synecdoche, new york

I love Phillip Seymour Hoffman, even more than Charlie Kauffman. I think this film looks fascinating.

oh, and here's the homework on the title:
Synecdoche (pronounced "si-NEK-duh-kee", IPA: /sɪˈnɛkdəˌki/; from Greek sinekdohi (συνεκδοχή), meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a figure of speech in which:
-a term denoting a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing
-a term denoting a thing (a "whole") is used to refer to part of it
-a term denoting a specific class of thing is used to refer to a larger, more general class
-a term denoting a general class of thing is used to refer to a smaller, more specific class
-a term denoting a material is used to refer to an object composed of that material

having a blast

the Arctic Blast(TM) has taught me many life lessons. Here are just a few of them:

1. it doesn't feel good to be left out of something, especially a dramatic snowstorm. Mr Blast, you seriously couldn't have come an extra 5 miles down I-5 with some nice freezing rain? a little extra snow? I have been a faithful (if not overly vigilant) follower of your work for the past 2 weeks, and you leave me out in the warm?

2. meteorologists are kind of a men's club. yeah, they let the blond-haired Claire Danes lookalike do weather when it's the typical rainy forecast, but as soon as the storm hits, they kick her to the curb, all "go do that puff piece on keeping your pets safe during the storm". and because she is as dumb as she looks, she trots happily off to obey, while the guys with names like Mark and Steve with overly large ties get to do the real reporting.

3. walking in the falling snow at night while listening to Sigur Ros is one of my top 3 worship experiences. you should try it.

the most exciting thing that will ever happen to me (and it really just happened to someone else 10 feet away)

So, on Tuesday when I got into work, there were some people here meeting with pastors for prayer, and it was whispered to me that "they are the parents of that guy who they arrested as a suspect in the Woodburn bombing". which was weird and scary and sad.

Then Bob left, and about a minute after he left he called and said that he thought there were cops parked along the highway, possibly monitoring the couple. Since my reaction to just about everything Bob says is "yeah right", I kind of dismissed it. I did go outside and look, and didn't see any cars, so I went back to work.

Then, the couple went to leave, and as they did, I turned and told Tiffany, who shares an office with me, who they were. As I was telling her, her eyes got big, and she said "holy crap, the FBI is here!" and hit the ground. I turned around and looked just outside my window, and sure enough there were about 15 guys with guns and asault rifles about 10 feet away from me, yelling phrases you only hear on TV like "FBI, FREEZE!".

so I slid out of my chair and onto the ground under my desk. I then spent the next minute trying to decide which I wanted more: to see what was going on, or to crawl out of my office and away from the guns. I opted for the latter...

sucks

So, while stuck at home by snow and ice, I watched part of two movies on cable. Two horrible, awful movies. Couldn't finish either of them. Their very existence makes life much less worth living. The culprits:

_Dreamgirls
_Love in the Time of Cholera

Dreamgirls was just awful and horrible and stupid. No amount of singing could redeem it.
and Love in the Time of Cholera might not have been awful and horrible and stupid, but for the plain fact that Javier Bardem is the creepiest man EVER, and no matter how good an actor he is, he cannot make me believe that he is not motivated purely by a desire to hack open the leading lady and sew clothes out of her skin.

can I get another amen?

copy/pate the below address to hilarious holiday awesomeness!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Z9946M/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk3?ie=UTF8&qid=1229209045&sr=1-26

Philosophy will clip an angel's wings

I am in the process of making two sets of large angel wings for the JBC Christmas production in a few weeks.


Three lessons I have learned:

1.) I am not creative when it comes to hands-on crafts. they stress me out. however, Mitch knows how things should go together. I now know to go directly to him next time before I start my brainstorming process.

2.) Feathers are fluffy, floaty, and messy. It looks like a chicken massacre in our kitchen right now.

3.) hot glue guns are AWESOME! I shall henceforth use it on everything.

easy listening

I don't normally promote/listen to soft rock radio; however...the time for exceptions has come, because they are playing Christmas music from now until...Christmas!

Also, if you want to stream it, say, at your workplace, you can do so here http://www.k103.com/cc-common/ondemand/player.html?world=st

Ode

O, Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi

How I do love thee -

Your insignificant source of nutrients

Doth not dissuade me

from my devotion to you.

You are more refreshing than

fresh spring water;

more flavorful by far.

Your phenylketonurics and Potassium Benzoate (though indimidating)

Do bring me joy.

Your promises that you contain no juice,

nor sugar,

and little-to-no-sodium

Bring comfort to my soul.

We shall ne'er again be parted,

O Diet Pepsi mine,

for your bubbly caffeination

is my very center, my reason,

my core.

[translation: I didn't have any Diet Pepsi for, like, 48 hours. aaand it sucked. sorry about the not poetry; the combination of Wild Cherry flavoring and carbonation goes straight to my brain after that long...]

a good (re)read

I am a re-reader. I cycle through my library regularly. I like to rediscover old characters and form new favorites.

