Archive for February, 2008
films.
This week I had an opportunity to go to a free screening of a movie that hasn’t been released yet: Under The Same Moon (La Misma Luna). I can now say “I went to a prerelease film screening last week…” Ha!
The movie wasn’t bad. I’m not big on dramas – the sappiness sort of gets to me – but I’m anticipating that this continues to receive good reviews from the critics. It did well at Sundance. It’s something that my mother would really like.
I’ve been watching the show Jericho (which I love by the way) and it’s giving me crazy dreams. It is nice to have a new show, but not so nice to wake up and realize that the last few hours you’ve been running from enemies that don’t actually exist. After watching Under The Same Moon, I’m going to be running from the INS in my dreams tonight. I need my real life teddy bear to protect me :]
Haggling is a funny word.
I always think it’s funny that there are a few places left in our country where haggling is not only acceptable, but expected.
In Eastern Europe I got really good at this, despite my complete lack of the language. Or, at least, I think I did. My physical appearance does not scream “hey, look, I’m American,” so I often was mistaken for a native citizen: until I opened my mouth. Well, when I went into markets, I pretended to be shy and learned how to say a few essential phrases such as ”how much is this” without much of an accent. From there I could just shake my head, or nod and get a “normal” price. Shopkeepers would often get mad when they figured out I couldn’t even speak their language. Not mad mad, but feel duped I guess?
Walking into, or calling an auto repair shop is similar. They figure out I’m female (I’m small, but still have those tell-tale womanly curves), and they assume I must be an idiot. Maybe they do this for every customer that walks in – guilty until proven innocent type thing – but I’m aware that they do it to me. In their “I’m talking to an idiot” mindset, they quote me a price that is far above what I should be paying, and think I’m going to take it.
I love it when I prove them wrong.
The second I open my mouth and start talking about the internal workings of my sexy vehicle, jaws drop. Okay, they generally drop any time I walk into a room, but this time it’s a “ohh, pretty girl actually knows cars… wow!” sort of shock. Yesterday I called one shop, because I am in desperate need of new tires. They haven’t been rotated properly, so they’ve all worn funny, and are pretty much bald in most places (which is fun, because it’s been raining, so driving has been more like a controlled hydroplane). Anyway, they quoted me a price, and I balked (of course) and managed to play them off a competing store, which I had already talked into a lower quote, and got a pretty dang good deal on my new tires. This is good, because I woke up this morning with two flats – my car finally decided it was mad at me and was giving up. I limped to the gas station, threw some air in them, then limped over to the car place. sad.
The point of this story is that haggling isn’t a common practice in the States, and I can’t think of many places where the practice is actually expected. Car dealerships, auto mechanics, where else? Maybe house prices? Craigslist items. Other used goods. Not many new things!
I can generally manage to get a cute little discount at outdoors stores, or places where I’m buying things at full price if there’s someone who is male checking me out (literally and figuratively). But I don’t generally buy anything unless it’s on sale or clearance. It just doesn’t make sense. Other countries don’t have sales like we do – why does it makes sense economically that we have traded haggling for clearances and sales? Financial guru – help me out!
i like my library!
The other day I had a conversation with a friends about the value of books after their first reading.
My stance was that books fall into a couple categories:
1. One-time-reads and time-limited reference books (the sappy fiction my mother sends, travel books, mandatory school reading that isn’t going to ever going to be useful again)
2. Actual reference books (college text books that don’t get republished every 4 months, all of my psych books, etc)
3. Books that will look good on my professional bookcase and aren’t worth selling (old chem books, etc.), and
4. The great novels that are worth reading over and over (Anna Karenina, the great humanities books).
The first category should be sold as soon as you’re finished with them, the rest are worth keeping.
My friend argued that all books are obsolete after the first reading: Obviously the first category shouldn’t be kept, the information in reference texts can be found online anywhere, professional looking books are fine if you have an office, but if not they can be repurchased when you get one, and this person also argued that talking to someone who has read more breadth is more interesting than someone who has depth in an area (it’s more interesting to talk to someone who has read lots of books rather than someone who has read some of the some books twice and really knows them).
