**** - movie, comedy



Although this is pretty much a modern ripoff of 1960's Best Picture winner, The Apartment, I still enjoyed it a lot... mostly because Simon Pegg is a funny dude and because I actually like Kristen Dunst (I have this vague feeling that most people don't for some odd reason).

[Anyway, first, people, watch The Apartment. It's a Billy Wilder film, and showcases Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine when they were in their fresh and young 20s. And if you say that B&W films bore you, then I SHUN you!!]

So the premise of both movies is a guy tries to climb the executive ladder thinking it'll make him the happiest man on earth, but of course, in movies, money and social position never make people happy. Instead, cute chikadees like MacLaine and Dunst do! So it's part comedy, part romance, part drama, part coming-of-age and all of these parts actually fit pretty well together and make for an entertaining story.

But really, everybody, watch The Apartment first!

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***** - audio


I've only recently become enamored with podcasts, which is a little weird since they've existed for I forget how long, but at least three or four years, right? I never got on that bandwagon, but hey, now I'm here and it's GREAT.

There are the obvious popular ones like "This American Life" and "All Songs/Things Considered", etc., but I've just discovered this "Stuff You Should Know," and I already really lurv it.

Firstly, Josh and Chuck are hilarious... I end up snorting with laughter on the bus, which probably disconcerts most of the other riders, but I can't help it.

Secondly, the topics really are great, ranging from things like cannibalism, the eye of a tornado, salt water as a fuel, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (which I HIGHLY recommend because it talks about things like plastic decomposing into tiny bits of plastic that are called "mermaid tears" because little turtles and fishies and Nemos eat them and DIE... anyway, good for global awareness).

Thirdly, who doesn't want to learn about all this great stuff on their commute to work, right? I would listen to it all day if I could, but then I would just be sitting at work doing nothing and bosses don't usually like nonproductivity. (They don't usually like blogging either, but that's a different story...)

Labels: audio, five stars

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**** - website



I can't figure this Labels thing out, guys. If you click on the book label, it'll take you to a page my book reviews, but it will only show 20 of them. Which is, obviously, not all of them. And I don't understand how to have it show more...?? GARR.

I thought labels would be the answer to all my genrefication problems, but it is NOT. UNCOOL, blogger!

So anyway. There's all these things I want to do to reorganize this place, but it's not woooorking. Wahhhhhhhhhh.

I guess that's my biggest problem with Blogger... if you want to customize your layout and not use their preformed templates, then they make it REALLY hard to manipulate stuff and you have to search through a million forum posts in order to figure out anything. But when I tried WordPress, I couldn't get THAT to work either. It's like these blog sites are trying to make you conform... they're the MAN and they're trying make me assimilate.

So anyway, how do I DO this??

Labels: four stars, website

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***** - foods



Somebody please make these for me. PLEASE!!!

Labels: foods

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**** - fiction



Sequel to Love Walked In, which I reeaaally liked, so I was excited to finally get my hands on a paperback version of this. I think Belong comes off as a little more chick-lit-ish... I'm not sure why, but I felt like the themes in Loved were more original and intriguing, whilst Belong is a little more cliché and was very suburban drama--Stepford-y, I guess. But, I still enjoyed it and I think it was worth picking up just to see where all the characters ended up, several years after the first book.

Labels: book, fiction, four stars

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*** - movie, drama, biopic



I don't know much about Bob Dylan except what I learned during senior year of college in American Popular Song (I took it for an easy credit, but that class actually came in pretty darn handy for Scene It: Music).

So as I was watching this, I was pretty confused. For the entire time. Wait, Bob Dylan was black when he was a little boy? Was he the inspiration for Michael Jackson? Wait, his name was Woody? Or was it John? Or Jack? Or what the EFF is going on???

That said, it was actually kinda fun and cool to watch, and I liked Bob's weird accent that he had throughout with most of the actors playing him. I don't think it was very poignant in any way, and wasn't very gripping... but sometimes, you just want to watch a bunch of people with weird hair speaking in funny accents, so really, I think this is the perfect movie for that.

Labels: biopic, drama, movie, three stars

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**** - fiction, short stories



The only beef I have with Jhumpa Lahiri, and it's not a very big one, is that she's just a wee little bit too depressing. Or maybe depressing is not the right word... her books just exude melancholy.