One of my all-time favorite books that I am getting ready to dive into again, after I finish Memoirs of a Geisha, is 'How to be Good' by Nick Nornby (who also wrote High Fidelity and About a Boy). Superb humor of the British variety. I highly recommend, with a disclaimer that there IS some language. (Have I mentioned that I find the f-word hilarious, especially when paired with British vernacular?) You can borrow it after I'm done...but I warn you, I dog-ear the heck out of all the pages. Bookmarks, schmookmarks...

after that I think I'll move on (back?) to 'Til We Have Faces' by CS Lewis. a beautiful, haunting myth retold. Lewis has a weaving way of pointing out (drawing out?) the truth of each of us in the characters.

you should read that one too...

alvays be prepared

How To Fight Off a Vampire @ Yahoo! Video

Joaquin Phoenix Shocks With Retirement Announcement

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

no one told me about it...

...but Ben Folds put out a new album in September! huh. it's awesome, of course.

possibly heartless (not spleen-less)

You remember that scene in Patriot Games (or was it Clear and Present Danger?), where Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) finds out that his wife/daughter have been in a car crash and that his daughter was injured? The part where he delivers what is undoubtedly supposed to be a heartrending line "They might have to remove her...spleen." and then breaks down crying, while holding his wife oh-so-tenderly?

that scene has always sent me into hysterics, but not in the way the directors/actors likely intended. oh, how I laugh and laugh...

maybe it's the word spleen? something about the unconvincing way Harrison Ford conveys grief?

anyways, someone recently called me about a family member's injury and the possibility of spleen removal...and while I sympathized with the scary situation the patient and family are going through...I'll admit that totally socially inappropriate laughter was looming on the horizon. luckily I have mastered the art of brevity on the phone, and so I was off before the giggles struck.

fluorescing

We are slowly replacing all of the bulbs in our house with the energy-efficient fluorescent versions. They will save us $40 a year per bulb! That's amazing!

However...

They are hideous and I hate them. The light they shine is unnatural and soul-sucking. We have tried all of them - the 'daylight' 'soft light' and 'natural light'. 'Natural light' my ASS! More like 'warehouse' 'asylum' and 'office cubicle'.

whole lot of nothing

I'm a bad blogger, I know. I'm just frickin' tired and have had a whole lot of nothing interesting going on. Haven't even seen any movies!

oh, we DID recently get a DVR receiver. it's very awesome. However, I don't have time to watch everything I am recording. My current recording list is:

Heroes (but don't talk to me about it - I haven't watched any new ones yet!)
House
Bones
Fringe (you should watch it - it's super good)
Pushing Daisies
The Office

I'm considering dropping House; I can always catch up on USA repeats later, right?

also, I recently discovered Battlestar Galactica on DVD. it's an excellent sci-fi show, if you like that kind of thing, which I do, being nerdish. I let myself watch it while I run on the treadmill every night, and curiosity about the next episode keeps me consistent.

um, what else? I tied my shoes too tight for running and bruised my toenails...

yeah, I got nothing. Happy Wednesday, y'all.

to sleep, perchance to dream

Insomnia is a symptom of a sleeping disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. It is typically followed by functional impairment while awake...

See, for me, falling asleep is not the problem. I can fall asleep in less than 5 minutes with the lights on and the TV on ...it's STAYING asleep from the hours of 1:30-5am that seems to be the trouble. It could be the weather changes (I seem to remember having this problem last fall.) Then again, it could just be that fall is wicked-busy and I'm stressed.

oh, but when I do fall fitfully asleep during that time window, I have amazing (but not at all restful) dreams. last night, I was at a Winterhawks hockey game with Mitch, in seats right up against the glass, cheering on the violence (my favorite part of hockey: when they throw the gloves off, pull the other guy's shirt over the head, and PUNCH!! it's awesome.).

either way...Tylenol PM and sleeping pill addictions: here I come!

consequence, schmonsequence

ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2008) — Eight-year-old children have a radically different learning strategy from twelve-year-olds and adults. Eight-year-olds learn primarily from positive feedback ('Well done!'), whereas negative feedback ('Got it wrong this time') scarcely causes any alarm bells to ring.

8 is the new 2, apparently.

made me laugh...

the coolest

Jack White is cooler than everyone else in the world combined. everyone else is all "that's a cool riff, let's play it on guitars!", and Jack White is all, "yeah, but I think I'll take some of those guitar-sytle riffs and rock them vocally. that's what I will do. and it will be cool."

and it is.

white ink

'White tattoos - the latest must-have accessory in Hollywood' according to http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/femail/article-1055607/White-tattoos--latest-accessory-Hollywood.html

shoot. now if I get a white ink tattoo, everyone will think it's because Lindsay Lohan got one...even though I've been saying I was going to get one for, like 2 years now. that's what I get for procrastinating, I guess.

top of the rental queue

The Fall comes out on DVD today. You realy should check it out. The visuals are spectacular.

