You're gonna be bothered by how cool I am.

Friday: My regular shift got cancelled because the office had been dead all day and they weren't expecting any work. This means I'll be out 100-ish dollars from my check (because I'm a temp and only get paid when I'm there), but worse, am concerned this is the beginning of the end at a job that's been a fairly steady source of income for over three years now. They moved a lot of the operations to Florida, but they still can't quite function without some people in the NY office. They tried to get rid of third shift before, but lawyers threw a fit that there was no one in our department overnight, so they brought us back. Am paranoid they're going to decide we're not needed after all.

Saturday: Got called for a short shift at a firm I've never worked at before. Hurray!

Sunday: Got called for a full shift at same place. More than makes up for missed hours at regular job.

Monday: Got called by place I worked over weekend. They like me and want me to do a second shift. But I have stuff I need to do at home and can't quite face a full shift at one place followed by a full shift at my regular place. If it weren't for my third shift commitment, I would absolutely take this job.

And now I'm obsessed that I'll get cancelled for my regular job again tonight, which ticks me off because if I knew I didn't have to go in tonight, I wouldn't have said no to the new place.

I've been doing okay, since ... you know. The hurricane didn't do much damage up my way, but further downtown is a mess, and the public transit means I haven't been able to work the past two nights. Haven't received a call today, so I assume I'm back on again tonight.

- Went to a Halloween party this weekend, with my horror movie meetup group. It's been a while since I did a costume, and I *thought* I'd chosen something easy - Alice from Alice, Sweet Alice (and, with a few extra props, the killer from the same movie). But you wouldn't believe how hard it was to find a yellow rain slicker. I finally had to ask one of my BNAT pals who's an Amazon Prime member to order me one. I think it turned out pretty good, and one person did actually recognize what I was dressed as, which considering that the movie is not that well-known, I considered a success.

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- I saw a film called Holy Motors a couple weeks ago, which was fabulously trippy and French. It's kind of hard to describe, but it basically follows a man whose job it is to dress up as different characters and participate in various scenarios throughout the day - he's a businessman, he's an old lady begging for change on the street, he's a crazy imp-like man who eats flowers and kidnaps a fashion model, he's an unloving father, he's a dying man... It's one of those movies that you have to just let wash over you, and if you try too hard to make everything fit, you're going to miss it.

- I also saw Cloud Atlas this past weekend, which is AMAZING. I haven't read the book, but now I want to. It's six different stories woven together, with several of the actors playing as many as six or seven different characters - characters that they'd never get to play in another movie. Some stories are heartbreaking, some inspiring, and at least one is wonderfully hilarious (I really, really want to read "The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish"!). I'm not committed to this being my favorite of the year yet, but it's in the running. Simply beautiful.

- BNAT time is upon us again. I finished my application this morning, which may be the latest I've ever submitted. I'll probably post it here after the list goes up, which is some time tomorrow night. I always think bigger than my actual skills can accomplish for the picture and video, and it's wicked difficult to do that stuff by myself. As usual there are standouts among the other applicants - one guy made his video an homage to Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, which then morphed into a rendition of the "Trololo" song. Oooh, also themorningstarr and her husband are applying this year, since they live pretty near Austin. So spare some good luck wishes for them. :-)

- In LJ news, I took a peek at the new flist view, and NO THANK YOU. It's like they're really trying to drive away the last of us old-schoolers who were hanging on for sentimentality. I'd like to hope this is not going to be something we're forced to adopt, but I'm not that optimistic. Ugh, frickin' LJ. Ever since they sold out to SixApart eight years ago... (*hikes up pants and complains like an old person*)

- My flist is like 80% posts from doctorwho. I mean, I'm excited about Series 7 and all, but it's sad that there is less and less activity here from individuals. OF COURSE I AM NOT HELPING.

- I saw ParaNorman this past weekend and LOVED it, though on several occasions I found myself boggling that this was a film marketed to children. It is quite saucy, and it may in fact be the first American "children's" film to have a gay character. And it's done in such a cool, "no big deal" way that I was kind of amazed. Also, I want to live in the little town in the movie, with all it's witchy goodness (Witch's Wieners LOL).

