I have the biggest fuckin' headache today - blah. Happy New Year, eh?

So I hope everyone had a great holiday... mine was pretty low key.

I went to my family's (Dad's side) annual Christmas Eve party which was much more subdued because of Grandma's stroke. She was really always the life of the party - taking all night to open her gazillion gifts. This year, some little girl who's not even related ripped open all her presents and shoved them aside in seconds. And the party was over at about 10pm... we didn't even toast for my Aunt Holly's bday like we always do. But it was still nice to see everyone, I don't see them nearly enough.

And Christmas Day, I slept in and then went over to my Mom's for dinner and then went to my Christmas Day movie: Cold Mountain. Not exactly a fun Christmas movie... in fact I nicknamed it Depressing Mountain. But a very well-made depressing movie. It'll probably win a few awards. Nicole Kidman was stunning in it. But then again she's stunning in everything.

The day after Xmas, I braved the crowds for a bit of post-holiday sale action at Donzell's. If I ever win the lottery, that place will be one the first places I go shopping at. Friday night I watched the Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Rings, which was great.

Saturday - once again I slept in and then went over to Shani-banani's to give everyone gifts. And let me tell you - that lil' William - so cute. He's got this "making eyes" thing he does... adorable. It was a nice visit, except the whole never ending Sound of Music playing in the background. Not one of my favorite movies.

And finally Sunday - nothing. Just nothing. It was great!

"Look not mournfully into the past.
It comes not back again.
Wisely improve the present.
Go forth to meet the shadowy future,
without fear."

–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

So I was going to send out a e-card to everyone but then I decided to just post here...


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas time.

Christmas time... and I'm not done shopping. Blah.

This looks like a cute movie...

WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON

No one wants to end up the next Mark Hamill...

Here's a story about Sean Astin who plays Frodo's sidekick Samwise in The Lord of the Rings films. He doesn't want to be stuck in that same kind of role or just be thought of as Samwise for the rest of his life. He shouldn't worry to much... I'll personally always think of him as the son of Helen Keller & Gomez Adams who lead his Goonie friends on fun adventures then grew up to play football @ Notre Dame waaaay before he helped Frodo on his journey to save Middle Earth.

'I don't want to play the fat guy or the friend all my life'

Seriously though... while I understand their concern, I don't think many of the actors from The Lord of the Rings has much to worry about there. Except maybe the guy who plays the dwarf.

:-)

Ah, Awards Season is upon us... I'm glad that Lost in Translation is consistently getting honored but there's one thing I don't understand: Nearly every list mentions Scarlett Johansson but sometimes she's Best Actress and sometimes Best Supporting Actress. What's with that? She's either one or the other.

Broadcast Crits Wade in "River"

In other movie news... I can't wait to see The Return of the King on Friday. I don't even mind that this one is OVER 3 hours.

Tolkien truths

Spiderman 2 teaser trailer... looks good.

"Have no fear of perfection—you'll never reach it."

–Salvador Dali

Blah - I think my body is paying me back double for all the indulging last week. What was I thinking? Wait, I remember now... fun, that was what I was thinking. And it was all fun.

But it has made me realize, I'm a one night a week drinker... not a 5 night a week drinker. And I'm definitely off the 100 proof vodka. And no more of this not eating ALL day before I drink. Duh.

So this week I think I'll detox...

I'm soooo tired...

This is me blogging from a tradeshow in Chicago... fun.

There's something about shoveling snow that's just as zen as yoga to me...

I know I'm weird.

Here's a cool thing called 9 layers:

LAYER ONE:
-- Name -- Mia
-- Birth date -- Mid-November
-- Birthplace -- Ohio
-- Current Location -- Akron
-- Eye Color -- Green Hazel
-- Hair Color -- Reddish with remnants of blonde highlights
-- Height -- short.
-- Righty or Lefty -- righty.
-- Zodiac Sign -- Scorpio.

LAYER TWO:
-- Your heritage -- Italian, German, English
-- The shoes you wore today -- My target "ugg" boots.
-- Your weakness -- Available credit.
-- Your fears -- Failure. Spiders.
-- Your perfect pizza -- Pizza Hut meat lover's.
-- Goal you'd like to achieve -- Independent Wealth.

LAYER THREE:
-- Your most overused phrase on AIM -- Hey.
-- Your first waking thoughts -- Howard (Stern), you're so funny but I'm still sleepy so I'm gonna put you on snooze for a bit.
-- Your best physical feature -- My eyes and my hair.
-- Your most missed memory -- I don't really understand this one... how can you miss a memory?

LAYER FOUR:
-- Pepsi or Coke -- Don't care as long as it's diet.
-- McDonald's or Burger King -- Burger King
-- Single or group dates -- One on one, please.
-- Adidas or Nike -- Nike.
-- Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea -- Hate Iced Tea!
-- Chocolate or vanilla -- Chocolate.
-- Cappuccino or coffee -- Espresso... usually in the form of a latte.

