Missy | February 27, 2004

This weekend Josh is moving from Chicago to NYC. This is a good thing. In anticipation of your next question, I have no idea if this means I’ll one day be moving to New York. I do know this: it’s going to be much easier for us to spend time together. We’re strong people, but it’s more than just unfortunate that we haven’t been blessed with the thing most couples take for granted, which is having each other around. The infamous ‘they’ say relationships are hard work, and believe me when I say we have really worked at this. I know some people haven’t really taken this relationship seriously (or simply think I’m crazy); I let it roll off of me, for the most part. This is our thing and I don’t need to try to sell it to anyone else.

Once, back in grad school when I used to teach, one of my students told me I have the patience of a saint– in my head I was thinking, “Pshaw!”, (since, you know, I am confronted on a daily basis with my intolerance for things like time wasters or slow walkers). But I suppose it’s true that I am patient when it counts. That’s the biggest thing, you know, and I’m writing it out now so I don’t forget it.

Category: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 26, 2004

Reminder: The Walkmen are playing tonight at the 9:30 Club and as of now, it’s not sold out. If you haven’t heard their new album, just trust me. Of course, I’ve never seen them live, but I’ve a pretty good feeling about it.

UPDATE: Watch the video for “The Rat” here.

Category: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 24, 2004

Forget Premiere magazine or any of that other balderdash. All you need to know about Film in 2004 can be found via Ryan.

Category: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 23, 2004

I don’t know what the hell show I was watching last night, but the stuff that made Sex and the City funny and smart for 6 years was nowhere to be found in the series finale. The complete shift in tone was the first thing to piss me off, and then the silly, badly written dialogue just about sent me over the edge. I don’t mind the way the show ended–we pretty much expected it all anyway–but that Miranda’s storyline wrapping up a few episodes back meant the unnecessary injection of “A Very Special Episode…” was annoying. And since when did Samantha turn into a total sap?

Please tell me I wasn’t the only one disappointed. I hated the fairytale-esque vibe. This had “bad chick flick” written all over it.

Category: Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 21, 2004

Today I’m going to see the Douglas Gordon installation at the Hirshhorn. (Thanks to Skunkeye for the tip.) It’s in the 50’s today and I’m sporting some new sneakers, so maybe I’ll even walk there (or back).

Category: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 20, 2004

I desperately need a vacation. So today I booked a flight to Las Vegas, from where I’m going to drive to Utah (Zion National Park and then St. George) and then hike & do yoga and get massages. In less than a month! Yay!

Category: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Tags:

Lane | February 19, 2004

Sorry, but this just has to be mentioned. Apparently, I am still on the Beastie Boys mailing list from when I signed up for it in 1997 (!). I just got an email from them in which they apologize for the delays in releasing their new album.

Repeat: New Beastie Boys album. WTF? What year is it?

Category: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 18, 2004

The Boudreauxs have returned from their Turks and Caicos trip and have posted pictures. Although it was a yoga-based excursion, I’m pretty sure I spotted beer in one of those photos.

Speaking of yoga, I went to a 9 am class on Saturday and managed to do a little number on my back. (Note to self: no pigeon poses until after 5 pm and then only after you’ve spent a good half hour warming up your spine.) I am old. It was enough to totally wreck my dance class last night; I left before class was even over. I have recently discovered the wonders of an aromatherapy (eucalyptus) + epsom salt hot bath. You guys, I’m ready to melt into bed as soon as I get out, it’s that powerful.

And speaking of dance, I’m totally jazzed for my teacher’s upcoming performance in March at Dance Place. I got a taste of his new project recently at the Kennedy Center Millenium Stage, and I think it’s going to be exciting stuff. (Lane, Will, et.al., lemme know if you’re at all interested–I’m looking at Saturday the 6th. Also, Will, don’t think I’ve forgotten about introducing you to a modern dance class. Helanius teaches a beginner’s class on Mondays that I’m down for if you are. And if Helanius is reading this and asks for your email, I will so give it to him so he can persuade you if I can’t. I AM TOTALLY SERIOUS. The same goes for any of my willing readers.)

