New Blogs

Not long ago I started playing with some of the new widgets that Blogger created for the Beta setting. I think everyone has gone Beta by now, but if you haven't.. try it out. It allows you a lot more freedom to tweak template elements.

Also, I've added a category called Southern Tier Blogs. The list has been slowly growing, with the latest addition being Boon Island Blogger. I met that blog's writer, Chris, at the Chautauqua Leadership Network retreat last week. CLN will be taking up a lot of my free time this year, but hopefully I'll be able to blog about some of the things we'll be up to.

Movies You Can't Look Away From

There's a couple movies I can't stand to watch, but can't stand to turn the channel once I see that they're on. One of these movies is 'Til There Was You. While I was home on break in college, I would catch this flick while flipping between HBO, The Weather Channel, TLC, and The Discovery Channel. I found the script trite and the acting something to be desired, which resulted in a total effect of "ehn." And yet, this movie gave me one of my favorite lines that I co-opted for anytime I was sad or drama queening about the wasted landscape of love:

Gwen: "This is the part where your heart actually hurts."

I hate this film. I really do. And thanks to my Jeane Tripplehorn-look-alike-friend, Lynn, I now know the name of this movie and can promptly find a cheap, used DVD of it online so I can seethe at this abomination in the privacy of my own home.

Is It Fritalian?

Who can resist a business that is brilliant enough to employ They Might Be Giants as their songwriters for their commercials? I'm loyal to Timmy Ho's since we don't have a Dunkin' Donuts in the Chautauqua Region, but I could be swayed... oh yes.. I could.

Two Former Buffalo Sabres Score For Vancouver

YAY RORY!!!!

Canucks 2, Senators 1
Roberto Luongo made 34
saves, Rory Fitzpatrick scored
his first goal of the season and
Vancouver won its third
straight to end Ottawa’s seasonhigh
five-game winning streak.
Taylor Pyatt added a goal
and an assist for the Canucks.
Luongo, who stopped 30
shots Tuesday in a 4-0 win in
Montreal for his third shutout
of the season, had 10 saves in
the first period and 11 in the
second before Daniel Alfredsson
scored 8:13 into the third
to pull the Senators within one.
His shutout streak ended at
154 minutes, 42 seconds.

Random Favorite Movie Quotes

From Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie

Mike: Boy, the landlady's gonna be mad.
Tom Servo: Are you boys cooking up there?
Mike: No.
Tom Servo: Are you making an interositor?
Mike: No!

Thanks to Wil for reminding me of that.

Regional Blogs

For the past couple weeks, it seems every time I check in with Buffalo Pundit, he has a new Buffalo-area blog added to the blogroll. It got me thinking about the local blogs around the Western Southern Tier (Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany Counties) and I realized that either I'm totally in the dark about what's out there or people aren't as into blogging down here.

Take a look to the right at my list of Buffalo-Niagara region blogs and you can easily see the list is huge. I'm wondering if the effed-up state of Erie County and the city of Buffalo has anything to do with that. I would hope that it's not just that our web-addicted population is apathetic to local current events, because I wouldn't say everything is totally peachy-keen down here. For the record, there are some very good things happening to the north of our county but until the control boards are gone, I don't think anyone will say it's just fine and dandy in Western New York.

I've avoided getting too deep into local politics/issues on this blog over the nearly six years I've been writing it only because of where I've worked. Technically, I still have to be very careful lest it seems like I'm speaking in opposition to something that my workplace supports. That's how bloggers get fired, you know.

I will ask, invite, and cajole anyone who reads this to pass on any local blogs you know of that I don't already have linked.

Spontaneous Head Implosion Averted

As I sip a medium double-cream Tim Horton's coffee, I wait for my frayed nerves to achieve normalcy. Ingesting caffeine does tend to have a calming effect on me when it's in the form of tea. Crap. I'm drinking coffee, aren't I? Oh well, I can be assured that I'll be able to stay awake for the 10 pm show of The Unexpected Guests.

Matt stopped down to the Arts Council on Friday and signed me up for UG's Improv Workshop that took place today. It was under sheer duress that I gave my blessings to him to do this. I think there's a special place reserved in heaven for my husband who has to put up my random, paranoid worrying.

