100 things about me

100. I am the eldest daughter of an eldest daughter of an eldest daughter.
99. I am a native Texan.
98. The only year I spent out of Texas was the year I spent in Minnesota.
97. I am an alum of Americorps.
96. My Americorps year was spent as a construction assistant with Habitat for Humanity.
95. I led a crew of volunteers in basement formation, as well as other exciting steps of construction.
94. I was an English major in college.
93. I graduated cum laude.
92. My GPA in my major was about a B.
91. My GPA in my minor was much higher.
90. My minor was Music.
89. I love music history, especially the Romantic era and 20th Century music.
88. I have too many favorite composers to have a single favorite.
87. I sang in an a capella choir in college.
86. I took guitar lessons in third grade, and all I remember is the e-minor chord.
85. I always wanted to take piano lessons.
84. When I started college, I didn't know how to read music. I kid you not!
83. My last semester was spent studying the piano innovations of Henry Cowell and John Cage.
82. I love taking black and white pictures.
81. For some reason, I don't take good B&W pics of people.
80. I miss having a lab and being able to develop my own pictures.
79. One of my pics was selected to be in an art show in college.
78. I write, but have gotten much worse about it since I started a blog.
77. I have one younger sister.
76. I have been to both Mexico and Canada, as well as Austria and Italy.
75. I love baking cookies.
74. I am vice-president for the board of a non-profit.
73. I am the youngest member of the board, by at least 10 years.
72. I am Presbyterian.
71. I belong to a small church, the only Presbyterian church with a female pastor in town.
70. I am currently church-hopping because my church is stagnant. However, I am representing my church on the board, so I still have to visit often.
69. I always vote, even in silly Constitutional amendment elections.
68. I am a progressive Christian.
67. I can't stand fundamentalist Christians (and have a low tolerance for the Southern Baptist church).
66. I went to a Southern Baptist school for elementary and middle school. Then I went to a public magnet school for high school.
65. I try to be an open-minded person.
64. I am a feminist, more liberal than radical. Yes, there is a difference.
63. It bothers me when people make derogatory remarks about feminists and feminism.
62. I have never done any drugs.
61. I hung out with the stoners in high school.
60. I didn't drink alcohol until I was legal.
59. I don't drink regularly, but I am a social drinker when I do.
58. I only like "fru-fru" flavored drinks, like margaritas, wine coolers and hard lemonade.
57. In Myers-Briggs jargon, I am an INFJ.
56. I am definitely an introvert.
55. I am a Democrat.
54. I met George W. Bush when I was in fifth grade. He thought I was a boy, and was embarrassed when I pointed out his error.
53. Even then, I knew I was a Democrat.
52. I have close friends in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Minnesota.
51. I have been to Las Vegas.
50. I won $25 by playing slot machines.
49. I love classic movies.
48. I have certain movies memorized, such as, "A Night at the Opera", "Bringing Up Baby", "The Princess Bride", "The Philadelphia Story", "Strictly Ballroom", and "Sleepless in Seattle".
47. I am a member of the Austin Film Society.
46. I subscribe to "Harper's" and "Mother Jones".
45. I used to subscribe to "Jane", until they hired Pamela Anderson to write a column.
44. My favorite museum is the McNay in San Antonio, although I've been to the Uffizi, Houston Museum of Art and Minneapolis Institute of Art.
43. I spent one afternoon in the Minneapolis Institute of Art just to enjoy the air conditioning. The art was a definite plus, though.
42. I know a lot of random trivia about pop culture.
41. I am a Simpsons addict.
40. Before college, I had never watched an episode of "The Simpsons".
39. I turned my family onto "The Simpsons" (I also introduced them to Veggietales).
38. Ralph Wiggum is my favorite incidental character, and Lisa is my favorite main character.
37. My favorite episode is when Lisa becomes a vegetarian.
36. I have memorized many episodes of the show.
35. I don't eat red meat.
34. My grandfather used to raise cows, and I stopped eating beef when he died.
33. I enjoy ice cream in any kind of weather.
32. I prefer wearing sandals to any other type of shoe.
31. I don't do high heels.
30. I sing while I drive.
29. I always have songs in my head.
28. Madeleine L'Engle is my favorite author. I also love Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Berg.
27. I'm a sucker for romantic comedies.
26. It's easy for me to love.
25. I've never been in love.
24. I went on an internet blind-date once. It was uncomfortable for all parties involved.
23. I remember chatting in a computer lab in 1996. My, how the internet has grown!
22. I used to have a member page on firefly (which has long been gone).
21. I'm very close to my family.
20. I used to own a guinea pig named Eve.
19. I love public radio and appreciate public television (but I hate pledge season on PBS!).
18. I used to babysit for the kids of an NPR reporter.
17. I'm soon to be a godmother/informal aunt.
16. I can make do with not very much, but just barely.
15. I believe in affordable housing!
14. I've given money to two presidential campaigns, and neither have been successful (Bradley and Dean).
13. I can't stand Wagner.
12. My favorite opera is "Le Nozze di Figaro", although Mozart isn't my favorite composer.
11. I love Peter Gabriel, Jeff Buckley, Guster, Fountains of Wayne, Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls, Kim Richey, Jonatha Brooke (and The Story), Paul Simon, Billy Joel, the Dixie Chicks, and Aimee Mann.
10. I sang "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" at my senior recital.
9. My Lent ritual is to listen to my soundtrack from "Jesus Christ Superstar".
8. I don't have a landline phone or internet access at my apartment, and yet I survive!
7. I love Christopher Guest movies, especially "Waiting for Guffman" and "A Mighty Wind".
6. I am a die-hard fan of "Gilmore Girls" and "Alias".
5. I get my hair highlighted.
4. My hair is naturally wavy.
3. When I was little, my mom used to cut my hair and it was very short.
2. I used to substitute teach and I taught one class "I Want a Hippopotomus for Christmas".
1. I have spent way too much time at work coming up with these 100 Things!

