hmmmm

so we went to the byrd and saw paranormal activity last night and it was pretty much the shittiest movie i've ever seen. i was going to go into it but i don't want to think about the 2 dollars i'll never see again and the 99 minutes of my life that are gone forever. now that THAT'S over with....it's freezing in here. we turned our heat on but at the moment i can even see the cat's breath.

daniel got me a veggie cookbook (among other things) for christmas and tonight we're gona start simple and make some red onion, tomato, and herb salad. mmm who thinks i can last for more than 2 weeks without meat? we shall see!

the last christmas post...maybe

i just realized my last two posts had to do with the holiday season, SO this is the last one. hopefully i'll be too busy opening and subsequently using my presents to bother. this year is very special as lots of family is around, my aunt and uncle and cousin are here from florida as well as my grandma in from iceland. she has been performing her usual grandmotherly duties which include hijacking unattended clothing to wash mercilessly and knitting me things like socks and ear warmers (pictured below) at an alarming rate.

the snow up here in old northern virginny is twice as plentiful but they are far less inept with their snow plows. its chilly and stella is crazy in love with swimming in the snow, she leaps up like a seal to sink her teeth into the deflated soccer ball she's claimed as her own. ichi is very disoriented because her normal habitat in the guest room has changed to my mom's office, and she spends most of her time under the tree, as you can see from the picture in the previous post. we've all been consuming and spending ravenously, but along with all the shitty car rides and shopping trips comes gift wrapping and secret presents and surprises and i love christmas. i love it. i love thinking about what makes a person smile and then giving it to them wrapped cleverly in STAR WARS WRAPPING PAPER (you're welcome, brother.) anywho i'm a little tipsy on the multi-sam-adams-pack my dad got. peace

sleigh bells ring

are you listening?!

snowwwwwwwwwww

i'm tipsy and covered in flakes but i just want to say there is nothing better than forgetting who you are and playing in the snow. there is nothing like an abandoned sleeping neighborhood covered in fresh fallen fluffy white. there is nothing like the laugh you can't control as soon as you've thrown a snow ball at your friend. or a car. or your neighbors window. i love snow i love it i love being little and the world. good night.

Tree pixxxxxxx

Here are pictures of my golden Christmas tree and accompanying animal ornaments. The kitties they love it. It may seem a little barren, but that's because I haven't decided to implement the tinsel yet. Happy Holidayze!

Mr. Frog Prince

Frau Owl

Ms. Ginger

In all it's sparkly pine cone-d glory.

Ichi and me... notice my sexy sheets :/

Precious/Push

So after seeing the movie Precious and being thoroughly moved and provoked by it I decided to read the book. So far it seems the movie stayed remarkably true to the story: the protagonist's hopeless, loveless existence only gets worse as the tale unwinds, and the firsthand account of her life (only partially narrated in the movie) adds further dimension to her character. The writing style is interesting in that Precious herself, the narrator and the only person whose perspective the reader gets, is illiterate. Despite the understanding that she could not be writing the book herself, the spelling is phonetic and the writing simple, repetitive.

A large part of what made the movie so haunting was the portrayal of rape and sexual abuse that Precious endures from both of her parents. Her father begins raping her at the age of seven, while her mother's only reactions are jealousy and rage at his twisted affection. She beats Precious but also uses her as her own means of sexual pleasure. This alone is enough to shock, revolt, and horrify the viewer, however in reading the book even more is revealed about the dystopian family dynamic. During a sexual encounter with her father, Precious fantasizes that she is someone else: beautiful, famous, rich, desired. This is to be expected of someone undergoing such traumatic treatment, and is presented in the movie. In the book, though, Precious returns to reality: "I start to feel good; stop being a video dancer and start coming. I try to go back to video but coming now, rocking under Carl now, my twat jumping juicy, it feel good. I feel shamed." This brings out a taboo within the most horrific taboo. Precious is so starved for affection that she allows the most monstrous act to bring her pleasure. Incest is something not often discussed and, if ever brought up, regarded as something too heinous to even imagine. This is not the first occasion I've seen the reality of incest as sex discussed in literature. One cannot deny, as Sapphire admirably avoids doing, that sex is partially physical and that physicality can overcome even the most dire circumstances. I wanted to address this specifically because it wasn't brought up in the movie and is something that really made me think about something I'd rather not, and that's how you know it's worth reading.

I guess this isn't so much a review as an analysis of one aspect of the book - either way it was a great and quick read and gave more insight into Precious' life than did the movie. Both were entertaining and intriguing and I would recommend either.

Mmmm time for some Klimt

I know he's everyone's favorite, but this picture does it for me every time.

Brrrrrr

I was looking up synonyms for "dangerous" today in order to complete my crossword (in Style, which always prints its clues correctly!) and I came across the phrase "between the devil and the deep blue sea." It's also the title of a song from 1932. I'm not sure why but I really like it. It's synonymous with "between a rock and a hard place" I guess, meaning choosing between two equally shitty fates. Anywho.

Today Dan and I tore ourselves from my Christmas flannel sheets in order to venture outdoors into the wild. It was a crisp 40 degrees or some bullshit so we got some slices of pizza and ate them by the pond in Byrd Park. The geese/ducks/pigeons were so desperate for food and companionship that they came right up and hung out with us. One of them ate out of my hand! I was so scared! They may not have teeth but those snappers are terrifying! Then we decided it was too fucking cold to take a walk as previously planned and we went into Carytown instead and wasted money on records and coffee. Well, Dan bought records and I bought coffee. Hmmm I definitely thought this post would be more interesting. The end!

Also, I just finished reading Push and am currently writing a review of it. Stay tuned! Haha no one reads this blog.

Dear Brick,

Why do you insist on consistently fucking up the crossword puzzle, which is the only redeemable part of your distribution in the first place? It saddens me. Now I have nothing to distract me from the fact that I have NOTHING to do today and therefore am on the verge of going to yoga. Ugh.

Frida

Three kitties playing hide and seek in my room

today it was lovely outside; it's the beginning of december yet I rode my bike in a t-shirt. the weather was eclipsed by the eighty dollars worth of parking tickets I received for leaving my car in front of our house on street cleaning day. thanks dude across the street for alerting me to this fact prior to watching my car accumulate said tickets. you rule.