Book Report: The Book of Joby

Fantastic! That's the first word that springs to mind when I try to describe this debut masterpiece by Mark J. Ferrari. I ordered it at the urging of Patricia Briggs and because the premise sounded promising, and it was one of those books that made me spring out of bed first thing in the morning so I could get my reading time in before the day started.

It's that "same stupid bet" between God and Satan. Let's take some poor human, and Satan can take his best shot at him - ruin his life, his health and his hope, and see if he renounces God. This time, the stakes are higher: should the candidate fail and Satan win, the Creator will destroy all creation and start over, this time heeding Satan's instructions, especially as regards to that pesky "free will." In addition to the higher takes, their candidate is an especially heart-breaking target: a nine year old boy named Joby. Satan has until Joby's thirtieth birthday to do his worst - short of ending his life - to Joby.

Joby at nine years old shines with an inner brilliance that puts anyone he comes into contact with in awe. He's a natural leader, with courage, intelligence, creativity, and an incredible heart. And then the wager begins, and all the minions of hell set about doing everything they can to destroy his spirit, condemning him to a life filled with small tragedies and mediocrity. Everything that gives Joby hope or purpose is snatched from under his nose just when it has a chance to fulfill a dream. Every time he has a chance to do something good, his efforts turn into a disaster. Ferrari gives you just enough time to fall in love with Joby, and then sets the minions of hell to work.

The Book of Joby combines angels, demons, Arthurian myths, fairies, reincarnation and left me wishing desperately that there really is a place called Taubolt. Some folks might be a bit put off by the ending, since it's a touch sneaky, but you are forewarned in the opening chapters to be very careful of your interpretation of God's Word. Ferrari does a wonderful job of keeping the reader hopeful through a story filled with tragedy, and I really enjoyed the dialog between characters and the multiple points of perspective used in telling the tale.

Well That Was Easier Than I Expected

We finally got the last of the mechanical malfunctions I was whining about taken care of. Russ fixed Livvy's computer and sent her home with a surge protector and a ram upgrade,was able to recover all of our pictures/mp3s and place them on a bigger, better drive, and our TV was completely repaired on Tuesday. As soon as he got the time, it was like knocking over dominoes. Having an electronically/mechanically inclined husband is a real bonus.

I just have to comment about the TV repair. I've heard so many horror stories about people taking their big flat-screens in to be serviced, and waiting months to get their television back, that our experience was just really nice in comparison. Russ had done some research, so he already had a pretty good idea of what was wrong with it, and had priced replacement parts. Panasonic was prompt and friendly, and the authorized service shop they had contact us - G&E TV Service - was very nice, and quickly picked up our TV and took it in for diagnosis and repair.

Friday evening, a little over a week later, the manager calls me up to let me know the repair is complete, and he wanted to schedule time on Tuesday to return the TV to us. I say "Great!" while privately thinking "Dammit, another NFL weekend on the little TV!" He launches into a frustrated speech about how wrong it is that the parts are so expensive, and apologizes for the high cost of the repair - the total of which is lower than the techs had estimated, and lower than Russ and my private estimation. I tell him it's okay, that Russ and I had been prepared for as much, and we were happy to hear our TV was done. The manager pauses, probably because he'd called prepared to defend himself from an explosion of bitching about the high cost of an out-of-warranty repair, and then says "Actually, if you're around tomorrow morning, I can have your TV delivered between 12 and 2pm." Awesome!

Sure enough, the tech was back with our TV the next day by 1pm. The faulty part is replaced, the firmware is up to date, and we had our big TV back in plenty of time to watch the Ravens' embarrassing loss to the Browns. But a rant on the Ravens' D isn't positive, and I meant for this to be a positive post.

It's so nice to have everything working again.

Aaaah..... the beauty of unmoderated comments

This link is probably the most shared url between AOL employees at the moment.

Any bets on how long that link will still be live? It's over a week old, so I hold out a shred of hope that Leonsis has noticed the comments already, and has deliberately chosen to let it stand. It would be even nicer if he took a lesson from them, and went and kicked the two executives in question in the shins - figuratively speaking, but literally would be super-cool.

The Adventures of Livvy Sawyer and Huckleberry Anna

The other day after Livvy and I spent a nice afternoon with 'Pa, we decided to work off the copious amounts of candy and sushi we had devoured by taking a walk. By the way we seriously ate so much sushi that the waiter was laughing at us. He's all "you fatties want dessert? Of course you do!" I was so affronted that I smacked him across the face with our picked clean ten pound sushi boat. Who's laughing now guy?

