A Few Thoughts

Man, fasting is hard. We did our grocery shopping last night, because I figured it would be easier on a full stomach, rather than today when everything would have looked good. Worst part is the Superbowl snacks we bought just sitting in the snack drawer taunting me. This morning, the neighbors were cooking bacon. Ah, it’s only like 8 more hours. I’ve gone hungry before, and it won’t kill me.

I’m so glad Pixar is out on it’s own from underneath Disney. I haven’t been keen on a lot of what Disney has done in the last decade, exceptions being Pirates of the Caribbean, Mulan, & The Lion King. Pixar is what makes them money, and Eisner’s greed just lost Disney a whole lot of money. Yes, Pixar loses it’s rights to the movies they made under Disney (Monster’s Inc, Finding Nemo, Toy Story), but what can you do? A lot of people I know come down hard on Disney, but we loved going to Disneyland (& Disneyworld). We hope to take a Disney cruise someday. Some people just aren’t Disney people.

I sent out a quiz to my friends and family a long while ago, and was thinking of making a new one. A lot of people found it too hard, I found it funny. It asked my favorite car (Rolls Royce), how many kids I hope to have someday (3), favorite season (fall), and stuff like that. I may make it easier this time around.

For those who are wondering about where Age of Melissius comes from, it was a play on a song Geoff and I came up with. “This is the dawning of the Age of Melissius”. I have since decided that would be the name of my production company. I like making movies on my Mac with iMovie, and I hope to someday turn it into a business. For special occasions. I have made two movies thus far, with one unfinished, and possibly one on the horizon. I suppose I should mail myself a letter indicating that I came up with this name, in case it becomes a problem in the future.

Monk was pretty good last night. It’s nice to have something to watch on Friday nights. I love when shows make jokes about themselves during the show. Last night it was about the changing of the theme song. 🙂

Lisa & I have talked for years about setting up a Bonnie Doon YBC reunion. I think we may attempt it in the future. We figure Martin will help us with locating people. It amazes me the people Lisa remembers, and I don’t until she says their names. She remembers last names, I don’t even remember the names of my teams. I could barely tell you who was on them. But ask me about some song or some movie, I have that down. Odd. I only have 2 bowling pictures from all my years in bowling. I haven’t gone bowling much since I left YBC. I have gone 10 pin a few times (I’m usually better than those I go with). The last time I went 5 pin was with Colin, Dawn, Dylan, and Geoff, the evening after the funeral. I figure it was a good way to think of Papa. I don’t have to tell you who had the high score. 😉

The oddest thing happened this week. I got a few emails from people who found me either on Gradfinder or online. It’s just funny to me, because I generally don’t get a lot of email. But I’ve emailed a few people I found on Gradfinder, and some who’ve emailed me and I haven’t bothered to email back. Not meaning to be rude, but I didn’t have anything to say.

I’m gonna close with a quote from A League Of Their Own. I saw it in the theatre, I have the DVD, I love it.

Walter Harvey: It’s funny to you. Your drinking is funny. You’re a young man, Jimmy: you still could be playing, if you just would’ve laid off the booze.

Jimmy Dugan: Well, it’s not exactly like that… I hurt my knee.

Walter Harvey: You fell out of a hotel. That’s how you hurt it.

Jimmy Dugan: Well, there was a fire.

Walter Harvey: Which you started, which I had to pay for.

Jimmy Dugan: Well, now, I was going to send you a thank-you card, Mr. Harvey, but I wasn’t allowed anything sharp to write with.

Weekend Plans

Our church is doing a fast tonight/tomorrow to prepare for the 40 Days of Purpose. We will be partaking, and I was leery, but we were given instructions on how to fast safely. It will be only for 24 hours, and we will end the fast tomorrow night with a trip to Chick-Fil-A. Erik has been going on about Chick-Fil-A forever, so we’ll finally go. It’s on the way home from church, and since it’s closed on Sundays, this is a great opportunity.

