Elegantly Random

Hollywood has TOTALLY killed the dream I dreamed.

I love musicals. I grew up with them. I literally cannot remember a time in my life when I didn't sing songs from musicals. My mom has a rich musical background as both a performer and a musician, so it was second nature to her. My parents started taking me to see plays, musicals and operas in college and community theaters as soon as I was old enough to sit through them. My mom used to record movies for me when they aired on television, so I could watch them over and over till the VHS tapes stopped working properly. We always had a vast library of musical soundtracks. Lots of these musicals I had never seen, so I had the fun of listening to the music and imagining what the staging would look like. I have a great memory from when I was about 7 years old, and the filmed stage production of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin was aired on television for the first time I was ever able to see, and our whole family gathered in the living room to watch it together. I was so DELIGHTED, because I'd been listening to the cast recording since I was a tiny tot. And those of you who know me know that I've done my fair share of stage performing myself. I LOVE MUSICALS.

Having grown up obsessed with musicals and having probably 50 or more of them utterly memorized, I've been really disappointed with their fall from grace in the film industry. Movie musicals have been out of fashion for a long time now, and there are lots of popular theories about why this is. It would have been so much fun to grow up in the days when musicals won Best Picture at the Oscars year after year, instead of being an rarity like when Chicago won the award in 2002. In the past 20 years of cinema, I can think of only a handful of musicals that have even come out, and so few of them that I actually thought were decent to good. Rent was okay - at least they brought back most of the original cast, but the adaptation was on the corny side. Moulin Rouge, Hairspray and Sweeney Todd, along with the aforementioned Chicago, are the only three that come to mind that were really good, in my humble little musician's opinion. It's sad. If you count animated films, then you could add several more to the list - but animated films have always celebrated music, and I really don't think they count in the same vein as a "musical."

You're probably thinking, "But there have been lots more musicals in the past several years in addition to the ones you named!" True. But I was listing the GOOD ones. Most of the musicals that have come out have been on the meh-to-terrible end of the spectrum. Dreamgirls. Mamma Mia! And worst of all, Phantom of the Opera. Hooo-boy. Talk about a wasted opportunity. It was beautiful to look at, but just. not. good. Phantom's a great example of the problem plaguing movie musicals today - star power triumphing over talent in terms of casting.

It's true that filmmakers have always considered star power and ticket sales when casting a film adaptation of a musical. After all, Audrey Hepburn famously won the starring role in My Fair Lady over Julie Andrews, a star of the stage who had played the role on Broadway for years to much acclaim, but who was unknown in the film industry. In order to make Audrey work for the film, a voice double had to be hired - the very famous Marni Nixon, who also sang for Natalie Wood in West Side Story and Deborah Kerr in The King and I. You could argue that the tactic worked - all three of those films were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and the first two I mentioned won the award. Both Natalie Wood and Deborah Kerr picked up Best Actress nominations, but neither won, while Audrey Hepburn wasn't even nominated. The winner in her year? Julie Andrews...for Mary Poppins (which has to be my favorite Oscar story of all time).

So in terms of critical acclaim, sure - sometimes you can cast a more-famous actor and the movie still does well. It worked in Chicago. Bebe Neuworth wasn't cast in the film, though she won the Tony for her portrayal of Velma Kelly in the Broadway revival - and Catherine Zeta-Jones did an incredible job and rightly won herself an Oscar. But the reason that worked? All the stars of Chicago could sing. Every. Single. One. And not only could they sing - they were appropriately cast in their respective roles. Another recent favorite of mine was Sweeney Todd, which is an interesting example, but in that case, instead of trying to replicate the feel of the Broadway experience and the big voices who made the roles famous, director Tim Burton went an entirely different route and created his own look and feel for the movie and also for the singing - and it worked.

Which brings me back to The Phantom of the Opera. I would argue that the film is almost one hundred percent miscast. The only person who was able to hold his own with the music is Patrick Wilson, who played Raoul. But Patrick Wilson is also a stage veteran, so really, it makes sense. The rest of the cast is completely off. Emmy Rossum was lovely to look at, and her voice had a purity that was nice enough, but she simply lacked the chops to sing the role. Minnie Driver didn't even try - they had to dub her entire performance. And Gerard Butler, while intensely sexy and appealing, was just one thousand percent wrong for The Phantom. His rock-style vocals were absolutely second rate, a far cry from the now-legendary Michael Crawford performance. Clearly, the filmmakers spent scads of money on the film's look and feel, but it flopped critically and at the box office - and it shouldn't have. It's one of the most successful stage musicals in all of Broadway history. Had they been true to the score, I believe the movie would have succeeded. The star power shouldn't have been in the actors' names, it should have been the musical performances - and the filmmakers totally missed the mark.

And the next movie poised to aim big and fall short? The upcoming film adaption of Les Miserables, the cast of which is being filled as we speak with BIG NAMES. But CAN THEY SING? That is the question. And to be more specific, is their vocal talent on par with the score? I'm guessing director Tom Hooper isn't going to make an "edgy" Les Mis in the vein of Burton's Sweeney Todd - so riddle me why on Earth someone like Russell Crowe would be set to star as Javert, the police officer obsessed with capturing Jean Valjean. Who will be played, FYI, by Hugh Jackman, the only part of the cast that currently makes any sense. Hugh Jackman is a very talented stage actor and singer. Though he's 44, he somehow seems young for the role made famous by Colm Wilkinson. But I'd say he's more than likely capable of playing the role, all in all, if they can age him properly. But Russell Crowe? I'm pretty skeptical. And please, PLEASE don't get me started on the travesty that nearly was - Taylor Swift almost landing the role of Eponine. OMG. The HORROR OF IT. It makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Not much better? Amanda Seyfried as Cosette. I have seen Mamma Mia! and it wasn't good. It pains me to see one of the best musicals of the modern era about to be demolished on the silver screen, just like its sister The Phantom, all in the name of STAR POWER!

