31 mar 2010

last day of march. time flies.

my brother glenn loaned my Corner Gas on DVD recently. i've just started watching the episodes. i watched done during breakfast this morning. i'm getting a kick out of it. it's not a great show but it is pretty amusing and it isn't mean spirited. it reminds me a little of wings. if you thought of wings as the NFL level sitcom, Corner Gas would be the small college equivalent of wings.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter (GIANT BAGEL! don't know why bagels have to be so big!)
banana
oj
coffee
iced tea

cold when i went to the vre this am so i was surprised when i checked the mail and it was warm. it must have gotten close to 70.

lunch

mixed veggies
crackers
iced tea

thinking about Chinese food all day

dinner

spring rolls (2)
combination lo mein
iced tea

at Lin's China Bistro in Bristow. pretty good.

we watched the last episode of season 6 of star trek: the next generation. part 1 of a two parter called Descent. interesting so far. i don't remember ever seeing this episode before.

30 mar 2010

today is our wedding anniversary. happy anniversary elizabeth!

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
iced tea
coffee

snack

crackers
coke

we decided to go out for lunch since it's our anniversary. we chose chili's sort of out of the blue and it turned out to be a good choice. the place was nice and quite and we had a good waiter.

salad
cheeseburger
cole slaw
iced tea

good salad, good burger.

quite full after lunch!

dinner

bagel w/ cream cheese
iced tea

we watched an ST:TNG episode about a temporal anomaly. i poisonally love temporal anomaly episodes. there so temporal.

29 mar 2010

woke up early again.

breakfast

egg sandwich
coffee
iced tea

lunch

italian combo
iced tea

at panera

picked up meds at walmart

dinner

grilled cheese and mater soup
iced tea

28 mar 2010

i woke up at about 6:00 and felt wide awake. it was pretty cold at that time of day. overnight last night was the coldest night we've had in a month. pretty chilly.

i went downstairs and watched the highlights of WVU/Kentucky and Butler/KSU on Sports Center. Much credit to all four teams. I wouldn't be surprised if UK loses a few of these players to the pros. I could imagine any one of the remaining six teams winning it all. i thought Duke was the weakest one seed and they are the only one alive. WVU is as good as any time I've seen this year. Baylor has been playing really well. Duke is clearly more resilient than I took them to be and they've also addressed the lack of height that has plagued them for some time. Tom Izzo may have surpassed Coach K as the best college coach. If he's on the bench MSU has a chance. I haven't seen much of Tennessee. What I have seen has been impressive.

For what it's worth my gut feeling is that Baylor will hit the end of their skein against Duke and Duke will crap out in the semi-final. I'm guessing MSU/WVU in the final.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
oj
iced tea
coffee
oat meal

we've had the dvd of The Namesake in the house for a long time. i finally watched it during breakfast. a beautifully made movie. very sad for the most part.

snack

crackers
iced tea

doing chores around the house today.

lunch

frozen lasagna
toast
iced tea
club soda

sm. piece of b-day cake

at least my pick of MSU above has not jinxed them yet.

dinner

soup
sandwich
chips
iced tea

dessert

ice cream (2 scoops)

we watched a documentary about FDR on DVD. pretty interesting.

27 mar 2010

today is elizabeth's birthday. hope she has a good one.

i got up at about 7:00. i wanted to make sure i was up before e so i could get the coffee started and display the presents and cards and such.

e. came down at about 8:00 and we had breakfast

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
oj
coffee
iced tea

snack

birthday cake (small slice)
iced tea

elizabeth wanted her birthday lunch from olive garden. so we went at around 2:30.

lunch

salad
bread sticks (3)
steak gorgonzola and linguine with spinach
iced tea
capucino

we were both so full from lunch that we never had dinner. we went to borders after feeding the cats.

one of the gifts e. got was The Canterville Ghost, 1944 version with Charles Laughton. we watched that in the evening. i've always really liked that version of the story. i love the scene where the u.s. soldiers go to the village fete and take over the entertainment program with le jazz hot. dancing. ocarinas. kazoos. what a blast. Robert Young. Margaret O'Brien.

Elizabeth shares her birthday with Quentin Tarantino (this is a really funny coincidence him being her favorite director!), Michael York (who we just saw in Orient Express last night), Tony Banks (of Genesis), Nathan Fillion (Castle), Mariah Carey, and Bart Connor.

