A matter of taste.

So we finally got around to seeing Match Point. It was pretty good, a little long - we both got tired of seeing Nola whining and behaving like a desperate shrew - but we were both really pleasantly surprised by the twist at the end. Didn't expect it, but liked it. Much better than I (and my husband) had anticipated.

However....

Still don't see what the big fuss is over Scarlett Johansson in this film. She's pretty, sure, and she's got a pretty filled-out chest that doesn't appear to be artificially enhanced...and I can definitely see her as a Lancome or Estee Lauder spokesmodel with her glowing skin...but I don't understand how people keep saying that she blew their minds, is the hottest woman ever, etc. For example, Matthew and I have had this conversation at least 6 times with various people:

One of us: Well, who do you think is hot?
One of them: Scarlett Johansson.
One of us: Really? I disagree.
One of them: Have you seen Match Point?

Well, we've seen Match Point now, and I perhaps find her even less attractive than I did before.

What's the obsession? [and please don't answer that unless you have actual new information to share, because I believe I've heard it already] Why do people think she's the most beautiful/most alluring/sexiest woman in the world? Because her character told you so in the movie? Because she talks like she has a cold? Because she has boobs? Or because we blindly trust Woody Allen and his excellent taste in women? Yes, she's beautiful; yes, she's not an unnatural weight; yes, she is well-maintained and a good actress; but no, she hasn't changed my life, and I'm okay with that. And so should you be.

Updating

The time has come to add new links to the list, and maybe cull a few of the old. Washingtonienne? Old news. Democrats.org? Well, now that EVERYBODY hates the administration, I don't feel so special anymore. So, to that end...

Pink is the new blog. Oh, I could gossip about my friends and loved ones -- Someone recently came into some (well-deserved) money, someone else gave an anonymous tip that may bring down a government official (again, well-deserved), someone might get a job on the other side of the country (also well-deserved, I guess this is a theme) -- Now, that's all well and good, but you probably don't know them...so celebrity gossip is more likely the thing that binds us.

IMDB. Don't watch tv without it. This has added a whole new level of interactivity to my television habit.

Fabulous baby clothes...and toys. How come my mother didn't buy me this stuff when I was little?

There she is...the winner of the competition hosted by the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women...

This year, I only watched the last 15 minutes of the Miss America pageant. Well, that's not exactly true - I kept pausing it and reading the biographies of the contestants. Who knew there were so many musical theater and vocal performance majors that also want to be attorneys and governors and veterinarians and broadway performers? At the same time?! Yeah, I wish I was making that up.

Anyway, of the final three, Miss Georgia (a teacher who wants to eventually be an elementary school principal) gave the VERY BEST answer...by far...to an inane question that went something like "What would you do if you were President of the United States?" She answered the question succinctly, with a bit of humor, and then a nice zinger at the end re: No Child Left Behind, and how children are tested too much. Nice! The other two (Miss America and first-runner up, respectively)...were shallow, incoherent, ill-informed, and...let's just say shining examples of why the United States lags behind most industrial nations in educational achievement. Good thing Miss Oklahoma is winning that $50,000 college scholarship...

Wait, I get it, I get it!! How silly of me...Miss America is a NEED-BASED scholarship organization!!!! I wish someone had told me sooner.

Vivian Kate at Christmas

Almost six months old in these pictures...she didn't quite understand what Christmas was, but she certainly loved all of the attention from her grandparents!

Don't cha?

Too good. This is too good. From Lisa DeMoraes' blog...First, the fact that a tv executive characterized the search for the newest member of The Pussycat Dolls as "third-wave feminism" with a STRAIGHT face...and then the juicy little tidbit about Isaiah Washington's homophobic Tourette's incident - totally worth reading.

Oh, I guess I should put some pictures of the baby up here...will do.

Hiatus over.

Wow it's been a long time since I've posted, sorry about that. Let's see, to sum up:

1. Still pregnant. Huge belly. Crazy huge. Kind of scary, actually.
2. Still working. Still commuting. Which leads me to...
3. Still tired. Hope the iron pills kick in soon.
4. Still fixing up the house. The new kitchen arrives this month, and so does help for the rest of the painting. Can we done (with the exception of the countertops) by June 1? Here's hoping!