Nothing would delight me more than to be wrong about this, because I would dearly love a good Les Mis. But I've learned not to get my hopes up. If I'm wrong, I will throw a party and go see the movie three times, but I'm usually not wrong about these things, unfortunately. And all I have to say is, Amanda Seyfried is NO Audrey Hepburn. 

An argument for critical review.

It's awards season, y'all! And you know I'm talking about MOVIE awards.

I'm a movie (and music, and literature) lover - and snob. That part is key. And as such, this is the time of year I like the most at the cinema - I like to call it "good movie season." That's when the endless dreck of summer blockbusters comes to a halt and we movie snobs breathe a massive sigh of relief as the arty and more intelligent films come rolling in, all in line for awards season. This is not to say that there aren't a few gems throughout the year - I really enjoyed Bridesmaids and Harry Potter over the summer. But if you're someone (like me) who goes to the movies to think, it's the time of the season. 

So I usually go to see a lot of films during the fall. Last year I even managed to see all 10 movies nominated for Best Picture Oscars, which took a lot of work through January to accomplish. This fall has been pretty busy, what with the new job and lots of travel, but we've made it out to see several things - 50/50 was great, The Muppets, Contagion, Drive - there have been some goodies. But I still have so much more to see! So much to see, so little time!

Being such a huge snob, it seems like every single day I have someone talking to me about some movie or tv show they love, and I have to smile and nod and be polite because I don't agree. I'm one of the only people I know who dislikes almost all sitcoms, didn't think The Hangover was funny at all, and could care less about comic book movies. I think Taylor Swift should be put into orbit so I never have to see or hear her ever again, and you KNOW my feelings about Twilight - books and films. I'm a snob, y'all! And being so picky, I hate wasting my time and money on books, movies and music I won't like. So I'm a reader of reviews.

Now, most people tell me they don't read reviews because they don't agree with the critics. That's fine, I suppose. But I almost always agree with the critics. Take an aggregator site like Rotten Tomatoes. If 75% of critics agree that a movie is crap, chances are I am also going to agree with that. The only time I find myself really differing is if a movie or album met completely mixed reviews. In that case, I'll usually check it out early and decide. And always, always if I'm curious about something, I see or read it eventually - even if the reviews are terrible. Reading reviews is just a way for me to filter through all the bulk of options in the world. I know myself, I know my snobby taste, and usually if most of the experts don't like it, I tend not to, either. Because I'm equally picky. 

Recent example of my critical tactics at play: the film Water for Elephants. Loved the book. Felt pretty iffy about the film, though, after reading a bunch of mixed reviews - and hello, Robert Pattinson. You burned up my affections three Twilight intallments ago. I do believe Water for Elephants has a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes - not awful, but not amazing. There were other things in the theater I wanted to see more, so I thought, you know, I'll wait for video. My expectations were quite low, I watched it on an airplane and found it decent, probably a B- film experience. Felt glad that I didn't spend a ton of money on seeing it in the theater. Voila. Sarie is happy.

Here's another reason I value critical reviews when it comes to making my selections. There's a difference between something being entertaining and it actually being high in artistic value. Art is subjective, so it will always be true that I might think Taylor Swift's music is terrible and you might enjoy it. That's kind of the beauty of it. It's not a math problem - we won't all agree on anything when it comes to the arts. But if you are a person who understands some of the nuances of the arts - what goes into dancing, or painting, or singing, or writing - it's a little bit tougher to ignore the blaring mistakes, faults, or failures and just be entertained. That would apply to me, as I've studied music, dance, literature, etc for years and have a very hard time turning off that critical switch. This is where reviews are helpful. Is Britney spears actually a GOOD singer? No. But she is entertaining. Is Drew Barrymore actually a GOOD actor? I'm going to say no, I don't think so, though she sometimes makes entertaining films. To use another example - maybe you're a former quarterback, and you know how to play football - so that makes watching Tim Tebow play all the more painful. But that's a whole other topic for another rainy day. The point is, critics watch a lot of movies - way, way more than you or I. Many of them have MADE lots of movies. This is their area of expertise - and I'm at least willing to hear them out.

We all enjoy things that are kind of crappy. I'll admit it. I adore Britney Spears, who I think we can all agree is hardly a GOOD singer. But for whatever reason, her sub-par vocals don't really bug me somehow. I agree, it's mysterious. I'll chalk it up to the fact that they're mostly electronic and you can barely hear them over the thumping music anyway. I listen to her in the gym, you know? But I'm not going to pay to go see her in concert, because you know, she's not actually very good. And also, as I said earlier, art is subjective - so you may actually disagree with me. Maybe you also took voice lessons for years and years, and you DO think Britney is a good singer. We can debate that and it'll be fun, but, you know, the critics DO agree she's not. Just sayin'. It's okay, though. For years I tried to convince people (and myself) that Keanu Reeves is a good actor, despite the opinions of experts. I mean...

For me, the job of a critic is to help me separate out whether or not something is worth my hard-earned time and money. If I just want to be entertained, I'll do that at home on my couch, but I'm not going to go out and spend $40 on movie tickets and popcorn for me and my husband for a movie like New Year's Eve. I'll wait and watch that crap (and make fun of it) on HBO. For now, I'm going to enjoy all the movies that the snobby critics have given the seal of approval.

Golden Globe nominations came out this morning and I've got my Academy Awards list all lined up for this year. Here's what to watch!

Best Picture Contenders:
Moneyball
The Ides of March
The Artist
The Help
War Horse
Midnight in Paris
The Descendants
Hugo

For Acting & Other Nominations:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Albert Nobbs
Bridesmaids
My Week With Marilyn
Martha Marcy May Marlene
J. Edgar
The Iron Lady
Young Adult
Carnage
Shame
Beginners 

Which films are YOU looking forward to this awards season? 

Do YOU recall the most famous reindeer of all?