I agree that you shouldn’t reread the same 4 books over and over and call it a day, However, I do think that you can glean something from a second reading of fiction!
Someone once told me that he enjoys talking to my boyfriend because he feels more intelligent after talking to such a articulate, obviously intelligent man. Something about being in the presence of someone intelligent seems to bring up the intelligence level of everyone who interacts with that person.
Some books are similar. The whit of the author, his or her way with words, the humor used – these are things that can be lost after a period, and can be regained with a second reading. Just like that glow from talking to someone who is so brilliant fades and can be regained on another encounter.
I was reading Phillip Roth’s The Ghost Writer the other day, and one sentence inspired this post. The protagonist is struggling to write a letter asking someone for help and eventually conquers his fears:
“I finally sent him the tenth draft and then tried to stick my arm down the throat of the mailbox to extract it.”
The image that this one sentence evokes is so vivid that I couldn’t help laughing aloud (which is totally rare for me)! I could see walking down the street and seeing a young man with one arm half swallowed by a blue box, squirming because he can’t believe he seriously just sent this letter that he’s been so dissatisfied with. cute!
i don’t like having friends.
Why do social events have to be so late at night? My friend’s birthday is tomorrow, and his girlfriend has invited a bunch of his friends to a club tonight to celebrate his birthday. I want to be social, but I’m usually in bed at 11pm, not getting ready to leave for the evening!
The first idea was to go to dinner, then out to the club after. I liked that idea, because I knew I could go for the dinner portion of the evening, then leave when everyone else went to the get-stupid portion of the night. But then no one said they could make it to dinner – so we’re just doing the club stuff. UGH.
I hate clubs. Everyone gets skanky, the music is always too loud to allow for conversation, and men think it’s their god-given right to grope every woman on the dance floor. I can understand why everyone drinks at clubs – it’s the only way to forget that the club is dirty, the men are ugly, and that you’re not actually being social – because it’s too freaking loud to talk to anyone.
I cannot wait until my friends grow up enough to realize that this is not a good time. Having a few friends over, playing board games and having good food is so much more fun!
Darn it. Aforementioned friend just called – it is no longer a surprise. I have been invited to go with a group of people. This means I no longer get to drive myself and leave after a few minutes of saying hello – I’ll have to ride with everyone else.
I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, I DON’T WANNA.
I guess I should go shave my legs and spend forever doing my hair now. I don’t do this girl stuff well.
annoying.
I am still 4 years old.
Confession of the day: I am in my twenties and I still sleep with my teddy bear when when S. is not around.
My teddy bear was given to me when I was three, and it’s been with me ever since. I can sleep without it when my wonderful boyfriend is sleeping next to me, but otherwise I need it. When I went to Eastern Europe a few years ago I had to pack pretty frugally – so a giant stuffed animal wasn’t practical. But the first few days I was there I couldn’t sleep. I ended up sleeping cuddled up with a soft hoodie for three month. I never slept well next to other men either. It’s nice to cuddle, but I need some personal space when I sleep . But I can’t be completely alone on my side of the bed either. S. and I fall asleep with our bums touching. It’s the perfect amount of closeness.
It’s not just the bear, I also need to have the weight of a comforter on top of me(even on hot nights), and blankets have to be generous enough to tuck a little between my knees (otherwise my knees get all bruised from whacking into each other). And I also have to be on the right side of the bed. Facing the outside of the bed. This is sounding a little OCD. Well, that might be true :p
return from boring.
I was reminded by someone yesterday that blogs are supposed to have a format. If you don’t have one idea and stick with it, no one is going to stick with you. The exception to this is people who already like you – they’re likely to read anything you write, because, as mentioned, they already like you.
When I decided to make this thing, I was planning on having a format of:
Confession: something shocking.
-Explanation of something shocking.
But that lasted for what… 2 entries? Sad.
Last night, as I was following asleep I decided that my last entry was too whiny, and that I need to spice things up a little. So in the middle of the night, with all the lights turned off, I scribbled down things to talk about. Since the lights were off, my writing is all over the page, and on top of itself. And of course, the shocking things I wrote, really aren’t that bad.
