BBC Book List

I'm going to delete those I don't want to read (if you're curious what they are I'll post them next). I'll share those I've read and those I wannaO and ditch the others. Apparently BBC says the average number on the list that have been read is 6; I'm at 18 with six partials. Though one of my good friends had a cursory total of over 40.


1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
6 The Bible
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman?
10 Great Expectations - Charles DickensO
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas HardyO
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare partial, might not read any I haven't already
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk?
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
20 Middlemarch - George EliotO
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott FitzgeraldO
23 Bleak House - Charles DickensO
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy undecided on this one
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor DostoyevskyO
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
33 Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur GoldenO
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne partialO
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins?
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas HardyO
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret AtwoodO
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank HerbertO
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons?
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram SethO
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon?
57 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
61 Of Mice and Men - John SteinbeckO
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt?
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas HardyO
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie?
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
72 Dracula - Bram StokerO
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill BrysonO
75 Ulysses - James JoyceO
76 The Inferno - DanteO
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome?
78 Germinal - Emile Zola?
80 Possession - AS Byatt?
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell?
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry?
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan DoyleO
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton?
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-ExuperyO
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks?
94 Watership Down - Richard AdamsO
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy TooleO
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute?
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald DahlO

So I count 41 I don't want to read, 25 I do, and 16 I don't know enough about to decide on.

The consumer (in the purest sense of the word) in me likes these kind of lists, but there are many other parts of me that don't allow me to make progress on such things. A whole lotta biting of(I typed it this way and I'm leaving it because it kinda makes more sense) more than I can digest, much less chew. Though I'm changing the hours of my day, as you can see by the time stamp on this post.

Oh, if you have any info/recommendations on this list, do let me know. I'm sure I can try harder on some with a personal recommendation.

My Rejects from the BBC List

Any I should take off this list?

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR TolkienX
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte BronteX
4 Harry Potter series - JK RowlingX (Sorry Ceri)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper LeeX
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily BronteX
11 Little Women - Louisa M AlcottX
13 Catch 22 - Joseph HellerX
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du MaurierX
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey NiffeneggerX
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret MitchellX
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas AdamsX
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn WaughX
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck partialX
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth GrahameX
31 Anna Karenina - Leo TolstoyX
32 David Copperfield - Charles DickensX
34 Emma -Jane AustenX
35 Persuasion - Jane AustenX
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled HosseiniX
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De BernieresX
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan BrownX
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia MarquezX
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John IrvingX
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM MontgomeryX
50 Atonement - Ian McEwanX
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane AustenX
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia MarquezX
62 Lolita - Vladimir NabokovX
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice SeboldX
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre DumasX
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen FieldingX
71 Oliver Twist - Charles DickensX
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson BurnettX
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace ThackerayX
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles DickensX
83 The Color Purple - Alice WalkerX
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave FlaubertX
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. WhiteX
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch AlbomX
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre DumasX
100 Les Miserables - Victor HugoX

Leap Year

This is my 366th post. One for each day of an olympic/election/leap year.

For no reason, the phrase "rassin' frassin'" got into my head today. Everyone I shared this with was under 25 and had no idea what I was talking about. I initially associated it with Yosemite Sam. A quick Google search, only 1010 results, revealed that it might also come from Snidely Whiplash's dog and the Wacky Racers.

Another thing I learned today, when my Google Reader recommended I subscribe to my own blog, is that I have 9 subscribers. So I thank each of you, and I'm sorta delighted that I could conceivably host a party at my apartment for all of you. I might have to make two pies, but that wouldn't be a problem. (I'm also sorta thinking I should have a Summer membership drive like my local community owned radio station.)

Speaking of pie, Saturday I made my rhubarb custard pie with cardamom instead of nutmeg, and it worked pretty well. Later on Saturday, Marcy, Michael Thurber, and I went to a David Sedaris reading/book signing at the UNL bookstore. I was fortunate to get my book signed before the reading. While he was signing my book with a wonderful drawing of a turtle with a human head that wore a top hat and had an Abraham Lincoln type beard, he asked me questions.