It's like a drug, actually. Every time I finished a story, I would feel this sadness seeping through me... this overwhelming despondency at the way life sometimes doesn't work out. And that's really all the book is--stories about the failures of life.

And it sounds like it wouldn't be good, doesn't it? It sounds like reading this book might make you want to jump into a bathtub full of box jellyfish, but the writing is so good, the moments in the plot where ... I don't know how you would describe it, but I get a tingling... I get chills! (as they would say on SYTYCD).

So really, it is worth it! Even for a happy ending kind of gal like me.

Labels: book, fiction, short stories

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*** - movie, drama



Okay, so you made me cry a lot, Will Smith and Rosario Dawson, and I mean a LOT, but that's not so unusual when we're talking about movies with people dying and lots of tragedy and atonement.

What IS unusual is that there was so much hype surrounding this supposed "twist" in your plot, when I didn't think it was very twist-y at all. Not so much twist-y as incredibly depressing and slightly ridiculous. And you know, things would have been much better had you, Will Smith, not used the L-word with Ms. Dawson here, who, yes, is lovely, but you knew her for what, like THREE DAYS??

COME ON!! And really, to be in love with some strange woman while you're still having hallucinations and dreams about your dead wife, is just sick. Sick!

But the cinematography was gooorgeous. And I do love me some box jellyfish, mm-HMM.

Labels: drama, movie, three stars

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*** - fiction



Book Club Choice - 4/09

Okay, here is my train of thought as I read through this:

Ugh. This is weird. And post-apocalyptic. I hate post-apocalyptic stories. Or do I just hate dystopian stories? Whatever, this is crummy.

Okay, this is getting interesting, even though I don't understand what's going on. But that's okay, because none of the characters do either.

I wonder how this is going to resolve, because it's going to be really gooood!

I'm almost to the end! The revelation is going to be so enlightening!

WTF!!!!

So basically, it leads you on a pretty good story for the most part, and there's an underlying mystery to everything, and there are theories for what happened to the earth, and then ... and then...!! It doesn't explain anything. WHAT A TEASE.

Stupid, stupid book.

Labels: book, fiction, three stars

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**** - movie, drama



I have problems with movies that I think are going to be painful to watch. In the end, yes, the parts where Jamal gets tortured and the part with the mercury in the eyes is definitely cringe-worthy, but I think I overestimate the cringiness in relation to the watchability... and yes, I'm just making up words here.

So let's see... there was all this hype and all those Oscars... I thought I'd better at least watch it once. So I did, and it was good... but I've seen better. Since the only other Oscar nominee I've seen is Frost/Nixon, I can't really say if it deserved to win this year, but I wouldn't say it didn't deserve to win.

And all the actors who played Jamal were so super cute! Despite him looking so much younger than Latika in the end... but whatever. I can forgive anything as long as there's a sweet Bollywood dance scene at the end.

Labels: drama, four stars, movie

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**** - Online Music Service



I've mostly used Pandora at work, which is... you know... not bad, and they have lots of information on the songs, albums, artists, etc. Their "autoplay/genius/music genome" whatever is likewise okay for some types of music, and horrible for others. I've found some good music on Pandora, so I have to commend it for that.

But... BUT!!! Grooveshark is like ... 10x better. Why? Because you can listen to the songs you want to listen to, immediately! It's like having the most gigantic iPod library with you AT ALL TIMES (that you're at a computer...).

No, like, really. You can search for a song, any song, and if they have it in their library (which they do 99% of the time), then you can click on "Play", and it will play it! Right then! It won't search for music that's "similar" to the song, it won't recommend other choices, it won't make you pay for it, it will just play it.

You don't even have to sign up for an account to listen to music! It's helpful to sign up to save favorites and playlists and all of that, but it's not necessary. Also, their autoplay is just as good as Pandora's, which pretty much negates any of the latter's appeal. I don't know how Grooveshark does it (that's some crazy copyright agreement), but I don't really care either, as long as it works.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because it will sometimes cut the music off for a sec or two and say my bandwidth is too low when I KNOW it's not. And it seems to happen only for certain songs, which is weird and random, but whatever. It's only slightly annoying.

