lewis and clark had a journal. you, beth-annie, have a diary.

Friday, February 27, 2004
I'm all clevered out.  No interesting title today.
The Chicago Auto Show, as promised.  There's not really much to say, so I'll just let a few pictures talk for me except for a few points:

1.  We went three weeks ago with Josh's parents (moM and daD) when they were visiting us for the weekend.

2.  This is the Toyota Prius, the gas/electric hybrid car Josh has been obsessed with to an extent, and which we may buy in about a year and a half when they're closing out the 2005 models, unless we decide on another hybrid car (like an SUV or minivan) instead.  The point is, we're looking at a hybrid car in the not-too-distant future.  Because they're good.

3. My dream car, of course, is a Chrysler (a Chrysler? Really?? Yes!) Sebring convertible, and I got to sit in the driver's seat of one for the first time in my life. Me likey.

Here are a few more funky-looking cars that I just show you because they're funky-looking.

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Thursday, February 26, 2004
--"Oh, sorry, did I get ya?"
--"No, you didn't GET ME!  It's an electric drill!  You GET ME, you KILL ME!"
I am in need of some advice.  While some people I know are looking at buying functional furniture, we of course are instead looking to buy less functional furniture (a grandfather clock) and just rework the crappy, cheap/free garage sale/hand-me-down stuff we still have.  Our "dining set," of course, is quite small, fitting four people comfortably and six people squishily (although there are only four chairs), though we've fit seven around it in a pinch.  We might make getting a bigger/better set a higher priority if A) we had more people in our family, or B) we had the space for it.  So I am going to sand/strip the finish off, paint it, and pad and recover the chair seats.  Plus, it is in major need of restabilizing because all the joints are terribly wobbly.

The other major project I have planned is for our bedroom chest, dresser, and mirror.  They are the ugliest things I've ever seen (sorry about the hyperbole, Josh ;)), I'd say circa about 1970.  This is my first priority right now for two reasons:  A)  We just switched our bedroom from one room to another, as I was sick of our current one and we felt a different room would feel bigger because we could use the space better... bottom line, I have a whole new color scheme and everything that I chose, and it's inspiring me to make my ugly bedroom furniture pretty, which I've always been planning on, but now I want to do it NOW.  Oh.  And B) Menards was clearing out their cabinet/drawer hardware at half price, so we bought enough for our bedroom furniture.  So I am also going to sand/strip that, and paint it white.

Now, here's where the advice comes in.  The current drawer pull is just a long, skinny piece of wood, held on by a few screws, but also with a "tongue" that fits into a "groove" in the drawer front (the groove is about a fifth of the way down the drawer front).  This groove is a problem.  I don't think I could fill it and paint over it and have it look terribly decent, so I was wondering if there was a way I could try to work WITH it by using a router to cut a wider, rounder groove over it and on around the whole drawer front in a rectangle as a decorative feature.  And perhaps add some sort of decorative edge to the currently-boring-right-angle front corners of the drawers also.  However, I know nothing about routers, how to use one, how much it would cost to get one that would do what I needed, whether I would need a table along with it or any other accessories, whether I could do what I wanted without taking the drawer front off the rest of the drawer so it would be a nice, flat surface, etc.  So if anyone out there has had any experience with routers, I would like your thoughts and/or advice on whether this is doable or just plain stupid.  I can provide pictures if my desciption of the situation isn't good enough (a good bet), and I'm not worried about "ruining" this furniture, because it's cheap and crappy and there's no way it could ever look worse than it does now.  It's the perfect thing to experiement on.  As long as it's still functional, I'm okay.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Thoroughly Weird Millie.
Just a word on the FILM version of Thoroughly Modern Millie.  We, of course, adored the stage version, so we naturally rented the film version from the '60s out of curiosity.  Julie Andrews (love her), Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Channing...  but it was ODD.  "Odd" is often a good thing, but in this case it was a very bad kind of "odd."  Despite the direction of George Roy Hill, who brilliantly directed one of my favorite films, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, it had many scenes that seemed unnecessary and boring, ridiculous-looking fight sequences, and a gimmick in which actors would turn directly to the camera on a close-up and give us an exaggerated facial expression right before cutting to a blank screen with the character's thought at the time written out (a la a silent movie).  Maybe it sounds like it could've been cool, but it wasn't.  In fact, the whole film seemed to be going for a kind of silly, slapsticky quality that just didn't work at all.