A couple weeks ago, when we returned from our holiday with family in Missouri, Jay and I snuggled up one evening to watch the classic Christmas flick "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - you know, the claymation one with Burl Ives as the snowman?

Yes, that's the one.

I love, love, LOVED this little movie as a kid. My sister and I had a battered old VHS tape with this and several other holiday movies on it that we watched all year long. I'm pretty sure my mom would have been glad to punch that snowman right in the face round about 1988, but she put up with it like a trooper. All year, at any given time, you could probably hear my sister and I singing about Old Kris Kringle and the King of Jingle-ling! Ridiculous. Even as an adult, I love to watch it at the holidays, but I think somehow I missed it the past couple of years - so I was pretty excited to see it.

Hoo-boy, kids. I'm not sure when the last time YOU watched this movie was, but let me tell you what. It's a lot different when you're in your 30s. A LOT. Let me preface this by saying that I am in no way racist, homophobic, or prone to any other sort of prejudice that I might mention in the following. This movie came out in 1964, and the song was written in the late 30s...and I'm thinking it's no accident that, as an adult, I read this entire thing like a Cliffs Notes to the Civil Rights Movement. Spoilers ahead!

The plot: Rudolph, a cute little reindeer, is born and his dad, Donder, is pumped - until he notices that he has a shiny red nose. Donder immediately demands that Rudolph cover it with dirt so that he won't be a humiliation to the family or ruin his chances of someday being on Santa's sleigh team. Later, Rudolph goes to flying class and blows all the competition out of the water, impressing a young doe named Clarice and making lots of friends. Everything's going just great till his fake nose falls off and everyone shuns him. The flight instructor commands all the others to leave Rudolph out of all the reindeer games, and Santa even tells Donder that he's very disappointed in him. Nevermind that whole part where Rudy kicks ass at flying. 

Meanwhile, Hermey the elf is unhappy because he is being forced to make toys instead of become a dentist, so he and Rudolph head for the hills together, forming an alliance. They then meet up with Yukon Cornelius, a prospector who is also an outcast from society, happy to live on his own in search of silver and gold. The three of them set out on a series of missions doing good; they promise to get Santa to find homes for all the misfit toys; they capture and tame the Abominable Snowman; and Rudolph's shiny nose saves Christmas from being cancelled when a huge snowstorm hits. All is well and Rudolph and Co. are accepted back into mainstream society.

Observations: 

1) Rudolph, clearly, symbolizes racism in our country. I mean, he's not allowed to do anything because he has a black nose, people. How much more racist can you get? Not sure how even my five-year-old self missed this.

2) Hermey, clearly, is gay.

I mean, just look at him, will ya? Dude just wants to fix teeth instead of perform slave labor, man. The only thing that would make this more obvious is if he'd wanted to be a tailor. I think in the re-write, Hermey should be a fashion designer. But still, clearly, he's gay.

3) Yukon Cornelius, from what I can tell, represents the anti-government, anti-establishment. And kudos to him, man. He didn't like the way The Man was running the town and he got the hell outta there. I wouldn't mess with him, personally. Dude has sled dogs.

4) The Abominable Snowman is mentally handicapped. I see no other explanation for everyone thinking he's dangerous when really he's cuddly and likes putting stars on the top of Christmas trees. He reminds me of Sloth Fratelli from The Goonies.

5) Santa is a dick.

Which is, you know, upsetting to realize. Even as an adult. 

Also, a question. Santa lives at the North Pole, where, presumably, it snows every single year. You're telling me that a single snowstorm can derail the entire Christmas operation? Really? You'd think Santa, having just ONE job to do each year, would have a good contingency plan for dealing with commonplace North Pole weather in order to ensure the good children of the world get their unwanted Misfit Toys for Christmas.

Now, I'm not saying any of this is BAD. I mean, lessons about why it's not okay to single out people because they're different are GOOD lessons for children and adults of all ages. It's more just that I didn't realize, as a child, how deeply upsetting the plot of Rudolph actually is. I mean, SERIOUSLY? This poor deer has been abused since birth, ostracized, cast out, etc and so forth, all for having a weird-looking nose. Red instead of black. What is this, the German occupation at the North Pole? You bet your ass it is! That's EXACTLY what it is. I wonder if all the kids and parents hearing this song in 1939 immediately picked up on the issues at stake. Now every single time I hear this song or see this flick, the first thing I'm going to think is "Man, Santa and his employees are ASSHOLES! JUST LET HERMEY DO HIS THING, MAN, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!"

 

Talkin' tablets.

I love technology. But I'm not the kind of person to rush out and just buy things. Land sakes, no. I think about it, analyze it, do price comparisons, read reviews, the whole nine yards. My husband and I keep up with what's new in gizmo-land, but we don't replace our technology unless it doesn't work anymore or is truly, sorely out of date. Average life expectancy on a cell phone/smart phone in my hands? 2-3 years, depending. For a laptop? 3 years. A TV? 5 years. We replace things, but not after carefully researching and making sure it's needed or warranted.

Enter the oh-so-flashy iPad. 

Pertinent information: I am a former Mac user who converted mainly to PC circa 2004 (largely because of my workplace) and have only purchased iPods since - until this year, when I purchased an iPhone and then was issued a MacBook Pro and a second iPhone for my new job. So I guess I'm a born-again Apple person. I'll save my thoughts about the Apple corporation for another day, because they are lengthy and highly polarizing, and for now I'll be brief: Apple is very cool; Apple is very expensive; Apple gets away with charging you a premium because their shit is cool.

Now, back to the iPad.