- So I turned a year older yesterday. I didn't do much for the occasion, since I had to work. I thought seriously about calling in, and after this past night's butt-kicking I kind of wish I had. I did manage to pick up the Jaws Blu-Ray and Juan of the Dead DVD that I ordered from Amazon.

- I created an IntenseDebate account so that I could fully comment on Mark Reads/Watches. If any of you are following his Buffy and Angel posts and want to see my comments, they're here. I'm elphaba_cee, as in Wicked ("...and I only wish there were ... something I could do for her, to repay her ... Elphaba see..."). I'm planning to take a break once the Whedonverse is finished (he's doing the two short seasons of Dollhouse with the last season of Angel) and I'll pick back up in March when he starts The West Wing and Friday Night Lights (the latter of which I've never seen but I know a ton of people who love it).

- I picked up my annual copy of EW's Fall Movie Preview. And promptly ripped the stupid Breaking Dawn cover off. :P I've done my yearly marking of the day planner, and if I ever do a movie post again, I'd love to do a list of my most-anticipateds. Anyone seen the poster for Spielberg's Lincoln? I wish they'd start showing us Daniel Day-Lewis in character, as opposed to the reanimated Lincoln corpse they seem to have been propping up for these pictures. (Seriously, it is UNCANNY!)

- I got my dad Game of Thrones for his birthday, and he is hooked! I talked to him yesterday and he had just reached the Baelor section. I really need to get cracking on A Clash of Kings myself, but gah, there's so much I'm behind on that I had intended to have read by now (don't even say the name Bujold to me).

 * My e-mail account was hacked again.  Thankfully, it doesn't appear that any e-mails were sent by the other party this time, so all I had to do was change my password.

* I wish the media would find and/or use some other picture of Jared Loughner.  It is no longer safe for me to look at a newspaper or at the television while an anchor is talking about the shooting.  I know it sounds silly, but I seriously get the heebie jeebies from that "crazy eyes" picture.  Like when I'm unexpectedly confronted with a picture of Linda Blair in full demon get-up from The Exorcist.

* I was watching the wedding episode of The Office and noticed Anna Camp, who played Jill in the Broadway revival of Equus, playing one of Pam's bridesmaids.  She's also been on Mad Men, True Blood, and Glee.  So while her English accent may leave something to be desired, she seems to be doing alright for herself. :P

I love our little group that meets in Brooklyn (usually) once a month to watch a Rifftrax movie or MST3K episode. There was another one tonight. We watched The Last Airbender and hoo boy is it every bit as horrible as everyone said. More so, I think. Horrible acting, amazingly awkward dialogue (references to Tommy Wiseau and The Room were not at all unfitting), bizarre editing, and no storytelling skills whatsoever.

As usual, my navigational skills failed me when forced to make my way through the labyrinth of DUMBO, despite my having been to this particular meetup location several times before. I was glad to see that I was not alone in my befuddlement (though, I guess I should concede that most of those people were probably trying to find this place for the first time). I always have the vague thought as I enter the building (which is former munitions factory that has been adapted into a few lofts) that I'm either secretly in an Adrian Lyne film and on my way to a smutty tryst or in a horror movie about to be stabbed. This time I had the added joy of imagining that I was in A Serbian Film, where both those eventualities would be possible, perhaps at the same time, in a location such as this. Oh my dear brain, what have you become?!

Next month, we sparkle on with Eclipse ("Volturi - that's Chevy's new midsize sedan, right?"). Rifftrax is the only way to see the Twilight movies.

My Gmail account was hacked into, so if you received an email from me with a fishy link, DO NOT CLICK. I'd send another email, but my outbox has been frozen for the next 24 hours.

Stupid hackers, don't they have anything better to do? GET A JOB, LOSERS!

1 ) As I was getting onto the New Jersey Turnpike last night, the last leg of my drive from Nashville back home, it occurred to me that getting to the island of Manhattan by car is like getting to the "Lost" island. You have to be in just the right lanes and have just the right bearings, and if you're not, you will not get to the island. There might also be considerable time loss. If I weren't returning my GPS with the rental car today, I would totally name it Daniel Faraday. Or Frank Lapidus, but more likely Daniel Faraday.


