From a gal whose brain cells work faster than her fingers. (Sometimes.)
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How do you tell people that they're idiots without telling them that they're idiots? I guess you can't. The whole thing about if you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all...takes too much self-restraint, heh.
I'm really not a violent person, but sometimes you just want to reach over and smack someone and ask, "WTH is wrong with you?" Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, that's my conclusion.
But you can't say that to a friend's face.
Confessions of a perfume-a-holic and sometimes ebay addict. Ebay is simply wonderful when it comes to that almost extinct item that's personally sentimental for you.
A friend gave me a bottle of perfume in high school. No fancy name brand, no expensive prices - just a B&BW EDT, actually. It came in a little green package of matching lotion and soap (I still have the soap, BTW). But it was apparently a limited edition. Now, those who aren't attached to a fragrance or aren't perfume fanatics may not be able to relate, but I've been totally obsessed with this scent ever since and can't bring myself to use up the bottle that I do have, which is lingering around half full. Time and time again I'd search on ebay to see if anyone would happen to have a bottle for bid, but the search was never successful, and I'd pretty much given up on finding it ever again. Even contemplated shelling out beaucoup money one day to have someone at some artsy perfume house to mix it for me. That type of thing usually costs upwards of hundreds of dollars, just so you know the extent of my suffering.
Except, I found it a few days ago. A brand new bottle, full, still in its original packaging, the only one of its kind, on ebay. Wasn't even really looking for it but searched it just for the heck of it. When I saw it, how could I resist? Guess how much I paid? $10, including shipping. It was worth more than that over a decade ago, and it's definitely worth more than that to me.
It arrived today, and at least for a little while longer, I have my signature scent back.
The doctor who's been treating me for the hives/dermatological problems just called me a few minutes ago to tell me the results of my blood test (which is normal), and to ask me how my hives have been doing since their reoccurrence a few days ago. I told her they've been getting much better since she put me on both Claritin and Benedryl. She wanted me to come in this week anyway so she can check to see how they're progressing.
Throughout the time I've been seeing her for my various ailments, she's always been nice, cheerful, caring, thorough, optimistic, and a fun person to visit. Always motherly, but not too much so you'd think she's your mother. She cares, and you know she does.
I loved the doctor who examined my vision (as blogged here months ago), and my previous gynecologist too (who was always very nice and took the time to remember details about her patients) - all women, BTW - but I think this new doctor has just replaced them to be on the top of my list. Even back in the NE, the doctors always sent out form letters to tell me my lab tests came out normal. But which doctor actually takes the time out to call you personally, after hours even, to tell you the results and to ask how you're doing?
If only all the doctors in the world are this way.
No water for the past 3+ hours now, no explanation why. Called the landlord, her contract plumber, and the sewage & water board about it. No one seems to be doing any work on this building or around here that would explain why there's no water. Thought I was alone until I checked with my neighbor, who doesn't have water either.
If we still don't have any water tonight, looks like I'll have to do my washing up at school (!). Eventually I'll have to take a shower...
ETA: The water's back; they were apparently doing some work blocks away and turned off the water to our entire building, but no one told us. Good to have water, except it's coming out a nasty brownish color. I've let it run for a while too. No way am I taking a shower or washing my dishes in that!
So sleepy today. Woke up at 5 am to turn off the heater - it had gone on all night, and by 5 it was getting more dry than warm - and couldn't fall back to sleep until the real wake-up time, which was 7:30 am. What gives? Why couldn't I fall back I asleep? It wasn't as if I got up to do calculus and exerted brain power. It was a stumble to the thermometer to the temperature down.
Of course, when 7:30 rolled around, I felt sleepy and snoozed the alarm to get just 10 more minutes of sleep. Would've loved to get that 2.5 hours. 
Well folks, I went with "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" instead, partly because it has been such a beautiful weekend andI had get downtown (where I hadn't been in some time).
Not sure what I was expecting of the movie, or if I was expecting anything, except quirky. And quirky it was. For those expecting a conventional movie, or those adverse to genre fusions, they'd probably hate the movie. In front of the theatre, one comment card I read stated, "The Life Aquatic was the most terrible movie I've ever seen."
I wouldn't say that. But...are you expecting me to say, "But it wasn't the most fantastic movie I've ever seen, either"? I wouldn't say that either.
Ok, I did say it just now, but it's not what I meant. I am not sure you can give this film a thumbs up or thumbs down. It's kinda beyond that. And for you to enjoy this movie, you must go in with an open mind. Free of expectations for the plot, the actors/actresses, the FX, everything.
This hadn't been on my list of "to see" movies, but a spur of the moment last week prompted me to look more into it. It is replete with actors whom I respect and who are respectable: Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Owen Wilson. If that's not enough to pique one's curiosity, how about a soundtrack made of almost entirely of David Bowie's songs, but performed by Seu Jorge, acting both as one of Steve Zissou's crew and as a live soundtrack, all in Portuguese?
Sure, the movie had some slow parts, but other tidbits were
laugh-out-loud hilarious. In a remotely "Monty Python" sort of way.
Plot? That's easy enough to find out, but it doesn't tell you the whole
story. Oh, and for fans of the cult classic "Harold and Maude," Bud Cort has an amusing role in this movie. Sadly, I've never seen "Harold and Maude." Now that one is on my to-see list. More sadly, I was hoping to have seen Bud Cort as Harold before I've seen him in something else.
