Advice from Ziggy: When it is almost time for bed, you should run into the bathroom and find the pony-tail holders. Grab a couple and run around the upstairs meowing through your teeth. Then throw one on the floor and see if anyone will pick it up and play with it. If they won't, go back into the bathroom and get another one, and put it in the bed. After the lights are turned out, you can have a good game on top of the blanket. It's fun for the whole family!

Susie here: Tonight we went to dinner at Modern Apizza, in New Haven. Last time we were there, my dad was here visiting with my younger brother and sister. That was a fun night. And tonight it was fun to remember that. (But nobody got sick this time.)

It appears that the students are back in town, or at least some of them are. There was quite a crowd on the streets tonight.

It's hard to believe the summer is just about gone already.

This is Ziggy at the end of a hard day's work. When I come home in the afternoon, I pet him for a few minutes, read the mail, then go upstairs to check my e-mail. He hops up on the desk, settles down on top of the telephone, and proceeds to whap my hands with his tail as I try to type.

Can you tell he is exhausted after a whole day of taking care of the house? Poor kitty. His life is so hard.

Old-lady catalogs, revisited.

Can anyone tell me why Raspberry World turns up first on a Netscape search for Harriet Carter catalog?

Sure, I talked about Harriet Carter and Lillian Vernon last August, but one would think that a direct search on the words "Harriet Carter catalog" would bring you to www.harrietcarter.com. No? I mean, these companies do have web sites. I would think they'd get themselves listed in the search engines, too.

It's kind of cool, really, that these catalogs have web sites. Kinda like your grandmother getting hooked up to the web and sending you e-mail. You just wonder how the heck it happened. These sites may not provide the simplest online shopping experience you'll ever have, but they're improving with each year that goes by. And it's good to see these businesses taking advantage of the Internet. I mean, where else are you gonna buy bikini beer glasses and a talking beer bottle opener?

So here I am again, talking about Harriet and Lillian, and most likely skewing the search engines even more in my favor. I don't think this counts as a disturbing search request, but it's certainly kind of strange. I've had at least 6 hits in the past week from people looking for Ms. Carter's catalog.

Hey, did somebody mention Miles Kimball?

Judging from the domain and the topic, I think this must be part of a high school writing assignment, perhaps to write a parody? Anyway, I got a kick out of it:

I felt this mystic enlightenment myself as I set hands on what could quite possibly be the most sought-after album of all time, Please, Hammer, Don't Hurt Em' by the enigmatic MC Hammer. Now, if this name is not familiar to you, perhaps you can more easily associate it with his alter-ego, Hammer. [read the whole thing]

Odin's Kingdom is updated with a new tale, and some before-and-after shots of Odin's old house in Pennsylvania. He and Katynka sound like they're settling in nicely in the midwest. I'm looking forward to pictures of the new house.

Every time I visit Odin's Kingdom, especially his links, I remember that Ziggy needs a page of his own. (His old page is 5 years old. That house is 4 houses ago!) So, a page for Ziggy. It's on the things-to-do list, believe me. It has been for awhile...

I just realized, I have seven weblogs.

Well, one of them is a weblog-in-waiting, I guess, and one is pretty much retired. And one actually belongs to Rebekah (I just run it). But the other 4 are quite active.

It's been a busy week so far. Work: busy. Home: busy. But I did get the chance last night to catch up with an old friend on the telephone. That was very nice.

And this coming weekend's going to be busy, too... we are planning to spend most of it working on the house. It will be nice to make some progress on some of these long-term projects.

Things feel kind of weird this morning...

Yesterday when I got home from work, the power was out at my house (and, indeed, all over the neighborhood). The result of some thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, I guess. Marty grilled chicken outside for dinner and then we sat around talking with the windows open and candles burning. The crickets were singing loud. The power didn't come back on until after we'd gone to bed.

It's amazing how heavily we rely upon electricity. And of course it's one of those things we don't think about until it's gone.

This morning, as I was waiting at a traffic light on top of an overpass that crosses I-95, I glanced down at the interstate below and saw an accident in process. A red SUV was skidding across 4 lanes of traffic on its side. I'm not sure how it got on its side, or how it started to skid sideways like that. Luckily the cars behind it were able to slow down in time, rather than run right into it. When it reached the shoulder, it tipped over and landed on its roof.

