I recently read Julie Powell's new book, Cleaving. You may remember Ms. Powell from her book Julie and Julia which was recently made into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. I had read the book but hadn't seen the movie until last weekend when I was flying down to West Palm - the plane had DirecTV which was pretty cool.
The book Julie and Julia is based on Powell's blog, The Julie/Julia Project and I looked at it for the first time today after finishing Cleaving. She's a bigshot writer now (every lowly blogger's dream I think!) and has another blog here at http://www.juliepowell.blogspot.com/ and I couldn't help but feel a teensy bit six degrees of separation because here indeed is my own blog hosted at blogspot!
And also, Ms. Powell and I share a mutual admiration for Joss Whedon and Buffy the Vampire Slayer although I don't think she likes Firefly and Nathan Fillion as much as I do. Also, after Julie and Julia was published, she proceeded to have a torrid affair, which is what Cleaving is sort of about. Also, it's about become a butcher.
It was an interesting, although not great, read. I had some problems with it, mainly, I found it to be self-pitying and whiny. Here is a woman who has seemingly a wonderful husband and a decent career and yet is insistent upon going down some crazy destructive path, engaging in anonymous unfulfilling sex in order to drive her lover out of her head and yet she will not set her husband free. They decide, in so many unspoken words, to open the marriage and they each go off and have affairs. Yet, her husband is always angry with her and yet tender and comforting by turns. Its confusing. Part of me wanted to tell her to grow up and move on.
In her defense, I got the impression she's been with her husband a very long time and perhaps did not date around so much when she was younger, unlike myself who has dated a lot and experienced all kinds of mental anguish, from being with a guy who treats you like crap and yet still compels you to stay with him, to wanting to leave and not wanting to break anyone's hearts at the same time. I get it, life is full of heartbreak, but have the balls to break it off when it becomes unbearable! Don't endlessly whine about having your cake and eating it too! I found I had to dig deep to find some sympathy.
There was another part that really disturbed me. Julie takes a trip to Africa and spends some time in a Masaai encampment. After having a drink one night with her guide, another man follows her back to her tent and propositions her. When she rebuffs his advances he comes back and tries to rape her. Then he steals her BlackBerry. Never once does she scream out for help. Instead you get this crushing feeling that on some level Julie feels she deserves to be assaulted. Maybe I am misreading but she never defends herself.
Interspersed throughout the book are BtVR references. My favorite is a quote from Spike about how much he loves someone: "Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet..." I think I need to watch Season 6 again.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Zoiks!
Ever spend so much money in one day that it kinda freaks you out? Gargantuan car repair bills notwithstanding...Long story short, I went Christmas shopping today. Then I stopped by the grocery store to get some turkey meat for dinner, and I thought, geez, a nice glass of wine would be great, or maybe I can get some whiskey for Chris...and the sensible budgetter in me rebelled, over a $10 bottle of wine. It was like, NO MORE! YOU WILL TURN BACK NOW! NO SOUP FOR YOU!
My tummy hurts!
It's all in the name of kickstarting the economy, right? I was just doing my part as an American!
My tummy hurts!
It's all in the name of kickstarting the economy, right? I was just doing my part as an American!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Me not growing up
Dear JP,
It probably looked like you had a corncob stuck up your twat.
Now fuck off.
Sincerely.
It probably looked like you had a corncob stuck up your twat.
Now fuck off.
Sincerely.
Hospitals and Car Problems
Its been a hectic week.
Last Tuesday, my boyfriend's son was taken to the hospital with stomach pains. Liam suffers from Crohn's disease, and he's very young for such an affliction. He is on medication for it and for the most part, the Crohn's is controlled, but one of his meds can cause pancreatitis and that's what happened. One of his enzyme levels was super high and his mom ended up driving him to the Cleveland Clinic, where they stayed until this past Sunday.
The relationship between an ex and a girlfriend is odd. I don't think I will ever be friends with my boyfriend's ex-wife but I can certainly be friendly to her. I told her she could stay at my house while this whole thing was going on. I brought stuff to the hospital for them, my netbook computer, headphones for Liam, movies. I even drove down to the small town where they live to get my boyfriend's daughter so she could be close by (its over a 300 mile roundtrip). I picked up clothing for everyone and brought a picture of Liam's 8 year old girlfriend to him. While this was going on, I ran laundry for the kids and drove back and forth to the hospital every day.