There were tablets long before the iPad, but no one bought them. And it wasn't because they didn't do nifty things like stream content and let you play games. It was because they're unnecessary. You don't NEED a tablet. Especially now that most people have smartphones. But through the genius of Apple, the world suddenly liked tablets. Because the iPad is cool. The iPad is also very, very expensive, so of course not everyone can afford one...so all the other techno peeps set about creating their tablets to compete. And the tablet craze was begun. The people cried out, "Our laptops and smartphones are not enough! We want tablets! We want to stream our Netflix without having to carry our laptops to the living room!" Oh, we privileged first-world citizens do love our techno gizmos, do we not?! Life is so hard! But this whole thing is actually good because now there are lots of options and price points and there's something for everyone - from the low-budget to the "sky's the limit" crowd. Yay! Toys for all!

At first I was supremely anti-tablet. But after 18 months of watching everyone and their mom buy a tablet, I started thinking, you know, this might actually be handy for me. I'm over the in-home laptop, certainly now that work provides me a laptop. And I travel a lot. It might be nice to have another option. So I started to research, for a long time determined NOT to buy an iPad because, well, the principle of the thing. But now that I have all this Apple shit, I eventually realized that it would be more efficient if I could use the same cloud, share all the same stuff, etc. So I did it. I bought myself a very first-worldy iPad 2. And a little part of me died inside.

Meanwhile...Amazon released the Kindle Fire.

And I bought one for my husband, because why not? We both love Amazon in the way many people love Apple, and it's only $200! As someone who still can't believe that a regular Kindle is so cheap, I thought if nothing else, you can read on this thing, so it can't be a total bust. And you know, they hype on the Fire was big, but when it came out I read a lot of articles saying "Meh, it's not an iPad." Well, folks, no. It's not an iPad. But after a few weeks of having both around the house, I have come to the conclusion that most tablet users would do just fine with a Fire.

POINT-BY-POINT IPAD/FIRE COMPARISON:

Streaming content
This is the main reason most people buy a tablet - to listen to music, read books, watch movies. The Fire and the iPad do this about equally well from what I can tell. Though you have the option of 3G on an iPad, road tests with both gizmos didn't show a significant difference in service despite 3G enabling on the iPad. The Fire seemed to work just about everywhere the iPad worked. What's more, the Fire actually downloaded movie rentals from the Amazon Prime store much faster than the iPad downloaded them from the iTunes store - and also faster than my home computer downloaded movies from iTunes. I think the details here are important. It took 5+ hours each time I downloaded a movie from iTunes, whether it was to my iPad OR my laptop. The Fire downloaded movies in 90 minutes. That's a BIG difference.

The Silk browser on the Fire works at about the same speed as the Safari browser for iPad, and you can download new browsers like Opera to either one. Very important: you do NOT have to use Amazon Prime to enjoy your Fire. You can access Netflix and Hulu and such from the Fire. The only site Jay has had trouble with is HBO Go. Hopefully that will work better if he tries another browser. The screen on the iPad is obviously bigger and better, but the Fire is really light and comfortable to hold, so hey, they're both pretty neat. Both devices can handle your email just fine.

Storage
The iPad offers more storage, but thanks to the cloud on either device, it really doesn't matter UNLESS you are someone who wants to physically store more than 3 or 4 movies on your device, which I would argue is not most people. I purchased the 16gig 3G iPad and I cannot imagine filling it. Why would I put my music on it? It's all on my iPhone, and when do I not have my phone with me? And you're not gonna take your iPad to the gym to listen to tunes, or on a run. So really...is space REALLY that important? Also, Amazon's had a cloud longer than Apple has, and both gizmos come with the same amount of cloud storage. 

iTunes vs. Amazon Store/Amazon Prime
You have to pay a membership fee for Prime after your trial period, but it's not that much money, and afterwards you get discounts. For instance, if you rent a movie through Prime, it costs 99 cents and you get 48 hours for viewing, whereas rentals at iTunes are more in the neighborhood of 4-5 bucks and you only have 24 hours to watch. I keep waiting for iTunes to give us a membership option, that would be so great! Hint, hint, Apple! And let's not forget about that whole download time thing. I don't know what's going on with iTunes, but Amazon Prime downloads are faster. Plus, if you buy music from Amazon, it doesn't come with usage restrictions. Remember that annoying iTunes rule about only putting the music on 5 devices? That is SO uncool. No worries with that on Amazon. Sorry, iTunes. Your store is prettier, but I usually browse for ideas there and then go shop on Amazon.

Reading
Both the Kindle Fire and the iPad suck for reading. Period. It's bad for your eyes to read on lit screens. That's what they are. Suck. Magazines look great, as do graphic novels, but if you want to read books for long periods of time, read a real book or get an e-reader like a regular Kindle or Nook or whatever. 

Camera/lack thereof
The Fire has no camera and that is a bummer if you are a person who uses Skype or other video chatting programs. It's pretty much the only major downside of the Fire as of right now. But some people don't use those programs OR they will be okay with using them on their laptops or smartphones, like my husband. He doesn't care that his Fire has no camera. I will be interested to see if Amazon releases a more expensive Fire with maybe 16g and a camera. Who knows. 

Extras and apps
So as we all know, Apple currently boasts the most robust selection of apps. So far, Jay has been able to find most of the apps he wants in the Android selection for the Fire, or a very close approximation. You can play Angry Birds on the Fire, which should be enough to sate your average American. But if you're really into apps, you will find more on the iPad for sure. Also, it's true that you can't do all the cool music and video editing on a Kindle Fire that you can do on an iPad - and this touches on the reviewers who talk about the Fire not qualifying as a tablet, or offering any of the cool stuff that the iPad offers. This is my thought: Most users don't use that stuff. How many people are actually editing video or music on their iPad? I mean, really? Some are, but not very many. This is the same argument I make about laptops/computers, actually - most people only use about 1/5 of the power of their device, so I would argue, why are you paying for that other 4/5?