None of the characters were particularly likable (you who know me know that's almost an immediate assurance that I will NOT like a film), unlike in the stage adaptation where the only person who wasn't likable (though she was funny) was the villian, who of course wasn't SUPPOSED to be.  Jimmy (Millie's love interest), was very geeky/nerdy -- and not in an endearing way, just in a goofy and annoying way.  We were supposed to buy him as a romantic lead?  Um, I don't think so.  There was also no initial antagonism between Jimmy and Millie -- they made out in his convertible the first night they met!  Yuck!  And while the scene where Jimmy shows up on the window ledge outside Millie's office building window played as perfectly believable in the Broadway version, the film insisted on showing us every bit of him actually climbing up fifteen stories on the outside of the building (Yeah. Sure.), not to mention several instances of hanging off a flagpole extending from the building...  It was the stupidest thing I've ever seen.  The music didn't do the movie any favors either;  with the exception of two good songs that were recycled in the musical, I could see why the adapters left the rest of the songs in the dust.  And that final fight sequence with the bizarre acrobatics?  Need I say more?

See the stage production.
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Friday, February 20, 2004
Pier 1 Glasses Update!
We're keeping them!  Take THAT, um, um... YOU!

Recall of the Day.
It's nice when you get a letter in the mail detailing a recall for your car that explains why the turn signals didn't work that one time.  I think it may be bad for turn signals to not work, even if many people drive as if their cars are not equipped with them.

"It must have flew!"
Receiving Kim's San Francisco postcard in the mail yesterday proved to be a conversation piece for Josh and myself (which, after almost four years of marriage, boy do we NEED... hehe, just kidding :P).  We got to reminiscing about our two-week drive out to California in May 2002 and thinking about how much of a blast it was and how we'd reallly like to do something like that again sometime maybe to Florida or the Pacific Northwest or New England and I think I'm gonna look at the logistics of PNW and FL because we might actually want to do one of those soon I'm thinking Florida first because I'd rather do that one when we don't have kids yet for sure so I can still wear a bikini and play in the fun and sun and go to Universal Studios or maybe Disney World before we have kids for sure because that's how smart pibbles do it wow I haven't used the word "pibbles" in a while have I Kaly but for everyone out there who's never heard it before it means "people" just like "ppl" does when I'm writing fast and for ppl who don't matter...  What was I saying?  Oh, yeah, well, the point actually is that it's motivated me to get off my butt and work on getting the photos from our trip put together into some sort of viewable... something.  Because the majority of my readers have never seen them, and they are way pretty.  I will endeavor to have this accomplished at some point before the two-year anniversary of the trip.  :P

Coming Attractions.
The following preview has been approved for ALL AUDIENCES by the Motion Picture Associations of America.

"In a WORLD... dominated by money, materialism, and marketing... ONE man and his trusty sidekicks DARE to go... where so many have gone before.  Next week... Follow them... on the JOURNEY of a LIFETIME.  Ebert and Roeper give 1 1/2 thumbs up to... The Chicago Auto Show.  This film is not yet rated."
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Wednesday, February 18, 2004
"Down is up, up is down, and logic is on vacation with his buddy reason..."
Greg Maddux is now a Chicago Cub. This is very strange. That is all.

Dilemmaness.
Do you keep a set of lovely new drinking glasses from Pier 1 if you find that they only sort of fit very tightly into your dishwasher rack?
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Tuesday, February 17, 2004
WAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!
No more Sixpence??? I cannot imagine a world with no Sixpence! Help! I'm losing everything I love! Three things in three months? Come on, don't do this to me! Not again...

WAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

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"What I Did On My Valentine's Day," by little Bethy-Annie.
I went carpet remnant shopping.
I had lunch at Outback Steakhouse.
I saw The Triplets of Belleville in the theater.
I got a lovely suede jacket.
I saw Possession on DVD.
The end.

