Wow, so why has nobody invented this before?
Side note: I love her dress.
Two more sites I fell for recently:
• I Heart Luxe - so, while I have lovely things and purchase judiciously, I can’t exactly afford a lot of the items that are considered “luxury”, like a designer handbag or $800 shoes. But, I’m slowly evolving my ideas of simple luxury - the richness, even sumptuousness that can be found in daily life, a sort of less-is-more attitude, with a side of really great hot chocolate. And on that note . . .
• 3191 - Two women are photoblogging their (early) mornings, and their pictures are just lovely - they’re inspiring me to get up a little earlier and enjoy the luxury of a quiet, unrushed morning at home. Maybe I’ll even make myself a latte before work one of these days.
Oh, I should mention. It snowed last night, and we actually got accumulation, and it’s very cold out so I think it’s staying. We didn’t get more than an inch or two, but it makes everything look clean for at least a day or so.
In the land of my upbringing, it snowed early and snowed often. Last winter we had a record blizzard for NYC. And this winter has included 70-degree January days. So I’m still trying to sort out what winter in New York City actually is. One thing is certain; winters in Albany are a whole lot worse.
It was a somewhat edited weekend, with work cutting in at all angles and reducing it a bit. But some much-needed R & R was spliced in.
Right.
We, very late on Friday night, watched Dirty Pretty Things. We’d both heard of it but neither of us had seen it; however, I’d recently interviewed Stephen Knight, the writer, about his work on Amazing Grace, so we wanted to see it. We had differing reactions but I think we both liked it. Audrey Tatou is divine. This is the first time I’d hear her in English; of course, she had a Turkish accent, but it worked.
Saturday was a lot of feeling under-the-weather and trying to survive; Tom was at “the office” all afternoon and I dragged myself into Soho to try and find an inexpensive suit for a presentation I have to give this week at Columbia. I did not succeed and felt more miserable for trying, but I did pick up two enormously expensive and heavy two-terabyte hard drives from the Apple store for the film project (not bought by us, thankfully) and lugged them to BAM, to get tickets for Edward Scissorhands, and then convinced a cab driver that yes, he could drive ten blocks to my apartment. And then we brought food to our friends the Pesnells, who just had a baby twoish weeks ago. She is beautiful and tiny.
Possibly most notable event of the weekend: the first disc of the American version of The Office came (I was torn - British? American? - but being in an office right now in America, I opted for the latter, plus, Steve Carrell!!!). I watched the first four episodes, including the pilot, and giggled. Exactly my kind of humor, exactly appropriate.
Jim: If I got promoted, then this would be my career. If this was my career, I’d throw myself in front of a train.
We had lunch after church yesterday with Angela and her friend/neighbor who’d come to church with her, and we had fascinating conversations and then bolted across town so Tom could interview a set intern and I could run errands. Tom bought long underwear; necessary in this weather when you’re outside for 12 hour days, just standing and yelling “Quiet on the set!” repeatedly. And then we came home and I slow-cooked baby back ribs (ridiculously easy) and we whiled the evening away on our laptops.
Speaking of, Tom is on Day 1 of shooting Cult of Sincerity today, so if you see him in Williamsburg, holler. Or don’t, rather, but wave. He’s the assistant director.
Things you should check out:
• 8apps - I think I’m addicted to online productivity tools, and I think it’s Ken’s fault. In any case, this one is one of the more full-featured I’d seen. Add me if you see me on there.
• I love these sheets!
• Because I like to talk about awards: the Bloggies nominations are up. Sometimes a good way to just find a good new blog to read.
• Web design in 2006 roundup.
• The recipe I used for our baby back ribs. Insanely easy.
For my still Troy-bound buddies who are unaware, there’s a food co-op trying to open in Troy this fall. I think this may potentially do awesome things for that town.
I never technically lived there, but I spent upwards of 12 hours a day there during four years of undergrad. I predict: 15 years, and Troy will look at least a little like my current Brooklyn neighborhood. It has the architecture for it, and the businesses and communities are gathering.
I initially read the headline of this article and thought them darn Brits!, but this bit convinced me they might be right:
“We have asked designers, model agencies and image makers to respect this responsibility and to use only healthy models for their collections. Additionally, we recommend that only models aged 16 or over are used,” the council said in a statement.
“We believe that regulation is neither desirable nor enforceable. What will make a difference is the commitment of the fashion industry to change attitudes through behavior and education.”
Mmhmm. I’ve heard stories of 80-square-foot apartments in NYC with no kitchen and a hall bathroom (i.e., a dorm room) going for $900 a month, but people do it to be able to live in Chelsea/the Village/whatever.
