formerly a fearless temp

So I'm already all obsessed about the 2008 election (which some of you already know), and while I'm not a political junkie, I'm just obsessed enough to be regularly enraged and/or confused and/or bewildered by the things I read.

I mean, I'll lay my cards on the table right now. But maybe behind a cut tag. Because I know some people don't like to know about other people's political opinions, and I'll try to be courteous.

( polotics ahoy! )

I got some bad news today, news that doesn't directly affect me but makes me very sad for someone else, and so tonight I've been kind of moping around online, trying to find something comforting. I found a few things:

My favorite dance sequence from Strictly Ballroom, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps. No matter how many times I see it, it still makes me hold my breath a little bit. Fantastic.



Remember that episode of Ugly Betty where Daniel was all devastated over being dumped and Betty was determined to make him feel better, and so she arranged a date with him with Gisele, but evil Amanda canceled it, and so Betty met him instead and they ended up running around New York City and crashing wedding receptions and singing karaoke to get their meal half off, proving that somewhere down the line, they very clearly are mfeo? Wasn't that AWESOME? From that episode, a clip of Daniel and Betty singing I Got You Babe.



This sequence from the Babu Bhatt episode of Seinfeld, you know, the one where Elaine takes an IQ test for George and the Dream Cafe opens down the street from Jerry and, well, wackiness ensues.

What do I do all day? Here is the best representation I've found - hilarious but also accurate:

Tonight at dinner, my brother and I were discussing the jellybean contest held at one of the three (3) Easter gatherings we attended last weekend. During the brunch, a jar of jellybeans was passed around with a piece of paper on which you were to write down your name and the number of jellybeans you thought were in the jar. There was an unspecified cash prize to go to the winner (the bill was folded up on top of the jar and held there by clear tape, but the denomination was obscured by a sticker) as well as the jar of jellybeans. BIG STAKES!

Our discussion centered on acceptable vs. not acceptable behavior in such a contest. Imagine you are taking part in such a contest, and while watching the jar of jellybeans make its way around, you notice someone counting the number of beans on the bottom and then counting the number of layers in the jar. Your reaction!

[Poll #966757]

.i. hair

My complicated relationship with my hairdresser continues. I saw her yesterday and got my hair cut/colored/highlighted, but am not wholly convinced that she is pleased with me. She told me she hadn't returned my phone calls because I forgot to leave my number on her machine any of the three times I called. Totally possible! In fact, very likely! But still: I have doubts.

She dyed my hair again, which of course means I'm experiencing post-dye paranoia. I'm convinced that I look like I took a can of black shoe polish and combed it through my hair, in spite of the fact that she talked me into getting highlights. She cajoled me, I submitted, but do I see highlights? No. No, I do not. But did I want super-highlighted hair? Not really. She said I would "barely see them" and she's right; I guess I got what I asked for.

Another potential sign of diminishing interest on the part of my hairdresser: she didn't clean all the dye off of my forehead, which I didn't notice because I'm unobservant like that. People ask me why I still live at home and not on my own, and there are several reasons (credit card debt, student loans, uncertain employment future), but a big one was exemplified last night, when my mother walked in the door, took one look at me, and said, "What's on your forehead? Why is it all black?"

And then I went to the mirror and saw all the dye around my hairline that I'd totally not noticed. I went and got Chinese food for lunch, went to a drug store to pick up pens later, all while displaying massive dye-face. Without the Mom Unit, I would have slept with it on and perhaps been permanently marked.

I feel like all my posts about my hairdresser make me sound like a paranoid lunatic. Well, more so than usual. And I will own up to being slightly paranoid about things like this. Okay, more than slightly. BUT. In my defense! My aunt and cousin go to the same person and have the same hang-ups. Is this because we share the same congenital personality flaw, where we project our own negative self-worth onto our hairdressers? Or is our shared stylist, in fact, a little tempermental?

My aunt actually brings her a coffee every time she goes to get her hair done because she's convinced the hairdresser doesn't like her, and is trying to earn her way back into her good graces. We keep going back because she generally does a good job with hair (my aunt and cousin's hair looks fabulous); as for mine, I'm still adjusting. Here's hoping I don't, in fact, look like I dunked my head in an inkwell and cut my hair with garden shears. More news as it develops.

