The Host

Wow, what a fun movie! My partner and I went Friday. Granted, we were under a bit of chemical influence, but The Host would've held up regardless. The movie's Korean sensibilities offered a pleasantly dizzy mix of childhood sweetness, frights and comedy. I think the culture's affection for ancestral ghosts also flavored the ending in a way that may have made it a happy ending by Korean standards, but bit sad for us bubbly Americans.
The remainder of the weekend was not so fun. Work on Saturday -- two interviews, blessedly interesting -- followed by chores and errands. And breaking the coffee carafe, which mandated another errand: running to Bed Bath & Beyond at Gallery Place for a new coffee maker. Between the two of us, we average one broken coffee carafe every two years. This new Cuisinart dealio should protect us though; no carafe.
We hit Halo Saturday night for Dougie Fresh's birthday. He looked so happy, and not at all older. Blowoff was supposed to follow, but the crowd at Halo -- on top of the day's chores -- left me in no mood to Blowoff. At least domesticity guaranteed I still got laid. Sunday, took dear old Auntie Alex to Whole Foods. Her regular ride is in the hospital. Tho so many Sunday evenings find us at JR's, we stayed home. It seems, to my sour grapes, that both Blowoff and JR's were mucho fun this weekend.

Stanton, Smith and Largo FL

As a former Floridian -- Port Richey and Tampa -- I'm often interested in news from the area. Considering former classmates sometimes provide the local controversies, you can't blame me. But I just came across news of Largo's city commissioners voting 5-2 to fire the city manager, Steve Stanton, for announcing that he plans to transition to female. As if that weren't enough, Nadie Smith of Equality Florida -- perhaps the most influential LGBT leader in the state -- was violentely thrown to the ground by police officers and arrested for handing out a flier at a Stanton hearing, I believe, reading "no discrimination." I am dumbfounded by both actions. If this story was coming out of Iran, I could believe it. But unless Largo is in the clutches of former Nazis hiding out in their 'golden years' as Floridian retirees, I just don't get it. This news out of Florida is sickening.
Read all about it: http://justiceinlargo.com/

no amsterdam

I was looking at fares, hoping to get Fernando and me to Amsterdam in the fall. We really, really like Amsterdam. But Euro fares are crazy right now. We're used to paying between $400-$500. But for early November, it's going to be closer to $700-$800. About $300 of which is fees and taxes. It also seems impossible to find out who you're paying for what, between flyover fees, landing fees, etc. I'm all for worthwhile taxes, but international passengers seem to get screwed on the deal. I should clarify, by saying Atlantic passengers. We've dumped the Amsterdam weekend notion for a Thailand week. A premim economy seat with the best cabin crews on earth, 17 hours from JFK to BKK, is about $1400. And this is not cramped into a US Airways 767. This is Thai's spankin' new A340-500, in a cabin with 42 inches between seats and a billion some channels of video on demand. And free booze. Plus, the 17,000+ miles are what we're really after to keep our "silver preferred" status on US. Air travel isn't much different from bus travel these days, so the preferred perks are needed just to keep the experience from getting any worse.
Now, back to work.

Today is a good day...

...if for no other reason than the news the DreamWorks is planning to make Tintin movies! Tintin is my childhood hero. My father would read me the stories of the little Belgian reporter in the original French, in hopes of teaching me the language. Though he bought a crate of the books, and don't think we had more than two of these little lessons. But 30 years hence, I still have most of the books and all of the love. I'm fairly certain Tintin is the reason I went into journalism. I can only hope that DreamWorks won't make it a live-action affair. So much of the Tintin's charm lies in Herge's rendering of him.
For more, the official English-language site is here: http://tintin.francetv.fr/uk/

hump day

And I am nearly over the hump. This issue has been particularly sad. First of all, two of the news stories are about people who have died recently, one of whom I met. Meanwhile, the woman who works the front desk of our building is gone, presumably down to Mississippi for her grandfather's funeral. Like my pals, Brent and JT, in Atlanta for JT's sister's funeral. Then there's my boss, out of town to visit his mother, dealing with her husband's newly discovered and very agressive brain tumor. Oh, and then there's my friend Claudia, about to depart for Florida and a visit with her mother and step-dad, who is fighting a very agressive cancer himself, with a bleak prognosis.
Thoughts of mortality always remind me of "The Crisis of Desire: AIDS and the Fate of Gay Brotherhood." It's one of the most touching memoirs I've ever read, written by Robin Hardy, published posthumously with the help of his friend, David Groff. While somewhat morbid at first glance, Crisis is ultimately enlightening and beautiful. I'm also reminded of Mark Matousek's "Sex Death Enlightment," which I just recommended to a friend in advance of her upcoming trip to India. Enlightenment never read so well.

Tuesday crunch

The Boomtown Rats hate Mondays, but not like I hate Tuesdays. Deadline-wise, it's the worst day of my week. I shouldn't even be on here. There is no time. So back to work. I'll miss you.

Bob Hattoy has died

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Stitch in time and my leg

with the family history of skin cancer, i thought it prudent to have this little cyst thingy on my leg removed. especially after the mutha's xmas-time observation: "that looks angry." no muss, no fuss, and it was out -- three stitches in its place. and a warning from my adorable dermatologist, dr.howard: no cardio for two weeks. so last week, i was just like, 'fuck it.' i gave up on the gym altogether and ate crap. monday, back at the gym to lift weights, rapidfire, i was dismayed by my skyrocketing weight. by today, friday, i've managed to shave off four of the gained pounds. but damn, this aging shit is no fun. my biggest indulgence this week has been a banana nut muffin this morning. but the bananas were rotting! i had to cook something with them! and now I head into the weekend, starting with big morroccan dinner tonight. oy. tho i cannot do cardio at the gym, dr.howard says i can walk all i want. so maybe a long long long walk will take the edge off? or a quick trip to thailand for emergency liposuction? damn my body type! at least, in my pettiness, i'm gratified when i see you hot-torso bitches trying to work those chicken legs into something. you suffer the inverse of my hot calves/fat torso curse. but you get the last laugh, as the aformentioned stitches were sewn into one of those pretty calf muscles, leaving me with this little pucker scar. you win.

so far, so good

the magazine for which I write publishes every thursday. accordingly, every thursday morning i walk to work fearful that I've made some huge mistake -- or even a minor one, onto which some single person may latch. there is a certain stress that comes with working in a public arena, wherein it's not just your boss who sees your mistakes, but everyone. but so far, so good -- no complaints.
i can now focus the day's anxiety on my 2pm dental check-up, tho i love my dentist. i don't know that i've got anything to worry about, but it's been more than a year since my last check up. and ever since getting one of my front teeth knocked out in Portland, years ago, it seems my mouth has not been the same. and i really like my mouth. damn this mortal coil.