Anyway, about a half a mile into what was supposed to be a three mile walk, I mention to Livvy that I had mapped out a five mile route and was meaning to try it. She jumped at the idea, and that was it . . . we were committed. About two miles into the walk I start hearing this high pitched squeal. I wasn't sure what it was, so I turned to Livvy to see if she could hear it too. Turns out it WAS Livvy, her little footsies were hurting because she had to borrow my shoes. Me, being the amazingly generous soul that I am, offered to switch sneakers with her so that she would stop whining.

So we stop in this sweet little cul-de-sac to switch, and when Livvy whips out her damaged footsies, I almost puked. At some point between when we started and when we stopped Livvy's feet had become so abused they looked like raw hamburger meat. It was frightening. I managed to keep my cool while she stuffed raw pulsating flesh wrapped in cotton into my new running shoes. Luckily my foot sweat is magical, and her feet healed instantly.

Another mile or so into our walk, I begin to worry seriously about the dog. It is not a cool day, and Rora is built more for arctic climes. I also did not think to bring any water, because the walk was supposed to only be three miles. Thankfully in the distance we spy a sparkling brook, at the bottom of a sheer precipice. Rora smells the water, and she is practically pissing herself to get to it. Livvy and I resourceful adventurers that we are, decide to brave the chasm to hydrate my dog. With Rora in tow, I scramble down the rocky cliff, while Livvy acts as my anchor. Once at the bottom, my sweet puppy frolics in the brook and sucks down about a gallon of water. Satisfied that she probably won't collapse from dehydration, I turn back to begin my ascent. It becomes clear to me that I will not be able to make the climb without letting go of Rora's lead. In a panic I call up to Livvy, and explain the situation.

Livvy full of piss and vinegar shouts down "Throw her up to me!"
I see that there is no other option, so I grab Rora by her ruff and launch her toward Livvy's waiting arms. Livvy catches her and pulls her to her heaving bosom. It was fantastic!

Then we walked the rest of the way home.

My, he grows up fast...

The tooth count stands at 10+ now, and we seem to have finally hit a teething lull. The kiddo is sleeping through the night again, and his usual cheery self during the day.

We have a vocabulary now, too! "Go" "No" "Up" "Momma" "Daddy" "Booga" "Hi" and "Bye Bye"

And over Labor Day, Roy got to take his first hike. We drove up to Shenandoah National Park, had a picnic at Big Meadows, and then took the Story of the Forest trail. It's probably the wussiest trail at the park, but Roy walked a full third of it on his own. I can't wait to get him back out to the park again, because his walking has already greatly improved, and he's even doing short runs. He's using his new skills to insist on pushing the grocery cart around the store for us when we go shopping, too.

Best of all, from a time-saving perspective, Roy now eats his meals on his own. That's at least an hour and a half each day of my time freed up to cook, or do the dishes or other work, as long as I'm still in the kitchen with him.

I swear, with every day that passes, the kiddo becomes more fun.

Seven! Ha ha ha ha! I count seven teeth!

After what seems like a week of teething misery, the kiddo has finally managed to push an additional tooth to the surface. This one is a molar on his lower left! Woo! That makes seven, and the matching tooth on the lower right looks about ready to pop through any day now as well.

If you don't have anything nice to say....

This is more of the straw that broke the camel's back, than the full source of my frustration, but the next person who brings up that fucking study telling me how bad television is for my child's vocabulary is going to send me into a screaming hissy fit.

Defensive much? Yes! Next time someone feels compelled to offer me unsolicited advice on parenting, most especially if they do not themselves have any children, I hope they keep it in mind, and keep their damned mouth shut. I feel guilty enough about what time I don't get to spend with my baby as it is. But unless you're offering to come out and babysit him so I can take more than a 5 minute shower, and oh, I don't know, actually put on some fucking makeup and brush my hair afterwards, I don't want to hear how bad TV is for my child. He's going to watch it, if only so I don't stink. I am doing the best I can for my son, and until Russ and I can move down to a single-income family, it's not going to get any better.