The verdict? I had a good time. I laughed quite a bit and enjoyed trying to come up with things that were entertaining. I turned up the Sabres' gametime song, "Hurricane 2000", on my iPod while driving downtown to psyche myself beforehand. Thinking about the Sabres kicking arse on the ice tends to put me in a good mood. And once I got to the workshop space, it was comforting to see participants who looked like they might swallow their fingers for all the nail-biting they were doing helped.

I should disclose the fact that I have performed in front of large groups of people before. The largest was my high school graduation when I played a Mozart Concerto solo on the stage of the Eastman Theatre in front of 2,000 people. But that was a one-time thing never to be duplicated. Um. Shoot. I can't say that anymore, can I? Damn. Well, only one ulcer-inducing step forward in my journey needed for now. Excuse me while I go relax to some Bob Ross.

Overcoming That Which Holds Me Back From Self-Actualization

A couple weeks ago, several of my friends who are involved in an improv-comedy group asked if I was going to attend a workshop they were holding about improv-comedy. It sounded like fun to me, but I decided I wasn't going to sign up for a variety of reasons. The list included my statement that I have a sense of humor but I don't spontaneously impart humor all too well, that trying to do comedy is beyond my comfort zone, that I can't act, and that the living room did need to get painted once and for all.

My reluctance and resistance to my friend's urgings made me think of other things I declined:

"Oh, I only play violin with orchestra or chamber groups because I don't like to play solo."
"You really don't want to read the book/short story I started. It's in very rough form and I suck at writing dialogue."
"I can't go into the morning show on Kiss FM because I'm not good at that morning banter thing. I don't think of stuff to say quick enough."

The last one was my mantra for almost a year until I actually went and hung out with the Morning Show. It was a blast, and I found I could just play the straight-woman, imparting information and other truths. Listeners seemed to like me as a radio personality, which I didn't expect. The thoughts started creeping up on me that if I could do this, why not open myself up to the other stuff? The voice of self-doubt said, "Well, courtesy-compliments generally suck and you don't want to put something mediocre out there that will be snickered at or pitied by people you think are your friends."

The inner-dialogue even went as far as to point out my last post on here. The only comment I got on it was a criticism from a friend who couldn't see that I was being terribly sarcastic. I only just moved his comment from moderation today because I didn't feel like having to explain in a follow-up comment that I was being sarcastic.

The date of that improv-comedy workshop is growing closer. The fact that I want to go, but fear failure keeps everything else on the top of my "thinking" list. I thought to myself, "Self, I want to change. I think I'm missing out on doing some good stuff in this world because I'm too afraid to share it and too afraid to take the risk of failing."

Rather than explain my next thought, here's the link for Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I think most people get stuck at the self-esteem level. I heard once that Eleanor Roosevelt is one of the few people who could be considered self-actualized. I'm not sure if I totally agree with that, but on the surface level it makes sense.

A new life goal for me is to try to break free from that which I perceive as holding me back from being a total person. I have no disillusionments about how much work will be involved. I think that's why it's considered a life goal.

Delayed Train of Thought

So how about that execution, eh? It's odd to me that Saddam Hussein is dead. He's been this awkward part of our lives for so long, that I almost feel like I'm going to miss having him and his bad arse ways around. Like he'd be the black sheep of the family that gets wheeled out in a Hannibal Lector suit anytime any pundit needed to make a point about why we invade countries that have crazed dictators. Thanks to endless file footage, we still can I guess. Hell, he was already dead in South Park's first post-911 episode. I'm anti-death penalty if you haven't guessed already.

The 2006 End of the Year Meme

Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

As with most years, I didn't have anything specific that I planned to do other than find a new job. I'd say I was more than successful at that!

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes, I had at least four friends who had babies this year.

Did anyone close to you die?

Thank God... no.

What countries did you visit?

I'm very disappointed in myself since I didn't even make it to Canada this year.

What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?

Painted walls in our house. It's something we've needed to do since we moved in!

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Overcoming my fear of going on the radio live for the first time since 2001. I know, weird eh?

What was your biggest failure?

Being way to paranoid about everything and anything

What was the best thing you bought?

Our new-to-us car (2003 Toyota Corolla)

Whose behavior merited celebration?

Matt. For putting up with me.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

George W. Bush. Until he is out of office I think his name will remain on this list.

