Posted by barb on Apr 5, 2004 in
TV FOX introduced two creative new shows this season — Tru Calling and Wonderfalls. Tru Calling survived the axe by a mid-season revamp, but Wonderfalls has been cancelled. Bastards. I’m not sure how executives at FOX can hold their heads up with the crap TV they’ve invented. It’s beyond my capacity to understand how a network who has created such auspicious shows as My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance and The Swan could can one of the two respectable new shows this season.
That’s okay. I didn’t need to watch any TV anyway. There are too many good books for me to read.
Posted by barb on Apr 4, 2004 in
Pictures I poked the girls out of bed around 10AM (though the clocks still said 9 — I should have changed them last night). We went to Anita’s for breakfast…er…brunch. Anita’s is a New Mexican restaurant in town, that even has green chile (my favorite, and hard to come by anywhere in the States besides the Southwest). Mushi lived in NM, too, so I’m going to try to take her to Anita’s every time she’s in town.
After that, Mushi headed home. She had a 6-hour drive in front of her, and work early tomorrow morning. At least we accomplished our mission.
Sweetie, Andrew and I went down to the Mall to see the cherry blossoms. Even though we were a few days past peak and it’s been windy and rainy the past few days, the blossoms were still quite lovely.
Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera only lasted long enough for these two pictures. The spare batteries were also drained (oops! I need to be better about recharging my batteries!). So, we walked back to the Mall, Andrew bought a cheesy one-time-use camera (not Kodak, but in a yellow box just the same…though it did have Kodak film).
After Sweetie got more pictures of the blossoms, we walked to the American History Museum where I was in search of a good Washington DC book for kids. Sweetie also needed to see the Ruby Slippers. We also stopped in the Chasing Venus exhibit — and exhibit covering the transits of Venus from 1631 to now. There will be another one in June this year.
Finally we returned home, exhausted from being out in the wind all day. A bit of Chinese delivery, a couple episodes of Coupling, and we were more than ready for bed.
Posted by barb on Apr 4, 2004 in
Books A True Story of Social Hysteria and Abused Justice
by Kathryn Lyon
I’m done with true crime, unless a trusted friend specifically recommends something to me.
Witch Hunt chronicles injustices of the child welfare, police and justice departments in Wenatchee, Washington. Children suspected of being sexually abused were questioned for hours on end until the interviewer heard what he wanted. These interviews were never recorded, and any notes were destroyed, lest they contradict the final report. Suspects were interviewed by police, their requests for lawyers ignored, until they signed confessions. Many of the suspects were poor, mentally retarded, or illiterate. Prosecutors withheld relevant information from defending lawyers and filed new charges days before trials were to begin.
While the story itself sounds compelling, Lyon tells it in excruciating detail. The story should have been told in half the number of pages (or less). Just because an author has a bit of research, it doesn’t mean that it has to be included in the book — true crime authors, in my limited experience, need to learn the strength of summary over scene for parts of their story when summary will do the job just as well as a point-by-point account.
Posted by barb on Apr 3, 2004 in
Pictures,
Wedding Mushi and Sweetie (my bridesmaids) came up this weekend so that we could either find dresses or patterns and fabric for their dresses. I’m not a picky bride — I wanted them to wear something navy, but that was my only real stipulation. I wanted them to wear something they’d be comfortable in, and frankly didn’t care if they had the same dress or not.
I got them out of bed around 10AM so we could get out of the house by 11 and on our way. The original plan had been for them to make dresses, but we decided to go to the mall and see if we could find something off the rack. Barring that, we could at least get some ideas as to what styles we liked, what looked good on them, and what was hideous while disguised as fashionable.
We started at Bloomingdale’s, because it was the closest entrance to the car. They didn’t have anything. Next was Nordstrom’s, which had a dress to try on, but in the wrong color. Plus, they didn’t have Mushi’s size, so it was irrelevant.
By then we were ready for lunch. I took us to Luciano’s, since it was on the way to the next anchor store, and their food is really good. (Plus, Andrew proposed to me in the Luciano’s in Oakton, so it seemed appropriate).
Lord & Taylor was next. They had a dress that both Mushi and Sweetie liked. Sweetie looked great in the dress, but unfortunately, Mushi’s dress was just a smidgen too small. We didn’t see one in a larger size on the rack. Sweetie could just get the dress, and we could keep looking for a matching navy for Mushi. Instead, we asked the sales clerk if perhaps they would have one in a larger size. “No,” she said, “but they might have other formal dresses downstairs.” But not this dress? “No, not this dress.”
We decided to have her hold the dress, so that we could at least get it if we didn’t find something better downstairs. We trudged to the escalator, disappointed that we were so close to a dress, but not for both girls. We started browsing the section the sales clerk upstairs had indicated, but at first found no formal dresses. Then, way in the back, there were two racks. And what did we behold? The very dress we’d been looking at upstairs. In a larger size. That fit Mushi. That looked fabulous on Mushi.
That was it. We had two matching dresses that both Mushi and Sweetie liked. Off the rack. In less than 4 hours. They even claimed they would wear them again.
I’m not holding my breath 🙂
Posted by barb on Apr 3, 2004 in
Random Thoughts The girls came up this weekend so we could shop for bridesmaid dresses. Check out the dresses in my wedding blog — they were bought in record time, so we had time in the afternoon to play a bit in Alexandria.