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Window of chapel at MoRanch, 2003.
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Mo-Ranch guesthouse, 2003.
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Chapel at Mo-Ranch, 2003.
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Mo-Ranch playground, 2003.
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When did I get so bad about keeping in contact with people?

Kimberly wrote me and told me that her best friend's mom committed suicide. I called her the same day I got the email telling me and realized I haven't talked to her in months! I saw her at Val's wedding, called her when I got my cell phone, and that's about it.

I used to be so good about keeping in contact. I think I got tired of being the one who always did. And this is what I get.

I really didn't know what to say when I called her, except "I'm sorry", of course. I've never met her friend or her friend's mom. I've heard about them some from Kimberly, but not enough to feel familiar with them. Apparently, the mother was very depressed and shot herself. It's really quite sad.

When she told me about the suicide, I instantly remembered one of the movies I saw at SxSW, Mind the Gap. There is a scene where one of the characters almost commits suicide, even holds a gun to his head. I couldn't watch, it seemed so difficult to grasp. I'm going to call Kim tonight to see how the funeral went. Because the family is Baptist, the service couldn't be at the church. She can be buried in the church graveyard, though. It doesn't make much sense to me.
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I heard Crowded House today

Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you. . .
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Athena


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I experimented with my mom's digital camera, and consequently ran the batteries out. Oops!
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She had loved her trip to Vienna, the buildings, generations-old, blackened in crevices by acid rain. She took a picture of a shopfront that she just knew was decorated by Klimt. The history espoused by the tour guides made her realize just how young her culture was. She liked the feeling she had of being an outsider to this culture. Riding the extremely clean subway, she said "Gesundheit" to someone who sneezed and this validated her for some reason. The other people in her group were so obviously American with their loud frat-boy, sorority-girl behaviour.

She thought she looked European, but not completely so. Someone had told her she looked like she was from Bulgaria, and she took the comment seriously. She knew when they got to Italy, no one would think she was American. And she was mostly right - she was ignored as much in Italy as she was in America. No one tried to steal her purse which she wore in a diagonal across her chest. No one whistled at her in her walks through Venice and Rome.

In Vienna, she stood in Mozart's apartment and pretended that she didn't understand what the guard was saying as she took a picture of the ceiling. Well, honestly, she didn't, but the motions he made were easy to decipher. She spent a day trying to find Beethoven's dwellings, to no avail.

