A Rant

Ok, I usually don't use this blog to just vent about shit that bothers me, but I can't help it. In the past few days, I have had some run-ins with uptight old white people in Boston. There are a lot of them and I'm sure many are quite lovely, but two occurrences bear mention re: unacceptable uptight cranky behavior.

On Saturday afternoon, I went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" at the Fenway AMC Theater. I was with two friends and we were QUIETLY chatting during the previews. Not the film itself, the previews. I'm sure you see where this is going. This old guy in row in front of us turns around and very nastily tells us to keep it down. Look, it drives me up the wall when people talk during movies, but I thought the commerical/preview portion was fair game for talking. I mean, we've all seen the Fandango ad a million times before, do you really need to hear it again? It's paper bags with fake hair talking, people.


Also, you can politely ask someone to keep it down. If you think someone is being rude, you don't have to be rude back.

But even more amazing is what happened tonight, not in a movie theater, but right outside one. I went to see a bizarre documentary about the inventor of the Theremin at Coolidge Corner. Waiting in a long line outside before we were allowed in the theater, my friend Alexis lit up a cigarette. And moments later, a crazy woman who was at least 15 people ahead of us in line comes up and says brusquely that the smoke is "bothering everybody" and that she should put it out immediately.

I want to reiterate that we were OUTSIDE. Now, I'm not a smoker and I love that when I come home from restaurants and bars my clothes don't smell like smoke. But to my knowledge, smoking outside is still legal. It's the one place where I really don't care if you smoke because there's this nifty thing called wind that makes the smoke go away. My friend didn't want to start a fight with a senior citizen in Brookline, so she apologized and put out her cigarette. I think I was more outraged than she was.

Then in the movie theater parking lot, right next to where the line had formed, a car alarm started going off. The owner of the car immediately tried to disable it but didn't succeed for about 30 seconds. And would you believe it, the same crazy woman starts yelling "READ THE MANUAL!!!" to this poor embarrassed dude.

Does this woman live in soundproof oxygenated bubble? Well, now that I think about it, if she lives in Brookline...then, yes. But if smoke and noise bother you, you might want to never go out in public. And staying away from heavy metal concerts might also be a good plan.

On a side note, theremins are totally fierce instruments. Listen to the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" if you don't believe me -- the theremin is the weird high-pitched spooky sound that happens during the chorus.

Quick shots of Christmas 2008

Just wanted to share some shots of Christmas 2008 with you:

Gathering #1: With our friends at our place







Gathering #2: 12 hours' drive away at my in laws













Gathering #3: At husband's aunt's place







Gathering #4: At my sister in law's place

So You Think You Don't Like Poetry

(Part 2 in an Ongoing Series)

As promised, here is another poem that I challenge you NOT to like: "Introduction to Poetry" by former poet laureate Billy Collins.

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.


Collins is one of our most accessible and popular contemporary poets and some even feel (cough, J.D. McClatchy, cough) he's too mainstream, as if accessibility is somehow a bad thing. I happen to like his work quite a bit and think that this poem captures the anxiety and frustration many people feel when asked to read a poem and "get it." Sometimes there is nothing to get-- a good poem is like a room you wander into for a little while, a nice place to get lost.

This concludes your weekly dose of poetry.

T.M.I. about the guy who fixed my computer

Chris at PC Boston restored my laptop to its industry settings and then gave me all my personal files on a DVD. First I thought he gave me the DVD in a blank CD jewel case:

Then I flipped the case over.

Is there a hidden message here? The song list is blurry, but "Forbidden Pleasure" contains such smooth jams as "I Will Always Love You" and "That's the Way Love Goes." This is the kind of CD you get for free when you buy erotic massage oil. Or so I hear. I wonder if Chris would let me exchange my boring files for "Forbidden Pleasure." He did charge me $125, so I feel entitled to something extra.

I mean, it's just a little bit more than I needed to know about my computer technician's personal life and music preferences.

Apparently, you can't buy this CD through regular channels anymore, but I did find this copy on eBay for $2.95 from a merchant who goes by "sonic-chicken." My birthday is coming up in 6 weeks, folks....just a hint. For the cover art alone, I might have to own it. Behold:

Well, I'm turned on.

Lighten up, Clint!

Since film awards season is upon us, I've been going to the movies a lot lately. I recently saw The Wrestler and Frost/Nixon and have plans to see both Revolutionary Road and Slumdog Millionaire. But you know what I have no desire whatsoever to see?

You got it: Gran Torino.


My antagonism toward Clint Eastwood films hasn't always existed-- I thought Mystic River was amazing and I wept through most of Million Dollar Baby. But it is interesting to note that if I never see either film again, it will be too soon. Watching those movies is a harrowing, gut-wrenching experience.

I feel like Eastwood goes out of his way to make his films not entertaining. The second you're enjoying his movie, he does something like paralyze Hilary Swank or kill off Tim Robbins. It's like a sucker-punch to the stomach.

I see previews for Gran Torino and the pull-quotes from reviews are what you'd expect:

"Intense"
"Vintage Clint Eastwood"
"Brutal....relentless"

And so forth. With the exception of "vintage Clint Eastwood," the other descriptions could also apply to my last root canal. Don't get me wrong -- I don't need my movies to be total fluff (I would rather have another root canal than see Bride Wars) but do they have to be so, well, grim and joyless?

Clint is getting kudos for his acting in Gran Torino. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing he plays a hardened old coot with a soft spot. Just a wild guess.

I know, I know, all my film buff friends are doing the alive equivalent of rolling in their graves. I'm sure Gran Torino is an excellent film, I just have no desire to see it. Just like I had no desire to see the pair of black-and-white movies Eastwood directed about Japan during WWII that won raves a couple of years ago.

In his films, Eastwood takes himself pretty darn seriously. I wonder what he'd be like as a dinner companion. Is he as tight-lipped and gruff as the men he plays? Or would he be a loquacious dude? Would he joke with the waiter and do over-the-top lines from Dirty Harry or stare him down when the bread basket was empty and leave the tip in pennies?

These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Today I'm inspired by

... vintage floral bouquets in simple white frames against a snowy white wall...


I've been trying to collect them especially since we moved and I painted my large and high living room 3-4 coats of white :) I don't have as many nice ones since they are getting expensive...

Here's my slowly growing collection:


This is my latest... a floral bouquet painted 2 years ago by my husband's 94 year old Nanna.


Coco+Kelley also posted a similar image here. (Actually looks like the same frames rearranged!)

James Merrell

Technical Difficulties

Hi friends and devoted readers:

My laptop is getting repaired and I have only sporadic access to the interwebs; therefore there will be a (hopefully brief) hiatus in terms of new posts on this site. I have many exciting things I want to blog about, so be sure to check back in a few days to read about:

1. Why I never want to see Clint Eastwood movies
2. My theory on the two types of women in the world (those who use lotion and those who do not)
3. My predictions on who will win Bret's heart on Rock of Love Bus

I apologize on behalf of my broken laptop....I hope to be back in business soon. But some good news: I got a new watch!