Snow Day Chores.

So the snow dance had a delayed effect and our snow day was today!  I have an unhealthy obsession with snow, and I had been tracking this particular storm for the past week or so.  At the beginning, there was a pretty small chance that it would actually come together enough to drop snow over DC...something about the two fronts having to "thread a needle" to create a perfect situation.

Then, as time passed, all the various weather models started going crazy and weather people just started throwing up their hands and fluctuating between a bunch of snow, and no snow.

In the end, we had THUNDERSNOW which is something of a "chupacabra" (as in legendary) in the weather world.  I heard a couple rumbles, although I didn't see the lightning.  For a while there, snow was coming down so fast.  Our school let out at regular time since the storm hadn't hit by the time we had to make the call -- my weather nerdiness knew that it was supposed to hit right a dismissal so I was panicked about the thought of driving home in it all day.  As admin, I should have been staying until the last student left, but I had a shining beacon of hope.  Our school consultant was at our school that day, and I usually drive her to the hotel after her visits...fortunately, she needed the ride and my kind, sweet, understanding boss let me take her.

While I felt so guilty leaving with the students when I knew that some staff was going to have to hang tight for 15 more minutes, as soon as I hit the road I was thankful. I was slipping all over the place and the storm had just started.  Half an hour later and the roads looked like this: (sorry for the foul language in the commentary...it was the only video I could find on YouTube that had a street near my home in it.)

It took me over an hour to drive what usually takes about 12 minutes.  I was one of the lucky ones...We had some teachers who left at 4:15pm and didn't get home until past midnight.  DC is just not equipped for snow.

So, in risking life and limb for this Snow Day, I figured I should make the most of it.  Slept in.  Big workout.  Caught up on some work.  Made this long overdue video:

Another Fine Day in Our Nation's Capital.

Oh boy, do I love long weekends!  They are very much worth the pain and sorrow of having to return to work.

I do have plenty to share -- most of it not all that exciting, but I will have to parcel out to several days rather than try to cover it all at once.  Jamie and I are trying to turn over a new leaf and get to bed at a reasonable hour these days.  We gotta be in bed by 10:30!  But, you can stay tuned for: (a la Friends)

• The One Where Jamie is Handy
• The One With the Muskets
• The One with the Panel
• The One with the Rally
• The One with Superman
• The One with the Transformers

I'll actually start with the last one, because it is the mystery that has been bugging me all day.

Jamie and I live on an Emergency Thruway -- meaning we're among the first streets to get plowed, and that we have emergency vehicles going up and down it like nobody's business.  That said, we are pretty used to hearing sirens and firetrucks whizzing past our house.  It doesn't really bug us anymore.  But this morning...

This morning, we had sirens blasting for a solid half hour and I counted more than a dozen emergency vehicles go past our house.  It was enough for me to get out of bed and check the computer for any breaking news regarding an attack on the Capitol and think about whether we should close the windows to combat a biological attack of some kind (as if it would help).  Some story about how Transformers 3 would be filming in the area and shutting down streets around town for the next week or so.  Aside from being bummed that I couldn't be inconvenienced for a better movie, I thought nothing of it.

When my friend, Kayla, (hi Kayla!) mentioned that Bumblebee (a Transformer??) was in an accident with a police car today, I immediately pictured some giant Transformer animatronic something or other crushing a police cruiser...something like this:

It did not occur to me that movies these days actually do most of that stuff with computers.  So, in fact, the accident looked more like this*:

Apparently, the police SUV was responding to a bomb scare somewhere on the Hill (which Jamie insists are a weekly thing) and did not get the memo about the streets being closed for filming.  I wonder if he noticed that something was off when he saw the giant Optimus Prime tractor-trailer passing by.  Fortunately, the police officer was okay -- minor injuries -- and no bomb went off on the Hill, and my mystery from this morning was solved.

*If you watch the full video here, you can see how sad it is when they totally have 7 people attending to the Transformers car while only one guy is checking on the police officer (only after seeing the fancy car first.)  

The Lottery.

Apparently our appalling education system is going to be the trendy issue this year.  Move over global warming.  I got an invite to go see a premiere of this movie and attend a Q&A with it's director on Saturday.

Check it out!  Sadly, I can't go because Man Boo and I also got an invite to bowl at the White House.  I'm more excited about bowling than I am about doing it in the White House.  I'm a nerd.

Chills.

Finally saw the trailer for Waiting for Superman and it gives me chills.

If we can inspire one more great educator to join the fight in our public schools, inspire one more middle schooler to stay in high school, or inspire one more high school graduate to go to college than it will be worth it.  Of course -- much like An Inconvenient Truth -- the people who will go and actually see this movie are the ones who don't need this message because they already know.