And then the wheel fell off my car.
Yes. It's true. I was on my way to the hospital when I made a last minute decision to not get on the highway and instead go to the library. That decision probably saved my life. I know, dramatic, right? About three weeks ago I had a new tire put on my car at BJs Wholesale Club. They didn't tighten the lugnuts. All of them fell off my car and caused the tire and rim to fall off the hub. In shock, I watched the damn thing roll across the street and up onto the sidewalk. I was a block from my mechanic.
Thankfully, the tire hit no one when it fell off my car. The whole thing caused at least $2000 of damage. So then I had to get my car in the shop, make arrangements for a rental, call my insurance, coordinate with BJ's and the whole thing.
All is well that ends well though, Liam is doing much better and is out of the hospital (his enzyme levels slowly evened out but he has to be on a low fat diet for the next month and a half or so) and my car is being fixed. I am back to work and should be home Wednesday night. Hopefully I will get some Christmas shopping in this weekend. AND we get the kids again! YAY!
Last Tuesday, my boyfriend's son was taken to the hospital with stomach pains. Liam suffers from Crohn's disease, and he's very young for such an affliction. He is on medication for it and for the most part, the Crohn's is controlled, but one of his meds can cause pancreatitis and that's what happened. One of his enzyme levels was super high and his mom ended up driving him to the Cleveland Clinic, where they stayed until this past Sunday.
The relationship between an ex and a girlfriend is odd. I don't think I will ever be friends with my boyfriend's ex-wife but I can certainly be friendly to her. I told her she could stay at my house while this whole thing was going on. I brought stuff to the hospital for them, my netbook computer, headphones for Liam, movies. I even drove down to the small town where they live to get my boyfriend's daughter so she could be close by (its over a 300 mile roundtrip). I picked up clothing for everyone and brought a picture of Liam's 8 year old girlfriend to him. While this was going on, I ran laundry for the kids and drove back and forth to the hospital every day.
And then the wheel fell off my car.
Yes. It's true. I was on my way to the hospital when I made a last minute decision to not get on the highway and instead go to the library. That decision probably saved my life. I know, dramatic, right? About three weeks ago I had a new tire put on my car at BJs Wholesale Club. They didn't tighten the lugnuts. All of them fell off my car and caused the tire and rim to fall off the hub. In shock, I watched the damn thing roll across the street and up onto the sidewalk. I was a block from my mechanic.
Thankfully, the tire hit no one when it fell off my car. The whole thing caused at least $2000 of damage. So then I had to get my car in the shop, make arrangements for a rental, call my insurance, coordinate with BJ's and the whole thing.
All is well that ends well though, Liam is doing much better and is out of the hospital (his enzyme levels slowly evened out but he has to be on a low fat diet for the next month and a half or so) and my car is being fixed. I am back to work and should be home Wednesday night. Hopefully I will get some Christmas shopping in this weekend. AND we get the kids again! YAY!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
More Random Thoughts
I couldn't help but feel the teensiest bit gleeful that Tiger Woods got caught cheating.
I'm not a fan of golf and I've never been a fan of him, don't know why exactly. I am sorry for his family.
It's hard to not be judgemental of other peoples' decision, in all honesty. What seems to be the obvious solution to me is not necessarily the right way for others. However, I think my life experience gives me a good grip on when something is not going to work, so the worst part about being judgemental is also knowing when to keep your mouth shut. Which is hard for me sometimes!
I'm not a fan of golf and I've never been a fan of him, don't know why exactly. I am sorry for his family.
It's hard to not be judgemental of other peoples' decision, in all honesty. What seems to be the obvious solution to me is not necessarily the right way for others. However, I think my life experience gives me a good grip on when something is not going to work, so the worst part about being judgemental is also knowing when to keep your mouth shut. Which is hard for me sometimes!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
GRRR.
I had a bad day, and a good day, today.
I was supposed to go back to work today after about six days off. My family celebrated an early Thanksgiving, I got to spend lots of time with my adorable 7 month old nephew, my boyfriend's kids, the rest of my family. Altogether it was a perfect week.
And today I should have gone back to work. I was rather excited actually. I had a nice trip, I was working with nice people, and my commute was going to be easy.
But first, I decided to renew my registration for my vehicle. I attempted to do this online this morning, as I have done in the past, but in the middle of the renewal process, the state of Ohio lobbied a late charge of $20.