It’s almost February, and that means our anniversary is coming up. We will go out to dinner (Bull & Bush), and exchange cards, but I think that will be the extent of it. Money is tight with only one income, and really, we have plenty of stuff, we don’t need more. But I will get flowers as that is tradition. 🙂 Colin & Dawn’s anniversary is also in February (we make it easy on family). It just worked out that way. Maybe the four of us will celebrate with a McCain’s deep & delicious cake in March. Mmmm.

So, I was given a more thorough update on what Chris has been up to (I like thorough) and he’s back in Edmonton. Hey, there have been many days I would’ve loved to trade the U.S. for Canadian living. Now I’m anxious to try to see him for coffee. Geoff says I have to stop reacquainting with old friends because we hardly have enough time to see everyone. 🙂 We’ve never taken a trip where there wasn’t family. Someday. I like visiting Edmonton, seeing the old haunts, hanging with old friends. Geoff says he can do without, which is why I usually visit solo. I don’t know when I’ll get to do that, especially with me not having money, or if a baby comes along. I think my family should pool their money for a “bring Melissa to Edmonton” trip. Ha ha!

Well, not much else to say. We’ll be watching the Superbowl this weekend despite the Broncos screwing up and not making it in. I think I’ll be rooting for the Patriots, and for funny commercials. I also got some movies from the library to watch, America’s Sweethearts (I love John Cusack), and Memento. I saw it in the theatres twice. I’ll close with a quote from that.

Leonard Shelby: I take it I’ve told you about my condition.

Teddy: Only every time I see ya.

What Museum Work Looks Like

This is Tovah Alpaca. I named her after one of Rod’s favorite actress Tovah Feldshuh.

I finally emailed a friend I had way back in the day. I was hesitant, because I thought he wouldn’t remember me. But he did! We met through bowling (who didn’t I meet through bowling?), and I liked his friend. He said ” I remember sitting out on 90th Ave with Les Bush as your school bus went past us, trying to pass you a note (toss a strangely-folded piece of paper at a moving target, no less).” I laughed so hard reading that! I remember the day they passed me a note on the back of a desk chair. Anyways, his name is Chris Neuman, and he says he reads my blog. His is much more interesting. And like Geoff & I, he and his wife live in the U.S. I’ll take this time to plug his blog

I couldn’t get pictures of Machu Picchu this week, so I’ll do it first thing Monday, before the people who are painting it get there. I got to spend time today prepping a classroom for Solar System I & II. What does that mean? We get out meteorites, meteor-wrongs, planets, and stuff that’s been in space for the teachers to teach with. I assisted the teacher with prepping the rooms because it was really busy, and a short turnaround time between classes. It was fun, but the job seems too stressful to me. But there were 10 iBooks set up for them to look up information on the internet.

Watched Animal House last night. If you took out the nudity, I’d love it more. That could be said about a lot of movies though. My favorite character is Boon. Geoff likes D-Day. And who doesn’t love Bluto? 🙂

On that note, I’ll sign off…

Katy: Boon, I think I’m in love with a retard.

Boon: Is he bigger than me?

This is me and Kelly in our much younger days. Kelly is on the left, I’m on the right. Pretty cute huh? Ha ha.

Well, there was talk months ago about the Armstrongs revisiting Disneyworld in 2005. There has since been a new development. We may scratch Florida, and try something a little different, like Panama. My first thought was the Drew Carey episode when Mimi is torturing Drew by playing Panama by Van Halen over, and over, and over, and over. (Back when I used to watch Drew Carey. I stopped a few seasons ago.) My second thought was of Ryan Pauley (former KUCI co-host) who got to briefly visit Panama when his boat to Hawaii fell apart. He was rescued by freighters and brought to Panama, then eventually flew home to California.

So I know nothing about Panama. I couldn’t even tell you where it is. But after getting the link from Diane about the resort, I’m totally sold. It’ll be scary in the sense of “what will I eat?”, but I’m sure it will be an experience. So hopefully everyone else will be on board, then we’ll start saving our pennies.

