rivka

The "favorites" edition...

vom_marlowe: We're due a snowstorm here. I was thinking of that time we went to the ski cabin, and had a Finnish sauna. Do you remember that? That was sooooo much fun. It's one of my favorite memories.

What's a favorite memory of back then?

I do remember that. All my ski cabin memories are really happy. I wonder if the ski cabin is still like it always was, and if they still keep it unlocked so that I could go there if I wanted to. (I remember the directions.)

I really loved the Reed formals. I loved the way everyone got so dressed up, by whatever definition they personally had for "dressed up," and the way the majority of the clothes were obviously from secondhand stores. I had a perfectly amazing formal dress, rich black velvet with a wide band of dangling jet beads at the neckline. It made me feel gorgeous. The formals I remember best had fantastic swing/jazz music. I love dancing to that. And at formals I always felt like I could walk up to people and ask them to dance. (That was probably all those bottles of vodka they kept stashed under the tables so that the bars could clearly be seen to be serving just juices and sodas.)

fairoriana: Which other countries in the world do you feel the most association to? Why?

I don't really feel personal connections to other countries, although I have fond memories of Scotland (where Michael and I honeymooned) and Wales (where I went with my sister), because in both places I had a wonderful time and the locals were incredibly nice to us. I have a little faint intellectual interest in where my ancestors came from, but it doesn't make me feel connected to those places. I'm an assimilated American, the third generation born in the U.S.; the "old country" doesn't have much meaning for me.

There are plenty of countries that I'm interested in and would like to visit, but I think that's a different question.

marykaykare: What's your favorite piece of jewelry? What do you look for/attracts you most about pieces you buy?

I wear very little jewelry. I have a couple of Elise Matthesen necklaces - I couldn't say what drew me to them, because they just reached out and grabbed me in a process that was entirely emotional; it bypassed my reasoning mind.

I will say, however, that I'm coming up on ten years of marriage and I have still never seen a ring prettier than my engagement ring.

patgreene: What's your all-time favorite movie, and why?

Casablanca. Because it's so beautifully filmed, and because it's such an incredible cornerstone of our culture, and because it's so well-acted that even when I should be rolling my eyes, I don't.

guruwench: If you've watched any of the Muppets, who's your favourite, and why?

I like Beaker best. Doesn't everyone?

chargirlgenius: What's your favorite section of the Walters? What kind of art really speaks to you?

My favorite section is the Chamber of Wonders, the recreation of a 17th century nobleman's private house museum. I love the way art and natural history pieces and artifacts are jumbled together. Plus it reminds me of a very strange book I enjoyed, Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder.

I am pretty ignorant about art. My personal tastes run towards outsider art, the kind of thing that's exhibited at the American Visionary Art Museum. And I saw a truly amazing exhibit of trompe l'oeil paintings at the National Gallery a few years ago, which I still remember vividly. But for the most part I would rather go to a history, science, or natural history museum than an art museum.

Oh, what a wonderful evening.

Michael and I had already arranged for a babysitter even before we realized that it was the tenth anniversary of our first kiss. Our plan was to go shopping to pick up some miscellaneous things we'd need for SUUSI, and then see the new Pixar movie, Ratatouille.

In a whirlwind shopping trip, we picked up two pairs of shorts and some new underpants for Alex (on our list), plus an adorable embroidered boatneck shirt and some new sunglasses (not on our list). Then we went down to the Eddie Bauer outlet, where I got two pairs of long shorts (desperately needed, and on the list) and two lovely V-neck T-shirts in pale green and cranberry red (not on the list, but too nice to resist).

Then it was on to the toy store. I wanted to get Alex a small present which we could produce in the car when she started to melt down about being tired of driving - we picked a small travel Magnadoodle, and also couldn't resist a 98-cent package of Superballs, which will go on our "rainy days and bad moods" shelf of dollar-store treats.

And then! With fifteen minutes left before our movie! We walked by a Clarks of England store, and I begged Michael to let us go in quickly and see if by any miraculous chance they had sandals that were remotely similar to the best sandals in the world.

