Oh, yes. They did.

I found this list in an old entry from 2003 and decided it needed updating.

a tiger
Strawberry Shortcake
a star faerie (an obscure cartoon that I was in love with)
a unicorn
a princess
Dorothy from Wizard of Oz
a rabbit
an owl
a "sea queen" with a monstrous crown
a court jester
my friend Ashley (lamest, most last minute costume EVER)
Daria
a faerie
another faerie
a generic anime superhero
Catholic Schoolgirl
Witch Baby
Kim Possible
Vampire Willow
Snow White
a Hufflepuff (Hogwarts student)
SuperNanny
yet another faerie
Persephone

what about you?

Also, Grey's Anatomy has gotten really stressful to watch. Characters keep getting fired for arbitrary reasons, usually involving simple human error, and it hits very close to home.

I still don't have any plans for Halloween. I want to go to Sapphire, the bar downtown where my friend Amanda now works, but I don't think anyone wants to go with me. There are parties, I know, but not where I actually know anyone. All the employees at Sapphire are supposed to be dressed like characters from Alice in Wonderland-- come on, people, it will be fun!

I haven't updated for ten days, which really isn't like me. I will fight to keep LJ alive, darnit!

I think part of the reason I've been putting it off is I kept thinking I would write more about Where the Wild Things Are, and how psychologically interesting it is, and how amazing Lauren Ambrose is and how her presence in WTWTA makes me feel better about her NOT being in The Time-Traveler's Wife. She, not Rachel McAdams, is very definitively who I pictured in that role. Haven't even seen The Time-Traveler's Wife. The reviews did not have nice things to say.

While we're on the subject of movies, the trailer for The Lovely Bones looks like it has potential and got a lot of the details right. And the trailer for the new Alice in Wonderland gives me a strange feeling of intrigue mixed with ambivalence, because it seems like it's just Tim Burton being Tim Burton and Johnny Depp being his go-to guy, they don't seem to be doing anything very special with the story of Alice. And Alice is way too old. But perhaps it will be a pleasant surprise. I still want to see it, of course. And I love Anne Hathaway, and the white queen could be a fun role for her.

Yesterday, I watched the weirdest horror movie ever: Hello, Mary Lou: Prom Night II. Which has absolutely nothing to do with the original Prom Night starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and is more a ripoff of Carrie with elements of The Exorcist and Nightmare on Elm Street thrown in. I kind of want to write an in-depth recap of it, just to share the strangeness.

The Reader's Digest version: In 1957, Mary Lou is a big slut. And tells a priest so during confession, rather proudly. Then she goes to the prom, cheats on her boyfriend, publicly breaks up with him, and then gets crowned Queen of the Prom. Her boyfriend, to get back at her, drops a cherry bomb from the rafters, the fuse of which catches her dress and lights on fire. So she burns to death, somehow without the fire spreading to anyone or anything around her.

Thirty years later: it's 1987. Vicky is a good little Christian girl with a strict conservative mother who disapproves of her motorcycle-riding boyfriend and will not spring for a prom dress, so Vicky goes digging in the high school prop room for a dress she can use, and ends up finding a trunk containing the crown, sash, and cape that Mary Lou never got to wear in 1957, thereby releasing the very pissed off spirit, who spends some time running around causing nightmares and bringing to life the full-size carousel horse in Vicky's bedroom (why does she have a carousel horse in her bedroom?) so that it can display red eyes and make sexual tongue motions. But eventually Mary Lou manages to fully possess Vicky and spend some more time being strange and having pseudo-sexual/deadly encounters with various people, including the guy she cheated on her boyfriend with back in 1957, who is now a priest. And SURPRISE-- her former boyfriend, the one who accidentally killed her, is now the principal of the high school, because when you watch your girlfriend die a violent death, of course you would want to spend long hours in that location as an adult.

Weirdest. Movie. Ever. Can't deny that it was entertaining, however. More so than the far more logical Prom Night.

So, the frozen wedding cake wasn't bad-- the lemon filling was a bit congealed, but the rest held up pretty well. Melting Pot dinner was amazing, of course.