I was about 100 yards away, sitting in my car on a bridge that crosses over the interstate where the accident happened. It was the strangest thing -- I just turned my head and saw this car moving the wrong way. I felt like I was watching it in slow motion. I saw the driver crawl out of the vehicle after a minute, and heard the police sirens approaching by the time the light changed.

Then I went to work.

For Sonal: Building Your Own Light Saber.

The ultimate test of a Jedi, it is.

We recently got a DVD player and I am sooooooo in love with it. I had to spend a couple of days home from work last week for medical reasons, so I took the opportunity to watch a boatload of movies. Here's what I've seen since last Thursday:

• Trainspotting - According to my video store's crazy-ass categories, this is a comedy. I guess it is pretty funny, for a movie about heroin addiction.
  
• Little Voice - Good movie. Definitely worth seeing.
  
• Brassed Off - I'll be buying this sometime.
  
• Boogie Nights - Not sure what all the fuss was about here.
  
• Fever Pitch - Great Colin Firth movie. Unusual romantic comedy.
  
• Romeo+Juliet - We saw this in the theater when it was first released. Liked it even better this time around.
  
• Speed - We've watched this at least ten times. It's one of our favorite action movies. On DVD it's even better.
  
• Moulin Rouge - I took Marty to see this on Saturday night and he really liked it.

If you add the movies Sonal and I watched in Tampa last weekend, you'll also get

• Velvet Goldmine - One of my favorite movies. An amazing soundtrack.
  
• Sliding Doors - One of Sonal's old favorites; I liked it too.
  
• Moulin Rouge - I think I've said enough about this movie already. Soon I'm going to have to start a new weblog just for MR comments.

If you're counting, there are an awful lot of Ewan McGregor movies on that list.

This is an interesting article about how Baz Luhrmann was influenced by Indian Bollywood movies in making Moulin Rouge. An excerpt:

Big, noisy, garishly colored and overflowing with music, Moulin Rouge could almost be mistaken for a Bollywood spectacular.

And that just might be what director Baz Luhrmann had in mind.

Luhrmann, who saw his first Bollywood movie on a trip to India in 1993, had wondered what would happen if he mixed their unabashed sentimentality, sexy dancing and loud music with a Hollywood formula, and Moulin Rouge is the happy result.

In a thrilling number marking the film's climax, Nicole Kidman dons a choli, the entire cast puts on bindis or turbans (some even wear both) in front of a lighted Taj Mahal backdrop, and a muscular blue god oversees the whole tamasha.

While Alka Yagnik and Anu Malik's hit Bollywood song "Chamma Chamma" pounds in the background, dozens of dancers in brilliantly detailed blue, gold and red costumes writhe on an enormous stage decorated with exotic Indian motifs.

This is Gray.

He is the other half of the WWC smackdown tag team. He is almost three years old, but still has the fur and face of a kitten. He's more aggressive about getting food and attention than Carly is, and more vocal in general. He's a real little charmer.

Good news: recent updates at Odin's Kingdom. That Odin is a funny little cat. Don't miss Odin Downey, Jr., the latest of the Odin Chronicles. And Grandma & DinDin is almost exactly what I would imagine a Katynka journal entry to be. I am such a fan.

Nibelung is very interesting -- you can use it to make your own browsing web ring. Kind of like carrying your bookmarks with you wherever you go. I've only just started mine, so I haven't added all the pages I want yet, but I think it's pretty cool. (See it in list form.)

This is Carly.

She is a black cat with three little white spots on neck, chest, and belly. She's long and sleek, and her face and head look very much like Ziggy's. She's very laid back and cool, except where catnip is concerned.

She lives in Tampa in a cute little apartment near the water, with her buddy Gray. They get along great, most of the time, although there is the occasional smackdown. WWC Smackdown!

I spent this morning at Yale. Seems like I've been there an awful lot this summer. One of these days I'm going to run into you over there, Mr. or Ms. Yale Reader. Do you think you'll recognize me? If you do, will you say hello?