Other People must now tell me what THEY did over Valentine's Day, the pretty things they saw, the pretty places they went... I would like to live vicariously, I would.
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Monday, February 16, 2004
Things I love about "Arrested Development":  Number 17.
The fake previews for each next week's show.  It took a while before I realized they never came true, but this is the kind of show that rewards the very observant viewer with subtle touches of brilliance most will miss.

With every passing week I come to adore this show more and more...
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Friday, February 13, 2004
“Come on, guys, the universe is expanding, too.  One day, it’ll all break apart.  The big bye-bye.  Our planet host cosmic toast, so what’s the point of living, right?  Life is senseless, fool’s folly, a moment of sunlight fading on the grass, a biological coincidence failing in some distant future dawn.  Yeah, I tried using that one to get out of doing my science homework.  No one bought it back then, either.”
If any of you never quite had a full understanding of just how great my love is for a certain eight-years-defunct television series, here is a story for you:  I was informed last night by my dear sister that Michael DeLuise, a.k.a. Seaman Anthony Piccolo of the seaQuest Deep Submergence Vehicle, was on this week's "Gilmore Girls."  This made me ridiculously happy.  So ridiculously happy, in fact, that I was giddily jumping around the room last night shrieking.  Just ask Josh.  He'll tell you it was scary.
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Thursday, February 12, 2004
"...and if I bring a little music I could fit right in..."
A strange thing happened to me today.  I woke up with some aspects of a handbell arrangement of Gershwin's "Summertime" in my head.  That is quite odd.  I do not write music.  I think what I have is cool, though, and would like to get it written down.  Easier said than done for someone whose entire muscial experience consists of bell choir and choir (and a few guitar chords).  I never played a band instrument or learned piano.  I have no real knowledge of how to write down what's in my head, and of course no one else can get in my head to help me.  So I think I'm going to have to muddle through this on my own.  Should be interesting...

Unfortunately I've had a busy day and a bad day, so I have yet to give it a try.  Hope it's still in there somewhere...
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Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Because every blog needs the occasional toilet picture.
So when I painted our bathroom we also got a new toilet seat to replace the stupid soft fishy one that had been there. It cost $19.99 and was made of wood. TWO MONTHS later, this is what it looked like after it had cracked in half.

Contrary to what it may look like, we are not toilet seat abusers. We did absolutely nothing to this seat, and this is how it repays us. I will never spend that much on a toilet seat again.

It just shows to go you, there can be life lessons anywhere you turn.
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Monday, February 09, 2004
Especially for Kaly.  So she'd better read it.  ;)
Here is Grandma and Grandpa's grandfather clock in between the Jonathan and the Benajamin for comparison's sake.  You're right, the Jonathan is much more similar, especially in the face area.

Especially for Lizzie.
For your viewing pleasure:  my signed seaQuest cast photo, and a couple pages from the "Siamese Dream" script.

Especially for Kaly and Lizzie.
As Liz knows and I may have told Kaly, I sent a sympathy card, letter, and poem (A Child Loaned) to Jonathan's parents a few weeks ago, and on Thursday I received a reply.  I have scanned what I received (two laminated cards, his business card, and the envelope) so you can see it if you so desire.  When it arrived I couldn't even open it right away... not sure why, I just let it sit on the table for several hours.  I guess it was a little too real.  Reality sucks sometimes.

Especially for everyone else.
I have nothing interesting for you.  I am sorry.  Perhaps you are interested in the wrong things.
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Thursday, February 05, 2004
Time flies like the wind.  And fruit flies like bananas.
Here are the two grandfather clocks we are considering.  Simply aesthetically, not taking price or any other features into account, please tell me which clock you think is prettier.  Or which parts of which clock you think are prettier (for instance if you like the face better on one but the pendulum better on another).  The one on the left is the "Benjamin," and the one on the right is the "Jonathan."  Discuss.
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Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Another saddity.
I believe I have mentioned previously that we got XM satellite radio for Christmas.  And we are addicted to it.  I don't know if I'll ever listen to regular (stupid) radio again.  XM changes their lineup once a year, sometimes shuffling channels, sometimes removing and adding.