Light a fire under someone you know to go see this movie with an open heart and mind.

Day 26; Post 25: Unbirthday.

Today being my first full day with Jamie since my birthday, we decided to celebrate it with some good food and a movie. I'm such a nerd and can't think of a better way to spend my birthday than a low-key one.

Aside from being my non-birthday celebration day, it was also the first day of snow for D.C. Most exciting! While it was pretty light in the city, we drove out to the suburby areas to go shopping where it was actually snowing big, fat snowflakes. So beautiful. It also reinforced that I love living somewhere with seasons.

Jamie took me to dinner at BLT Steak. You know it's love when your vegetarian spouse takes you to a really good steak place for your non-birthday. I'm talking a place with $26/oz steak on the menu. (I did not order the $26/oz. steak -- which must have gold-plated and able to clean your house for you.) Incidentally, the guy sitting at the table next to us was clearly some kind of important restaurant guy because they comped him all of the desserts and the chef came out to greet him. I saw a little piece of Jamie die tonight when they bussed away the untouched desserts after he left.

Afterwards, we went to see Up In the Air which was a nice movie.

Definitely worth a watch! And I always like to support a Harvard-Westlake alum when I can.

Eggy-weggs.

Inspired by Julie & Julia -- which I saw with Jamie last week -- I decided to try poaching an egg today for lunch. After all, it's probably among the healthiest ways to cook an egg since you don't use butter. I had heard it was hard to do, so I was prepared for multiple attempts.

But, today everything worked out and I had the most perfect poached egg ever on my first try. I should have taken a picture of it, but it is now residing in my belly. I have decided that I will be making poached eggs instead of fried eggs from now on. SO GOOD.

Together Again.

I know I've probably said this before, but I'm saying it again: I LOVE Netflix Watch Instantly. I think it's the greatest thing ever. At least it's up there. This outpouring of love for Netflix comes from the fact that I am currently watching Muppets Take Manhattan after a long and busy week.

This movie is the perfect way for me to spend my Friday night. First of all, because I was trying to sing this song to Jamie the other night, but only remembered the "he'll make me happy" line.

Now I can torture him with more of my Miss Piggy impression. Secondly, because it's the stuff of good memories. It really takes me back to my childhood when (I hear) I watched this movie very frequently -- I'm sure my brother could confirm or deny this statement. My family might exagerrate and say I watched it nightly, but I think I probably watched Star Wars or The Neverending Story (or maybe Sound of Music) more. Of course, my memories of watching these movies all blend together into one memory of sitting on my parent's bedroom floor (with a pink carpet by the way) and getting out the Beta Max tapes. Good times.

P.S. This movie is way funnier as an adult. I'm actually getting the jokes! That blonde muppet (Janice?) cracks me up. Also, the "Saying Goodbye" song is breaking my heart right now.

Better Than Some Stupid Bond Movie.

So yesterday we celebrated my brother-to-be's birthday. Actually, it was one of my BTB's actual birthdays -- but he's far away so we couldn't really celebrate it with him. Scott had his birthday earlier this week so we took him out for some dinner, fed him some ice cream cake, and watched a movie.

The whole day I had been dreading seeing the new Bond movie. I knew that's what Scott would want to see and as it was his birthday and all, there was little that I could do to stop it. There's nothing I really hold against the Bond movies...except that they all suck and I have yet to see one that I enjoyed. But last night the movie gods were smiling upon me and sold out all the showings of Casino Royale and plopped Stranger Than Fiction in the only convenient time slot. That was awesome.

As I had been wanting to see this movie for quite some time now, I was setting it up to be a huge disappointment. It was not. I liked it -- which means you should all go see it. And while you're at the theater, glare at the Casino Royale poster.

And because I now can, here's the trailer:

A Great Sleepytime Movie.

I get so drained from teaching hyperactive 8 year-olds, that I need my weekend nights to be filled with mindless entertainment. This is usually provided by some movie rented from Netflix. Today's movie was Syriana.

I was predisposed to dislike the movie Syriana. First, because it meant that we were not watching the movie I had rented (Friends With Money). Secondly, Jamie described it to me as "like Traffic" and for one reason or another I really disliked Traffic. So, when you add this bias to the fact that Syriana is not mindless entertainment, I was bracing myself for a really slow-moving movie that was going to make my brain hurt...

[Movie Starts]

Jamie: [gets up to get water]

Me: [watching] ...

Me: ...

Me: This is a really slow movie! It's been showing the same thing for 50 seconds and nothing's happened!

Jamie: That's because I paused it.

Me: Oh.