Then, we went to see Where the Wild Things Are, and it was pretty amazing. I'm not too proud to say that I bawled like a baby. I kind of feel like the movie was made just for me. I will absolutely write more on this subject later-- my brother said it best: In a way, the movie doesn’t feel real to me; it feels like a dream I had. With a movie like this, I can only regard that sensation as a mark of overwhelming success on the part of the filmmakers.

Today: went to Gatlinburg, met up with tangledstories and sawbladesestina, which was awesome. Ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp, went up onto the Space Needle, which I had never done before. It was a pretty awesome view. I am not afraid of heights, but man that is REALLY high to have just a metal railing between you and the drop. Then took the tram to OBER Gatlinburg and saw the animal exhibit that I didn't know existed. Black bears pacing, sleeping, and snuggling. One really seemed to want its belly rubbed. Otters swimming and eating. Nocturnal exhibit-- snakes, a possum washing itself, two very dignified looking owls, a flying squirrel, and (my favorite) skunks. Skunks get a bad rap because of their smell, but they are really beautiful animals. I would love to have a pet (descented) skunk, if I had any idea where one would come by such a pet.

I just saw a bug in my apartment, and it completely disappeared before I could get it. A little freaked out by that encounter. But Lee says if we can't find it, there's nothing to be done. So I will go to bed and try not to worry about creepy crawlies.

No, I haven't seen Where the Wild Things Are yet, but I am growing very impatient. Lauren Ambrose's voice has been in my head all day-- her reading of that line in the trailer intrigues me.

I have been really sleepy all day today. Don't even know why. Did not have to work, which was good because I do not like working Sundays. Day of rest and all that. Trying to get out of next Sunday for to go to Mountain Makins. Already agreed to work a double on Friday after many text messages.

Last night was a YAHOO game night, during which it took me over two hours to lure people away from the DDR and into a more traditional game, but ultimately it was a marathon game of Taboo which ended with my team winning and bursting into a chorus of "We are the Champions." Tabooty call, anyone?

Tomorrow is our one-year wedding anniversary, which is kind of amazing. I wish our first year of marriage hadn't been tainted by employment issues and money woes, but as far as the whole "love and marriage" thing goes, I think we've done well. We unsuccessfully tried to make plans to go away overnight... every desirable place was out of our price range, so we decided to take that money and go out to a really nice dinner-- Melting Pot! Yay!!

How long are you supposed to let a year-old frozen cake top thaw for?

I did some guest-blogging for my brother.

These thoughts had been in my head for a while, they just needed a reason to be publicized. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, which makes me think even more that I need a solid theme for a public blog, which seems to be the in thing these days. Hmm. Food for thought.

Such as, Devon and Thomas are engaged!!!

I am SO EXCITED about this, you guys. It was expected, but the timing was a surprise, and in general it's very unexpected for Devon-- she always said she'd never do this. But Thomas has changed all of that. And we like Thomas. More importantly, Aisling likes Thomas.

I got this news in a text message Saturday morning, while I was in a most magical lake house with the other YAHOOs (that's Young Adults Hanging Out Occasionally, for those playing along at home). It was a lovely, relaxing weekend, involving marathon Jenga games, magically lit paths, hammock chairs, and randomness. Lee and I had to sleep separately, because the other two married couples got first dibs on the grown-up rooms, leaving the rest of us to the two upstairs bedrooms-- each with three twin beds, one decorated in pink and the other in blue. I found the decor incredibly amusing.

I didn't watch the Video Music Awards last week-- I had no idea so many people still cared about MTV, but after the drama I caught up on the important parts (how did we ever live without youtube?)-- but I did watch the Emmys last night, which I enjoyed thoroughly despite never having watched Mad Men or 30 Rock, or several other award-winning shows. But Neil Patrick Harris is pretty much the coolest person ever, and he was a great host, even though he didn't win for How I Met Your Mother. He handled the "I'm the host and I just lost" awkwardness very well, by which I mean amusingly. "Tonight could have gone one of two ways, and now it's going the second way." Which is really true-- he had to have two different bits ready, depending on whether he won or not.

