Just finished chapter number four! I'm going to try to get number 5 written by tomorrow, and send them both out tomorrow night... But first, I have to have other people read them, because after I look at this crap for so long, I don't even see what's on the page anymore. I just see what's in my head...

My eyes are going crossed from looking at my computer screen so damn much...

Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace

So when I was a kid, I loved the rhyme about what day you were born on. I was born on a Tuesday, and I always thought 'full of grace' was really nice, and I always hoped I would grow into a graceful person. This weekend, finally, destroyed that little self-delusion once and for all

Scene 1: Friday night. Hot as all get out in her apartment, she heads back to the bedroom to charge her cell. She doesn't bother with the light, because really, who needs an incandescent bulb on in a 104 degree room? She turns at the door, heading toward the charger, on the wall at the end of the closet, and Bam!!
"OOOOOOOW!"
She smashes her pasty white leg into the (sharp) corner of their gorgeous teak bed. Damn, blood and everything, highlighted by a nice bruise. A lovely accessory for shorts-weather.

OK, people bump into things in the dark - it's well known. Doesn't mean I'm all that clumsy, right?

Scene 2: Sunday afternoon. Even freaking hotter in her apartment, she heads to the bedroom for shoes, to go to the bookstore and escape the heat. She doesn't bother with the light, because really, who needs and incandescent bulb in a 108 degree room? She turns at the door, heading for the closet, and Bam!
"OW! Ow ow ow ow ooooowwwww!!!!!"
She smashes her eggplant colored bruise into the (sharp) corner of their gorgeous teak bed. Looking down, she realizes that she's bleeding. Assuring her husband that she was still alive, albeit in some pain, she hobbles to the the bathroom and puts her pasty white leg up on the counter (the surface of which, like all surfaces in her apartment, is approximately 100 degrees), wherein she discoveres a miracle of her own making. Rather than simply reopening the old gash, she had managed to give her self a NEW CUT RIGHT ON TOP OF THE OLD FREAKING CUT.

Doubting that even she, the woman who randomly looses her balance and bumps into people when she is concentrating more on talking than walking, could be quite that clumsy, she reexamines the wound. Sure enough, the second cut starts about 1/4 inch to the right of the old, it travels diagonally to the old cut, follows it's length and inch or two, and then tails off to the left. Amazing. On the 360 degree surface of her leg, she managed to nail the exact freaking spot that was already hurt. Breaking out the neosporin, she whimpers quietly as she applies it to the new bruise that has aggravated the old bruise.
"You married one of the clumsiest women in the entire freaking country! Look at this!"
Her husband shakes his head, and continues watching tv - there is nothing he can do for a woman this blunderous. Fade scene.

Lady in the Water

I sent out my first Chapter of my thesis yesterday, and finished the main edit on chapter two! And as a treat, Mr. Duck and I went to see Lady in the Water, because I adore Shyamalan, and it was simply too hot to sit in our apartment for 2 more hours.

Seriously, the heat wave thing is killing me. I die a little every summer.

Maybe I should look at teaching in Alaska.

Anyway, loved the movie. Maybe my fave of his yet - I'll have to see it again to say for sure, of course. I'll try for no spoilers :-)

First, the cinematography was great. The coloring was quite moody, but I really loved the way he used mistyness. A couple times, the picture literally blurred out - reflecting the characters states of mind - and it was very effective, it made the scene feel sleepy. Loved it. Mr. Duck thinks he did his 'red' thing again, but I didn't see that, for me it was the water - not just the pool but the rain, the sprinklers, the dripping faucets and showers, very thematic (big surprise, given the title, right?).

A big old surprise in this flick was the humor. I laughed my tush off a couple times. Who goes to see an M. Night Shyamalan for the giggle factor? Not me. Not previously, anyway. But he's a damn clever writer, and the entire theater was laughing out loud during several sequences. Funny ha-ha, not funny strange. Honestly. Go see it and we'll discuss the previously unplumbed depths of his freaking genious.

Also, Shyamalan's little Hitchcokian cameo penchant got turned up a notch or twelve. I expected to see him, but only briefly. But he gave himself and actual role! Hubris? Perhaps. Handsome? Ooooh yeah. Complaints? Nope.

I liked all the acting as well. Shyamalan, even in his less successful movies, manages to get beautiful, unforced performances from all his actors, which may be one of the reasons I like his work so much. This was no exception, and I found myself very drawn to the characters.

Lastly, something that normally bugs me. I knew everything. Without giving stuff away, there are certain characters or symbollic people that become important, and I knew who each and every one was going to be. And yes, there was some misdirection, but none of it fooled me.