Not too much else is new. Museum job is good. I went to check out how the Machu Picchu dig site is coming along. It looks great. I will try to take some pictures tomorrow if I get the chance.

Alright, Oscar nominations came out this morning. And no, I didn’t get up early to watch them. Please. I adore sleeping so much more. 🙂 Hugely disappointed that Sean Astin didn’t get the nomination, but I wasn’t all that surprised. But it did hold some surprises. I was surprised they gave Johnny Depp Best Actor. You know I loved him in Pirates, and I’m thrilled, but he won’t win. Bill Murray’s win at the GG indicates he’s got a good shot. And I do think he’ll win over Sean Penn. I will likely see Lost In Translation once it comes out on DVD. I love Bill Murray. He should have been recognized in Rushmore. I won’t go into much detail about this or that, cause if you wanted to have that discussion, you could email me. Before I change subjects, I will say I know Rod must be upset The Last Samurai didn’t garner a Best Cinematography, but neither did LOTR. Also, I knew Tom Cruise wouldn’t get nominated, but couldn’t believe they didn’t nominate their perennial favorite Nicole Kidman. Why Renee Zellweger got a nomination I don’t know. I’ve heard she wasn’t all that great in Cold Mountain. I’ll stop now. 🙂

Colin has 3 weeks left of rehab, (not that, he fell off a ladder at work) and hopefully he’ll be able to get a new job soon. I do wish I could see him more often, but I doubt we’ll ever live in the same town again. Sorry Mom. But the UofA just isn’t an environment that Geoff wants to work in. But we will consider Canada when that time comes. Though I’m really keen on going back to California, who knows how I’ll feel in 3 years. But if Kelly ends up in California…

In honor of Bill Murray’s Oscar nom, I’ll quote Groundhog Day. I love that movie. 🙂

Phil: Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today.

LOTR:ROTK Rules Golden Globes!

Let me start with saying how thrilled I was that Peter Jackson’s epic work finally got the recognition it deserves. 4 wins for the 4 categories it was nominated in. The only thing that could have made it better would have been acting nominations. I was also thrilled that Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc Brandybuck) was on hand, along with Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins) to celebrate the wins.

Okay what I was less than thrilled about. The Office wins in the two categories it’s nominated in? I’m sure it’s a great show, I love British humour. But seriously, who gets BBC America? The thing I’ve always hated about the GG is their preference for HBO shows. I felt Monk should have one at least one of the awards it was up for, Best Actor (Tony Shalhoub), Best Actress (Bitty Schram), and Best Comedy.

So I didn’t feel like there were a lot of surprises at the GG, except I thought it was a bad day for fashion.

Tomorrow the Oscar nominations will be announced, and I’m really hoping TPTB (the powers that be) have heard the swell of people who want to see Sean Astin get a nom for his portrayal of Samwise Gamgee in LOTR.

Alright, now back to the real world. My in-laws just got back from Hawaii, and we got a dump of snow yesterday. The weather people said it wouldn’t hit us, just the mountains. I never believe those weather people anyway. In other exciting news, Kelly posted about me in her blog. *Blush* Hee hee. The Peanuts/OutKast video got a mention on Ain’t It Cool News. I got the link from this guy Roland I know, I don’t know where he found it.

Museum work is good, I’m really enjoying it. I finished a book I was reading, The Funny Thing Is… by Ellen DeGeneres. It was funny, I enjoyed her first book too. I haven’t made time yet to listen to the new Easily Amused CD, but we did listen to Chris Thomas King’s CD The Legend Of Tommy Johnson. It was good. I’m no blues expert (though I know one), but I liked it. I also listened to Barenaked Ladies’ Everything To Everyone, and it was okay. I’ve had experiences of not loving their CDs and then having them grow on me. But I do love the song For You. I got the cd from Kevin. I also got the new Josh Groban cd out of the library, but I haven’t listened to it either. Makes you wonder what exactly I do if I don’t have time to listen to new music? 🙂 Not much.