26 mar 2010

for some reason i felt like watching broadway danny rose when i woke up. i watched during breakfast.

breakfast

granola
oj
coffee
banana
iced tea

granola really didn't work out to be a good choice today. i forgot that i don't really tolerate granola so well any more. heartburn for many hours.

i planned to drive e to the vre today because of the pouring rain. we started out and realized that my gas was too low to get us to the station. too late to go back and change cars. i stopped and got gas and then drove e to vienna. it actually wasn't too bad even in the rain. there were two sections where the traffic got really bogged down but we mostly made good time.

snack

sausage, egg, cheese bagel
cappucino


at dunkin' donuts that just opened in lake manassas. (would be funny if it was in lake manassas.) bagel so so. cappu good. the dd is doing amazing business.

late lunch

cheese burger
fries
iced tea

at jerry's in warrenton.

dinner

corned beef and turkey reuben sandwich
chips
iced tea

dessert

slice of cake
iced tea

we watched murder on the orient express after dinner. amazing cast in that movie.

25 mar 2010

slept really well over night. felt pretty good in the morning.

E. got up early and drove to VRE. that worked out very well.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
oj
coffee
iced tea

i had an appointment in dc in the afternoon. went to vienna to catch the metro. the lots were full and i didn't have enough quarters to park at a meter. i had to rush down to ballston to park.

ballston has changed a lot.

snack

pretzel
iced tea

before meeting

meeting went pretty well. got back to ballston at about 4:00. very hungry.

lunch

japanese pan noodles w/ beef
pot stickers (3)
iced tea

at noodles & co in ballston mall. very good. i always like noodles & co.

at rush hour it took almost 2.5 hrs to drive from ballston to warrenton. absolute nightmare.

we decided to order pizza for dinner since we both got home at about the same time.

dinner

pizza (4 sl)
coke

we watched the Brendan Fraser version of Journey to the Center of Earth. i'm guessing it was a 3D movie. Very silly but funny and kind of an interesting spin on the original book. i have a soft spot for the james mason version but that also has a pretty high cheese factor.

i was watching the ku / xavier game just before going to bed. just wanted to check the score. boy did i get hooked in. double ot. really good game.

24 mar 2010

breakfast

ham, egg, cheese sour dough
breakfast croissant
iced tea

lunch

grilled cheese sandwich
dill pickle flavored chips
iced tea

snack

jelly beans

I watched The Simpsons Movie in bits and pieces through the day. I was glad that Marge finally told Homer what a pig he is but since they ended up at status quo I don't know what the point was.

Some funny parts to the movie but not really very satisfying.

dinner

grilled cheese
tomato soup
iced tea

watched part of the VT/URI game in the NIT. VT ended up losing. Sinus head-ache all day so I went to bed a bit early. slept from about 9:30 until 6:30.

23 mar 2010

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
coffee
iced tea

snack

cinnnamon coffee cake
milk chocolate mocha

at Caribou Coffee

lunch

tuna melt
fries
iced tea

at Ledo's

dinner

potato soup
toast

dessert

donut
iced tea

we watched an episode of Foyle's War on DVD last night.

22 mar 2010

slept through my alarm this am. elizabeth woke me up in time to take her to the vre. v. groggy in the am.

very heavy traffic on vint hill. started a little late and we were never able to make up any time.

stopped at mcdonald's since there was some time available between the vre and the amtrak train.

breakfast

bacon, egg, and cheese bagel
sausage mcmuffin
iced tea

stopped at caribou on the way home

snack

mocha

v. good!

worked on taxes for another hour or two today. seems to take forever.

e. caught an early train because power was out in alexandria.

went to petsmart after the vre

dinner

pizza (2 sl)
fries
iced tea

at Tony's in Bristow.

21 mar 2010

i woke up at 6:15 again today. seems to be my new set time. actually come to think of it, i was getting up at 5:15 on est. i guess i've just sprung forward.

i tried to watch the holy grail episode of the monty python bio again this morning. i guess i was just up to early. i kept falling asleep on it.

breakfast

fried egg and swiss sandwich (2)
oj
coffee
iced tea

stuck to the sunday morning ritual. cbs sunday morning followed by the 2nd half hour of this week on abc.

tons of chores to do today!

started working on the taxes today. yech.

lunch

hot dogs on buns (2)
iced tea

i saw about the last 10-12 minutes of Maryland vs. Michigan State. It looked like MSU was running away with the game. Then Maryland came back. the last 90 seconds was amazing.

dinner

rice & peas
salad
iced tea

dessert

toast (2 sl)
iced tea

we watched two more episodes of frasier. i think we must have skipped the final season. none of these episodes look familiar but they've all been really funny. patrick stewart as frasier's "boyfriend" was a huge hoot.

