So, I never call into radio stations. But Sarah and Vinnie are doing this Vegas trip in August, and they’re taking a bunch of listeners, and even though I have no delusions about my chances, I like really want to go…so this morning when I heard the secret song, I called the radio station. Thirty-three times. Until the phone screener picked up and said, “We’ve already got our winner, sorry,” and I said, “Thank you!” and he said, “No, thank you.” Aww.
Maybe it’s worth it to keep trying. I mean, someone’s gotta win. Why shouldn’t it be me? I’ve never been to Vegas!
I also texted Sarah and Vinnie this morning and they read it on the air, making it my third email/text appearance on the show. Celebrity! I’m almost there!
This is a big year for weddings for me – I’ve never been in two in one year. But this October and then this November will find me standing up next to two of my BFFs as they each take major life steps. Feels good. It’s an honor to be asked. I guess they trust and like me!
So today I went with the November bride, and her other bridesmaid, to buy the wedding dress and to pick out our bridesmaid dresses. The other bridesmaid and I each tried on 5 dresses. We ended the trip by picking a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses, which the bride is going to order from another store, where she got MUCH better customer service.
So now that’s done! OMG that feels awesome.
Then I came home and started paying bills online. Drew mentioned plane tickets, for the October wedding, which is in Connecticut. I checked JetBlue and panicked a little bit when I noticed that the tickets had gone up over the last two days, rather than going down, which I was holding out for them to do. Oh noes!
So I checked Orbitz, and tickets on Virgin America were actually down from two days ago. Not as low as I was holding out for, but I think I can recognize a sign when I see one, so we sat right down and booked SFO-JFK flights. I’ve never flown Virgin before – I’m a JetBlue girl – but I have heard good things, so I’m excited.
And now I can start dreaming about my best friends’ weddings and my New York trip! New York, I’ve missed you!
I’m kind of a snob about books made into movies. It’s not good to be a snob about anything, probably, but if it had to be something, I’m glad it’s book-to-movie adaptations, and not beer or cars or food, I guess.
(Although, that might be circular logic. If I really cared about beer or cars or food, then I’d be glad I did…etc.)
Anyway, here’s a list of good book-to-movie adaptations:
“Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King –> The Shawshank Redemption
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg –> Fried Green Tomatoes, in which the director had to mostly remove the lesbian subplot, although he has said that the food fight is supposed to symbolize their sexual relationship.
All three of the Lord of the Rings books by JRR Tolkein –> the Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Green Mile by Stephen King –> The Green Mile, starring Tom Hanks (looking all plastic and Polar Express-y), and look at that! Directed by Frank Darabont, who also directed The Shawshank Redemption
Little Children, by Tom Perrotta –> Little Children – hot movie poster, totally changed ending and all!
Rosemary’s Baby, by Ira Levin, one of the greatest writers ever –> Rosemary’s Baby, a horror movie I only recently watched on Netflix instant, and was totally pleasantly surprised
And here’s an example of a bad book-to-movie adaptation, which is really my whole point here:
Every Harry Potter movie ever, but most recently, Deathly Hallows part 2.
Last night, after seeing it with Drew (who agrees with me) and my friend Molly (who really liked it), I posted on my Facebook saying that I thought the movie was disappointing, and asking if anyone felt the same way. I refrained from saying anything sweeping and vague, and obviously looking for trouble, like, “It was terrible.” But I got only comments from people saying they enjoyed it.
Luckily, these people are my friends, and I think we can agree to disagree on something on stupid as a Harry Potter movie. But I still wanted a response from someone who agreed with me. (I’m super grateful that Drew feels the same way as I do – otherwise it could’ve gotten tense around these parts last night.)
Even at work this morning I was met with someone saying, “Well, I really liked it, but then, I read all the books.” And I was like… “Um, so did I. That’s part of the problem.”
Since I don’t want to pick fights with anyone, but I still want to vent my feelings, and I’m due a blog post anyway…this is what you get. This is my platform to say that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was a bad representation of the second half of the book, as well as being not a good stand-alone movie.
My particular issues (POSSIBLE SPOILERS):
1. Why change things? What’s all this about a boathouse? What’s wrong with going to the Shrieking Shack?
2. What is this “Harry hears horcruxes” business? Don’t you wish now, WB, you had waited to start making the movies until JK Rowling had written all the books, so you could put in all the information you needed, so you didn’t have to make up some dumb ish about him “hearing” the horcruxes?
3. Does anyone who hasn’t read the books even know what a horcrux is? Someone who hasn’t read the books, please comment and tell me if you have any idea what horcruxes and hallows are. Can you name all of them? And describe their function in the story?
4. I felt like this movie was ALL ACTION. Which I guess makes sense, given it is the final 400 pages of a 4000-page (estimate) series. But it was too much action. I needed more story. Not just running and jumping and then apparently…flying around…with Voldemort? C’mon.