Monk was awesome on Friday! John Turturro played Monk’s brother, and played it well. I like him, he’s a good actor. I think the movie I saw him first in was Quiz Show (which is fabulous). But more recently, we loved him in O Brother, Where Art Thou? Let’s end with a quote from that.

Pete: Wait a minute. Who elected you leader of this outfit?

Ulysses Everett McGill: Well Pete, I figured it should be the one with the capacity for abstract thought. But if that ain’t the consensus view, then hell, let’s put it to a vote.

When You Mix OutKast & Peanuts

(updated 2/11/04) the website that put on this hilarious video has been asked by the Peanuts people to cease. Sorry, try to find it from someone. I’m sure it is lurking someone online.

Just Another Day

I watched Hiding Out today. I may watch it again tomorrow. I like it, it’s funny. I also spent the last of my iTunes money I got for Christmas. To give you an idea of my musical taste, I bought Cumbersome by Seven Mary Three, Can You Forgive Her? by Pet Shop Boys, and I Like The Way by Hi-Five. I think maybe I should be ashamed of the last one, but sadly I’m not. At the iTunes music store, they added the feature of browsing charts, and I was perusing the 1991 chart, and I remember where I was listening to certain songs. Or school dances they were played at. FYI, 1991 was my 9th grade year. I loved 9th grade (for my American friends, 9th grade is the last year of junior high or middle school).

Still haven’t tackled the journal yet. I did have a dream about my dad this week, but it escapes me now what it was about. Last night, I dreamt Geoff was competing in some championship football game. His team was winning, and they were getting ready to engrave the trophy rings with the players names. Oddly enough my Uncle Kim was also on Geoff team, and he wanted it known that I was his niece. I kept saying, but I’m also Geoff’s wife. And he’d keep saying “and my niece”. I stopped trying to decipher my dreams. They are usually random wackiness. And I have other things I could dwell on.

I got 2 Chris Thomas King albums out of the library. He is a blues guitarist. He was in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? He played Tommy Johnson, the guy who sold his soul to the devil. We’ll probably listen to him tonight.

We watched the State Of The Union Address the other night. Well, Geoff watched it, I listened to it. But it got me thinking of my Top Five President movies. Geoff was able to name them all. That kind of thing impresses me.

Top Five President Movies

1. All The President’s Men

2. Dick

3. The American President

4. Dave

5. Independence Day

Well, that’s a good note to end on. I’ll close with a quote from The American President. It’s one of my favorite scenes. Can you believe Kelly lives in D.C. and hasn’t seen this movie? 😉

Sydney Ellen Wade: Hello?

President Andrew Shepherd: Yeah, hi, is this Sydney?

Sydney Ellen Wade: Leo?

President Andrew Shepherd: No, this is Andrew Shepherd.

Sydney Ellen Wade: Oh! It’s Andrew Shepherd! Yeah, you’re hilarious, Richard, you’re just a regular riot!

President Andrew Shepherd: No, this isn’t Richard, this is Andrew Shepherd.

Sydney Ellen Wade: Oh! Well, I’m so glad you called, because I forgot to tell you today what a nice ass you have. I’m also impressed that you were able to get my phone number given the fact that I don’t have a phone. Good night, Richard.

President Andrew Shepherd: Uh, this isn’t Richard-

[Sydney hangs up]

President Andrew Shepherd: This used to be easier.

What I Bought With Kelly’s Gift Certificate

So Kelly gave me a gift certificate for my birthday, and I bought The Best Of Corey Hart, and Hiding Out. Call me a loser, I don’t care. I like Corey Hart, he puts out good music.

Hiding Out is a good movie. I have a thing for Jon Cryer movies. I used to have a thing for Keith Coogan, and I love Annabeth Gish. The premise of the movie is Andrew (Cryer) is a stockbroker who has to testify against the mob, and when one of the other witness ends up dead, he goes into hiding. He decides to change his look and hide out at his cousin Patrick’s (Coogan) high school. He gets his name off a coffee can, Maxwell Hauser. It’s funny, and sweet, so I bought it.

