Green With Environmental Invasion

I don't usually approve of reality shows on tv, but I do watch America's Got Talent. Not for the singers or the dancers - usually - but for the things in between. Like when a musician on stage attached cables to the BALCONY... and played them like a stringed instrument. Incredible. Tonight I saw something I hadn't seen before, though it was definitely due or overdue.

This guy gave us a taste of the silent film era. He was great. And I immediately recognized the song from Kill Bill Vol. 1, which didn't hurt matters.

Today reminded me of how dependent upon the internet I am. Service down all afternoon. And I hated it. Hated how disconnected I felt, and hated that I felt so disconnected. It shouldn't be that big of an impact, but unfortunately it is.

Lot of rain here lately. Which, apparently, is the equivalent of botanical steroids to our little garden. Good lord, I'm feeling less like its tender and more like its eventual nourishment. Just hope I get to enjoy some of the yummies beforehand.

Still getting through Kingdom Hearts II. Finally made it past a Pirates of the Caribbean boss, and it hasn't been too bad since. Trouble now is, I don't know where I need to go. Everywhere I currently go is a world I've been to previously. Now I'm not shown where to go next.

....Thank you online walk-thru's.

Finished reading a book this evening. The 4th in the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka. I'm hooked but I want to slow down because after the 5th installment, I'll have to start waiting for future novels. If I wait just a couple more months or so, I'll have 2 novels waiting for me.

Haven't decided what to read next.

Currently listening to The Glitch Mob. I haven't payed them much mind lately. Still love them, though. And I believe that I enjoy their Drink The Sea album a bit more than their fairly recent release, Love Death Immortality.

I think that's it for now. If you don't see anything from me for a while, or I start posting "Eat Cows Not Greens!"....you'll know that my garden vegetation took over.

Battle For Mowing Down Laptops

The season 3 premier of Hannibal was tonight. I watched, of course. Such a cliffhanger at the end of 2. They haven't revealed it yet, but I believe that 3 of the 4 people... left behind... will reappear in this season. Two of them just gotta. Seriously. Y'can't just get rid of Will & Jack. They're... Will & Jack. Any fans of the books know where I'm coming from. The other two characters, as far as I know, were created for the series. And one of them has been in previews for future episodes. The other, um, has not.

So today I realized that Tmblr for some reason wasn't allowing the "Post To Facebook" option, and therefore I decided to check out my settings from my laptop rather than my phone or iPad. Go to boot up my pal, and see "Boot Device Not Found"..... Well that's rather ominous.

Yeah, it's now in laptop heaven.

So mad. Hadn't backed up my music for a while (my fault, yes, but still frustrating) and had a couple years worth of awesome finds in my rotating backgrounds folder. Not saved elsewhere.

And while the loss of this stuff angers me the most, a close second is NOT KNOWING WHAT WENT WRONG. Admittedly, I could have treated my previous two laptops better. But this one, I coddled. Its screen broke when kept under the couch? Replaced screen and kept it in a safer spot! It kept overheating? Bought a cooling device! ...Maybe the constant overheating - even with the cooling device - has something to do with it.

At any rate, I have plans for this treacherous piece of refuse.

Once I find an efficient rooftop, I'm flinging that no-good double-crossing junkwad to the unforgiving pavement however many stories I can obtain below me.

"Oh I missed a spot

(scrub-a-scrub-a-scrub-a-scrub)

On my dirty thoughts

(aaaahhhh)"

^I love these lyrics from "Pups To Dust" by Modest Mouse.^

Mowed our lawn for the first time today. Now let me explain... I've rented for 10 years now. Never been required to do lawncare. We live in a duplex and pay rent. So it's really our landlord's duty to mow. Well, my husband wanted to buy a mower and did, recently. He mowed two or three times, and now I did this fourth or so time. It's a pusher, not a rider, so more effort is required. But I enjoyed it. Put on my sneakers, some Queens of the Stone Age in the ears, hair tied back, sunglasses, and went to work. It was a workout, but I don't mind sweating when I'm actually doing something. I hate sweating while sitting & doing nothing. Especially indoors.