DS: Are you a student?

DM: No.

DS: What do you do?

DM: I working in a shipping department as an order coordinator.

DS: Do you have a home?

DM: Nope, I'm in an apartment.

DS: How much is the rent?

DM: 630 a month.

DS: That's not too bad. Is it clean?

DM: Nope.

DS: You don't clean your apartment?

DM: Well, I clean the kitchen when I bake. I made a pie today.

DS: Really, I wouldn't have guessed that. (Shares with helper woman that I'd baked a pie.) I wouldn't have picked you as the person who made a pie today.

Me Time.

Within the brackets is a post I started on August 28th. Without the brackets is new stuff.

[What I've Seen: Tropic Thunder, twice. Samurai Jack, first 33 episodes.

Tropic Thunder is very funny. I really enjoyed it, and the first time watching it, I noticed that not only was I laughing a lot, I was also finding it quite brilliant. Apparently an Orlando reviewer said this is the movie that will go on Ben Stiller's epitaph. Not too shabby.

Back when Cartoon Network was playing Samurai Jack, I would catch an episode or two, and I enjoyed it. So when it came up on my NetFlix recommendations, I swooped it up, and after watching the first two seasons, and the first disc of season three, I'm not regretting my decision. Genndy Tartakovsky, aside from having a really great name, is a gift to animation. The plot is that Samurai Jack has a special sword, and just before killing Aku, the shape-shifting demon that has spread his evil to the world, Aku sends him to the future. Now Jack must fight the evil of Aku while trying to find a time portal back to the past. This framework allows Tartakovsky two benefits, which he uses well. First, because it is in the future, the villians are more often than not robots. So instead of blood gushing everywhere, we just have sparks and wires, much more palatable for the Y-7 crowd the show is rated for. The second gem of the framework is that Jack is in a new culture/world/environment every episode. One episode he has to save a medieval type town from a dragon, another he learns how to jump really high from a group of ape type creatures in a jungle, another he is in a Roarin' 20s speakeasy working from the inside in a Capone type gang. But no matter the situation he is still Samurai Jack, which is what makes the format work so well. Even after he's been turned into a chicken by a curmudgeonly wizard, you can still tell he's Jack.

I mentioned before how Genndy is a gift to animation. Just as he keeps Jack consistent in any environ, he adapts the music and cinematography to match each genre. My television has been having issues and occasionally has a green wash, and I wait til it is done with its pouting before I watch another episode, because they are so beautiful to see.

What I've Read: The Hobbit by JRRR Tolkien] I read this because I heard that Guillermo del Toro is directing the film, and while it is a personal point of pride that I've yet to read a word of the LoTR trilogy, I figured this wouldn't be too bad. My assessment of the book is that it is fine. He has fun creatures doing a little quest thing. Nothing too complicated. Maybe if I were younger, I would have enjoyed it more, but I'm not, so I didn't.

What I'm Reading Now: The Watchmen by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons. This is another British book that is being made into a film. It's also a graphic novel that is on Time's top 100 of all-time list. I'm enjoying it. It is funny to me that after first seeing promo pics of the actors in their costumes and the trailer (I saw it in front of the Dark Knight.) that the characters that I was going to enjoy most aren't the same after reading the book. I thought Dr. Manhattan was going to be a really interesting omnipotent and omnicient being, but instead he's just an omni-tool. Rorschach was a character I didn't care for in the trailer and pictures, but whom I really like in the book. I also like how Moore frames his story with supplementary items at the end of chapters, like exerpts from an autobiography from one of the earlier masked heroes, or newspaper clippings, or an exerpt from a book by the scientist that was working at the facility where Dr. Manhattan had his accident, the file from the police department on Rorschach. It is an effective way of providing expository material that might be too dense for the graphic form. He also uses epigrams nicely, blocking a few choice words from a quote into the opening pages of a chapter before including the whole quote in context at the end.