In summary...
The iPad is really cool. It syncs up with my laptop and phone. It has all the exact same features as my phone...which is cool, but it also MAY make you wonder why you just ran out and paid $700 for a larger version of the phone in your pocket. Ask yourself which of the features on the iPad you are actually going to USE...and how much of your desire to have an iPad is because "it's cool." If you've got the cash and you don't care, then tenfore, good buddy. That was me. I knew I didn't NEED it, but I wanted it, and that's basically all. But you won't hear me talk about how I needed it, that's for sure.

If you aren't flush with cash to spring for the iPad or any other $600+ tablet (and by the way, even wifi-only, 16gb iPad is going to cost $600 by the time you pay tax and get a cover for it), seriously, the Kindle Fire is a very, very cool option. Or if, like us, you want two unnecessary tablets for your first-world home. Or if you have KIDS who want to watch movies and play Angry Birds. It's a cool mini-tablet, and I would bet you that they'll release several other versions of it in the coming months/years because Amazon is awesome. And they'll all be cheap, because Amazon is so savvy, they don't have to make cash on these things.

The point of this diatribe is not to say the iPad sucks. Nope, it's very cool. I love my iPad. But the Kindle Fire is very, very cool too, and if money is tight or you just aren't that into the Apple thing, I think the Fire will serve as a great, inexepensive alternative for lots of people.

If anyone has tried the new Nook tablet, which is only $50 more than the Fire, I'd love to hear about it, as that looks to be another strong option for people in the under $300 price range.

The Grinch is back.

Y'all, I can't believe Thanksgiving is one week away. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? I feel like this year, more than any other year before, totally flew by at rocket speed. Thanksgiving? Gah! 

Thanksgiving has actually become my favorite holiday, trumping Christmas for sure. I love the laid-back feel, the home cookin', the Macy's parade followed by the dog show, the wine and conversation with friends and family. It's also ended up that Jay and I have never travelled for Thanksgiving since moving in together. That all changes this year, though, as we're headed to St. Louis and beyond to spend the holiday with my grandparents. Should be a lot of fun - plentiful food, cousins, aunts, uncles and babies to enjoy. And my parents and brother will be there, too - only thing missing will be my sister. Waah!

There's really only one thing squashing my Thanksgiving cheer, and that's CHRISTMAS. Good LORD, Christmas is stomping on Turkey Day! I know that it's been the case for a long time now, but every year I get crankier about it. Between the commercialism and consumerism and the in-store promos starting in October and the street decorations coming out the first week of November, I'm turning greener by the minute!

A few years ago, Jay and I started slowly scaling back the Christmas shopping in an effort to combat the consumer-related cranks we felt creeping over us. We started making more gifts, and each year have gotten more adept at thinking outside the box, coming up with nifty things to make OR, if it's storebought, choosing things that are really special, whether that means locally made or something the recipient REALLY wants. Don't get me wrong - I love to gift people. I just hate the pressure/stress/cost of doing it in a 4-week window every year, and I hate the way the gifts become so repetitive. As my friend Marianne says, what's the point of exchanging gift cards with someone? You could just take that $25 you spent on the gift card for Aunt Marge and use it to buy your own whatever at Amazon, and vice versa. Does my dad REALLY need another red tie? (He might say yes). Whatever. The point is, we've become a lot more jolly as we've eliminated a lot of the stress, repetition and overspending from the process, and that's been really great. But the Christmas season is still cranky-making for me, and I have been trying to tune out the Christmas songs I heard in Claire's today, and the snowflakes decorating the streets on Capitol Hill round about, oh, November 5th. 

This year, we decided to add a new twist to help us beat the grouchies. In the past, we've still purchased gifts for each other and exchanged them, even while scaling back. This year has been very productive and successful for us, and we're feeling pretty good about things. We were chatting and we sort of realized, there's really not much that we want or need in the way of gifts. And sure, we could go out and get each other some things - new knitting needles, a sweater, whatever - but meh. No need. SO - we decided to buy some household toys that we'll both use and enjoy in the coming year, rather than gifting each other. I'm pretty freaking excited about it, too. Sure, this means we're spending MORE money on each other than normal, but we'll both reap the benefits of the fun toys we picked (an iPad and an Xbox - boo-yah!) for much longer than that new sweater.

SO. Once again, I am combatting the Christmas Cranks - this time by rewarding myself with fancy toys for me, treating my friends and family to really special and well-thought out local and hand-made gifts they couldn't buy for themselves, and above all else, not celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah or ANYTHING but turkey until AFTER THE TURKEY IS CARVED.

How about you? What are your holiday annoyances?

5 years.

We just got back from a ten-day trip to Hawaii, during which we had a lot of fun and visited Oahu, Hawaii and Maui. It was magnificent. The excuse was our 5-year anniversary, though we definitely are big fans of travel and this had been on our list for a long time. I'm also on a big quest to finish seeing all 50 states by the time I turn 40, and this stop leaves me with just nine more to go. I am excited!

Those of you who know me personally know that I'm something of a control freak and a planner. I'm anal retentive. I'm organized. I get things done and I like them done just so. I make a lot of lists. I think things through carefully (and then think them through several more times) before doing them. It's what I do, and mostly it works for me - though it's not without its downfalls. Upsides to being super organized and anal and control-freaky: rarely have money problems, usually have a job, manage to avoid law-breaking and most major catastrophes due to good planning. Downsides: uber-stressful at times, can be a bummer when things don't go to plan.

Cue our trip to Hawaii.

I had built up this trip for months and months, and without delving into too much personal detail in a public forum (wait, wha? excersing restraint in the over-sharing department? who AM I?) I'll just say that I put several things on hold so that we could take this trip, and I really wanted it to go a certain way. I wanted it to be adventurous, high-energy and romantic. On top of that lofty list of goals and expectations, right before we took the trip, my new coworker said something that made me realize that Jay and I, despite doing a plethora of globe-trotting in the years we have been together, have almost never taken trips that were JUST the two of us. Because we live far from family and friends, most of our trips involve other people - which we love, but when I realized it...it really struck me. Wow. We haven't taken a trip that didn't involve work, family or friends, but was just about the two of us, in YEARS. And so that made me even more determined that our Hawaiian vacation would be perfect.

