Embryo of Philosophy

What am I doing right at this moment? I'm multitasking. I'm drinking a strawberry margarita and eating sour gummy gummy worms. (It's an interesting combination.) But that's not all! I'm also goofing off on the internet, while rereading Saiyuki. And I just got back from the bookstore. I had a coupon, you see. Those are words that doom me every time. Those and, "It was a deal." I bought Summon's Christian Miscellany: An Amusingly Informative Collection of Unexpected Facts, Curiosities, and Trvia, The Vagina Monologues (it's rather shocking that I didn't already own this), and The Hebrew Goddess, which, as you might guess, is about goddess worship in Judaism. But these are not the best purchases. No, the best purchase is Lesbian Sex. I bought it for, uh, research purposes. You see, every time I write femslash, it winds up as the same old "fingers and/or tongue in one partner, then the other." Boring, yeah? Stupidly, I used to have another book with the same title, but I sold it. (Sometimes I sell my books, mostly in an effort to make room and money for new books. I usually regret it because I'll want to read the books I got rid of.) On the other hand, that book had simple black and white drawings. This new book has color photos. Color. Photos.

The names of the positions themselves are priceless. "Backdoor Imperialism," "Opening Pandora's Box," "Sappho's Smile," "The Bush Agenda," "Riveting Rosie," "Anaïs and June," "Tipping the Velvet." I could go on. However, I'm not sure that I'll be able to interestingly or accurately describe these positions in my stories. If this makes you think that that fact makes the book a wasted purchase, I will remind you of the COLOR PHOTOS.

But it's for research purposes. Really.

I also bought some CDs. Melissa Etheridge's The Awakening, Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits, and Tori Amos' Jackie's Strength single. Yeah, money burns a hole in my pocket.

I just got around to buying my ticket for the Tori Amos' Denver show. So excited! I waited this long because I wanted to know if a friend from work could go with me. Sadly, she couldn't, so I'm on my own. I've never seen Tori Amos in concert before, so I'm very exited.

Just so you all know, today only you can get the mp3 version of Tori's new album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, for only three bucks over at amazon. Good deal.

To make up for that last post, things I have enjoyed recently.

The Bruce Springsteen concert. Oh my god, it was so fantastic! That man is amazing. He's a singing machine. His encore lasted for forty-five minutes. He just never stopped. Un-fucking-believable. And you may not know this, but he dances like a total dork. It's wonderful.

And he played Born to Run, and the audience got to sing along! That's one of my favorite songs ever.

Just thinking about it makes me bounce up and down all over again.

I also saw two movies that I really liked. The first was Monsters Vs. Aliens. It was delightful. There were all sorts of geeky in-jokes, and Stephen Colbert played the President of the United States. See it for that, if nothing else. Plus, a really great woman main character whose story arc and character development went exactly as I wanted it to. Make sure to see it in 3-D. It costs a little more, but it's absolutely worth it.

The second movie was Frost/Nixon. (No, fandom people, it's not like that.) You would think a movie in which the main action is two guys talking would be boring, but it was superb. I was really impressed. Also, decidedly embarrassed about my lack of historical knowledge. I didn't even know about the Frost/Nixon interviews until this movie.

I also saw What Just Happened, which was entertaining enough, but nothing to write home about. Robert De Niro was great, but the movie itself lacked bite.

This week has been absolutely miserable, and I may be losing my mind. School is too much, and I'm not sure how much longer I can handle it. I can't even take a semester off, because I'm paying for school with my dad's death benefits, and the only way I get those is if I'm in school.

But that's not actually the reason that I'm making this post. I'm making this post because tonight I will be going to a Bruce Springsteen concert! OMGYay! Not that I don't say that I'll be seeing Bruce Springsteen. That would not be accurate, as I have a behind the stage seat. But OMG!

I asked nearly everyone if they wanted to go with me, and everyone refused. Now, of course, they're all saying how they wish that they were going. I tried!

....Eeeeeeee!

When you see this, post a protest song in your journal.