What I'm Imbibing:
Scotch. The first time I had scotch whiskey was at Scrumpy Jack's in Lincoln. I had some Dewar's on the rocks. I didn't care for it. That was about three or four years ago. I recently watched Great Scotch Whiskeys from NetFlix and it did an excellent job of explaining the different regions of production and the different characteristics. Plus I'd since learned that bourbon barrels go to Scotland to age their whiskey after they're done in America. After learning about the differences of single malts, I was more open to them, because I appreciate a lot of different beers because of their provincial origins and characteristics.

So when the time came, I got a bottle of Bowmore, an Islay, which is an older variety and is a balance of some of the characteristics you can get from an Islay. I was happy to be drinking the liquid smoke, but I was even happier as the sea started coming through, just like the narrator said it would. I'll eventually work my way around to lowland and highlands, but I've got plenty to get through before that time.

Dry Soda. I've had the lemongrass and rhubarb, and I have the lavender sitting in my fridge now. I haven't seen the juniper berry or vanilla bean yet. The lemongrass is not that special and the taste and mouth feel is like those dry Clearly Canadian waters that were popular a while back. I really like the rhubarb, and while it isn't potent enough to be made into a sorbet like I was hoping, it is very solid. I'm guessing the lavender will taste like perfume, just like lavender and rose ice creams do. I'll keep you updated.

What I'm Going to be Making:
Russian Cheese Buttons. I finally got the recipe from my old assistant cafeteria lady at DAA, Delilah Treft. The recipe is a quart of dry curd cottage cheese, three beaten eggs, two cups of sour cream, three cups of flour and 1.5 tsp each of baking soda, baking powder, and salt. The tricky part was finding the dry curd cottage cheese in Lincoln.

On my way home from work last night I stopped at three grocery stores, Russ's on Hwy 2, Leon's Gourmet Foods, and Open Harvest. Once I got home I went to Guerrero's Mexican Grocery, then called three more stores, Russ's on 17th, Sunmart on South, and Super Saver on 48th. Still no luck. Then I went to 27th and Pine Lake Super Saver, before getting a really cool ice cream scoop from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. After there, I went to Super Target on 40th.

Finally, at the Super Saver on 56th, I found my dry curd cottage cheese.

Pretty Amazing Grace -- Eventually

Neil Diamond has a new album that drops today. The first single off of it is titled "Pretty Amazing Grace." (the amazon site has a video of the song apparently.)

Anne Lamott was on The Colbert Report pimping her latest book Grace Eventually.

Grace is the new Hope.

I ran my half-marathon in 1:53:29, which I'm very happy with. It helps to set your expectations low, and I reached them.

Dogs I met on my run Sunday:

Roy, old black lab
Vega, Boxer Staffordshire mix
Lily, golden lab
Cooper, Golden Retriever

Green Curry Blue Orchid Ruddy Oat

Before I went to Lust, Caution on Saturday night, I went to lunch at the Blue Orchid with Angela and Karen. This was my first time there, and on recommendation from Mark (de Mill), I chose the Green Curry (bamboo shoots, green peas, and basil leaf in an oak and peppercorn flavored curry). I really enjoyed it, and I really liked the tom kha soup that was my first course.

One of my student workers acquired a self-diagnosed allergy to wheat at Villa Aurora in Italy. Apparently, she ate too much pasta. Well after some good natured ribbing, I needed her to appreciate what an excellent baker I am, so I got some oat flour from Open Harvest (I am now a member!) to make my pie crust with.

I should have asked my resident food scientist at work (literally, she has written her dissertation on one of the egg proteins), but I did not, and the oat flour crust smelled so good whilst mixing it up. It was lacking the necessary gluten to layer with my chilled fats for which to make a flaky, flaky crust. [It was the first time I remembered missing someone while they were still there.*] So after some struggling with the sticky paste, I rolled out the crust twixt parchment paper and plastic wrap (a technique I'm going to use a lot more) and put it in the oven with crossed fingers and stars.