I guess that's about it....many, many babies born to friends this spring, all of them lovely little creatures. And way to go Sarah for a 9+ pounder...you will have something to hold over that child's head for the rest of his life.

Happy Birthday to me!!

What a wonderful day...started with a lovely dinner last night, and a terrific day today. So many thoughtful emails, phone calls, and cards from all around DC and the rest of the country. I'm so lucky to have such amazing friends and family who always know just what to say. Thank you, everyone, for making me feel so special.

'Tis the season

For updating blogs, apparently...some that haven't provided us with new reading material in many months have once again sprung into action - which I very much appreciate.

So, Happy New Year to everyone...it certainly is for me and mine. The start of a new decade for me, with a kick-ass birthday party to celebrate my new round number...A new house in a new city in a new state (yet commuting distance to the nation's capital), which my husband is currently painting...his diligence due in no small part to the other "new" news, which is that we will be expecting a new baby, come sometime in July. Which, handily, gets me out of painting and other activities involving toxic fumes. Heh. Well-played. I'm sure this year is going to be full of all sorts of new-ness, and as everyone tells us, "Your lives will change more than you could possible imagine." Well, sure. Or as Joely would say, "Obvy."

So, I guess I'll go make cookies or take a nap or something...now that the first-trimester queasiness has for the most part waned, I'm waiting for that burst of energy everyone assures me is just around the corner.

So many things wrong with this...

From a chat on today's Washington Post online, regarding the lobbying industry...

"Our civics teacher in high school told us that there is a secret "fee schedule" that exists in congress that determines the price for different types of legislation. For example, a simple proclamation is relatively inexpensive, but an industry-specific law is very, very costly. I have been trying to obtain a copy of this fee schedule, but have so far been unable to do so. Where can ordinary citizens find out how much their representative charges for their vote?"

Ok, there are really so many things wrong with this statement, it would take way too long to parse it all out. The fact that this was not tongue-in-cheek, but an actual question...by presumably a breathing human being who lives somewhere in Virginia...is truly disturbing. Mockable, laughable, and disturbing...unfortunately it makes me understand a little bit more (more than I want to) about those with whom I stand in line at the voting booth.

Know what tomorrow is?

The day we've been waiting for ALL YEAR. In fact, since November 2000...That wonderful, joyous holiday we call...


FITZMAS.


Merry Fitzmas Eve, everybody!!!

Charm City...and soon to be home sweet home...

More pictures to follow, in good time...Thank goodness the Saturday Night Outing Club doesn't mind a nice drive.

Longest Week Ever

So, we send people into outer space, and NASA can't give them anything more technologically advanced than an egg carton? I mean, seriously....foam?! Please.

Coincidentally, I just happen to be reading a fun summer thriller about that very agency...I love summer reading. Even if I can't go to the beach, I can sit outside on our deck in the 105 degree heat and swelter...all i need is the sand.

Resigned...and yet heartened

I mean, I'm as liberal as the next Mondale supporter, but I think that fighting the impending nomination of John Roberts is futile and impractical. This is assuming, of course, that the French Fry-eating teen and the brief mention in favor of a ban on federally-funded abortion-related counseling are the biggest bombshells we can find on Judge Roberts...sans a neo-con smoking gun, or, say, the malicious and irresponsible outing of an undercover government agent, he looks like the guy.

Seriously, this is not that bad. In fact, it's probably the best solution yet. So, like it or not, and believe me I don't, it's their turn to pick, and I think choosing a candidate who does not ostracize everyone to the left of Tucker is the smartest thing that W's done since giving up blow.

This may cheer those who are still bereft: while in private practice, Roberts represented 19 states that, along with the federal government, sought to break up Microsoft Corporation. So this may work out for the best.

So, let's all take off the whiny hat for a while, and take this for what it appears to be - not the worst of all possible worlds.

For now, anyway...

Psycho-chick

You know, it makes me feel infinitely better to know that I am one of apparently a generation (or more) of woman who have had that psycho-chick feeling and acted on it. Whether it was for a moment, a weekend, or a semester (gulp), it makes me feel better to know that it was all of us, at one time or another...Either stalking the streets of a college town, staring in bar windows, looking for your ex and his new girlfriend, or running to a frat house in the middle of a snow storm, pounding on the door until someone lets you into your boyfriend's room where you wait for him to come home (the next morning, mind you), or what have you...While it's nothing to be proud of, most certainly...we are human. And we were in our early twenties. And probably on antidepressants (or should have been). Being able to look back on that makes you realize that you are so not that girl anymore, and it's hard to remember what it felt like to be her, which can make you sad and yet somehow relieved. And having those moments (weeks, whatever, who's counting?) of idiocy, and living through them and moving past them, and being able to laugh at yourself...well, that's not so bad.