This year there was no uproar about them moving the Gospel channel's placement from "urban" to "Christian" (shouldn't it really have been there in the first place?), or nixing two of the four Spanish language channels, but then they did something no one expected and many people were furious about:  they also got rid of a channel called Special X.  This is the station that played Weird Al Yankovic, William Shatner and Leornard Nimoy recordings, songs from A Mighty Wind and Spinal Tap, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" by the Texas Chainsaw Orchestra (actual chainsaws, folks), and various other oddities with titles such as "I Wanna Be Locked Inside a Liquor Store With You."  They had programs like "Dr. Demento," "Wabbit Twacks" (music from cartoons, including The Simpsons) and "Cover Songs That Give You a Burning in Your Esophagus" and played bizarre Christmas music during the holidays.

And now it is gone.  And it is sad.  And wrong.  And sad again.  After it was announced at the beginning of the year that Special X would be off the air as of midnight February 1, the station began broadcasting little bits featuring Generalissimo Stasho Ortega broadcasting from his "titanium-enclosed broadcast bunker" under the XM studios (lo fi with battle sounds in the background) to all his comrades how they were "under attack" and might not survive, but they would fight to the bitter end for "weirdness on Special X."

As the end date neared, the battle became more intense, and the hopelessness of saving the "Weirdolucion" became more and more apparent.  The enemy ("the Corporate Musical Armies") was getting nearer and nearer, and the Generalissimo was losing his battle.  Beloved Special X characters were taken outside and tortured and interrogated.  During the final hours of broadcast on January 31, there were several possible rays of hope ("We are being told now that the cavalry is now riding to save the Army of Weirdness!  Is this true?  Is it possible?";  "Comrades!  We have located an escape hatch! The Weirdolucion may yet live!") that actually planted seeds of doubt in listeners' minds that perhaps they had found a way to save the station afterall, but those hopes were always dashed ("They're being butchered!  The cavalry is being defeated!";  "The hatch is damaged!").  Just as Generalissimo Ortega was captured, he awoke from a dream Wizard-of-Oz style.  They played "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from Monty Python.  And then cut to a father finishing a bedtime story -- the story of the Generalissimo -- to his daughter.  Was it really all a dream?  Or did the Generalissimo somehow escape and is out there "somewhere in the night" planning another weirdolucion?  We might never know... except for that strange Hispanic accent and "goodnight little comrade" that slipped out as the father tucked his daughter in.  And then there was that evil laugh after he left the room...  Hmmmm...  A punk rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and Special X was off the air for good.  Or are they...?

VIVA LA WEIRDOLUCION!
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Monday, February 02, 2004
Sad Sadder Day.
It's a sad, sad, day for television.  Friday night "Ed" got clobbered in the ratings by reruns of "Hope and Faith" and "JAG."  I am baffled.  Baffled at the idiocy of the American public.  I cannot fathom what is wrong with people.  It may seem like I'm being purposely overdramatic here, but I assure you I sincerely mean every word that I'm saying.  I JUST DON'T GET IT.  I am no longer furious at NBC (I am still mad, because they ARE to blame for this season's shortcomings in storyline, focus, and to a certain extent writing -- by "Ed" standards, anyway), but I have every reason to be furious with the television-watching audience that watched everything Friday night BUT "Ed."

Not to sound all hoity-toity, but, yes, I'll say it!  I THINK I HAVE BETTER TASTE IN COMEDY THAN AT LEAST 85% OF THE POPULATION!  As evidenced last night at the Super Bowl party we went to... We were with a bunch of people from church, a bunch of people I really like, but a bunch of people who thought the Budweiser commercial with the horse's flatulence onto a candle-holding woman on a romantic carriage ride, thus "toasting" her like a Looney Tunes character, was one of the funniest commercials they saw, while they barely cracked a smile at the Simpsons Mastercard commercial.  It was then that I became truly aware that Josh and I are very different from these people, and probably from the majority of people in this country.  These people who watch "Hope and Faith" instead of "Ed," who prefer bathroom humor to "The Simpsons" humor, these are the people who are truly to blame for the end of "Ed," and who will probably also spell the demise of "Arrested Development" come May.  Because after a point I can't blame NBC or FOX for cancelling a show that consistently fails to attract viewers, no matter how astronomically above the rest of television that show might be in quality.  I have to blame the viewers.  At least the networks give these shows a chance;  it's the viewers who refuse to recognize brilliancy when it bites them on the ass.

Sorry.  I'm a little angry.
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