Instead of the flakes that one is hoping to achieve, I ended up with a mealy, crumby crust, which I felt unworthy of the reputation I'd established. So now Marcy and I get to eat a half-ways decent apple pie (I'm getting really good at apple pies, and the fresh shaved cinnamon and nutmeg are nothing to turn your nose at either.) instead of sharing with my coworkers, allergic or not.

*My friend Brian recommended the "very short story" Pet Milk by Stuart Dybek. He says it is his all-time favorite, and after listening to Mike Nussman read it for Chicago Public Radio's Stories on Stage series (scroll halfway down to Ties That Bind originally aired 11.23.02) I can see why.

Iago

The pouring out of my heart and soul in my favorites post yielded only one comment, which is fine, but makes that comment to not go unheeded.

Katie commented "Why is Iago your favorite 'Speare character? I am simultaneously piqued and repulsed."

I wanted to choose a character I could relate to, and sadly I couldn't really do so with any of the people in the Comedies I'm familiar with, maybe Bernard? in Much Ado About Nothing. So this left me with the Tragedies, the Histories, and the others. My life isn't that historical, and if I'm ever on an Island with only my daughter and a monster for a companion, maybe I'll think about choosing Prospero. This leaves me with the Tragedies, of which I'm more familiar with Hamlet and Othello. I like Laertes and Horatio from the former, but they didn't really come to mind when I was doing my post, nor would they have topped Iago if they were in my mind with him.

So that brings us to Iago. Part of my affection for him comes from a misunderstanding I had of "ancient." In his case, it doesn't mean old, but something more like veteran. While quite devious, he needs a great deal of intelligence and wisdom to pull off all the finagling that he does. His animus seems to come not just of jealousy but merely inborn, like Billy Budd's (another character I had misconceptions about for a while; not black) nemesis Claggart. Iago's ability to manipulate so powerful a man as Othello is also admirable. According to Wikipedia, he also has the most lines of any non-lead, notwithstanding Falstaff's multiple appearances. That doesn't make me like him more, but does provide a lot of material with which to acquaint myself. Plus I like the name. I've always thought it would be nice to have a Great Dane with the name of Iago. I hope this satisfies that prick and unpulses you Katie.

A Pirate's Life for Me

So the first Thursday night Beanbags and Rhubarb was a smashing failure. I grew impatient after playing two games against myself (I won both.) and followed the true desire of my heart at 7:15: At World's End. The 8:00 and 8:01 showings at The Grand were sold out when I got there, so alone and flexible, I got a ticket for the 9:00 showing. This gave me an hour and forty minutes to occupy before the trailers started.

First I went to Ivanna Cone for a large dish of two scoops of Ginger-Lemongrass, Rootbeer, and E.D.G.A.R. (created by children at an elementary school, it is milk chocolate ice cream with pieces of fudge brownies and chocolate chip cookie dough.) As I was crossing 8th street for IC, I saw Ben Yancer turning north onto the selfsame street. At Ivanna Cone I read the dictionary as I'm wont and got the note from Angela, Katie, and Ben wishing me enjoyment while I ate ice cream and read the book in which the note was. I'll talk about the stuff I learned from my reading in my Word Hoard web log.

After a good twenty minutes at Ivanna Cone I went to see if they'd started seating for the movie. They had not. So I perused Homer's for a while (the downtown Homer's will be closing May 26th.) then went to Bennett Martin to get something to read for my wait for the film to start. My eyes landed upon The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation by David Kamp. After reading the preface, it looks to be a good book and nice companion to the other book about food I'm reading now.

This brings me back to the theatre with about thirty minutes to spare. My recent acquistion at the library started a conversation ("What's that you're reading?") with a former Hastings High Math teacher that instructed Dr. Ryan Wells' daughters. Our conversation also allowed me to mention my new interest in quinoa and my blubarb pie.

The movie was excellent. I really liked it. I'm very glad I went to it. And I'll go again if the situation is right. I recommend it, even if you haven't seen either of the first two.

