Today, The Hunger Games posted this picture on Facebook:
It’s nice, right? I mean, it’s kind of a cool poster. People seemed to like it. I think it’s fine.
But Jonathan and I started reading all the comments, and making fun of them. The most random and ridiculous we hit “like.” Some of them were composed of text speak and annoying symbols (~~~*** etc). One of them was like a chain letter in a comment. (We totally followed the instructions, although we didn’t post it on 15 other people’s walls.)
But then this comment popped up:
Uggghhhhhh…this comment really bothers me for some reason. I think it’s partly the combination of absolutely no punctuation (except for the 4-dot ellipse), spelling errors (kmovie), text speak (idk), and blatant ignorance (“are ready” = “already”). But the icing on the cake is that “there were like this big dogs or something,” but, despite this being the climax of the movie, she didn’t really get what was going on.
And yes, I understand that the kids commenting on this FB post are probably all like 14 years old. But since when is that an excuse? This is still life. You can’t get through life like that.
Is this really the generation that’s going to be in charge in a few decades?
This weekend has been all about cleaning. Yesterday we went down to Redwood City and, along with Drew’s parents, cleaned the heck out of his grandma’s house, since she’s on her way back from Hawaii. It was a warm day down there and by the time we were done, I was seriously worn out.
So this morning we got up and started in on our place – there have been all these things we just haven’t done yet since getting all our stuff into the apartment, and we tackled ’em all. I started with a short(ish) list of things I wanted to get done scribbled on the back of a bill, and then Drew added some things he wanted to accomplish…and 4-5 hours later it looks completely different in here.
At one point near the end of the frenzy, I had this flashback to being a kid, and spending the whole day cleaning my room (thanks Mom and Dad, because I’m pretty sure I didn’t do the bulk of that work myself), and how great it would feel at the end of the day. Peeling back the clean covers on a freshly made bed, straightening the alarm clock on a cleaned and organized nightstand, seeing everything around my room sorted and placed precisely in its spot…is there anything better?
And yeah, I’d say there’s still stuff we can do around here, but it feels more like maintenance now, than “finishing moving in.” And I even dusted things that didn’t look dusty, because that’s the way you keep them from getting dusty! Holy cow, it’s like I’m seriously an adult now. (Wasn’t one of my 2012 resolutions to become an adult? Or something like that?)
I just keep looking around at all the vacuum marks on the carpet, and how there are no clothes on the floor. It just feels so great. This afternoon, once we were done, I was stretched out on the (made) bed in a patch of sunlight, reading a fluffy nonsense book. It was a really great Sunday afternoon moment.
I will use this post – and this feeling – as motivation to keep this up for the rest of my life.
Yesterday I brought up the old adage that all quotes are either from the Bible or Shakespeare. Last night I was thinking about this. Before the internet, how did we know whether any particular quote was Shakespeare or Scripture?
If I had wanted to know where “Not with a bang but a whimper” came from, I would probably have to first have an idea (my idea was Yeats) and then I’d have to go through my poetry books from high school and college and try to find “that Yeats poem” that the quote was from.
If I were trying to narrow it down between the Bible and the Bard, I guess it’s possible that I would have a concordance of one or both of those things (my parents had a Bible concordance) and I could search for it that way. Is it likely, though, that I would have either of those books? (Maybe…as I was an English major, they would have been great pre-internet gifts.)
But then what happens in this situation, when all my guesses are wrong? I would have to just ask people if they knew, and keep an eye out for it in the future? Or maybe in a non-internet society I would be trained to remember these things better? And like a good English major, I would have just known: “Oh, that’s from TS Eliot’s The Hollow Men. It’s a reference to the Gunpowder Plot, and how instead of ending with the planned explosion, it ended with Guy Fawkes’ whimper as he was caught and executed.”
Man, I’d feel so smart all the time. And probably do better on Jeopardy!
But instead, the second I come up against something I’m not sure of (or something I’m pretty sure of) I run to Google to double check it.
New project: instead of just Googling things all the time* I’m going to try to remember some of them, using my brain power. Let’s see how this goes.
*Things I have Googled while writing this post: Yeats (correct spelling?); concordance (correct spelling?); “not with a bang but a whimper” (which Eliot poem was that again?); Shakespeare concordance (does such a thing exist?), “if I were” vs “if I was” (and now I finally understand the different between these two – so today is a success).