And then I woke up the morning of our departure feeling under the weather.

As a repeat bronchitis sufferer, I knew that was likely what was coming down the pike, and as we sat on the airplane for six hours on Friday night, I could feel it getting worse. Determined to have a great time and see all the planned sights, I woke up Saturday morning sure that I was better and decided to power on through, and we had a fabulous day of sight-seeing at Pearl Harbor and Waikiki. Hawaii was gorgeous and we were happy. But still, the lingering sickness was there and I knew deep down that it wasn't really out of me. Sunday morning I woke up and knew I was licked, and soon found myself in a doctor's office in Honolulu. We flew to Kona, and I felt worse. Arriving at our rental apartment, I broke down in tears, absolutely enraged and saddened to find myself on my long-awaited, much-anticipated trip...with bronchitis. I went to bed for several hours - cried myself to sleep, even. I was the picture of pathetic.

And then, something magical and very un-Sarie-like happened. I woke up, and I made a decision - not to let this ruin my vacation. Somehow, I said to myself, "Okay. I'm sick. It will take most of the week for me to get better. I will not be able to do all the things I had hoped to do this week. But maybe, if I'm careful and take good care of myself, I can still do some of the ones I wanted to do most, and surely I can still have fun. I'm in Hawaii. I can relax and enjoy the scenery. I can lounge under a palm tree just as easily as in my bed. I just have to avoid getting sunburned, get plenty of sleep and drink tons of water, and make sure to get enough rest."

It was like someone else invaded my body, some other person who wasn't a crazed planner from Planet Spreadsheet. And I did it, guys! I stayed positive. Sure, I caved to frustration for a few hours that afternoon, but after that? No. I had a GREAT vacation. It's true I didn't get to sea kayak as I'd hoped, and I had to modify my hiking and swimming plans, downscaling to manageable activities, and I had to plan in naps and restful activities that involved driving or sitting instead of scaling things and running around on foot. But it was still fun. And by Thursday, I had gotten 9-10 hours of sleep a night, snorkeled with sea turtles and manta rays and hiked through a volcano...and was feeling better. WIN! This is a good lesson for me - as much as it's awesome to be a planner, and I do that well most of the time and as I get older I do it with less stress - I am also able to live in the moment and adjust my expectations on the fly. I was proud of myself. *pats self on back*

Another magical thing about our trip, in addition to me learning to chill the hell out...I spent uninterrupted time with my husband. This probably sounds really stupid, but you know what? When was the last time you spent 10 days with your husband, or your wife, or your boyfriend or girlfriend or best friend or mother or ANYONE during which time you didn't watch a single tv show or movie, didn't get online other than to upload a photo or check a map, didn't do work, kept emails to a minimum, didn't work on any crafts or hobbies or do ANYTHING but hang out - and actually had a good time? I am gonna say I haven't done this with Jay in several years, and it wasn't for 10 days whenever we did it. It was AMAZING. It's funny. Even though I was sick and the trip maybe wasn't so romantic in the traditional sense, what with me hacking and coughing up a lung the entire time, it was ultra romantic in that I remembered why I like him so much, why I wanted to get married. Jay and I get along like gangbusters! Jay is funny! and fun! SO fun, in fact, that I didn't even MISS my television shows or my knitting (it's true, I didn't knit more than 3 rows the entire time I was gone until we flew back) or ANY of the daily circus. And that's how I know this is gonna last a lifetime, that I was smart to marry this dude. Because anyone you can spend 10 days with, sans media and diversions and while sick, and honestly say, "Wow, that was totally great," is a rare find. 

The off-season.

Since moving to the Emerald City in 2010, I've become a huge supporter of the Seattle Sounders FC, our resident professional (MLS) soccer team. Last fall, I suggested to my husband that we purchase season tickets to the Sounders. Due to the Parade of Visitors (the 12 sets of people who came to see us between April and September), we were making an effort to stick around over the summer and not do a lot of big travel. We figured soccer tickets would help pass the time. 

This investment turned out to be awesome. Going into the season, which began back in March, I liked soccer and understood it reasonably well. My brother was a soccer player growing up, and I went to a lot of his games, as well as following the World Cup here and there. I appreciated the sport. Over the course of the season, though, I've come to love the sport. It's surprised me to some degree, how big a fan I am at this point. There are lots of things I love about it - number one, our team is really good (finishing the season #2 in the MLS, if all goes accordingly). Number two, Seattle has a lot of pride in the Sounders, and we have the biggest following in the MLS, with more tickets sold and higher attendance per game (by a LOT) than any other team. It's pretty cool to walk around town on game day and see tons and tons of people wearing green and blue, and know that our following is as big as basketball or football or any other pro sport in most cities. It's fun to feel part of that community of people who love their team and love Seattle. And number three, the players are ridiculously attractive. Let's not underestimate the power of number three.

Saturday night is our last regular season home game, and we'll be honoring our amazing goalkeeper, Kasey Keller, who is retiring after this season. I fully expect a little sports-crying, even though I'll get to watch him in both the CONCACAF and the MLS cup playoffs in the weeks to come. Kasey is a huge asset to our team, arguably our most valuable player, and he's going to be really hard to replace. But also, I'm sad that the season is coming to an end. I know, it's a long season, and my wait for the start of the next is pretty short - friendlies start in February. But still - it'll be a long, dark off-season.

I was thinking about all of this the other day as I made my commute to work, which involves a short bus ride and then a 15-20 minute walk. I realized that I kind of feel, in my personal life, like I've just come out of an "off-season" of my own. When I moved to Seattle, it was with great excitement. I supported my husband in his career move, I was honestly thrilled at the chance to move to the Pacific Northwest, a place I'd heard so many amazing things about and had already come to love after just a couple short trips. I was even ready to leave my old job behind, even though I really loved it and I still miss many of my coworkers eighteen months after the fact. I knew this would be a challenge, moving across country and being so far away from our friends and family, having to start over entirely - but I felt up for it.