20 mar 2010

woke up at 6:15 w/o having the alarm set.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
oj
coffee
iced tea

i watched the life of brian episode of the monty python bio. interesting.

snack

crackers

we went to mt. vernon to see the new museum. the place was absolutely packed. there must have been at least 10 or 15 school buses that we could see. high school kids every where.

lunch

chicken sandwich
milky way
coke

at the food court at mount vernon. insanely crowded it took forever to find a seat. a young couple joined us at our table. she was going for her 2nd ba degree in history. he was a law student at georgetown. nice young kids. originally from el paso.

we decided to go down the street to see woodlawn plantation and the pope-leighey house instead of braving the crowds at mt. vernon. woodlawn was hosting a special exhibition so we ended up just going to pope-leighey. first time i've seen a f.l. wright house in person. lots of interesting features. surprisingly livable for such a small house. i don't think most modern folks could live with just one bathroom and with such a small kitchen but it really is fun to imagine yourself living there.

snack

whopper jr.
soda

from burger king on the way back. didn't get much to eat for lunch so the burger gave me enough gas for the trip home.

it really felt a lot like summer driving home from mt. vernon today.

dinner

chicken fried chicken
biscuit
okra
cole slaw
fries
iced tea

at cracker barrel in manassas. hit the spot.

dessert

half a slice of coca cola cake
ice cream

we watched the end of the kansas-northern iowa contretemps. holy crap. not only did n.i. win, they seemed to dominate for a large part of the game. much credit to them! blew out my bracket but what the heck. villanova also lost. that didn't surprise me as much. they have not played well lately. i had them losing to richmond. i was really routing for the old spiders. however, st. mary's is looking very strong.

we watched a couple of episodes from the last season of frasier after that. two really funny episodes in a row. i didn't remember either one so maybe i quit on frasier after season 10.

19 mar 2010

karen's birthday! happy birthday, karen.

if you had asked me 20 yrs ago who was the biggest nut in our family, i would have said karen. if you asked me now i'd say karen is the most well-adjusted. interesting.

mark is having surgery today. hope it goes well.

breakfast

coffee
banana
apple fritter
iced tea

had to get gas today. up almost 20 cents since the last time i got gas. what fun!

snack

slice of pizza left over from yesterday
iced tea

pizza was worse today than yesterday. made me feel quite quesy. actually did get sick in the early afternoon. felt much better afterwards.

had to go to the dmv and the pet store in the afternoon. dmv was very busy. i was lucky and got through fast.

lunch

chicken sandwich
coke

at chik-fil-a. the coke really helped. stomach felt much better after a cold carbonated beverage.

they always look at you like you are a nut if you don't get fries.

weather was unbelievable today. sunny. high must have hit 75. in fact, when i got back from the pet store i felt very lousy. must have been a combo of the stomach problems, the higher than usual temp and wrestling with the boxes of kitty litter. stretched out on the couch and watched hoop for about an hour. felt better.

i called mommy. she said she talked to ben and he had seen mark at 4:30 after the surgery. he said it went well and mark would be going home tomorrow.

dinner

lasagna (frozen)
steamed snow peas
iced tea

dessert

half an orange

we watched four weddings and a funeral after dinner. just in the mood, i guess. we watched from beginning to end for the first time in a long time. i usually see four weddings in bits and pieces. we went to san francisco in 1994 and i remember seeing four weddings on the marquee of several movie theaters. that was june. it was released in mar. i think we first saw it on cable. or maybe elizabeth saw it on a plane. don't remember.