Now, for some reason, I have always thought that you had til the end of your due month to renew your registration. Apparently this is not actually the case. Now, if you are more than 7 days late from the actual expiration date of your registration, you get assessed this late fee. When did this go into effect? October 13. That's right, just over a month ago. According to the surly bitch at the BMV, it's been advertised 'all over the place.' Funny, I haven't seen anything about it. In fact, I think that the state of Ohio should have MAILED ME SOMETHING indicating this change, rather than putting something about 'some' vehicles being assessed a late charge on the paperwork without indicating WHICH vehicles would be affected. Turns out, ALL passenger vehicles are subject to this new law.
HOW IS THIS FAIR, I ask?? All the people who bought their cars BEFORE October 13th got a pass but I didn't! NOT FAIR. AT ALL. I still had to fork over $74. SUCH CRAP. I just think that if I am going to waste $20 bucks on something stupid it should be something that I chose.
Anyway, I was mad about it but I went to the gym this morning to work out my aggressions. Then I went home, got ready for work, and then got a flat tire on my in. I mean, really. I called AARP (it turns out I am too old but they gave me a courtesy call), some other nice guy named John helped me change the tire (incidentally I can actually change my tire but my tire iron broke the last time I got a flat and I never bothered to replace it - I know...stupid) and he had his OWN tire iron. Then I bought a new tire from BJs. Another $100. Of course, I did some bulk shopping while I was there so mark off another fifty bucks.
And I just sneezed four times. I'm feeling a cold coming on - I have a scratchy throat, I'm a little congested...I just hope it's not swine flu.
Boo.
I was supposed to go back to work today after about six days off. My family celebrated an early Thanksgiving, I got to spend lots of time with my adorable 7 month old nephew, my boyfriend's kids, the rest of my family. Altogether it was a perfect week.
And today I should have gone back to work. I was rather excited actually. I had a nice trip, I was working with nice people, and my commute was going to be easy.
But first, I decided to renew my registration for my vehicle. I attempted to do this online this morning, as I have done in the past, but in the middle of the renewal process, the state of Ohio lobbied a late charge of $20.
Now, for some reason, I have always thought that you had til the end of your due month to renew your registration. Apparently this is not actually the case. Now, if you are more than 7 days late from the actual expiration date of your registration, you get assessed this late fee. When did this go into effect? October 13. That's right, just over a month ago. According to the surly bitch at the BMV, it's been advertised 'all over the place.' Funny, I haven't seen anything about it. In fact, I think that the state of Ohio should have MAILED ME SOMETHING indicating this change, rather than putting something about 'some' vehicles being assessed a late charge on the paperwork without indicating WHICH vehicles would be affected. Turns out, ALL passenger vehicles are subject to this new law.
HOW IS THIS FAIR, I ask?? All the people who bought their cars BEFORE October 13th got a pass but I didn't! NOT FAIR. AT ALL. I still had to fork over $74. SUCH CRAP. I just think that if I am going to waste $20 bucks on something stupid it should be something that I chose.
Anyway, I was mad about it but I went to the gym this morning to work out my aggressions. Then I went home, got ready for work, and then got a flat tire on my in. I mean, really. I called AARP (it turns out I am too old but they gave me a courtesy call), some other nice guy named John helped me change the tire (incidentally I can actually change my tire but my tire iron broke the last time I got a flat and I never bothered to replace it - I know...stupid) and he had his OWN tire iron. Then I bought a new tire from BJs. Another $100. Of course, I did some bulk shopping while I was there so mark off another fifty bucks.
And I just sneezed four times. I'm feeling a cold coming on - I have a scratchy throat, I'm a little congested...I just hope it's not swine flu.
Boo.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Guess who's going to Hawaii? ME!! ME!! ME!!
We are going to Kona. So far I want to go to the black sand beach, ride on bicycle down a volcano, snorkel, see some lava, lay on the beach, eat some different food.
And a nice guy I flew with the other day recommended this website:
http://hawaiianlavadaily.blogspot.com
So if anyone else has ideas, I am all ears!
We are going to Kona. So far I want to go to the black sand beach, ride on bicycle down a volcano, snorkel, see some lava, lay on the beach, eat some different food.
And a nice guy I flew with the other day recommended this website:
http://hawaiianlavadaily.blogspot.com
So if anyone else has ideas, I am all ears!
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