So join! And favorite me so we can be buddies and stalk each other's favorite songs and playlists.

Labels: four stars, website

 2 comments

***** - foods


Yummy gooey goodness.

I've always hated oatmeal. Who knows why... something about its consistency and mushiness and taste all combined to make me despise oatmeal. It would SOUND good... mm, brown sugar and maple? Strawberries and cream? I'll give it a go! And then... disappointment.

So of course, I've been hesitant about ever trying Cream of Wheat. Hot breakfast cereals didn't seem to be my thing, you know?

But they have it in the work cafeteria, so I decided to try it one day and... DELICIOUS! Thumbs up, Cream of Wheat! Way to not be gross!

Many of you will say that Cream of Wheat is very like oatmeal... especially when I put granola in it. But IS it? Are you SURE?

Consider this marked difference: I hate oatmeal, and I love Cream of Wheat! That makes the two very UNlike, in my opinion.

So never mind any arguments of rationality... the truth is in the farina (whatever that is).

Labels: five stars, foods

 1 comments

** - graphic novel



Book Club Choice - 3/09

This book was WEIRD. Weird and CREEPY.

A common thread of our discussion was how weird and creepy it was, and how all the sexuality of the book made everything weirder and creepier.

We all thought we probably wouldn't recommend this book to anybody, unless you count D's suggestion for goth chicks who are cutters, but nobody really counts D's suggestions in general.

I think some of the worst readings are when you don't understand the characters' motivations. I'm reading this thinking, "WHY the heck would anybody do that?! It seems so stupid!" And of course, it is stupid and ends in misery and disaster, but what can you do?

All you can do is keep reading and get subsequently depressed about the horrible outcomes, put the book down, and wish you hadn't spent all that time on it.

So there you have it. My honest opinion.

Labels: fiction, graphic novel, two stars

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"If they just realized that we only get one chance at life, and a piece of land is a piece of land. My husband is just going to get 6 foot by 6 foot, and that's all any of us are going to get."

-Kate Carroll, whose husband, Constable Stephen Carroll, was killed in a string of attacks on security officials in Northern Ireland, the first deadly acts of political terror in the region since 1998's peace accord

Labels: miscellaneous

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***** - Mystery



I was on a mystery binge with P.D. James for awhile, but I got kind of tired of the Englishness and the strange plots and unlikeable characters, so when my boss recommended Love, I thought it sounded pretty interesting.

About a bunch of rich, white, bored housewives making trouble for themselves in a upscale Connecticut neighborhood... and of course, one of them ends up hanging from a tree, murdered. Lots of great characters, but not necessarily lots of suspects, and it's a very enjoyable read all the way through.

It does make me think about cheating and what a selfish act it is. If I was married for several years, and found out my husband was having an affair, I don't think I'd KILL him, but I like to think I'd drop him immediately. I hate to think of myself as a pushover or easily manipulated, and my rational side knows that there's always more fish in the sea.

However, would I really break it off that easily? I'm not sure... it's so easy to believe people when you want to believe them... I want to be tough and believe that there is no moral ambiguity when it comes to cheating--it's always wrong. But would I forget all this if really happened to me??

Labels: book, fiction, five stars, murder mystery

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**** - fiction



I'm a big fan of WWII. Not a fan of the fact that it happened and 60 million people died, but you know... it's possibly the greatest thing that ever happened in the history of the world.

So this was an interesting perspective--on the German side. Liesel and her foster family take in a Jew and hide him in their basement for a couple of years, profoundly changing her life and perspective.

Of course, there are consequences, but the story is very readable and has an interesting narration style. Gets a little depressing towards the end, but I suppose I should have expected that. I mean... it IS Germany at the end of WWII--not a very fun place to be (if you're German).

Not as mind-blowing as I thought it would be, but it was pretty solid, and I'd recommend it for literary war buffs.

Labels: book, fiction

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** - movie



Really, Steven Spielberg, really? ALIENS??

First of all, let's ignore the ridiculously horrible enemy shooting skills that led to multiple unrealistic escapes.

I can also let go of the surely-would-have-ended-in-death waterfall sequence.