18 mar 2010

used my new mask overnight. it really made a difference. i woke up just before the alarm at about 6:00 am. alarm went off at 6:15 so i had to run back up and turn it off. silly.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
coffee
oj
iced tea

i watched an episode of the simpsons during breakfast. homer finds that he can get his way by challenging people to duels until some one accepts his challenge. the southern gent who accepted homer's challenge reminded me of foghorn leghorn.

i heard a story this am on the today show (and just now on all things considered) about a series of recent suicides at Cornell. when I was at UVA from 1977-1981 Cornell had a reputation as the leader in suicides. I don't know if it was true then or if it is true now. Cornell is certainly a pretty place based on the pictures though it does seem a bit isolated.

lunch

egg, cheese, salsa wrap (2)
iced tea

snack

pop tart
iced tea

dinner

numero uno pizza
onion rings
caesar salad
iced tea

at pizzeria uno. pizza was way over cooked. first time i've had a bad pizza at uno's

amazing day in the ncaa tournament. lots of upsets. lots of really well played games. i don't remember if there was even one 30 pt runaway.

17 mar 2010

st. patrick's day. patron saint of ireland.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
oj
coffee
iced tea

we left 5 minutes early for the vre. got stuck behind a school bus. ended up catching the train about 1 min earlier than usual. i had to rush back from the vre. felt like i was going to be ill. i made it to the bathroom just in time. v. sick for about 15 min. felt quesy for the next hour or two. started to feel better about 11.

i drank a ginger ale at about 11:30 and felt quite normal after that. i'm not sure what made me feel so bad.

i ended up having lunch late.

lunch

ham, turkey, and cheese sandwich
chips
iced tea

walked outside to check the mail after lunch. it was so nice that I sat out on the porch for about 20 min. sunny, 60+, a little breeze. really felt like spring. it was hard to go back inside.

dinner

cheese quesadillas (2)
refried beans
iced tea

we watched about half of red planet with val kilmer and the matrix chick. seemed kind of dead. none of the characters seemed to be worried. i kept waiting for the scene where don cheadle shows up but i think that is actually in mission to mars.

i've been watching the first x men movie is little bites. sort of like a serial. I watched harry potter and the order of phoenix the same way back in january. it's kind of interesting. makes me feel like dickens.

tomorrow is the first round of the ncaa. some people say ncaa. some say nc double a. some say nc 2a. wonder if it's a regionalism? women's tourney begins on saturday.

16 mar 2010

up before alarm at 5:15.

concall in morning

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
coffee
iced tea
oj

snack

crackers
chocolate eggs (4)

two episodes of the simpsons from season 11

lunch

ham, turkey, cheese sandwich (2)
chips
iced tea

dinner

chili dogs (2)
beans
cole slaw
iced tea

15 mar 2010

i repeatedly snoozed my alarm this morning for the first time in a long time. the alarm was set for 6:10. I actually got up at 6:50. i think it was because it was still dark outside. until we sprang forward it was always light by about 6:10.

breakfast

coffee
iced tea

drove to the vre. no tourists today so we made the train on time.

still hungry since i didn't really eat anything for breakfast. stopped at mcdonald's.

egg mcmuffin
sausage burrito
iced tea

mcd seems to taste better if you haven't been there in a long time.

went to the post office to mail a letter.

lunch

sub
iced tea

at wegmans. there's one older gent at the sandwich bar at wegmans who is like a sub-making wizard. the subs he makes always taste better than those made by others at the sandwich bar. i can't account for it. you know everything's got to be portion controlled to within an inch of its life so all the sandwiches should taste about the same. but, there it is.

got groceries at wegmans, harris teeter. always way more people at wegmans but for some reason ht doesn't seem to be having any problems.

watched an episode of that 70s show that i did not remember while doing dishes. that's a mess of a sentence. oh well. i find i liked fez less and less as the show goes on. i tend to like the secondary characters on that show the most. bob pinciotti. midge. leo. william barnett. roy. casey kelso. pastor dave. big rhonda. i guess red's my favorite character although kelso is probably the funniest.

seemed funny driving back from the vre in daylight.

dinner

mac/cheese
asparagus
iced tea

dessert

donut
iced tea

we watched an episode of st:tng in the evening. a worf-based episode called rightful heir. really liked it. possibly the best klingon-centered episode of the show. really strong supporting cast in this episode and a very solid plot. picard demonstrates once again why he has the unflagging devotion of this crew.

as it happened wil wheaton, my least favorite character, on st:tng was a guest on big bang theory. many laughings were included in this episode. would it be a miracle if howard actually had a girl friend.

don't get me started on that piss-ant wesley crusher.

