Another fun contest on Worth1000.com. Link.

So far we've had a pretty nice weekend. Ben says the Aviator was a great movie. I'll take his word for it since I didn't go myself. Instead I made soup with Mavi and watched Mr. Show and music videos. She has a collection of Bjork videos. Bjork is pretty wild. Even for me.

Later last night we went to Bender's Tavern with friends from Denver to see Matson Jones. They're a good local band from Fort Collins. They have a really unique sound, but they need to diversify their music. Most of their songs have the same underlying rhythm and tone.

Tonight Trev's coming over to cook Hungarian food. It's a dish Brian wouldn't miss for anything: Rakott krumpli. Basically scalloped potatoes supreme. It's loaded with fat, but oh so tasty. I can't take more than a small bowlful. You can feel your stomach bloating. The pictures below are from the first time Trevor cooked it at my house last fall. Here's a link to an online recipe. Of course, Trevor is using authentic Hungarian sausage. He has a source in Las Vegas.

Work work work. I try not to think about it when I get home. Instead I watch a lot of Seinfeld. And organize my digital music library. And do DDR. I love post-Christmas :-)

Recently I made a cat toy filled with nip. Because of it's shape, color, and the funny way my cat chews on it, we call it the pickle. Today I found a pattern for kitty.com for dim sum-shaped cat toys. Cute.

Movie Saturday should be starting up again soon. Our site got hacked, so communication has been weak. As far as I know, Shawn is set to direct and we'll probably do Bruce's script "Economy." Brian bought a new camera after his old one broke. We need to try it out!


Vail Pass on 12/30/04. Not a soul in sight.

It feels so good to be home! Ben and I left Wednesday morning at 9:30. At 11:00 we hit standing traffic in Glenwood canyon. We were routed back to Glenwood Springs and told to wait a couple hours. Apparently a semi-truck jack-knifed on the part of the canyon already down to one lane because of a rockslide last month. Oh, and all of this with pounding rain and a cat mewing in the back seat. We had to stay in the car because of Molly, which made the situation even more unpleasant. At 3:30 the road was still closed. I asked a cop if they thought it might be cleared tonight, and he said he didn't know. Geez. Ben got us a cheap hotel room and we ate Kentucky Fried Chicken and watched Mythbusters. All in all, it wasn't a bad night, just a bad day and a total waste of time. This morning, Thursday, we left at 7 am and it still took us 4 whole hours to drive the remaining 160 miles to Denver because of bad weather.

But all that aside, we had a great, relaxing trip home for Christmas. We had some good food and good times with the family. We saw The Life Aquatic again, and I've decided that it is a really good movie. Just as predicted, my enjoyment increases after contemplation and repeat viewings.

It's been a long two days. I'm going to bed now, but I'll post some photos later, after I learn to use my iPod Photo.

Sprays, scolding, and swatting didn't work.


My couch is now officially and literally a cat scratch post.

I just got back from seeing a sneak preview of The Life Aquatic. Feelings are mixed. Some parts really clicked, some were not nearly as great as they should have been. Some characters were good, some were poorly formed. I think it might grow on me. I felt the same way after seeing The Royal Tenenbaums, and now I really enjoy that film.

The security check for recording devices was annoying. After waiting outside for 40 minutes for the door to open, they announce that you have to put camera phones back in your car because they are not allowed in the building. Right as they open seating they tell us this! They could have at least given us advance warning so we could put our phones away without losing a seat. Ben ran my phone out to the car (what a sweetheart). They did the whole purse check and body swipe-with-a-beeping-stick thing. Funny thing is, I could have easily snuck in a camera in my yarn ball of knitting if I'd wanted to. They hardly glanced at it. :-)

We've been busy with holiday errands here and there. I wish it would snow more, it's gotten up to 60 degrees! Now is the time for parties and I'm scouring the Martha Stewart site and magazines for the perfect festive finger food. I'm looking forward to going home for Christmas. Ben and I are taking our cat, which is bound to be an adventure in travel! Work is pretty hectic now with vacation schedules, moving offices, employees shifting roles, and sharing space with a spinal doc. I'm excited for a break.

Although I'm still uncomfortable writing wish lists, I get the feeling it's helpful for others. Here's a few things I wouldn't mind having in my life:

LoTR Return of the King !extended edition!
A pretty comforter that matches my bedroom, not too feminine
Thread and thread rack
"England Made Me" album by Black Box Recorder
A real ironing board with a nice pad
A ballet DVD (like Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty or something)
Red Octane 2.0 Ignition DDR pad (just one, with foam insert, unfortunately expensive)
Candles. Lots of pillar candles.
A melon baller
My Fair Lady DVD
The Red Shoes-Criterion Collection
Edward Scissorhands DVD
Sweaters are always nice, so are gift cards to Home Depot and Target
Serving things (platter, big spoon and fork, etc)
Knife sharpener