It's a movie about the power of storytelling, and while it sometimes buckles under the weight of the grand spectacle that Tarsem lays out for us, there are those 'moments' where it transcends spectacle and gives us space to explore the human elements that make the story worth telling.

musicality

Musical tastes and personality type are closely related, according to a study of more than 36,000 people from around the world...


BLUES = High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle and at ease

JAZZ = High self-esteem, creative, outgoing and at ease

CLASSICAL MUSIC = High self-esteem, creative, introvert and at ease

RAP = High self-esteem, outgoing

OPERA = High self-esteem, creative, gentle

COUNTRY AND WESTERN = Hardworking, outgoing

REGGAE = High self-esteem, creative, not hardworking, outgoing, gentle and at ease

DANCE = Creative, outgoing, not gentle

INDIE = Low self-esteem, creative, not hard working, not gentle

BOLLYWOOD = Creative, outgoing

ROCK/HEAVY METAL = Low self-esteem, creative, not hard-working, not outgoing, gentle, at ease

CHART POP = High self-esteem, not creative, hardworking, outgoing, gentle, not at ease

SOUL = High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle, at ease

here we are now, entertain us

the CW is a terrible network. and yet I am always seduced into watching the new shows when they premiere in the fall, simply because I am starved for new television.

so, I watched the Gossip Girl premiere Monday night, and abou 1/3 the 90210 premiere Tuesday, and I am now kind of in love with CW for providing me with two of my new favorite TV villains:

Chuck on GG is pure, awesome EVIL. I heart him!

and Lucille Bluth is on 90210! ...well, she's not really supposed to be Lucille, per se, but it's an almost IDENTICAL role, right down to every withering critique and inappropriate comment laced with booze and bitterness.

berry scenario

I don't like planning meals OR shopping for them OR cooking them. which leads to this common scenario: my mom gave me these awesome blackberries. they are huge and awesome looking. however, I have almost none of the ingredients required to make a cobbler. :(

but I am determined to eat those blackberries, dangit! so, I combine oats, brown sugar, and margarine together, bake it for 10 minutes, pile it on top of the blackberries, and am currently pretending it's a berry crisp.

aaaand that's my dinner. what? I'm a grown-up, I can eat that for dinner if I want to. if only I had some cool-whip... or, ice cream, or...

:)

candy-fest 2008

it's all about the Whoppers. thank you, Hersheys, for this magical addition to the candies of the world.

-"There is no sincerer love than the love of food." (George Bernard Shaw)

-"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you want and let the food fight it out inside."(Mark Twain)

-"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."(Virginia Woolf)

-Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die. - - - Isaiah 22:13

-Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are. (Anthelme Brillat-Savarin)

life of sloth

since Mitch left for hunting, I have watched the following:

Heroes season 2 (eps 6-11) - so much unfinished business, due to the Hollywood strikes this past season. looking forward to the new season (and hopefully some closure) alot...

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - I loved this one. definitely a chick flick, but a smart one.

Adaptation - weird. just...weird. but funny. I somehow missed this one when it came out a few years ago. the presence of Chris Cooper almost made up for the presence of Meryl Streep.

Step Up 2 the Streets - yeah, that one's painfully embarassing to admit. despite the fact that I don't dance at all, dancing movies are a guilty pleasure of mine. I can't help it; so much fun dancing, despite horribly cliched storying.

The New World - another one that I missed when it came out a few years ago... not quite sure how I missed it, but so glad I finally watched it. how did I not know that this movie was directed by Terrence Mallick? The Thin Red Line is one of my favorite movies! I love the tone-poem quality to his films.

The Bucket List - watched this one with my parents. it was...meh. predictable.

...and tonight I'm going to watch Casino Royale. I'm not a huge Bond fan (thanks in large part to slimy Pierce Brosnan), but I want to be familiar with the Daniel Craig Bond before Quantum of Solace comes out in a few months. (Coolest title ever, btw)

ding-dong!

Dear whoever keeps stopping by my house,

I. Do. Not. Answer. The. Door. when I don't know who it is.

Just text me, k?


Sincerely,
Katie

the beautiful people

So, last night I was at Fred Meyer and I was watching this family doing their 'back to school' shopping. it was very Albany.

they were kind of a white-trash/goth-y looking family (one of those where the mom might actually believe she is a vampire), and they didn't have a cart but were instead carrying their items. I enjoyed watching them alot...

>the dad was (of course) carrying a case of beer.

