The Last Five

I've been on a bit of a documentary kick lately.  I watched Searching for Sugar Man the day that it won the Oscar for Best Documentary, so yeah, my finger is on the pulse of. . . the only documentaries of which average folks are aware.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011)
I am currently reading Joan Didion's A Year of Magical Thinking and 80% of the names mentioned in the book go right over my head.  If I weren't such an uncivilized numb nut, I would probably be blown away by the literary superstars that the author references.  It could be that Diana Vreeland and Joan Didion have absolutely nothing in common, but part of what I took away from The Eye Has to Travel and A Year of Magical Thinking is that Vreeland and Didion were talented, respected, and lived lives that are crazy foreign to me.  As a gal with no interest in fashion, I was not the target demo for this movie about a fashion editor.  It was fine, but it didn't stick with me like the best documentaries do.  3 out of 5

How to Survive a Plague (2012)
When my parents or The Dude call me and ask what I'm doing and I respond with, "I'm watching a documentary about AIDS" (this is the second one I've watched in a year), they wonder about my leisure time choices.  This was a powerful movie, but I liked We Were Here (2011) more.  How to Survive a Plague focused on the activism and political work of groups such as Act Up and was mostly based in New York.  We Were Here was based in San Francisco and felt a little more personal.  I would give the first a 3 and the second a 4.

Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
The mystery part of this documentary was engaging and the musician himself, Rodriguez, was an interesting character.  After I watched this I had a lot of questions and when I did a little internet sleuthing, I started to think that the information in this movie had been tweaked a bit for maximum impact.  That was a bit of a bummer.  4 out of 5

A Small Act (2010)
This was flat-out inspiring.  I really liked A Small Act a lot.  (Thanks for the recommendation, Netflix.)  A teacher in Sweden decides to sponsor the education of a child in Kenya.  The child grows up to attend Harvard and work as a Human Rights Commissioner at the U.N.  The background of his Swedish sponsor, a stranger to him until he sought her out as an adult, and the ripple effects that one person can have on the world were genuinely amazing.  I gave it a 4 after watching it, but a month later it may be creeping toward a 5.

The Queen of Versailles (2012)
This was pure entertainment.  A billionaire businessman and his pageant wife are in the middle of building the largest home in the United States when the market collapses.  The beauty queen wife, Jackie, is fun to watch.  Although the Siegels are beyond loaded, I was able to relate to them better than I was Ms. Vreeland.  4 out of 5

Stay off the streets

Gov Deval Patrick and his staff, folks.

Hard to Believe It Took 8 Months For Scalabrine to Hit the Blog

I am amused by this article about former Celtic Brian Scalabrine playing amateurs one-on-one.  I enjoyed watching Scalabrine during his Celtic years, partially because he was such an enthusiastic member of the team and partially because he looked like he could be related to me.  (There are too few ginger professional athletes.)  Some fans forget that even the bench warmers on NBA teams are elite players.  Payback!

Back In Business

One of my first lessons of 2013 is that, for me, blogging is like exercising.  If I get into a good routine, I'll do it on a daily basis.  Once that routine is disrupted, however, I'm toast.  Just like the exercise bicycle in my bedroom that has been serving as clothing storage, this blog has not been living up to its potential.  I took a little break for the holidays and then I took a longer break for the post-holiday depression that kicks in every January.  As days passed and The Boss ragged on me for not adding any new content to the blog, I started to feel pressure to post something a little more substantial than a photograph and a sentence upon returning.  Although inspiration hasn't really hit, I'm going to press the "publish" button this afternoon regardless of how lame this post is.  There has to be a first day back on the bike even if I pass out after ten minutes.

I am nearly half way through A Dance with Dragons, the fifth book in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.  I feel like I've been making my way through these books for a decade.  I took a tiny pause in early December as I waited for book five to arrive at my house.  During those few days I reread Charlotte's Web.  What a delight.  Not only do I love that book, but it was also very portable.  My current hardcover is bulky and heavy and I am sick of lugging it around.  Now that I have roped my grandmother, father, and two uncles into this series, I should probably zip it and pretend that books four and five haven't been disappointing.  I am hoping that book six will be a return to form.  The Dude bought me a bunch of (paperback, perfect for commuting) books for Christmas and as soon as I finish A Dance with Dragons, I can't wait to start plowing through that stack.

Downton Abbey, Cougar Town, and Girls are back on TV, and Community starts back up shortly.  I may have to adjust my work schedule to part time in order to keep up with all of this programming.  On Downtown Abbey, Poor Lady Edith just can't catch a break.  I did appreciate learning from her that "Spinsters get up for breakfast."  That explains why my cats have not been bringing me breakfast in bed.  Mystery solved.

I watched Pitch Perfect with The Dude last week.  The non-musical content of the movie was not great, but I really liked the songs.  (Anna Kendrick's Beca was a giant B.  And based on her name, either she or her parents are dopes.  I strongly dislike creatively spelled names.)  The riff off was fun and I wish they had included more than two categories before ending it.  With the number of songs featured in just six minutes of the movie, I am sure they had to reign things in so they weren't paying royalties for 50 different songs.  The main guy in this movie loves The Breakfast Club, so that won serious fondness points with me.  I watched that movie SO HARD when I was a teenager.  I don't think I have watched it since graduating from college over ten years ago, so just seeing little snippets of it during Pitch Perfect put a smile on my face.  It didn't hurt that of the many songs featured in this movie, they made sure to include a song from The Jacksons too.  Nice!

Presidential Portrait

Viewing this awesome photo was a good way to start a sleepy morning.  One and a half days left of work until I head home for CHRISTMAS.  Not bad.

Hotels

It is a bit daunting to think that I have spent 4 of the last 8.5 years living out of a hotel.  I did some math/calculations today once I received some Year End updates from Marriott and Hilton on my stays this year.  I am down to a record low since 2005, 107 nights in a hotel in 2012.  I still find this to be incredibly high for my job position and pinged a few coworkers in the same position as me to find out the second highest traveling Project Manager hit a measly 68 days in a hotel this year.

My goal for 2013 is less than 60 nights in a hotel.  I can't hate on it too much, I haven't paid for a hotel for the multiple weddings I've been in over the last few years (also hooked up some family members with rooms) or anytime I hit up Vegas, Toronto or Florida.  But for some reason lately, I'm realizing the dirtiness and weirdness of staying in a place that thousands of other people stay and my high number of nights in a hotel is completely freaky and abnormal.  Some people go years without even staying in a hotel or max out at like 3 nights per year.

Plus now I'm getting old and out of shape, with a tendency to enjoy TV/movies and sleeping more than taking advantage of a hotel and traveling.  Needless to say this 30 going on 31 in 2.5 months (Real Age calculation of 38 turning 39) doesn't have this stuff happen anymore.  R.I.P Rugged.

Gossip Girl Out

One of The Dude's and my old favorites comes to an end tonight.  The quality of Gossip Girl episodes dropped off in the last couple of seasons and The Dude stopped watching, but there was a time when Chuck Bass's quips were a great source of amusement in our apartment.  Then a few weeks ago The Dude tuned into an episode just in time to catch this exchange (starting at about 1:30):

"She's a keeper, Nate."  Ed Westwick's delivery is priceless.

There are two things I shall miss about this show.  The first is Chuck Bass:

And the second is Blair Waldorf's usually stunning wardrobe, which has its own Facebook page.  Here are ten of my favorites:

And one final shot to illustrate our enjoyment of this show a few years ago.  A Christmas present from The Dude to me, labeled, "XOXO, Gossip Girl."