Sick and Tired Of Feeling Sick and Tired

Okay, in case anybody is trying to keep score so far this year I've had a continuing problem with my blood pressure, migraine cycles lasting weeks at a time, a UTI for half of February, a cold for the last two weeks and now my period has gone wonky again and I get the joy of a 10 day period with a two week rest and another go at it.

I started acupuncture a couple of months ago because really I was feeling sort of curdled and I thought getting the energy flows of my body straightened out would help. The migraines went away but it seems as if everything else is going to hell. My BP yesterday afternoon was 169/100. This morning it's 145/105.

I'm taking prescription stuff, herbs, and spending a lot of time with my feet up and I'm getting impatient with the whole thing. I have stuff that I need to do and want to do and not much of it is getting done what with one thing or another since being in pain, drugged, in danger of passing out, or just plain hormonal isn't really a good state for fixing the roof, working on my novel, writing and playing game scenarios, getting yard into shape, or really anything beyond bare bones has to get done in order for me to eat and wear clean clothes sort of stuff.

And I do mean the minimum, I ate cold Campbell's Chunky soup out of the can one day last week. If it wasn't for having to work the clean cloths part might slide even.

I'm pretty much saving as much energy as I can so that I can go to work and be productive and pay the bills but at the end of the day I'm wiped and come home and sit in the recliner and go hang out at the forums or read.

On weekends I spend Saturday morning in the chair and putter around a bit. By Sunday I've rested enough to feel like doing stuff if there aren't active symptoms of something but how much can you do with one real productive day a week when you have to sit down after 20 minutes because your pulse is 120 from doing dishes?

The Entire Internet From One Link

Well, the fun bits anyway.

http://www.dm.net/~lnh/fluff.html

But Wait, There's More

Finally got all the shots of the woods and the lake uploaded. Dialup is such a pain. These are thumbnails so click if you want to see a bigger version. I tried to get them not to line up like this but I couldn't figure it out and its time to get ready for work.

Welcome to the 3 Acre Woods

Otherwise known as my back yard

And the lake beyond

It's Here!!

Behold my first picture with the new camera.

Movie Review: Real Women Have Curves

I put this on my Netflix list solely based on the one scene that was shone when it was nominated for an Oscar. It turns out to have been improvised by the actors and therefore nearly free of the heavy handedness of much of the rest of the film.

There are the bones of a good movie in here...good casting, great acting, nice set design, beautiful shots of the neighborhood, decent script...but the movie falls far short of what it could have been and I have to firmly blame the director and the producer for that. The movie is best when it is spotlighting the quirky yet real characters and their stories but every time it starts to get good we get yanked back to the main story about Ana, a recent high school graduate and her growing rebellion against her mother who wants her to say home instead of accepting a full ride scholarship at Columbia University, even if it means having to work in a sweatshop.

The central theme is supposed to be women accepting themselves. I have to give them credit for casting women who looked like ordinary women, not the usual Hollywood idea of ordinary and these women can ACT which really underlines the unfairness that they will never be stars in the Hollywood system. Unfortunately I have to deduct points for several scenes in which the women come to accept their less than thin bodies that might as well have a flashing “Message Here” notice on the screen they are so heavy handed.

The problem is, depicting these women, almost all of whom were born in Mexico, as having the same attitude towards their bodies as White American women is just not correct. I did a meta-analysis several years ago in college on several studies relating to body image and race and found that Hispanic women have a higher satisfaction with their bodies than Whites. For the most part they are proud of their larger measurements because they are desirable to the men in their culture and so don't obsess about getting anorexic thin like Whites.

The central conflict between Ana and her mother is ludicrous as presented and the only way they remotely make it work is by making the mother nasty and mean spirited for most of the movie. She is mostly one dimensional. They do have a couple of scenes to show her “soft side”. In one she sweat talks her pet parakeets, in another she tends to Ana when she gets burned, but her verbal abuse of both her daughters more than overrides that. The closest we get to a motivation is a speech she gives to her husband about how she's had to work since she was 13; Ana is 18 and now it's her turn. Yeah, that's a good reason to keep your kid from going to college if you love her.

As unbelievable as the plot is we are told over and over on the commentary track by the producer how important it was to make the film as “real” as possible. They changed the original ending, the second best scene in the film and one of the DVD extras, that was upbeat and life affirming and emphasized the importance of community and replaced it with shots of Ana strutting down a New York street, on her own and independent because it was “more real”.

In the original ending Ana returns after a year in New York to be there for her sister when she presents a small show of her own designs using women from the factory as models. It celebrates the beauty of these women and serves as a great curtain call for the actresses. It emphasized the way that you are never totally free from your community and culture and it is both a source of strength and something to overcome. There is a moment where the mother kisses Ana and we are given to understand that they have settled their differences which was a little too pat but that could have been cut or altered. Even with it the original ending is stronger.

