Tuesday Topics

I've been asked to update my blog so people can have something to read at work. At least I know someone reads this boring blog. Anyway, here are some random thoughts.

I'm running the CASA 5K on Saturday. Normally this is not news, but I had to stop running on Thanksgiving due to inflammation in my left foot. I've recently resumed running, but I'm not up to 3 miles yet. And I run at 6 a.m., in the cool morning darkness. Running at 9 a.m. with full sunlight is always more draining. But CASA is a United Way agency, and I support them.

The Lives of Others is playing here! I got so excited when I found out, and I'm seeing it this week. Because I know you are all curious, I will let you know if the movie is deserving of the Best Foreign Film Oscar it received in February. On a related note, I've read the horrible news that the brothers Weinstein have bought the rights to remake this film. A film that just won an Oscar, that topped just about every Best of 2006 list. Apparently they want this film to reach more people, so instead a huge marketing push and a wider release, they think the solution is to remake it in English. have yet to see a remake that is better than it's foreign original. This particular story is about the Nazi Stasi and spying in East Germany! That doesn't really translate to our culture. And don't even get me started on subtitles. Americans will watch movies with subtitles, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, Amalie, etc. The main problem with foreign language films is the way the subtitles appear. Subtitles should never, ever be white. Too often the words get washed out in the background. And on widescreen DVDS, the subtitles should be placed below the picture. I could continue my rant, but I'll stop there.

I'm busy at work finally. I'm writing multiple articles for an upcoming alumni magazine, planning a staff conference and preparing for camps and my trip to New York. It's to the point where I almost have so many things to do this week, I don't know where to start. I need to finish this post and read a chapter in a book on fundraising so I am prepared for a book study tomorrow morning.

LOST is getting good. Juliet's character is fascinating. I'm curious how the season is going to end. I heard the producers wanted to bring back Michael for the season finale, but he said no. I would think he would still be under contract because his character's story line is not finished. I'm loving the string of new episodes. If ABC chooses to delay the start of LOST until January, ala 24, I totally back that decision.

Veronica Mars returns next week! I doubt any of you watch it, but it's great!

I'm usually consistent with my cardio, but fickle with my toning. I'm finally doing both again, and every time I do, I always think that it's an interesting way to live. I'm constantly living with sore of fatigued muscles. It's not always the I-can't-take-another-step soreness, but something is usually tight, sensitive, sore or tired. Maybe if I didn't go through phases where I dropped the toning for periods of time, my body would settle down. Or maybe I should consider this normal and not being sore or aware of my muscles as the odd state.

So those are my random thoughts for Tuesday.

Saturday Seven

1. I know all my faithful readers were disappointed that I didn't write a Friday Five post last week or yesterday. I wrote this yesterday, I just forgot to publish it. Last week, I was busy all morning at work and then I headed to Austin and did not access the Internet until I returned on Sunday. What was I doing in Austin? Planting a garden! I'll post pictures soon to prove I actually gardened. I returned with three green pepper plants and one jalapeno plant. We'll see if I can grow produce. I also hung out with two of my high school friends, the true purpose of the visit.
   
   
2. Rain, rain and more rain! It looks like the sky might open any moment and flood us. Wednesday night it hailed. Sunday we had tornadoes and heavy rain. Parts of the city are still flooded. Hopefully it lets up enough for me to mow this weekend. The height of our grass is embarrassing, especially the weeds.
   
   
3. I haven't read since I wrote all those posts about reading. I guess I've moved past the all-I-want-do-do-is-read wave. Non-fiction will do that to you. And this weekend I've got three Netflix movies to watch and ship back, so I won't be doing a lot of reading.
   
   
4. I have to fill out a self evaluation for work today. I recently offended my boss, so I'm not excited about the timing of this eval. He's accepted my apology, told me it's not a problem, but I still feel guilty. I doubt it will affect my eval, but I still don't want something negative looming over our recent interactions.
   
   
5. I have conflicted feelings about Wednesday's episode of LOST. I thought it was a good overall episode, if you factor out all the issues relating to Nikki and Paulo. I trust the writers and producers of this show, but I don't know why they introduced these characters earlier this season, tried to pretend they'd been on the island the whole time, and then "killed" them. Fans were upset at their presence and Wednesday's episode didn't do anything to change that. I'd heard that this episode would be a "game changer" and these characters would become legends in the LOST-verse. Not sure this episode achieved either of those goals. Yes, two people were buried alive, but there weren't characters we cared about or were emotionally invested in. I hear rumors that next season LOST will follow 24's path, and start the season in January and run all-new episodes through May. I'm behind that idea 100 percent. It's worked for 24. And did you notice how the premier of 24 was such an event? You couldn't read any TV-related blogs or news sources without reading about 24 and Keifer Sutherland.
   
   
6. I mowed my front yard this morning. I don't think I have mowed since high school. And due to all the rain and lack of a personal lawn mower, the grass and weeds were high. The mower stalled out too many times to count and didn't restart easily at all. I'm not sure I'll be able to move my right arm tomorrow. I didn't even get to the back yard. However, I'm borrowing a more powerful mower tomorrow, so hopefully I won't pull my shoulder out of socket.
   
   
7. It's Final Four weekend! I'm babysitting tonight, but I'll have the games on in the background. I should get going. I don't want to be late.