner watching Dollhouse before you know it.

There's no way I can watch reality TV every night. I might be forced to read or something. Guess it's a good time to re-enroll in school after all.

Went to dinner with Heather last night. Tiger Sushi at the Mall of America. It was fun and the food was good, but their vegetarian selection is pretty small. I'd go back but probably wouldn't make a trip out there just for that. The boys both got some new clothes too.

Today we really need to clean the house. Manda is coming to stay with us next week while her mom is out of town. And the guest room is current filled with everything we moved when we hung drywall. I need a big dumpster for all this crap.

Oh, and looky what I just found! Isn't he pretty?

Netflix review: Disturbia

I totally admit to renting this movie because of how hot little Shia LaBeouf is now. I know, I know. I'm a very dirty old lady, I've accepted that. I didn't expect much more than Shia Hotness, which is why I didn't see it when it first came out, but I really liked this movie. Shia is very funny and David Morse is so creepy, mostly when he's not trying to be, so it's way more than a teeny bopper horror movie. I'm going to say four stars. If Shia wasn't in it, more like three.

Best. Halloween. Ever.

* tried to post this last night but the exciting news kind of exploded my computer.


If you've seen the adorable photos in the previous three posts you already know that we had a really fun Halloween. But, hot damn, today is the best day, like, ever.

After years and years of lurking at my imaginary soulmate's site I finally got a membership...just in time to read this. And this. And this.

Joss has a new show!

I'm so excited that instead of peeing 15 minutes ago I've been bouncing in my chair reading all the news and trying to get a freaking link to work.


But now I really gotta go so I'll try again tomorrow. And I probably should get some sleep, it's after midnight here.

Yea! Joss Whedon back on my television set where he belongs. This must be what world peace feels like. Or a really good back rub.

Eliza Dushku and Joss

Can you spell Hammer Costume?

Jboy always waits until the very last minute to come up with a costume and this year was no exception. Two minutes before I'm leaving he says "Mom, I need a costume so I can go trick or treating with the guys."

Now, I bite my tongue about a 17 year old trick or treating because at least he's not getting drunk on Halloween like I was, but really? two minutes?

We walk through the shit hole that is his brother's bedroom and find at least ten costume ideas immediately, none of which Jboy likes. Pirate, Jedi, ski patrol, knight in shining armor, park ranger, Indiana Jones, even a leprechaun for Christ sakes. I tried to talk him into wearing my mom's old prom dress and going in drag. Can't you just picture the pigtails?

So I was almost impressed when he got home tonight, before curfew even. He was a last minute Ninja, complete with black headband (mine), sword (Macaroni's) and a dust mask that he taped up with black electrical tape. It's a ghetto Halloween in our hood.

I still think the leprechaun would have been cooler, but hey, he was happy.

Macaroni's Halloween

Ruby Jean, Sock Hop Queen

Oh my goodness. I just watched this again and noticed the look on Ruby's face in the photo of the two of us. She looks scared, cause hey, walking Halloween mask here...but she was actually mad because I wouldn't let her get any of Macaroni's candy. That face says scared but believe me, she was thinking "Bitch, I saw you hide that Peanut Butter Cup."

My best friend can beat up your best friend

Look what came in the mail today...

Package O'Happy

Shayne is the best best friend ever. I came home from a particularly crappy day at work to a fun Halloweeny box full of sugary goodness. I had just mentioned wanting to get Nikki Sixx's new book, The Heroin Dairies, when poof!, it appears on my doorstep in a box filled with my own personal heroin...Hot Tamales and Tootsie Rolls. Jboy and Macaroni got goodies too, but they had even less self control than me and munched away before I could get a photo.

Reading this book is a trip, so many flash backs to junior high and high school. One of these days I'll have to blog about the whole being a junkie in a previous life thing. I am a lucky, lucky girl.

But now it's time for me to go sleep off this sugar high.

I think I'm glad I couldn't get my scanner to work and ended up with this blurry photo of my photo album instead. Maybe Shayne won't kick my ass for posting it. And seems appropriate since those days are little blurry...

On our way to a Mötley Crüe concert back in the day. Look how much dead cow I was wearing.

And Shayne, look! It's the South Dakota photobooth pix!

Congratulations Bobby and Marie

Wow, it finally happened. My little baby brother proposed to his longtime girlfriend Marie. I know she's been hinting and threatening for a while so he broke down and bought the ring for her birthday, which was the day after his.

I have mixed feelings about marriage but I do love me a wedding. Should be fun.