We don't have to discuss the questionable plot, Cate Blanchett's sometimes Russian, sometimes British accent, or the double-crossing double agent-what??

Let's just focus on the aliens. Because... ALIENS?! REALLY?!?!?!

Labels: action, movie, two stars

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*** - clothing



Oh sequin dress. You were so cute, and fit so well! But halfway through the night, I started to notice that the inside of my left arm was not feeling so great. By the time we left for home, I couldn't wait to take you off.

When I did, I checked out my bicep, and your many MANY sharp sequins had made mince meat out of my arm. The next morning, I noticed you had also cut up my right arm, although to a lesser extent.

You made me BLEED, sequin dress, and I don't like pain.

So despite making a pretty cute outfit, I'm not sure I'll wear you again. I'm going to have to really think about it and weigh the consequences, and frankly, it's not something I usually have to consider when I think about my apparel.

Labels: miscellaneous, three stars

 1 comments

***** - real time bus tracking service



OneBusAway has saved my life. And if that's an overstatement, then it's at least saved me a lot of time and frustration.

I like public transportation. I'm all about the environment and that sort of crap, and the bus system in Seattle is extremely extensive, covering a whoooole lotta miles and will take you within a 10 minute or less walk to wherever you need to go.

So it's supposed to be super convenient, right? And most of the time, yes, it is.

But when you're standing in freezing cold rain in the dark and your bus was supposed to come 15 minutes ago, it is the opposite of convenient. It's a frustrating and time-wasting exercise, wondering when it will come, or if it well ever come, or if you've missed it and will have to wait another 20 minutes for the next one.

Enter OneBusAway and exit all my troubles and worries. With an interface on the web, phone, or SMS text that tracks a bus's location in real time and lets you know when there are delays or early arrivals, riding the bus has just gotten a million times better.

If I'm at home, I can open a web page that refreshes every minute with updated information on when the next bus will arrive. If I'm at the bus stop, I can call the 206 number and have an electronic voice reassure me that we'll find out when the next buses are, or I can send off a text message and get the same results. The real tracking is pretty precise--it's rarely ever off by more than a few minutes.

It's been a few weeks since I discovered OBA, and I've become addicted to the information resource it is. The best testimony I can give? Since I've started using it, I haven't missed one bus yet.

Labels: five stars, website

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***** - nonfiction

I've kept a pretty regular diary since my junior year of high school... almost a decade of observations, drama, and mostly mind-boggling silliness.

I try and write at least one entry a week, but it's sometimes been much more, depending on how much crisis I have in my life. I love rereading old diary entries... partly because I have an awful memory and it's good to have a reminder of how I felt about certain things or situations.

It's unfortunately way too easy for me to forget why some actions or decisions were bad... but with a diary, no such uncertainty!

In December of 2001, I had fallen in LOVE. Reading these entries gives me a squeamish feeling of embarrassment and discomfort, mostly because the guy I was in love with turned out to be not so awesome. Not totally awful, you see, but not the best I could have done.

But in those early months, of course I didn't know that was the way things would turn out. I was so enthusiastic about the relationship, so gushing and emotive, that I couldn't really see anything beyond the L-word.

As embarrassing as it was, I'm a little envious of my old self. I don't think I could ever feel so enraptured again. I'm so much more cautious and tentative with relationships that even if I did feel like I was in love again, I probably wouldn't be so effusive. I might, instead of describing it as a wonderful, soul-uplifting, amazing feeling, say instead, "Well, things are pretty good..."

What happened to thinking I could be so free with myself? Is it washed away with all the hurts and disappointments I've been dealt? Is it even possible to get it back?

Labels: five stars, miscellaneous

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** - fiction



I think people gravitate towards apocalyptic stories so that the true mettle of humankind can be realized and everybody can feel good about people rising above differences and being heroes and blah blah blah to save the earth.

The problem with Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, then, is that there is no such moment where mankind becomes greater than it is. Thus, the apocalypse is offset, not with idealism and dignity, but with human depravity and stupidity, which makes the book incredibly depressing and kind of awful.

The most intriguing part was ice-nine, a crazy substance that changes water's melting point to 114ºF. Ties into the whole idea of brilliant scientists creating things that could potentially kill a ton of people... not their intention, but then is it the fault of the scientist, or those who misuse their inventions for evil?