Speaking of How I Met Your Mother, I'm probably going to tape the season premiere, for to watch after I've caught up on last season. ( Season Four Spoilers )

Also, the Emmys had a Dr. Horrible appearance and comedic actresses wearing goofy glasses. I'm in favor of both of those things.

I am taking off this weekend-- disappearing to a lake house, with some friends from the Lutheran Church. I have been feeling really disconnected from this group of people for a while, but I can't pass up a free retreat, and I'm hoping it will be good for me, spiritually.

No cell phone and no internet for the weekend-- sometimes, that's a good thing!

It's a cool date!

Labor Day weekend was mostly uneventful-- I slept for something like fifteen hours Saturday night, which was what finally got the September sickness mostly out of my system. Woke up Sunday feeling remarkably better, and ended up being kidnapped by Brynn for Menchie's frozen yogurt, McKay's, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which she hadn't seen yet. I still enjoyed it upon second viewing. I'm still okay with the lack of big final battle-- in the book I felt like it dragged a bit, to have a battle AFTER a climactic scene that leaves you reeling. But opinions differ greatly on this.

We decided on popcorn for dinner, and foolishly thought a large popcorn and two medium drinks would fit the bill. The popcorn was COMICALLY large, enough popcorn to feed a small nation, and the drinks looked more "Extra large" than any semblance of "medium." Oh, movie theaters.

I got paid yesterday, and for the first time since May felt like I could spend a little on myself. So I took Lee out to lunch at Hard Knox Pizza, which he loved. And then I decided I wanted to buy a dvd, but I didn't know what dvd. I was hoping to find some really cheap G-rated ones that I could take to work and leave there-- dvds I would still claim as MINE, but that I wouldn't be TOO upset if I lost. We watch movies all the time in Kid Care (or, have them on in the background should anyone choose to watch them) but pickings are slim. There is a whole shelf full of videos, but the VCR has been broken since long before I worked there, and the dvds are limited to Toy Story, Toy Story 2, The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo-- those are the watchable ones. The semi-watchable ones include Chicken Run, Rock-a-Doodle (which makes absolutely no sense but at least it tries), and a few Baby Einstein ones. Then there are the NON-watchables-- those generic low-budget fairy tale cartoons that used to always release around the same time as each new Disney movie, for the presumed purpose of trying to trick people into buying the wrong one. Someone actually put on the Beauty and the Beast one yesterday, and I thought, "okay, maybe we should give it a chance"-- but it is every bit as bad as you would expect. Don't take my word for it-- watch the beginning here. The opening song... it grates...

The Nostalgia Critic's review of Rock-a-Doodle is hilarious. Embedded behind the cut, just for fun.

( you know you wanna... )

The end result of the dvd search was that I ended up buying Cars and Ghost World, both used at McKay's.

Amusingly enough, in my itunes library (which, to be fair, does not reflect how many times I've played the same songs off of cds or on my ipod), the most-played song is "I Won't Say I'm in Love" from Hercules.

If there's a prize for rotten judgment
I guess I've already won that
No man is worth the aggravation
That's ancient history,
Been there, done that
Who'd'ya think you're kiddin'
He's the Earth and heaven to you
Try to keep it hidden
Honey, we can see right through you
Girl, ya can't conceal it
We know how ya feel and
Who you're thinking of
No chance, no way
I won't say it, no, no
You swoon, you sigh
why deny it, uh-oh
It's too cliche
I won't say I'm in love
I thought my heart had learned its lesson
It feels so good when you start out
My head is screaming-- get a grip, girl
Unless you're dying to cry your heart out!
You keep on denying
Who you are and how you're feeling
Baby, we're not buying
Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling
Face it like a grown-up
When ya gonna own up
That ya got, got, got it bad!
No chance, no way
I won't say it, no, no
Give up, but give in
Check the grin, you're in love!
This scene won't play,
I won't say I'm in love
You're doin' flips read our lips
You're in love!
You're way off base
I won't say it
Get off my case
I won't say it
Girl, don't be proud
It's okay you're in love
At least out loud,
I won't say... I'm in love...

Yes, that might possibly have been me when I first met Lee...