I love my little boy with an intensity that makes the Arizona desert sun seem like a balmy day in Hawaii by comparison. But I work a full-time job, and I cannot spend every waking second interacting with him. I'm up by 5am at the latest, every damn day. I get up that early, just so I can have a cup of coffee and an hour of time where I am not at someone's beckon call. From 7am until 930pm at night, I am on duty full-time, either working, or watching Roy, or cooking, or doing housework - normally some combination of any three at once. Since April 9th, 2006, I have not had more than 4 hours in a row to myself (that 4 hours on my own was my Mother's day present). You know what? It's fucking exhausting. I have to schedule time to brush my teeth or wash my hair. Most nights, even if I wanted to stay up late and actually take some time to relax, I'm so tired I just fall asleep on the couch anyway. If I thought it wasn't worth it, I'd put him in daycare. But I think it's important that he spends time with me at this age, and for that reason, I keep doing it.

But it means that I'm really worn out. I'm tired in a way that I am positive none of the rest of you have experienced before. Try working 15 hour days for a year and a half straight without a single day off in a double-job (staying at home with the kiddos and not working does NOT count). I am hanging onto my sunny disposition, and not losing it in front of the kiddo through sheer willpower. So your mouth might be saying "the experts™ say this is bad for your child" but my exhausted ears are hearing "I think you're a bad parent" and that isn't helping.

So the next time you see a study in the news that shows what a bad job I'm doing, refer to the title of this post, and keep it to yourself.

UPDATE: Yes, in case it isn't obvious, it's that time of the month too. I considered deleting this after I wrote it, but I really feel the need to get it off my chest... so I'm going to let it stand.

Hot Fuzz

Some day, they'll allow you to buy movies pay per view style on their theater release date but until then, I'll probably not see movies until after they make it to DVD. And I saw Hot Fuzz last night. And if I were to give Shaun of the Dead a 5 stars out of 5, I would give Hot Fuzz a 10 on the same scale. I laughed so hard I woke the baby up. It was brilliant on so many levels... words fail. I just loved it. Too bad it's too gory to watch around the baby, because I want to watch it again as soon as possible.

All Of Our Warranties Must Have Expired This Month

Our empire is crumbling! Everything is breaking around us. First Russ and I came down with sinus infections. Then, since I was too tired and sick to cook, we managed to get food poisoning eating chinese delivery, and spent the entire weekend in utter misery. On top of that, Livvy's computer is dead, and now Russ is reduced to trying to recover her data and price out the replacement parts. Our mp3/pictures/print-server failed somehow as well, so we have to figure out how to recover the data from that. I'm typing this on my new laptop for work, since I managed to drop my old one and fry the hard drive on it, and Russ ended up having to do some sort of voodoo to recover the seven years of work documentation I had on it. And we sat down last night to watch the first pre-season game for NFL, to find out that the big TV in our living room is having some sort of problem with resolutions higher than 480, and showing weird fuzzy red lines. So now we have to take that in to get it serviced too.

I'm wondering what'll happen next? Termite infestation? The roof collapses? Sheesh.

Compensation at least... but not Justice

Forty-two years after they were wrongfully convicted of a murder that the FBI knew Joseph Salvati and Peter Limone had not committed, a federal judge has ordered the government to pay more than 101 million dollars to Salvati, Limone and the estates of Henry Tameleo and Louis Greco.

Salvati, Limone, Tameleo and Greco were convicted of the 1965 murder of Edward Deegan, which FBI officials knew at the time was actually committed by one of their own informants, but allowed the prosecution to continue in order to protect their informant. And then they dragged their feet for decades in admitting it, in order to cover up the fact that they'd let four innocent men go to prison.

Tameleo and Greco died in prison. Salvati served 29 years before his sentence was commuted. Limone served 33 years before he was freed in 2001.

Salvati and Limone were exonerated in 2001 after FBI memos dating back to the Deegan case surfaced, showing the men had been framed by Barboza. The memos were made public during a Justice Department task force probe of the FBI's relationship with gangsters and FBI informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi.

Now, six years after that, Limone, Salvati, and the families of Tameleo and Greco have finally succeeded in their malicious prosecution suit against the government.

The FBI encouraged perjury, helped frame the four men and withheld for more than three decades information that could have cleared them, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner said in issuing her ruling Thursday.

She called the government's argument that the FBI had no duty to get involved in the state case "absurd."

This is not justice. Justice would be putting the FBI agents involved in this case in the same cell they consigned Tameleo and Greco to death in, and leaving them there to rot. At the least, though, 101 million split four ways is some form of compensation.

