I could seriously not be more excited for Batman if I tried.

the sound gets really warped near the end, 'cause they're so close to the microphone, or whatever, but if you're familiar with Potter Puppet Pals, you might find this entertaining

( video )

I'm feeling really depressed right now. I don't really know why -- just, almost as soon as I got home from work today, there was just this sadness. I wish I knew why.

On Tuesday, I went to work and nobody was there. The store was dark, the doors were locked, and nobody was there. So I had to cancel all my lessons. Somebody finally showed up around 4:00, so I was able to get about three lessons in, out of eleven scheduled. So I might be feeling stressed from trying to get everybody re-scheduled. Except that I haven't really been thinking about it much.

Or it might be the ticket I got the other night for running a red light (stupid). I hate wasting money.

Or it might be because two of my siblings owe me about $200 each, and don't look like they'll be able to pay me back for awhile.

Or it could be that I didn't get enough sleep last night. Or the house is a mess and I don't want to be the one to clean it up again.

Or it might be that this movie I watched the other night just left me in a funk and I need to get over it. (Less Than Zero, with Robert Downey, Jr. and James Spader. They're not the leads, but they should have been, because the two kids playing the leads were just pathetic. And the movie was very disturbing, distressing, and depressing.)

Or it could be because my mom is talking about giving us girls the house when she moves to Michigan. I mean, it would be nice to have a house --- but I really don't want to have to take care of my sisters for the rest of my life. It would be one thing if I thought they were capable of taking care of themselves, but they have a history of taking advantage of me and taking me for granted. So this discussion makes me very nervous.

It's probably some combination of all those things. I've been really busy lately, and haven't had time to process. That's probably it. Yeah......

Stolen from jennlynnfs because I know I'm bad at updating things:

You know how sometimes people on your friend's list post about stuff going on in their life, and all of a sudden you think "Wait a minute? Since when are they working THERE? Since when are they dating HIM/HER? since when???" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you *should* already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

Please copy mine below, erase my answers putting yours in their place then post it in your journal! Please elaborate on the questions that would benefit from elaboration! One-Word-Answers seldom help anyone out. :)


( meme-age )

I've had a lot of motivation to write lately, but no time to do it, which leaves me feeling very frustrated and aimless, in a way.

It kind of reminds me of Virginia Woolf's "angel in the house" essay, because it seems like I just have so many other things that *have* to get done, writing falls down to a very low priority. But since the other things don't get done, either, I'm left wondering ....... what exactly do I do all day?

I suspect I'm just subsisting.

(Review of Sweeney Todd later, if anybody was expecting and/or wanting to see that. It just so happens that Sweeney left me extremely motivated to write, but since it's late now and I have Temple in the morning, I can't write. I have to go to bed. Darn sleep.)

I'm going tomorrow to see Sweeney Todd at the Kravis Center. :D

I really miss late-night chat sessions. :(

I wish I had something interesting to post about.

Today I went shopping with my sisters and Tovah. I bought a new dress for Easter (something I hadn't done in years, possibly ever), plus some accessories and other necessary things, like a new bra. I will look fabulous tomorrow; I hope I remember to take a picture.

I'm still trying to think of ways to use up those iTunes gift cards that I got for Christmas -- I still have about $27.00 left. Now that I'm not allowed to use my iPod at work anymore, though, I haven't been using it as much. That makes me really sad. And mad, too, if I'm being honest.

My pastor recommended to me (and my sisters) that I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Cash Flow Quadrant. They gave me a lot of food for thought. I know that I'm definitely not happy where I am, in any respect. I just wish I'd get an idea of where I want to go.

I find that I am coming to really dislike the word purist.

It's not that I necessarily dislike so-called purists, either. Actually, I think it has more to do with the fact that I used to call myself a purist, around the time that one Mansfield Park movie came out.

The thing is, I like faithfulness to the books. I really do. It's just that when people try to apply the concept of "purism" to fanfiction that I get a little twitchy.

What does it mean, anyway? Usually, what someone means when they say "I guess I'm just too much of a purist," is that they really think theirs is the right view, but who are they to flout popular opinion? It's a passive-aggressive way of saying "I'm right, you're wrong, but I'm going to humor you. But I'm still right. Nanny nanny poo poo."

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that it's one thing to be faithful to the book when you're doing a retelling, like a movie or a play, or whatever. But fanfiction is a whole different kettle of fish. The very point of fanfiction is to stray from the text, in whatever way we like. To explore this possibility or that plot hole. To poke fun, when it's merited. The people who want nothing but retellings in this way or that way are really missing the point of it all. I'd feel sorry for them, if they didn't aggravate me so much.