2) As I ponder the latest Twilight news and the time comes closer for me to actually start caring about American Idol, I can't help thinking that Twilight is a lot like former AI finalist Sanjaya. Nothing of quality to speak of, but immensely appealing (for some reason) to a large number of young girls and even grown women. And a whole lot of the attention it gets is from people who can't really stand it and think it's hilarious to parody it and puff it up into something it's not (like all those people who voted for Sanjaya as a joke). Meaning that it has popularity in its own right, but much of its notoriety also comes from the people who don't like it.


Crying Sanjaya Fangirl poignantly sums up my feelings about driving on the NJ Turnpike,
as well as my frustration with the Black Plague of Sparkle.

* Things are progressing on the job front, and I find myself simultaneously wishing things would speed up (for my bank account's sake) and wishing things would slow down (for my nerves' sake). I'm now registered with several agencies that specialize in legal proofing, and the trick now is to keep calling them, a few times a week, to get on their radar and let them know that I'm serious about working. I'm anxious about the first job, though.


* I went to see a free performance of 'Hair' last week, thanks to Central Park's 'Shakespeare in the Park' program. Yes, I realize that 'Hair' is not a part of Shakespeare's oeuvre, but they always pair one of his plays with a non-Shakespeare offering. This year was centered on the theme of "What a piece of work is man," which linked their two productions, 'Hamlet' (which closed before I moved) and 'Hair.' It was an incredible performance, and one that occasionally invited audience participation. I particularly loved the curtain call, when the cast invited probably close to 100 audience members on stage as we all jammed to 'Let the Sun Shine In.' The whole thing was quite an experience, and not just the play itself. I quickly learned the hard way that if I wanted a ticket I would have to get in line with all the other crazies at 6am and hold my place for about 7 hours until they actually passed out the tickets. That was a nice little warm up for Butt-Numb-A-Thon, I don't mind telling you.


* I have been absolutely glued to MSNBC during the lead-up to this week and now the Democratic National Convention. There's still a part of me that resents Ted Kennedy and the way he helped so many other Democrats stab the leader of their party (then president Jimmy Carter) in the back. But I can't help admiring him for the amazing thing he did last night. And I absolutely loved Michelle Obama's speech, perhaps especially the moments after it was over, when her girls talked to Barack via satellite ("What city are you in, Daddy?"). That was such a 'mom' moment, when she kind of tuned out the crowd and focused on her daughters, perhaps thinking "Please, be good." :P

I'm getting kind of annoyed with the political pundits, saying that the Dems wasted the first day of their convention by not immediately going after John McCain and the Republicans. First of all, what was Nancy Pelosi, a potted plant? How many times did she lead the crowd in that chant "Barack Obama is right, and John McCain is wrong."? Secondly, I thought this was the kind of politics-as-usual that the campaign was trying to avoid. Obviously, that's easier said than done, but they can at least start on the high road, can't they?


* I'm very excited about Melissa's upcoming book. I'm afraid I may have to wait a day or two to actually read it, though, because it comes out on Election Day, and I don't think I can focus properly on anything until I know what the fate of our country is going to be. I love what I've seen of JKR's foreward, and the comment about feeling like she's been to a midnight release makes me think I'll have to read it with a box of tissues nearby.


* Thank you all for your lovely birthday wishes, and thanks to the Usual Suspects for the piratey goodness and my lovely, rare edition Ninth Doctor. And thanks especially to rhrsoulmates, for making sure I didn't have to spend the first birthday in NY alone. We went to a goofy theme restaurant on Friday called Jekyll and Hyde (the smaller one, in the Village). Our waitress was slightly aloof, and the music was oddly eclectic (from Bernard Herrman's Psycho score to the theme for Ghostbusters - twice!), but the in-house entertainment was enjoyable, especially our frequent visits from someone who looked alarmingly like Robert Downey, Jr. Good times.