For perspective, the main living area of our apartment is just over 200 square feet, with a postage-stamp kitchen and a similarly sized bathroom (though, we do have a bathtub). We briefly considered a 200 square foot place (including kitchen and bathroom) in a stellar location in the Village (on Horatio Street) and with exposed brick, but someone got it before we did.
Funny thing is, the picture makes it look vaguely roomy.
I’m not going to do picks, because honestly, I think a lot of these are great nominations. But I will offer my unsolicited opinions. Click below to see them.
Not a lot to say today, except I saw a funny movie last night (Starter for 10, out February 23), and I had some yummy curry pork noodle soup for dinner with my aunt last night. She was in town for a performing arts conference of some kind, as she does something relatively significant in SUNY Albany’s performing arts hall administration. (I don’t know her title, but she used to pretty much run the Egg.)
It also flurried a bit. Like little goose feathers.
I plan to be more consistent about blogging, as I’ve realized lately that I let work take over my life sometimes ::blush:: and all I have to do is say “no” sometimes. So, hi! We’re back.
We spent the weekend mostly hanging out with people, including dinner with the Walkers on Saturday night at our apartment. Ken had a grand old time with my new little compy, fiddling and discovering new and exciting features.
Speaking of the new computer, oh, how I heart it. It’s like everything we ever talked about in Human-Computer Interaction classes as examples of UI defects in Windows are nonexistent on a Mac, right down to toggle behaviors. And the widgets? Brilliant! I tried to install a Windows widget program on one of my machines a few years ago, but it ate so much memory that I had to uninstall to use Photoshop.
At Brandon’s suggestion, I’ve installed both GIMP and Open Office (well, NeoOffice, actually). I haven’t had enough time with GIMP, but the fact that it’s free may make it win over Photoshop for now, by default. And the very fact that OpenOffice is not made by Microsoft (and it looks pretty darn awesome on the screen) makes me happy.
Three notes of somewhat interest:
• Burnside Writers’ Collective has an intriguing article about Anne Rice, her conversion, and her ideas on faith and art.
• The title of this made me laugh, having recently watched Bridget Jones’ Diary.
• Apparently the Vatican has the highest per-capita crime rate in the world. This sounds shocking until you realize that the population there is 492. Lots of purse-snatchings, apparently. (Lots of tourists.) Via Relevant.
Any suggestions for good places to print business cards? I’m talking about something a little better than a Kinkos, where I can send a file (probably an Illustrator file or similar) and get prints. For a decent price.
I’ve been hearing great things about Cormac McCarthy’s new book The Road, so much so that I’ll probably read it sometime in the next year, but I also hear you should read some of his earlier work first. Well tonight I came across this sweet little excerpt from No Country for Old Men.
Here a year or two back me and Loretta went to a conference in Corpus Christi and I got set next to this woman, she was the wife of somebody or other. And she kept talkin about the right wing this and the right wing that. I aint even sure what she meant by it. The people I know are mostly just common people. Common as dirt, as the sayin goes. I told her that and she looked at me funny. She thought I was sayin something bad about em, but of course that’s a high compliment in my part of the world. She kept on, kept on. Finally told me, said: I don’t like the way this country is headed. I want my granddaughter to be able to have an abortion. And I said well mam I don’t think you got any worries about the way the country is headed. The way I see it goin I dont have much doubt that she’ll be able to have an abortion. I’m goin to say that not only will she be able to have an abortion, she’ll be able to have you put to sleep. Which pretty much ended the conversation.
So, guess what? I write to you from my new MacBook Pro, which I have yet to name but suspect I shall (we named our wireless router “Gromit”).
I’m so twentieth century.
For this brief moment, at least . . . it’s snowing here in Park Slope.
Here’s edition 1 of “What the Wilkinsons Watched”.
I have no idea what I watched last year and decided that was no good - I track what I read, don’t I? So we’ve both been tracking what we watch (me in the back of a wee little moleskine).
A few notes before we begin:
1. It may seem that we only watch movies. Not true; we do watch a lot, but we tend to spend a lot of time thinking and talking about them afterwards. Some people watch TV in the evenings . . . we watch movies.
2. It may seem that we only watch bizarre, inaccessible, or foreign films. Not true; but sometimes those are the ones we like.
3. With very few exceptions, we watch all movies together so as to foster dialogue.
As I will state over and over again, please check ratings of movies to see if they meet your standards before you watch them. We’re a filmmaker and a film critic, so we see stuff that not everyone perhaps wants to see.
