Ordinary Extraordinary

The Year in Review

Sometimes it's good to look back and appreciate the bigger picture.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Photo Friday: Best of 2004

Reflection - August, 2004

This week's Photo Friday challenge is "Best of 2004." I thought long and hard before selecting a photo because I couldn't decide how to interpret best of. Should I choose the one with the best artistic merit? The best of my Photo Friday submissions? Or the photo that represents what was best about 2004?

I finally settled the latter interpretation and picked Reflection... a photo taken the day that Thomas and I went to Venice Beach during his visit. We stood in the surf for almost an hour taking pictures of each other reflected in our sunglasses, of the waves washing around our feet, of the patterns in the sand. That day (and in fact, his whole visit) stands out as one of the happiest times of the year - it seemed only fitting to choose a picture from it to represent the "Best of 2004."

More Movie Madness

How did I spend my rainy day off? Crossing more movies off my list, of course!

I got a bit derailed from my plan to see only new releases as I finally broke down and watched Hero and The Last Samurai, both of which I have had from Netflix for almost a month, before I left for the movie theater.

It pours

Seems it never rains in Southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl, don't they warn ya
It pours, man it pours*

Ah, how I love Southern California in the rain. Water falls from the sky and suddenly: HYSTERIA! The roads are flooded, every local news channel is on Storm Watch and the grocery store shelves are empty of staples like milk, bread, eggs, and (oddly) tofu.

People, it's water. WATER. You carry it around by the designer bucketful, is it really so scary when it's loose? You are not going to be trapped in your home for days on end. No one is going to drown crossing the street. The pilates studios, Whole Foods markets, and tanning salons will all remain open.

You are, however, going to kill yourself and probably several other people if you don't slow the hell down on the freeway. It took me almost two hours to get to work yesterday morning because almost every major southbound freeway interchange was closed due to accidents and/or flooding. The answer to flooded roadways and limited visibility is not to drive as fast as possible in a vain attempt to dodge the drops of freakish Sky Water; the answer is to turn on your headlights, turn off your cell phone, and drive cautiously.

And just as a reminder, driving an SUV does not mean that you can go 70mph on a flooded freeway in the rain. If you throw up two four foot walls of water when you drive through a puddle, you're driving far too fast.

*I hope that Keith will forgive me for stealing the chorus of a song for my own purposes when the song in question isn't really about weather at all. *g*

Blue Balled

There is nothing more frustrating than being all fired up to fight and being unable to get in touch with the object of said fire.

Grrrr.

Speaking Delicately

If you can say "crotchular area" in conversation, you can just go right ahead and say "crotch." Really.

May Your Day Be Merry & Bright

Merry Christmas!Pre-Christmas Dinner - December 11, 2004

The Music of the Night

Since I seem to have no luck with real men, I'm giving them all up for a Phantom:

*swoon*

(The movie was sumptuous. A bit different than the stage version as it incorporated some of the darker elements of the book, but still breathtaking. I got goosebumps as soon as I heard the first chord of the Phantom's theme and they lasted throughout most of the film.)

On/Off

Finally, a statement from the President with which I agree wholeheartedly. From his recent interview with People magazine:

People: We've certainly seen an increase on TV of foul language and sexual titillation. Where do we draw the line?

President Bush: The put the on/off button on TVs for a reason. We're in a free society and creative people come up with all kinds of ideas to try to lure listeners, I would hope there would be a time when studios take a step back and look at what they're producing and realize the consequences. But the consumers of America can control the content by not paying attention to it.

Take that, FCC.

Collision

The weekend Vegas trip did not happen because Crash (very aptly named, as you'll see in a minute) has been at it again.

I was supposed to stay with him in Vegas so that we could hang out and I could see him perform in his new show. However, on Thursday night he was involved in a mid-air collision. 45 feet mid-air, to be exact. Right over the audience. In the MIDDLE of a show.

The good news is that he did not fall 45 feet and land in the lap of some unsuspecting audience member. (Can you imagine the surprise? One minute you're sitting in the audience watching the spectacle and enjoying your $15 dollar drink, the next minute you have 6'1" of of muscular, unitard-clad man in your lap. OK maybe that wouldn't be all bad... as long as you ditched the unitard.) Thank the gods for safety equipment. The bad news is that the other performer ran into him so hard that he severely dislocated Crash's right shoulder and he had to be taken to the emergency room.

Crash, ever the sunny optimist, shared this brief moment of comedy with me as he was describing his evening: When he arrived at the ER, the nurse took one look at him (since he was still in the aforementioned unitard and full make-up) and said "Oh, you must work for That Company" and ushered him to a spot where four other people in unitards, feathers, and make-up were waiting - they were all performers from the myriad of shows produced by That Company.

Crash wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or bad thing that the Las Vegas General Hospital seems to have a special section reserved for That Company's performers, but he was glad not to be the only guy sitting around the waiting room in a unitard.