In Tampa they serve something called Cuban Toast. It's long, thin slices of Cuban bread toasted in a press. So it's kind of flattened out while it toasts. It's delicious! Yum!

But I just had normal Yankee Toast for breakfast this morning. Oatmeal bread with butter and honey.

Good news: my car got me home last night and to the mechanic this morning. It should have a new alternator by the end of the day. Then I can go run all those errands I didn't get to do yesterday.

More good news: Moulin Rouge is playing in New Haven for one more week. That means I can take Marty to see it this weekend. I think he will be astounded.

Back to reality...

Well, I've returned to the real world from my (highly enjoyable) mini-vacation. Life jumped right back in on me! The latest news is, my car needs a new alternator. I noticed it turning over sluggishly when I cranked it this morning, and went out to get it checked at lunchtime. I thought I needed a battery. Turns out it's the alternator, which is a bit more involved (and a bit more expensive). I have an appointment to take it in first thing tomorrow morning to get the work done. Now we'll see if it can get me home from work today and to the mechanic in the morning.

The reason this makes me so nervous is that last summer, Marty's alternator went out and his car shut off on the highway and simply would not start again. This was on his old car, the one my mom bought from him (of course we had the alternator replaced before we sold it to her). I hope I can get home without getting stranded today.

On a lighter note, here's what my e-mail yielded today. This was part of an exchange in response to that question I asked about keeping Ziggy off the table.

That little gem [a suggestion involving orange peels] is adapted from a bizarre book I borrowed from a friend (it includes sections such as "Is marijuana bad for my cat?" and "Do electronic fences work?").

So... I must know... is marijuana bad for my cat? (Do I need to tell him to cut back?)

Apparently it makes them hallucinate and possibly have seizures, although I'm sure that if he doesn't inhale, he'll be fine.

I got several interesting suggestions for ways to keep him off the table. I'll post them here soon.

In the meantime, here is a picture of Ewan McGregor's arm.

I didn't know it was possible for anyone to love Bruce Springsteen's Thunder Road more than I do, but I think Amy may have found a way.

Do you read Amy's journal, When in Doubt, Use Parsley? It's one of my favorites.

Odin's Kingdom has been updated with a links page. Go, Katynka, go!

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love, and be loved in return.

Today we went to see Moulin Rouge. I absolutely loved it. I have been enjoying Dora's comments about this movie all summer, but somehow managed to miss seeing it until it was playing only at the "last chance" theaters. I'm so very glad I caught it before it was completely gone.

I'm too drained and sleepy to write much about it right now, but I will say that Ewan McGregor was simply amazing. He sang, he danced, he acted his heart out... it was so wonderful. Nicole Kidman was also great. The visuals were stunning, and the musical numbers were the most over-the-top I've seen in a movie musical in years. One highlight was the all-male "Like a Virgin" sequence.

As a hard-core Strictly Ballroom fan, it's no surprise to me that Baz Luhrmann directed both movies (as well as the innovative Romeo+Juliet). Moulin Rouge is about ten times as outrageous as Strictly Ballroom, though, and about fifty times as emotionally wrenching. It's clearly one of those love-it-or-hate-it movies. And I loved it.

It's always nice to find a good fan page about an actor you like: EwanSpotting is just such a page for Ewan McGregor. Last night we watched Velvet Goldmine, and today it looks very likely we will catch Moulin Rouge at a theater over in Clearwater.

Florida is fun. Yesterday I saw my old house (from when I was 4 years old). Photos will follow later this week. (The across-the-street neighbor seemed very concerned about that stranger taking pictures from the sidewalk.)

Sonal's cats, Carly and Gray, are simply adorable. They have the best personalities!

Yum!

If you're ever in Tampa, check out Tomatina, a great Italian restaurant. I believe there are also some locations in California.

I'm in Florida visiting my friend and her 2 cats. The Dress-n-Drag Dog and Cat Dancer I brought were big hits, as were the CDs and tapes. So, we are having fun, talking slash, listening to music, eating omelets, and watching HGTV. The usual visit activities. It's going to be a beautiful day, and I'm looking out the window at palm trees against a blue sky.