In other news, Mark O'Hara, of Tampa, Florida, was released from prison this week. He was serving a 25 year drug-trafficking sentence for possession of 58 vicodin pills that the prosecutors acknowledge he wasn't selling, and that he had a valid prescription for. Nonetheless, they charged him with trafficking, and apparently refused to allow the fact that he had a legal prescription for the drug as a defense. According to the prosecutors, the mere possession of the pills constitued drug trafficking. He served 2 years of the sentence before an appeals court ordered a new trial for him, with a decision using words like "absurd" and "ridiculous" to describe the state's position, rightfully pointing out that under their theory, simply walking out of a drugstore with a prescription you've filled makes you a criminal. But hey, at least it only took 2 years instead of 33 in prison before he got any sort of relief.

WTF - Albo running un-opposed?

The greedy lawyer-cum-legislator that figured out the easiest way to drive new business to his practice was to pass ridiculously unfair traffic fines targeting VA residents is actually running for re-election to his District 42 House of Delegates seat unopposed.

Isn't there any resident of Springfield *cough* *dad* *cough* willing to step up to the plate and try for election to the House of Delegates based on opposition to Albo's 'fine the poor into bankruptcy' fee-scheme? I say, write-in Roy Bilby for District 42 Delegate! Or not... but you'd think someone would see this as a golden opportunity to break into politics.

If you don't live in Springfield, you can at least sign the "Repeal the VA 'Civil Remedial Fees' for Traffic Offenses" petition (VA residents only, please). Over 153k signatures so far.

Me, I'm just very grateful it's been almost 8 years since I've had a traffic ticket, and that I have less than a year left to go in this crazy nanny-state.

Vacation Wrap-up

Well we've been home for over a week now, and I finally feel somewhat back into the swing of things. The drive home was easy, and since we grabbed 64 to C-ville and then took 29 the rest of the way home rather than going up 81 to 66, the last few hours, which are normally the worst, actually were rather pleasant. I don't know if you've been on 29 between Charlottesville and Warrenton lately, but they've increased the speed limit to 60 for most of it.

The Dallas trip, lacking the torrential downpours and flooding that marked the OK leg of our vacation, turned out to be actually vacation-like. We got some time to really relax, including pool time at Richard and Leigh's. Roy got his first taste of what a swimming pool was like with an inconclusive verdict. As long as mommy or daddy was actively holding him, and another kid was in the pool, he liked it. Otherwise, not so much. But he took his first long walk (long meaning in excess of 5 steps) in order to greet his baby cousin Anna.

We had Richard, Leigh and Anna over to Mom and Neil's for dinner one night, and here's a good shot of Grandma with her Grandson and his Cousin:

We even had an evening off where just the three of us were able to relax, while Mom and Neil were out at a gig.


This is probably my favorite picture from the entire trip, because Russ and Roy both look so outrageously happy in it. :)

So now that we're home, Roy is walking all over the place, although for only short distances, and has started feeding himself. He had pancakes and banana chunks for breakfast yesterday. Russ and I are still trying to get back into a work-week mindset. That's the only problem with a vacation that long - your body forgets how to manage a 40+ week.

Party like it's 1999

This weekend Livvy and I had the distinct honor of partying with a real Irishman. Earlier in the week Maureen had emailed me with a dilemma. Her 20 year old Irish cousin was in town visiting and she had no idea what to do with him. He was too young to get into the bars and drink and he desperately wanted to go out and have a good time, but what kind of good time can a 20 year old have in America?

Well it turns out that D.C.'s biggest brit pop dance party a.k.a. Mousetrap was this Saturday, and it's 18 and up. It's also at the Black Cat which is a hip D.C. venue, so that our Irish visitor could get a taste of the night life in the city and hit on some hot mamas. I invited them both to pre-game at our friend's house as she was having a bbq, I was also hoping that I could get some other people to agree to go out with us, because I am not the club type and wasn't sure if we could show this kid a good time without having other funner people there. Turns out Maureen's cousin is very outgoing, and I needn't have worried.

The night was set to be a disaster, all of the people that I had asked to join us flaked. The cab that I called to take us into the city was still a no-show after thirty minutes, and the night was slipping away from us. Finally I reluctantly agreed to drive despite my hatred for all things involving the streets of D.C. We had to circle around for parking for a good twenty minutes . . . by this time it's a few minutes past midnight and the club closes at 2. I should mention that the Irish guy is inordinately excited, and there is a lot of pressure for me to just park the damn car already because he's basically pissing himself to party in America. He'd been hanging out with older people his whole trip thus far.