Especially when your husband thinks it's funny too.

Why Can't I Say It?!

Sometimes I feel like I can't be completely honest with people...even people that I love. And to tell you the truth, that kind of drives me crazy.

There are certain things that you just can't say to people, like:

"He is MARRIED. And not to you. So let it go."

"What do you expect? You married a child."

"How come your husband/wife/boyfriend drinks so much?"

"No, that will never change. You're fooling yourself if you think it will."

"You cannot treat mental illness with only diet and exercise."

"I don't care how long we've been friends, you should still send me a thank-you note for that present."

"Your inertia indicates weakness, and is not a virtue."

"Despite his claims to the contrary, he did sleep with that girl that he 'fell in love with' while he was married to you."

And the perennial favorite, "He's just not that into you." I hate to use that one, seeing as it's been abused ad nauseum, but the underlying thought is still wildly appropriate.

Perhaps some would make the case that the people you love are EXACTLY those to whom you can say these things...but I think probably not.

Query

Did you know that my blog is underpriced? You should buy some shares. It would make me feel special.

I find your lack of faith...disturbing.

"'This is how liberty dies -- to thunderous applause.'

So observes Queen Amidala of Naboo as the galactic
senate grants dictator-to-be Palpatine sweeping new
powers in his crusade against the Jedi in the final
"Star Wars" movie opening this week.

It's just one of several lines in "Star Wars: Episode
III -- Revenge of the Sith," that reveal the movie to
be more than just a sci-fi blockbuster and gargantuan
cultural phenomenon.

"Revenge of the Sith," it turns out, can also be seen
as a cautionary tale for our time -- a blistering
critique of the war in Iraq, a reminder of how
democracies can give up their freedoms too easily, and
an admonition about the seduction of good people by
absolute power..."

Read the rest of Dan Froomkin's article
here.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Stupid WB. We TIVO-ed the season finale of Gilmore Girls, but it ran 1 minute long and WB failed to notify "the guide" of the scheduling change...SO WE MISSED THE LAST MINUTE. OF THE SEASON FINALE.

Stupid WB.

Good morning!

Ah, the sweet deliciousness of the Flex Day...the every-other Friday that I have off, because I work 9 hour days the rest of the time. I can swill coffee to my heart's content, do laundry, and watch Buffy and Dawson's reruns. You know, important stuff!

Had a wonderful dinner last night with my friend P and his lovely lady friend K. While our venue of choice was, as P put it, "tragically hip," the miniburgers and Rogue Dead Guy Lager made it well worth the wait. If you're ever in Chinatown in our capital city, I highly recommend Matchbox.

But I digress.

We had quite a busy week, which included a "Mardi Gras in May" dinner hosted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. I had to listen to Billy Tauzin et al riff on the delights of the free market system, but for $10,000 a table that I didn't have to pay, I was happy to eat, drink, and chat up Republicans. And apparently Quid Nunc himself, the "Reliable Source" for the Washington Post, was in our midst....and I didn't see him!!! I missed my moment.

Perhaps he was wearing one of those mardi gras masks...that would explain it.

The Progeny of the Britster

By request from a far-off land...Some musings about the possible baby names for Childe Federline...

Ruth - Hebrew for "model of righteous convert." You know, in light of Britney's conversion to Kabbalah...dang, that girl's devout.

Aidan, Madison, Kaitlyn, Connor or Taylor/Tyler - Because she's trendy. And yet somehow a follower. And because every kid named Tyler has ADD.

Precious (or something that means "precious" in a foreign language). I don't think I need to explain that one.

Emma Sue, Hayley Lynne, Lilah Belle - Because she's southern (although I probably didn't need to explain that one, either).

I hope it's a girl - I have a feeling she'll get bored with it more quickly if it's a boy. Not sure why, just my gut feeling...Any other suggestions?