( Empire by Dar Williams (A little subtle, a little not so subtle. One of my favorites.) )

Remember when I made the post about the dvd_commentary community, and how I'd never ever actually post a commentary because I'd most likely be horribly wrong, and then I'd have to commit ritual suicide? Well, uh, I lied. Not about being wrong! That's still true. But about not posting a commentary. (I was probably lying about the suicide bit. Probably.)

So, you can find my commentary for ravenbell's story Better the Devil You Know here for part one and here for part two. Remember, I'm probably wrong about everything, and most likely terribly stupid as well. I'm just warning you.

But wait! There's more! See, I've had a FST for the story in my head for awhile, and this gave me the perfect excuse to post it. It's only six songs, more of a mini-FST than anything else, and certainly not behemoth that my 30 Tortures FST was, but, well, it is what it is.

There isn't a title. There's no point. The Thirty Tortures FST had a title, but I just think of it as the Thirty Tortures FST.

( So, here you go. )

...You know, I was supposed to spend this weekend studying.

This weekend I was supposed to go on the OASOS camping trip. I had been planning it for months. Then I screwed up my schedule at work, and couldn't go. It's disappointing. The camping trip was one of the few things I still really like about OASOS, and this was my last year to go. But I think it's telling that I'm only a little disappointed. OASOS saved my life, but I've moved on. I don't connect with the other members (they're 13-15 mostly; how much connecting can there be?) and I'm continually frustrated with not being able to relate to the facilitators as adults. The only real question remaining is whether or not I'll wait until September to leave.

Within the span of a few days, I made and devoured a batch of coconut macaroons. I hope this recent baking trend continues. I've long had the desire to make things, but I'm hopeless at all things visual arts related, and I've been stagnate on the poetry front for months and months. I'm surprised at how easy so many things are to make. To me, coconut macaroons seem like they should be difficult, but it's just mix the ingredients, drop them on the tin foil covered cookie sheet, and pop them in the oven. Bourbon balls, the treat I'm making for livelongnmarry, are just as simple, especially if you have a food processor. As my mother said, the vanilla wafer people have done the hardest part by making the cookies. She mentioned finding a recipe for "quick and easy" bourbon balls, and I cracked, "Is that when you buy the vanilla wafers pre-crushed?"

I'm currently baking, but I'm still not cooking. Everything I make at home comes from a box or a can, and when I work I always eat at Taco Bell. (I know, and I am deeply shamed. But it tastes good!) I feel bad about it, but cooking is such a hassle. So many freaking ingredients! I never have what I need, and then I have to buy too much, because a can't find a decent portion size for one person that isn't heavily packaged, so the extra rots. And then I end up doing something wrong, and it's just all very frustrating.

Oh, and here's something I should have alerted you folks to a long time ago: my mom's husband has cancer. But don't freak out! He's responding really well to chemo, and things are currently looking ok. But it's still really hard on both him and my mom. My mom already had to go through this once with my dad. (She wasn't in love with him anymore, but she did love him.) I wish things were easier on my mom. Her life has been one big hectic mess for years. She still frustrates (frustrate is the word of the day, apparently) me though. I found out the other day that she still thinks that she did something wrong and "made" me queer. At this point though, I find it more perversely amusing than offensive.

Finally, the song I'm listening to now: "First We Take Manhattan" performed by Jennifer Warnes? I'm freaking addicted to it. I've been listening to it nearly nonstop for days.

I just saw the Barenaked Ladies in concert! For free! The were playing at Barnes and Noble, promoting their new CD. It was great! I decided against buying the CD and getting it signed, which I regret a bit now, but not much. It was just great being there.

I found out about the concert weeks ago while at Barnes and Noble. There was a sign saying that the concert and signing was going to be 11:00 on the 14th. That's all it said. I showed a little before 9:00 (when the store opens), figuring that would be early enough. When I got there, the line was long, but not obscenely so, so I figured it was all good. Then an employee started talking about wristbands. I knew nothing of these wristbands. A guy and his daughter right next to me weren't aware that we needed them either. Then, a woman came up to us and said that she had three extras! Very serendipitous. So, I had a blue wristband with an E on it. This would be important later.