Finally thankfully, amazingly I get the last spot in a pay lot two blocks from the club and it is only 12:10. Things are looking up! We go into what I believe to be the Black Cat, it looks like the club there are people milling outside I'm on a mission. I ask the lady for tickets, and she very apologetically informs me that the party is over. Fuck! Over? Who ends a dance party at 12? I tell everyone, and we are all supremely disappointed. It is Livvy, who I should say is already pretty well hammered, that insists we are not at the Black Cat, we are somewhere else. Skeptically I keep walking, sure that we are screwed and we have wasted time and Maureen's cousin will hate us. Until appearing on the horizon like my own personal mecca is The Black Cat. Ok so Livvy was right, yay! The cousin's face brightens considerably.

We enter and proceed to the Backstage bar, in search of revelers. What we find is more like a house party than "D.C.'s BIGGEST Brit Pop Dance Party" also, they weren't playing Brit Pop, they were playing Janis Joplin. "Oh no" I think. I had completely blown it! This sucked, and the cousin looked bored. The first thing he said to me was "There are gay people here!!!" Well, OK so the scene was not as expected, we decide to make the most of it, and at least help the cousin get blasted at an American bar, so we start slipping him shots. At about 12:30 Maureen has me accompany her on a smoke break, they've banned smoking in bars in D.C. so we had to go outside. From there we notice people heading upstairs, so Maureen tells me to ask what's upstairs.

"What's upstairs?" I ask the lady stamping hands.
"Oh . . um, like Brit pop 80's dance music?"
"Fuck me!"

I rush back to the bar, where Livvy is twirling around happily. I mentioned she was plowed right? The cousin is bopping his head, to Mr. Bigshot, and I tell them the good news. The party is upstairs! Off we go up the stairs, and I am hoping against hope that there are more than ten people up there, if there are maybe the cousin won't notice if any of them are gay. I throw open the big metal doors, to find a sea of people dancing merrily. I turn to see if the cousin is happy and he has thrown his hands up into the air and is hooting. I kid you not he is hooting.

The night is fairly predictable from then on. The cousin gets shit-faced with our help, he finds a group of people to be his new American friends. Livvy is still twirling around happily, still drunk. Maureen and I, stake our places in the crowd to watch our two drunk charges, I drove so I stayed sober, and Maureen could not in good conscience make me go it alone. Which is a good thing, because we overshot and ended feeding the cousin one two many shots. Maureen starts to get worried.

"He doesn't look happy." she tells me as she peers at him through the crowd.
"He's OK he's dancing."
"I think those guys are hitting him, I hope he isn't pissing them off."
"No, really that's dancing. They are moshing."

They were moshing too, to The Clash, London Calling. Who knew that song was so hardcore? Well Maureen can take no more, she is worried. The cousin looks like he will fall down any minute, probably directly onto one of his new American friends. Livvy has stubbed her toe badly, and barely noticed. She is still twirling happily and giggling. I had tried to cut her off earlier, but she just looked at me and said "That's silly Anna, I have my own money." The two sober ones are going to have to end the party. Thankfully it is now 1:46 and the club will not be open for very much longer. I am tasked with fighting my through the crowd to retrieve the cousin, for we must make him potty before we skedaddle. As I grab his arm to drag him out of his circle of friends I am met with a resounding cry of "AWWWW!!! Bye [cousin's name]!!"

This is when it gets interesting. The cousin is very agreeable, but he does not want to go. He kicks up a fuss without actually resisting. He is whining. He whines all the way to the bathroom. He whines all the way down the stairs. He whines all the way back to the car. This is us.

Cousin: "We were only there twenty minutes. Why do we have to go?" plaintive mewling and a thick Irish accent
Me: "We were there two hours, they are closing. We have to go"
Cousin: "I'm not stupid, it was only twenty minutes. Why are you making me leave?"
Me: "You are not stupid, but your sense of time is obviously fucked because you are wasted. We were there much longer than that."
Cousin: "Liar"

The car ride is not much different. Livvy tries to placate him, but she cannot understand a word he is saying. He whines the whole way home. When we get there, Maureen wants to leave immediately as it is quite late and she is worried that her cousin who is not used to cars is going to lose it on the drive home. The cousin does not want to leave, it turns out my roommates are home and they have brought friends with them. The cousin sees this and insists that he be allowed to stay. "They are all young here, I want to stay!" he cries. He is really really really drunk. It takes us about twenty minutes to herd him to the car, during this time he; punches a tree, wanders three feet away to sit sullenly on the curb, whines, says 'but why' a total of thirty times. He throws up on the way home.