Ziggy has taken to sleeping on the dining room table. It's a terrible habit, and certainly one that we're trying to break him of. But he spends a lot more time in the house than either Marty or I do (since Ziggy is there 24/7, after all), and I happen to know that he's up there a lot when we're not around. How? Because every day I walk into the house and find at least one of the following things:

• Cat hair on the tablecloth. Ewwwww.
  
• Warm spot on the table, Ziggy blinking and yawning on the floor.
  
• Ziggy stretched out across the entire width of the table, fast alseep.

Is he doing it on purpose, to get attention? Maria asked me this, and it's certainly possible. But it's not really like him. He likes the sunlight the dining room gets, and he's always liked sleeping up high (rather than on the floor). But we have to find a way to stop this.

Our current short-term solution is to cover up the table with a big, heavy towel whenever we're not eating. This at least protects the tablecloth. But it's not addressing the real problem, which is finding a way to keep the cat off the table in the first place. (Of course, there are no doors to close off the room.)

Any ideas?

Can anyone stand another Colin Firth entry? No? Ah well...

I stopped by the video store today to rent Fever Pitch, a movie based on Nick Hornby's novel by the same name. I haven't actually seen it yet, but here's Mary's review:

Fever Pitch isn't great, but it's uninterrupted Colin Firth if you need a fix.

Hey, I didn't need to hear any more than that.

I looked all over Tommy K's (this is the video store) and just could not find it. Now, this place organizes their videos very strangely. Of course they have the regular categories like "Comedy," "Drama," "Horror," and "Romance," but then they also have these unexpected categories like "SNL Alumni" (where you'll find everything from the Blues Brothers to Wayne's World), and "Gwyneth Paltrow," where you'll find, well, movies starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Anyway, I searched for Fever Pitch for quite awhile but couldn't find it. (I couldn't even figure out what category it would fall under, since they don't seem to have a Colin Firth category.)

Then I got frustrated and I looked in the previously viewed videos for sale, because they at least were in alphabetical order by title. And there it was! Then I knew they had it for rent somewhere in that store, so I went up to ask.

No. It turns out, the previously viewed copy for sale is the only copy they have. I have never heard of a video store selling off their last copy of a movie in the previously viewed videos. Isn't that odd?

So you know what I did, right? Of course. I bought it. And instead of being $9.95 as marked, it was only $4.95, because the cashier was nice enough to give me the half-price sale that actually starts tomorrow. That's the best $5 I've spent all week, I guarantee.

And now I should apologize to all those other CF fans in Hamden, for buying the only copy of Fever Pitch Tommy K's owned. I would have rented it if I'd had the chance. I've noticed you can pick up a copy over on Half.com, if you're desperate...

After my doctor's appointment at Yale this morning, I stopped by the Brewery Street post office in New Haven to mail some packages. While I was there I couldn't resist picking up a sheet of the new Frida stamps.

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best."

~ Frida Kahlo

Once upon a time, back in the late 1980s, I was taking an undergrad "introduction to film" class. In addition to watching 2 - 3 films during class time each week, we were expected to attend the weekly foreign films at the student center theater. One of the first ones I went to see was Frida, a Mexican film. I had never heard of Frida Kahlo before I saw it. The film was very confusing, but visually stunning.

Since then I have become a lot more familiar with Frida's painting and life story. And now I see they are making another movie about her, starring Salma Hayak. Antonio Banderas is also in the cast. It's slated for release in 2002.

I must have watched over 50 movies during the ten weeks of my film class. Some of the other films I remember seeing that quarter:

• Salaam Bombay!
  
• Badlands
  
• Don't Look Now
  
• Down by Law
  
• Weekend
  
• Au Revoir les Enfants
  
• Something Wild
  
• Five Easy Pieces
  
• The Stunt Man
  
• Nashville
  
• A Clockwork Orange
  
• West Side Story
  
• Lawrence of Arabia
  
• One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest
  
• Touch of Evil
  
• The Graduate (I wrote my term paper on this)

I still remember what it felt like to walk out of that two-hour class at 11:00 in the morning, blinking into the sunlight after watching something like A Clockwork Orange right after breakfast. What a way to start the day.

Sometimes I really miss college.