14 mar 2010

spring forward today. i decided not to set an alarm and just get up when I got up. woke up at 7:30 so it was actually 8:30.

breakfast

egg sandwiches (2)
coffee
iced tea

spent some time resetting clocks. i'm starting to wonder what in the house does not have a clock built in. it is kind of crazy how many clocks we have to reset.

lunch

turkey, ham, swiss sandwich
iced tea

dinner

egg salad sandwich (2)
tomato soup

lots of eggs today.

13 mar 2010

seemed like it rained all day.

breakfast

toast
coffee
iced tea

i watched the house episode where kutner (Kal Penn) commits suicide this morning. downer. if you'd told me there was going to be a suicide on that show i would have guessed almost anyone before kutner. kutner always seemed rather jolly. i guess he could be one of those people who is in a good mood around other people and gets dark and moody alone. it was an interesting episode.

i'm pretty sure i saw Mr. Penn on the Metro about three weeks ago.

lunch

bacon and blue burger
fries
iced tea

i've got to remember that bacon no longer likes me. can't seem to eat bacon without some after effects. good fries for once at wendy's.

picked up my new glasses at myeyedr. in gainesville. so far, so good. my prescription changed a lot.

traffic accident on 29 near wegmans on the way home. traffic got really bogged down quickly.

dinner

veg. burger
spaghetti with butter
iced tea

we watched a dr. crusher episode of star trek. the episode we watched on thursday was one i did not remember at all. the one on friday was one i vaguely remembered. the crusher episode, suspicions, was one i remembered very clearly. strange.

i saw the beginning of the hunt for red october the other day. i had forgotten that Gates McFadden is Alec Baldwin's wife in that movie. She's in the movie for 20 seconds or so. Anne Archer plays Caroline Ryan in the Harrison Ford movies.

12 mar 2010

i watched an episode of House (from season 5) during breakfast. interesting episode. house is using methadone and leaves him pain free but changes his decision making process.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
coffee
iced tea

we got stuck behind a tourist on the way to the vre today. i think the guy drove at about 40 half way down vint hill. as a result we missed the train at broad run and had to go to catch the amtrak train at manassas.

i felt really sick on the way back. i stopped at arby's and got a cup of hot tea. i sat in the front of the restaurant with windows above and on two sides. watched the rain pouring down and drinking tea. really helped a lot. don't know if it was the rain or the tea that helped the most.

i kept thinking of the song, the fire by television. it contains a line that goes "storms all that summer we stayed locked away. out in some room in the wind." i kept feeling like i was out in some room in the rain.

felt a bit better by the time i got home.

lunch

turkey, ham, and swiss on a bagel
corn chips
cookies
iced tea

snack

reese's peanut butter egg
iced tea

i watched another episode of house while eating lunch. in this one house encounters a patient who has lost the ability to control what he says. whatever thoughts pop into his mind he simply says.

dinner

chicken and dumpling soup (campbells)
freshly made bread

bread was from whole foods. bread and soup is hard to beat especially on a rainy day.

we watched an episode of st:tng (sixth season) during dinner. riker has been kidnapped by some aliens and is being hypnotized to extract info. i remember two rather simliar episodes with picard and i believe there is another with a simliar plot about troi. not a bad episode but a little too self referential.

11 mar 2010

it's friday night and i barely remember what happened thursday. crazy!

breakfast

bagel plain
coffee
oj
iced tea

snack

caffe mocha
donut

at caribou

had a bunch of errands to run in warrenton.

lunch

hamburger steak w mushrooms, onions, gravy
hash browns
cole slaw
iced tea

lunch special. half off at lunch. good deal but it was way too much to eat.

dinner

chipped beef on toast
broc.
iced tea

tasty. we've got to try the low sodium version next time.

dessert

donut
iced tea

we watched a charlie chan movie called the black camel on DVD. this is the 2nd charlie chan movie with warner oland as chan. the first, charlie chan carries on, is not available because the original film was lost. the movie was made in 1931 and features bela legosi and an amazing.y young robert young.