Well all in all, I had a blast. I thought the cousin was hilarious, and super friendly. I also got a kick out of his accent, especially because Livvy couldn't understand it. The dance party was everything I ever wanted a club to be. I didn't have to dress up, and no one touched me inappropriately the entire time. They also played music that didn't have lyrics like 'back that ass up' and 'bitches they come and go'. Livvy was very amusing as she happily twirled away the entire night. Maureen seemed to have a good time, which was nice, and Livvy and I got to treat an out of towner to a nice night out. Obviously he loved it so much he didn't want to leave, so I would say that's a job well done on our part.

Philosophical Conversations

Me and Nick had a profound philosophical conversation last night, which consisted mostly of him trying to explain Heidegger's text, Poetry, Language, Thought to me, while I responded with something I like to call "ass-talk," which is essentially me talking out of my butt. I decided to post what I got out of the conversation because even though it's muddled (I am obviously not a philosopher), I like it! Basically this is what I got out of me and Nick's discussion:

As far as I can tell, one part of Heidegger's philosophy is that we will never be able to prove the existence of anything without man as a medium. In other words, everything as we know it and understand it originates from us, and if we ceased to exist, then there would be no evidence what-so-ever that anything else existed either. So, for instance, God--or the idea of a god or gods, and because Nick loves talking about the flaws in religion :)--exists through us only. Without us and our conciousness--which I concluded from my clumsy attempts to sum up what Nick was saying, we have no real control over--we would have no concept of God and the idea of God would cease to exist. Thus, in a sense, we have created God. Perhaps for other beings there is an understanding of a higher being, or spirituality of some sort, but because we are only able to understand things that affect us and consequently have the effect of providing us with the tools to create "knowledge" as we know it, we will never really be certain. The essential problem (with religious groups or types, for instance) with saying one thing is truth and another is false, is that even things that are false are true, because by saying it you have made it a reality and reality is truth. Thus, what I have just said, is now a truth. Language is magical (or flawed...) like that :). By saying this, you can also say that what religious groups say is also a truth, but one needs to understand that it is only a truth as far as we are concerned because outside of us and our conciousness it ceases to exist.

And that is the profound, and somewhat illogical and holey understanding I came away with last night when Nick decided to tell me about his reading material. Of course, I may have completely misunderstood what Nick was saying (but the above sounds existential to me, so I may not be too far off :) ), and am definitely not speaking for him since the above was decidedly "ass-talk," but there is something that is inherently true in what I just spouted, so I am of a mind to go with it. We also talked about art, and Heidegger's thougts on that, but I don't feel like getting into it, and if I did, probably would mess it up anywho (as I've probably already done)...so au revoir for now.

Summer Movie Madness

Soo, me and Anna have been going to see as many movies as possible this summer :). The two most recent have been Transformers and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Both movies were excellent. The Transformers was action packed, and I just have to say, Michael Bay is *awesome*. People always complain about his movies, but as far as I am concerned, if you are going to a Michael Bay film, then you are going purely for entertainment value. Yes....look at the pretty pictures...cooooolll dude! That's it. It's not to think, and this movie definitely met all of my expectations; escapism at its best. I definitely recommend seeing it in theaters too! I don't think it'll be as awesome on a small screen television.

Harry Potter was also *fantastic*; it was the best one yet and I simply can't wait for the next one to come out in 2009. Woohoo!! I definitely think that everyone should go rent the first 4 movies, and then go see this one. I think when I am done with school next year, I will break down and read the entire series...and it'll be perfect because I will be able to read them all in a row without having to wait for an unspecified amount of time for the next book to come out! It is the only thing I hate about reading books in a series. The waiting really gets to me!

More movies to come! Maybe Anna will post about the next ones!

Everyone Loves A Parade

Roy got a taste of Kingfisher celebration this morning, with his very first parade. The firetrucks startled him a bit, but once they got to the llama line, and the mini-bikes, the boy scouts, the classic tractors, and the horses, he was in heaven. I can't decide which was my favorite - the llamas, all dressed up in patriotic gear, or the Kingfisher Republican Women.

Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July folks!

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but we've spent about 500 dollars on fireworks so far on this visit. I always go a little crazy with the artillery shells and such whenever we head out to Oklahoma. Virginia's rules are so stringent and stupid... out here, we can get massive artillery shells and blow all kinds of stuff up. So far, Russ and I have managed to escape uninjured - the same cannot be said for Ronnie, though, who let go a black cat a little too late and ended up splitting his first finger wide open and blowing off half of his thumbnail. But a little risk is part of what makes the 4th so much fun.