Okay. So I get that I was set up to dislike the movie. I mean, I haven’t really liked any of them, and I’ve been very focused on what was left out or changed from the books, as well as that familiar disappointment about characters and places not looking like how I pictured them. But still. Deathly Hallows part 1 was actually kind of impressive, and I guess that raised my hopes a little for part 2.
At any rate, I definitely wanted to see it in the theatre, it’s the end of an era, etc, etc. I just know there have to be more people out there who don’t feel like this movie should be getting a 97% on rottentomatoes.
Okay. I have probably said enough. But it’s like I have said before, it’s hard for me to keep quiet about certain things. Harry Potter movies, embarrassingly enough, are one of those things.
On a happy note…my favorite part of part 1 was the animation about the creation of the deathly hallows!
Everyone’s heard that horror story, about a friend of a friend, who was up for her dream job, but then her prospective employer checked out her Facebook page, and found some unsightly pictures there, and bye-bye dream job.
I’ve never had that happen to me. I’ve been diligent about keeping my Facebook clean, also partly due to the prevalence of family members there. Any rants or negative comments I make are directed only at faceless strangers (“that guy who cut me off today”) or things that everyone rants against (“injustice”). (Okay, not sure I’ve ever ranted about injustice, technically, but it’s just an example.)
When we moved back to California, I originally made the decision to not add work contacts on Facebook. I wanted the option to say something honest about my day, and not have to worry that I was FB friends with someone who had been in the room. Plus there’s the added issue of WordPress, which I frequently link to on my Facebook. (And WordPress links to Twitter…) Too many ways for someone to find me, and find me saying something I shouldn’t.
When I started my current job, it quickly became obvious that I was going to have to become FB friends with work people. Like, a lot of work people. It was partly strictly for work – part of my job is being one of the admins of the work FB page – and it was also partly for ease of access to people. Also, you want to be able to comment on your coworker’s funny status updates, especially when you get that in-joke.
I thought about starting a work-FB page, and just keeping that and my personal page segregated. But that seemed like a lot of unnecessary work. And then I’m going to have two pages. That sounds terrible. And for a little while at least, one page will be sadly sparse. So I decided against that, and directed everyone to my one page.
The lesson here is just not to say ANYTHING online that I wouldn’t say to EVERY single person in my life.
So now I just keep everything nice and clean and positive, and if I have to say anything bitchy or even questionable, I send a text.
Monday afternoon: I download the 24 Hour Fitness app and scroll through my gym’s class schedule. I make a list of classes to take this week. Monday evening: Power Sculpt. Tuesday morning: Pilates. Thursday afternoon: 24 Cycle.
Monday evening: I head out for Power Sculpt at 7:30. At 7:45 they announce they can’t find the instructor. I go home.
Tuesday morning: I head out for Pilates Fusion. Pilates Fusion kinda kicks my butt. I sign up for Thursday cycling class.
Tuesday afternoon: I announce I have to leave early on Thursday (around 4:30) for my 5:30 class.
Wednesday: I feel kind of shaky all day.
Thursday morning: I remember something I have to do at work that needs to be done TODAY. I spend all day working on it. Around 3:00 I finish and then start my regular work. Around 3:45 I realize I’m not making it to that class.
Thursday evening: Head straight home and into pajamas. Figure I will try again later.
I tried, y’all. I tried! I wish they had cycling class at another time rather than 5:30 in the morning and 5:30 in the evening…
The show that we’re opening on Saturday is set in 1965, against a backdrop of the NYC blackout. One of the best pieces of dramaturgy they had in the rehearsal room is a copy of LIFE magazine from November 19, 1965, which has a giant spread on the blackout. The story and the accompanying pictures are crazy beautiful – pictures of the city from Brooklyn, with zero lights on and only the light of the moon and cars on the road; ditto a picture of the Statue of Liberty as the only light around. Breathtaking.
But then I started flipping through the rest of the magazine, and I was hooked. The 60s! Such a decade! A decade where they ran ads that would never run now.
This perfume ad:
Gender conformity, I say!
This insurance ad:
I love the quaintness of the idea of both husband and wife working.
Fourteen ads for alcohol – well, at some point I stopped counting:
This cigarette ad! This almost makes me want to pick up a pack of Chesterfields!
This ad for bikes. Look at these kids! Where are they now?
Look at him, doing a little BFF pose with that Bronco.
This article about parachuting dogs! I’ve totally heard this story recently – meaning within the last year – but I can’t remember where.
Speaking of things that never go away – these are letters to the editor, and even in 1965 they were talking about Hugh Hefner. We still talk about him today! Jeez.
I just googled Hef - apparently he's 85. Huh. I would have guessed older. Like 10 years older.
But life wasn’t all fun and games and Hugh Hefner. They had to worry about the draft:
And this is my absolute favorite thing. I don’t know why. I just want to be with these people, in autumn, in this tree, drinking a Coke from a glass bottle, without even knowing how bad it is for me. It looks so nice.
