So I didn’t get in. Let’s leave it at that.
Add comment February 28th, 2004
Archive for February, 2004
the passion of the christ
I was not prepared for The Passion of the Christ. I was raised strictly Christian, with 12 years of parochial school under my belt, as well as myriad years of Sunday school and Bible study and such. No one ever minced words on the brutality of the crucifixion, not once we were old enough to handle such things. But I was not prepared. I was able to hold it in for a while, but when he fell after the beating, when the scourge caught in his flesh and was ripped away – the tears came streaming down my cheeks unabated. Nothing I could do. Nothing I knew could prepare me for that moment. Even the crucifixion itself wasn’t as bad.
The movie was, well, almost beyond words. Brutal, unrelenting, beautiful, heart-breaking. From the first shadowy moments in the Garden of Gethsemane, Gibson has you by the throat, and doesn’t let go until the last shadowy moments in the tomb. He plays you skillfully, patiently, carefully – letting it go almost too far, then pulling back. The story begins in the Garden, and ends with the resurrection – but takes you, through flashback, to the Sermon on the Mount, the Last Supper, and many other pivotal moments in Jesus’s life. Gibson’s timing is exquisite. Scenes of utter brutality are inter-cut with scenes from childhood, from Jesus’s ministry – tender moments with his friends, with his mother. This device also allows Gibson to do some cool things with gestures, with motion – Mary Magdalene on her knees in the dust watching Jesus’s torture becomes Mary Magdalene in the dust at Jesus’s feet as he saves her from the Pharisees – Pilate washing his hands in a gesture of resignation becomes Jesus washing his disciples’ feet in a gesture of humility. Gibson also uses Satan in really interesting ways – I’ll have to think on this a bit more. And the Pieta and the moment when Satan’s fate is sealed and Judas’s torment and how beautiful Monica Bellucci is and and so much more.
But yeah, wow. I would say “I’ll have to see it again to solidify my opinion”, but I don’t know if I can. It was – incredible. I’m glad we went.
Add comment February 25th, 2004
great
24 was great, Indian food was great, sitting on the couch with the boy was great. He was a little busy with laundry and grading and computer games, but some nights will be like that. Came home and beat level 18 on Dr. Mario, then went to bed. Woke to sunlight pouring in my window while I was all warm and snuggly in bed. I’m running late, but I have coffee already made, a hot shower waiting, and scones &/or banana bread for breakfast. Here’s hoping for a good day.
Add comment February 25th, 2004
i’m sorry for all the updates today. a few brief things, then i’ll go.
1. i need to stop buying things that won’t fit in my car.
2. that said, a tv that costs $129.99 should fit in my car. said tv fit, but not in the box, so my trunk now contains a massacred box.
3. i have a tv. yay!
4. when you go through the drive through lane at a fast food restaurant, is it normal to be asked “is this for here or to go?”. shawn suggested that maybe i would be given my meal on a tray, which i would then have to go back through the lane to return when i was done eating.
5. i need to vacuum but refuse to do so at this hour. maybe tomorrow.
Add comment February 17th, 2004
I would like to kick this day in the teeth. I’m really fucking beat, and about to embark on yet another trip to Best Buy, this time to scout out a TV. Thanks for the birthday money, Gram! I know I should save it for other things, but I earmarked this long-awaited check for this purpose, so there.
Oh, and you’re fucking high if you think I’m cooking tonight. I’m going to take a shower (to tame my infernally big hair), then see about some dinner before 24.
Add comment February 17th, 2004
The archives are coming back online, slowly but surely.
I’m at Za’s eating lunch – fettucine with mushrooms, black olives, and grilled chicken in a cream wine sauce. There’s a group of girls sitting half a room away talking all pretentious-like, and it makes me laugh. They can’t be more than 15 – they’re talking about “fourth period” – and I wonder if I was that pretentious when I was that age. I’ve always been a stuck up sort of bitch – I’m friends with everyone but still look down my nose at people on occasion – but I don’t remember trying that hard when I was younger. Maybe I did. *shrugs*
Work is hella busy. Hella busy. Normally I have about 20 things to run in the morning – this morning we had almost 60. Thank god Ron is in today.
But back to the archives – reading all these entries, changing them for the page, updating links – it’s both good and difficult. There are things I’ve forgotten that I’m now reliving – and things I wish I could forget, but there they are, on the screen in front of me. It’s hard to encounter the person I once was – in many ways she is so different from the person I am now. Part of me wants to excise all proof that she existed, but the rest of me knows that I can’t, and that I would regret getting rid of that part of my past.
Add comment February 17th, 2004
you really must check out jojo in the stars. it just won a bafta and is small and wonderful. also, an interview with marc craste, the creator, talking about jojo and the pica towers. i can’t wait to see the full length film.
a quiet night. met shawn at moonstruck after three-strikes-you’re-out attempts to sell the rings. bummed around, then waited for the proofreading person to show up – she was half an hour late, wanted me to look over another draft, then paid me half of what i’d asked for. her paper was fairly well written, so i couldn’t grudge her that, i guess. home, then chicken tarragon for dinner, followed by a nice hot bath. i took the boy home a little bit ago, and now i’m just winding down. tomorrow will be hellishly busy – tuesdays after mondays off always are – and i will be tired tired tired by the end of it. g’night, kids.
Add comment February 16th, 2004
good news bad news
Good news: My tax returns are done, and I’m getting $86 back from the state.
Bad news: I really do owe $1052.
Solution: Talk to my parents. My dad promised they wouldn’t leave me destitute on the street. I emailed them when I first suspected I would owe in, and now I’ve emailed them to see if they will loan me the money, to be repaid to them. I have a feeling they’ll be nicer creditors than the IRS.
Good news: I have a printer.
Bad news: I don’t have the cable that attaches the printer to the computer.
Solution: Trip to Best Buy just as soon as I finish my soup.
Good news: I got the paperwork from Nate.
Bad news: That means I have to pay the legal bills soon.
Solution: Sell my wedding rings. I was going to do this anyway, I placed the ad in the paper a couple of weeks ago, and today I’m seeing at least one person about them.
Bad news: I have bills due that I don’t have the money for, and I need groceries.
Good news: Mom sent me some money for Valentine’s Day to help with some bills and my car insurance. Breathing easy.
Double good news: Two proofreading/editing jobs in one weekend means $80 or so that I didn’t have before.
So things seem to be balancing themselves out. Something will go wrong, and then a solution will present itself. My money situation gets really tight, and proofreading work comes my way. I start stressing my relationship, and all sorts of lovely assurances come along. I am so, so blessed.
Add comment February 16th, 2004
v-day lament
A Cup of Valentine Cheer
by Kate Geiger
Have another drink!
Every sign in every bar
Boasts discount drink specials
And old candy hearts.
Inviting reluctant singles
And those unlucky at love
To mingle and merge,
And turn on the charm
In hopes of bringing home a cup of regret and shame
To wash down stale pink-frosted cookies the morning after.
“Be mine!” they beg.
“Forever and always,
Yours truly,
Love.”
Scratch that.
Lust.
Drink up,
Buy in,
Sell out.
Good morning,
And welcome to your most expensive holiday.
The only day you will sell your soul
For a hand to hold.
So here’s to empty promises,
Mornings after
And meaningless rhymes
Scratched across cheap greeting cards.
Raise a glass
And toast the empty cynicism
Of February 14.
Add comment February 14th, 2004