To my delight, I recognized a voice that sounded like Rod Argent of The Zombies. It was, as confirmed by the credits. You'll want to stay for the credits. Especially the part about who Steve Zissou really is. And when you read it and laugh about it, then you really get what this whole movie is about.
Update on Firefox: I like it so far. Better than IE, even though it has smaller fonts. Firefox seems to load up and close itself 90% quicker than IE does, and it's been smooth sailing. Took a bit of practice to get used to some new keyboard shortcuts, but that's no big deal. Firefox also has a built-in pop-up blocker that seems to be working quite well.
I can't decide what movie I'd like to see this weekend - "Phantom of the Opera," or "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou"? Too bad I missed "A Very Long Engagement" as today was its last day playing at the indie theatre.
Out of curiosity, this afternoon I downloaded the Firefox browser from Mozilla (or as someone I know called it, "Godzilla"). Mozilla goes way back - I wonder if anyone is still using the Mosaic as browser?
Anyway, Firebox seems to resize all the webpages I visit and makes them smaller, as when you set your desktop to a higher resolution to free up more space. I'm not sure I like this shrinking but it's the only complaint I have of it, so far. It's nice to have tabs on top for the various pages rather than all these windows crowding the task bar on the bottom. Otherwise it works pretty much like IE. It's also nice that it doesn't take forever to load up like Netscape used to on Windows systems, thanks to Firefox's minimalist approach (so I've heard).
Another good thing about it is I can finally see all the pull-down menus on mo'time, i.e. for the fonts and smilies. For some reason IE never let me see all of the selections. Not sure what IE's problem was.
Will test this out for a while and see how well it works.
ETA: 2 more complaints.
1) The bookmark folders in Firefox can't be unalphabetized, whereas IE's could. Within individual folders one could rearrange the link order, but you can't touch the folder order here. I like to have my bookmark folders arranged a certain way, with the most accessed on top, regardless of alphabetical order.
2) I used to be able to bold, italicize, or underline text by pressing CTRL + whatver in this edit window. Doing the same using Firefox performs other commands. I like using my keyboard for shortcuts and dislike having to click all these buttons.
Spent my whole weekend doing some work, but certainly not enough, and just generally lazing around. After a week of classes I'm still not back in the mode yet. Or just don't feel like it.
Neighbors all around have been doing work in their yards, houses, etc. which make very noisy days. Ah, noise pollution.
The one damn squirrel is still running from the ceiling to the walls and clawing/chewing its heart out when it wants to. I do think it has learned my tricks to scare it off and doesn't pay attention when I thump or open the drawers anymore. On my part, I've learned to ignore it some of the time and am now hoping it digs a tunnel to my downstairs neighbor's apartment and bug him while he's trying to sleep, so he can get a taste of his own medicine.
Blueberry cheesecake muffins today. Yum! I think I've found my favorite baking mix company in Martha White. I don't even have to have eggs to bake its muffin mixes. Its lemon poppy seed muffin was awesome last time. That's 2 for 2!
A fun article on crossword puzzles, courtesy of the BBC.
This ain't for sissies!
I will confess to skipping over the cryptic ones and the make-your-own-grid ones. Perhaps it is too much "civilization" for this beginner.
I don't understand why it takes at least 2 months to get an appointment with a doctor in this country. It's looking like March 31 before I can see anyone. Yet, the US has some of the most expensive health care costs in the world, with no state-sponsored medical programs, no universal health insurance - even the student health insurance I'm paying is costing a pretty penny with a high deductible. We charge people with insurance practically nothing for medication, but an arm and a leg for those who don't but probably most needing it. And we're supposed to be the most powerful, civilized society in the world?!
Low-down: There's some other stuff too, but my main concern right now is the rash/hives I've been having. The itching I had before break became full-blown hives during break, so bad that I had big splotches of red and bumps and had to see a dermatologist, who then put me on a cocktail of antihistamine, oral steroid, and topical steroid. (Aside: We made sure to find a Chinese doctor because, as my dad correctly predicted, Chinese doctors can almost always see you the day of - not for the lack of business, either. Go figure. Not that I have the liberty of doing that in this friggin' city.) Anyway, after that regimen, I've been slowly improving; can sleep at night somewhat better now but the hives seem to have moved around, from my arms to my thighs, then to my calves, now to my shoulder blades and lower back. Moisturizing doesn't always help, thus on with the steroids cream, which will definitely be out by the end of March.
2 more months, that's almost to the end of the semester! I'll be an itching mess by then.
Sorta got called as a "know-it-all" by my prof in one of my classes today. Fact is, I didn't know it all. But it's better than not being prepared and getting called out for unpreparedness, isn't it?
Recall the long debate I had with myself about which seminar to take - well, that proved to be futile, as I've decided to drop the one I ended up with (which satisfies the writing requirement to graduate) because I'm just not passionate enough about the topic to argue or BS in class like everyone else does. The mandatory paper seems too long and would require too much work on my part. Last but not least, I detest speaking in class, and the entire class is discussion-driven. Not everyone wants to be a litigator, you know, and that's why I won't mind sitting behind a desk all day and do paperwork or counsel clients on an individual basis. I'm much better in a small, more informal setting.
Unfortunately, the flaw of all law schools is that they treat everyone as if they all want to be prosecutors/defense attorneys and argue like they do on Law & Order. Been there, seen that, and frankly not interested to argue in a court room. Not that I'm knocking the court room experience - it's great fun to watch lawyers perform and argue the cases, but it's a different matter when you're the one doing it.