And now the fun begins

So I closed on the loan today. Both mortgages, the line of credit and all of my credit card debt has been rolled into one mortgage. And I still have close to $100k in equity. I feel so much better.

Although now I have to get started on the remodeling plans. Uggh.

It's almost time to get up

I knew Fate could be a bitch but damn, she so did not want me to get tickets to Othello. First off, I'm a math moron and had my time zones all confused. Woke up at 2:30 AM instead of 3:30 AM, tickets went on sale at 4 AM. Now that might be my Rougeavelt Edumacation showing, or it might be me knowing myself so well and preparing for the ever loving snooze fest. Either way, I got up at 2:30, checked the website and went back to bed.

My alarm went off again at 3:30 AM, not that I'd slept a wink during that hour, and I got back on the computer. Read some email, checked up on Joss, got 2 questions right on this little test. In other words, killed time.

3:58 rolls around and I go back to the Donmar site. Two terribly long minutes and then boom, the whole computer freezes up. And I hadn't even tried to pull up tickets. Not a good sign. When I get back on the site at 4:02 AM it's slow as shit. The painful, I-ate-way-too-much-cheese kind of shit. The oh-holy-crap-I'm-never-going-to-see-Ewan-on-stage-ever-again kind of shit. Yes, I can be very melodramatic in the wee hours.

So, thinking it may be easier to get tickets by phone, I go to find Jboy's international calling card, only to discover why he hasn't talked to Shiomi in so long. There's no freaking money on the card. So I recharge the card, which is a seemingly endless maze of "for English, press one" and "if this is correct, press two", all the while refreshing the website.

After adding $25 to the calling card I had a very nice, very long conversation with Karen, Indian Tellemarketer Extrodinare, about why the credit isn't showing up and how long is it going to take, it's 4:22 AM in MN and I've got a very important call to make. Finally, Karen was nice enough to suggest that I get off the cell phone and call from a landline. And nice enough not to tell me to get a fucking life.

So now I'm refreshing the website, backing out of error pages, swearing like a sailor and redialing the 26 digits over and over like a crazy person. And occassionally forgeting to drop the city code (I think it was the city code) and getting the annoying "If you'd like to make a call please hang up and try again." Moron!

It only took an hour and I only almost screamed about a hundred times...may have sold my soul to the devil somewhere along the line too...but hey, worth it. After speaking to a delightful British boy...is there any other kind?...we've got tickets for the February 12th and 14th performances. Take that, Fate. Really sweet tickets on the 14th too. That's right kids, Sunshine is going to see Ewan on Valentine's Day! Close enough to see him sweat!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkk!

Netflixiness

Figured I'd do some reviews since the most exciting thing in my life is uploading new music and photos to my iP0d. Is it possible to be more boring than me?

Spent way too much of yesterday in a car...went to a "picnic" in Milaca at my Uncle Sonny's house. My dad's side of the family is always interesting and yesterday was not a letdown. I hate cars though and am still recovering.


Jboy had friends over last night. Not too late, but I did sleep until noon today so I obviously didn't get my usual three hours almost uninterrupted of beauty sleep.


Tickets go on sale tomorrow London time, 3 AM here. Wish me luck.




Netflix reviews:


Following Sean Four stars. Very interesting documentary that follows up with this kid 30 years after the first documentary about growing up in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district during the 60's.


Alone with Her Four stars. This whole movie was made with surveillance cameras, very cool idea. Not the greatest writing/acting ever but definitely a cool premise. Creepiest part, the stalker is played by Tom Hank's kid.


The Darwin Awards Five stars. So cute I can't even begin to describe it. Loved the quirk factor. Love Joseph Fiennes. Had to dig out Heathers after watching Winona Ryder.


MythBusters: Collection 1: Disc 4 Eleventy kabillion stars. Keeps Macaroni happy without annoying video games and that's always good enough for me.


Tristan & Isolde Three and a half stars. I am a sucker for the star crossed lovers thing and how much do I love the costumes? Still, wouldn't need to see it again.


The Descent Four and a half stars. Way better than I expected. Scared the crap out of me in several places, but wasn't just gross blood and guts. So don't like the US theater ending. And oh my goodness, were the special features hilarious.


Miami Ink: Season 1: Disc 2 Three stars. What I wouldn't give for tattoo show that's actually about tattoos. Does feed my Garver crush though, although Ami ocassionally make me vomit in my mouth and turn it off. He's just so gross sometimes.

