The Lost Boys

So, Netflix sends me The Lost Boys, starring the ever-delicious Kiefer Sutherland. All right, so the title obviously tells me we're alluding to Peter Pan, which is cool. 'Cause who doesn't love a good Peter Pan story?

Well, this is like Peter Pan...on crack. The concept of never growing old, living forever...makes a nice connection between those lost boys and these...but the whole bit about them needing a mother, and the lengths "Peter" (who, in this case, is named Max) will go for it...scary.

In other news, all 106 pages and 25 minutes of my future are ready to go for Monday. I'm not feeling good or bad about the prospect of this one getting graded...I'm just glad I'll be done with it. And, I'm sorry, but English is by far one of the most complicated portfolios to do. Sheer amount of stupid shit they require is mind-boggling.

Oh, back to Kiefer Sutherland...24 is continuing to get some bad press on cable news because of its portrayal of Muslims as terrorists. I don't know how I feel about this. I mean, I like the show, and I guess I understand how some people might take it to heart but at the same time...our world climate, one that is not that far removed from the lives of the people on the show, is filled with a group of Fundamentalists who can't stand us. Some have tried to make the point that if it was the Christians or the Jews they were portraying this way, the show wouldn't fly. My point (and if this comes across as racist, I'm sorry) is that in other countries/areas of the world, one could portray Fundamentalist Christians or Jews that way and, for that area of the world, it would be accurate. Does it make much sense in the United States, where the show is set? No. But if 24 was set in Palestine, one could believe that without too much difficult.

That's probably going to piss some people off. Well, I've done that on this blog before.

And now, I'm going to be a loser and go to bed at 9:30 on a Friday night.

Another look

As many of you know (or don't, but are going to find out momentarily), I have loathed the novel Ethan Frome since I read it in...junior(?) year of high school. Or maybe it was sophomore year. Ms. Amanda will probably remember. Anyway, I despised this book, I only remembered it being the Worst. Book. Ever.

So imagine my surprise when one of my co-workers (a social studies teacher) starts talking about how much she loved the book and how we should teach it at my school because the kids would really get into it. I moaned and groaned about it, and then she said "You have to read it again! I read it as an adult and loved it."

All right, I says to myself, I'll give it another go. So I brought home a copy we had at work (we've got plenty), but put off reading it in lieu of less heady things. It's a short one, though, so I decided, after finishing my last one, I'd give it a go.

So far, I have come to the following conclusions. Bear in mind, I'm only through Chapter Three:

1. Ethan's marriage to Zeena makes no sense; what on God's green Earth did he see in this woman?
2. The cousin, Mattie, is a total flake.
3. Once you know the color red is important, it's kind of hard to miss.

Two unrelated topics

Last night, instead of getting some sleep to really beat my illness, I stayed up and finished the last hundred pages or so of Kushiel's Scion. I liked this series on the whole, and I'm hoping Jacqueline Carey writes another one to finish the story; Imriel's mother is still out there, after all. Some people might have a problem with the series, as there is a lot of sex in it, some of it a little weird, but it all makes sense within the universe Carey has created. Sometimes I wonder if she created this Earth-yet-not-Earth specifically to write the sex, but whatever. Anyway, the sex was more out of place in this book than in the first three, but I expected it to be there so it didn't catch me off guard. It's fantasy but not in your traditional sword-and-sorcery kind of way, so people out there might be interested.

On another, more depressing note, I've worn really cute underwear three days in a row and have had no one to share it with. Sigh for my singledom.

To continue the childhood flashback

I was discussing the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie with my brother over dinner, and also the new live-action Transformers movie, and he got all excited about this trip down memory lane, showing off his knowledge of the original Transformers: The Movie from 1986. I don't know how many of you remember this movie, but it was pretty cool for its day. Well, I bought it for the Boy for Christmas and before long it was out, and the whole family was in the living room watching it. Oh. My. God. First of all, there are some high-class names in this movie: Leonard Nimoy, Orson Welle, Judd Nelson...Very cool. Some of this movie..hella cheezey. No question. The music is so unbelievabley 80s power ballad stuff that we all wanted to die. The best part, though, was that my brother almost remembered the whole thing word for word: including the music. His girlfriend didn't know what to do with him. The rest of us just laughed. Still, I got a toast from my brother, thanking me for bringing the movie back into his life. My work here is done.

Assorted topics

I saw a woman walking into the gym today wearing a tie and a button down shirt with some gray pants. She looked incredibly stylish and, for a moment, I totally wanted to be her. The biggest problem (I suppose other than the fact that I can't tie a tie) is that her shoes were REALLY cute, but totally impractical for someone who teaches on her feet all day like me. Ah well.

I'm a gym reader, as most of you know. I sometimes read deep and meaningful books at the gym. This, I suppose, is counter-intuitive to many, but if I'm a captive audience for 35 minutes, I usually make some headway. Other times, however, I read hella-fluff. Like right now, I'm reading Girls in Pants, which is the third in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. It's actually pretty good for YA lit, although one of the characters is increasingly irritating. In reality, Lena is a lot like me, which is probably why she pisses me off. Anyway, I left the book on the treadmilly while I went to find a holder for it, and the woman on the machine next to me was staring at the book and at me. I couldn't figure out if she was horrified that I was reading it, or amused.

I was so excited because, after thinking my iPod was dead yesterday and then realizing it just had a hella-low battery on account of the iTrip my brother bought me which isn't working (another story), I finally had music today. But...I forgot my headphones, 'cause I'm a tool. So, no music for the Lady again on the treadmill. At least the gym music didn't suck too much.

Speaking of iPods, I got my new cover with some Christmas Money.

After ten days with my seniors, they are starting to bore me. They've lost all their spark they had earlier in the cycle in the post-holiday, pre-shop blues they all tend to suffer from. Quite frankly, I'm about done with them and can't wait until Monday when my sophomores return. I have ONE more lesson to tape for my %(@#*&%(*& portfolio, and just a little more to write up before I'm DONE with the g-d thing. I'm trying to decide whether to take the 26th or the 29th off this month to drive it in. The Friday is mentally better because then I have the weekend to just chill, but my Monday is logically better in case I have to tweak anything.

Cleo's health seems to be improving, as she's returned to the status quo of regurgitating part of her lunch because she eats it so fast. This was hot happening when she was on her medicine, so I'm actually taking it as a good, rather than bad, sign.

I'm reading Kushiel's Scion right now, and it has this annoying habit of being a quick and interesting read, which makes me want to stay up at night rather than doing logical things, like sleeping. Also, the TylenolPM is not working well, and I'm getting frustrated, again, with my lack of sleep. I'm hoping if I go to the gym enough, my body will tire itself out. Yay, New Year's resolution: to sleep.

Hope all are having a successful 2007 thus far.