Saturday I was in Kohl's department store looking for a new pair of sandals. They had all these big, chunky leather sandals (the kind I like) in various styles, and as I was looking on the boxes for my size I noticed that the styles had the funniest names. For instance: Creed, Frampton, Creedence, Rush, Kravitz, and Yanni.

It kind of freaked me out. I mean, I don't even like Rush. Why would I wear sandals named after them? And come on, Yanni? Who is going to buy sandals named Yanni?

Anyway, the ones I got were called "Skippy," which is funny enough in itself. But I really like 'em, and they're really comfortable.

They must have sold out of the Ricky Martin sandals...

What a busy weekend!

Marty and I met some friends for drinks Friday night, then went out to dinner at Angellino's, an Italian place we like. There were two old Italian guys strolling around the restaurant playing music on an accordian and a double bass -- very cool.

Saturday I ran many errands and cleaned out my closets (I am getting rid of a huge pile of clothes). I wrote some letters and got several packages ready to mail. And Ziggy got a new Fat Cat toy -- a manipulative crackler frog! Mrowwwrrr!

Sunday I helped Marty get lots of work done on the bathroom. Now the room actually has a ceiling and (some) walls! He also installed the light fixtures. I should be able to post pictures in the next couple of days.

In the evenings we watched movies on video -- Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Charlie's Angels. (I was sooooo happy to see creepy Crispin Glover again. What a freak! I love him!) And last night we had IBC root beer floats. YUM.

It was a little easier to be productive this weekend because the heat has finally broken. It rained quite a lot in the last few days, and although it's still very humid, the temperature is in the 80s. Much more pleasant than last week.

I'll probably spend this evening getting stuff ready for my trip to Tampa coming up at the end of this week. I used to live there with my parents when I was 4 years old. I got our old address from my mom so that I can go check out my old house.

Finally, my home e-mail address seems to be functioning again. Maybe it was the Code Red virus slowing things down. At any rate, the problem seems to have been corrected.

My e-mail problems appear to be persisting. It's very random. Some messages are being lost while others are coming through -- even messages from the same person. Yesterday during the day I downloaded some Pop mail through my Hotmail account, and the messages were supposed to be left on the server, but when I got home last night those messages did not appear. So I really don't know what's happening.

My advice for now is to use susannahx@hotmail.com if you want to write me, even if you normally use my other address.

I just found out (thank you, Alicia) that I haven't been getting all my e-mail for the last day or so. If you wrote me at my HOME ADDRESS in the last 24 hours and I haven't answered, please write me again? It might also be a good idea to send a copy to my susannahx@hotmail.com address.

I can't sleep tonight. Thinking too much. Maybe I shouldn't have written that journal entry tonight. Or maybe it was that furry cat snuggled up to me. Just what you want in the middle of a heat wave, right?

Here's something new on Raspberry World: Desktop Image Gallery. This is a gallery of pictures that make nice wallpaper for your computer. They're all from my picture archives, so this gallery is also a kind of "greatest hits" of the outdoor shots from the regular gallery. Check it out!

We're still in an oven here in New England. Just so you know.

The journal is updated.

The bathroom renovation gallery is updated.

It's dreadfully hot. It's been hazy and humid and 90 degrees F for the last few days. Today at 5 pm I walked out of work and a hot wind was blowing. It was disgusting. So tonight the main activity has been sweating. Among some household chores like laundry and taking out the trash.

And now I'm going to have a popsicle.

Monkey Business

Ah, the things we do for love.

Yesterday Marty and I went to see the new Planet of the Apes movie directed by Tim Burton. Marty is an old-time Planet of the Apes fan, having seen the original movie repeatedly and the whole series at least a couple of times. I think he loves the old movie for its treatment of cultural issues like racism and evolution. Or maybe he just likes the apes.

That said, Planet of the Apes is really not my thing. But anyway, I went. After all, he went to see the X-Files movie with me 3 years ago -- he, who loathes The X-Files -- so I figured I owed him one. (And earlier this summer I had flat-out refused to see Artificial Intelligence.) We went to a 4:40 showing yesterday in Meriden, CT.

