The Ankle Biter @ Quibbling.net

Tom was out of town this weekend on a sort of college choir reunion- I had thought about going along, but we had one of those weird couple divergences of memory where he was SURE he had told me about this trip some months ago, and I was EQUALLY SURE that he hadn’t, but the end result was that the first I remember hearing about it was just a few weeks before it was to happen, so I didn’t make arrangements to take off from work or anything.

So I was on my own for a few days. Now, here’s what happens when Tom’s away. In some ways, I regress to single-girl habits- no, not “tequila shots with strange men,” but “eating like a hobo because I don’t feel like cooking and watching bad TV.”  Also, because I miss having him around and a lot of the things I like to go out and do are things that we go out and do together, I have this tendency to kind of hole up in the house. Which is dumb, because when the husband goes out of town, it’s a perfect opportunity for margaritas with your girlfriends (guilt-free because you’re not leaving your sweetie at home) and seeing movies you know he won’t want to see with you.

So that’s what I did.  The weather was excruciatingly gorgeous on Friday and Saturday, so on Saturday evening, I went to Los Tios with Dawn and Steph, where we sat on the patio to enjoy queso and tasty beverages while discussing how we’d quit our jobs if we won the lottery.  Suffice it to say, I’ve got a nascent comedy bit brewing in my notebook.

Saturday, Steph and I went out again, this time for pho at the best pho place ever, followed by a matinee of The Forbidden Kingdom.

Here’s what you need to know about this movie. It’s not what one would call “good.” In fact, by most objective measures of Western cinema, it’s a terrifically bad movie. In the tradition of The Karate Kid.  But, for those who love kung fu movies for their own sake, this is not just unsurprising but actually expected. Kung fu movies, as Steph points out, are like pr0n. The ridiculous plot and writing are justified by the, er, action sequences.

And as far as action is concerned… people, Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Two of the greatest kung fu stars since Bruce Lee, okay? When you see one of these two in any other movie, the fight scenes generally have to be choreographed around the shortcomings of the costars; in the Rush Hour movies, Chris Tucker has to be able to participate, for example.  But for the scene in which Jet Li and Jackie Chan face off, Yuen Woo Ping only had to choreograph for two incredibly talented and agile performers, and it was really pretty awesome.
But as a movie? Oh, it’s awful. Don’t bother with it unless you’re a kung fu movie fan generally. Steph and I laughed all the way through… especially at the serious parts.   Just Netflix it and fast-forward through all the non-fight stuff. But watch the Chan/Li fight over and over.

Once all the gift-procurement starts coming out of the same bank account you share with the recipient, gift-giving starts to resemble “permission to spend money on something you wouldn’t necessarily have bought for yourself otherwise.”  In that spirit, my birthday gift to Tom this year was a nice new set of Wusthof knives, since we love the chef’s knife we received as a wedding gift so much.

When I told Tom what his gift was, he said, “I’m thinking we need a good bread knife.”

What I SAID was, “Then let’s go find you one, baby.”  What I THOUGHT was, “Bread knife? Really?!  What makes a person yearn for a bread knife of all possible knives?”

So off to Williams-Sonoma we went, to get a small knife-block and shiny new German knives to go in it. Including a bread knife.

This weekend, I used this bread knife on some ciabatta we had bought to go with the pasta e fagioli I made on Saturday.

Oh.

My.

Heavens.

WHY did no one ever tell me how wonderful a good bread knife is?!  I had no idea that slicing crusty bread could be so easy, so… so FUN.

The new knives?  They are The Sex.

Tom tagged me to name my last 5 songs purchased, which made me giggle, because he’s usually sitting next to me when I buy them.  I also haven’t been buying that much new music lately- there’s not a lot that’s really grabbing me.  But this is what I’ve bought recently, where “recently” means “since late June.”

But, I love a good music meme, so here goes:

Le Disko - Shiny Toy Guns - I’ve been hearing this one a lot on Ethel lately. It’s rare to hear a male/female duet in alt-rock lately, and this one is kind of an earworm.

Sunshine (Go Away Today) - Jonathan Edwards - I’ve loved this song for a long time, so I’m not sure why I hadn’t bought it before the other day.  The line, “He can’t even run his own life/ I’ll be damned if he’ll run mine” sticks with me.

Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups - Purchased as part of their album Carnavas. The guitar is really distinctive in this song, and it reminds me of summertime, road trips, and a general feeling of relaxation.

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Mika - Purchased as part of his iTunes Festival London set. I’ve been kind of a Mika junkie ever since I first heard “Grace Kelly” on Ethel as I was on my way to work one morning in February. His Life in Cartoon Motion album has been my at-work attitude adjustment for months.  I caught him at the 930 in June, and heard him perform this song- it was amazing.  This recording doesn’t do it justice- he’d been having some throat problems/overwork issues over the summer and this set kind of shows the strain, so he didn’t hit the sustained high note that he did just-for-the-hell-of-it in DC, but it’s a pretty fine cover nonetheless. 

Killer Queen - Queen - Do I really need an excuse for buying Queen songs?  What I love about Queen is that just when you think you’ve figured out what their style is, you hear some other song that’s unlike anything else you’ve ever heard. 