10 mar 2010

I woke up at 6:15 but didn't get out of bed until 6:30.

didn't go to the vre today. E. was not feeling well.

breakfast

bagel w/ cream cheese
oj
coffee
iced tea

lunch

cheeseburger
fries
iced tea

grocery store after lunch.

dinner

fresh fettucini w/ tomato sauce
salad
iced tea

dessert

donut
iced tea

we watched move over darling after dinner. doris day, james garner. remake of my favorite wife. entertaining. lots of 60s tv stars in the movie. chuck connors, don knotts, edgar buchanan, john astin. thelma ritter who is usually a knock out is very restrained in this move.

this is one of series of romantic comedies doris day made in the late 50s and early 60s. the most famous is probably pillow talk. doris day and james garner would also appear together in the thrill of it all. j.g. would make also make boys night out and the art of love (with dick van dyke). doris day made at least 10 romantic comedies from 1959 to 1968.

9 mar 2010

felt miserable when i woke up. never really felt well all day. got up at 5:10 for concall. good concall.

breakfast

bagel w/ cream cheese
coffee
oj
iced tea
banana

elbow was just throbbing like crazy in the morning. ached all day. i really must have screwed it up. took advil in the am. never really made much difference. still hurting now, in fact.

lunch

bratwurst (2)
eggs (2)
toast (2)
orange
iced tea

snack

chips
iced tea

weather was wonderful today. 65 degrees. 1 month ago today we were anticipating our big feb. snow. today almost all of the vestiges of that snow are gone. a week ago we still had about 8 in of snow on a good part of our lawn. last few days have been in the high 50s to mid 60s. really helps to feel warm after a very long, very cold winter.


dinner

quesadillas
refried beans
iced tea

q's were really good. beans were bland this time i got veg beans this time but must not be the right brand. i'll have to look around next time and find an alternative.

we watched another lovejoy from season 5 and two st:tng episodes on syfy.

8 mar 2010

breakfast

toast
iced tea
coffee

lunch

everything bagel w/ cream cheese
coke
iced tea

snack

chips
iced tea

dinner

mac cheese
brussel sprouts
iced tea

dessert

cinnamon rolls (2, small)

watched an episode of lovejoy from season 5. watched part of big bang theory with the precious. pretty funny episode. can't get used to leonard and penny as an item. i believe penny has been working out. ended up watching csi: miami, i think. the one with david caruso. absolutely ludicrous. i always feeling like i'm watching an ad for sun glasses.

7 mar 2010

i woke up at about 7:15 this morning.

i watched an Eddie Murphy biography in the early morning. i watched Beverly Hills Cop a few weeks ago on cable. i had forgotten how funny that movie was. the bio reminded me of a lot of stuff eddie has done. good and bad.

breakfast

scrambled eggs
bratwurst
toast
coffee
iced tea

snack

banana

i had been planning to do some chores in a fairly leisurely way and read some back issues of the newspaper. elizabeth suggested that we take advantage of the good weather and get rid of some leaves that were still on the siding of the driveway. so we decided to do that. lots of work to rake wet heavy leaves. much fun.

lunch

soup
rye toast
iced tea

snack

coke
pop tart

after raking leaves

dinner

potato soup
crusty bread
iced tea

quite good.

PBS was showing an episode of Ken Burn's The Civil War as part of pledge. They showed the segment that included Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Vicksburg. Gripping. Hard to believe that that program originally aired 20 yrs ago.

after The Civil War, i watched bits and pieces of The Hurt Locker Awards Show. I liked the John Hughes tribute. Interesting to see all of those people, including both hosts, showing up in J.H. films. I must say that I still loath Ferris Bueller even though I like Hughes and I like Broderick.

6 mar 2010

woke up at about 6 in the morning without setting the alarm.

got up to watch the news. elizabeth is going to see an historic house in towson with the oatlands crew (her homeys). she had to get started quite early.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
orange
coffee
iced tea

felt like pretending it was saturday so i put the bourne ultimatum in the dvd player and watched it. i've gradually come to like this one more. originally i thought it was a step behind the other bournes basically because there are a few serious holes in the plot.

desh may be the best match bourne has faced in a fight so far. i wonder if the next movie will reveal the connection between bourne and nikki. is she his sister?

spent most of the day doing chores. dishes, bath room, laundry. went to the library in the afternoon to drop off some books that are due.

lunch

grilled chicken sandwich
fries
cole slaw
iced tea

snack

cafe latte
blueberry muffin

dinner

ravioli with tomato sauce
salad
crusty bread
iced tea

watched an epsiode of lovejoy after dinner. lady jane finds out that her husband has lost all of his dough. since jane and alexander are still legally married she, too, loses her dough. she decides to leave the area and just travel. wonder what was behind this plot twist.

