Another Friday. Another Netflix movie. Iranian this time. ( Read more... )

Another postcard from dissonant_dream arrived this weekend - the magnificent Warwick Castle. Wow... you live 15 minutes away from such a gorgeous historic site? I envy you, girl.:)

Also, this picture from The Road chills me to the bone:



I am so very afraid to see this film. And yet, I can't wait. Masochistic much?... LOL

But seriously, I shouldn't have a problem, because I love movies that tear my heart out. Not of the violent, gory variety, but of the dark/psychologically disturbing kind. Well... to an extent, anyway. As long as I am not too emotionally invested in the most victimized characters, that is. *ahem* So yeah, I might have a problem. Somehow it's easier for me to watch Viggo as the "bad guy", making others suffer, than to watch him suffer himself. Even though he makes both extremes look equally "real" to me.

Anyway... I obviously don't have a life outside of the silver screen these days.:P

Hi, everyone. I'd like to share another happy Netflix experience today.:) A clever, funny and touching love story called Boy Culture. It's a gay movie, of course. I LOVE gay movies. No surprise there, I guess.:) But I just need to say it again, and I can't say it enough: the abundance of gay films these days makes me HAPPY. I still remember a time when the very thought of a gay relationship depicted on screen seemed somehow outrageous. Now it's practically commonplace - and of course that means plenty of bad gay movies in addition to the good ones. I've seen my share of both. But, over the years, I seem to have developed a knack for picking out the good ones. Out of the dozens of gay flicks I have rented through Netflix, there were maybe 2 or 3 that I would consider a complete waste of time. Most were interesting, to say the least. And some were real gems. Here's one.

( detailed review under the cut )

I didn't get sick, after all. Friday night & Saturday morning totally felt like the beginnings of a cold, but by Sunday it was gone. I wonder why. The thing is, on Saturday morning I went to see my chiropractor, who also happens to be my acupuncturist.:) And I told her I was definitely coming down with something. So she said, OK, we're gonna put some needles into the points near your spine that should trigger your auto-immune response. And I was like, sure, whatever. I certainly didn't expect immediate recovery - but looks like that's what happened. Acupuncture rules, people. Seriously. *blinks*

I mean, I did take some chewable herbal cold remedy tablets that I had bought back when I still shopped at Whole Foods, and some Vitamin C Halls candy, and drank a few mugs of a medicinal "cold stop" tea that my dad swears by - but that was it. I somehow doubt that it would have been enough to cure me within two days.:) ( Read more... )

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, gairid!!! I hope you had a blast - maybe even invited some sexy vamps over for a little drink.;P

So, the loan officer guy calls me today and says that I don't have a credit score. He'd been trying to pull my credit report since Friday, and thought it was just some system glitch that prevented it from coming up - but today he talked to a credit bureau, and apparently my credit history isn't long enough, or doesn't have enough information on it, to merit a score. So bummer - he can't do anything for me at this time. He advises me to apply for some major credit card, though, and hold it for a few years before I try again. *blink blink*

Okay. I have a Master Card AND a Visa. Are these not major enough?... Apparently they didn't come up on the report (?????). Maybe I haven't had them long enough (two and three years, respectively). Whatever. I just wish someone could have told me this right away, so I didn't waste all this time and energy thinking about the whole thing. I had a feeling it was futile anyway - but I always let other people drag me around, instead of listening to my intuition, which hardly ever fails. When will I ever learn?

So why does my intuition tell me that this is not over? That my mother will try to drag me around some more, only to waste more time and energy and come up with the same result?... Because I know her too well, that's why. *clenches teeth*

In other news, I had an amazing, weird, almost mystical dream this morning. ( Read more... )

Another update from my real estate agent. It seems I am totally clueless about this whole business, because I had assumed that the property listings she had sent me were ones I had a good chance of being approved for. As it turns out, however, she is only now checking some additional info on these apartments, and most of my favorites are actually out of the question - either because they are not "FHA approved", whatever that means (she did explain it to me once, but somehow I don't seem to recall the details of that explanation), or because the transactions are supposed to be "cash only" (who on earth walks around with $50,000 of cash in their pockets?... and if they did, why would they want to buy a small, one-bedroom apartment?...), or for some other obscure reason. ( Read more... )

I'm FUCKING COLD, dammit. It's 50F/10C outside, and they haven't turned on the heating yet. Why bother, since the weather forecast says it's supposed to warm up again within the next few days. Which might or might not happen, btw. It's OCTOBER, people. Summer is very officially over by now. It may be cool and refreshing during the day, but it is downright FREEZING at night. And there are only so many layers of clothing I can put on and still be able to move, lol. *wiggles toes inside two pairs of socks + furry slippers to encourage the somewhat sluggish bloodflow therein*