January 1
Training Day - To start off the year, an undercover narcotic cop movie. We seem to see a lot of these, or maybe it just is a good topic for a movie. In any case, I liked it. Not for the faint of heart.
Pan’s Labyrinth - We were vaguely disappointed, based on the hype. Taken as a fairy tale, it’s more acceptable, but I wanted an extension to the story, more lore, more to dig into. I wanted to care more. Plus, there was a lot of the gross-out factor. The bit with the mandrake was good.
January 2
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - We saw trailers for this way back when, but only got around to seeing it now. It was actually very good. If nothing else, it will give you a great appreciation for the relative humanity of the American healthcare system. Funny in places. A must-see for anyone in the medical industry.
January 3
Door in the Floor - So, this was great, but the best part was how literary it was. There’s a splendid section in the DVD special features where John Irving talks about adapting novels to film, and he’s just profound and insightful.
January 4
The Proposition - Again, not for the faint of heart. However, I loved it and fully understand why it ended up on a lot of “best of” lists. A western set in the Australian outback, written by singer Nick Cave. Beautifully shot and disturbing.
January 5
M.A.S.H. - The IFC center is having a Robert Altman retrospective in honor of his passing this December. I’d never seen M.A.S.H. (either the film or the TV series), but when I worked for Bill Womer back in college he used to call me “Radar” and I never got it. Now I do. Plus, this was thoroughly enjoyable. I suspect it’s a bit more crass than the TV show, but the acting . . . ahh, superb.
January 7
Shortcuts - Another Altman. This made me suddenly understand why P.T. Anderson is considered Altman’s heir. It’s based on an assortment of Raymond Carver short stories, which threw me for a loop. I’d read a few in college but forgotten them, and suddenly I knew what was going to happen on screen and I thought perhaps I’d developed ESP. No, it turns out, my subconscious just logged the stories without my conscious picking up on it. Lily Tomlin & Tom Waits are great as a drunk couple with a serious love/hate relationship.
January 11
Bridget Jones’ Diary - I watched this alone for about the millionth time while I was cleaning up the apartment. Tom gave me this and 10 Things I Hate About You for Christmas (with a note, “From Your Own Mr. Darcy”) because he knows I love them. Bridget makes me laugh.
January 12
Children of Men - By far the best movie we’ve seen this year. We kept trying to see it and missing it or finding sold-out screenings. It was totally worth the wait. Excellent storytelling, and Tom was completely impressed with the way it was shot. Futuristic without involving rockets and hovercrafts. And I nearly cried at points.
January 13
10 Things I Hate About You - Again, we were cleaning up the apartment. Fun as always.
Thank You for Smoking - This one we really loved. It’s very funny, very well-written and very intelligent. Makes you understand how someone can actually spend their life convincing people of things they don’t believe are true.
January 14
4 - A Russian film we rented because it was on someone’s top ten list. This person also had David Lynch’s Inland Empire on their top ten list. Yeah. There were moments of brilliance, but overall it just didn’t hang together very well, and there’s some really disturbing bits. We essentially lose a couple of the characters after the first forty minutes. Blah. Tom fell asleep, if that tells you anything.
January 15
Nashville - Another Altman classic. Funny, insightful, and charming, plus it leads you toward a conclusion that you can’t pinpoint.
January 16
A Scanner Darkly - We watched this last night. I think I liked it, but I had to fight to keep up. This is the one where artists went in and “animated” the acted film, frame by frame. The acting was uniformly good (who would think to put Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., and Woody Harrelson in the same movie?) but if you don’t like scifi you probably won’t like this, though it’s not exactly scifi. If you’re a film geek you’ll probably want to see it, though. Whether or not it’s the best movie ever, it’s certainly important.
That winds it up to today.
I’m actually off sick today! I was, in fact, going to work from home - doesn’t take a lot of physical exertion to pound away on a keyboard - but the gods have smiled on me and my digital certificate has expired, so I can’t do any work on my work laptop. First sick day of the year. My throat is all swollen and I think I may have a low-grade fever (I feel weird in the head, anyhow) - so I’m just going to putter around.
We had a crazy, somewhat hellish week last week with a ton of work and (at least for me) everything going wrong at the least opportune time, plus I had a big article to finish and it’s hard to get people on the phone at a moment’s notice. But, wonder of wonders, it ended. Tom’s still in pre-production on the film he’s ADing next month so he’s working late, and I’m still trying to make the IAM website do all the many and sundry things I feel it should do, but we didn’t have to work till midnight last night, so that’s good.
