made it!

Well I made it through the month of July! Its been a long one, lots of changes.
Another friend is MIA, or at least someone I thought was a friend, so what else is new? makes me very sad though. It was a hard month for many reasons, the hardest being memories of the previous July and the July before that.

Saw a lot of old friends, 4 out of town ones, did some trips, helped with house sales, it was hot and humid, altered a skirt for a 3 yr old to go to a wedding in, she was amazingly patient for the fittings, taking a bagging tutorial, inadvertently joined an exclusive bespoke tailoring lounge online, I am now one of 300 men it seems.

Made it!

Well I made it through the month of July! Its been a long one, lots of changes.
Another friend is MIA, or at least someone I thought was a friend, so what else is new? makes me very sad though. It was a hard month for many reasons, the hardest being memories of the previous July and the July before that.

Saw a lot of old friends, 4 out of town ones, did some trips, helped with house sales, it was hot and humid, altered a skirt for a 3 yr old to go to a wedding in, she was amazingly patient for the fittings, taking a bagging tutorial, inadventently joined an exclusive bespoke tailoring lounge online, I am now one of 300 men it seems.

quiz 2-nerd or geek- thanks C. Lee

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

silly test with pretty strange pictures from C. Lee

Thunder ~ 48% Water ~ 77% Wind ~ 59% Earth ~ 70% Fire ~

Change the street change the decade Still the longing's left inside... Your colours are the light blue of the sky and its exact opposite, the fiery crimson. You are likely energetic, ambitious, inquisitive and honest. However, you may sometimes appear insensitive or restless. You could try wearing a Jasper that inspires compassion and tranquillity, or a Peridot that relives irritation and inspires comfort and thus bring you a bit closer to harmony. In detail: Your Ground Chakra, which is associated with the element of fire and represents our basic desires and driving force, and your Throat Chakra, which is associated with the element of wind and represents our desire to learn and communicate, are predominant. Your Creative Chakra, which is associated with the element of earth and represents our need to preserve and grow, and your Heart Chakra, which is associated with the element of water and represents our sense of love and compassion are not quite as prominent. These are the results you will get if you score highly on... None of the four elements: Balance Wind: Gust Fire: Blaze Water: River Earth: Valley Wind & Fire: Thunder Wind & Water: Clouds Wind & Earth: Canyon Fire & Earth: Lava Fire & Water: Tornado Water & Earth: Trees Wind, Fire & Earth: Storm Wind, Fire & Water: Stars Wind, Water & Earth: Forest Fire, Water & Earth: Avalanche All four elements: Harmony

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 28% on water You scored higher than 52% on wind You scored higher than 42% on earth You scored higher than 57% on fire

Link: The Elemental Balance Test written by Nitsuki on OkCupid Free Online Dating

Ever wonder what happens when you send chocolates in the summer?

Today, at work, I found a large package sitting on my chair from Lindt USA. Fragile and next day air stamped on it. Oh Chocolates!!!!!!
I opened the box, and found an ice chest inside with still cold ice packs! Bubble wrap with a 85% cocoa dark chocolate bar inside, and the huge Ultimate bag of truffles.
Absolutely perfect, even though it had sat overnight in a UPS truck oven.
So now I have an incredible strong, like expresso, chocolate bar, tons of truffles, and a new cute little ice chest for the car.
It seemed a bit strange to me, not what I expected, exceedingly generous, but very nice just the same.

Astrid made this comment,

So how much of your chocolate bar and truffles is left today? Don't tell me your dog ate it all!!!

Susan made this comment,

Well no truffles are left and about 86% of the chocoale bar is still in my refrigerator. In my defense, there were 5 flavors of truffles and I gave away the white chocolate and peanut butter flavors to friends, so I only ate 3/5 of the bag. I ate the last 2 truffles yesterday. No dog to eat it, besides isn't chocolate poisonous to dogs?

traceofbliss made this comment,

Mmmm... you just gave me the HUGES chocolate craving I've ever had. And I LOVE dark chocolate truffles. Mmm..... Thanks... I must run off to hunt me down some brown, delicious candy like morsels.

Susan made this comment,

I don't want to ruin anyone's life, but I found this cool new dipping chocolate. Its called Baker's Dipping Chocolate and it comes in dark and milk. http://www.kraftfoods.com/bakerschocolate/ba kers_dipping_choc.html All you do is microwave it until it melts, whisk it until the chocolate is smooth and glossy, and start dipping. Yesterday I dipped a few strawberries and a banana, its is great. It keeps for 2 weeks in your frig. Some tips-refrigerate the the dipped items until they look kind of matte, that is what they look like when the chocolate is hardened, also put the dipped items on parchment paper, its easier to remove them. This stuff is amazing, much easier than the standard method.

Good Film, Bad film, thoughts on art and film

Every so often my brother gets 99 cent coupons for films at Hollywood Video which he gives to me. You can rent three movies at 99 cents each, so I go and pick out three that catch my fancy at the moment. I don't bother reading reviews, I just grab what might be interesting. Usually I end of up with decent if not good films, this time I was not so lucky on one of them. I haven't watch the third one yet.

"Last Life in the Universe" a strange Thai film, maybe the first Thai film I have seen, as opposed to films shot in Thailand, there are tons of those. It was quite intriguing, a mystery of sorts. I imagine it might be harder for a viewer totally unaware of Thai and/or Japanese culture, but maybe not. I quite liked it, parts are dreamy, it is not a simple film. The sets, the costumes, the scenery are great. The main actor and actresses are amazing. I strongly encourage seeing it. its in Thai, Japanese and English, with English subtitles. I saw it once through and then the 2nd time with the cinematographers commentary.

"the Kiss" was dull, I was not drawn into the story, not the current one or the story within the story, the scenes were okay, the sex was dull, I liked the dog best of all the characters. Some stuff was just stupid, one of the characters has the same short hair style in her 20's as in her 30's, and both times its silver? Not worth my time, not worth my $1.05.

I have seen a lot of films over the years. While in college, I interned for Redstone Theaters/Showcase Cinemas and got comps at all the local theaters, I also had friends who worked in various art house theaters, still do. For many years I saw almost a film a night. I am like that with classical music too, when I could get free or very inexpensive seats ($1-2) to the orchestra, I would go every night. I guess when possible I prefer a high level of artistic input in my life. I like to have live music in the background when I am writing or sketching out ideas. I go through periods of practically living at the local art museum as well, its easy to write or create there. I don't really care what critics think, I know what I like. Some critics I agree with, some I don't, but I still prefer to make up my own mind.

Nowadays, I frequently get invited to opinion maker preview screenings of independent films, I go when I can. Those are usually fun because the director is often there and you can ask questions. I saw the Chorus that way (you MUST see that). I also like them because they are free, and are about the only time I see a film in the theater at night. I have only walked out of one, "High Art" because I was bored, drugged slow lesbian sex just doesn't do anything for me, and the film felt slower than "Round Midnight" that was at least a decent film with good music.