2011 Recap

Welcome to 2012.

I haven’t updated this since Oct., mostly because I'm very easily distracted by other things, but maybe a little bit because I’m horrible at commitments that rely on only myself.  I suppose I should make some sort of resolution to keep my blog up to date – oh! Wait, I did that last year.  It sort of worked, at least I had a good run for a while.  

I have decided to make more of an effort.  I do miss blogging; it really did help me stay in the habit of writing.  So, to kick that off, here’s what you’ve been missing in my life!

Oct. 

I was going to attempt to do movie reviews while, ahem, altered and successfully did one.  I do have two more to post and will work on getting those edited so they are intelligible. 
 

I had also been training for The Warrior Dash, which took place on Oct 29th.  It was so much fun: a 3 mile fun-run with obstacles, mud, and fire.  I did it in just under 40 mins, which isn’t too much longer than my normal mile-pace (and that included all the obstacles) and I only ended up with some minor cuts and bruises.  I’m already excited for next year’s race. 

Then for Halloween, Boyfriend and I went as Lady Sherlock and Dr. Watson.  Really, it was an excuse to get Boyfriend to grow a mustache, wear a top hat and vest, and essentially dress like Jude Law’s Watson.  Luckily for me he was a good sport about it. AND lucky for the party we went to, Carmen San Diego showed up and tried to steal the Eiffel Tower – through my deductions I was able to prevent this horrible crime to the sounds of Rockapella. 

Nov. 

I had planned on devoting my November to figuring out ways that I could enjoy a satisfying Gluten Free Thanksgiving.  I had plans for pies and stuffing and biscuits and everything.  Needless to say, that did not happen. 

I went up to Oregon in early November to visit my Aunts and my cousins while all the Uncles went on a fishing trip. This involved a lot of card games and chocolate.  Oh, and worrying that there might be a bear wandering around the property.  It was fun.

Because we had a shutdown at work during the week of Thanksgiving, I zoomed down to visit one of my best friends in San Diego.  We watched an insane amount of Doctor Who, drank wine (at one point we went to the grocery store and both bought a jar of salsa and a bottle of wine. Each.), and ate chinese takeaway.  It was absolutely perfect. 

Dec. 

And then suddenly it was December.  Boyfriend and I went to Disneyland with two of our friends – it was a surprise for one of them as a late birthday present.  We did something absolutely crazy like 30 hours in parks over 2 days.  We were completely wrecked at the end of the trip, but it worth it. 

December also happens to be my sister Bear’s birthday and to celebrate, she hosted a Tour d’Franzia.  Let me explain: We had 4 teams of 4, each with a box of Franzia and tricycles, mini bikes, and razor scooters.  It’s a race to the end of the bag so, the first person drinks for 5 seconds then rides around the course (in this case, we were on a cul-du-sac, so we had to basically make a loop from further down the street), once they cross the finish line the next rider drinks and so on.  This lead to everyone being completely gone by about 2pm.  I ended up with a giant contusion on my head from a beer can and a broken toe, complete with bruises all over my body.  The fact that I’m my late twenties means I should know better, I suppose, but it was a blast. 

In contrast, we had a nice low key Christmas and New Years.  I spent the time off work recovering from the aforementioned party.  My foot is still messed up and until this week, I hadn’t been able to get it inside of shoe except an Ugg.  So, yes, I did go to a New Years party in a dress with Uggs on.  

So, yeah.  Those were the highlights of the remainder of 2011.  Here’s to 2012 and the hope that I can motivate myself to stay more on top of my own goals. 

The Fellowship of The Ring

Tuesday night, Boyfriend, some friends, and I went to see The Fellowship of The Ring extended edition in theaters – a special event to coincide with the extended Blu-ray release.  I think I have mentioned my love of The Lord of The Rings before, but Fellowship is hands down my favourite movie in the trilogy.  If my calculations are correct, last night marks the 9th time I have seen it in theaters (the 10th will be this fall when we see the film with a live orchestra playing the score!).

via fathomevents.com

Before the film the regular pre-movie trivia was replaced with LoTR trivia (a bit spoilery if you ask me, though, as Boyfriend pointed out, you probably didn't go to a special showing of the extended cut if you haven't seen/read the trilogy to begin with. He has a point.) and there was an introduction by Peter Jackson.  The theater was packed!