I wanted to go back through my Google search terms in my phone, because I like revisiting the things I’ve needed to look up while I’m on the go. It’s amusing and can bring back some happy memories. (Like all the Harry Potter stuff I’ve googled.) Unfortunately, I realize that my phone actually only keeps the terms for a couple weeks – major bummer.
So, in order from most to least recent, here they are:
Rampion – photo from flickr.com (click for direct link)
Rampion – I had radicchio at dinner last night…which led to me wondering if that was in the Witch’s “rap” in the opening song of Into the Woods…which led to us doing the rap…which led to Drew saying, “Do you think she entered her rampion in competitions?” (“my rampion, my champion”)…which led to me googling rampion to see exactly what it was. (I was positive that it was a type of lettuce, but it’s just a flower.)
BART schedule – took BART to Berkeley the other day. Checked the schedule a lot.
Lakeport English Inn – I had to find their phone number so I could call and double check that they weren’t cash only. (They’re not.)
Not with a bang but a whimper – The title of the final Dexter episode is “This is the way the world ends,” so then I said, “Not with a bang but a whimper,” and then Erin and I were debating what that quote was from. Then we were talking about how in The Westing Game (the best kids’ mystery book ever), one of the characters says that every quote is from the Bible or Shakespeare. I guessed that this was actually a quote from a Yeats poem, but it’s TS Eliot, which I totally should have known.
AJ Jacobs Drop Dead Healthy – Potentially my next book club pick, although it’s just come out and I’d like to wait to get it until it’s in paperback. At any rate, I love AJ Jacobs!
Fiona Fullerton – there was an oldschool version of Alice in Wonderland on TV, and I thought the actress playing Alice looked familiar, so I googled her. I do not know who she is at all.
Lego game of thrones – Someone recreated the Game of Thrones opening sequence in Legos. It’s okay. It would have been better if they had used the actual theme song, rather than using a weird “brand X” version of it.
Mahogany – On Facebook, The Hunger Games posts daily typography images that fans have done. Good examples are here and here. (That second one is worth a look around – she has some really stellar work, not just The Hunger Games but also Harry Potter stuff, and others.) A bad example is one that used the quote “That is mahogany” but spelled mahogany wrong. I was just double checking that I was spelling it right. Because I’m an insufferable know-it-all like that. (I did not comment on the post or anything.)
Just look at her.
Whore of Babylon – Dexter again. Just wanted to get some background info on the whore of Babylon.
How long does it take to get from London to Hogwarts? – Well this is self-explanatory. And the answer is, all afternoon. The train leaves at 11am and arrives sometime around 6 or 7 in the evening.
Low blood pressure – Just wanted to know what was considered low blood pressure. Just keeping healthy.
Handicapped parking san Francisco – Just curious if it’s true that if you have a handicapped placard, you don’t have to pay for parking in the city.
5k miles – The Arthritis Walk was 5k and I wanted to double check what I got myself into. (3.1 miles…so not much.)
Professor kettleburn – He taught Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts before Hagrid took over.
Professor sprout – We needed to double check her first name. (Drew was right, it’s Pomona.)
Carrie underwood blown away – I wanted to show Drew the cover for Carrie Underwood’s new album. Mostly because Jonathan said it looks like the winner of a Judith Light drag queen contest, and I knew that Drew would think that was funny.
Sorry, Carrie Underwood, you know I love you. (But I like you so much more when you’re all country and down-home kinda girl. This is just a lot of glitter, and a lot of leg.)
On Saturday morning Erin, Sam, Lysandra, Robert, and I had our monthly book club at Lovejoy’s in San Francisco. Lovejoy’s is Erin’s happy place, and if you give her a chance to choose a “special occasion” place, this will be it.
I had some delicous vanilla rooibos, and a sandwich plate. Half cucumber and dill, half tomato and cheese. They were both good, but now I can’t stop making tomato and cheese sandwiches at home.
The book club conversation was sparkling as usual. It wasn’t all about the book (it never is), but it covered all kinds of topics about women’s rights and parenting. (It was more fun than I just made it sound.)