It really did snow all day, it must have stopped some time last night. Went back to work at the museum today. No Machu Picchu work today. I can hardly wait for it to open so I can show Geoff the work I did. I will try to take pictures of it for everyone else.

I know I usually end with a movie quote, but I wanted to end with the lyrics to the Radiohead song I was listening to today. This song always makes me melancholy, but not in a bad way. I think I can look back on my past with bittersweetness. If that makes sense. I don’t think I even get what I’m trying to say.

Lurgee (by Radiohead, off the album Pablo Honey)

I feel better, I feel better now you’ve gone.

I got better, I got better, I got strong.

I feel better, I feel better now there’s nothing wrong.

I got better, I got better, I got strong.

Tell me something, tell me something I don’t know.

Tell me one thing, tell me one thing, and let it go.

I got something, I got something, heaven knows.

I got something, I got something, I don’t know.

I just got the new Easily Amused CD in the mail! It’s called Simple Stuff, and it’s their second album. Easily Amused is from Winnipeg, MB, and I saw them when they played on the UCI campus. We tried to get them on KUCI, but it didn’t work out. They have another tour they just started, but sadly they don’t have Denver on their route. 🙁 But visit their website, and order a copy of Novice, their debut album. You can hear clips from songs, read Renee or Keith’s journal, and find out where they are touring. I will try to post a review of the new album this week.

It’s snowing. It’s been snowing all day. I haven’t left the comfort of my home, but I did at least get dressed.

I got some movies from the library, chick flicks that Geoff wouldn’t watch with me. I tackled one, and I still have another. The one I watched was A Guy Thing. I love Julia Stiles & Jason Lee, so it seemed a safe bet. It also has Selma Blair, whom I don’t like so much. There’s something about her, I don’t care about. Who knows. Anyways, it was alright, I wasn’t expecting much. I wouldn’t buy it, and could think of better Jason Lee or Julia Stiles movies.

I am moving to 2 days a week at the museum. I had a great day yesterday. I got to work on the Machu Picchu exhibit (which opens in Feb). I got to bury artifacts in cement for the kids to dig up. Oh, and I told Jeff (my boss) about Cindy’s son Alec being a HUGE dinosaur guy, and he said he’d arrange for a behind the scenes tour for him when they come to visit this spring. I’ll have to email him to tell him.

Hard to believe we’re near the end of January. I have a feeling this year is going to fly by too.

Last Friday, it would have been Dad & Debbie’s 5th anniversary. I think she’s doing okay. We all are, I guess. There was moment last week when I thought he wasn’t gone. I thought, how could he be gone? He’s so young. And in an instant reality sunk in. And I wondered where that funny thought had come from. Geoff & I talk about death more frequently now. We talk about what our families would want, what we want. My mom has let me know songs she’d like, but I told her she’s not allowed to die for a good long time.

Okay enough with the morbid death talk. Things here are good. I’d like to have more to share, but nothing else is going on. I’d share my thoughts on current events, but frankly, I don’t read the paper, and I don’t like to watch the news. So why there was a caucus in Iowa, I don’t even know. And I don’t keep up with Canadian news, because I don’t live there. The saddest thing, I keep up to date on entertainment news. I know, it’s sad. 🙁

Well, I’ll close now with some quotes from Dogma. I love that movie, and I watch it EVERY time it’s on. If you can get past the language, it’s pretty good. First, Geoff’s favorite quote:

Bethany: What gear are you in?

Jay: “Gear”?

—————————————

Metatron: However, if you should decide to stop being selfish and accept your responsibility, you won’t be alone. You’ll have support.

Bethany: What, more angels?

Metatron: Prophets. Two of them. The one who speaks – and he will, at great lengths, whether you want him to or not – will make mention of himself as a prophet. The other one… well, he’s the quiet type, but he’ll be helpful just the same.