No, I’m not a Celtics fan. I mean, I grew up in Chicago so by default I’m a Bulls fan. But when it comes to championship games, I root for the underdog. Although that was difficult during the 2008 Stanley Cup and I’m not going to talk about that series except for maybe the third quarter of Game 5.
Anyways, it was such a treat to see Boston totally spank the Lakers last night, but the best part for me was seeing two local guys win their first championships as a head coach and player, respectively: Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett. That was the real treat.
(OK, so Garnett actually grew up in South Carolina, but he graduated from Farragut!)
I was looking forward to seeing this movie, since people only had good things to say about it, but then I discovered that the book came first. And when that’s the case, I always read the book before I see the movie. Though I’d never read Cormac McCarthy’s work, I didn’t think I’d like it because I had the impression that his stories are all set in the Old West, which doesn’t interest me. But since I knew the movie is set more recently then that, I gave it a whirl and I’m glad I did!
To absorb all the nuances, I read this book twice — partly because it wasn’t until about halfway through that I was able to understand McCarthy’s narrative style. His use of dialogue reflects the speech patterns of that part of Texas, which is more extreme than say, a Houston accent, which I only know because I lived in that city for a year. McCarthy writes almost phonetically, so I had trouble understanding some of what was being said. For example, he’d write “kindly” when what the character actually means is “kind of.” In addition, McCarthy rarely, if ever, uses quotation marks throughout, so sometimes it was hard to know who was saying what until you got to know the characters. The second read helped a lot.
The narrative is sparse, yet includes so much detail. He makes your imagination work hard! Seeing the movie first would have ruined the aesthetic experience for me. Each chapter begins with a first-person narrative that reads almost like a journal entry, and is what the story is really about. It only took me about 2/3 of the way through the book to figure it out, though!
I’m very excited about seeing the movie — just bought the DVD. It’s bound to be as great as everyone says, considering it’s a Coen brothers film.
Here in Chicago, just like any major urban area in the U.S. that has Walgreens (and no, there’s no apostrophe there), there’s about one on every block, it seems. You know, like Starbucks. Anyway, Brian and I were at our local Walgreens recently. The allergy and other over-the-counter meds that kids can get high from are locked up, which is understandable. But at the one we go to, the deodorant is also locked up. We pondered this.
Brian: Maybe ’cuz they’re small and easy to steal? Me: Yeah, but so’s a lot of other stuff, like, um . . . candy bars. Brian: To keep people from opening ’em up and smelling ’em? Me: Maybe . . .
It occurred to us that, like many Walgreenses in Chicago, and probably in most major urban areas in the U.S., there’s usually one, maybe two people stationed out front asking for handouts. We looked at each other.
Brian: Maybe it’s to keep people from using ’em. Me: Yeah. Maybe. Brian: Could you imagine buying one, getting home and opening it only to find a piece of hair on there? Me: Eeeeewwwwww!!!!!
So I ask you. Does your local Walgreens lock up the deodorant?
Is there anyone else out there who uses these plugins? It seems to be working fine, other than the fact that the little icon thingy doesn’t appear on the Basil’s Pancreatitis of the Pancreas post? Click the link or simply scroll down a few posts.
Sideblog, on the other hand, is working great, other than the fact that the SB Widget is no longer listing the Sideblog posts along with the regular posts. Now it only lists the regular posts.
Yay!!! My custom template from beforeWP had widgets has now been widgetized! I’ve missed this template so much. Weblog Design Studios did an awesome, awesome job! I’m happy! Wheeee!!!!
Today is the annual March for Immigration Rights here in Chicago. The attendees are calling for reform to legalize the “undocumented immigrants” — read: ILLEGAL ALIENS — here in the U.S. In an article in a local news station’s Web site, there’s an informal survey as to whether or not the reader supports this march, occurring every May 1st. The results say it all.
If you’ve been a regular reader for several years, then you know my stance on illegal aliens. If not, then read this post I wrote a years ago: Immigration Legislation.
Unfortunately, Basil’s condition has returned. The vet isn’t even sure if it’s pancreatitis of the pancreas or simply intestinal inflammation because he has too many things going on. Now he also has hyperthyroid and will be taking medication for that. Fortunately, we’ll be giving them to him by injection so it won’t disturb his tummy since he’s still throwing up. The doctor said he shouldn’t even be throwing up once a day, and we’re not talking about hairball spit. I’m very worried but trying not to be.
It’s weird, because Hopper and Angelo were afflicted with the same thing since this all started about a week ago. And yet Hee Seop was just fine. How is it that three out of four of our cats can have the pukies? In fact, Hee Seop had his annual check-up last Saturday and was given a clean bill of health.
Anyway, Hopper and Angelo stopped spitting up food after a couple of days, but I still had to follow them around the house because of the saliva/hairball spit. Both have finally coughed up hairballs, so hopefully that’ll be it. Then again, Hopper sometimes “pukes” for attention.
So, hard as it is to believe (for me, anyway), Brian and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this past Saturday. I mean, five whole years! That seems like such a long time.
As some of you know, we didn’t have a traditional wedding and not by choice (see Civil Ceremony). No planning, no guests, no *gasp* dress. We didn’t even get wedding rings until last year, though we haven’t worn them in a while because we’ve lost weight since then , but we wore them the night we celebrated! (I’ve put on weight since this recent depressive episode began, so mine fits as long as I don’t use soap or lotion; Brian rigged a rubber band to take up the slack on his. )
Dinner was at a businesspeople’s lunch place downtown, and was decent. Its advantage is that it’s across from the Lyric Opera, which is absolutely gorgeous both on the outside and even more inside. We had seats on the main floor at about the 14th row! (Last time I was there I had student tickets way up in the uppermost balcony! I could barely even read the subtitles on the screen.)
We saw Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, in subtitles. (You know: Bugs Bunny, “Figaro!” ) Though I’ve never seen it performed, it was absolutely excellent, particularly the way Nathan Gunn portrays Figaro the barber — totally cheeky. The opera takes place in the 18th century and is a romantic comedy in which the couple marries at the end, with only two witnesses and a notary, almost exactly like our wedding. In a way, it has put me on the road to acceptance of our non-traditional wedding.
OK, so like I said, part of my blog overhaul includes consolidating post categories so I can get rid of others. Does anyone know if there’s a way that I can move all of, say, the Star Wars posts into the Current Affairs/Pop Culture category at the same time? Or do I have to do it one . . . post . . . at . . . a . . . time . . . ? God, I hope not.
, but we wore them the night we celebrated! (I’ve put on weight since this recent depressive episode began, so mine fits as long as I don’t use soap or lotion; 
)