We've been slowly acclimating Roy to the explosions as well. The first time we tried setting off a firework that had a report to it, Roy jumped cried and buried his head on my shoulder. Now he hardly even jumps when Russ starts tossing out the black cats. We picked up a bunch of daytime fireworks for him to see as well since he'll likely be fast asleep before the town's show begins.

And thus ends our trip to Kingfisher. Tomorrow after lunch we'll be making the drive to Dallas, and I can't say I'll be sorry to see the last of this town. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the entire town is crumbling around their ears. It's a study in contrasts - genteel century-old farmhouses with gorgeous cast-iron gates surrounding the yards, and less than a block away, houses we thought had been condemned and abandoned, they were in such awful shape, with car graveyards rotting in the front yard and abandoned shopping carts... only to be suprised when we see faces inside the windows. People actually lived there! There was one new business we were happy to see - some enterprising soul opened an actual coffee shop on Main street, so for the first time on a trip out here, Russ and I were able to get real caffeine. The only options otherwise are our choice of Folgers crystals or Maxwell House in the town's single tiny grocery store. The sight of a real espresso machine, and someone who didn't blink and go "what?" when we asked for a latte was enough to make me nearly weep in relief.

Hell, I did go to the grocery store to pick up fresh veggies and fruits to fix up for Roy, and as we were going through the checkout line, the cashier picks up the butternut squash I'd put in the cart and asks "what are you going to do with this?" I told her "I'm making food for my baby." Ivy pipes in with "she makes all of her baby's food by herself" and the cashier gets a stupefied expression on her face and asks "WHY?" The thought of eating something fixed fresh, judging by the selection available in their produce section, is apparently reserved for weird hippie types like me. This strikes me as strange, given that we're smack dab in the middle of the corn belt and Kingfisher has two lines of employment on offer - Pioneer telephone, or farming. But other than potatoes, iceberg lettuce and corn, folks around here apparently are not fond of cooking what they grow, unless it has first been extruded, processed, preserved and canned.

I'm looking forward to Plano, and the ability to find fresh vegetables without getting strange looks for buying them.

Enjoy your 4th of July with the snakes and sparklers! I'm going to go blow some shit up.

1408

Hmmm...Also, two weekends ago, me and Anna went to see 1408. It was a psychological thriller, mostly about overcoming your own personal demons. I enjoyed it, even though it stopped being scary about half way through. It just kept building up and up and up, until you were just like...ok...I get it. The room is evil. John Cusack did a FANTASTIC job of playing the protagonaist though. Who knew he could act so well? None of his other movies, mostly all fantastic, don't really go through the extreme emotions, but this one did and he did wonderfully :). Samuel L. Jackson was also amusing, even though I did not understand his character. Anna felt he was just the hotel manager, but I thought he was more like the gate keeper or something...the one who warned people away from the room, but also let them in if they were persistant. But, I think he definitely had a role in what the room was doing. Either way, the funniest scene in the movie revolved around Mr. Jackson and that was when they miniaturized him and put him into a tiny little refridgerator that Mr. Cusack would attack later. Very funny, and also the turning point in the movie for me, where it went from scary to just intense. Overall a good movie, but I don't know if it is worth seeing on the big screen. I would rent it when it comes out :). That's all!!

This past weekend....

So, just an update of what I've been up to :). I had a fantastic weekend and full weekend this past week. On Friday, I went to happy hour with Melissa, Serena, and some of Melissa's co-workers. Everybody was nice and I got a little tipsy which was also nice. Then, me, Melissa and Serena went to get out nails done. We each got a mani and pedi, which was lots of fun, and my third time doing it in my whole entire life. Third time wasn't a charm though, because upon leaving the salon I managed to wipe off an entire paint job on one nail. This is typical and one of the reasons why I never get my nails done...sigh... Then we all headed over to Melissa's house and Anna met up with us there. We played spaids and then watched a terrible movie called The In Crowd which I couldn't finish and left 10 minutes before the end.

On Saturday, I woke up early and went to the Farmer's Market again. I got to use the disposable produce and grocery bags that I purchased, which worked out great. Now I don't have to deal with all the wasteful plastic bags that grocery stores hand out like candy. I have turned green, what can I say? Also, I have gotten complements on them, which is also nice.