5 mar 2010

up early in the morning for a concall. had to be cancelled at the last minute. started watching (500) Days of Summer while eating breakfast.

breakfast

bagel w/ cc
banana
oj
coffee
iced tea

drove elizabeth to the vre. once again we just made it with about 30 seconds to spare. friday appears to be the only day of the week when you can actually park at the station. the lot is about half as full as usual.

siding ($50)
water heater (say $1100 installed)
driveway erosion (?)
new stove ($500)
whole house fan ($750?)
lawn tractor repair (?)

jeez

worked from 8:30 to 12:45 but i don't remember what i worked on. all stuff that needed doing.

lunch

turkey, swiss on a bagel
bread & butter pickles
orange
iced tea

i've been wondering if i shouldn't have some bread and butter with the bread and butter pickles.

i watched the 2nd half of Summer during lunch. more anon.

v. strong feeling of cabin fever in the arternoon.

dinner

two ruby sliders
fries
salad
iced tea

big salad! at ruby tuesday. really felt salad-y today. haven't been eating enough veg material lately. our waiter's name was adam. i kept wondering if cane was hanging out in the kitchen causing trouble. only now he probably spells is Kaine. he's got a tattoo that says "Free Tommy Smothers" and another that says "SHIFT KEY STUCK".

slept through an episode of Lovejoy when we enrived home. dead tired. good nap tho. i tend to get more restful sleep sitting up.

Taking Woodstock

this is an ang lee joint so it is damned pretty. the guy has a painter's eye and just about any seen in an ang lee movie will be beautifully composed.

the first half hour of this movie is so slow that you begin to feel that it is intended as some new kind of narrative screen saver. the exposition is painful. the introduction of characters amateurish. the unwinding of the plot sluggggggish. almost like ang lee making a bad m night movie.

if you can stick that part out it gets better. not great. better. you end up with a sweet little story about a young man who cares enough about his aging parents to give up his bright life in the city to help them keep their decrepit hotel/home. in the end he feels betrayed by his mother's pathological money lust (presumably related to the experience of the h. word) while his relationship with his father is renewed and affirmed.

henry goodman as the father is really excellent. very beautiful and loving performance. the great imelda staunton has a very difficult role to play. she is, basically, an unlikeable person and imelda staunton makes her feel like fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. an amazing performance but not one that you can say you enjoyed.

demetri martin is likeable but it is readily apparent, especially given the rest of the cast, that he is not an actor. (he reminds me a little of rosie o'donnell in a league of their own. acting in scene after scene with truly good actors while you are pretty much learning the rudiments.) he doesn't suck but he is clearly the weak link in the chain.

Emile Hirsch as Billy is, I'd say, uncomfortable in his early scenes but settles in well for his later scenes. Eugene Levy does a nice job as Max Yasgur. I've gotten so used to him as Jim's Dad in American Pie that it is hard to think of him as anything else. To finally see him in a meetier role is a pleasure. (I'll have to write about the redefined American daddy of the 90's one day: Eugene Levy as Jim's Dad in the American Pie franchise, Kurtwood Smith as Eric's Dad on That 70's Show, and Joe Flaherty as Lindsay's Dad on Freaks and Geeks.)

As to Liev Schreiber, I'll only say that he reminds me of Roberta Muldoon (John Lithgow) in The World According to Garp. Oh, and Roberto Muldoon is one of my favorite characters in literature.

(500) Days of Summer

After all of the effusive praise i heard about this movie i've got to say that i was disappointed.

credit where credit is due:

- the general premise is clever and pretty well executed

- the lead actors are charming and the supporting cast is generally quite good

- it's a well-made, well-written movie. certainly a solid B if not better

but, it ain't no home run. i think the key is the zooey d. factor. if she's still bumping the meter at "way cuter than sandra bullock" then this movie is probably a+ material. for me she was at that level singing in the shower in elf. i still dig her but she doesn't cause my circuit breakers to trip any more. (s.b. as a blond in that football movie. hubba, hubba.)

by the way, if i never see another movie with a profoundly wise 12 yr old i'll be a happy person.