When we got here, it took me a while to find a job - not a surprise, given the economy and the fact that I feel pretty strongly about working for non-profit organizations and preferably colleges or universities. But I thought, I'm not going to let being in the off-season stop me. I started a little business spinning yarn, which has been a lot of fun and a source of much-needed and appreciated side income. I eventually found a temporary job at the University of Washington, and though the job wasn't quite what I'd been looking for, I met some really lovely people, some of whom have now become real friends. I continued doing freelance graphic design work. I traveled a TON. It wasn't a bad time. In fact, it was pretty fun!

But I was antsy. I really felt like all the pieces were there - I was making friends, I was putting a toe in the pond of the professional community - but things just weren't quite coming together. I wrestled a bit with what I wanted to do professionally and personally, from jobs to raising a family to going back to school - you name it, I considered it and asked myself what the next step should be. As our old pal Dickens said, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" - because even as I was questioning what was next for me, I fell head-over-heels in love with Seattle. I feel more at home here than I have ever felt in any place I've lived - and this is my 8th city of residence, so I feel like I have plenty of experiences to compare. It was like, in my off-season, everything I needed for bliss was right there in front of me, if only I could figure out how to put it all together.

This fall, I feel like that really happened. I found a new job that I'm enjoying. Like any job, I'm sure it'll have its ups and downs, but I'm busy and I feel useful. These are good things. And I'm surrounded by really, REALLY nice people here, both professionally and personally. Jay and I have made some great friends here already, and I'm encouraged by the number of people who want to visit us here too. It's sort of amazing. Some other questions have started to be answered, things that have been on my mind for ages - I don't want to say too much yet, but I feel whole again. It's like I can finally see a path for myself. It's not a set-in-stone path, it's more like a meandering country road, but still...there are some nifty things along that path, and I'm really excited to walk down it. 

I'm a big believer in the magic of seasons - that as much as we need times of revelry, we need times of quiet and solitude, times to consider, reflect, evaluate. Just like the world needs winter to sleep and rejuvenate, just like the Sounders need a couple months of downtime - so did I. So do we all. The cool thing is, when the season starts up again, it's so easy to put on that green and blue jersey again and dive in. 

 

The entitled consumer.

I'm back from haiatus, friends! And what better way to get my feet wet again than with a timely rant? I would like to talk for a little bit about something that's really been peeving me lately: the entitled consumer. Entitlement is quickly shooting to the top of my Most Awful Human Traits list, and nowhere is it more evident and prevalent than on the internet.

As many of you know, I work in communications, and I spend a lot of time on the internet. For the most part, I'm a big believer in social media and I tout the pros of online interaction with friends and strangers on a daily basis to earn my keep. Social media is awesome. The internet is awesome. But sometimes, it can also become a catch-all for some really unappealing human behavior - especially when it comes to entitlement and consumer griping.

Recently, I feel like half the things I read in people's Facebook streams are about how much they hate this or that business, organization, or website. And not just how much they loathe these businesses, but how these businesses are mistreating and abusing them. I understand that people like to share their experiences, good and bad, with their network of friends, and I do it too. It's just that lately it really feels like more than just complaining or "having a bad day"-type whining. It's this whole consumer attitude of, "How dare this company do X to me, personally, and wreck my first-world life?" And I have to say...I'm sick of it. 

For example, how about the whole Netflix/Qwikster debacle? First Netflix raised prices. While I agree that the way this change in pricing was announced was less than smooth, asking people to pay a few more bucks per month for an unbelievably underpriced service seemed fairly reasonable to me. But the people, how they moaned and groaned. Then, when the company announced it would split its DVD and streaming services into separate companies (Netflix and the unfortunately named Qwikster), it was anarchy. People swarmed the interwebs to let all their fans and followers know that THEY WEREN'T GONNA TAKE IT. They were ditching Netster, by god, for DARING to charge them more money and change their business model. I'm no fan of the name Qwikster, and I'm skeptical as to how long the company will stay afloat under this new business model, but for my money, I still can't watch movies any other way for a better deal...so I'm sticking around. And not complaining.

Then there was Bank of America, who announced that they will begin a monthly fee for debit cards. OH, HOW THE PEOPLE RAGED. "We're switching banks!" they hollered in anger. Now, let's stop for a second, kids. First of all, it's $5 a month. It's not like they're going to charge you per swipe (which really would be an issue). And banks are businesses, not free services for the people. So they're going to charge you money here and there. Paying $5 for the luxury of swiping a magical card doesn't seem so insane to me. - probably because I'm still amazed that I get to manage all my accounts and bills via BoA's fairly amazing online banking system. Also, people fail to see the value in time saved. It wasn't so long ago that people had to actually GO TO THE BANK to obtain cash with which to spend money...or, horror of horrors, WRITE A CHECK. Do you know how much TIME that takes? And guess what? You can run off to another bank, but I'd check the news first. Several other banks have mentioned that this fee may be in their futures as well. And let's not forget, changing banks is a GIANT PAIN IN THE ASS. I would say it's worth the $5 a month to not have to deal with the hassles involved in a bank change. Imagine if you went to all that trouble to avoid the $5 fee, and then your new bank started charging? Then you'd REALLY have something to yell about.

And last but not least, there's Facebook. People just love to bitch and moan about Facebook making tweaks and changes to their site that require users to spend all of 3-7 minutes learning something new in order to use the site, or even MORE dreadful, read the privacy settings and think for a minute about what they're posting. To all of the people of the world who are whining about Facebook, a reminder: Facebook is free. You don't have to use it. You can feel free to scoot on over to Google+ where things are simpler. Of course, you'll be very bored if you do.

