Me? A Technical Expert? Sheesh!

You have got to be kidding me. That was my reaction when my friend, DD, asked if I could help her with her computer. She was finishing up a move to a different place and wasn't sure if she could get it all put together. I surprised myself by saying, "Sure, no problem."

Luckily, it was no problem.

Lots of cables and equipment, but by the time I took it all apart, carted it out to the truck, brought it to her new place, unloaded all the pieces, and started piecing it back together, the cables and equipment all got plugged into the correct places…I think. ;-) 

Okay, her DSL wasn't working when I left, but I think when you move you have to let your DSL provider know the new phone number so they can do something, right? I hope so, 'cause I hate to think I screwed something up. I like being a technical expert…

Hmmm…I think I hear my inner brat snickering at the thought.

On the Waterfront - wow

How come I've never seen this before? Sure, I've seen scenes from it; especially the "I could've been a contender," scene. I watched it last night and was walloped with what was going on in some of the scenes. I was only paying partial attention too, but I found myself crying when that famous scene in the taxicab is played out. Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy is heartbreaking as he talks to his brother, played by Rod Steiger.

Tonight, I'm watching all the bonus features, and think I'll watch the commentary version: it's Richard Schickel and Jeff Young (director Elia Kazan's biographer). Anyway, I just have to accept that when a movie is a classic, there's usually a darn good reason. I've put some other top movies onto my Netflix queue and hope I have the same reaction.

Tired, but Film Festival almost there

After a glorious Memorial Day weekend involving swimming, baseball (playing it with a seven-year old and a two-year old), a family birthday party, and just having a good time I feel, oh so, wiped. Work today was a chore. 

After work our DFA film festival committee held a meeting. I didn't want to go, but it turned out rather inspiring. We've done so much work and so much has come together. I still need to get a few more volunteers to help out, but we have TV ads, newspapers ads, and articles coming out this week. With some great movies, including "The Big Buy" (all about Tom DeLay), this should be a great event. 

More information can be found at http://www.dfaflagstaff.org/.

Memorial Day Weekend

I'm in the Phoenix area this weekend. Yesterday was our big family birthday party: the "halfly". We had been doing "quarterlies," where the family gathers four times a year to celebrate the birthdays of that quarter, but it got a little difficult; half the birthdays are in the last quarter. As it was also hard to plan four different events, we decided to go to birthday parties twice a year, thus the "halfly". 

Held at my sister's place, the group of us got to break in the use of the swimming pool (very nice!), plus enjoy the use of the media room, with a big screen. There is nothing more fun than being the only adult in a room with two seven-year olds and two two-year olds watching "Star Wars." Man, I was in heaven.

There will be more swimming today and playing with my nephew David's birthday presents, once they get back from church (I'm the problem child who doesn't go to church, well, not if she can help it).

I hope everyone, who lives here in the States, is taking advantage of the holiday weekend. 

It’s Dawn’s Fault

I did something that I may regret. I re-applied to the graduate college at NAU, the university I work for. My friend and co-worker, Dawn, is one of those weird people who has no problems taking classes and working full time. It's unnatural and I don't understand it. Oh sure, I've taken classes and worked at the same time, but I'm usually only good for one semester at a time - I always seem to need a "break" after I go crazed near the end of the semester, so three years go by before I take another class. Dawn is completing her Master's degree, taking two classes each semester. Unnatural, I tell you.

I had started a graduate degree in Political Science, if you think started is taking one class before my usual "break" occurs. Well, the three years are up. It's time to wrap up my "break" and get back to work. After all, I have one of the best benefits in the world: free tuition.

I'm just not ready to work on the grad degree I started. This is where Dawn is to blame. She was talking up the program she's working on while she also works towards her degree. She's earning a Certificate in Professional Writing. At first it didn't sound appealing, but she has some good sales techniques (curse you, Dawn!) and I checked it out here. I could complete it online and I know some of the professors. Hmmm…well, today I checked with the graduate college to change my status. I had been "discontinued" (doesn't that sound lovely?), but it only takes an application as a non-degree seeking student to "continue" me. I talked to the prof and he thinks I'll fit right in. He even made me feel better. I'm such a worry-wart about my writing skills; I never think I measure up to other students, but the prof says no problem - I'm in good shape as far as writing goes.