>the mom was balancing an amazing PILE of notebooks, pencils, scissors, etc. in her arms

>the 2 teenage boys were carrying nothing but their utter disdain for the whole process

>the 2 grade school girls were each picking out hair dye (bright red and blue-black, respectively)

awesome. they are rea.dy to learn!

fall into it

GAP says that the 'bell jean' is back.

Katie says, "Hell, yes!"

Mitch says nothing and rolls his eyes.

interesting article (cynicism: it's the new optimism)

On inauguration day, a new U.S. president is a demigod, the embodiment of aspirations as vast as they are varied. Over the course of the years that follow, the president inevitably fails to fulfill those lofty hopes. So the cycle begins anew, and Americans look to the next occupant of the Oval Office to undo his predecessor's mistakes and usher in an era of lasting peace and sustained prosperity.

This time around, expectations are, if anything, loftier than usual. The youthful and charismatic Sen. Barack Obama casts himself as the standard-bearer of those keenest to fix Washington, redeem America and save the world. "Yes, we can," Obama's anthem proclaims, inviting supporters to complete the thought by inserting their own fondest desire. Yes, we can: bring peace to the Middle East; reverse global warming; win the global war on terrorism.


Yet Sen. John McCain's campaign has been hardly shy about fostering grandiose expectations. Speaking earlier this month, while most Americans were fretting about the cost of oil, McCain uncorked one of his patented straight-talking promises: "I'm going to lead our nation to energy independence." As far as McCain would have us believe, you can take that to the bank.

Will the next president actually bring about Big Change? Don't get your hopes up.

Regardless of who wins Nov. 4, we should temper our expectations of what George W. Bush's successor will accomplish, especially on foreign policy.


In reality, presidents don't make policy; administrations do. To judge by the cadre of advisors they've recruited, neither candidate holds much affinity for outside-the-box thinkers. Obama's "national security working group," for example, consists chiefly of Democratic war horses, including former secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Warren Christopher and former national security advisor Anthony Lake -- a group that is not young, not charismatic and not known for innovative thinking.

McCain's national security team features a strong neoconservative presence, including pundits such as Max Boot and Robert Kagan, along with hawkish Washington insiders such as Randy Scheunemann and James Woolsey. All figured prominently among advocates of invading Iraq; none has yet to repent. Agents of change? Not likely, unless having a go at Iran qualifies as creative thinking.

The very structure of American politics imposes its own constraints. For all the clout that presidents have accrued since World War II, their prerogatives remain limited. A President McCain will almost certainly face a Congress controlled by a Democratic and therefore obstreperous majority. A President Obama, even if his own party runs the Senate and House, won't enjoy all that much more latitude, especially when it comes to three areas in which the dead hand of the past weighs most heavily: defense policy, energy policy and the Arab-Israeli peace process. The military-industrial complex will inhibit efforts to curb the Pentagon's penchant for waste. Detroit and Big Oil will conspire to prolong the age of gas guzzling. And the Israel lobby will oppose attempts to chart a new course in the Middle East. If the past provides any indication, advocates of the status quo will mount a tenacious defense.

Then there is the growing gap between American power and the demands of exercising global leadership.

The limits of American power are most obviously apparent in the realm of military affairs. For McCain, Iraq remains the central front in the war on terrorism, and he'll stay as long as it takes to win. Obama's central front is Afghanistan, and he wants to bolster the U.S. commitment there. Their disagreement masks a more fundamental problem: The next commander in chief will inherit an intractable troop shortage. The United States today finds itself with too much war and too few warriors. That alone will constrain a president conducting two ongoing conflicts.

A looming crisis of debt and dependency will similarly tie the president's hands. Bluntly, the United States has for too long lived beyond its means. With Americans importing more than 60% of the oil they consume, the negative trade balance now about $800 billion annually, the federal deficit at record levels and the national debt approaching $10 trillion, the United States faces an urgent requirement to curb its profligate tendencies. Spending less (and saving more) implies settling for less. Yet among the campaign themes promoted by McCain and Obama alike, calls for national belt-tightening are muted.

Above all, there is this: The rest of the world doesn't take its marching orders from Washington and won't, no matter who happens to be president next year. Governments will respond to American advice, threats or blandishments precisely to the extent that doing so serves their interests, and no further. This alone sharply restricts what Bush's successor will be able to accomplish, whether dealing with allies such as Israel and Pakistan or with adversaries such as Iran and North Korea.

Will the tone and tenor of American diplomacy under either a President Obama or a President McCain differ from what we have seen over the last seven years? Yes, and probably in ways that most nations -- and many Americans -- will welcome. But no matter how much charisma or straight talk emanates from the White House, the world will remain stubbornly intractable.

In matters of substance, Big Change will remain elusive. The next president will leave his own imprint on U.S. policy. It just won't be nearly as distinctive or dramatic as the most enthusiastic Obama and McCain supporters have talked themselves into expecting.

By Andrew J. Bacevich, LA Times