During the three and a half hours of awesomeness the I did the following:

• Point out my favourite facial expressions (notably the little Hobbit girl when Bilbo is telling the Troll story; Legolas after they exit Moria)
• Wave my hands around during exciting bits (read: all of the movie)
• Point out my favourite pieces of the score (The Bridge of Khazad-dûm)
• Lean over to tell Boyfriend some trivia he already knew ("Did you know that the scenes at Weathertop were the first scenes Viggo shot because he was not the first person cast for that part?")
• Lean to the other side to tell the friend the same trivia and in the hope he didn't already know ("Did you know that the scenes at Weathertop were the first scenes Viggo shot because he was not the first person cast for that part?")
• Recite lines in a dramatic whisper ("The trees are strong, my lord. Their roots go deep." "Rip them all down.")
• Count how many lines Orlando Bloom has (around ten, I think)
• Laugh at things that are now funny because of memes ("One does not simply walk into Mordor...")
• Cry at all the sad bits (the breaking of the Fellowship; "I'm glad you're with me, Sam.")

Yes, my friends, watching The Fellowship of the Ring with me is quite an experience. 


Also, despite my love for movie theater treats, I figured the effects of my 6 mile run that morning would hit hard somewhere around the Council of Elrond if I didn't get some proper food in me before the movie.  Boyfriend was nice enough to pick us up a gluten free Tony's Special from Tony & Alba's.  It was meaty and messy and, as you can see, I loved it.

photo by Nicole – instagram'd my me

Congrats! You're a dick.

So, I've been trying this new thing when anyone acts like a complete D-Bag in traffic.

It's well documented that I might have some slight road-rage – or it would be documented if this blog was older, but I'm sure my oral biography will be chalk full of references to incoherent yelling and gesticulating while driving (unless my mom somehow reads this, in which case, I don't do any of that).

One of the best compliments I've ever gotten was from my friend maRk, who said he wanted me to teach his daughter to drive because I drive aggressively, but he is never scared to be in my car.  Others would disagree.  I know Bear is not always a fan of my vehicular stylings, but then again, she no longer has a clock in her car and tends to just zen out when driving.  Not my speed (pun intended), but I appreciate her mellow style.

I've also been told that I drive "like a dude," which, I think, is also a compliment.  I feel very comfortable behind the wheel in most situations, possibly because one of the first times I ever drove, it was in a Suburban pulling a horse trailer on a dirt road so narrow that was one-way for the first half of the hour and one-way in the other direction for the second half.  And I feel like I am generally safe, even if I do tend to drive little fast.  I just have my own style, I think, and I am bothered when people interfere with my style.

You know that part of Highway 17 that comes down from Santa Cruz and hits San Jose becoming 880? And then 880 turns and starts heading North along the East side of the Bay? Well, there is this moment, right past Milpitas, where you are no longer in the South Bay, but in the East Bay, and suddenly everyone drives like a complete A-Hole.  This is a proven scientific fact, by the way.  And this isn't the only place.  There are pockets all over, like the Bermuda Triangle of traffic, that cause people to lose any ability they had to operate a motor vehicle in a socially acceptable way.

Because that's the thing – it's not that people are suddenly becoming unlawful (usually) in their driving.  They just lose any respect for their fellow motorist.  They try to exit the freeway from the far left lane feet before their exit in stop and go traffic; they turn in front of you and then stop inexplicably; they come half way out into the street to see if it's clear. . . the list goes on.

Now, the Meg with the little bit of road rage usually wants to scream when drivers act like that.  I want to gesture rudly at them and say something like: "Your Father Was a Hamster! And Your Mother Smells of Elderberries!"  But that was the old Meg (and taunting French guards).

So, yeah, the new Meg has a plan.  Whenever a total dickbag cuts me off, I've been giving them an ironic thumbs-up.  Like, "Way to go, Guy. You're a total jerk!" or "Awesome, Dude.  You just almost ran me off the road. Rad!"

I know what you're thinking.  Because the accompanying sarcastic remarks are in my head, it might come off like I'm congratulating them for their douchebaggery.  Well, thumbs-up to you, too.

Also, in my head, my thumbs-upping is like that awesome scene in Easy A where Emma Stone's character, Olive, suddenly finds herself friends with Amanda Bynes' character, Marianne, and she has no idea what's going on, so she just keeps thumbs-upping.  I love it.

If you see me doing this at you, congrats! You're a dick.

Do you do anything to prevent yourself from flipping out at someone?  Are you going to try my ironic thumbs-up move?  If you do, let me know how it works for you.  I'm stoked on it, but I suspect that's just me.

Meet Me in the Basement

Oh my god, you guys. I've figured it out.

I'm gonna walk down the aisle to this song some day.

Meet Me in the Basement - Broken Social Scene

Oh! Probably, you should ignore the images and just focus on the music.