Finally

We close on the Refinance Loan from Hell™ on Tuesday. Woo hoo!

i LOVE this show

Pushing Daisies

Humiliation

I got ditched at the college fair last night. Jboy ran into a girl who used to go to his school and took off. Asshat.

We decided we were too tired to try to run to the play so we skipped it and went home to veg in front of the tv. And we were both too lazy to get up to put in 300 so we flipped around and watched really bad television. Like a train wreck, it was hard to look away. Why can't Joss get a new show?

Nothing new going on...I think my new favorite show is on tonight. Lee Pace is delicious. Loved him in Wonderfalls. Jboy and I both loved the first episode and is it any wonder why?

From this article: "Rumor has it that "Pushing Daisies" was originally conceived as something of a companion piece to "Dead Like Me". Considering that Bryan Fuller was instrumental in both productions, that's not hard to believe. And this does feel and sound like something that fell out of the same idea machine. It's as if Tim Burton and Joss Whedon had a love child."

Not too lazy to link

Sheesh, I've been a lazy blogger. I'm blaming Shayne's broken laptop, since she's just about the only person who ever looks here. Really though, I'm just lazy. Shush, don't tell anyone.

We got the drywall hung, did the mudding and had the appraiser out again. Hopefully we'll close on this loan soon or I may start shooting herion into my eyeballs. I'm still trying to recover from all the drywall dust that has accumulated in my lungs. Not to mention trying to convince my poor aching muscles that I will never get that much exercise again. Ever.

I had a very busy post-birthday weekend. Thursday night I went to a Chanel makeover with Mary and two of her friends. Yes, I sat in the middle of the stinky makeup department at Macy's and allowed a very sweet but very, very dumb girl to put makeup on my face. I don't think I've worn foundation since high school. It felt like the drywall mud and she practically used a trowel. And, because the fumes must have gotten to me, I went out for drinks afterwards looking like an old, scary drag queen! It was not fun, but the girl time was.

Friday afternoon Macaroni and I went to see Transformers at the Riverview (3rd time for him, 2nd for me. How cute is Shia LaBeouf??? I'm like a dirty old lady watching him) and then at almost midnight Mary and her friend Al took me and Macaroni to see Serenity, also at the Riv. Yes, they showed Serenity again...let's pretend that it's their birthday present to me and not just the anniversary of the original release. They show it every year for Joss's birthday and mine. See, we are like soulmates. Sad, sad birthday party soulmates.

Then Saturday Mary and Kata took me out for dinner. PF Chang's again this year. I made a total pig of myself and made fun of all the drunk teenagers on their way to Homecoming. Here's what I ate: Chang's Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps, Harvest Spring Rolls, Steamed Vegetable Dumplings, Shanghai Cucumbers and Sichuan-style Asparagus. And a yummy rum-something martini. See? Pig.

I'm in a slight depression over the fact (possibility? rumor?) that Othello is almost sold out...and tickets don't go on sale to the general public until Monday. I might not get to see my imaginary boyfriend this winter. Can you feel the gravity pulling on my lower lip? And I was all excited about my new tattoo in Scotland. Poo. But it also means I might not be spending money on a trip to Europe, so I might go skydiving in Vegas instead, just to cheer myself up a little bit. And hopefully drag baby K and her mama to Disneyworld.

Tonight Jboy and I are going to the National College Fair and then to see The Seagull at the new Guthrie. He didn't sign up soon enough to go to the fair with school so I'm sure he'll be pouting that he's there with his mom. The shame! Hopefully we won't see anyone we know. We seriously need to get him going on the entire "my-life-after-high-school" thing. He waits until the last minute for everything. (Shut up! He could have inherited that from his dad!) I just paid a late fee for him to take the SATs in two weeks. Hopefully we'll get him a nice timeline going after tonight, before it's too late to apply anywhere!

And the play...it's not getting great reviews and Ian McKellan isn't performing tonight (which explains the tickets I scored for $2 a piece)...but I'm looking forward to it. We're in the balcony, my favorite. (Unless I'm seeing Ewan. I enjoyed being within spitting/sweating distance of him.) Would have preferred to see Chiwetel Ejiofor in this performance, but hey, maybe I'll see him in London yet.

Not much else going on. Counting down the days until the cruise (52!) and watching Angel so I can sell my DVDs. Damn, Alexis is hot in Season 4. Watched a bunch of Netflix movies that I should review but, remember, I'm lazy.

Oh, and I got my birthday wish. Safe and sound.