The original stage play featured a five woman ensemble cast and was set entirely in the sewing factory. It was written by a girl who had spent several months working at a sewing factory owned by her sister. She wanted to celebrate these women and their interesting stories. For the film they mostly serve as comic relief in the background of the conflict between Ana and her mother.

It's hard to root for Ana because she is a pretty unlikeable person for most of the movie. She is sarcastic and hateful towards her mother and her sister until just before the end. The mother is kind of understandable but her sister never does anything but try to help her. Ana is arrogant and looks down on the other workers at the sewing factory at first just because they have to do “this dirty work”.

She decides to lose her virginity as a show of rebellion against her mother and while the production team seem proud of her “owning her sexuality” they seem to miss how coldly she uses her boyfriend to do it. The boy is one of the nicer and better developed characters in the movie. He really likes Ana and if he wasn't going off to college in another town something might have developed but all he is good for is stud service by the end of the movie and he's dismissed with an awkward scene where he drives her home the morning after and she lets him know that it's over between them.

We are never given any indication as to why Ana has won her scholarship. She is shown in a couple of scenes working on her admission essay but we never get to hear any of it and when she turns in the paper it is clear even on TV that it contains less than 3/4 of a page of double spaced type. It's her sister who is shown reading and creating. Ana just moans and complains and sulks.
There are a few really excellent scenes that are worth seeing here but I really can't recommend the movie as a whole.

Well, Damned

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Fifth Level of Hell!

Fifth Level of Hell
The river Styx runs through this level of Hell, and in it are punished the wrathful and the gloomy. The former are forever lashing out at each other in anger, furious and naked, tearing each other piecemeal with their teeth. The latter are gurgling in the black mud, slothful and sullen, withdrawn from the world. Their lamentations bubble to the surface as they try to repeat a doleful hymn, though with unbroken words they cannot say it. Because you lived a cruel, vindictive and hateful life, you meet your fate in the Styx.

Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Moderate
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test

Say Cheese!

Now hold that pose for about a week. *g*

I made a deal with myself back in January. As an incentive to eat out less I would give myself $1 toward buying a digital camera every time I ate a meal at home or took my lunch to work instead of hitting the drive through. My goal was to be able to buy it before my birthday at the end of June. It should be arriving by the end of next week.

Today I ordered my Kodak Easy Share Digital Camera with 4 mega pixels and so many bells and whistles I'll be playing with it for weeks! It has optical and digital zoom. The minimum focus is 2 INCHES so you can get right up close if you want!!! It has settings for special conditions like taking pictures of fireworks. And I'll be getting it in time for the planned weekend with Katje and Mandy and my Godson who I haven't seen in a year!!!!!

*Squeeeeeeeeee*

I think this blog will start to be a little more heavily illustrated.

For Your Amusement and Edification

The Interactive Schrodinger's Cat

http://www.phobe.com/s_cat/s_cat.html

I <3 Puffs with Lotion

I went through an entire box plus part of a roll of Charmin this weekend and I still have a nose. Heh. Still sickish but made it to work and the vast quantities of goo have receeded mostly. Yay. Just in time for Monday.

I'm Easily Amused

10 minutes worth of cat pictures. Put your beverage down before clicking.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4412027748204910365&q=cats

*hack* *snorfle* *whine*

I'm home sick today. I made the mistake of having a somewhat productive week so far dispite the storm and making plans to do something about the leaky roof this weekend. Didn't have more than a little sinus congestion yesterday which I put down to allergies so waking up this morning unable to speak a full sentence without sounding like I'm near death was a bit of a surprise.

I also made the mistake of taking non-drowsy decongestant in an attempt to make it to work so being unconscious and not caring how cruddy I feel doesn't seem to be an option just yet.

Plan for now is to read stuff online and with luck fall asleep in the recliner. Laptops are a wonderful invention.

For Those Who Really Don't Give a Damn

Distressories Demotivational Posters

http://homepage.mac.com/macaholicg5/PhotoAlbum10.html

Warning: Do not go to the real Successories site to compare the originals to the parody. Doing so will result in the loss of braincells and may indeed cause your soul to be sucked right out of your body.

Adios Alberto

First they say it's not going to become a tropical storm. Then they say it will become a hurricane. Then they say we will have 50mph winds here.

"They" need to get their act together soon.

It's pretty windy and wet out but nothing like was predicted. I did get at least 5 inches of rain and the frogs are very happy in my neighborhood but it's been a drought so it mostly had places to go.