In conclusion: people who say "I guess I'm just too much of a purist" probably aren't really that big on purism as long as the changes made don't mess with their own sacred cows. "Anything goes..... except that" seems to be the prevailing attitude. And it's that hypocrisy that's the really annoying part.

answers for the un-guessed quotes of the movie meme are as follows:

2. I'm afraid that one third of a gopher would only arouse my appetite without bedding it back down again. - O Brother, Where Art Thou?
3. Did I ever tell you that I used to read feet? - Godspell
4. How annoying, that they have to fight elections for their cause. The inconvenience! Having to get a majority. - Evita
11. Leave my elevator alone. - Blast from the Past

By the way, how does one go about pronouncing the word "meme"? In Doctor Who, it was pronounced as "meem" but I'm not sure that's correct.

everybody at my new church is on MySpace, so naturally I had to raise my own MySpace from the dead. I still don't like how cluttered MySpace is, but it's really the only way to keep up with things these days.

Also, it's really frustrating to me that, no matter how much I eat, I'm always hungry. Even if I stuff myself to bursting, I'm hungry again twenty minutes later.

1. Pick 15 of your favourite movies
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Fill in the film title once it's guessed.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions.

1. Round up the usual suspects! (Casablanca, guessed by katharhino)
2. I'm afraid that one third of a gopher would only arouse my appetite without bedding it back down again.
3. Did I ever tell you that I used to read feet?
4. How annoying, that they have to fight elections for their cause. The inconvenience! Having to get a majority.
5. He was always a rather stupidly optimistic man. I mean, I'm afraid it came as a great shock to him when he died, but he was found dead at home. (Clue, guessed by shemmelle)
6. I do not play this instrument so well as I would wish, but I have always presumed that to be my own fault, because I would not take the trouble of practicing. (Pride and Prejudice, guessed by p00tigger and katharhino)
7. I got it! Your daughter's not your daughter, and the money, that used to be the jewels, is now your underwear! (Oscar, guessed by caror)
8. Remove head from sphincter, then drive! (10 Things I Hate About You, guessed by bijoux)
9. I'm afraid that calling us Englishmen is like calling an ox a bull: he's thankful for the honor, but he'd much rather have restored what's rightfully his. (1776, guessed by p00tigger)
10. I can't think about that now. I'll think about that tomorrow. (Gone with the Wind, guessed by katharhino)
11. Leave my elevator alone.
12. No, I do not want to spend Christmas with Miss Granola Suicide and her Spawn. (About a Boy, guessed by leksa)
13. You are born into a family. You do not join them, like you do the Marines! (While You Were Sleeping, guessed by p00tigger)
14. I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in The Beatles, I just believe in me." Good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus, I'd still have to bum rides off people. (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, guessed by jennlynnfs)
15. How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss? (The Usual Suspects, guessed by jennlynnfs)

These are probably pretty easy. Most of them, anyway. But we'll see. :)

I'd like to make a blog, but I'm afraid that if I try to express what I'm feeling/thinking, it'll only make me more depressed. So I'll just say "good night," and hope that I feel better/less oppressed tomorrow.

I really want to move out. Can't do it at this point, though, at least, not without a roommate.

I've been thinking about getting back into writing, too. That's a time issue. Actually, that's not true; it's more of a tiredness issue. I made a pact with myself not to write when I'm tired anymore, because my characters start getting really emotional and weepy, and crying at the drop of a hat --- it's awkward. And then I have to try to make them seem like normal, well-adjusted people again. Especially tough when the characters are male. And I'm always tired.

*sigh* I seem to be getting more and more dissatisfied, in general. If I may borrow a quote, "I reek of discontentment." Something needs to change, or I may just pull my hair out.

Proudest Moment: Replacing computer desk and cleaning my bedroom. Hooray!

New Movies Seen: Once, Raising Arizona, No Country For Old Men, and There Will Be Blood.

Hours Worked (Earning Money; does not include household chores): 30. Seemed like more. But I guess that explains how I had so much time to watch movies. Huh.

Hours Spent Practicing Piano: about 10, maybe?

Laundry Done, In Loads: 4

Books Read: None

Bills Paid: 2, car and car insurance

Number of Times Dined Out: 1

Tanks of Gas Bought: 1

That's all I can think of. I was going to do a "Happiest Moment," and more along those lines, but I couldn't remember enough specific moments. My short-term memory is really bad.

My current favorite song is At Least I'm Not Like All Those Other Old Guys, by Five Iron Frenzy. ( Lyrics under the cut )

Another one I like is "So Far, So Bad," also by Five Iron Frenzy ( Again with the lyrics under the cut )

Heehee!

I was watching Sliding Doors again the other day, and it reminded me of an idea I'd had awhile back for a Mansfield Park story that used the same conceit. That is, we'd get alternate storylines in which Fanny either does or does not accept Henry in Portsmouth. I even went so far as to flesh the story out a little bit in my head.

There's still the problem of how such a premise would work on paper, as opposed to film. But I really want to try it. I just wish I had the time/attention span to write it.

(Gah! My sisters just put Shipwrecked on. It's been forever since I've seen that movie! Hearing the music made me giggle.)

This is the saddest I've been over a celebrity's death since John Ritter and Johnny Cash died on the same day. I've always really liked Heath Ledger, and assumed he'd be around for a long time, making really good movies and getting better and better at the acting thing.

I really want to cry, but for some reason, I can't.

I'm so upset. My copy of Elisabeth is all scratched up, and not even my mp3s will play without skipping anymore. I really don't want to have to buy it again. :(