Normally, I hate this. I much prefer being surprised by the story and the storyteller. but somehow this time, I enjoyed it. I think it's because there was definate foreshadowing, but it was more subtle than the miscues were. So I kinda felt vindicted, as the truth was revealed, and it was nice seeing the pieces I had in my head come together on screen.

Altogether, very good storytelling. There was the element of scary, but the story itself was very sweet.

Mr. Duck liked it too.

Quotes

Romancing the Stone is on right now, and I heard one of my very fave quotes. Except for Zoolander and Austing Powers, I don't tend to pick up on the popular quotes - I guess my fancy is just tickled differently. But here are some of my faves... Be forwarned, I tend to go for the ones with the exclamation points.

He wants you too, Malachai! (my sister and I went around saying that for about 6 months, straight - gravelly voice and all)

The man who killed my father, raped and murdered my sister, burned my ranch, shot my dog, and stole my bible!

That's a big twinkie.

Listen to your buddy Billy Zane, he's cool, he's trying to help.

Humans! Not worth the flesh you're printed on!

I'm an extraordinary thief!

ROUS's? I don't believe they exist.

For every action, there is a Jackson.

You speak so many languages, yet you never want to talk.

That's what you get for playing with Yakuza! Go home to your mother!

Some pics

As a way to relax before classes started, we took Teacee to the beach on the last weekend in June. She had never been to the coast here, and had heard how beautiful it was (she agreed - the Pacific coastline is never-ending gorgeous). All pictures are courtesy of Teacee, as I haven't finished my roll yet...

We started our day by going straight over to Florence, where we had a late breakfast. Here are Mr. Duck and I on a pier in oldtown Florence (you can see the famous dunes in the back).

Then we went to the Sea Lion Caves. Most people from this area have been there, but if anyone hasn't, it's the world's largest natural sea cave, and is year round home to a colony of stellar sea lions. You can take an elevator several hundred feet down into the cave, where they have turned a ledge into a viewing platform.

The closest building in the picture is the elevator, and the cave is directly beneath.

We wanted to take her to see the lighthouse visible on the far cliff, but the parking lot there was crazy full, so we didn't want to deal with the crowds.

Next, we had a picnic on a small beach near Lincoln City. Here is Teacee on the trail down to the beach (a good 10 minute hike, at this particular beach)



And here are Mr. Duck and I at the local 4th of July celebration in the park near our place.



They had wine tastings for 50 cents! Teacee had never been in the US for the 4th either, so it was fun taking her and pointing out different aspects of Americana on display. And I got some SUPER cute earrings from a local artist...

Also, I freaked out on poor Teacee. She wanted her picture taken with the American flag, and there was one next to this Paul Revere guy, so I took her camera to get a shot of her, and when I looked up, she had grabbed the flag and was pulling it to show it in the picture, and we both learned how much I disapproved of the manhandling of the flag... Totally bit her head off, and then felt bad. I surprised myself at the vehemence of my reaction...




addendum - In Japan, many people still associate their flag with WWII, and thus it has very different and often negative connotations for them, as opposed to the great amount of respect that we hold for ours. So Teacee really had no way of knowing that tugging and pulling on our flag would elicit that kind of response from me. So she let go, and just held the pole :-)

What a Helper

Two things

1 Holy crap, the Italian team is chock-full of hotties. This is my kinda sport.

2 Noooo! My thumb drive! I don't CARE if you need to save your thesis! Don't make me do the kitten-poses!
You know you can't resist my fluffy-belly-paws-up ninja moves! You have NO DEFENSE!!!!!!!

P.S. If France is called "le Bleu," which I am almost positive means "the blue," why the hell is Italy (whos flag is green, white and red, as evidenced on the top of my tv screen) wearing solid blue uniforms? Are they just trying to confuse the refs? Are they trying to appropriate the symbols of the team that has so thouroughly and repeatedly beat them these last few decades? Is their coach/kit designer colorblind?

Fishy

The week has, once again, been crazy. But I am bound and determined to finish editing my intro chapter tonight... We'll see if I succeed.

I went to the Museum shop for java this week, and it was so sad being there without S and Sunshine. They remodeled, and it's nice, but it's just not the same without them. Pathetic, aren't I?

But I did give in and get one of the little floppy enamel fish I have been admiring there for months. I put it on some embroidery thread with dragonflies I made on the ends, to use as a necklace (at least until I find the perfect ribbon).

Cute, no? The little round ring coming out of it's mouth I am thinking to leave there because A) it looks cute, like the fish is blowing a bubble, and B) it's freaking welded on, and I haven't got the time or energy to get it off.

I'll leave it to those who know me to determine which is the more powerful motivator there...

Anyhoo, tons to do and no time to do it!