Where did most of your money go?

Fixing our garage so that the back corner didn't collapse.

What did you get really excited about?

Going to Indiana to see our friends.

What song will always remind you of 2006?

Justin Timberlake "Sexyback"

Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder?

I'm trying to remember this time of year last year. I think I'm happier since I had to deal with the first Christmas/New Year's without my grandma last year.

Thinner or fatter?

I'm probably the same, but I did lose weight over the holidays!!

Richer or poorer?

A little richer salary wise

What do you wish you'd done more of?

Paid off more of my debt and read more

What do you wish you'd done less of?

Wasting energy getting paranoid about meaningless stuff

How will you be spending Christmas?

I spent it with all kinds of family, new and old.

Did you fall in love in 2006?

In a way... I made some new friends who I now love very much.

How many one-night stands?

None!

What was your favorite TV program?

I hardly watched tv this past year, but I did see WIVB's newscast almost every day

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

There's a couple people I developed some disliking toward even though I wouldn't say I hate them.

What was the best book you read?

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

What was your greatest musical discovery?

The Format. I knew of them back in 2003, but wasn't so impressed with their first album. Their new album completely blew me away.

What did you want and get?

The 10th Anniversary editions of Clerks and Mallrats (THANKS SEAN!!!!)

What did you want and not get?

The dvd for the movie Amelie, but since that's easily remedied I'll say that I wish we had impeached Bush.

What were your favorite films of this year?

Clerks II, An Inconvenient Truth, The Holiday.... I'm sure I saw more but I honestly can't remember what they are.

What did you do on your birthday?

I played in a concert with the Jamestown Community Orchestra, and then had dinner with my parents and in-laws at our house. The night before, we had 2o-some people over for a big party.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?

It got a little sassier after August

What kept you sane?

My husband.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Jude Law despite his philandering ways

What political issue stirred you the most?

The total ineptness of George W. Bush. I'll always take issue with his sorry arse.

Who did you miss?

My grandma and my friends who live far away.

Who was the best new person you met?

Lynn. She's like a sister to me and generally has a clear head about stuff.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:

It's up to you to succeed. No one is going to do it for you, so you better get working at whatever you want to have happen.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

"you, you think it's cool to be crazy
i say 'you want risks? take risks.'
there's no point in taking chances

and me, i wouldn't call it a sophomore slump
no i'd say i’m one step closer to bein' just where i want to be...

...it's no sense in complaining
if it doesn't change our minds
well take me by the hand let's compromise"

The Format - The Compromise

Books Books Books

Because we had Christmas Day and the day after Christmas off, I'm all messed up in terms of what day it is. Case in point: I took out a bunch of books out of the library last week. I casually looked at the pile today and thought, "Maybe I'll read the Ned Vizzini book first and then The Hunt for Sonya Dufrette." It then occurred to me that I should look at the due back date. Not one, but three books are due tomorrow that I really wanted to read: the aforementioned books and Ten Second Staircase.

I started It's Kind of a Funny Story on lunch with hopes to sneak a few pages while at work. I intend to finish that book tonight and start in on The Hunt.. tonight as well, finishing that by tomorrow afternoon when I have a half-day off and can read the Christopher Fowler book before the library closes.

Me and my literary passions must have a sit down and compromise on some realistic reading practices soon.

Addendum #1: Finished It's Kind of a Funny Story around 4:30pm.
Addendum #2: Got to page 220 of The Hunt For Sonya Dufrette at 9:10pm and realized that the library's copy is missing the 26 pages of the book. Curses!!!

It's The Friday Before A Holiday.. Here Come the Quizzes!

The Movie Of Your Life Is An Indie Flick

You do things your own way - and it's made for colorful times. Your life hasn't turned out how anyone expected, thank goodness! Your best movie matches: Clerks, Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Very Well Traveled in Canada (80%) You Are Very Well Traveled in the Midwestern United States (75%) You Are Well Traveled in the Northeastern United States (57%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Southern United States (31%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Western United States (21%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in the United Kingdom (13%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Latin America (7%) You Are Untraveled in Africa (0%) You Are Untraveled in Asia (0%) You Are Untraveled in Australia (0%) You Are Untraveled in Eastern Europe (0%) You Are Untraveled in New Zealand (0%) You Are Untraveled in Scandinavia (0%) You Are Untraveled in Southern Europe (0%) You Are Untraveled in Western Europe (0%) You Are Untraveled in the Middle East (0%)

How Well Traveled Are You?

