the new blog is still a bit under-construction but is up & running. if you didn't get an email from me & would like to come check out the new place, comment here or email me at newblog@aussiemail.com.au. (and no, although it would be cool, i am not in australia... i just found a different free email service)

with all the new & exciting things happening around here (and because of a few not too exciting things as well) i've decided to ditch this blog & start a new one. once i get it up & running, i'll email the address to everyone whose emails i have. if i don't have yours and/or you just want to know the new blog address, email me at newblog@aussiemail.com.au. or you can just comment here with your email & i'll drop you a line. thanks to everyone who keeps coming back & reading my babble & i hope you contact me & tag along to the new blog!

stay- visually amazing, cool story. i can't believe this movie didn't have more success. but can anyone explain the ending to me & what the flashes of yellow throughout meant??

wallace & grommet- i am in love with grommet. i want a dog that drives.

robots- eh, a few funny parts but not the super cute family fun i signed up for.

fun with dick and jane- really funny, jim carrey was hilarious as usual and tea leone's performance was a very pleasant suprise. plus, since i worked at worlcom during it's demise, i got a special kick out of the story & the "thanks" at the end.

memoirs of a geisha- just awesome, breathtaking & beautiful.

the human stain- interesting but not the oscar caliber jaunt i'd been warned of.

i <3 huckabees- i was very unimpressed.

little black book- suprisingly enjoyable with an ending that was so NOT the predictable one you'd expect.

cellular- better than i expected. i never thought i'd hear myself say that i was impressed with kim basinger's performance, i actually bought her as a science teacher & a caring mother.

collateral- i think i would have liked this movie if anyone but tom cruise played victor. they should have switched actors in the beginning airport scene (but i'd probably love an hour long hemeroid commercial if jason statham was in it).

woman on top- i finally like penelope cruz in a movie!

amelie- cute, in the very best sense of the word.

some movies i've seen again lately:
basketball diaries- hasn't lost one bit of the power & force since the first time i saw it.

real genius- never fails to crack my ass up.

matilda- is this movie not just the very definition of cute? i mean really.

shaun of the dead- i love this movie. that's all, i just loved it.

dirty rotten scoundrels- michael caine. 'nuff said.

some movies it seems everyone else has already seen but i saw for the first time lately:
goodfellas- a good movie, good performances, good to actually finally see the "am i a clown here to amuse you" scene but i don't think it's the greatest movie ever, like i saw on some list somewhere.

napoleon dynamite- so stupid! to quote the ever-insightful flavor flav, "don't beleive the hype"!

the graduate- it was actually not really recent that i saw this movie, but it fits the category. i also didn't get why this movie is considered such a classic. i love anne bancroft, but that's about all i got out of it.

it seems that most times i end up seeing a movie that's supposed to be SO great & everyone's wetting themselves over how "cutting edge" or "innovative" it is, i just end up thinking it's uninteresting, pedestian and/or idiotic. then there's the "classic" movies that are on every "best of" list & may have won oscars back in the day & it seems everyone else was born having already seen them. i finally end up seeing them & i'm unimpressed there too. this doesn't further an artsy fartsy, intelligent, "i dig the unusual & appreciate the different in life" persona too well. especially when you throw in the fact that sometimes i reallly like a "blockbuster" big money making movie every now & then.

maybe i just need to remind myself that casablanca is one of my very favorite movies, "a clockwork orange" is one of my very favorite books & i was raised by a man who once wore hawaiin shorts & wooden shows (that i still own) when my friends came over and i'll feel intelligent and unique once again.

customers sometimes ask "where are you?". the question caught me quite off guard one time when these were the first words out of a customer's mouth after i said "can i help you?" my first reaction was "where AM i? um... earth?" (which i did not say, of coure). normally, tho, it is comes off as a perfectly natural question and i'll answer it. i used to say (as suggested by my trainer) "the midwest". it quickly became obvious that this wasn't good enough for most customers. "the midwest? that's an awfully big area" and then they repeat "where are you?". so, i just started saying "kansas". i didn't think that this was an odd or particularly witty response to such a question but i had a customer start laughing (not just "ha ha" but genuine giggles) when i said "kansas". is it the WORD kansas that he found humurous? or was it the fact that people do indeed live and work in kansas? i'm really not sure. i wanted to say "oh, i see you're in los angeles. bwaaa haa haa haa!! that's hilarious! you couldn't pay me to live in that dirty, smoggy, crime ridden, crowded cess pool! ha ha ha!" but i didn't. i was a little surprised by the reaction & could only think to say "why is that funny? kansas IS a state!" and the customer kept snickering.

