Movie Addiction

Daniel and I rented "The Life of David Gale" a few days ago and got around to watching it today and wow! I enjoyed it so much! At first I thought that was the title of "A Beautiful Mind" which I saw last year, until I saw the box and was like, oh, that wasn't it. And for each of the plot twists and turns I was like a half second ahead of the current one but could never see far enough ahead to predict the next.

Since Daniel has the week off, we've been binging on movies (A Simple Plan, Madagascar, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Strangers With Candy (good lord, I didn't realize it was that many...)). We also have been walking like fiends and saw the Forbes museum and the Gothic exhibit at the FIT museum (what do they have in common? They're both free!).

Now I'm way overusing parentheses, so it's time to go.

Curious Case of Strangers With Candy

Ooh, it's mystery shop day at the Texas BBQ up on 168th street. Daniel and I are braving the 40 degree weather and walking all the way up there from Columbia, where we are currently basking in the sweet internet glow. I'll probably get the old standby (the constantly delicious pulled pork sandwich) and WHO KNOWS what Daniel will order.

We saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button yesterday afternoon and while Daniel was on the fence, I really enjoyed it. It is a bit long, yes, but it is weeptastic at the end. This could be Mom's new Sweet November or Stepmom or whatever TBS movie it is that makes her cry every time.

Then we watched Strangers with Candy and I was like, Stephen Colbert? Phillip Seymour Hoffman? A strangely attractive Sarah Jessica Parker!?! Wow!

My big accomplishment recently is being able to make homemade popcorn with just some vegetable oil and kernels. I attribute this feat to my multiple years of cinematic servitude. This entire, large jar of organic popcorn kernels was only $2.99 at fairway and I have only made a dent in it after a week. And I have about a 95% kernel pop success rate, AND it's delicious.

Suzy and I went out to a bar nearby for Valentine's Day and I didn't get home until 4:00 AM. I then promptly slept until 2:30 PM. This should do wonders for my sleep schedule.

Random Tasks

A Friday off! But not in the lazy, no-work kind of way - I have to do all of the things that I have been delaying for weeks, like laundry and grocery shopping. The laundry is out of the way, and what a procedure! In my building, it costs $3 a load for the washer and another $3 for the dryer. Too much. So I go across the street (with my dirty clothes in a giant suitcase, like a hobo) and meet Suzy in her hotel and we go downstairs to the scary basement where it's a glorious $1 per load for washing and drying.

Today's fun included meeting some German tourist who had apparently never done laundry in his life and needed a step by step tutorial. Then he asked me "how many degrees Fahrenheit is the cold wash?". How should I know? I told him "colder than the warm wash".

Work is great, because I get assigned tasks that appeal to my primal obsession with organization and order. Recently I have been given lists of books that are scheduled to be returned to different publishers, and it's like a giant, complex scavenger hunt because there's about half a dozen places that these titles are likely to be. I start downstairs, with the new releases. Usually I will find 3/4 of the number I need there. If they aren't on the shelf, they could be in the overstock pile above the shelf. If not there, perhaps they are on display on a table downstairs. If not, no worries. Check the stacks upstairs in the correct section. Not there either? Perhaps in the overstock upstairs. Still no luck? Try the shelving aisle. No? Enter the ISBN into Wordstock and see whether it's being held for a customer. Oh, it's not on hold? This is where you give up out of sheer frustration and pass the list off to someone else.

However, it's still iffy about how many hours I'll be able to glean next week. I sincerely hope I don't have to start looking for a new job, because it's emotionally and physically draining. Not to mention that work is scarce around these parts.

But fun is planned for this weekend! I think that Daniel and I are going to take advantage of that free MoMA admission (thanks, Target) tonight and then my new culture buddy and I are going to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens/Museum tomorrow, as he is from Brooklyn and I need excuses and friends waiting before I will travel that far.

Sunday, I am picking up my brand new rice cooker that I will purchase secondhand (still in the box, though) because I am sick of making rice on the stove. Why doesn't it ever turn out well? It will now!

Now Suzy just texted me so I have to go, you know, dress myself. Adios...and by the way, yes I am alive, apologies for being so absent around here.