I don’t usually tag people for memes, and most of the people I’d want to hear from have probably already been tagged… but consider this your invitation.  What are you listening to lately?

…but I’ll stash it behind a cut. (more…)

I absolutely KILLED. People laughed at all the jokes, even the stuff no one had laughed at before. Most of my classmates killed too, and it was really gratifying to see these people who I’ve watched get funnier and funnier have their hard work validated that way.

And yeah, getting up in front of the brick wall and having nearly 300 people laugh hysterically JUST when you want them to is pretty damn addictive.

I’m going to have to do this more. Definitely.

Tom and I have been reading the Harry Dresden novels lately- having ordered all of them from Amazon in paperback and ripping through them in the evenings.  (Imagine if Harry Potter grew up and had to get a job, but his only marketable skill was magic.)

The books are excellent.  The author (Jim Butcher) develops Harry’s character really thoroughly early on in the first couple of books, which are essentially whodunits with a magical twist, so that when he starts twisting around that formula later, and involving Harry’s personal life, magical politics, and all those kinds of external forces, the reader has a really strong understanding of who Harry is, how he’ll behave, and why.  You know what Harry’s going to do almost before he does, not because he’s predictable or formulaic, but because you know him that well, almost like a good friend.

Additionally, the reader gets a very detailed understanding of how magic works in the Dresdenverse.  It’s mechanical- it has rules that are knowable both to the characters and the reader, and Butcher does an excellent job of both explaining them AND remaining internally consistent to them.  In short, he doesn’t do what a lot of lazy sci-fi/fantasy writers do and just sort of wave his hands and say, “ooh, it’s magic that fixed that problem!”

So if you’re into that genre of book but hate lazy writing, I recommend that you check them out. 

I also recommend that you do NOT base your assessment of the Dresdenverse on the new SciFi series based on the books.  Don’t get me wrong- Paul Blackthorne is terrific as Harry.  He seems to have a really solid grip on the character, and he’s been a real pleasure to watch.  And I like how they’ve handled the Bob character- they clearly had to make some changes to him in order to make this pivotal character work for TV, and I think the compromise was a good one.  I could seriously watch Harry and Bob puttering and bantering around the lab for an hour.  But the rest of it?  Meh. 

I want to give it a chance, I really do, because I want the author to succeed.  Hell, I’ll come right out and say it, dumb as it may sound:  I want Harry Dresden to succeed.  But below the jump are some weaknesses I hope the writers correct soon. (more…)

In the process of replacing my beloved-but-befouled black Skechers Step Up Mary Janes, I ran across these sneakers and have ordered them in black.  Because, ZOMG, SO CUTE.  How do you not love the little dragons?  Especially when my Amazon Prime membership gives me free two-day shipping?!

Incidentally, Amazon no longer sells the shoes I was actually looking for directly, and none of their third-party sellers could get them to me fast enough, so I still have to hit the Skechers store in Tysons this week to get shoes for work.  Of course, I do have at least one client (and probably more) who would think the dragon sneakers are excellent shoes for the office.

Who am I to argue with a client who does that much business with me?

Also, the last pair of sneakers I bought in that sort of skateboard-y style, while tres cute, were actually terrible in the arch support department, most likely because they were CHEAP AS HELL.  If I spent more than an hour walking around in them, I would soon be whimpering in pain because they had no shock absorption whatsoever.  I am hopeful that these will be better.  Seriously, I’ve walked all over town in my mary janes with minimal discomfort, so I hope that bodes well for the quality of the sneaker experience.  Many women have long sought the magical combination of cute AND comfortable, so I’ll be sure to report back with my findings.

I also recognize that my taste in shoes tends to run to the more “cute” than “elegant” or “professional” and that as such, they might not be suitable for everyone.  But you see, this has more to do with the fact that I am sort of short and cherubic-looking.  Some would even say I resemble a Keebler elf.  So you see, “elegant” is not a look that works for me.  I look like I’m playing dressup in my mommy’s power suits.  So I have to find ways to make “cute” work for me in a workplace environment.  I’m getting better at it, I think.  It’s 50% clothing choice, and 50% workplace/field choice.

I’ve got a New Kids on the Block song stuck in my head and it Won’t. Go. Away.

Oh, the humanity.

Although Tom and I have spent at least some part of all of our Christmases as a couple together, this will be our first Christmas together as a married couple, which more importantly means this is the first Christmas on a shared checking account.  Which sort of throws a wrench into the whole thing. 

Things I would otherwise think of getting him- prepaid WoW cards and such- are kind of lame now.  “Wow, you bought me two months of World of Warcraft!  With the money I would have used to buy two months of World of Warcraft!”

Meanwhile, if I want to spoil him with something a little more extravagant that he might not have thought to buy for himself, I feel like I have to clear the expenditure with him so we know where our money is going.  “Honey, is it okay if I spend $300?  What for?  Well, I want to get blah-blah-blah for you for Christmas.  …D’oh!”

Not that I’m complaining.  It’s going to be a very merry Christmas, and I think I’ve managed to come up with a surprise or two…  And other people manage to figure this stuff out.  I’m sure we will too.