The Ice Storm

Please, do not confuse the title of this post with a fabulous movie starring Kevin Kline and Frodo. The title of this post is referring to the lovely ice storm Columbus, OH endured over the Christmas Holiday. Why don't they name ice storms? They name hurricanes. I think they should name ice storms as well. If they were to name this ice storm I think it should have been "Ice Storm Carrie" or better yet, "Ice Storm Shit on your Christmas". I drove home expecting to cuddle up in my warm bed with my mother baking cookies in the kitchen. Instead, I came home to what looked like a disaster site in the front yard with all the broken tree limbs, my father traveling up and down the stairs to carry water from the sump pump to put into the toilets because there was no running water, my mother trying to make chili by candlelight because of the lack of electricity, and a house that's temperature could have easily been confused with that of Antarctica...or even Martha Stewart. Regardless, we made the best of the situation and Christmas was just as good as always, if not better. My parents seem to argue less when they are away from home. We spent Christmas Eve at my brother's house. He was running off a generator. We spent Christmas day at my other brother's house. He had electricity. I got what I wanted for Christmas...well, except a digital camera. But I think I'll just invest in one of those myself. My father said an interesting thing regarding the power outage. He said that the lack of electricity really brought people together. I suppose that's true...to some degree. My parents still argued just as much as ever. But I did spend less time watching TV and playing on the computer this time around. That resulted in me spending more time with them. Without electricity you sorta focus on other things. There aren't very many distractions. But if there is one thing that I learned from this experience it is this: The Amish are STILL dumb.

Secret Santa - Trials and Tribulations

How many out there enjoy doing Secret Santa? Show of hands please. Hmm. None. It's OK...don't be shy. Still none. This could attribute to the fact that I can't see any of you. Regardless, why does Secret Santa always seem to cause so much drama? I just completed a week of Secret Santa where my Santa required me to do chores and find clues to acquire my gifts. One day I even had to sing the "Twelve Days Of Christmas" in front of my entire cast. Not only did I have to sing it but I also had to come up with a different "MOTION" for each day. Needless to say, I made the entire cast do it with me. I wasn't about to humiliate myself without bringing EVERYONE down for the ride. I was the only one who had to do these things. It was kinda fun. But for those of you who know me, I'm not one for fun. I like to wallow in misery and disdain. OK, OK...I enjoy a hug every once in a while. But the real drama comes from people bitching about Secret Santa and the gifts they receive. I thought this was supposed to be a gay and jolly sorta thing. Not excruciatingly painful! Well, needless to say nobody got hurt and we finished it up today and things seem to be okey dokey. I just wish that giving gifts wasn't so difficult. Sometimes you give someone a gift and they look at you like you just pooped on their pie. Probably because they don't have a gift to give back to you. THAT'S NOT WHAT GIVING GIFTS IS ALL ABOUT!! Not for me anyways. I give because it makes me happy. I don't give because I expect something in return. I love the satisfaction of making someone smile. That's why it sucks when someone is upset you gave them something. It also shouldn't be about the money. The whole "I spent 50 dollars on you so I hope you spent at least that much on me" sorta thing is unnecessary. Remember that this is the "season of giving". Not the "season of receiving". But I like to think of it more along the lines of the "season of giving and receiving with glee"!

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Lemony Snicket

So tonight I reveled in the opportunity to see a movie. The movie I chose: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. As excited as I was to see this film I knew in the back of my head that I should probably not be expecting much. I wasn't a big fan of the first novel. It wasn't clever enough for me and the story ran a little flat. There was a time in my life when everybody knew me as the "kid who loved Roald Dahl". I WAS the Dahl expert. So ever since I was a wee lad I've known a little about good story telling. I also know when it runs on fumes. Lemony Snicket runs on fumes. Sure, he throws in some clever little tricks. The word defining for instance. But overall, there's not a lot of imagination there. The film, however, redeems itself with stunning visuals and admirable performances. It took a minute for Jim Carrey to grow on me. But that always seems to be the case. At first he came across as something children would love to live with. Then you sorta realize that he's more crazy than he is quirky. It would have been interesting to see a dramatic actor take on the role. One thing I loved: the baby and her adorable unintelligible grunts that were translated into subtitles for us. There was also a rather startling moment where I about lost my shizzle. It was interesting to see Peter Pettigrew (from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) in the film. See if you can point him out. Thomas Newman(composer), eh, what can I say...same old, same old. Overall Assessment: Good film, weak story. Children will enjoy it. Nice visuals. Good Performances. LOVED THE WILLY WONKA TRAILER!! B-

Blog World

So I was watching Regis and Kelly the other day. Actually, "forced" to watch it is more accurate. I was at the gym and it was on the tube. It was stated on the show that the number one word looked up in the dictionary is "blog". That is when I knew that I HAD to become a member of this so-called "blog world" or "world of blog". Seriously, it was the deciding factor! I had been contemplating it for a while. My friend Lisa has her own blog and I just find it fascinating. Everyday I look forward to her banter and fiery online debates about politics and religion and sexuality. I HAD to become a part of that. Sure I was making comments, but I wanted to be in control. Now I am. I have my own blog. This is going to be fun my friends. This is going to be the start of something BIG...