Category: Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 16, 2004

I’ve got the day off today, which means it’s movie day. (Yesterday was also a movie day, since I went up to the AFI to see Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar, which crept up and knocked the wind out me.) I’m passing up Miracle and Crimson Gold for the time being to see Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, thus kicking off my Bertolucci project. (I’ve seen a handful of his films years ago, but its’ time to revisit them. Here’s to hoping that retrospective comes to DC.)

Sex and the City: It’s in full wind-up mode, and I think we all saw coming this ending with Big going after Carrie who, unsurprisingly, is not as happy in Paris as she thought. It did get me thinking about something: the idea of moving away from the friends who have become your family. The show has framed it like Carrie is unable to do that, which I can respect in some sense, particularly because her leaving was impulsive rather than genuine. I think she could and probably will do it for Big (if he asks her to move to California, say). If she doesn’t, then she’s got larger avoidance issues (despite her rocky history with Big) than the show has ever addressed. And that’s not about loving your friends and Manhattan; it’s about being selfish and uncompromising, which an episode from a couple of weeks ago handled well, at least for its supporting cast (recall Steve’s insistence to Miranda that it’s not about her anymore when she was bitching about moving to Brooklyn). But we’ll see; I could be eating my words next week.

Re: Angel being canceled: I hope it didn’t have anything to do with next week’s episode being about *puppets*. Seriously, though, I think I’ll officially give up television after this season. Maybe.

An “other things” wrap-up: I saw American Ballet Theatre’s production of La Bayadere last weekend. The cast I saw featured a guest appearance in the role of Nikiya by a tiny but dramatic ballerina who was fantastic. The beautiful (although dreaded, for the corps) “Kingdom of the Shades” was pretty breathtaking, and that long, long trek down that platform, ballerina after ballerina repeating the same 8 counts was relatively wobble-free. (If memory serves, you can see what I’m talking about in the film The Turning Point.) I also had prime seating for gawking–several ABT dancers & staff were in the audience, including the very pregnant Julie Kent (who probably still weighs less than I do), artistic director Kevin MacKenzie, and DC-cum-NYC blogger Kevin Murphy’s sister Gillian.

I was also one of the lucky ones to see The Shins this past week. They didn’t change my life (sorry, I’m paraphrasing a hipster Natalie Portman in the film Garden State, a film I haven’t seen. Never mind.) But, they did put on the live show to beat this year, despite the aggravating inability of Washingtonians to let themselves dance, even a little. But I am positively stoked–did I really just use that word?–for some upcoming shows: The Walkmen (I’m buying their new record today), and The Decemberists (whom I missed the last time they came around).

Category: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 13, 2004

This winter has shown us some pretty spectacular sunsets, and I get a fantastic glow of pink light into my apartment windows in the evening.

Have a good (hopefully three-day) weekend! I will do my best to relax.

Category: Uncategorized | 11 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 12, 2004

My stomach is in knots. There are auditions this weekend for a production of Chicago and if there was ever a show I wanted to do, it’s that one. (And from what I understand, the role of Roxie Hart is still up for grabs.) The problem is one of the commute. It’s way out in Virginia, and rehearsals (assuming I get a part) would all but kill me. (Funnily enough, I’m not at all nervous about auditions…not to sound immodest or anything. I don’t even yet have an audition song rehearsed, but that’s nothing new. I’m the queen of winging it.) What do I do? Deal with it? Pretend I never even heard about auditions? Break down and buy a car? Woe is me.

UPDATE (2/13): I don’t think I’m going to do it. Here are my reasons:
1. It takes approximately 14 times longer to get there (and back, late at night after long rehearsals) than if travelling by car, which I do not own.
2. My interest in doing community theater lapsed a long time ago. That I like this show and there is dancing in it should not be enough to convince me that I’m not getting enough out of my regular, more rigorous dance load, where I am held to a much higher standard, and which is much more than mere entertainment (even if the former means I would be performing rather than just taking class).
3. I am just coming out of a lengthy stressful period at work. I kind of like the idea of having the freedom to take vacations (or at least, long weekends) without feeling guilty. Outside of Christmas, I can’t remember the last time I took a single day off.
4. I already have enough hobbies near where I live.
5. I hate the sound of my singing voice right now.

