avoiding commerce

i need to go out today, unfortunately, and purchase some necessities, but am trying to figure out when the best time to do that will be. i figure the longer i wait, the less likely i will become completely frustrated with the masses of people out being good stewards of their funds and buying their christmas gifts early. me, the hassle is not worth the benefit, no matter how much money i might save. i have so little shopping energy anyway - combine that with the press of flesh today, and i'll be lucky to find what i need today without going crazy. will have to steel myself before i go out, maybe breathe a simple prayer.

was able yesterday to stay by my belief that i should only run when chased. i wavered back and forth between running and not running, but finally decided to walk out of fear that i would get halfway through the running route and be unable to run anymore and end up having to wait for the havens to come and pick me up off the cold, cold ground, frostbitten with icicles of frozen sweat covering my prone body. not the best way to begin a thanksgiving day. so i walked with marissa and josie, which was fun, though the wind about did us in. i'm glad i did it, though i was exhasted the rest of the day. so much for boosting my metabolism.

no surprises at dinner with the fam - turkey, noodles, potatoes (the first i've eaten since the beginning of school), stuffing, corn, pumpkin pie. ate enough at lunch that i didn't eat for the rest of the day (not real food, anyway). but the tryptophan and the turkey walk made me too sleepy to be social in the afternoon. i know, i know, it's part of the tradition. still, i felt bad.

did end up going out that night with the 'rents and seeing pride and prejudice. what can i say, i'm a sucker for jane. now i have never seen the much lauded colin firth version of the book, so i don't have anything to compare it with. and it's been too long since i read it to quibble about the adaptation. but i enjoyed it immensely. not having any preconceived notions of the story or the characters helped i think. a lot more humor (or is that humour?) than i anticipated. and the film was quite lovely to look at and not just because of kiera knightly and rosamund pike.

here's the thing - there was an actual *story* here. too mnay films i've seen lately have been disappointing because they lacked a sense of story - they were more moments loosely tied together without a strong semblance of wholeness. it's what was lacking in elizabethtown and walk the line and even shopgirl. and i wonder if this is a symptom of the times, the fragmented nature of our own stories. are we losing our ability to tell stories? have we become so concerned with moments that we have lost sight of the larger story around us? i fear we may have given up the grandeur of story for the immediacy of moments.

sorry, didn't mean to wax philosphical. let's pull this back down to its normal level, shall we?

i was wondering while watching the film which male character i was most like. i have an idea, but thought it might be fun to get other people's opinions. so, if you read my journal, i'd like you to take a low-tech poll:

which character from pride and prejudice is thurman most like?

A. Mr. Darcy
B. Mr. Bingley
C. Mr. Collins
D. Mr. Wickham
E. Mr. Bennet
F. Other _________________________

off to do something constructive. can't figure out if they will take my leaves again or not, but i might as well get them out of my backyard, if only so i can take the brownhouse's tarp back to them. more later perhaps.
Æ

Tunes: rocket from the crypt - cancel christmas

an evening alone

tonight i spent the evening in the company of myself. most of the people i knew were gone for thanksgiving or preparing to go over the river and through the woods, so i decided to invite myself out for an evening on the town. at first, i was reluctant - some bills came today and they made me a bit worried about spending more money (my student loan payment is now SEVEN times what it was just last month. beauty). but after much cajoling and whining, i finally consented. i headed over to clifton for dinner and a movie. the esquire runs a special on wednesday nights - $6 tickets and 20% off in selected restaurants. not a bad deal. helps me be a pretty cheap date (whole evening was less than $20 - and that includes dinner, the movie, and a waffle cone at graeters). read wicked while we...er...i ate. 100 pages to go. saw shopgirl, starring steve martin, claire danes and jason schwarzman (with mark kozolek thrown in for fun). seeing the movie left me with the same feeling i had after reading the book - a pleasant and sweet sense of melancholy. mirabelle is a lovely character and claire danes did an amazing job bringing her to life. and jason schwartzman was perfect as jeremy - so funny. steve showed his understated side (think the spanish prisoner) and wrote a pitch perfect screenplay (helps if you wrote the book, too). like the book, there's not much there, but you end with a smile on your face and that's more than i can say for many films i see.

to run and not be chased...

somehow i've talked myself in joining kenny and marissa for the turkey run with michael wilson tomorrow morning. yes, i know. i can't really believe it either. i figure with the meal i'll be eating tomorrow afternoon, best to get all the help i can jump starting my metabolism. it will either start a new thanksgiving tradition, or cause me to be immobile all day friday. perhaps both.

so no alexa, like i figured - snow is keeping her at bay. too bad - discovered where the art museum was today (thanks kenny!) and would have been fun to go, especially to see the album cover exhibit. plenty of time, though - i think it's on display until the end of january. which means i'll forget until the day it ends....

thoughts on waiting will have to...well...wait. must get sleep so i'm ready for tomorrow. no talking myself out of it. here's hoping i don't embarrass myself...
Æ

Tunes: sleater-kinner - oh!

let it snow let it snow let it snow

wednesday morning, enjoying far too much the time away from the grind of school. snows a'flurryin' outside the window here. i am slowly catching up on life in blogdom, which has grown quite large for me lately - i'm afraid it's going to become too overwhelming and i'll just give it up completely. feels like TMI at times. but i desire to know, you know?

how lovely to be able to wake up this morning and walk down to prayers. if only i could do this every day. yet another reason why schools should start later. but that's not going to happen in my lifetime, regardless of the evidence that it would be beneficial. expedience triumphs over logic every time.

oh boy, the snow is beginning to stick to the ground. so much for the raking of leaves today.

focus, thurm, firgure out what it is you want to say, if you want to say anything.

meeting kenny joe at 10:00 to see about picking up a couple over the rhine tickets for mr. petit and his girl. here's hoping we can find seats near to us. always afraid this is going to happen, but you have to set cut off dates, right? be good to hang with mr. havens for a while. don't do that nearly often enough.

so furtherwords and i decided the holidays might not be the best time to come down for a visit. will try again after the first of the year. this means i'm going to be on my own for decorating The Grotto. which means it's going to be VERY simple - a tree with lights, probably. i'll see about being more elaborate in coming years perhaps...

found out yesterday that i can access all my non-livejournal blogs at school, but not LJ, because it's blocked. so i created a sister site to this one over at blogger. had thought i might be able to post at school, but realize that to post you have to use the blogger.com address, and it is transferred to the school's homepage. so it might just sit there for a while. i like the community here, but really, it's kinda short on bells and whistles - or else i just haven't figure out how to use them yet.

need to get working on the service for sunday. want to revamp a bit what i'm doing, which will take a little time. which is ok, since i've got nothing planned after meeting with kenny, other than lunch at cici's with julie (yeah, i know, so not south beach friendly, but i've been craving pizza and it's cheap and, well, i don't need any other reason). probably ought to do some work around The Grotto and i'd love to finish off wicked this weekend, but we'll see. funny - i complain endlessly about not having enough time here, and then when i do, i spend it lying around sleeping.

have i mentioned it's snowing? so wonderful.

the holidays are here. Father, help me avoid being too busy to actually enjoy them. and too frantic to keep them "holy days."
Æ

Tunes: old 97s - big brown eyes

inspiration

There is one crown I bear away with me,
And to-night, when I enter before God,
My salute shall sweep all the stars away
From the blue threshold! One thing without stain,
Unspotted from the world, in spite of doom
Mine own!---

And that is . . .

My white plume.