It wasn't too bad. I mean, it wasn't up to Tim Burton's true classics -- like Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Batman, Beetlejuice, and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure -- but neither was it a Stinky (er, Sleepy) Hollow. In fact, I would go so far as to say it was MUCH BETTER than Sleepy Hollow. But at the same time, it was only about 2 hours long and I found myself checking my watch several times in the second half.

Marky Mark Wahlberg did a great job as the main character, and Helena Bonham-Carter was absolutely perfect as the ape who fights for human rights. They also have a nice little attraction thing going on, too, but I think it was sacrificed in order to keep the PG-13 rating (bestiality, anyone?). Tim Roth as the evil ape general was terrifying and ridiculous by turns. Charlton Heston had a mind-bending cameo that tested the boundaries of irony, as a peacenik ape who describes guns as the root of all evil (damn them all to hell!).

But even Marky Mark and Helena Bonham-Carter were not enough to make up for the unexpected appearance of Kris Kristofferson. That was a surprise I hadn't counted on. (Although, to his credit, he didn't have very many lines, and died in the first 20 minutes. If only the same could be said for his role in Dance With Me).

My final verdict: not bad. No, it wasn't equal to Tim Burton's best work, and it might possibly have been improved with the addition of Colin Firth. But it was fun to watch Marky Mark trying to outwit those bad monkeys. He sure has grown up to be a hottie.

The Colin Firth Chair

From this morning's e-mail:

And exactly what kind of mental furniture would Colin Firth be? An armchair? A lazy-boy? An ottoman? Just curious :)

Ooo, what a thought. Definitely some kind of sexy chair. Not a fat lazy-boy, but maybe a velvety-soft, well-worn armchair with a high back. Old fashioned. Not new, but still springy enough to be comfortable. I could really go for a chair like that. A sexy Colin Firth chair. ;-)

Hmm, this is very Firth-y, even if it is American Mission furniture. Dark and sexy and solid. Mmm.

Hee!!! You have seen The Last Girl Scout, haven't you? Check it out... I've only scratched the surface of the archives, but I'm well on my way to being a fan!

Friday at last. :-)

Over to the right, yet another shot of the trees in the backyard. This one's taken from above rather than below (see yesterday). I love my digital camera.

Marty has plans tonight so I am looking forward to a Friday evening home alone. I'm trying to decide what to do -- there are so many fun possiblities when I have time to myself. As much as I like spending time with Marty, and other people too, I also like that I know how to entertain myself (and that I enjoy my own company).

Tomorrow morning we'll take a load of trash to the transfer station. We have a bunch of tile and stuff from the old bathroom that needs to be dumped. So we'll load up the pickup and drive it over there. The rest of the weekend will likely be dedicated to chores, grocery shopping, and the rest of all that fun grown-up stuff.

I've been working on a CD to take when I go to Florida to visit Sonal in a couple of weeks. It's a summer CD called Golden Days. Right now I'm in that phase of the CD creation process where I have 150 minutes' worth of music picked out and 10 more songs on the list... how I get from that point to the point where I have 80 minutes' worth of music and a tight playlist is a mystery to me, but it always seems to happen. Somehow.

Reading update: I've decided to re-read The Catch Trap, on the recommendation of Alicia, who just read the book on my recommendation. Is that convoluted enough for you?

In addition to that, I am going to try some of the Harry Potter fan fiction online. I have heard good things about Cassandra Claire's Draco Dormiens and Draco Sinister. (I would link to the files but the web is slow today... you can find them by searching if you're interested.)

Nothing's been wrong, but life has been feeling out of kilter just lately, and I knew what part of it was at least... I hadn't talked to Maria in over a week. Things have just been busy and we hadn't had a chance to talk. But that's a long time for us, and I was feeling it. Anyway, last night we talked and my life feels more normal again. So I am smiling.

I am in need of a good book to read. I finished the two Bridget Jones books and also A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. Now I find myself at loose ends, looking around for something that will really occupy my mind. Want to recommend something good? Write me!

What I'm really wishing for is a new Harry Potter book... but I'd rather not sacrifice quality for speed. So take your time, Ms. Rowling...

Over to the right is a picture of Queen Anne's Lace growing in my backyard. Sunday was a pretty day, and I got outside with the camera and took some pictures of the trees and flowers. (The few flowers we have, I should say. We are soooooo not gardeners.)