After the farmer's market, I went and got my hair cut and Regis Salon in Ballston Commons Mall. I think the lady did a fair job on it, but I don't think I will be going back. She was very resistant to doing what I wanted done to my hair. I wanted to die it almost black, and I did, but she kept asking me, are you sure? When I told her I wanted it shoulder length, she goes "What does your boyfriend think about that?" I replied, that he didn't really comment on it, and she goes let's go slightly longer. Whatever. When I go, oh hey :)....I love the color...it's like the same color as my eyes, she leans in closer and goes "actually your eyes are a little bit lighter." Also, there was this other older lady in the salon, who upon seeing my new dye job, stops behind my chair and goes "ohhhh myyy....," followed by a pregnant pause, and then a "doesn't that look nice?" when she realized how rude she had just been to me. Overall though, I really really like my hair cut. It's shoulder length with just a little bit of layers and slightly framed around my face, and the color is pretty much as dark brown as you can go without being black. Maybe I'll post a picture up later so that everyone can see it!

After I got my haircut, I picked up Anna and we went out the Wetzel's house to look in on Sweeney and Bullseye. On our way up we stopped at Glory Days and had lunch. When we got to the Wetzel's house, both of the cats cried a lot and demanded attention :(. Poor little guys will be soooo happy when their parents get home! Overall they were doing fine though. We stayed for a few hours and then headed back to Arlington to go see Hot Fuzz at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse. Which is always lots of fun. Our pitcher of beer however tasted funny--almost like vinegar--so I had to stop drinking it after my second glass. Anna suspects it was from the bottom of the keg. I dunno...but it didn't taste good.

On Sunday, I stayed at home all day and finished reading Sebastian by Anne Bishop. It was a fantastic book and I can't wait to read the second one in the series, Belladonna. I've seen this book lying around Celeste's house, so perhaps I will snag it from her when I head up to look in on Sweeney and Bullseye tonight. He he he :). When Nick woke up, at around 2 or 3, I can't remember, he made reservations at a small Italian restaurant he wanted to take me to called Rafagino's in Burke. It was very good, but kind of high priced. I felt a little bad, but Nick insisted on paying and who am I to say no to a free meal! It was very romantic :).

When we got home, after stopping by his parents house to say hi, I stayed up late reading and watching tv with Nick, since I took Monday off as a floating holiday! So, all in all I had a really good weekend!

Blood Bound

I just finished Blood Bound, the second book in the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, and oh wow was it good! I couldn't put it down. I started it yesterday and finished it yesterday. The overall plot is that Mercy must save EVERYONE from a Sorcerer/Demon/Vampire combination who is causing a ruckus in the TriCities area. That's all I've got without giving too much from the other books away.

Needless to say though, I really like Mercedes' character. She's special and unique, and despite how "weak" she is compared to all the other main characters she still manages to get into the thick of things and help kick butt or even save it. Overall a highly enjoyable book, with only a few minor complaints from me. Like, I felt the killing of the bad guy was somewhat anti-climatic, but she did a decent job with it. Also, the way this book went, Mercedes could easily be turned into one of those slutty heroines that I avoid like the plague, since Briggs has created a love quadrangle between Mercedes, Adam, Samuel, and Stefan (i think that's his name anywho). It seems to me that everyone wants a little bit of Mercedes, and so far she's letting them all get away with it. I hope Briggs ends this ASAP because it's become so predictable in this kind of genre now-a-days, and it would be nice if Mercedes makes up her mind and picks ONE of the many male characters--preferably Adam because I like him the best. I don't mind a little romance in the books that I read, and I would be hard pressed to read one that has none, but I don't like it when it because all the story is about and overshadows everything. That sucks. I am going to have to say, that if Mercy is still confused after the third book, Iron Kissed, which will be released in January of 2008, then I will undoubtedly be dissappointed. However, there are 4 books contracted to be written (2 of which are complete and ready to be read), and 3 more promised verbally, so right now I am still excited about them :). AND, on Patricia Brigg's website, the author does leave the following comment in re to Iron Kissed, which makes me happy and hopeful:

"Like most of my books, this one held a lot of surprizes for me. I had intended for Mercy to choose her man in this book, but I didn't expect it to happen the way it did."

(http://www.hurog.com/books/ironKissed.shtml is the url if you'd like to link to it directly.)

Anywho, if you haven't read Moon Called you definitely should! I would also follow it up with Blood Bound since this is turning into a very promising series.