Lazy Sunday

ACT ONE

Today I had a nice leisurely time. I got up and played some Civilization II, then I walked to the library and exchanged a poor book for, hopefully, a better one. Because I didn't make it to Ivanna Cone last night, I went today and had Banana Oreo (great) and Chai (solid). Then I took my sister to work, on account of her vehicle is on the fritz.

ACT TWO

After dropping my sister off, I went to Open Harvest for some quinoa. Fortunately, I ran into Angela, who volunteers every Sunday there. For supper, I went to Parkway Lanes on recommendation of our UPS driver, Al. [Hans, my boss, after hearing a radio ad for Tam O'Shanter, said that the JournalStar rated Tam O'Shanter's burger as the best in Lincoln. Friday afternoon, Al and I were discussing our plans for the weekend, and I mentioned I might investigate the JournalStar's claim. This is when he recommended Parkway.] Al was right. It was the most delicious $3 burger I've ever had, better than burgers three times that much. And that is the glorious miracle of it. If I gave you a list of every restaurant in Lincoln that served hamburgers, what are the odds that maybe the best came from a bowling alley.

After supper, I went to the Ella Crandall Memorial Library to see what I could see. What I saw was the Oxford English Dictionary and its entries for anatopism, anachorism, anchor, and anchorite/anachoret. This brought me closure to a difference Michael and I had in word choice and half an hour away from Vil Arreola's Senior Piano Recital in Engel Hall. I spent that half hour reading in Steinway's Summer 2006 magazine. There was a nice article about "Steinway Artist" Christoper O'Riley host of From the Top for NPR. A nice moment in the article was when O'Riley mentioned the emails asking more about "this Mister Head" after he had transcribed some Radiohead songs to piano for the show. The recital was well attended and well performed. One interesting moment for me was the encore in which Vil played variations on Jesus Loves the Little Children. After his initial flourish, he would elaborate after each of the different colors that "are precious in His sight." A Native American rhythmic dance after "Red," high paired quarter notes after "Yellow," scratching on the piano wires while clapping down the coverboard for the keys and then a hip-hop rhythm and some gospel after "Black," and finally a patriot sample and some Mormon Tabernacle arrangement for "White." I was surprisingly a touch miffed at the use of stereotypes to entertain musically.

ACT THREE

When I got home, I popped A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints into the dvd player. It isn't the first movie where a man comes back to his childhood stomping grounds after leaving everyone behind (see House of D, which I preferred to AGRYS), and it won't be the last. I wanted to see it for Shia LaBeouf and Robert Downey Jr., but Chazz Palmentieri was a very pleasant surprise. After the movie, I cooked up a cup of my quinoa. And then picked Marcy up from work.

POSTLUDE

Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = Crazy Delicious

Ginja, I Must Have Ginja!

That was the climax of an anecdote Scott tells about a time when he was at the market in Kolobrej (I'm probably spelling that wrong--it was pronounced ko-Wob-jeg). He was there with the one Chinese gentleman in town, who was getting the Polish translation of various produce he was trying to purchase from the person on the other end of his cellular phone (I know there is a dangling phrase, purchase produce from the market, receive translation from phone-mate). When he came to ginger, he was told by the produce man that they didn't have ginger. Then the hilarity ensues when he turns livid at his need for and their absence of that precious root spice.

It took me 65 minutes to walk from my apartment to Bennett Martin Public Library, where I returned three overdue books and checked out Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, then to Ivanna Cone, which is always busy and understaffed on Monday nights, and home again.This jaunt was great for three reasons: I left at 8:44 and arrived before the 9 pm library closing time, I arrived home in time for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, and It was a very pleasant evening due to warmer temperatures.

At Ivanna Cone I had a dish of Ginger Lemongrass ice cream. It was delicious, so delicious in fact, that I spurned all other flavors from its presence. This was notable, as they had the always good Dutch chocolate, cinnamon, and pistachio. This is also notable because, normally, I try very hard to sample as much as I can at each point of consumption.