I might try and pick up Slaughterhouse Five, since I've never read it and it's so literary canon-ish. I can give Vonnegut another try, I suppose.

Labels: book, fiction, two stars

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***** - fiction



This is a strange book because, and I was realizing this as I reread it, the plot isn't crazily original, and there are a lot of flaws with continuity and follow-through, but for some reason, I still really enjoyed spending time with the characters again.

Yes, there are some contrivances and yes, some parts are cheesy and silly and maybe I felt there wasn't enough lead-up to certain events, but on the whole, there is a normality to Penelope (the main character), and I think that's what makes the read so good.

For some reason, the parts where Penelope gets drunk really sticks in my head. You know that weird fishbowl or bubble suit feeling, where everything has this blurry quality and you feel like you're inside of your skin? I think Rice's writing has this texture to it... maybe the plot and some of the sequencing isn't so great, but if she's able to write about a drunk character and it makes me really feel that whole fishbowl quality while I'm reading it, then she's doing a pretty good job.

On a related note... asked about alcoholism at work today, since it seems many patients are alcoholics. Sometimes I hear and read about these patients, and how they drink a lot, and most have smoked a lot, but there are some that have never smoked, don't drink, live pretty healthy lives. And sometimes, I wonder, what does it take? Mightn't I get cancer, even though I'm a healthy person? It's scary, to know that there's only so much you can do, and then it just depends on stuff that's out of your control, like environment or genetics.

One good thing about alcoholism--because an alcoholic's body is so used to toxicity, if s/he starts taking chemotherapy and radiation drugs, then his/her nausea and vomiting response is greatly limited, compared to non-alcoholics. They're so used to poisoning their body, that these drugs, designed to kill a number of cells, don't even faze them.

Labels: book, fiction, five stars

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A. and I joined the gym last month because there was this huge freaking special and now I only pay $20/month and I didn't have to fork up any enrollment fees.

Because I didn't have great memories of my last (more expensive) attempt at gymming, I thought I'd approach it this time with a different mentality.

I was going to swim, and I was only going to swim. I ignored those pesky managers and sales people when they spoke of personal training sessions. I shrugged when my orientation fitness person talked about various machines or exercises I could do to improve my supposed muscle weakness. All I wanted to buy with my free $5 coupon was a towel, dammit!

So now I swim about once a week... and every time I do, I think about the IMA pool. No, that's not quite right. I FANTASIZE about the IMA pool. How bright and open it was... how they did circle swimming in the middle lane... how there was always a cute lifeguard on duty.

I used to think I liked swimming because of the swimming. The way the water felt, the nice workout it gave me, the relaxation of doing laps. But now I think I underestimated the draw of the atmosphere, and that maybe it wasn't so much the swimming, but the giant, airy room where the pool was and the huge windows that let in all that natural light.

O IMA pool! If only you were on my way home from work, there would not be this longing... this terrible, terrible longing!

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But other than that, life is pretty peachy-keen. Just waiting on hearing from nursing school...

It would be a bummer if I didn't make it in, but I'd survive. For one, I'd know it wasn't because I wasn't good enough, but because I didn't get my app in on time for their first come, first serve policy.

For two, I like my job, and I think it's pretty secure.

Who knew making the move to the medical sector would be a timely, prescient choice?

But yeah. Life is pretty good, except that I have no chocolate.

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***** - nonfiction



Breezed through this funny and fascinating trek through the Encyclopaedia Britannica in no time at all. Not sure what it is about Jacobs, but I really enjoy his writing. Yes, he's funny, yes, he's insightful, yes, he's self-deprecating, but I think what makes him so great, is that he lets you in on all his neuroses, horrible judgment calls, and asshole-y actions. No censorship here, and maybe that's cheesy refreshing, but darnit, I like it. I also like all the crazy facts from the EB that he lists; the weirdest being: "The bandicoot has a two-tipped penis, and the female a double-slotted vagina, so they can have a little orgy without sending out invitations." Who wouldn't be intrigued after reading that little tidbit?