My cat is now a self-injurer. It appears that Sevvy's skin is irritated (and no, he does not have fleas) and he keeps chewing on himself until he bleeds. And the scar tissue where his tail was amputated does not clot quickly, meaning that he bleeds all over the place. I never knew how difficult it was to get blood out of the carpet. The living room looks like a murder scene. Good-bye, security deposit. It was nice knowing you.

The vet couldn't fit him in until Wednesday. Could take him to the emergency vet, but he doesn't seem to be in pain so much as just irritated, and the emergency vet is incredibly expensive. So, we wait.

Other than that, this weekend has been good. Friday was Aisling's birthday. Can NOT believe she is ten. Devon had a party for her at home with mostly family. There was a particularly yummy white cake (because Aisling decided ten is too old for chocolate). There was also a random coconut that fell onto the floor with a thud, courtesy of Thomas's father, who seems to have a most interesting sense of humor.

I worked the Saturday morning shift, which wasn't nearly as hectic as I thought it would be. I was done at 2:30, enjoyed a really good workout, and still left feeling like I had the whole day ahead of me. Ended up having some girl time and getting dinner at Trio, a restaurant in Market Square that I've been wanting to try for a while. I had a salad consisting of mixed greens, blueberry vinaigrette, brie cheese, portabello, cashews, and wontons. It was awesomeness. I also had a mimosa, in which they were not stingy with the champagne, so I ended up a little tipsy and shrieking at the sight of an escalator-- they freak me out a bit even when fully sober.

Today, slept in and then ended up going to Morristown for dinner and to watch True Blood with my brother. Also ended up watching a very old VHS tape of Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers, which my nieces somehow unearthed from the archives of my childhood. Random cartoon was random.

I am using the Duchess Ravenwaves icon because the nieces (or my mom, not sure which) also unearthed a Lady Lovelylocks storybook, which I read to Naomi. It involved Duchess Ravenwaves casting a spell that turned Lady Lovelylocks's hair blue. This was seen as a very villainous act, but personally, I thought it looked pretty good. And why didn't I remember that Duchess Ravenwaves had a henchman named Hairball? WTF.

The other night I was in Jason's Deli waiting on Lee. I was reading What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones, and this song came on. Why, you ask, was this a weird moment? Because I was reading a scene depicting teenage, shall we say, intimacy-- by which I do not mean a sex scene, but a scene depicting that boundary-pushing that occurs between teenagers-- when just kissing stops being satisfying enough, yet you still have limits. And "Come Undone" was the exact song that played during that very scene in my own life. Kind of freaked me out-- for a second I thought I was just thinking about the song, then I realized I was actually hearing it.

Of course, the teenage couple in the book had a far healthier relationship than my sixteen-year-old self could even imagine.

Listening to the song again, I'm struck by how appropriate it really was. It has such a troubled, haunting tone for a love song. Like, if this song played in a love scene in a movie, you'd think the relationship being depicted was probably going to prove to be problematic. If only we could pick up on such nuances in our own lives.

My immaculate dream made of breath and skin
I've been waiting for you
Signed, with a home tattoo,
"Happy birthday to you" was created for you
Can't ever keep from falling apart at the seams
Cannot believe you're taking my heart to pieces
Oh, it'll take a little time,
might take a little crime to come undone now
We'll try to stay blind to the hope and fear outside
Hey child, stay wilder than the wind and blow me in to cry
Who do you need, who do you love
When you come undone?
--Duran Duran

...not to let it get me down that Comcast turned off our cable again, without notifying us first (AGAIN). (I come to you from the apartment complex's business center, which I always forget exists)
...not to think less of people because they have different views than I do, although sometimes it's hard when they're so outspoken about those views.
...to remember that I still have options, and that the world won't end if I don't stick with my current part-time employer.

No offense to mothers and mothers-to-be, but this is effing hilarious. And, too often, true.

Friday was a date-day for Lee and me. Tried out the new Chinese buffet, which was good food but limited vegetarian selection, then went to the mall where Lee bought weaponry. Then movie, then ice cream. It was a very wonderful day.