Why Is T.O. Here?

That is the question that one of my favorite football columnist/authors addressed in a column a few weeks back. These are the books he suggested Terrell Owens, oft publicized wide receiver, read:

"Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl
"The Once and Future King" by T.H. White
"My Antonia" by Willa Cather
"Huckleberry Finn" by Samuel Clemens
"The Pursuit of Happiness" by David Myers
"I and Thou" by Martin Buber
"Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
"Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe
"Death Comes for the Archbishop" by Cather
"The Human Race" by Robert Antelme
"God in the Dock" by C.S. Lewis
"Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes" by Charles Hartshorne
"The Ghost Road" by Patricia Barker
"Our Town" by Thornton Wilder
"The House of Breath" by William Goyen

I've read two of these books and 'm familiar with a few others. Any books on this list my real friends can recommend?

Latest surname to catch my eye: DeBardelaben

Saturday Night's Alright for Wrestling

Tonight the Huskers had a dual with American University. They won, and for the fans, only 3 of the 10 matches went the full seven minutes. Unfortunately, one of the matches that ended early involved a distant relative of mine, David Ingalls. He had the uneviable task of wrestling Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov. Notice that Muzi majors in Russian (what a stretch for someone from Uzbekistan).

The Husker match was at 7pm. At 5 this evening I went to my local public library and got two books from Junichiro Tanizaki, one a set of seven short stories, the other Some Prefer Nettles, and a book of pictures of Lee Lawrie's work mostly from the Nebraska Capitol. I was introduced to Tanizaki in my Non-Western Lit class at Union. I read and presented on an essay from him "In Praise of Shadows." I loved this essay and recommend it for any artist or aesthete. Here is an excerpt:

A glistening black lacquer rice cask set off in a dark corner is both beautiful to behold and a powerful stimulus to the appetite. Then the lid is briskly lifted, and this pure white freshly boiled food, heaped in its black container, each and every grain gleaming like a pearl, sends forth billows of warm steam-- here is a sight no Japanese can fail to be moved by. Our cooking depends upon shadows and is inseparable from darkness.

I looked thru (side note: Emerson pushed for that spelling of through to be standardized to make the language more efficient) the Lawrie book while enjoying a dish of peanut butter and jelly, grape Nerds, and toasted almond ice cream at Ivanna Cone.

After wrestling, I went to Donnie Darko at Starship 9. It was the director's cut which I think helps frame the film a bit better. It was nice seeing it in the theater, but I wonder why Douglas is showing it now. I'll find out. Donnie Darko is a 5 outta 5 (the fifth star is for Wendi). The casting deserves an award for how accurately everyone is placed. As per six degrees of separation, Katharine Ross, Donnie's therapist, was the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid and Benjamin Braddock and daughter of Mrs. Robinson; Patrick Swayze is a motivational pederast; one of the bullies Seth Rogen is also in 40 Dollar Virgin as Cal, the bigger friend. Noah Wyle one of many Dr. Dreamies on ER, and Drew Barrymore, child star turned Tom Green divorcee are also in it as teachers. Then you have the only performance with Jake and Maggie as brother and sister. I'll stop now. I know more and could tell you more, but I'll stop now.

Keyser Soze

Hot Eats, Cool Treats

Today I went thrifting. I got some ties, a juicer, and five books: two on food, two dictionaries, and one Bulfinch's Mythology (oh and one Pictionary). When I went down to the Goodwill on 17th and Washington, I went to Grateful Bread for the first time. They were out of samiches, but they did have curried cauliflower soup, which I would take over any mulligatawny that the Oven or Tandoor have to offer.

Then this evening Scott and I went to Ivanna Cone. They had a wonderful new flavor: Basalmic Strawberry. The Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie was good too.

I've decided I like old dictionaries; the two I got today were from 1965 and 1936. There is another at Olde Glory antique shop from 1901. Soon it will be mine. On a side note, Gurney is a good test word for dictionaries. Many do not have it. I ask you, "What do they call hospital beds on wheels then?"