Labels: book, five stars, nonfiction

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Last night, I ate a lot of Flamin' Hot Cheetos with ranch dip. First of all, that's just kinda gross to begin with, but then to eat SO MUCH... blech.

I don't know why I do stuff like that. It's not like I sit down thinking, "I'm going to eat a disgusting amount of disgusting junk food right now!" It just happens and all of a sudden, I'm staring into an empty bucket of ranch dip and feeling like a lard-ass.

-Sigh-

Time to go swim some laps, I guess.

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I just dropped off my nursing school application this morning at the post office, right when it opened. After paying for postage and sending it in with five other applicants who had the same notion of skipping work or whatever to be there, I immediately began to fear my imminent death.

I wrote my own obituary in my head and it went something like this: "Just minutes after sending in her nursing application to the school of her choice, Sheena was struck by a car and tragically killed. Her acceptance would arrive just days later. She had been working towards that acceptance for the previous two years, and had finally felt as if her life was clicking together."

How awful and morbid. When thoughts like that creep into my head, I always think, "What kind of crazy person thinks of this stuff?" Then I start picturing my imminent admittance into an insane asylum...

Anyway, it all reminds me of this sad quote that I read about in The Know-it-all, A.J. Jacobs' first book (which is highly entertaining):

"In 1920, after marrying Zelda and publishing This Side of Paradise, [F. Scott] Fitzgerald wrote: 'Riding in a taxi one afternoon between very tall buildings under a mauve and rosy sky, I began to bawl because I had everything I wanted and knew I would never be so happy again.'"

How depressing! I can be less morbid and pessimistic than a self-deprecating, despondent alcoholic, can't I? Come on now, let's buck up here, yeesh!

 0 comments

I've had my 3G for three and a half years now, and it's always served me very well. The battery life is still over 2 hours, which is kinda crazy, and its 40 gigs have been adequate.

Unfortunately, the headphone jack is getting a bit wonky on it and sometimes, sound will cut in and out and get really annoying. Thus, I've been doing a little research with mp3 players and this is what I've figured out:

--I will always need to use iPods because I have a Bose SoundDock and want to keep using it (although its compatibility only goes up through 4G/Photo).

--I have all my playlists and crap set in iTunes. (I checked out the Zune, which seemed cool, but these two things are keeping me from buying it.)

Now, I can replace the headphone jack for $33.65. I'd have to install it myself, but that's the cheapest I can find the part (with shipping). I could also, at the same time, replace the battery for only an additional $9.95.

Thus, I have two options:

1. Do the above and fix my current iPod for a total of $43.60, OR...

2. Buy a refurbished iPod 4G-Photo/60gb for $150.00-$180.00-ish. This will still work with my SoundDock, and also give me 20gb more harddrive space.

What to do, what to do...??

 1 comments

The other day, I got the following notice from my landlord that read something like this:

Dear Tenants,

A transient was found in the building this weekend, and when the police came, they told us he had a record of assault. Please DO NOT let any unknown persons into the building, and make sure your doors are locked!!

-___ Apts.

Now, this alone would be frightening, but I've gotten SEVERAL notices like this in the past few months, and it's alarming to think of these bums constantly haunting our halls and creating havoc.

What are they doing in the building anyway? Using the laundry facilities? Riding up and down the elevator? Trying to break into peoples' apartments?

I am worried. The situation is so bad, in fact, that they're changing the locks! They say that people may be using "lost" keys to get into the building (although I still don't understand why). Disturbing on so many levels. I need a bat. Or some mace. Or SOMETHING.

 0 comments

***** - nonfiction



The premise is intriguing--a man tries to live by the many hundreds of rules in the Bible or based on the Bible. But when I picked it up, I thought, "Now how interesting could this be after about 50 pages, really?" Happy to say, I was very wrong. Jacobs has the funniest voice--self-deprecating, clever in parts, but most of all, incredibly honest. I think that's what makes this book so successful--Jacobs is so earnest in his quest, so willing to expose himself, that his adventures don't seem gimmicky and/or stupid, which they could very easily have been. Instead, his year was hilarious and informative, but most of all--and here was the challenge that Jacobs so effortlessly overcame--it made me soften my own religious concepts.

Labels: book, five stars, nonfiction

 0 comments