The big news: I’m getting a new computer on Saturday. We own many computers in our little family (four, plus a work laptop), but with the exception of the ugly Dell work laptop, they’re all very old. The “youngest” is my desktop, purchased five years ago. We’ve run out of hard drive space several times over and it’s very unwieldy in this teensy apartment to have a big old desktop taking up desk room.
In walks the solution: February bonus time! And since the February credit card statement won’t be due until March, and it opens on Saturday, I should go for it now, right?
So here’s my pending lovely:
For the uninitiated, yes, that’s a MacBook Pro (the souped-up 15-inch version). I’m switching to a Mac. I’ve never owned a Mac, but the sheer ugliness of the PC hurts me, as well as much geekier reasons that I won’t get into, so I’m making the switch.
In case you’re wondering, Tom’s getting a new computer too. Not a Mac. But still sweet. I’ll let him talk about it.
Stay tuned for the “what the Wilkinsons watched” list in a few.
Someone found our blog today by Googling for “Tom pot pie.” Sounds like Mrs. Lovett’s back at work.
The 2007 Golden Globe winners just went up on IMDB - faster, in fact, than on the Golden Globes website. Nice.
I know we’ve been quiet - I apologize. Been working very hard, and then today was technically a holiday.
Look for a return tomorrow, complete (if you’re lucky) with list of films we’ve seen since the new year.
It was 70 degrees last Saturday, and it is supposed to be near 60 this weekend, but I’m told it snowed today. For five minutes.
I missed it.
The Oscars aren’t even here; I haven’t seen several of the years supposedly best films (Children of Men, Dreamgirls, Letters From Iwo Jima, etc.), but I’m already looking ahead to what films are coming out in 2007 and it’s really going to be the year of the big film. Of course, the following films simply stand out on my radar because they’re part of a recognizable franchise or have a good director attached to them and I’m sure there will be many great small films to come down the pike as well.
Spring brings us several directors indifferent to awards season (if you want a film to seriously compete in awards season it’s generally released Sept-Dec). First off is David Fincher’s (Fight Club, Se7en) first film in five years, Zodiac, followed by Danny Boyle’s (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) sci-fi flick Sunshine, and then Antoine Fuqua’s (Training Day) film Shooter. Then come the big hitters on three successive weekends in May: Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, which and I could care less about, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
The summer’s big tentpole films include: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (I need to catch Alissa up on the first four films), Ocean’s Thirteen (which hopefully has more of a point than the sulf-indulgent second installment), Evan Almighty (starring my new favorite comedian: Steve Carrell), The Simpsons Movie (likely little more than an extend television episode), and The Bourne Ultimatum (as in Jason Bourne who could kick James Bond’s butt). Also buried in there is Wong Kar-Wai’s (2046, In the Mood for Love) Blueberry Nights starring Norah Jones (among others), so that should be interesting.
Well those are the films I’m looking forward to; there are other big ones out there, but I’m expecting them to suck. After all the moody films of award seasons I’m actually looking forward to the fun times Hollywood dreck and seeing some stuff blown up.
Anyway, if you haven’t seen Volver or Little Miss Sunshine you should.
We are, in fact, alive, but between my writing and coding projects and Tom’s upcoming film shoot and all the other stuff we try to do with our time, like eat and sleep, we’ve been overcrowded. Tired. Looking to score free tickets to some nice chalet in the south of France for about a month and a half (not really, sorta).
I will note, however, that I did my 45-minute standing-in-a-packed-subway-car commute yesterday only to arrive at the office and be told to work from home because of the reek of gas. I turned around and did indeed work from home, late into the evening, and Brooklyn didn’t smell at all like gas. I’m told that Mayor Bloomberg said we were “waiting for the gas to pass”. Teehee.
Check it out (scroll down under “Entertainment). My “Munching with the Movies” article will be arriving in Radiant subscribers’ mailboxes soon. You can even download a PDF of the first two pages of my article!
It’s amazing to me how sometimes I need to write things down in the blog just to calm my brain down a bit. This is one of those times.
I’d like to mention how awesome my husband is; I found out a couple hours ago that I have a huge interview to do tonight and I still lack a good way to record interviews. In the past, I’ve typed, but it just doesn’t really cut it very well. So, Tom’s been researching recorders for me and right now is running around town trying to buy everything and test it before I need it at 6pm. I don’t know what I’d do without him.
I was off on Monday and Tuesday this week. We did New Years’ Eve at Kevin & Laura’s apartment in Jersey City, with lots of scrumptious food and people reading aloud from books that they’d read this year. We slept in on Monday and hung out watching movies and enjoying the day.
