March 11, 2007~ 2:45pm
Well, I finally got to see it. I had a movie sent from Blockbuster for this weekend, "Prestige"- but that wasn't it. That's being saved for next weekend (and what does it matter, really- everything in my queue right now, is 'short wait', 'long wait', or 'very long wait'. God! They're a national mail service company with oodles of money-- don't you think they could really stock UP on heavy renters if they tried?) Nope. As per all advertising, "reel 'em in. Let 'em learn the truth once they're hooked. At least in this case it didn't matter, because while shopping last night, I saw they had 2 copies of 'Borat' for sale, and I nabbed one.
I laughed for 2 hours. I laughed till my mascara ran. I laughed my considerable ass off. Oh, I know there are those who consider this movie prickly and offensive on so many fronts, but that's the point. This movie is two things: a tough, realistic look at blind prejudice, and an indictment of it, simply by showing us one lovable goofball, thrust into the heart of American culture -(for the most part, southern, fundamentalist culture, which still wants to re-stage the Civil War, ready and willing to tear apart anything or anyone that threatens their ingrown, jingoist vision of "Amer'-ka, by gawd!"- and that includes " "homa-sexshuls, uppity wimen, and in-ta-lek-shuls who question the glorious double sword of God and Country, hallowed bee thah name."
I found this movie as healthy in its belly laughs as entertainment can get. Truthful- in that morons were morons, kind people were kind people no matter, and assholes were very clearly puckered and ready to shit on anything that crossed them.
'Borat' is a movie about stepping through the looking glass; not into a wonderland, but into the real world out there seen through a different lens, which makes no sense for all its screaming and hollering of slogans. No mercy, no glossing over our sins of over-indulgence or our blind acceptance of what's been handed out as truth. And far from being anti-Semitic (Sasha Baron Cohen is an Orthodox Jew, and his babbling in 'Kazakhstani', is actually mostly Hebrew) shows how ridiculously steeped in childish fears is blanket prejudice. It's the making of monsters out of the things we fear or don't understand.
I wholeheartedly loved this movie. And love Cohen. A brave soul, and handsome too. He reminds me of my much beloved, very tall, dark, and handsome Wayne- who also has a way of ripping away facades and making me laugh really, really hard. Viva la Borat! Long may you rave in your silly slingshot underwear, your dark, curly locks blowing in the winds of criticism, your mouth wide open and laughing-- loving life.
March 11, 2007~ 9:15pm You hear the phrase, "Tea and Sympathy" now and again, but the phrase that rings true for me is "Soup and Comfort". Not all soup, but CREAMED SOUPS. There is a local restaurant chain here called Eat n' Park, very reasonable prices, nice salad bar, a bake shop on premises to make the rolls and desserts and breads, and yes- they have the best soups. Sometimes I have just a large bowl of soup and rolls, my favorite being the beloved CREAM OF POTATO SOUP, Sunday's perennial special.
It's a combination of the smooth texture, the tenderness of the cooked potatoes, the thickness and consistency that just spells heaven for me. It's a soother, that soup. I wish more people were like Eat n' Park's cream of potato soup- what a lovely world this would be with everything adhering together nicely, no rough edges- goes down like a thick milkshake and wraps little vegetable arms around the tummy to give a comforting hug. Ah.........that soup. What can I say? I flat out love it!
March 12, 2007 7:00pm THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
More than 8 years difference in age, it's too damn much (and that's stretchin' it to its limits.) You have to be in a very, very compatible relationship, and this usually meaning one person is less mature, or one is overly mature for their age, and I mean intellectually and emotionally.
Speaking as someone who knows, the gap widens with time. Interests have to be terrifically compatible, one's breadth of knowledge and vision have to be so much more expansive in these relationships and I will say that even when they start out that way, the breach grows wider with time. And if the interest on the part of a much older one is more predatory in nature- kind of 'icky'- run!! Let's face it, this-
yes, there's something wrong with that and just plain distasteful. Ladies take note: unless the old fart has money and you happen to be a gold digger- stay away from this kind of stuff. It's bad for the soul. Even with the money, there's something 'quasi-incestuous' about it. And not just 'old man, young woman'. The opposite holds true, and believe me, it not only looks weird, it is- with a lot of heartache in store in the future because time wears away at the 'new/strangeness' of the thing- or the young man moves on to younger women, the young woman to a younger man- or in really fucked up souls, the older partner to someone even younger. It happens. Happened to me once. lol...
...