In other exciting news, I'm done organizing my Viggo pics. Doing Orlando now.:D I didn't realize I had so many pics of the boy, either. He is a sexy little beast, by the way.;P Maybe I'll post a little Viggorli picspam after I'm finished. I've disovered quite a few nice, rare photos I wasn't aware I had.:)

I also made Moroccan Chicken Thighs with figs and olives. Not to be confused with the date & apricot recipe (see previous post). This one is not quite as delicious, but close.:) It's seasoned with Marsala wine, honey, balsamic vinegar, ground cumin, coriander and cardamom. Which I had found at Dominick's for over ten bucks a jar. And it was ON SALE, too - the original price was about $14. For a tiny little jar of ground cardamom. And I bought it. Yes, I am unbelievable sometimes, I admit. I will pick the 99 cent can of beans instead of the $1.50 one, but then I will pay ten bucks for some exotic spice that I might use perhaps twice a year. I think it's my way of staying in (partial) denial about the shitty economic situation we're all in. I may barely be making ends meet, but I WILL have Moroccan chicken thighs with cardamom and Marsala wine. And if I can have something as seemingly classy and sophisticated as that for dinner, then I'm not really broke, am I?... LOL.

( Read more... )

Also, does anyone have any suggestions why my cellphone isn't showing the correct time? It's precisely 39 minutes behind right now, and it's been that way for the past few hours. I'm assuming it's the time on the cellphone that's wrong, since both my computer and my bedside clock are showing the same hour (39 minutes ahead of the cellphone). WTF???

I just saw a stunning movie. Mysterious Skin by Gregg Araki. It's too late now to start writing a full review, but I just want to say it's probably one of the very best American films I have ever seen. Very NON-Hollywood, of course. In fact, it reminds me a lot of Reflecting Skin, that strange and forgotten masterpiece where Viggo played a young soldier returning from Vietnam (he played one in Indian Runner too, of course, but Reflecting Skin is the one where he had dark hair and wore the 'romantic poet' shirt, lol). It has the same ruthless, uncompromising honesty to it, exposing a side of America that Hollywood makes its business off pretending doesn't exist. It's no less disturbing, too - but each dark or violent scene serves a purpose, there isn't one second of gratuitous 'cheap sensational thrill' in it. Everything that happens in that film has layers of meaning. And it's wonderfully acted, too - Joseph Gordon-Levitt in one of the main roles is a total jaw-dropper. I know I must have seen him in something else before; his name doesn't ring a bell, but his face certainly does (or it could be just that he looks a lot like Heath Ledger, lol). Anyway... gorgeous guy and amazing actor. Very brave - which, again, reminds me of Viggo. Yes, there is great, genuine, important moviemaking going on in this country too - just far away from the glorified Celluloid Paradise, imo. This is a film about real people and the different ways a traumatic childhood incident can shape a person's life experience. Yes, I thrive on dark psychoanalysis and heart-rending drama. What? It's better than fake 'reality' shows. Or that's what I keep telling myself whenever I start to wonder why it's so addicting to wallow in other people's misery.:P

ETA: It had been too long since I had last seen The Reflecting Skin, and so I got it all mixed up. It's not Vietnam that Viggo's character is returning from in that movie. It's World War II. Not that rural Idaho would have changed all that much within 20-30 years; the 1940's look very 19th century to me in the film - except for the cars (which are ancient enough, but I don't think there WERE cars in the 19th century ;). Anyway... I just watched it again, and I must say it is one of my favorite Viggo films. It's extremely creepy... in a good way. Gives me shivers every time. And the kid who plays Viggo's little brother is just unbelievable. Surely, Viggo's been in a lot of crappy flicks in his day - but he's also been in some priceless gems that seem just as totally forgotten...

I saw a great movie last night. A Japanese lesbian love story, which, as I have just discovered, was based on a manga (strangely enough, I haven't read any lesbian mangas, though a own a nice collection of male gay ones, lol). It's very sweet, touching, heart-warming and just lovely, without being too saccharine (at least for me; and while I don't usually mind high sugar content in manga, I do mind it in movies - so I'm happy to say this one had enough angst to balance out the sweetness a bit :P). So, without further ado, I'm using my stolen review template(TM) to tell you a little more about it.

( film review under the cut )