No Butts

Kaj has the stomach flu, poor thing. He keeps saying "I'm not gon' throw up again", as if I'd possibly be mad about it. What I'm mad at is he can't go to preschool tomorrow. That's kind of throwing a wrench in my day. I'm supposed to work on a client's project--my mother's kitchen. I've completely reworked the design from the original iteration because I just wasn't feelin' it dog. It wasn't good enough. What can you do, right? Not going to hand in crap.

We have been watching many movies lately, 2 per weekend. We've just re-joined Netflix and it is great. This weekend we watched Junebug and Walk the Line. I absolutely loved Junebug, mostly because the supporting actrees nominee, Amy Adams, is a living doll and does such a great job in the movie. My expectations for "Line" were so-so, but I really enjoyed Joaquin Phoenix's performance. He was very intense and vulnerable. Now I want to read Johnny Cash's autobiography. I'm sort of mystified about Reese Witherspoon's win for best actress. She's fine, but she's not a particularly gritty actress and I think the role of June Carter calls for a bit of grit. I think the actress who played Johnny's first wife (Ginnifer Goodwin) would perhaps have been a better choice for June. But she's not really a "name" yet. Although she is doing a good job in the new HBO series "Big Love" which is about a family that practices polygamy and she plays one of the wives.

So to answer one of my readers in South Dakota-- "Sassy" from Sioux Falls, I would definitely recommend both of these films. Also Sassy: Happy Birthday!

Unlike last weekend's fare which was sort of pitiful and/or boring, depending on the film you're talking about. We saw "Goodnight and Good Luck" first and while it was interesting since I wasn't around during the McCarthy thing. However, it was a bit like watching the transcripts of the scenario played out by actors. Nobody seemed like they were acting naturally. It was all very stilted and flat. Somehow David Straitharn transcended the problem (caused by the writing, directing? who knows) and his incredible focus and obvious intelligence is so riveting to watch. He barely moves his face but you can see his brain waves crashing around.

Last Saturday's movie was just a bunch of goofy, melodramatic poo. It was "A History of Violence" (yes, I know i'm inconsistent with my titles and quotes, but geez, it's a pain). First of all, the writing sucked. Just the dumbest, unconnected things came out of people's mouths. And I absolutely hate when you're watching a movie and something happens right away that leaves a big gaping hole, and shatters your belief in the characters, which makes you think the writers/director/whoever must be a huge idiot to have left that little thing hanging. It was something so minor, honestly, it was probably some editing gaffe that they forgot to fix and they figured it wouldn't be a big deal. Here's what it was: the small-town diner owner gets a ride (his truck is broken) in the morning from his wife. He kisses her, gets out of the car and proceeds to walk what seems like several blocks before he reaches the diner. I think that's dumb, don't you? Especially since they live in a really small town and talked about a ride....

Oh, and the sex scenes between the husband and wife were so embarrassing. And I was just watching them with Eric. They were supposed to be incredibly passionate and intense and instead they looked like painful rape. Which is kind of redundant isn't it? God, if I see Viggo Mortenson's butt again, it'll be too soon.

Back me up

I got Kaj to wear his Thomas the Train underpants finally. For a while there, all I'd get when I'd ask if he wanted to wear them was a "No fank you, I don't yike underpants" But when he put them on, he said he looked cool. Yeah, it's cool til you're about six, then it's suddenly creepy. Especially if your still sporting the Thomas skivs. Neither here nor there. The good news: he did #s 1 and 2 in the potty and we did the happy dance and he got a small bowl of marshmallows which are now a more compelling reward than chocolate. Hmmm. Not for me it wouldn't be. YUCK.

Speaking of yuck, i'm no longer in the sick mode of pregnancy and I'm not so tired. Now I've got some back trouble which I have been unsuccessful at alleviating. It's low back pain that shoots a searing poker into my right bun, to put it not-so-delicately. It can be bearable and then all of a sudden I won't be able to get off the floor. The first time this happened we were still in California and I was on the floor on all fours laughing hysterically. I was laughing because I never knew how back pain could paralyze a person. This was not me! I was laughing because this is supposed to happen to people who are OLD and I'm not old!!!!!!!

Last night I decided that the reason I was having this back problem is because I am LAZY, which is not really the case, but i decided that exercise was going to work. So I did 30 min. on the bike and stretched my hamstrings and back for about a half hour. Let me tell you: I woke up in the middle of the night with really bad spasms whenever I tried to move even one leg. This is getting ridiculous! Am I supposed to just lay around? This is new territory for me. If anyone has any ideas please give them to me because this has to stop.

Back in the swamp

We're back in DC and it's chilly here. And the light is different, more white rather than gold. Or I should say GRAY rather than gold. I miss all the flowers too. I love California. The mountains, the vegetation, the ocean. Sigh. Well, someday after i finish school and can get a decent job maybe we can move there. But then there's the stuff you have to think about: you have to be a two-car family. And houses that aren't in the 'burbs are just as expensive or more so than here. I hate reality.

We had a great time and did tons of things while on vacation. I read two books, both were a little disappointing. One was a murder mystery by Dick Francis called, hmm, I honestly can't remember, how's that? It had something to do with horses, but aren't all his books about horses? It was an entertaining story, but then it ended up that the young maiden, a supposed "suicide" in the book happened because of a group sex experiment around auto-erotic aspyxiation. Really classy, huh? I'm not a prude but I think Dick Francis is a freak.

The other book was "Dog Days" by Ana Marie Cox, the girl who did the popular DC blog "Wonkette.com". It's a sort-of insider look at the campaign machinations in DC. She has a great sense of humor and funny dialogue, but she wouldn't know a good plot if it bit her in the ass. It was reminiscent of the cheesy books I used to love in junior high. Completely juvenile and absolutely meaningless. I will admit that I read the whole thing, however.

More later, I've got to take Kaj to gym class. Cute picture huh?