You Should Drive a Jaguar XK 4.2

You don't care how you get there as long as you get there with class. And having a little power doesn't hurt either!

What 2007 Car Should You Drive?

Christmas Cookie Decorating '06

Matt and I headed up to Rochester this past weekend for the annual Christmas Cookie Decoration night.

My mom made more cut-out cookies this year than last, and it seemed to take forever to get them done. Still, when we assessed the trays at the end of the night, we couldn't believe there weren't more.

For all the shots of the cookies, visit my Kodak Gallery (registration required).

I'm All For Freedom of Information...

A friend of mine who used to work for Monroe County, NY sent me an interesting link today. As with other municipal websites, when you log onto the county site, you have the option to look at different department pages.

On the Human Resources page, there is a link for Civil Service Test Scores. I clicked around and was able to see who had taken a test of a position, their score, what other positions they had or had declined, and what town the person lived in. That's a lot of information.

I made a quick call to someone else I know in government about Freedom of Information guidelines in New York State, and our quick assessment is that, yes, civil service information is foi-able in terms of who scored the highest. But to have everyone's information on there for that particular test seemed excessive. Any lawyer types or experts in this field, feel free to correct or clarify in comments.

Freeing The Music

The Internet is a lovely thing, and it's always exciting when you discover something that makes your mind just about explode with the sheer happiness that such a website can exist. I stumbled upon the site for the International Music Score Project while reading an entry on Wikipedia.

Here are the philosophy and goals of the site:

Philosophy

We at the IMSLP believe that music should be something that is easily accessible for everyone. To this end, we have created the IMSLP in order to provide music scores free of charge to anyone who has internet access. IMSLP will always be freely accessible.

Goals

The ultimate goal of the IMSLP is to gather all public domain music scores, in addition to the music scores of all contemporary composers who wish to release them to the public free of charge. However, another main goal of IMSLP is to facilitate the exchange of musical ideas outside of compositions: for example, the analysis of a particular piece of music. We hope to build a growing community of dedicated musicians and music lovers, who can use this site as a platform for enjoying music.

Music costs so much to buy and I'm thinking I will have great fun looking for new music to play in this new database.

The Future Careers of Julia (In Her Next Life)

Those of us who complain about our jobs on a weekly basis, raise your hands. Yes, even you in the back row, don't hide.

In honor of it being 4 o'clock on a Friday, here is an inspiration from EriePressible and Slave to Mr. Stinny.

The "other" careers of Julia (in her next life):

1. Coffee Shop Owner
2. Writer
3. Travel Adviser (despite travelocity/expedia/etc. making this not so wise a choice)
4. Librarian
5. Wegmans Consultant
6. Independent Record Store Owner (even though the Internet & mp3s are making this obsolete)
7. Radio News Reporter (I know, I know.. I've already done this.. it's worth doing again)
8. Online News Magazine/Newspaper Journalist with audio feeds
9. Housewife minus the kids (I know! How very 1950s of me!)
10. Radio Announcer for some music program like the one Alan Cross does on CFNY

As I pondered this list, I realized that I probably should step up and try to do one of these since I am young and fabulous. Here's to a more idealized Julia in the future!

'Tis The Season

Bless Meg over at Meish.org.

'Tis the Season is back with all its fabulous commentary on the holiday season.

Creeping Up From 2001 Like A Chester

I forgot all about Y2khai until I was going through some of my old bookmarks. I will share this with you now on this fine Friday night because I'm too beat to go out and have some actual fun:

Y2khai - Ain't nuthin but a Khai Thang

We're Not Talking About Cup Size Here Either...

I managed to get this even with my hideously, inconsistent posting the last year or so.

Vote For Rory

A friend of mine in Colorado sent me an important message the other day. It seems that someone in Auburn, NY has taken up the cause of supporting NHL Defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick and created a page to get him voted onto the NHL All Star team. You too can help out by visiting Vote For Rory.

BFLOblog did a post about it. Then Off Wing Opinion added a lot more, including some articles. We're over 30,000 votes for Rory. Not bad for the kid from Irondequoit.