Maybe I wasn't giving it a fair chance. Regardless, I fell asleep relatively quickly and only woke up for the big explosions and the torture scene. All in all, I can say it was a pretty good movie and having your nails pulled out is a horrible way to be tortured.

Time for Bed.

Just got back from watching Little Miss Sunshine. It was awesome. Go see it.

Jamie is now harrassing our cat by putting stuff on him...and apparently it's now "stuff of my fiancee" time. Yawn. It must be the end of a long day.

And now Jamie is moonwalking in his boxers while humming "Superfreak".

Stranger Than Fiction.

Jamie told me about this movie and now I really want to see it. I thoroughly enjoy Will Ferrell although I have only seen in him, like, two or three movies. I think my love is rooted in those really early Will Ferrell SNL skits when he was a cheerleader with Cheri Oteri.

Who'll see it with me in November?

The One with A Lot of Hyperlinks.

Just changing gears here. On Friday, Jamie and I went to see Capote. While I could see why people thought it was a good movie -- and I thought it was a good movie -- I just wasn't very entertained. There was great acting...the story was interesting...but for some reason I kept on waiting for it to be over.

Anyway, seeing that movie got me thinking about the upcoming Oscars. More specifically, thinking about the Best Actor nominees. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He made me cry like a baby in Magnolia and I can't look at him without thinking about Boogie Nights (even though he had a teeny part in it), but I'm rooting for Heath Ledger.

While Hoffman does a phenomenal job capturing Truman Capote's emotions, mannerisms, and "that voice", I think it's somewhat easier to adjust your acting when there is an eccentric person who really existed for you to base it upon. In contrast, Ledger had to create his character -- granted there was a script and a rough outline of the character -- but he has to bring Ennis Delmar to life. Not only that, but he needs to play a subdued character that has "penned-up-angry-bull" emotions and I think that's really difficult to portray. And he does it! Amazingly well! Heath Ledger for Best Actor!

Ultimately both actors did amazing work -- and I'm sure Joaquin Phoenix, David Straithairn, and whoever Terrance Howard did too. So I guess the message to take home is that this was a good year for acting.

Oh, and congratulations to Jake for winning the BAFTA. Go Wolverines!

A Whole Lotta Talk.

Drewie is really making me earn my keep! Another day, another post.

Last night, Jamie and I watched a doubleheader: we watched Before Sunrise followed by Before Sunset. As an adolescent I absolutely loved Sunrise. Not only because I had a massive crush on Mr. Hawke, but because...I actually don't really know why. I guess I liked the story. I guess I longed for a similar experience or instant connection with someone. Anyway, I had seen that film several times -- although not for years.

Seeing it again now -- when I'm supposedly the same age as the actors on the screen -- made it a little bit weirder. I mean -- who really talks like that?.

I wasn't disappointed with Sunset. I think that it captured their growth pretty well and I was thankful for that. I was especially thankful that they decided to fast forward nine years into the future, as opposed to the 6 months that the characters had promised in the first film.

Now all I need is for someone who has seen Sunset to explain the ending to me. Then I can decide if I like it better than the first. I mean...I get it...but I don't know if I get it...

Brrrrrrrr.

The temperature in my apartment right now is in the 50s. That's as cold as it would get in L.A. ever and would cause Los Angelenos to don their hats and scarves. Brrrrrr. Thankfully, Jamie finally caved an turned on the heat for a little bit. I really wish we had a fireplace.

Yesterday, I was running late for work when I hopped in my car and realized that there was a thick layer of frost. No problem, I'll just run back to the apartment and grab our scraper. Except we don't have a scraper. Hooray for ignorant West Coasters. Maybe it's time to get one of those.

So, yesterday was pretty great! I'm used to having my birthday in the most inconvenient of times with finals and all. This time wasn't really any exception -- still have finals for my Hopkins classes and on top of that all the teaching. But it was so nice to be with my kids. They threw me a surprise party and gave me teacher gifts (you know, used mugs and picture frames) and wrote cards. Had tons of cake.

It was also the second birthday that I've ever actually been with Jamie for...so he was able to spoil me with dinner out on the town (Burmese) and a movie (because I'm too tired for anything beyond that). We saw Closer which was a fine film. A little depressing but good. The weird thing was that people were laughing hysterically in the theater at the most depressing parts. "HAHA! He told her to fuck off!"

Funnily enough, one of the previews for a new movie started off with a scene of one my classmates from high school getting coke splashed in his face (he overacted). Apparently he is in a Will Smith movie. It actually looks kind of funny -- if you're in the kind of mood for that kind of movie. I freaked out in the theater when I saw it and I'm sure everybody thought I was weird.

Hooray for surprises.