After we picked up the dresses, I drove us down to Alexandria to check out the bridal shoes store there. We parked by the Torpedo Factory — a building full of art studios and galleries — which Andrew and I had never managed to get to while open. It was open, and we were at the main entrance (which Andrew and I hadn’t found before), so we decided to go in.
We saw Marcia Jestaedt’s studio. Andrew and I had seen one of her works at the Alexandria symphony last fall, where she had done a ceramic kimono called Birds in Space.
We also stopped in Matthew Harwood’s studio . He was trained as an architect, and uses that training in his work. He makes paneled watercolors which display the depth of his subject. The one he was working on when we stopped in was a perspective of New York from the Brooklyn Bridge. I stopped in because a Greek collonade with a star-streaked background caught my eye. If I was in any position to buy original art, I would have snatched it up.
Sweetie found something at Alicia Roman’s studio that she loved — a magnetic pendant that said “hurrah” in the middle and had magnetic beads that rolled around the inside.
After the Torpedo Factory, we walked down to the bridal shoe store, The Glass Slipper. Sigh. I just don’t like bridal shoes. They’re all so…so…so cheesy. My current plan is to get some cheap, white Keds and decorate them like I did my Teva’s for Mushi’s wedding. (Sadly I don’t have a picture of them, cuz they were way cool.)
By this time, we were just about ready for dinner, so we headed up to the Stardust Restaurant (that’s where the reception is going to be). We were fairly early (5:30-ish), so were the first in the restaurant (though there were a couple people at the bar already). We were seated next to the back fireplace, which was running, so felt quite cozy.
Our conversation ran from the weird to the bizarre to the embarrassing. And our waiter had impeccable timing — he always showed up just as we were saying something stupid. “No more Twinkies for me” (as he’s setting down the pesto with portabella mushroom and mozzarella). “Butt Man and his sidekick, the Boy Plunger.” “That’s when I started throwing up.”
The food was great, dessert even better, and the company divine.
We got home fairly early, watched Wonderfalls, and talked until 1 AM (someone forgot to remind us that we would lose an hour!).
Posted by barb on Apr 2, 2004 in
Random Thoughts Sweetie was flying into National Airport near the heart of DC, so I decided to Metro in to pick her up. I could have driven, but every time I try to get home from National, I end up driving around the monuments, so I decided to forgo the extra excitement.
This was my first Metro ride by myself since I got my iPod a few weeks ago, so I decided to bring it with me. Frankly I was a bit nervous carrying my $350 iPod on the Metro at night…maybe I’m just a big baby. It was nice not to listen to the general noise of the train, though. Plus, I love to play aladdin casino game at www.EasyMobileCasino.com so I played it
the whole time, which made the ride go a bit faster.
When I reached the airport, I decided to leave the music running. Sweetie was coming in on Northwest, which meant I had to walk to the little, tiny terminal that used to be the entire airport (9 gates). To get there, I walked down a deserted tunnel between the spiffy new terminal and the old one. Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys” came on just as I started down the tunnel. I’d never realized, but it is the perfect walking song. With one step for each beat, I was motoring down the tunnel in record time. I had to keep from singing out loud.
For a brief moment, I pretended that I was in an alien space port, but then wondered if “Wild Boys” would really be the theme song for a space port — maybe only in an 80s movie.
I realized that I liked having a soundtrack, though. It might just make some of the boring moments of life more interesting, and perhaps, could soothe those stressful times. I could imagine Devo’s “Working in a Coal Mine” coming on as I drive to work every morning, and one of the themes from The Lord of the Rings soundtrack when I’m tackling a difficult problem at work. Right now, I’m hearing Barenaked Ladies’ “Another Postcard” just for silliness.
Posted by barb on Apr 2, 2004 in Uncategorized
I’ve just been plugging away at my thesis, trying to see if the effect we saw was real, and if I can characterize the different states of the galaxy.
I also went to a craft show last weekend, and spent way too much money, mostly on myself (shame!). This week I’ve been cleaning and getting the house ready for Melissa and Diana to visit this weekend. They are the bridesmaids (brides matrons?) and we thought we’d get together to pick out dress patterns and fabric. They’re both coming in this evening.
Posted by barb on Mar 31, 2004 in
Saxophone I was not on my game tonight. Neither was Fred. Not much to say besides “ouch.”
Fred: “How many beats does an eighth note get in this piece?”
Me: “Uhhhh.”
Fred: “You know this.”
Me: “Yeah, I should. My brain seems to have turned off.”
It went downhill from there.
Posted by barb on Mar 30, 2004 in
Movies 2/5 stars
Standard action film, but with vampires instead of terrorists or random super-villain.
Posted by barb on Mar 28, 2004 in
Movies 4/5 stars
This movie was based on the life of Frank Hopkins, a Pony Express courier and long distance horse race legend. he and his horse, Hidalgo, travel to Saudi Arabia to participate in a race across the desert. Most participants laugh at his horse, a wild Mustang, from their purebred Arabian mounts. Hopkins finds himself not just fighting to win the race (and survive the race) but caught up in Arabian politics.
I quite enjoyed the movie. While I knew that Hopkins had to survive. I was still caught up in the action.
Funny comment from couple behind us: “They really used a lot of horses in this movie.” Duh. Really?