I've still been aching to write lately. Even have the name of my main character, but it's the plot/storyline that's important. And I don't quite have that. Feels like it's within reach, though, if I just try hard enough.

Garden continues to grow. Many blooms on the cherry tomato plant. It's obvious where the clusters will be. The cucumbers are sprouting more and more leaves. No vines yet. If they continue to flourish, next year will bring the addition of even more tomatoes and cucumbers, along with peppers for sure, and maybe lettuce or spinach, sweet corn, onions... I love living off of a garden. Plucking and eating sweet sun-warmed cherry tomatoes... Damn. Not much better than that. Making a dinner salad out of your backyard yield... So amazing.

I watched Four Rooms the other night. It's an earlier Tarantino movie. And I... loved it. It was panned by critics, which encourages my continued disregard for critics' opinions. I've seen Tim Roth in a few things (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Incredible Hulk) but he never really held my attention like he did in Four Rooms. So amusing. Definitely my favorite role of his thus far.

Wow. Gotta post this.

This is great. At about 3:06 he begins a guitar solo that isn't so bad, but then at about 4:15 it just changes too much, for me anyway. But the first three minutes are excellent. And major kudos to the guy, he puts on really good show.

For those of you who don't know, this song - Battle Without Honor Or Humanity - IS FROM KILL BILL, NOT TRANSFORMERS.

O-Ren Ishii wore the song so much better than Bumblebee.

Unemployment diet today. Ramen lunch, homemade beef jerky and sunflower seeds otherwise.

And mowing of front & back lawn for workout.

That's all for now, kids.

"Steal. The government hates competition."

This Randomness Brought To You By...

Nothing like summer unemployment to bring on the needed diet.

Confession: I walk out my back door every day - sometimes more than once - to see my growing mini-garden.

Apparently the cat I've been shooing away... sometimes by throwing things like an empty 2-liter at it... belongs to the people living in the other half of this duplex.

Oops.

Thunder! Guess I'm not going to bed anytime soon.


...I like thunderstorms.

About Novels, Music, Movies, and Summer

School's almost out. Kindergarten ends in 2 days for my child. Then about three months of... a lot of mother-son time. I need to come up with some stuff for us to do. Some projects. Cheap projects.

Listening to the Kill Bill Vol 1 soundtrack right now. I guess I don't have the Vol 2 music, which is unfortunate. "About Her" by Malcolm McLaren is a favorite. And it's on Vol 2. Though O-Ren Ishii's music on 1 is really good. "The Grand Duel" is kinda haunting but excellent. "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is partially played during her and the Bride's swordfight. Good beat.

Went with a friend and watched Age of Ultron for the second time yesterday. Well worth it. This time around, I recognized & appreciated Linda Cardellini instead of not realizing it was her til seeing her name in the end credits. (Can't believe I missed that.) This actress played the spunky Nurse Taggart for a few seasons of ER, and also was Velma in the live action Scooby-Doo movies. Always thought her and Ellen Page (Juno) could be sisters.

However, I failed to remember that Danny Elfman - whom I love - did the music for the movie. Had I remembered, I would've opened my ears more. Also, he didn't score the first Avengers film, so seeing him credited in Age of Ultron wasn't expected.

Finished the Wayward Pines novel trilogy today. Kept me interested, for sure. Also watched the first two episodes of the television adaptation. So far, keeping pretty close to the books. Hafta see how it goes. Really hope it's a miniseries, not a show with multiple seasons. That'd be best, for this trilogy. That's what they should've done with Under The Dome. But nooo...

Mmmmm there it is.

"My man's.... Got a heart... Like a rock, cast, in, the sea."

Love this song. Love the flow.

WOW... I just realized this is the Malcolm McLaren that managed the Sex Pistols! Big time fan of them. And second wow factor... This song samples an exerpt from a song by The Zombies. I knew those vocals sounded familiar.

Mmk, night.

Here I Be, Alive and Swell...Ish

As I expected (or maybe it just happened), joining Tumblr seems to've taken me away from blogging here. But, here I am again. And due to the length of my absence, and the compelling urge to compose, this may be a good chunk of typing.