.ii. charlotte's web

Those of you who were lucky enough to talk to me either a couple of months ago, when I saw the new Charlotte's Web in the theater, or the other day, when I watched part of it again on DVD, have been exposed to my evangelical zeal for Charlotte's Web. Evidence: The icon for this entry, which I know is super low-budg, but as I tell my students whenever I give them handouts I create featuring images of any kind, I am not a graphic artist!

ANYWAY. I am obsessed with Charlotte's Web. I feel like someone who's just accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior, and must now Spread the Word. Except my Word has to do with a children's book/movie about a spider and a pig. But! It's about SO MUCH MORE!

Watching the movie as an adult was much different than watching or reading it as a child. My memory of the story was of Charlotte as more of a mother-figure, who saved Wilbur out of benevlolence, and she does have a teacher/motherly role in the movie, but what I had either missed or forgotten was the reciprocal nature of their friendship. Charlotte saves Wilbur because Wilbur is the first (maybe only?) creature to call her a friend and not be put off by her appearance, and by doing that, he brings her into a friendship and a community she'd been cut off from before. That might have been present in the book or earlier movie, but I didn't remember it as much, so it really moved me when I saw the movie.

In general, I was surprised by how many themes the story touches upon honestly and thoughtfully: the value of friendship, the importance of promises kept, the influence one individual can have on a community, the power of words, finding worth in individuals usually overlooked, seeing beyond superficial appearances, the bittersweetness of growing up.

I grew up with the animated version, which I have affection for, but I liked this live-action version a lot. And this is coming from someone who's generally creeped out by talking live-action animals (I hate all those stupid cat litter commercials, they FREAK ME OUT). I think the movie did a wonderful job making the setting look both real and somehow magical - the colors were super-saturated, a little brighter than they would typically be in real life. And Dakota Fanning was wonderful as Fern.

Go see it! It's awesome!

FYI, a lot of my posts here are locked because of various concerns. If you add me, odds are good I'll add you back, though you still might not see much of me - I don't post as much as I used to, and sometimes I use a filter for a few close friends I've known for years. You're really not missing much.

Holy crap, there's a lot of snow out there! I just spent an hour and a half digging out (1) our sidewalk, (2) part of the driveway, and (3) my blue bomber out of what has to be 2+ feet of snow. The temperatures today have stayed firmly in the "Effing Cold" category, which meant things both good (light, fluffy snow!) and bad (one freezes one's ass off while digging out!). The main highlight of said digging out occurred after I'd finally gotten my car running and into the street, where I waited for my brother to pull his car in front of me into the driveway (due to a snow emergency, no parking on the street like we usually do). It had taken twenty minutes of tire-spinning torture to get myself out of my original spot, and I suddenly again found myself unable to move. Had I destroyed my ancient transmission? Blown a tire? Somehow driven into another snowbank (visibility was low, people, it was possible!)?

My brother and I enacted a story in three acts about my car.

Act One: From a Distance

LJAGU: (from the garage thirty feet away) JESS! [GARBLED YELLING]

Self: WHAT?

LJAGU: [MORE GARBLED YELLING]

Self: (shifting into first again, to no avail) ...WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY TRANSMISSION EXPLODING!

LJAGU: [YET MORE GARBLED YELLING]

Act Two: Brute Force

LJAGU: (traipses down the driveway, stops in front of my car) I'm going to push!

Self: Okay!

(I shift into reverse, he pushes.)

(No movement whatsoever.)

LJAGU: Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking there.

Act Three: The Solution

Self: (panicking after three more tries with no luck) Dude! Did I kill my car?

LJAGU: (leans in my open window) I don't know, it's - wait. Your emergency brake is on.

Self: No, it's - oh.

LJAGU: (already walking away) Yeah.

Self: Sorry!

In other news: Today I had my first snow day as a paid public school teacher. It is awesome, and I am greedy for another one tomorrow, especially since I'm fighting off a cold and teaching a herd of eighth graders on limited physical and mental resources (I swear, colds make both my body and brain slower) is about as fun as it sounds.