The upshot to all this? I'm starting a class on June 5th: Advanced Technical Writing. So, if my blogging goes lagging this summer, we all know who to blame. It's Dawn's fault.

Two-movie day

I need to review "Kinky Boots" and plan to see it today at the mall, but the one that's going to get me out of bed and my butt in gear is "X-Men: The Last Stand."

 Update: "X-Men: The Last Stand" was entertaining. Make sure you sit through all the credits for a lovely little moment that most people missed.

Alien Life Form?

This YouTube video is a hoot.

Thanks to today's Cheers and Jeers by Bill in Portland Maine (a regular post on DailyKos).

Birthday present = over 1000 hits

Man, today I reached a 1000 hits on this blog. What a birthday present! Yes, I know that reaching 1000 hits is small red potatoes (versus large baking potatoes) in the blogging world, but when I started this blog in March I wasn't sure I'd even keep on with it. 

Of course, probably a quarter of those hits were from me, forgetting to log in and just hitting the link to this site. Still, I be happy. Friends and family are visiting and some strangers stop by every now and then too. 

My blogging style - with Jumblies

I stumbled upon Expert in Jumblies' blog and his description of how he blogs (listed in his About page) made me laugh. It so describes my way of blogging. It also makes me smile, because he just sounds so . . . so . . . British:

Hello world. Expert in Jumblies is a blog written by me from a little (messy) room in the North East of England, usually while I'm still in my dressing gown (nicely demonstrated by the horrible photo). So what's this all about, eh? In a nutshell, I notice stuff that I think I might want to write about, then if I think it's worth it I eventually do write about the stuff that I noticed that I thought I might have wanted to write about when I first noticed it;…errr…yes.

Ooh, I wonder where in the North East of England? I lived in Suffolk for two years. Wonder if he's in that neck of the woods?

Posting to Blog while in a Blogging workshop

Just kind of wacky-time. Dawn is doing a wonderful presentation on blogs, so, of course, I want to post to my blog. Dawn is the one who got me blogging again when I sat through another workshop she gave on blogs. She told me about WordPress!

I just know that Dawn will read this later and know why I was typing. 

Happy Birthday to me!

It's that day when I wax nostalgically about my younger days and also admit that I AM getting older. Hmmm , , , wait , , , I do that every day and not just on my birthday!

My birthday present to me? Heading for my office instead of going to the conference on campus. Do I know how to spoil myself, or what? I just need some time to work on a project in a quiet environment.

Speaking of waxing nostalgically, how come I never get to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey anymore? Now, that was a great birthday party back in 1963. They don't make them like that anymore!

Conference time

This week is our E-Learning Institute, which I am very involved in, but who wants to work? During this last session I am hanging out in our open lab, but I'm not needed. So, time to surf and post to my blog.

Yeah, I am obviously not an over-achiever.

My Liza with a Z review

I've just posted my "Liza with a Z" review to my Reviews pages. It was published in Flag Live last week.

Filmbrain’s quiz

I've become addicted to Filmbrain. It's the darn Screen Capture quiz that gets me every time.  I'm a movie buff and can often guess a lot of movies just from one image, but Filmbrain doesn't go for easy ones: these are hard. I found the answer to the latest, but it took a lot of guess work.  Can you figure it out (and please, don't blab it here)?

Yard Sales, the Da Vinci Code, and The Ringer

What does a gal do after getting up early to help out with our big DFA yard sale (raising money to help finance our free film festival), go help a friend move (the power of having a pickup truck), seeing The Da Vinci Code to review, and then go shopping for some summer clothes? Why sit back and watch Johnny Knoxville in The Ringer.

The yard sale looks to be a success. I'm hoping we have made lots of money. It's amazing what sells. Tons of people showed up.

I had heard bad things about The Da Vinci Code, so wasn't thrilled that it was my movie this week. I had read the book and got a kick out of it, so had wanted to see the movie. The Da Vinci Code had its moments, but the movie couldn't match the book. Of course, the novel was lots of exposition - kind of hard to write a good script that is faithful to the book. It's a rare movie based on a bestselling novel that succeeds. Anyway, I'll be writing my 270-word review tomorrow night.

So, now I'm watching The Ringer. Very interesting. I may have more to say once it is over, but I'm enjoying it now.