rusty_halo

http://rusty-halo.com/wordpress/?p=2706

( I went to the Candle 79 5th anniversary party last night )

Other things I'm meaning to do sometime soon:

* Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night at MOMA

* Gothic: Dark Glamour exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Technology

Meanwhile, jaydk and I have booked our London hotel and are now planning the specifics of our trip (OMG! Less than a month!!!) and I think I've found a catsitter who is experienced and isn't going to charge me an arm and a leg to watch my cats (*fingers crossed*). There are no words for how much I'm looking forward to this London/Stratford trip; it's the one thing that's kept me going all year.

And... we booked a hotel and bought tickets for Gallifrey One, so I guess that means we're going. I remain wary, but I suppose it's worth trying it out once, and if it's awful I never have to go back. I did very much enjoy chatting with the new Who fen I managed to find at DragonCon, so let's hope it's worth it. Plus I really am curious to hear what the new Who writers have to say. :)

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. Please click here to comment.
(Anyone can comment on public entries.)

I spent my weekend watching Spike TV's James Bond marathon. I'd forgotten how awesome Sean Connery was, gorgeous and suave and dangerous, and how lame and annoying Roger Moore was in comparison. I tried to watch one of the Timothy Dalton ones (mainly because my favorite BtVS line ever is Andrew's "Timothy Dalton should win an Oscar and beat Sean Connery over the head with it!"), but it was on at 3am and I fell asleep.

I wasn't entirely unproductive, as I also cleaned out my room and listed a ton of stuff on eBay.

I watched the director's commentary on "Don't Say A Word" (he compares Sean Bean to Robert Shaw, that's pretty nice) and a kids' movie with Sean Bean's voice called "Pride." Can you tell I'm getting to the end of the Sean Bean movies in my Netflix queue? "Pride" was very stupid, sort of an awkward attempt at blending feminism with actual lion behavior, but there was a two-second clip in the "making of" showing Sean Bean cracking up while doing the voice recording, so it was probably worth it for that. So gorgeous.

I watched "Sharpe's Mission" last night. The ones not based on Cornwell books are always a bit goofy, aren't they? Though it is great when Sharpe shoves the guy down the well; how very Jaime Lannister of him. I was also struck by how, when I first watched the series, I didn't understand why queenofthorns was harping on Jane. Now that I've seen the whole series and read the books, I spent most of the episode screaming what a bitch Jane is. Oh, how I hate her. How horrible is it that Sharpe totally ignores the awesome, intelligent, badass Lady Anne in favor of the stupid, naive, nasty pathetic little Jane? *sigh* How could he go from a woman as amazing as Teresa to Jane??? How could he marry someone he doesn't even know just because she pinged his "rescue helpless girl in trouble" instinct? How could she choose Alexis Denisof over Sean Bean??? I mean, don't get me wrong, Alexis Denisof is hot and all, but ... Sean Bean!!!

Anyway.

I also watched "Sharpe's Challenge" again and I realized that my favorite scene in the entire series is actually an outtake: the moment where Sharpe falls asleep at the table and Harper carries him off to bed. I mean it just so perfectly captures their relationship, how much they love and depend on each other, and understand each other like no one else. Not to mention, so slashy, it could've been taken directly out of a fic. Sharpe may not be in love with Harper (though he certainly loves Harper, and spends the whole episode rescuing Harper and worrying about Harper), but Harper is so in love with Sharpe. I mean, every time Sharpe gets depressed, Harper's there telling him how awesome he is and then carrying him off to bed.

I watched "Sharpe's Mission" immediately before bed last night and was hoping to dream about Sean Bean as a result. I did; I dreamed that we were eating vegan fast food at a new restaurant in Union Square opened up by Woody Harrelson, and the Chinese woman who was running the place was asking me for advice on what to serve (I suggested utthapams, like Indian-style pizzas), and then she mixed up our bill with someone else's. Sean Bean and I were sharing some kind of small chocolatey thing, and I was worrying that I was late for work, and kept asking him to repeat himself because I was distracted and only half listening. He was telling me that someone in England had mistaken his tattoo for a line from the Toadies song "Possum Kingdom," which I hate, and I woke up with the song stuck in my head. THAT WAS NOT WHAT I MEANT WHEN I SAID I WANTED TO DREAM ABOUT SEAN BEAN. Damn subconscious.


( family )

I've been busy.

Wednesday I saw Tim Burton's Corpse Bride with chenanceou, jerrymcl89, and drujan. I was ( minor spoilers )

Afterward I dragged Chen and Jerry to a vegetarian Thai place called Pukk. Chen was very skeptical, but as she soon discovered, the food there is delicious. :)

Afterward we ended up at this bar on St. Mark's that we've been at continually--the same place where we met the Irish guys and Chen had her first lemonade. We talked for a while, Jerry left, then we saw a rat so we left.... (Oh yeah, did I mention we found one of the Irish guys on google? Keith Keds. Alas, no info on his friend, though.)

Damn, these days are blurring together. I can't remember if we did anything after that or not.

On Thursday, we decided to go to Gobo, but it ended up being packed and having a half hour wait. So we went instead to Vegetarian's Paradise 2, which is also good. Chen couldn't believe that the Crispy Soul Chicken wasn't made from real chicken. Being a vegan in NYC is awesome. :)

After that we went to The Pyramid Club, because they have an 80s new wave night on Thursdays. We hung out there for a while--the music was good, and they were playing the Depeche Mode 86-98 video without its sound, and Chen danced for a bit. It was fun. We ended up leaving after a while, though--the crowd wasn't that great, lots of touristy types and young college kids.

