A Good Weekend

Well, This was a pretty good weekend.

On Friday night was my friend Scott's birthday dinner. While my choice of entree was a bust, the night was not. After dinner I got a call from my close friends from college, Sean and Alisabeth...and met up with them later at Friday's and got to chat for a while.

Saturday morning I got up around 10:00 and had brunch with S&A and my older brother and then we went down to the state fairgrounds for the annual "Friends of the Library" book sale.

Every year the library sells off old materials as well as books and such that have been donated. I got a lot of really great stuff for less that $20 total.

The best purchase was a Tom Jones LP of "What's New Pussycat" still all wrapped up in plastic. I'm very proud of this as it only cost me $0.50. I plan to frame the album and hang it over my fireplace.

Then I went to work for about 6 hours last night and had a pretty good night.

This morning I got up at 9:30, read a bit (found at the sale yesterday a copy of the complete plays of Joe Orton and have already read half of them). Then I drove down to the restaurant to pick up last nights tips and then headed back down to the library sale to pick up another batch of record albums for various decorative purposes in my new apartment.

So, now I've got the afternoon to mess about online and read...and then the Oscars to watch tonight...so I count it as a pretty good weekend.

It's all about me...

Yesterday I spent a fair amount of money on myself, and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it.

Stand up and applaud and welcome me back to the world of functional adulthood. I rented an apartment.

I called my old landlord Tuesday night and gave him my requirements and he said he had an apartment that fit the bill, so I went down and saw it last night. I fell immediately in love with it.

For those of you who are familiar with Oklahoma City, the apartment is in one of those brick four-plexes that dot the historical district. I'm going to be living in the Heritage Hills area. The building was built in 1915, so it has all the charm and character that I have to have in an apartment. It's an upstairs unit with a balcony. It has a fireplace and built in bookshelves in the living room. The kitchen is completely new, just redone in the last few months with brand new cabinets and countertops. It even has it's own washer and dryer.

The most important part is how much space I'll have. The apartment is nearly 1000 square feet and is only going to cost me $450 a month. (Could you manage that in Boston, Matt?) ;-)

So, I paid my deposit last night and can start to move in on the 15th. I can hardly wait. Am going to go across to Target in a bit and look at rugs. Need a nice area rug for the living room...and think I saw one last week at Target that I want to get.

I'm so excited...

The Bastardization of my Favorite Novel

Oprah Winfrey has done it again.

She's taken a very important book from the canon of African American Literature and has produced a film version.

Unfortunately, this time she's chosen my favorite novel of all time.

In case you've been living under the same rock as I have (I only learned about this project last week), ABC will be showing the film version of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston in two weeks.

It stars Hally Berry in the lead role of Janie Crawford-Killicks-Starks...

I am really afraid to watch this movie when it airs. I just don't think it's possible for a movie that runs in a two hour time slot could possibly convey the story and the meaning of the story that is contained in this novel.

Also, I hate Halle Berry. I hate her.

I re-read the book today so it will be fresh in my mind and I can nit-pick every time they fuck up...so I'll get to enjoy it on that level. I just truly, truly hope that Ms. Winfrey hired a qualified screenwriter to adapt this story and not some hack who wanted to highlight how sexy Ms. Berry is...I really hope so.

Anyway...just wanted to vent about that. And if you haven't read "Their Eyes Were Watching God", please go buy a copy and read it. Yeah, the dialect most of the dialogue is written in is a little tough to get used to, but it's worth the struggle to read this, my favorite piece of literature.

Thank you.

Random thoughts...

1. Today is Valentine's Day. Otherwise known as "Congratulations! You're alone. ALL ALONE!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAH-Day." I don't know why I hate this holiday so much. I guess all the gestures that take place on this day seem so empty and devoid of true meaning. I've had one genuine Valentine's wish today, and that was from my mother...how sad is that. So let's just forget about this day that makes the singletons feel like crap and move on to other points of interest.

2. I've been dressing more formally for work for the last month of so. I was beginning to lose my ability to maintain a professional attitude while in the office and I've found that slacks, a pressed shirt and a tie three days a week has gone a long way towards making me feel like a productive professional rather than a short-timer/college student who's only working here until I finish my degree.

However, I'm getting really tired of people coming up to me or e-mailing me asking if I have a job interview. It was to be expected the first few days after I started this. But now, in my fourth week of this, I'm still having to explain myself. I'm getting a little tired of it.

3. Tomorrow begins the great apartment hunt. I'm planning on speaking with my old landlord tonight to check out what he has available. I only have 3 requirements:
- Enclosed one bedroom. Not an efficiency.
- Washer and Dryer
- Hardwood floors.
Although I would also prefer a second story apartment, that won't be a dealbreaker if the place is nice enough.

4. Have you seen the new commercial for Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper? The one where the woman's date appears to start singing (along with the whole restaurant) the song from the Muppett show? I fuckin' love that ad. Unfortunately, seeing it causes that song to become stuck in my head for hours at a time.

5. The BBC programme (I'll allow their spelling) The Office is just about the best thing I've ever watched. I bought Series 1 and 2 about two weeks ago and watched all 12 original episodes as slowly as I could. Then I purchased and watched the final "X-mas special" episodes this Friday night. It made me cry...oh yes it did...and I defy anyone to watch the run of that show and NOT fall totally in love with both Tim and Dawn. Great show. Check it out if you haven't already seen it. And if you have, watch it again. I command you.

Well, that's all the news I've got on my end...well, there's one other bit I've been doing at the office about what I'm giving up for Lent this year...but I'll not publish it here...might not be terribly appropriate. (It's not like it's blasphemous, just not fit for general consumption.) If you ask me nicely, I might share it with you via e-mail.

Well, ta for now...

The Responsibility of Blogging

It has come to pass that I must make a statement about the world of blogs. Time has progressed in the blog world, and some new rules need to be agreed upon and adhered to.

Here are some proposals I'd like to make:

If you wish to post anonymously, that is fine. Feel free to say whatever you want to say about whoever you want.

If you wish for only those invited to your blog to view it, please ask your friends to not link your blog on theirs.

If you are going to post as yourself, and you do not want people sending you angry e-mails letting you know that a particular post was offensive or hurtful, do not leave an e-mail address on your site.

If you still let your friends link to your site and you still want to post whatever you want to about whoever you want, please be prepared to be e-mailed by those whose feelings have been hurt.

Basically, don't post a rant about someone's ex-boyfriend when you know that said ex-boyfriend and all of his friends are VERY LIKELY to come upon that post and read it and infer certain things about him. Don't post intentionally hurtful things and then try to hide behind the whole "It's my blog, I'll say what I want and ban the IP addresses of all who disagree with me."

Because that won't cut it anymore. Let's try some etiquette, people.

*steps down off soap box*