I made an X-Mas stocking! I wish I could do this in real life for all my friends and family, since my financial situation is such that I am contemplating actually making gifts, since I can't afford to buy anything. But I have no gift-making skills! I used to cross-stitch when I was eight or so, and my friend A. gave me knitting lessons about eighteen months ago, but of course I've forgotten how to do both. What can I do? I can sew buttons on! And make chocolate chip cookies! Maybe I could give all friends and family a button-sewing-on IOU and a cookie?

Anyway, here's my stocking:

( my xmas stocking )

I came down with a stomach virus over the weekend that took all of my energy, so I accomplished next to nothing when I had hoped to accomplish a lot. Right now I'm in that recovery period when food isn't that appealing, and I'm hoping to reboot my digestive system and train myself into better eating habits. I try to do this every time I get a stomach bug, and for the first two days, I'm all, "OMG, I'm a changed woman! I'm satisfied with a small portion! I feel no need for salty, fatty foods!" And then I fully recover and my id starts up all, "BUTTER!! SALT!! CHOCOLATE!! COMPLEX SUGARS!! TRANS FATS!! NOW!!!!"

We shall see.

On Saturday morning, just before the virus struck, I went and got my hair done. I bit the bullet and finally got permanent dye put on my hair, and also got the most drastic haircut I've gotten in probably three or four years. My hair's texture has changed in the last six months for some reason, so that while it used to be pretty super-curly, it's gone back to a strong wave. I keep trying to figure out why, but there are a multitude of variables! Has anyone else had this happen?

I think I will poll this out, because paragraphs take too long and I have to go take one of the cats to the vet.

[Poll #886655]

I am making chocolate chip cookies! Seriously making them, from scratch and everything. It's my contribution to Thanksgiving. I am also housesitting at the Scary Brownstone, and have discovered that although the Professors are culinary giants (they have invited me over for many a delicious meal), they do not appear to have a, whaddyacallit, mixer thingy you hold in your hand to mix ingredients. Maybe it's just called a mixer? A beater? ANYWAY. They don't have one. I've invested about ten minutes in searching, and am now trying to decide if it's worth the effort to keep looking or if the cookies can be made without one. They must have had cookies before electric mixers!

Or did they?

Also, I can't find a big mixing bowl. I have a bowl that I think might be large enough, but I hate it when you think the bowl is large enough and then it really isn't and Disaster Develops.

If I wait any longer, the chocolate chips will be gone due to excessive snacking on my part! They're so YUMMY.

Okay, one last search, and I begin! Any tips for a mixer-less cookie maker? The internet connection is in the kitchen in the Scary Brownstone; I await any and all helpful hints.

ETA: Mixer and mixing bowls found! I seriously think that an LJ entry is better than a Prayer to St. Anthony; the second I post about not being able to find something, I invariably find it and feel like an idiot for wasting ten minutes on an LJ entry on the subject. Off to make cookies happen.

ETA Part II: DAMMIT. I had put the chocolate chips into a bowl after measuring the appropriate amount needed (so as to see how much was snackable), and then made the poor choice of placing the bowl on the stove while the oven was preheating, and well, I just spent a few minutes eating some melted chocolate (yum!) but must now go to the store for more chips. More news as the cookies develop.

OMG! I just picked up my voicemail and a friend had left a message there, and in it she said that there was new CNN breaking news! Britney Spears files for divorce!

Naturally, I was all, "OMG, GASP!" and maybe jumping up and down because I love celebrity gossip. And then my friend's message went on to say something like, "And isn't that a sad commentary on America? That on Election Day, THAT is the top news story?"

And then I felt kind of bad for jumping up and down. But not enough to not post this LJ entry. Anyway, hey, I voted! I pushed down all of the appropriate little levers (for the last time, possibly - I think NYS is going to a more high-tech method next year, and I will miss the little levers).

And now for the important PSA: New Friday Night Lights tonight! I strongly suspect the episode will include Matt Saracen being awesome and/or adorable. I will have to tape because some alternate version of myself volunteered to help the Dems on Election Night. Off I go to headquarters! I am secretly hoping they won't need my help! That's the kind of lazy American I am!