Afterwards we ended up... where? We stopped by the bar on St. Mark's, and were told that they didn't have lemonade (despite Chen having it there like three days in a row beforehand). So we ended up back at the Mexican place on 3rd and 13th, where she had quesadillas, and I had rice and beans, and we both drank Negra Modelo.

Then we ended up back at my place, because Chen wanted to see some of my old Jon Stewart show tapes. I was more than happy to share the Jon Stewart love. So we watched the one with Marilyn Manson (the second-to-last episode) and cooed over how adorable Jon was. But Chen was very disturbed by Marilyn Manson, and insisted that she really dislikes him. I think the guy is smart, a talented artist with a lot to say, and at the worst, a dorky guy from Ohio wearing makeup and dealing with some inflated ego issues. Certainly nothing to get intimidated by.

So I showed her his book (which she started reading and quickly went out and bought). And I showed her his 1997 Politically Incorrect appearance with G. Gordon Liddy, Florence Henderson, and (some psychotic nut) Lakita Garth. That show is one of the most surreal and ridiculous things ever, but Manson is awesome on it. Chen went from cringing every time he appeared to listening, riveted, to his every word. Pretty cool. >:)

Anyway, so my roommate didn't really appreciate this (even though we had the volume as low as possible and were whispering to each other). So Chen eventually left (also, it was 4am).

I had Friday and Saturday to myself--I caught up on sleep, listed stuff on eBay, and finished The Goblet of Fire. *sigh* I love Sirius as much as ever, and am having a very hard time forcing myself to read The Order of the Phoenix. *sob*

Yesterday (Sunday) Chen was back. We went to see The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which was very funny, but strangely, not as funny as I expected given the massive praise it's received. ( spoilers )

Meh, but I'm being bitter. It was funny, and we were laughing our asses off during most of it. (Except when the assholes behind us started kicking Chen's chair and telling her to shut up. People really suck sometimes.)

Afterwards we went to Pukk again, which was as yummy as always. Oh, and on the way, as we were at Astor Place walking toward St. Mark's, guess who we passed. Seriously... think for a minute... who do I not know and yet see every weekend?

Yes, that's right, Voltaire! Poor guy must think he is being stalked. He was out with his son, and we were walking right past, so I smiled and Chen said hello, and we hurried by. I felt bad, even though, y'know, it's not my fault. We run in the same circles, or something. (I've never gone anywhere specifically to see him, yet we were both at ComicCon, that wacky Long Island con, Dragoncon, the Bella Morte show, the Neil Gaiman reading, and Astor Place last night. That was the fourth time I've seen him this month.)

Anyway, so after Pukk, Chen and I walked to TeaNY, which was delicious--we each had a pot of tea and shared tea sandwiches and a brownie. Later, I really wished I hadn't had a whole pot of tea, though--it took a very long time to fall asleep last night.

After TeaNY we headed back toward St. Mark's place, where the guy from the lemonade-and-Irish-guys bar saw us and invited us in. So we drank Negra Modelo and talked for quite a while, but left (relatively) early. I was home by 1:30am, since I had to work today.

It's been such fun--I live in such a wonderful neighborhood, and it's great to hang with someone who appreciates it and wants to explore it. And of course, Chen is awesome.

And now... back to work. :(


PS: How is "working" a mood? If I choose it, will it put me in the mood to get work done?

PPS: New Pig November 8!!!!!!!! :)

You know how sometimes you're just eating, like, the perfect food? I mean, it's not always the perfect food, but at that particular moment it's exactly what you were craving so it feels so incredibly fulfilling?

That's what I'm eating right now, from a restaurant called Souen on 13th between University and 5th that I usually don't even like. But I'm having tofu scrambled with broccoli, carrots, and onions, with brown rice and greens, and it's so basic and plain and perfect right now.

Or perhaps it could be the rush of caffeine from the energy drink I just consumed that is giving me this happy feeling....

Anyway. Aside from that, I'm rather annoyed at myself right now. See, I realized that Common Rotation was so much better when I didn't like them. Because then it was just, y'know, "if I remember, I'll walk over after work and see this band play." Hang out and have fun; no big deal.

But now that I actually like them, I start to worry. It becomes an event. "Oh, I'm seeing Common Ro, I have to enjoy this." Trying to force myself to enjoy it makes me worry that I won't and then I spend the time worrying instead of enjoying myself. And I worry about getting there on time, and what should I wear? and all that stupid crap that never bothered me before. And like, before, if a band member talked to me, I didn't care, because they're just people and so what? But now I get flustered and sound stupid, or shy and run away.

And the funny thing is, I still don't even like them that much. I mean, I respect their talent, and I believe in supporting independent music, and I'm glad that they exist, and I'm always entertained because they put on a creative and entertaining show. But it's not my kind of music--and I don't say that as some kind of elitist goth person or whatever. The kind of music that I'm drawn to, that connects with me deeply, is very passionate and powerful and concerned about the strongest emotions and the most beautiful or horrible topics. (Or preferably both together). Like, if I were to describe it in colors, I like music that's jet black, midnight blue, intense blood red, deep purple. Whereas Common Ro is more, like, earth tones. Incredibly well done earth tones that I respect, but not something that's going to make me cry because it's so beautiful. It doesn't connect wth me on that deeper level.

Can you tell I'm bored at work? What else is there to do besides spam LJ with inane babble....?