See, I swear those things are the most wonderful and comfortable sandals I've ever owned. They've got removable footbeds, which means that by removing just the left footbed I can automatically compensate for my leg length discrepancy. I can squeeze by with wearing them to work, because mine is a relatively informal office. And did I mention that they are so! Insanely! Comfortable? ...They haven't been available anywhere online except in tiny micro-sizes. I've looked and looked, to no avail. But when we walked by the outlet, I suddenly thought, "Maybe they have other sandals with removable footbeds." So we went in.

And they had my sandals. The perfect ones! In my size!

As we waited in line at the interminably slow register, with the minutes ticking down towards our movie time, I asked one of the employees to see whether they had any other pairs in back. And they did... but only in a hideous charcoal-and-light-gray combination. "I'll just take the one pair," I said to the woman working the register. At which point, the man leaning over her shoulder and typing on her keyboard said, "I'm just checking to see if they have any more in the warehouse... if they do, we'll ship them to your home at no extra cost."

So now I have two brand-new pairs - or I will in a few days, after the pair I ordered from the warehouse ships - of the World's Best Sandals, the sandals I thought I would never be able to replace. And the man who ordered them for me gave me his card, and told me to give him a call if I want any more. *dreamy sigh*

Then we saw the movie, and it was amazing. But lots of other people have already posted about that. Go see it! (Especially if you love food. Or rats. Or Paris. Or CGI.)

Came home to discover that Alex had a dream evening with Dorian. Their relationship is something amazing. Dorian seems to enjoy it as much as Alex does. She reported that, while they were out for a walk, she asked where they were going and Alex told her, "We are going to California, you and me." Where has Alex even heard of California?

What a great night for all four of us! And for my happy, happy feet with their new-sandals-to-be. Yay.

saoba and I went to see Bride and Prejudice, which I absolutely adored. It's an extraordinarily silly Bollywood rendition of Pride and Prejudice - every ten minutes or so the story grinds to a halt for an elaborately costumed and choreographed musical number. I was disposed to like it from the beginning, but from the moment the troupe of Indian transvestites showed up to waggle their hips at a young bride-to-be, I was lost. I stayed lost right up through the triumphant conclusion with the painted elephants. For frivolous eye candy - which was exactly what I was in the mood for today - Bride and Prejudice can't be beat.

This evening, as we settled down to watch the pregame show (Opening Day!!!), I started having contractions. Every seven minutes. For more than an hour. "If it goes on like this until nine, I'll call the midwife," I told saoba, who allowed as how that was a sensible plan. At eight-thirty, the contractions stopped. At least this time wasn't like Friday night, when the hour's worth of every-seven-minutes contractions was painful enough - and unresponsive enough to attempts to stop them, such as a half-glass of wine and a warm bath - that curiousangel ran around putting our toothbrushes and things into the hospital bag.

I begin to doubt that I will ever have this baby.

We saw it. There were elements of it that were visually impressive - some good fight scenes and chase scenes - but overall I thought it was dire. I was laughing at lines I'm pretty sure George Lucas wanted me to be moved by.

Nothing I say about the movie could possibly match this stunning summation elsewhere:

Yes, the visuals are ravishing--although even there my suspension of disbelief broke down at times, for Lucas's technological world is so incoherent that the CGI is less the equivalent of a roller-coaster ride than being rolled downhill in a barrel full of Occam's Best.

But the dialogue! I feel like I've been beaten on the head with a Stupid Stick for 2-1/2 hours. It is an amazing accomplishment, as though the script were created by an act of spontaneous generation, without the intervention of a writer.

But we will watch it again. Deborah figured out how to enjoy it: pretend it's opera. We know the plot, have it linked to the visuals and the wonderful music of John Williams. Next time we'll pop it in the DVD player and select a language we don't understand. Deborah wants Swedish. I'd like German so I can catch a word or phrase here and there.

Then we'll be able to enjoy the myth without distraction.