Category: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tags:

Lane | February 6, 2004

Things I learned at Happy Hour, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bourbon:

10. I thought everyone was saying “Ouzo,” not “Ozu.”
9. Old trip-hop records are not significantly improved by loud, repetitive bongo playing.
8. Oddest non sequitur conversation interrupter of the night: “So how’s old Diane doing these days?” I don’t know who Diane is, or, for that matter, who you are.
7. An attempt to find the America’s Future Foundation (the “AFF”) online yields not only the Arab-American Film Festival but also the “Adult Friend Finder.” Now I have to explain myself to the IT people again.
6. “Beards are the new black.”
5. Missy’s secret recipe for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese™ can finally be revealed: garlic powder!
4. Gene Healy knows where to find a website full of dirty jokes about Objectivists.
3. Playboy’s Host and Bar Book is not only lacking in pictures of naked ladies, it doesn’t even have pictures of cocktails (unlike the best cocktail book ever).
2. T.S. Eliot was a great poet, but his letters to his nursemaid were really boring.
1. Never go in against a Bavarian when Shostakovich is on the line.

Category: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 6, 2004

Last night was a writer/blogger gathering at Gazuza, the place with awful reviews but which was actually an okay joint with decent service. As is my tendency, my night went on far longer than it should have (culminating with a conversation with a 1,300 recordings-owning Bavarian on classical music, knowing that I was so far out of my league I had no idea what I was doing there; he gave me his card so I could email him and ask any music questions, ever). Needless to say, I’m paying for it today. On my palm this morning are the remains of ink pen scribbles that read, “Lane France Paris Mona Lisa”. When my buddy Lane and I hang out together, we fancy big plans for ourselves, see. Once, we decided to drive to Iowa for steaks, and naturally, we never went. I suspect that France, too, is a little ambitious, but we’ll see! (We even tried to convince Will to come along by offering to help him write his dissertation. Mind you, I was about 5 or 6 glasses of wine in at this point. Also, the whole point in going is to overcome the terror the Mona Lisa inflicted upon me as a child–that woman might as well have been the Boogey Man, in my mind.) While I was gushing on & on about France (while simultaneously, I think, freaking out over Jeanne Moreau’s being in town) during the cab ride home, Lane says, “How about we just start with the Ozu retrospective?”

Speaking of film, Josh’s funny Sundance piece is up in the Voice. (UPDATE: More here.)

Category: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 4, 2004

[Note to the handful of Angel viewers left in the world: Best. Episode. Ever. Hilarious, lighting-quick dialogue and a brief & heartbreaking return of Cordy (make that good 'n bitchy Cordy). I'm not sure why Lindsay was using the name 'Doyle' (aside from a contrived reference) but check out that big honkin' belt buckle. Yikes.]

Category: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Tags:

Missy | February 3, 2004

In today’s Washington Post, Marc Fisher (finally, somebody, anybody!) gets at my long-growing annoyance with and waning patience for WPFW, the local listener-supported jazz station (but member station of the Pacifica network). Mind you, I have been a listener of and a donor to the station practically since I moved here. Anymore, weeks will go by before I flip to it on the radio, and I haven’t made a donation in at least a year. Think dwindling actual jazz programming (even though the station’s mission is to serve as a cultural resource for jazz) and an increase in fringe political commentary. No thanks.

UPDATE:
And since I’m in a particularly foul mood today, let’s talk about yoga. Specifically, let me just vent about discovering just a few minutes ago that one of my yoga class cards expired yesterday (I study in two places, and with both I buy multi-class passes that are good for about 90 days) with four classes left on the thing. I might as well have just set two $20 bills on fire. Can I also mention that yoga classes have come and gone in the past week because I completely lose track of time at work? Crap. Maybe if I go today, they won’t notice. Or maybe if I beg (along the lines of, “If *I* don’t need an attitude adjustment, then who does?”), they’ll feel sorry for me. Oh, and plus we’ve had some weather-related cancellations! UPDATE#2: Crisis averted. My pass got extended.

Category: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tags: