Bedding

I prefer a cold bedroom and many covers rather than a warm bedroom and few covers. I prefer either of the above rather than a cold bedroom and few covers. Washing my sheets today, I liked how the different colors of my many covers lay together on the bed.

Three sentence movie reviews: The Town

The movie that asks the question: If you are dating a charming townie who wants you to go away with him and then it turns out he's part of the band of bank robbers who kidnapped you, should you go away with him?* I found this to be a very fun action/romance which was well acted in all corners. It helps that Ben Affleck (a good director, who I would like to see more of behind the camera instead of in front of it) was playing the classic Ben Affleck character, which he does well.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2010/town_ver2.html

*In fact when I asked the question to Matt the following conversation ensued:

PCC: What if you were dating a nice guy and it turned out that he was a bank robber who kidnapped you?

MAJ: I would say that's not a good sign and you probably should break up.

PCC: But what if HE wasn't the one who kidnapped you, but one of the other guys did and he was didn't want to do it?

MAJ: I think that he still has some problems.

PCC: But what if he was really nice and wanted to change his ways?

MAJ (sighing): I'm so glad I'm not a woman.

PCC: Why?

MAJ: Because we just sleep with the bad girls. We don't try and make a life with them.

Three sentence movie reviews: Bruno

I think Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius, but I personally find his comedic humor cruel and thus, unfunny. Still, the variety of settings "Bruno" visited and made fun of people was impressive. Due to the amount of nakedness, I spent a lot of time contemplating how hard it must have been for Cohen to remove the copious amounts of very dark hair he naturally possesses.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2009/bruno.html

Three sentence movie reviews: Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Inexplicably set in the 1860s, I spent a lot of the movie contemplating just how big the women's sleeves were. Aldous Huxley, (of Brave New World fame) co-wrote the script and I found Lawrence Oliver to be a delightful Mr. Darcy. Not surprisingly, considering we're talking Hollywood here, the story was changed a bit, the most egregious example being the shifting of the role of Lady Catherine de Bourgh's confrontation with Elizabeth Bennett near the end of the film.

poster from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032943/

Santa Con

A great part of living in Portland.

Three sentence movie reviews: Easy A

Hilarious movie full of smart dialogue with actors that are always fun to see: Emma Stone, Amanda Byrns, Patricia Clarkson, Stanly Tucci. I'm feeling conflicted about the ultimate message, but enjoyed myself so much during viewing I don't really care. And the fact that the ending sends up three classic 80s films can only mean I am no longer young.*

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2010/easy_a.html

*The 24 year old Educational Aid at my work has never seen Say Anything. She has never heard of Lloyd Dobler. I get that she doesn't have to get every aspect of my youth, but come on! Lloyd Dobler!

How is that resolution going?

Readers with long memories will recall that my 2010 resolution is to spend 15 minutes per day working at my desk. The order of operations is: banking, inbox, blogs. I printed each month out and I get a star each day I met my goal. You can see how well January went.
A funny thing happened as the year progressed. I started using the calendar to keep track of other things I had accomplished too. This came about because of an excellent connection of the dots. Often times, self-improvement suggestions make the point that if you have done what you want to do to improve, you should reward yourself. I tend to struggle with the "reward" part. Every single reward I can think of either costs money or takes up time I would rather spend doing other things. So the reward concept, though I'm behind it, is something I never really do for myself. I enjoy my life and at the same time have to complete a number of tasks to ensure my life runs smoothly. Then, I read the advice that marking a star on a calendar could be the reward.

Holy cannoli! I think making stars on calendars is the most excellent reward ever. So the stars for the 15 minutes of desk time were next joined by a circle when I practiced my guitar. Then by a triangle if I swept the house for five minutes. Then a square if I spent time looking for a teaching job. And on and on. Now my calendar is full of rewards and I am one happy camper.
Here's a key for everything that can appear on my day:
5 = Get up at 5:00
M = Meditate
G = Garden
Circle = Guitar practice
Square = Teaching job search
Triangle = Sweep the house for five minutes
b = blog
V = cook a vegetable
e = exercise for 30 minutes
E = exercise for 60 minutes or more.
I don't hit my desk time every day, and I think I've only been able to put everything down for the day once, but this is a great way for me to track what I'm doing and seeing how well I'm staying on track.