First thing that comes to mind: Modest Mouse released a new album. Strangers to Ourselves is great, I can listen to the whole thing without skipping a single song. (Usually there's one I really don't like.) Tracks 2 and 10 are my favorite. "Lampshades On Fire" and "Wicked Campaign" are so great.

Still a substitute paraeducator. BUT, also still on the road to getting certified and being full-time. It's been a process, but I've stuck to it. Took the ACT WorkKeys test, passed, got a recommendation from a teacher I'd worked with, received my Teacher Assistant certificate in the mail a couple weeks ago, registered it last week to be reviewed, and received an email TODAY for what should be my final step in this quite lengthy process. And come August, BAM... Full-time job. It's looking like elementary school is the place for me. Haven't even tried the junior or senior high, but I went to the school that has grades 4-5-6 a few times and... rather disliked it. The preschool wasn't terrible, I could probably work there. But uh, they're more likely to be potty trained in elementary school.

Finished my Arkham Asylum game. (Though, when I finished, it said I was only 70-something percent done with the game, so I went back and found more Riddler trophies & stuff for awhile. Never got to 100% but oh well. And the final boss - the Joker - really wasn't difficult.) Now I'm on the next game, Arkham City, and I really dislike Ra's al Ghul. But, I do quite like that I occasionally play as Catwoman.

Been storming a lot here. No complaints. I'd looove to get another snapshot of lightning.

Went and saw Avengers: Age of Ultron recently. Enjoyed. I think the other movie that is a must-see for me this year is Jurassic World. Definitely going to see it. Ant-Man, San Andreas, and Terminator: Genisys would be good to see as well, but Jurassic World is at the top of my list. (Star Wars is apparently going to be seen on opening night at an IMAX theatre. Should prolly go get in line, um, now.)

Oh! I met Adam Ferrara about two weeks ago! It was a good time. I've actually watched quite a bit that he's in. Saw him first in Rescue Me, then started watching Top Gear, then his "Funny As Hell" stand-up comedy special, then went back and watched the show The Job, and his most recent show, Nurse Jackie.

Anyway, a friend and I drove about 4.5 hours to see him perform stand-up at an Improv comedy club. Afterward, he was at a table selling & signing his Funny As Hell dvds and allowing pictures. We missed him the first time, so stayed at the bar talking and waiting for him to get out of his second show. We were first in line that time around. Nice guy.

Took me about a month to get ahold of a movie I found out about and wanted to see. I wanted to see more David Carradine movies, and found The Golden Boys. Saw that it had him, Rip Torn, and Bruce Dern. As three sea captains. Figured there could be no wrong. Finally watched it last night, and I enjoyed. Easy to see why it's not a popular one, but I still enjoyed it.

Alright, I think that's pretty much it. Getting distracted with other stuff. Got all the important things covered.

Batty Cav's

I went to my first official dentist check-up in 10+ years the other day (only one cavity, on a wisdom tooth about to removed, score) and heard a song playing that I don't think many people know of. Not enough people, anyway. I started to hear it, and knew I recognized it, but couldn't place it for a few moments. It was "Sit Down By The Fire" by The Veils. I got into them when I watched Mr. Brooks. They have a great song towards the end, called "Vicious Traditions" which I highly recommend you listen to.

At any rate, I rarely hear their music anywhere, so it was a pleasure (and apparently a good omen) that I heard it in the dentist's office.

Started playing Batman: Arkham Asylum two days ago, at long last. I've wanted to play it forever, but never had a proper console, so I finally settled for a PC. I'm now 10% in, and face-to-face with Bane. It'll take me a few (more) times, but I'll get it. So far, every time I've been stuck somewhere, I've taken a break, done some research, tried again and moved on. (Knock on wood.) And while I'm making due with the PC controls, they're not the best. (P.S., Scarecrow is made even creepier with his Freddy Krueger-like syringe fingers.)

Been on a big Batman kick lately. Watching the Animated Series and the Dark Knight Returns (which is messed up... at least towards the end. Snapping the rest of his own... never mind. And Green Arrow's... never mind. Either you know what I'm talking about or you need to watch it), and finally playing Arkham Asylum.

Ledxcellent Zeppelin

I must share this.

And you must watch this.