Then for Mother’s Day I drove up to Lakeport and took my mom out for a “high tea.” I use the quotes because I know technically high tea isn’t the right word for the spread we had.
“High tea” is traditionally served after 5 pm to the working class, and made up of meat dishes and other heavy foods. It was more of a family meal. The ladies’ social occasion that Americans think of is called “afternoon tea” or “low tea” (it is traditionally served on low tables). The more you know!
So, a Mother’s Day afternoon tea, then. We had several types of sandwiches, and several types of sweets, and by the end of the meal I was several types of stuffed, which is silly, since everything is so tiny. But I mean, you’re also drinking pots of tea, which probably fills you up.
Both teas were fun and cute (is cute the wrong word?), although the Mother’s Day tea was slightly classier, since at Lovejoy’s we were having an intense conversation about all types of things that we had to come up with acronyms for so that the fancy ladies around us weren’t shocked. A good weekend!
I was going to say I probably don’t need any tea for awhile, but then I realized I’m drinking iced tea right now.
Oh also – I hope the color change of sychela.com (if you noticed it) didn’t freak you out. It’s something I’ve been debating for awhile, and finally took the plunge.
A foodie, I am not. Which is to my own chagrin, when someone suggests going somewhere “fancy” or “exotic.” (And probably to Drew’s chagrin, when I order chicken katsu yet AGAIN.)
It should probably be considered a character flaw. I’m just not that adventurous when it comes to food. I wonder if I can blame it on growing up somewhere without a lot of exotic food. I mean, the one Chinese place in Lakeport is called Hong Kong. And I still think it’s delicious…but I’m not sure how Chinese it is.
I had sushi for the first time in high school (out of town)… Thai food for the first time in college… and Indian food for the first time about 6 months ago. (Since THAT little work-friends lunch, I’ve definitely been called out in public for my vanilla palate. But I mean…turkey sandwiches and Greek salads are just so good. Why would you change it up?) Among the things I haven’t tasted yet: Moroccan, Ethiopian, churrasco.
It doesn’t help that I’m not really into spicy stuff. I got a quesadilla at this taqueria the other day, and accidentally ordered it with the spicy chicken. Oops. Trying to find the non-spicy option can be limiting at certain establishments. Also embarrassing, in general.
But I have been reading back through my livejournal entries (whoa, right?) and I found this entry about Drew’s and my farewell-to-New-York dinner, back in July 2009. (I just realized I titled that entry “food food food delicious food.” I didn’t try so hard, back then.)
Gotham Bar and Grill – photo from Yelp
We dressed up all fancy and went to Gotham Bar and Grill in Greenwich Village. Luckily, because I’m a hoarder of information, I wrote down exactly what we ate that night. (Most of it is taken exactly from the menu, which is why it’s so specific. But the Gotham Market Pasta is a seasonal thing and so I didn’t have the exact wording.)
I had: SMOKED MAGRET DUCK BREAST fresh figs, mostarda di frutta and pecorino tartufo
balsamic vinegar reduction GOTHAM MARKET PASTA last night’s special was fettuccine with mushrooms, spinach, and cheese. I’m sure they would have worded it better than that though. CRISP SOFT SHELL CRAB chanterelles, asparagus, sweet corn and brown butter aioli
white verjus sauce
He had: BLACK BASS CEVICHE honeydew melon, hearts of palm, grapefruit and radish
jalapeno cucumber broth FOIE GRAS AND ORGANIC CHICKEN TERRINE toasted brioche, kumquat marmalade and balsamic vinegar RACK OF LAMB swiss chard, roasted cipollini and potato purée
For dessert: RHUBARB PINEAPPLE SOUFFLÉ rose petal jam, crisp meringue
strawberry ice cream
and GOTHAM CHOCOLATE CAKE with seasonal ice cream
I remember thinking it was delicious. And I remember, at the time, thinking that going out to a place like this was a good idea. But then it makes me wonder…what happened that I changed my tune, so that I just want grilled cheese and apples with peanut butter? And am I hiding this flaw well enough? Also, what is an appropriate occasion for me to suggest Outback Steakhouse? Or do I need to just bring it up ironically and then see what people’s reactions are? Alternately, would Outback deliver lunch to my work?
I get kind of worked up about bad writing. Particularly about bad writing that makes all the bestseller lists. Especially when this bad writing really serves no purpose. And when everyone is talking about it, even though they all admit it’s bad.