whatever. laugh if you want. i dig kansas.

i should clarify a few things. first of all, i'm not pregnant. it seems that two people asked J if i was when he told them that i accepted his proposal. i don't think it makes a difference & i'm not the type of person who feels that you must get married if you get knocked up, anyway.

secondly, the ring pictured below is not MY ring, it's just A ring. i actually don't have an engagement ring yet. i don't want one that i'm not excited about just so i have a ring. i can wait until i see a ring that i look at & know that it is THE ring for me. i like tradition, i like art deco style but i also want something unique... and i'd really like it if J picked it out & surprised me with it. so, if i see something i think is cool, i show him the picture. but i'm not in a huge rush. i know i'll be wearing the ring for the rest of my life so i can wait until we find the right one.

and finally, to "concerned"... yes, i am serious. i've never been more serious. and, if you are who i think you are, i love you but i'd really appreciate it if you'd be open minded & not pass judgement on someone you met once for a matter of a couple hours. J is my best friend, he understands me like noone else ever has. he supports me in every way & accepts my flaws (but does not point them out or make me feel bad about them). he makes me laugh & gets my sense of humor. he is so intelligent & we can have conversations about absolutely anything. i love him very much & look forward to growing old with him. so, there is no reason to be "concerned". i'm a grown woman who is intellligent enough to know what i need & passionate enough to follow my heart.

i hope that answers any questions anyone may have had.

and i said yes.

gah!! the stupid picture editor type program i have right now is giving me fits. i can't get the stupid thing to do text like i want. luckily, i will very soon have my beloved desktop computer here with me with my beloved photoshop & i can make mastheads for my blog til the cows come home.

how is my computer getting to me? by the most wonderfullest way! mama is coming to visit me! i'm so excited. brother MAY be coming with her but, knowing him, he'll either fink out at the last minute or show up at mom's house to tag along at the last minute. he's like that... but we're used to it. i tried to entice him with an email filled with promises of bbq ribs, so hopefully his taste buds will get the better of him & he'll come too. the bbq is really our only solid plan so far. i don't know what else the weekend will have in store. i'm just REALLY glad it is the weekend finally. my weekend consists of friday & saturday now & i'm looking forward to 2 days of eatin', sleepin' and visitin' with the fam.

so tonight/this morning, i am cleaning like a maniac. our office/second bedroom finally looks like a room that people actually use. all the boxes are put away & we have furniture in there. it is just awaiting my computer & we might actually use it for something other than a huge closet and the cats' bedroom. the kitchen is on it's way to clean but i don't want to go too hog wild until i'm done baking (nanner bread & corn bread) and cooking (chili... cuz mom loves my chili). that leaves vacuuming, dusting, sweeping & mopping, cleaning bathrooms & straightening up the miscelaneous stuff that seems to congregate to the living room. i want to finish laundry & then clean my own stinky body also. this will all probably happen during the wee hours of this (friday) morning. a friend of J's & her fiance are traveling by train & will be stopping in KC so we are going to go downtown and see them at 7am. so i get to stay up all night! which is an easy feat for me. then i'll come home & sleep a good chunk of the day.

i just wish i had some curtains for the bedroom... the sun shines RIGHT into that window & seems to purposely seek out my eyes. damn it's bright! oh the hardships of working til 2am!

i'm home now watching one of my favorite fantasical & imaginative movies: "toys". i love this movie for it's story, characters, look, feel, everything. my tummy is full of some yummy pasta & sauce with chicken that we marinated in italian dressing (and john cooked up expertly) and i'm lounging on our new-to-us comfy couch. so, i'm feeling good.

now i'm going to have some nice, hot constant comment tea while i finish up a long overdue new masthead for this here blog. then i'll curl up on our new-to-us bed (J got to a job where some people were moving far away & desperate to get rid of their furniture & he picked up a couch, love seat, washer & dryer, dresser AND king size bed for a paltry $200. he's got the best luck!) and get a good night's sleep. now, if i could just find the damn equal for my tea, i'd be set.

so my quest to get back to writing regularly failed miserably, now didn't it? ah well... not much excitement in the world of candy as of late anyway.

i really don't like is the fact that it seems i never have time with J. he's still on a "normal" sleep schedule so i only see him on my days off or for an hour or two before i go to work. he's long gone to sleepytown when i get home.

i wish i had more to write about but i really don't. maybe i'll think of something soon.

if you want to be touched, amazed, angered, educated, frightened, incensed, affected, saddened, disgusted by what man can do to man and yet surprised by the strength of the human spirit... watch "paragraph 175".