Example: I love smelling books.
Embarrassing? yes! sort of? I guess so. Maybe.
Shocking? Not really. Maybe in the way that most people wouldn’t admit to something like that, but most people wouldn’t think negatively of me if they knew.
I guess I need to work on getting this blog to be a cohesive work of art. This is not simply a blog for my friend (otherwise I’d be posting on livejournal or somewhere similar). I so far have received 200 hits representing 12 countries and 20 states. Whooo! But not good enough.
Any advice on how to improve? What do you want to hear about?
Uh-Oh.
I just broke my laptop. I didn’t mean to. It just happened. And now I am sad.
BUT! I think I can fix it with some duct tape. Awesome.
Why is it that when one thing goes wrong others follow suit? Or is it that our awareness is heightened, so therefore things bother us more after the first one? Or maybe there’s some truth to the Apophenia experience: I am stressed about money, therefore when the car guy tells me I need to spend 600 dollars I don’t have on new tires, I freak out. This is on top of the $400 dollar repair I’ve known I’ve needed for a while, and an anticipated cross-country move with no job. Any other time my laptop dying wouldn’t be a big deal – it’s been on its way out for some time – but right now, since I’m already stressed about things, I sort of care. Oh well.
And since I don’t want to do too much whining, I am going to end this post with a cute joke S. sent me to cheer me up.
A man walks into his therapist’s office and sits down in the chair.
The therapist looks at him and says “Hi there, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you this week?”
The man thinks for a minute, then starts repeating “I feel like a teepee, I feel like a wigwam. I feel like a teepee, I feel like a wigwam”.
The therapist thinks for a while, then finally says “well, I’ve figured out your problem.”
“What is it?” asked the man
“You’re too tense” <— (say it out loud if you don’t get it immediately)
ps – you should totally try to hotlink to one of my pictures – it’s CUTE!
pathetic.
Living alone can be… lonely. Profound, huh? When I first moved to my present location I had two fabulous friends who helped me move. We road tripped down the eastern seaboard, stopping to hike and have a good time. When we arrived down south, they helped me pick out furniture, explore my new surroundings, and even forced me to be gutsy enough to ask my neighbor for the proverbial cup of sugar (it was really a pot, but close enough).
When they left, I was lonely immediately. I cried leaving the airport. I knew I was stuck here all alone. Not acceptable.
That night, I found S. I was just looking for a friend, but I found something so much more. A year later, he moved and I was alone again. During the time S. was here, I made friends with some girls from school, found them to be fake and horrible, and stopped being friends. Since then, I haven’t really been passionate about making new ones. I find that when I move somewhere new, I am motivated for a short while to reach out and find friends, but once I’ve been somewhere for a while it seems almost impossible.
I’ve been talking to someone the last few days about the things that we do to trick ourselves into thinking we have friends – even if we’re not doing it consciously.
The thing that sparked the above discussion was that this person decided that they were going to stop watching television in lieu of more productive things. This person suggested that I attempt the same. I protested. TV is one of the biggest things I have that keeps me from getting too lonely. While I watch other people interacting, I can pretend that I’m part of it, and thus, fake friends.
Doesn’t everyone who watches Sex and the City feel like they’re the fifth member of the crew? Don’t you feel like the 7th member of Friends? This is why the strike has been so hard – I’m not only lonely in real life, but I’ve been robbed of my weekly pretend interactions too.
I’ll hopefully be moving in a couple months. Okay – 4 or 5. Is it worth it to try to find real friends for that time period? Is it worth it to try to connect to another person who I am going to leave behind? I have friends all over the country. I miss them all! Is it better to make friends that you’ll have to leave, or just make it through the next few months?
I feel like the character in this sappy comic.
PATHETIC!
Ack :/
Scary neighbor man is at it again. Waking me up at 3am is not very nice!
I am not over exaggerating his scariness. I have recorded a sample of his fine work. You can listen to it here.
I am very tempted to slip an anger management group flier under his door.
It’s funny – I’ve had clients who were working with anger management issue before, and it didn’t intimidate me at all. But this guy, who I’ve never seen, scares the heck out of me!