The worst is when I secretly want to read it, just in case I’m missing out on something big.
But no. I will not succumb.
When I first heard about Fifty Shades of Grey, I wanted to see what all the hype was about, even knowing right off the bat that it was housewife erotica, and then finding out it was based off of a Twilight fanfiction – ugh. On Amazon, the first two chapters of the book were available for reading online, so I sat down and spent 20 minutes with Anastasia.
Oh. Good. Gravy. From that oh-so-purple way of getting the first-person narrator to describe herself (by staring in the mirror and bemoaning how “unattractive” she is – spoiler alert, she’s bee-you-tee-ful!) to the horrific exclamations (“Holy crap!” etc), this is one of the worst things I’ve read. And people are eating this up? Because…it claims to be erotic? For the record, there wasn’t any of that in the first couple chapters, but I could see where it’s going. And it’s nowhere good.
The articles I’ve read about the book(s – there are three of them) since then have all been making fun of it and talking about how bad it is. The reviews I’ve heard have been mostly, “Meh, it’s all right, but it’s not very good.” So why is this thing doing so well?
The only thing I can do is keep promising myself that I will not spend any money to read it. And that I will not succumb and get it from the library either. (Getting erotica from the library…ew?)
But this is my PSA so that hopefully no one else gets sucked in to this terrible writing. Don’t do it, people! Here is a list of other good series that would be way more worth your time:
The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Harry Potter by JK Rowling
The Green Mile by Stephen King (a serialized novel – kind of a cheat)
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
A Song of Ice and Fire (A Game of Thrones, etc) by George RR Martin
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
Earth’s Children (The Clan of the Cave Bear, etc) by Jean M Auel
Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Just a list of ideas, running the gamut from children to YA to adult. I’m kinda just pulling this off of my shelves, so I know there’s a lot that’s not represented. (Let me know if there’s a series you feel I should include!)
For the record, this article about Fifty Shades of Grey from Vulture is kind of hysterical. (Also kind of graphic, so maybe not for everyone.)
Why do you take such offense against these little yellow Baby on Board stickers that hang in car windows?
I mean, I kind of get it. I used to be one of you. I assumed that the sticker was there as a way to tell me to slow down and drive more carefully around the baby. I thought that was the equivalent of a mom shushing me in a public area where I should be allowed to talk freely, just because her child was sleeping. (In both cases, I should probably just restrain myself a little better. But also in both cases, I disliked having a stern stranger tell me what to do.)
Here’s a little story: once in high school, I was driving from Lakeport over to Fort Bragg. Between Willits and Fort Bragg is a 30-mile stretch of winding road through the trees – it’s gorgeous, but it’s one lane, with a single passing lane available about 10 miles in from the coast. There are plenty of places to pull over and let someone pass you, though.
I was stuck behind a car rattling along with a Baby on Board sticker. This car would not pull over, no matter that it had been nearly 20 miles, which was unbearable to me, a teenager in a 2-door car with a stick shift. Finally we approached the passing lane, which incidentally was on an uphill stretch, and as I moved over to pass…the jalopy sped up! I barely made it past them, and then I continued on my way…at which point that car tailgated me for the remaining 10 miles of the trip.
I reached the coast and pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store…where the jalopy pulled up behind me, parking me in, and an irate woman got out and began yelling at me about “almost running her off the road” and how she had “a baby in the backseat.” All I could do was stand there in shock (I have never been good at confrontation) – but what I wanted to snap back was that she had plenty of chances to let me pass, she didn’t have to speed up while I was passing her, and she certainly didn’t have to speed up in order to follow me the rest of the way.
So. She was crazy, and should not have behaved that way. Because of her I am now totally paranoid about being followed and trapped in a parking lot, and I always have a contingency plan if I think someone is tailing me.
But, here’s what I started out to say. I realized something, many years later.
The Baby on Board sticker is not there to tell you what to do: it’s just to alert you, the other driver, that the car with the baby is likely to drive slower, more cautiously, and to view yellow lights as “stop now” signals rather than “go very fast.” So if you need to adjust for that, then feel free. I’ll be here, in the right hand lane, signaling carefully and going the speed limit.
The Cameraphone Diaries 