I could look through this magazine all day. Just imagine all the things I didn’t scan – the actual pictures from the blackout, the coupon for a 59-cent bottle of steak sauce (the coupon unfortunately expired April 30, 1966), and more ads for alcohol!
I never really cared about the 1960s before…well, that’s not true, I did a whole History Day report on the 60s when I was in middle school, but what do you know in middle school? I just liked Simon and Garfunkel. But this magazine made me wish for a time machine so I could experience the 60s just for a little while. You know, the Golden Age. (I guess I didn’t learn a thing from Midnight in Paris.)
PS. The show that we’re opening on Saturday is called Fly By Night – it’s a World Premiere musical, I love the music, it’s going to be great, it’s running tonight through August 13th, see http://www.theatreworks.org for more details. There. What kind of marketing person would I be if I didn’t at least mention that?
Words With Friends is a dangerously addictive smartphone game, although unlike games like Tiny Wings, Angry Birds, and Peggle, I don’t feel as bad losing hours of my day to it. Because it’s just Scrabble, but over the phone.
(Also, it helps that you have to wait for the other person to play their turn, so you really don’t lose hours to it the way you can to Tiny Wings, Angry Birds, and Peggle.)
So angry!
So, I started playing Words With Friends basically the day I got the phone. I still have the free version, which means after every turn I get to see an ad. Which is a little annoying, but so far hasn’t inspired me to shell out the $1.99 or whatever it is for the ad-free app.
When I started playing, I started of course with the people closest to me – coworkers, friends I talk to every day, etc. But then as I sat there waiting for those people to play their turns (sometimes it takes hours!) I started scrolling through the list of “Facebook friends who are playing!” Then I casually started games with some of those people – the people who I thought would be cool about playing, and wouldn’t be all, “Who’s this beezy?”
When those people didn’t respond instantly – I mean, what good is being connected to WiFi everywhere I go, if people are too busy living their lives to play online Scrabble with me?? – I started games with more Facebook friends. I was now into the tier of friends with whom I rarely have a conversation, although I enjoy looking at their pictures and updates, and we consistently wish each happy birthdays.
Now I’m deep into the second game with one such friend, and it’s crossed my mind a couple times that it’s a strange – but pleasant – situation, and due entirely to technology. Without Facebook and (essentially) anonymous online gaming and smartphones, I would never have kept in touch with this particular person after college, even though I liked her and thought she was cool. (Maybe too cool for me?)
But does this lead to something? More friendship? Actual phone calls? Backyard BBQs? Godmother status to each other’s children? I doubt it. Maybe some texting about the game, that leads to more personalized birthday Facebook messages? Possibly.
It’s not like I’m in a position to be looking any gift friendship horses in the mouth anyway. So I’m just being grateful! We finished one game and she did start a second one, so I guess she’s not looking to get rid of me.
In the meantime, this is my second proudest moment of all of my Words With Friends games so far (name blocked, just in case he doesn’t want that announced):
Second Favorite Moment!
And this is my first! I fought for this victory – this was my first game with this particular guy. Since then, in our second game he CRUSHED me, and we’re now in our third game where I’m hoping to redeem myself.
FAVORITE Moment!
Seriously, I figure the next step in taking advantage of technology is to start playing with strangers…hint, hint.
Happy Fourth of July from San Bruno, CA! I can hear the fireworks, so I know they exist, and the Fourth celebrations go on, but darned if I can see them through this fog…
And today started out as such a clear, hot, July day…
I thought this would be a good time to go over all the ways Drew and I have ever celebrated the Fourth of July. (I actually thought I might have done this last year, but it appears I didn’t.)
2005 – In Davis – We made egg rolls and probably watched Sex and the City.
2006 – Still in Davis – We hung out with some good friends, swam all day, then we dragged the guys out of the pool because the girls were starving, and we bought way too much KFC.
2007 – In New York – We hung out with some new friends, and there was drinking and game playing. Later, we went up on their roof to watch the fireworks. It was raining and so we were under umbrellas watching Manhattan.
2008 – In New York – Drew and I were home alone and we realized we could sort of see the fireworks from our living room window. We went upstairs and found out we could get onto our roof, so we stood out there for awhile. It was raining.
2009 – Our last summer in New York – Megan came over, we made buckets of guacamole and margaritas. Later Joe came over as we were on the roof watching the fireworks…you guessed it, in the rain. Lasting memories, y’all! I miss New York.
2010 – In San Bruno – Erin and her (underaged) sister came over and we drank, and popped poppers, and watched the fireworks from our balcony.
I found some free online photo editing program tonight, but I don’t even remember what the name of it was. Honestly, I googled “free photo editing” and it’s whatever showed up.
I wasn’t really going for quality – just kind of fooling around while half watching Mrs. Doubtfire on Oxygen.
"Photo collage""Kaleidoscope""Obamaized" (you can choose the inspirational message!)
Sepia-toned, money effect, with a fire effect over it
“It’s Saturday night, Saturday night, Saturday night in the cit-AY!”
The Cameraphone Diaries 