LAYER FIVE:
-- Smoke -- Only when I'm REALLY drunk... and I don't ever even finish half of it before I sober up enough to realize what I'm doing.
-- Cuss -- Fuck yeah, even in front of children and grandparents.
-- Sing -- In the car.
-- Take a shower everyday -- Except Saturday.
-- Do you think you've been in love -- I follow the 19-25 levels of love theory so, yep. But never on the really serious levels.
-- Want to go to college -- Not in traditional sense.
-- Liked high school -- Hell no.
-- Want to get married -- I want to have a wedding, but I'm not sure that I'm the being-married type.
-- Believe in yourself -- Yep.
-- Get motion sickness -- Only when reading in cars.
-- Think you're attractive -- sometimes.
-- Think you're a health freak -- I think I could be if I applied myself.
-- Get along with your parent(s) -- Yep.
-- Like thunderstorms -- Yep.
-- Play an instrument -- Nope.

LAYER SIX: In the past month...
-- Drank alcohol -- Hell yeah.
-- Smoked -- Nope, haven't drank that much.
-- Done a drug -- Nope.
-- Made Out -- Nope, haven't drank that much.
-- Gone on a date -- Nope.
-- Gone to the mall -- Yep and it cost me a $58 fine because Fairlawn cops apparently have nothing better to do than cruise the mall and look for expired plates.
-- Eaten an entire box of Oreos -- Nope. And may I say... yuck.
-- Eaten sushi -- Nope.
-- Been on stage -- Nope.
-- Been dumped -- Nope.
-- Gone skating -- What?
-- Made homemade cookies -- Nope.
-- Dyed your hair -- Nope.
-- Stolen Anything -- Nope.

LAYER SEVEN: Ever...
-- Played a game that required removal of clothing -- Hehe, once played a game of Strip Pool but the game didn't last long.
-- If so, was it mixed company -- Yeah.
-- Been trashed or extremely intoxicated -- Ummm, yeah.
-- Been caught "doing something" -- Nope.
-- Been called a tease -- Nope.
-- Gotten beaten up -- Nope.
-- Shoplifted -- Yep. But nothing like Tara Lance used too. Just nail polish and candy...
-- Changed who you were to fit in -- Probably. Every does.

LAYER EIGHT:
-- Age you hoping to be married -- Wait... didn't I just answer this? Oh, age. I couldn't care less.
-- Numbers and Names of Children -- How many I have? None. How many I want? 3... they are not yet named as they do not yet exist. But I'm willing to tell y'all my favorite names:
Boys - Elijah, Lucas, Jasper, Linus.
Girls - Sachi, Jacinda, Anna, Ariadne.
-- Describe your Dream Wedding -- Super fab-u-lous. Pretty formal with guests being served at the tables. Beautiful REAL flowers. Lots of booze. Gorgeous AND yummy cake. Did I mention it would be super fabulous.
-- How do you want to die -- Rich and thin.
-- Where you want to go to college -- I don't.
-- What do you want to be when you grow up -- So much...
-- What country would you most like to visit -- Italy.

LAYER NINE:
-- Number of drugs taken illegally -- If you count prescriptions that didn't belong to me - 2.
-- Number of people I could trust with my life -- 3: Me, myself and I.
-- Number of CDs that I own -- 200ish.
-- Number of piercings -- Technically 2; 1 in each ear.
-- Number of tattoos -- 1 - dragonfly on my lower back.
-- Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper -- 2-3.
-- Number of scars on my body -- About 6 but 4 only I notice; 2 burn scars on my left leg, 1 lead scar on my chest (where my brother stabbed me with a pencil when we were kids), 1 car accident scar below my right eyebrow, at least 2 chicken pox scars, one on my tummy and one on my left forehead.
-- Number of things in my past that I regret -- I don't believe in regrets.

Check it out - it's the bunny's birthday!

Still swinging at 50

Pretty much everyone I know still names Calvin and Hobbes as their favorite comic strip... For me, it's right after Peanuts and right before The Boondocks.

Anywho - here's a great article all about what happened to the guy who drew it:

Missing! Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson. Last seen in northeast Ohio. Do not approach.

Friday Five on Monday:

1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not?

Are you kidding? Let's just say my motto is; "You can never have too much of anything."

2. What was the last thing you purchased?

Wait, all my recent shopping trips are running together and for obvious seasonal reasons I can't name some recent purchases. Ok, @ target on Saturday I bought 2 kings size feather/down pillows and the Bruce Almighty DVD.

3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why?

All shopping is great.

4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it?

Yeah, it was something like $5 a week but even then I was borrowing against future weeks. Good thing my Mom had a 0% interest rate!

5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing?

I kind of regret my Dawn Power Dish Brush purchase or maybe I'm just unimpressed with it. I thought it would be a great addition to my obsessive dish washing system but it just added an extra and completely useless step...

I wasn't going to say anything... but then Moby said it for me:

"bush visiting the troops in iraq for thanksgiving is kind of like an abusive husband visiting his wife in the hospital after beating her up."

Mmm-hmmm.