Am reading a critical essay on Milton which is making me want to attack the author with a dull spoon. Have had, for most of the afternoon and evening, a headache which felt not unlike being attacked with a dull spoon. Am going to bed as soon as I have finished reading the article. Yes.

GAH. Can someone please tell me what happened in the last two minutes of tonight's Without a Trace premiere? I taped it because of class and the tape cut off just when ( spoiler )

Thank you!

This morning, I cleaned the apartment and got rid of the growing army of recyclables atop the refrigerator. I swept, mopped, vacuumed, cleaned counters. I went to the grocery store and bought hanging folders so that my piles of grad school-related paper could become neat files in the filing cabinet in my closet.

Tonight I cooked braised carrots, zucchini with parmesan, couscous from a box (Mediterranean curry), and broiled tuna steaks marinated in a mixture of lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic. I had a glass of a nice riesling with dinner. I'm about to go start a load of laundry. All the work I really need to have done this weekend is finished, though I'll probably do more tonight.

When did I turn into a wee adult?

Last night I went to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I've been looking forward to the movie since I first read about its development in the Times about a year ago, but I'd read some bleh reviews before going and was not entirely sure what to expect.

Here's what to expect: Thirties pastiche done with tongue firmly in cheek, beautiful images, beautiful people, and the kind of lines an actor would never get the chance to speak outside of a classic science fiction film. I enjoyed the hell out of it. ( spoilers )

It's a light little movie with a lovely palette, and I thought it was wonderfully fun.

PS. Jude Law. In a bomber jacket.

So so so tired. But before bed, a moment from the last days of The Boy from Oz:

Hugh Jackman gives Matt Damon a lap dance, while wearing extremely shiny pants.

Watch out for that last pic, though. Snort.

*falls into (unfortunately Jackman- and Damon-free) bed*

Dear weather.com,

When it's raining, please do not show the percent chance of precipitation as ZERO. If you're trying to make some kind of clever existential point about how there's no chance of rain because it's already raining, well, DON'T.

No love and a lot of sogginess,

Kate

Tonight I'm going out to the local cowboy bar with a bunch of writers from my program -- this remarkable idea came from our program director, so the program's paying our cover and has reserved a dance teacher for us. That, in itself, should be entertaining enough to make the night worthwhile. I've got on an oldish pair of jeans and a black tank top and the low-heeled boots of sexiness and I'm sure I'll still look completely out of place, but that's all right. That's what the beer's for.

Thanks to evilprettykitty for reminding me about this:

Help Sars find Don.

This afternoon I hauled ass to be home for the block of time reserved for the appearance of the cable repair guy -- I think you can guess the ending here. I am not pleased. Three more minutes, and then it will be time for a pissy call to Time Warner.

Am having a lot of trouble focusing. This is possibly because I couldn't fall asleep until 1:30 or so last night and had to get up not long after 7 this morning. I read a lot of Cloud Atlas, which ( spoilers )

Other than that, well. I was glad to have Monday off, but now I feel as if I've been shoved into the middle of the week with no mental preparation. Argh. Too much work, not enough time.

I'd been thinking of going out for a walk but it's pouring outside now, good solid flowing-bubbles rain in the street outside my window. I'd noticed it getting darker outside my closed window-shade, though I couldn't hear the rain. I've been sitting here grading quizzes and writing up a post for my pedagogy class, and I think now I'll take a shower and then make some tea and read for class, with the rain outside.

Shana! nobodygirl! Thank you so much for the lovely postcard. I got it on Friday and it made my day, and it is now pinned up on the wall behind my computer.

Please read sparcck's furious and eloquent post about the RNC.

So many movies I want to see, and yet no time! I want to see Garden State and Hero and the director's cut of Donnie Darko and Vanity Fair. If I'm very lucky and can convince the boy to drive me or can find time to take a bus, I may get to see one. Perhaps I'll make time for renting a dvd this weekend, instead. There's a Blockbuster just beyond the grocery store down the block.

And now, bed, so I can get up and glance over some articles tomorrow before class.

Today it's been hot and sticky and gross; weather.com says it's currently 95 degrees but feels like 99. We were supposed to get some thunderstorms, which haven't yet materialized. The bus took a long time to arrive at campus and by the time I finally got on I was sweaty and cranky and getting a headache. Because it was running late, the seats were packed. I went toward the back of the bus to stand and a punky tattooed guy nodded and smiled at me. "You wanna sit?" he asked. I shook my head and told him I was fine, but he stood up anyway and waved me toward the seat. "You sit," he said. "If I made you stand, my grandmother would show up to smack me on the back of my head."

I had a much nicer bus ride after that.

Still kind of have the headache. I think I'm going to go eat dinner to see if that helps.

I'm back online for good this time. As a welcoming gesture, LJ just posted a comment of mine EIGHT TIMES. So sorry, bitchygurl, for the resultant flooding of your inbox. GRRR.

I skimmed the flist for last week, but if you'd like to draw my attention to a post I probably missed, please do. Especially if it involves porn.

I have to get to bed now, as my first orientation meeting is tomorrow morning. Eeeep.

Very happy birthday wishes to the wonderful, sweet and fabulous kaelie! I hope you're having a great day, honey. I'm so glad to know you. :)

When I first looked at this thread yesterday, there were two pages of comments. When I looked again last night, there were eleven. There are twenty-one now: nearly 1000 comments. So many people -- so much suffering and so much strength.

It hasn't happened to me, but awareness requires allies, too.

No pity. No shame. No silence.

I haven't been around much this week for a variety of reasons.

1. Visit from my Molly! Wheeee!
2. Helping parents with a party we hosted this weekend.
3. Writing.
4. Reading. (I very much enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.)
5. Movies. I re-watched Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead -- jess79's fault (see icon, which she made, with keyword 'inventive'). I hadn't seen it since I was eight; I remember liking it at the time, which probably says a lot about me as an eight-year-old. After watching it this time, I had to flip through all of Connie Willis's Passage to find the quote from the play I knew she'd used, and upon finding it, felt even more pleased with novel and movie. Earlier in the week I made molly36 watch A Knight's Tale, which she'd never seen. We also went to see The Village while she was here -- more on that soon, I hope, if I have time to write up a review.

This week will involve packing. A lot of packing. I move next Monday and am shipping books, etc., via UPS on Thursday. I'm a little excited, but I'm mostly looking forward to being moved, settled, oriented, registered, and prepared for classes -- a process which will not conclude until August 24, or so.

I'm trying to winnow my book collection again. It hurts! This won't be a permanent winnowing, more a "send me these later" sort of thing, but... oww.

Sleep now, as tomorrow will bring more packing and writing.