Monday night we saw Pan’s Labyrinth. Frankly, both of us were less than thrilled. The images were lovely and riveting, but I just wanted more from the story. It’s forgivable (it was a fairy tale, after all, and fairy tales aren’t known for extraordinary character development), but it was more bloody than fantastical. I’ve never heard an audience so collectively grossed out.
We bummed around on Tuesday as well and wound up watching The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. It was very long, and certainly good, but I don’t know if I’d ever want to watch it again. It was pretty hysterical in spots and very well acted. Tom’s comment was that he has a new #1 fear: getting sick and going to the hospital in Romania, alone. The doctors and nurses spent most of their time in the film yelling at each other to mind their place, and verbally abusing the patients.
Yesterday was my first day back at work in a while. It was also ridiculously hectic, with one big article falling into my lap and necessitating a lot of footwork (hence the voice recorder), plus people being back in the office and lots going on. But Tom was wonderful and made artichokes and lobster ravioli for dinner (YUM) and we watched The Door in the Floor.
I’m wondering if it will snow this winter. I can’t decide if I mind either way.
Fiction
Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? - Lorrie Moore
Wise Blood - Flannery O’Connor
The Space Trilogy - C.S. Lewis
Non-Fiction
Preparing for Marriage - Doug Wilson
Total Truth - Nancy Pearcy
Poetry
The Art of the Lathe - B.H. Fairchild
Happy 2007, all!
You’ll get our weekend woundup soon, but I took today off and so we’re headed out shortly to see Julie Taymor’s staging of The Magic Flute (Mozart, of course) in a matinee at the Metropolitan Opera, and probably will stay out the rest of the day. So here’s this, before I forget; my annual books-to-read list this year (note that it’s less than 50, which gives me the ability to be spontaneous).
Note from February 2007 - strikeouts indicated I’ve read the book. I like strikeouts. They make me feel competent.
Non-fiction
Maestro - Bob Woodward
I’ve had this on my list for a year and will get to it this year. A biography of Alan Greenspan.
Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
The movie was supposed to be a dud, but the book sounds fascinating.
Nobody’s Perfect - Anthony Lane
Collected writings of my favorite movie reviewer in the universe.
The Writing Life - Annie Dillard
I started this and didn’t finish, and I know that’s a serious shame. So I shall re-read it. It’s quite short.
Travelling Mercies - Anne Lamott
I liked Blue Shoe, and this one is supposed to be better.
Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
Because I’m not quite sure why I haven’t read this yet.
Through Painted Deserts - Donald Miller
Got it for Christmas. I am starting to be a fangirl.
Velvet Elvis - Rob Bell
Got it for my birthday, and I’m partially through it. So far, so good.
A Grace Disguised - Jerry Sittser
I got this for my birthday as well. It’s about grief and loss, written by a man who lost two of his children, his wife, and his mother in an instant in a car accident.
Imagine - Steve Turner
This has been in my pile for a while and I just need to read it, preferably before the IAM conference in February.
Mystery & Manners - Flannery O’Connor
Everyone should read something by Flannery O’Connor every year.
Fiction
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Tom recommends it.
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
I liked The Virgin Suicides.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s - Truman Capote
I like the movie! And apparently the novella is much different.
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
Everyone says it’s a work of genius, and, well, I sort of have already seen the movie. Sort of.
Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon
I liked the movie, and I like his writing.
The History of Love - Nicole Krauss
I’ve seen this around and it looks good. She’s a local.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
I think he’s married to Nicole Krauss, and this book’s title is enough to make me want to read it.
His Dark Materials trilogy - Philip Pullman
The Golden Compass
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass
I’ve heard it all . . . now I want to see it for myself. (Plus, The Golden Compass hits theaters next Christmas and I want to be prepared for the ensuing controversy, since I’ve completely missed the boat with Harry Potter and The Da Vinci Code.)
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
Well, I meant to read this last year and didn’t. So I will, now.
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
Still sitting on the shelf, still want to read it, probably will tackle it early in the year.
Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
We gave this out for thank-you presents to our wedding party and I haven’t even read it yet!
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Sean (my brother) and Tom were discussing this last weekend and I felt very left out. Must read.
Screenplays & Scripts
Adaptation - Charlie (& Donald) Kauffman
The movie’s great, and, well, it’s Charlie Kauffman.
Magnolia - Paul Thomas Anderson
We have the shooting script. I wish I could write movies like him, so I guess I should read his movies.
Proof - David Auburn
I want to see it performed and see the movie, but I think I want to read the script first.