cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

Work today was mediocre. I did a couple of really cool things, but still felt beat up on in general. It didn't help that I was so tired that I was almost cat-napping between blinks. I thought that I'd gotten enough sleep last night, but maybe not.

I left work in a kind of down mood and listened to the Nadas all the way home. I came home to a happy greyhound in the doorway and a big pot of lavender poofy flowers sitting on my laptop. Then, my darling husband took me out for french fries and we went to see "Up".

The trailers for that movie DID NOT DO IT JUSTICE! It's wonderful. I am glad that I had extra tissues because I needed all of them. Downwood didn't ask for any tissues, but I heard him sniffling in a couple places. It's one of the all-around better movies that I've seen. I don't know where Pixar is getting the magic for their films, but I hope that well never dries up.

We came home to a bouncy greyhound who decided that the boxes we brought inside were a terrifying threat that was going to eat her. Yes, she and Doug are about on the same level, though I don't think she'd hide under the porch because she loves us. She'd be up on our bed instead.

Today is ending much better than it began. I have the happy glow of a good story, some very pretty flowers on the counter, clean clothes to fold, and Downwood's making some cold-brewed coffee for tomorrow. These are all good things.

And now I go find tissues again because thinking about the movie is making the sniffles come back. Cross my heart.

Downwood and I went to see Watchmen last night. On our way home I said, "As an adaptation of the graphic novel, it was spot on. As a movie that the general population will like, probably not so much."

A major part of the story is that it's hard to tell who's "good" and who's "bad". That's just how the story was written. I think that this will either frustrate or confuse the majority of the movie-watching public. I happen to really like it. I enjoy moral ambiguity, compromise, refusing to compromise, and the sociopath who thinks that they're helping humanity. I think those are things that lead to great characters.

The effects were cool, the casting was brilliant, the costuming and sets were very well done. I'm glad that they kept to the tone of the comic - including keeping it in the Cold War. Yes, you could update it to be in 2001 after 9/11, but I think it would have lost some of the dramatic impact of the ending.

Speaking of the ending, ( but... )

If this is real, I may die of geeky joy.

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/10/28/neil-gaiman-to-produce-live-action-adaptation-of-the-graveyard-book/

In the middle of a day full of idiocies both large and small, I am forced to remind myself of things that are good.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
I woke up earlier than normal this morning so that I could watch Act 1 before work. Unsurprisingly, I love it. Neil Patrick Harris is a struggling mad scientist and Nathan Fillion is Captain Hammer, Corporate Tool. It's a little laggy to watch at work (not that we're supposed to be streaming radio, much less video), but it makes me smile.

Yes, I'm cheering for the so-called "evil" side. I know it's Captain Tightpants, but NPH in goggles and lab gloves makes for better daydreams. Acts 2 and 3 might change my fangirling, but so far I'm hoping that Dr Horrible clobbers Captain Hammer in a fantastic dance number at the end.


Hellboy II
Yes, there were characterization problems. But you know what I say to that? I DON'T CARE THERE WERE EVIL FAIRIES AND TROLL MARKET AND EEEEEEEEEE!

Ahem.

I liked this movie. It was totally over the top for cheesy comic book violence and the plot was a little lacking in places, but I adored it. Why? The visual WHOA of del Toro's mind made real. The Troll Market and the interactions with the other denizens of ScaryLand gave the dark fairy tale side of my brain food for months. It was just as pretty as Pan's Labyrinth, but had more of the supernatural in it.

And as I mentioned to Downwood: "If you don't think that the _________ is showing up in the Chronicles game, you have another thing coming."


The Five Love Languages
This is a relationship book by Gary Chapman. The premise is that there are 5 general ways that people try to show others that they care: nice words, buying gifts, quality time, physical touch, and acts of service. The advice part of the book is how to speak your spouse's language so that they hear that you love them, even if it's something that you don't think sounds important.

This works. This SO works. I read the book, then handed a couple chapters to Downwood. He still doesn't understand why I jump him and tell him he's made me totally happy when he surprises me by mopping the kitchen floor without being asked. To me, that shouts LOVE, but he doesn't hear it that way. In the last two weeks, we've gotten so much better at speaking the other's language. It's amazing.


D&D 4th Edition
For the first time, I felt like a badass at first level.

Let that sink in for a moment. I wasn't afraid that a house cat was going to kill the entire party. We were able to use cool abilities often in combat. We played for 7 hours straight and it only felt like a fraction of the time - super engaging and fast-paced.

I was trying out the new Warlord class and totally fell in love with it. It's convenient to be able to command an ally to take an extra attack ("Hit him again! Harder!"). It's awesome to have a daily attack that does triple damage and gives everyone around you a +3 to hit. This is not to say that the other classes don't have sweet features - unlimited eldritch blasts and double-attacks were cool - but I really like the way the warlord fits in.

And it's always cool when the bad guys get orders to attack the halfling first instead of the half-dragon because the halfling is causing more problems. Though, that could have also been due to the Immobilized Club and a limited number of things to throw. You can never have too many throwing axes. I'm just sayin'.

Downwood's been working on the brick dungeon and learning the rules. Hopefully, there will be an ongoing dungeon crawl in the near future. "Who built this dungeon, why did they put traps everywhere, and who the heck let in the critters? Who cares - we're still getting paid!"


Dancing
I hurt. Last night was technique review on undulations, so we did about a thousand of them. It was So Much FUN! I tried to watch myself a little objectively (have no idea how successful I was), but I can see that I've come a very long way in the last year. Things that I had to practice over and over are now easy.

I need to start doing daily shimmy drills if I want to get better. I'm not sure what moves I need to hammer into my alligator brain - maybe X-step and overwalk, since those are still awkward - but I can do all the hipwork patterns and play zils accurately the whole time, so that's a VAST improvement over where I was in September.

My legs are still attached, though they've been threatening to fall off every Tuesday and Friday since the middle of June. Lately, my abs have started to get in on the complaints. I look at this as a good thing.

Downwood and I have our tickets for Iron Man tonight. We're going to the Star Cinema at 8 - probably try to get there ~7:30 for seats...maybe a little earlier. If you wish to join, you may want to buy your tickets in advance.

Website of theater


Yay!!

I realize that this is incredibly late notice, but does anyone in the Mad-town area have Victorian style clothes that would fit me that I could borrow? We're going to see Sweeney on Friday night and I would dearly love to go in costume, but have neither the time nor experience to whip up that era of garb. I could do a Ren-y set in an evening if I had to, but I've never even attempted that style.

Also, being the good little Gaiman fangirl that I am, we went out last night and picked up a copy of Stardust on DVD. This movie makes me ridiculously happy on very many levels and I'm ecstatic that I'll be able to have it with me at my grandparents' over the weekend. I may be watching it on a laptop, but I'll be able to escape my mother for a couple hours if I really have to.

Back to work with me!