Movie: Julie & Julia. Very good! Better than expected. I was expecting simply fun movie, but it's actually very inspiring. It made me laugh and cry. Not that it's very difficult for a movie to make me cry. But the entire audience laughed hysterically at multiple scenes, which is a bit more of an accomplishment. Lee and I both really enjoyed it, and found the dynamic of Amy Adams's character and her husband astonishingly familiar.

I really like Amy Adams. I'm glad Enchanted raised her to star status. Although it is rather amusing that, unbeknownst to many of her current fans, she was on one episode of Buffy long before her fame, on which she called Tara a bitch for not being her family's slave. I tried to send Amber Benson a tweet asking how she felt about that, but twitter hates me right now. That's okay, most of the time I hate twitter. I think I remain on twitter for the same reason I went to middle school dances-- I just don't want to miss anything that all the cool kids will be talking about on Monday!

Yesterday, drove to Morristown to see Encore Theatrical Company's production of The Producers. I had never seen The Producers before, stage or film. It's a really funny show, just as I expected. What I didn't expect was the large amount of potentially offensive (albeit satirical) content, which made me surprised that Morristown (Bible Belt Central) allowed it. It's definitely rated PG-13.

The show is right though: a truly bad show that knew it was truly bad would almost certainly be a winner. Which is why I think Broadway should revive the musical version of Carrie. It's the most notorious flop in history; I know I'd want to go see it.

Have not been able to get Sunday's True Blood out of my head all week. TV doesn't normally do this to me-- perhaps because I tend to watch it on dvd. I can't imagine the torment I would have felt if I had watched Buffy in its original run, not knowing from week to week who lives or dies.

( True Blood spoilers )

Is anyone else on the flist watching this, besides me and colorkit? I can't stop babbling about how good it is. Since the first episode, I have wanted to smack Stephenie Meyer and all rabid Twilight fans upside the head with it. THIS is how a vampire love story should go. Some of the vampire lore re-workings are even better than Buffy (although I still think Buffy is the better show overall). But I really appreciate the fact that Sookie is an adult, which means I don't have to think about the creepiness of a minor sleeping with someone hundreds of years her senior, as well as the fact that Bill regularly bites her during sex as just a kink, and there's no angle of "oh, I can't control myself, I want to kill you and that's a compliment!"

I officially start at The Rush Monday at 3:30.
And, then, for my next trick... I have no idea!

Today: family obligations. Later this weekend: Hopefully seeing The Producers, as performed by community theatre.

I searched for an old friend on facebook, and to my surprise, I found a facebook group about her. Following the links led me to the information that she was arrested in May, under the most bizarre circumstances I've ever heard of. She was one of a large group of people participating in a performance art demonstration in downtown Roanoke, VA. Each of these people were sitting or standing on the sidewalks staring at a blank television set. I'm not really sure what the purpose of that was, but hey, freedom of expression, right? That's why it became something of a hot-button issue.

Apparently the police got annoyed with the obstructions of the sidewalk, and although she was on the sidelines, not blocking foot traffic, when the officer asked her for some identification, she didn't cooperate. This apparently led to a pretty big hoopla for the media in that area. The ACLU got involved. She was released on bail within hours of her arrest, and the charges were eventually dropped altogether.

She hasn't responded to my facebook message yet. I really want to hear from her, not because she's recently been a media darling, but because she was at one point a good friend of mine and I've missed her terribly and had no way to get in touch with her. I've searched for her on facebook a couple of times, but this was the first time I got any results. This was certainly not what I expected to find! I wasn't completely sure at first if this was Katherine I knew (although her last name isn't exactly common), but then I saw the video. Yeah, that's definitely her!

According to The video (which is embedded in the above article, but there's also youtube video with more yelling at the end) makes me cringe for a couple of different reasons. On one hand, the police officer seems unnecessarily belligerent from the very beginning. On the other hand, it seems obvious that when an officer is telling you to do something, it's time to break character. That was her reason for not cooperating-- she was following the performance instructions. There's an article about the charges being dropped here.

There's another youtube video that just showcases the performance art. The person talked to at the end says it was open to interpretation. I think it could be read as a statement on the impact of television on our society. And it certainly did end up generating discussion, much more so than intended.

Weird.