4 mar 2010

i woke up at about 6 with a screaming headache. drank some water and some tea.

breakfast

bagel with cream cheese
oj
banana
coffee
iced tea

must have been dehydrated. headache went away after i drank all of those beverages.

i took elizabeth to the vre. noticed that the check engine light had come on. i dropped the car at the service center and walked over to the eye doctor's office.

my prescription has changed a lot. new prescription is full progressive and costs a fortune! paying for it with flex spending but it is about $100 more than we budgeted. amazing.

lunch

chipotle chicken
chips
iced tea

at Panera

i met Nora and a friend of hers at the Panera. She looks well.

snack

caffe latte
coffee cake

at Starbucks

repairs on the car ended up taking all day because one part had to be ordered. i thought i'd be on the way home by 3 or so but did not get out until almost 5:30 so I went directly to the VRE.

at about 3:00 i went for a snack

taco and enchilada
iced tea

at El Tio. pretty good. I haven't eaten at El Tio in a long time.

dinner

turkey pot pie
iced tea

not so good. a little garlicky. upset my stomach. oh well.

3 mar 2010

felt really poorly last night. back was very bad. took some motrin before bed. felt better in the morning.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
oj
coffee
iced tea

incident with a spider in the early am nearly made us miss the vre this morning. e made the train by inches.

snack

caffe mocha
cinnamon donut

i thought my eye appt. was today. rushed off for the appt. and found out it is tomorrow. got my hair cut instead

lunch

orange peel chicken
white rice
spring rolls (2)
iced tea

at pei wei. pretty good.

dinner

chicken and turkey wraps elizabeth brought home
tomato soup
iced tea

most of the wraps were good. they were sliced into inch wide portions. didn't really care for the one with olives.

snack

pretzels

watched the H.L. Gates show on PBS. Interesting. watched a lot of Duke-Maryland. Good game. Comcast was rockin'.

watched the last disk of season four of the Andy Griffith Show which includes the pilot for Gomer Pyle USMC. By the end of the run of Gomer Pyle it was a pretty hackneyed show but the pilot is really sharp. Well written. Very funny. Gomer singing the Marine Corps anthem with his head in a bucket is amazing. Gomer Pyle and Forrest Gump must be twin sons of different mothers.

2 mar 2010

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
oj
coffee
iced tea

lunch

turkey, swiss sandwich
pickles
chips
iced tea
donut

snack

pretzels

dinner

bagel w/ butter
iced tea

wasn't feeling well in the evening. we watched On Moonlight Bay on DVD. Booth Tarkington. very old fashioned. set in the same timeframe as The Music Man. i remember singing On Moonlight Bay in third or fourth grade. we used to sing it as a round if I remember correctly.

1 mar 2010

march! this has been a very long winter. i know we've got at least a month of winter weather to go but march 1 marks a landmark. days are obviously longer. trees are budding. tulips and other bulbs are pushing up. as with every year it is going to go from will this winter ever end to is it summer already?

i've got four favorite things in march:

the acc tournament first
the first round of the ncaa second
elizabeth's birthday and then
our anniversary

karen's birthday is also this month on the 19th.

breakfast

bagel w/ cream cheese
oj
coffee
iced tea

snack

bowl of cereal
banana
iced tea

neil young performed long may you run during the closing ceremonies yesterday. always been a favorite of mine. i always think it's about stephen stills but i understand it is actually about an old hearse young drove in the very earliest days of his career.

lunch

sub
iced tea

at Wegmans.

grocery shopping at Wegmans, Harris Teeter. cat food at PetSmart.

dinner

turkey reuben
iced tea

dessert

donut
iced tea

we watched antiques roadshow and then a show about James Madison and Dolly Madison. i saw the first 10 minutes of Leno. not bad. switched to Letterman to see the top 10 and bill murray. murray was very funny.

28 feb 2010

slept in a little late on sunday.

breakfast

two hard boiled eggs
ham cold cuts
swiss cheese
orange sections, banana slices, apple slices
croissant with jam
coffee
iced tea

we were pretending we were in Paris. very good breakfast.

we did chores pretty much all day.

lunch

ham and cheese sandwich
chips
iced tea
coke

took a break for shores to watch the us-canada hockey match. excellent match. congrats to the canucks. i don't think i've every watched a hockey match from start to finish. there is a lot less dead time than football (or basketball or baseball or ...)

dinner

rice and corn
iced tea

snack

cookies

don't really like opening or closing ceremonies so we watched a movie called All the King's Men. not bad. we realized that we had seen the last half on masterpiece theater before.