- and yes, I know that people always say
it ain't true.....30 is 30, 40 is 40, 50 is 50 and 70 is 70. Keep that in mind and you should be fine out there. Maybe you'll eventually fall for someone who's suitable. I did... and look here, below- now this, this
is a 'happy ending'- so don't cheat yourself of it. Hold hands. Talk. Share- be there for one another and for always: grow old together. Take the journey side by side and with someone you know, someone you really and truly like. And don't waste time.
(Strike that. GO IT ALONE. It can be done.)
March 14, 2007~ 6:30pm Sometimes change is so incremental; so
in-fin-i-tes-i-mal-ly small, it goes unnoticed for the longest time.
Or perhaps a big change is too frightening to contemplate. I am very
reflective today, somewhat
depressed because it dawned on me that after years of small and
eroding changes, my life is not what I supposed it to be at all;
that I had ceased to have the zip that comes from being central to
anything or anyone, but I had believed it for such a long
time, I didn't question it until it jumped up and bit me in the
(considerable) ass.
I realized I didn't want to pretend anymore that so many things aren't over the hill and flown-- and I look different, feel different, think differently- than I did 10, 15, 25 years ago-
and when something began to die, I didn't resusitate. I let it go.
I now find that it is finally really really gone, and I don't know what
to do with this lack. I'll have to sit with it awhile and
mourn I suppose, in a real sense, not pushing it away.
This leaves me sadder than I wanted to be ever again, but I've been
stripped off by time and by indifference, like bark from a tree. And you know what
happens when bark is sacrificed- a little here, a little
there...."what's a small strip, after all?"--- it lays waste the tree.
I used to do this when I was little- peel strips off of our cherry
trees and my mother would yell at me, telling me to stop: if I didn't
stop, I wouldn't have a tree to climb. Well she was right.
It's a metaphor for anything that requires care and attention. People
most of all. I require it. So does everyone else. I put that
knowledge to the side for several years and now there is nowhere left
to stand- the small platform has shrunk and shrunk until it cannot
maintain itself, and has collapsed. Time did its part, but I did
more. I don't see right now, how or what I will rebuild.
If I do nothing at all, well, time takes care of that too.
Word to the wise: watch your gardens. Mind your bark. Tend your
lives. Things do slip away without your care.
March 15, 2007~ 9:30pm
That's me. Till Sunday, anyway. Took tomorrow off and I intend to snap down the lid for two whole days. I just finished watching a DVD that I bought months ago and never watched till this evening, alone-- and I cried my eyes out. A wonderful film if you haven't seen it- "The Family Stone"; it was just what I needed, a good 'watering'. It's my plan now to stay in bed for 48 hours with bathroom breaks only and a dart downstairs for a nibble if need be. If the cats come near me, they'll be the first to feel my focused wrath. The sign's officially been turned around on the door: CLOSED FOR REPAIRS. I need a solid, inpenetrable block of absolute hibernation. The nut's keeping to her shell for the immediate future. I need to see if there's anything inside beyond self-pity and sorry-assed negativity. I need to read a thousand books non-stop.....I need to dance but I can't, and never could. Therein lies the problem. I need to stick a thousand voodoo dolls. I need leeches to bleed me. I want off the planet for a short time-- I'd like to drink, but that is the road to perdition...
There's nothing
I like better than to find a clever niche where I get to experiment
with nifty new applications. Perhaps I should take up knitting- which
befits a grandmother
...
but I have a lot of things to share with you--things I like-
people I find funny or inspiring, outrageous, insulting or
just plain wonderful- those with, well, Karisma...so if you have some time
to spare, go have a look around: I'd sure enjoy the
company.
There are some other things I've done strewn about the net, so if
you've a mind to, you might enjoy one of these: After
the Fruit: Raging Outside of Eden, a large
collection of poetry and links to my Gettysburg pages, ghost photos,
etc., and I recently started a small space devoted entirely to what
it feels like to be a grandparent. It's filled with observations and
photo shots of the tykes- Big Red
Fish. For ~8~ years now, I've edited an online, bimonthly
ezine called The
Blue House.. or pay a visit to my Audio site to hear things
I've written- Saying
It Right Out Loud.
I have a poetry board that's again open to all. My old ones
tanked, so it's back to 'the great experiment'- completely
non-critique, open door.
War
All The Time
Some are just 'jotters', thoughts as they fly- going
nowhere but where they are. If you stop and read a few~ or post a
few~ thanks for
the perusal. Last of all, if you've a hankering for rants and raging,
try making a stop at my other blog- Bitch On Wheels.
Comments welcome. I enjoy a good, throw-down debate, or some
heartfelt commiseration. Stop in sometime, and see what all the
hollering's about.
Links!
Good Stuff: Links I Like
~ a crazy quilt of things on the net that have
captured my attention~ the ridiculous and the
sublime together, tossed in a wonderful salad