If you don't like your bank, change it. If you don't want to order DVDs from Netflix, don't. And if you don't like Facebook's game-changing, innovative website, then by all means, LEAVE. But I am so tired of consumers going on and on and on about how this or that company has done them some sort of personal harm by changing their policies. This is America. These are FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS, and you have the power to fix them. You can CHOOSE your service provider. And, happily, if you can't seem to find a way to stop whining about how some company's updated business model ruined your life, I have the power to un-follow you. 

A treat from Down Under.

This week marks the beginning of the end of this summer's Parade of Visitors, which has been absolutely epic. But tomorrow, I must begin a new job (yay!) and go back to the real world. To cap off the manic and epic visitation schedule, my knitting friend slash all-around friend Ceylan came to visit. She arrived Friday and just left for the airport a little while ago, and we enjoyed several days of gabbing, sightseeing, shopping, pedicures, eating out, and of course, making stuff. But that wasn't the only reason for her visit.

I think everyone who's been a reader of this blog for a while knows that I'm a big, huge knitting nerd. I make wearable and usable items for myself and loved ones - much of it pretty neat stuff, if I do say so myself. And I get how, to the non-crafter, knitting might seem like an oddball hobby. But I've definitely made some of my closest friends because of knitting.

I've talked often here about Ravelry, which is basically a Facebook-esque social networking and hobby-sharing site for knitters, crocheters, weavers and spinners. It's a great website where you can post your project photos and notes, get ideas from others who have made what you're making, talk to designers and artists, and chat with other makers of things. It's pretty badass.

On the forums several years ago, I made friends with a lovely young lady by the name of Elin. She's Swedish-born, Singapore-raised and a current resident of Melbourne, Australia (and she will readily inform you that Melbourne is the best part of Sweden, bar none). We started chatting online after realizing that we liked a lot of the same knitting patterns and yarns and colors, and overall shared some style similarities and personality traits. We've been chatting regularly for a few years now. (I should mention that this is also precisely how I met Ceylan, who I now share an Etsy shop with). Ceylan and Elin were the first knitting friends I made online, and they also had been chatting for a good long time and are close.

A few months ago, Elin announced that she and her fiance James would be traveling to the United States for a couple of weeks, touring San Francisco, Seattle and New York. I was so excited! Finally, a chance to meet my Australian friend! I'm sure we both felt a little bit nervous at the prospect of meeting in person, but after such a long time chatting and sending each other little packages in the mail and generally getting well-acquainted, I was pretty sure that, as with my other knitting pals, it would be a breeze in person pretty quickly. Ceylan wasn't about to miss out on meeting Elin, so she decided to come up from Dallas for a few days to spend some time hanging out. So, on Monday night, after a few days together, Ceylan and I headed to SeaTac airport to pick Elin and James up...and we were delighted to find Elin every single bit as adorable and fun as we had expected. (Oh, and James is pretty great, too!)

Elin's visit isn't over yet - she and James will fly to New York on Saturday morning - but already I feel so lucky that my far-away friend was able to come to Seattle! We've done some sight-seeing and eating and of course knitting together, but I'm also making sure to give her plenty of time with her future husband, too. It's just so surreal, that this person who lives halfway around the world is finally here in the flesh! Each new friend I make is a gift, to be sure, but it certainly feels like special treat to get to meet someone from so far away. I'm already feeling a little bit sad that when I say goodbye to Elin, I won't see her again for a very long time! 

Which leads me to that all-important question...WHY hasn't the transporter been invented yet?!?! WHY?! I want to just step onto a sparkly platform and tell Scotty to beam me wherever the heck I want to go! That way, when I'm sick of the cold, dark weather in February, I can just get beamed over to Melbourne to hang out with Elin in the middle of her summer. Not to mention visiting all my other friends and family whenever I feel like it. Jay and I could have celebrated my new job by going out to dinner...in Paris!

Elin and I knitting on the ferry to Bainbridge Island, 9/13/2011

I'm baaa-aaaack!

Hello, loves! I'm here, I'm here! I'm sorry for the summer haiatus but sometimes, that's the way it goes. I had to take a little break from bloggery while I quit a job, scored a new one and hosted a veritable parade of summer visitors. It's been a busy past couple of months, but I would not change a thing! Anyway, I'm sorry I ditched out, but sometimes a gal just needs some quiet time.

Summer in Seattle is an interesting thing. Personally, I adore the mild temperatures and partly-to-mostly sunny weather. If you're visiting in the summer (which doesn't REALLY kick in until the end of July, aside from a few teasers here and there), you can expect anything from 65-85 in the daytime and mostly sunshine...but it IS Seattle, and a few gray days are to be expected. However, we have almost no rain in the summer, which is a nice repreive. Some of our visitors got to experience the best views we have to offer on blue-sky weekends. Most recently, our New York friends enjoyed five whole days of sun and temperatures over 75, even 80 - that's a real anomaly! I love that it's September and we're enjoying our warmest streak of the summer - it's been over 80 degrees for several days now. Indian Summer!

So yes, it's been busy, entertaining people from North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, Boston, Trenton and New York, to name a few. Still to come, my girlfriend is arriving from Dallas on Friday, and my friend Elin and her fiance will be arriving from Melbourne, Australia on Monday - SO excited to see them! The final visit will be from my parents at the end of the month. 

Also next week, I start my new job as the social media coordinator in the marketing department of a small local university. VERY excited for this new challenge!

Otherwise, it's been a summer full of reading, knitting, exercise (rehabbing the ankle I sprained in May), yarnmaking (the awesome and epic Tour de Fleece, which I'll write about), moviegoing (Crazy, Stupid, Love gets my vote as best of the summer), tv watching (OMG Battlestar Galactica!), tattooing (birds on things!!!), haircuts (Locks of Love donation = done!), soccer fandom (could I love the Sounders any more than I do?!) and more. Excited to get back to writing and dive headfirst into fall!