FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  This year I have seen more current movies, in a theater than I have in ages.  I LOVED American Hustle and completely disagree with the "critic"  who wrote that it was a hot mess and over rated.  In my opinion he  has too little knowledge and experience of the world to be a critic and maybe has a hard time admitting he couldn't follow a smart script.  We are hoping to see Gravity and Her before Oscar night.  The only big movies we have not seen yet.

By the way, we saw Nebraska, I didn't find it all that great but Tom loved it.  It was of a similar pace as Llewyn Davis, which I also thought was okay, but not my favorite Coen Brother's movie.

I think my favorite movie of the year was Blue Jasmine.

2.)  At work there is a full frig, but no ice maker or cube trays so I buy ice to use for my iced tea habit.  Printed on the bag is "Ice is food, too."  Concerned that, like catsup, the FDA had determined the ice to fulfill a food group, I looked it up.  

The FDA considers ice to be a food when it comes to cleanliness, sanitation, packaging and transportation rules.  Good to know.

The downside of looking things up is finding out stuff you didn't want to know...like the kid who did a science fair project testing the bacteria levels in restaurant ice in comparison with their toilet water.  The toilet water won.

3.)   So apparently the Huffington Post put something on Twitter asking for nominations of outstanding women in 2013.  The Girl Scouts re-tweeted (sorry if I have that wrong - not being a tweeter) and now Fox "News" has declared war on the sale of GS cookies because a couple of the women on the list support  reproductive rights; therefore the Girl Scouts are actively promoting abortion within their ranks.

Sigh.

I don't really like GS cookies and rarely buy them - but I will this year.

3.)  Super statistician Nate Silver picks the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl!!! WooHoo!

STILL HERE

When these dour moods descend on me I alternately fight and succumb.  My mood lifts for several days and

plunges again.  The voice in my head says "snap out of it!" and I am very aware I have so little to complain about.  But comparing ourselves to others doesn't resolve our own feelings and sometimes I think we just need to lay low and let things percolate and purify.

I realize that the post holiday let down is a matter of riding on a high of activity and family and when it is over I am simply tired.  With work it has been a long 3 months of carrying the load of  3 jobs all on my own and now with my co-worker back I can let myself slump in my seat and feel the stress of it. ( I also feel the lack of compensation for it - but that is another matter.)

Then the little things seem to pile on - the loss my bracelet that I have worn daily for nearly 20 years feels like a slap by the universe.  I am sure someone found it and recognized it's value (an early David Yurman piece) and chose not to turn it in.  That adds to the misery of it for some reason.

Stupid things like dropping a container of yogurt, spattering my clothes as I was about to leave for work.  Hitting all the red lights. Not being able to find the bath gel I like in any of the 5 stores I visited. The hot water heater breaking and the landlords, once again, not answering calls and e-mails.  All ordinary things, yet of late seem to be flung at my head in a cosmic game of dodge ball.

So, still here.  Still whining. Still have nothing interesting to say. Maybe next week I'll manage to read something interesting and think of something new to say and find the bright side again.

FUNK

I am in a funk.  I lost my favorite bracelet that I have worn for nearly 20 years. It is too damned warm and sunny.  Maybe it is a post-holiday thing.  I am just blue.

I'll catch up when I exit the funk.

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  I guess am settling into being 60 now.  I actually piped up and asked for the Senior Discount at
Walgreens yesterday - 10% off every Tuesday!


2.)  We went to see American Hustle last Saturday - what a powerhouse cast of amazing actors.  It was second only to Blue Jasmine on my movie list for the year.  We also saw Inside Llewyn Davis  a week or so ago - a bit slow moving but the music was great.  Tom wants to see Nebraska this weekend - anyone seen that one?

3.)  Having 10 days off work was great and really made me look forward to having every day off work...


4.)  We took our new bike rack out for the first time last weekend - we drove to Martinez and then rode our bikes over the Benicia Bridge, all around the downtown and marina and then back to Martinez.  It was about 22 miles altogether.

It was another amazingly warm winter day - we don't know how much longer this weather is going to hold but plan to take advantage of it while it is here.


5.)  Finished our book club selection Cukoo's Calling, which was very good and dove right into The Goldfinch which is sooo excellent.  I have read one good book after another this past year.  So satisfying.

6.)  One of the owners of the company I work for had a hissy fit a few months ago when the flu started going around and made a big deal about everyone getting a flu shot.  She quizzed everyone for weeks about getting the shots and freaked out when I was stuffed up even when I assured her it was just allergies.

This week she came into work sick as I have ever seen anyone.  We were all just cringing and practically bathing in hand sanitizer.  Her daughter is our office manager and kept telling her to go in her office, close the door and keep away from everyone but she just kept dragging people in there or walking around touching the door handles, the printer and the schedule book which is kept on my desk.  We sanitized everything in her wake.

Now we are all watching each other for signs that we caught her bug (it appears it might have been H1N1 and she finally got drugs from her doctor) - so far I think we dodged the bullet.

This weekend will tell.  Hope you all have a nice, healthy one!