The first afternoon she was in Vienna, slow and logy from jetlag, she stayed in the hotel room, trying to nap somehow. Her body was so confused; it was pointless. She stood on her balcony in the fine mist and breathed in and out, feeling the difference. The feeling of standing at that place at that time inspired her to write a poem. She stood on that balcony and felt a part of something greater. With her basic camera, she snapped pictures of the scene she viewed, creating her own version of a panorama.

She swore she would come back someday, her swear induced by her sleepiness and the foggy beauty of the scene.
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In the Image

I'm trying to finsh In the Image by Dara Horn before I have to turn it in on Saturday.

Ugh - I just checked to make sure and found out I had two books due yesterday! I hate having overdue books!

Anyway - I love this book. I can't figure out how I came to put it on reserve, but I'm so glad I did. The book is made up of sections and they all come to intersect somehow. Something that Bill saw in Amsterdam 50 years ago will be seen by Leora. It is not a difficult read, but very well-written. I feel like I know these characters. This book makes me want to write.

Yesterday at lunch I read one of the sections that tells the story of Bill's grandmother and was almost moved to tears. I may be a sucker when it comes to crying at movies, but I rarely get so moved by books.

The thing is, I wouldn't assume to have much in common with these characters. They are all Jewish and live or come to live in New Jersey/New York. The stories range from Europe in the 30s to New York nowadays. The book deals with such topics as spousal abuse, Jewish-American history, Spinoza, shell shock and Hasidism. And I am anxiously awaiting lunch so I can read more.

I think I'm going to have to buy it.
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I am a Barbra Streisand fan. I'm not a humongous fan - I can't gush about her songs and films, because I haven't seen or heard them all. However, I do tend to enjoy her performances in film. My sister gave me What's Up, Doc? on DVD for Christmas. Last night I watched Nuts, and I enjoyed it immensely. The plot is thus: Barbra plays an upper-class call girl who is on trial for her sanity. Richard Dreyfuss plays her lawyer, James Whitmore plays the judge determining her state of mind, and in a very disturbing turn, Karl Malden (one of my faves!) plays her abusive stepfather. If the judge decides she is insane, she gets placed in a psychiatric facility. If she is sane, she gets to go on trial for manslaughter and fight for her innocence.

I did not expect to get into this movie as much as I did (it's a lawyer movie, for one thing). However, the acting was just AMAZING and it sucked me into the story. It was worth staying up late for.
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Mind the Gap is not about a clothing store

Thursday night I saw Mind the Gap, which is the best non-documentary feature I saw at the festival. It tells the stories of five different people in different regions of the Northeast USA who all happen to converge in New York City at the end of the film. The only actors I recognized in it were John Heard (a very tiny yet relevant part), Alan King, and Jill "I Kissed a Girl" Sobule. There were two actresses I recognized from "Third Watch" and the new USA show "Touching Evil", but I don't know their names. The acting and writing in the film is great. The ending was wonderful, far from cheesy (than you!). Mind the Gap is a very touching film. One scene between a father and son got me slightly choked up. I really hope it reaches wide release so you all can see it. I LOVED it, and look forward to seeing it again very soon. I would even buy the DVD, and maybe even the soundtrack.

Friday I worked at the Dobie. I caught bits of Blackballed, a mockumentary about a man getting back into the world of paintball after being kicked out for "wiping". This film was definitely more of a guy film - the humor wasn't my style and the female characters were much lacking.

Saturday night (after seeing Art Alexakis (sp?) from Everclear at Registration), I worked at the showings of Luck and Straight Jacket. Luck is a small Canadian film about love, loss and gambling. I didn't think I would get so sucked into a gambling movie, but I did. I thought it was a great little film, with fine acting and some very humorous points. This film won the jury award at the festival, and I think it deserves it.

Straight Jacket was just too campy to be very funny. I was very disappointed with it, but oh well. It was a cute idea that just ran amok. I recognized the butler in it. . . I still haven't figured out where from.

So after the festival ended, I spent Sunday in, recuperating. I feel much better now. I couldn't believe how tired I was all last week. It's amazing how much energy socializing with large groups of people takes from me.
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Ha.

Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis.
"You do not know the power of the Dark Side."
There are two possibilities: you are a Star Wars geek, or you are unreasoningly scary.


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My life is rated PG-13.
What is your life rated?
I think that makes sense.
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Yes, I was surprised too

Mandy Moore and Macaulay Culkin are actually pretty good actors! I got to watch Saved last night while I was volunteering on film crew (I stood through most of it). I was surprised and pleased at the frankness of the film. It is a satirical film, but in some aspects it was dead-on. Having gone to to a private, Southern Baptist school for elementary school and middle school, I recognized some characters and events: the snotty girl who is "saved", the singing of praise songs in chapel, the pastor asking for kids to come down and be "saved". I think those factors were correct, and they almost shocked me in their truthfulness. Overall, I enjoyed the film and the acting. I felt it chickened out at the end, giving you a typical Hollywood ending to an otherwise atypical mainstream film. I'll have to recommend it.

I didn't get to stay for Dead and Breakfast. I took a fellow volunteer down to 6th street, since she was looking very pale from lack of food. I hope she got to her bar okay.

I had a strange and frightening thing happen to me while driving home on IH35. My eyes have been prone to itchiness lately, which I'm sure is allergy related. Last night, my eyes started burning while I was driving, and started tearing so much, they wanted to close completely. It totally freaked me out. There was no spot to pull over, so I got off at my parent's exit and was able to recoup at the stoplight there. Luckily my mom had eyedrops that worked. I don't know what caused it, but I've never had an attack like that before. Ack!

I met an interesting guy on my crew last night. He was surprised that I had a blog, and that people actually read it. Maybe he didn't get the voyeurism part of it. I'm kind of hoping to see him again. He was attractive in a strange way. . .
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Crown Heights, Ann Richards and a VERY strange movie

Last night I met Mel at the Dobie and we waited to see Crown Heights. While we were trying to figure out where to wait, we noted Erik Palladino (again!) and Mel thought she saw someone with hair like Ann Richards. Well, later in line I pointed out, it was Ann Richards. My theory is that she came to town to promote the BBQ film she narrates, made sure to catch Bush's Brain, and decided to see Crown Heights while she was here. It was a neat little film with a great story, albeit a tad cheesy in parts. I really liked the style of it, and the documentary we watched afterwards. Apparently it was made for Showtime and is on this month, so you might be able to catch it if you have Showtime. I'd recommend it - it's a good little made-for-TV film about one community's attempts to deal with the relations between Hasidic Jews and the African-American population.

As for I love your work, which we were able to catch right afterwards, I don't know. As an art film, it is awesome. The colors, costuming, set design, cinematography, and even some of the writing were all really good. Still, I found myself checking my phone for time and wishing it would end soon. When it did end, I didn't get it, although I did somewhat expect the ending to be what it was. But who was Nicky Katt's character, anyway? I might recommend seeing it when it's out on DVD. Or maybe watching it earlier in the evening would be better, too.

Tonight, I'm working during Saved and Dead and Breakfast(starring our fave, Erik Palladino!). I'm hoping to leave early once that one starts - I don't do horror films, even campy ones. I've heard good things about Saved, so we'll see.
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The Good, the Bad, and the Horrible

This weekend I volunteered at Registration for SxSW. My "touches with greatness":
- Eli Pariser from MoveOn.org asked me where to get a goodie bag.
- the New York Times Film Critics asked me where the Iron Cactus was. I told them to ask Information (I was working REGISTRATION) since I am unfamiliar with 6th Street. A. O. Scott got kinda pissy about that. Elvis Mitchell seemed ambivalent.
- and Erik Palladino, a.k.a. Dr. Dave Mellucci on ER, stood in front of us in line for Supersize Me. I think that was the most exciting moment of the day. If you are wondering, he is even cuter in real life!

As for the two movies I saw at the festival, here goes. I saw Supersize Me on Saturday night. It was awesome. It is a well-made film (although not great art), a very educational and somewhat disturbing documentary. When it opens nationwide, everyone should see it. You won't look at fast food the same way again! It made me very glad I don't ever eat at McDonalds, that's for sure.

