indulgence

I’m starting my own meme, even though I’m well aware that the word “meme” cannot describe a single occurrence of a post. So go, re-post, tell your friends what you consider a luxury. Don’t make me a liar.

Top Ten Indulgences,
or these are a few of my favorite things

1. Buying and consuming antipasto as a meal, including some combination of the following: olives (stuffed or otherwise), French bread, expensive cured meats (prosciutto, hot coppa, Italian salami), expensive cheeses (teleggio, [fresh] goat cheese, brie, camembert, gruyere). And, of course, red wine.

2. Reading in a hot bath. (This is why Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has now been dropped in the water twice, but it’s a paperback so it’s still intact and readable.)

3. Splitting an entire bottle of Spanish champagne (sparking wine, for sticklers) with my girlfriend (I’m a big fan of Freixenet, which isn’t incredibly expensive but still very good.)

4. Sleeping in on a lazy Sunday morning. (Even better if April’s also sleeping in, which is a rarity since she’s much more of an early bird than I.)

5. Drinking a cup of Fortnum and Mason tea (preferably Assam Superb, English Breakfast, or Darjeeling) with sugar and a little cream. I love this anytime, but it’s especially comforting on a grey, rainy/snowy day. The effect of the tea is significantly augmented by cucumber sandwiches, but I don’t have the energy (nor do I ever have the ingredients on hand) to make these.

6. Spending an afternoon/evening/day rampantly watching an entire season (or as much as I can handle) of a television show, usually while simultaneously rearranging my furniture or my closet, while wrapping presents (around Christmas), while packing, while sick, or simply when I’m feeling incredibly lazy and indulgent. This was much easier to accomplish with Sex and the City, Newsradio and Neverwhere than when I tried to re-watch the entire second season of The L Word (with some fast-forwarding, I’ll admit) in one night or than I suspect it will be with Bad Girls or Firefly (longer episodes).

7. Writing silly postcards to friends wherein I quote long passages from plays, books or films without any explanation and then sign my name and stick them in the mail.

8. Making travel plans to visit friends without other academically (or fiscally) viable reasons for traveling (museums, theatre, conferences, etc.)—like visiting Chris in MN (where we spent five days watching CSI and going to the movies) or going to LA to spend time with Hilary and her Couch.

9. Cooking elaborate meals, often with several courses (at least salad, entrée and dessert) and a bonus if it takes me more than two hours to cook.

10. Making absurd lists with no inherent use-value of their own when I should be working (this includes memes, surveys, polls and to-do lists that I will never refer to again). Part and parcel of Number 10 is spending long hours on LJ (or otherwheres on the Interweb) reading/writing fan fiction and reading/writing blog entries.

a tedious to do

To-do lists are curious and specious creatures. Everytime I strike something off, I believe for one, blissful second that I can rejoice in my achievment, and then at least five other pressing tasks seem to take its place, swirling up out of nowhere with malevolent determination. I find this frustrating. So very, very frustrating.

My to-do list as of yesterday morning:
1. Finish L-Word Paper

My to-do list now:
1. Finish L-Word Paper
2. Prepare for Class (by 12:30)
3. Call Vet/Pick up Cat
4. Clean house (in time for April's dissertation group tonight)
5. Grade Papers (over weekend)
6. Re-read and newly read some articles/books for my dissertation prospectus (begin over weekend)
7. Rewrite my dissertation prospectus (by February 27)

I mean really. How does it do that?

because everyone's my friend in new york city

I'm uncommonly excited about going to NYC in a few weeks (mscalculus, did you get my email?!). The Whitney Biennial begins in March, I might finally see Wicked, and I'll get to visit some of my favorite people. How excellent. The only downside is that April won't be able to come with me, but she promises to plan a trip with me later in the spring/summer. So it's not so bad if her absence means I get to go twice in one season!

Speaking of visiting, if you're going to be in New York City between Friday, March 10th and Tuesday, March 14th, drop me a line.

adjective soup for the soul

I'm quite intrigued by the pscyhology of the Johari window, so click on the link if you want to help me see how the "me"-experiment works out. :)

Aviva's Johari Window

beat the day

In the spirit of good counsel, wonderful friends, productivity and general good cheer, I offer a panel of one of my favorite comic strips, Count Your Sheep. And to the artist of this strip, Adrian Ramos, should he ever happen into my LJ: no copyright infringement is intended. Consider this free publicity!

(Make sure to click on the image below for the full-sized version so you can actually read the speech ballons.)

imagine me & you

So, April and I went to see a special preview of Imagine Me & You the other night, and the film's officially made it onto my (short) list of good lesbian romantic comedies. (This is a very short list...right now Saving Face [still my favorite] is the only other queer comedy I'm willing to own up to liking.) In any case, Imagine Me and You is definitely worth seeing. It's cute, it's funny (some definite laugh-out-loud moments), it's quirky, and the actors are excellent (with the British accents as a bonus for an Anglophile like me). One important note: I'm a huge fan of the typical sweet, sometimes silly romantic comedy; don't go to the cinema under the (false) impression that because it's an "independent" film that it's going to break the boundaries of genre convention. Imagine is a bit cheesy, although no more so than almost every other (heterosexual) romantic comedy, and all the loose ends are neatly and happily resolved by the end of the film as has become de rigueur for the genre. But unless you really hate seeing other people happy or can't stand it when everything in a film isn't completely believable and realistic, I can't imagine why most people wouldn't enjoy an hour and half of likeable characters, amusing dialogue, and pretty girls exchanging looks full of longing and clandestinely kissing. What's not to like?