By tomorrow is should be soggy but back to normal. Until next time.

Another Update

We still could have 70 mph winds by tonight but so far so good. Alberto hasn't strengthened as expected he could always change his mind right up until landfall later today.

I really like this piece from further south:
http://www.wnymedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1569&Itemid=35

No coconuts here so that's one less chore on the prep list.

In the meantime I've got to go to work as usual but keep on ear on the radio and be prepared to leave early to go home and get the cats and head over to my cousin's if they issue an evacuation order for mobile homes here.

Alberto Update

Now they are saying it will be a hurracane before it makes landfall and it may still be that strong when it goes over my house. *sigh* I'm glad I got the miniumum evacuation stuff needed just in case.

A is for And Here We Go Again

Happy Hurricane Season! The first named storm of the season, Alberto, looks good to pass right over. Which believe it or not isn't a bad thing. We're under mild drought conditions and we've already had our first brush fire of the Summer so a lot of rain is welcome. Just as long as the winds stay at tropical levels we should be fine. It's nice to know that people are taking it seriously again though. According to this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5880256,00.html

Tourists in the Keys are leaving even though it's headed away from them. I wonder how long THAT'S going to last and when the Hurricane parties are going to start again? Probably not long enough.

Movie Review: Contantine

Constantine (2005)

As a fan of John Constantine from his appearances in DC's Vertigo line when I heard that they were casting Keanu Reeves for the title role I resigned myself to this movie being bad. John Constantine is a seedy looking guy whose appearance was originally based on Sting. I thought Keefer Sullivan would be perfect but as far as I know he was never considered for the part. He is a working class Brit and Keanu couldn't do the accent if his life depended on it.

Not that I think Keanu isn't a good actor. I've seen him do some really nice performances sometimes for more than one scene in the same picture. His appearance in Much Ado About Nothing however did point out that he should never under any circumstances try to play an Englishman.

So of course they made Constantine American. *headdesk*

Which is another reason I figured I'd really hate this movie.

But Tilda Swinton as the Archangel Gabriel was something that I really wanted to see and I figured I could at least make fun of everything else.

No making fun here. They actually pulled it off even with all the changes to the main character the only thing that had me yelling at the screen was the casting of Lucifer, who is one of my favorite characters in Vertigo comics, and that will not bother anyone who is not a comics fan at all. Just bear in mind that Lucifer should look more like Gabriel does and you'll understand my objections.

The performance by Peter Stormare who plays Lucifer is great. In the IMDB credits he is listed as Satan not Lucifer even though Gabriel calls his name when he appears. In the series I believe that Satan is a different character and it may be that they decided to combine the two. There are large chunks that I have missed while I was boycotting DC for stupidity so I'm not altogether sure on this. I know that other versions of “the devil” such as Beelzebub are separate entities. I really, really wanted a commentary track to explain things like this. I had heard that there was a commentary track so there's probably more than one DVD edition floating around.

Keanu's performance doesn't quite convey all of Constantine's massive attitude but he gets pretty close at times and I found myself focusing on the story too much to nitpick. They did a pretty good script that would work even if they weren't using an already existing character but that also has many elements of the original stories. You don't have to have read a single issue of Hellblazer to follow this.

They had me from the exorcism at the beginning of the movie and didn't lose me until Lucifer appears and considering my attitude going in that was an accomplishment. Even then it only yanked me out of the story briefly.

Even though I was watching it on DVD and could watch the rest later I stayed up over an hour past my bedtime on a work night because I could not stop watching

AARRRRGGGH! *headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*

If you tell someone up front that all you need in order to process a payment for them is 1 piece of documentation, and that requirement isn't anything new but something we've always needed, it shoud NOT take 3 days and 6 or so exchanges of emails, some of them very bitchy towards me, for them to admit in a dodgy not really admitting anything sort of way that they never bothered to get it and that's why they never sent it to me.

I kept saying "as soon as you send me this I will request that a check be cut and it will go out in about a week" and variations thereof. The person I was dealing with kept replying with reasons why I needed to pay her company soon and berating me for not doing so, sometimes in a snarky way, but NOT sending me what I needed.

It would have saved us both a lot of hassle if she had admitted to start with that the person who used to work there had screwed up and if she had nicely asked me to talk to the manager to see if she would approve payment anyway. My manager probably would have approved it in the name of good relations with that company since it was a small bill and we would have gotten on with our lives. Instead she tried to play the blame game and make it my fault.

Unfortunately for her I had extensive notes including all faxes and emails pertaining to this on file from the original order date so my ass is covered. I suspect that when my manager talks to her manager that will not be the case on her *ahem* end.

I'd hate people more if they didn't turn out to be their own worst enemies.