I saw Young Adam on Sunday evening. This movie was TERRIBLE! It is like a soft-core porn flick, except the music is a little better. I watched an hour and fifteen minutes of it, and of that, I would estimate 50 minutes was sex. And it wasn't pretty Hollywood sex, it was way more than that. There was one scene that just disgusted me so much, I walked out of the theatre (I've never done that before). Ewan McGregor's character is a writer, attempting to work at home while his live-in girlfriend holds an office job. She comes home, angry at him for having such high ideals. He tells her he made custard today, and while she is in a state of undress, throws the custard at her. Then he pours other condiments on her, whips her, and ravages her. All through this, she makes a crying/laughing noise, but you don't know which it is. He leaves after having his way with her, then comes back and finds her in bed. He gets in bed with her and they cuddle. There is much more that happens in the film that I disliked, but this was just the last straw. I will admit, there were a few times I thought certain shots were well-done, but it wasn't enough to make me stay and watch.

Tonight I'm planning on seeing Crown Heights and I love your work. I'm hoping these are better. . .

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Whatchu talkin' 'bout?

Last night I made cookies, due to cookie pressure, and talked to K for about 2 and a half hours. Yes, that is pretty ridiculous. What can we talk about for so long?

Well, here were our topics:

1) her conversation with the principal that afternoon about the school choir program.
2) her maternity leave
3) planned names for baby - if it's a girl, Elizabeth Marie. That got me a little choked up. Well, that and the fact I was eating dinner.
4) family names or other suggested names that she will not name her child.
5) Starsky and Hutch, Hidalgo, and Johnny English
6) and then she spent an hour telling me the back stories of characters from One Life to Live (which I have recently gotten into), General Hospital (which I used to watch before Guza RUINED it. I miss my Skye!), and All My Children (which she watches and I don't). She knows more about ABC soaps than any other source I know of. She told me that (when her grandmother was alive) if you sat her grandmother, her mom and her down, they could tell you the story of All My Children from its modest beginnings on radio. I don't doubt it.
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Spalding Gray, 62, Actor and Monologuist, Is Confirmed Dead

Well, we pretty much expected it, but it's still sad news. I remember him mostly from Beaches, which is a somewhat corny movie. I associate it with my dead step-grandmother. We saw it during an elementary school spring break, or maybe it was during the summer. Either way, L wasn't with us for some reason. We were pretty much the only ones in the theatre, bawling our eyes out at the cheesy ending.

Spalding Gray, may God grant you peace of heart and mind, wherever you may be.
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Cookie Pressure

Both Bubby and Radmila have cookie recipes and pictures on their websites from this weekend. I think I'm going to have to make cookies tonight.
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One of my favorite songs

Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls

I'm trying to tell you something about my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
The best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously, it's only life after all
Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it, I'm crawling on your shore.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a B-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper
And I was free.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m.
To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
I woke up with a headache like my head against a board
Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before
I went in seeking clarity.


I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

We go to the bible, we go through the workout
We read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in a crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine


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Almost time

Well, SxSW starts next Friday. My volunteering starts very early Thursday morning as I help with bagstuffing. I've never been to the convention center, but I'm sure I'll be tired of it after my volunteering. I still haven't figured out my transportation for all my shifts yet.

My shifts at the Arbor are no more, which is somewhat disappointing. Now I am helping out at the Millennium Theatre, which is part of a youth complex in Central East Austin. It is funny - I remember in high school taking a phone survey about setting up a complex in East Austin. What would I like it to have? and questions like that. They probably figured since I lived in Northeast Austin I would use it. Then I forgot all about it, and now I get to volunteer there. Apparently it houses the largest rollerskating rink in central Texas, along with a bowling alley, cafe and theatre.

People get easily freaked out about East Austin, like it's all some danger zone. As I've lived east of IH35 all my life, I just don't see it that way. I love being close to central parts of town and I love the community. If you look at a map of Austin and where downtown is, most areas of East Austin should really be considered central Austin. Whenever a news crew covers something east of IH-35, it is always "East Austin". It's just ridiculous.

Anyway, the movies I will helping out at look interesting. One appears to be a horror film. I probably will not be staying to watch it, if I have an option to leave. I don't do horror films. At all. I blame it on seeing Trick or Treat with Ozzy Osbourne in 3rd grade. It scarred me for life as far as that genre of film goes. And I've never watched an episode of "The Osbournes" either.
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