After we were all let in, we were told that people with orange wristbands got to sit in the front of the store, while those of us with blue would stand in the back of the store. I was fine with this. The store isn't that big, and whether I could see the band or not, the sound would be great.

All of this happened a little after nine. Which meant that I had two hours to kill. Luckily I had brought multiple books. There weren't any chairs, so I sat on a stack of bargain books, which wasn't very comfortable, but oh well.

Things would have been just peachy if it hadn't been for one very annoying woman. As it turns it out the BNL's new album is a kids' album, so the event was mainly being marketed towards families with young children. The obnoxious woman did not like this at call. She reminded me of those psycho adults who show up to Harry Potter events and complain about all the kids. And she was so loud about it! Sheesh. Newsflash, lady: no one cares. Employees were going around blowing bubbles, singing a song about it, and encouraging the kids to pop them. It was cute, and I popped a bubble with my nose. (No one could accuse me of being overburdened with excess maturity.) This woman did not like the bubbles. I don't know why. Bubbles seem pretty unoffensive to me. When she called out "No bubbles!" I countered by shouting "Yes, bubbles!" She then proceeded to turn her head away and pull her coat up. I mean, maybe she was allergic to soap or something, but she was acting more like she was allergic to fun. I actually told her, "You know, I don't think that they're toxic or acidic." It was out of my mouth before I could stop myself!

After most of the time had past, the employees called up the people with blue wristbands with letters A through H to stand at the front of the stores behind the chairs. That meant that I got to go up! I was still behind most people, and I couldn't see very well, but I was much closer to the Barenaked Ladies than I will ever be again, most likely. (The obnoxious woman was B, and when she left all the people around her verbally expressed their relief. One guy said that he was close to "putting [his] fist through her face," so I was not the only one annoyed.

The concert itself was great. Besides songs from their new album, they sang Another Postcard, One Week, and If I Had $1000000. And they were really funny. And the audience got to sing along.

So, yes, a good time.

Soon, I need to post pictures and tell you all about the OASOS talent show, which was also a good time.

Sweeney Todd was a lot of fun. Right before it began, I was reminding myself not to complain, and then it started, and I just went "Eeee! :D." Lots of fun.


The voices were about what I expected, except for Johnny Depp, who was actually better than I thought he was going to be. (But I thought he was going to be pretty awful.) The main problem was that the voices were all weak. Not bad, simply not strong enough to really do justice to Sondheim's songs. In a stage production it would have been a disaster, but in a movie it was all right. Not as good as it good have been, but all right. (Actually, I was the most impressed with Toby's voice. But someone with more musical knowledge may disagree with me on all of this.)

The singing may have been less than the best, but I really liked the acting. Depp's over the top crazy Sweeney may not be to everyone's taste, but he pulled it off wonderfully, I think.

Helena Bonham Carter continued a trend that I also noticed in what little I heard of the Broadway revival, and that's the playing Mrs. Lovett as a dark, overtly creepy character. I understand this, but my favorite will always be Angela Lansbury, who played her her very warmly and matronly. I love that because it actually makes her a much scarier character, all friendly and warm until she makes you into a pie. But don't think that I didn't like Carter! I really liked her performance. I think she did very well.

Another thing that I was expecting but sad to see was the cutting down and removing of songs. The Ballad of Sweeney Todd was removed for obvious reasons, but I still missed it. I was more disappointed to see how the changed A Little Priest and By the Sea. A Little Priest is one of my favorite songs, and By the Sea had at least one of the most amusing lines cut. There was also a lot of the humor missing from A Little Priest, though, luckily, not from By the Sea.

But this makes it sound like I didn't like it, and I did. I liked it a lot!

And, because I love you, I'm uploading the the original Broadway cast recording. This is the complete version, and last I checked, it was out of print. Download it!

Disc One
Disc Two

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention that the songs on disc two are mislabeled. I don't know why. They're still all there.