Random Notes

I have been neglecting the blog lately.

First, I have been meaning to say thanks to Pam (you must read her blog - smart and funny and grammatically correct - all the things that this blog isn’t) for the great traveling-on-a-plane-with-an-out-of-control-toddler tips. For those of you who did not have the pleasure of reading my desperate cry for help in her comments section, let me fill you in.  We are planning a trip to Florida in April to visit my grandmother. I’m living in a state of near-constant dread just thinking about it. Because we get to spend a week stuck inside a condo with half my family and my 80-something-year-old grandmother and, woo hoo, how fun is that gonna be? Yes. But mostly because I have to go on an airplane. With a fifteen-month-old. Who likes to take his socks off, lie down on the floor, kick his legs and scream, just because. And will not take kindly to being made to sit still for three hours. And we were too dumb/cheap/naïve to get him his own seat so we could just strap him in and be done with it.

I am planning on printing out the suggestions and distributing them amongst my family members and a few random strangers in the airport (have to cover all the bases). I will not need them for myself because there is one little detail that I forgot to mention – I do not do well in situations that require me to be 32,000 feet in the air and conscious at the same time. I have every intention of getting my hands on some high-grade pharmaceuticals and spending the entire length of the flight in a drug induced stupor. The less aware I am of the fact that my body is “hurtling through the sky in a metal tube” at 600 mph, the better off we’ll all be.

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On Sunday my friend A and I took Christopher to the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Back in the days of our youth, the parade was a big social event. We would load up a backpack full of beer, meet up with some friends and head downtown. The day would usually start with a pit stop at a local bar for a few shots of Jägermeister (bleh, yuck, ugh … but it’s not about the taste) and end with … I don’t know, all I can remember is the hangover.

I haven’t been in about four years so I thought it would fun to take the baby. I loaded up a backpack full of diapers, picked up A, and stopped of at Starbucks for a few shots of espresso (actually, it was Dunkin Donuts and just plain coffee but it makes for a better story the other way, don’t you think?)

I learned a few things: 1) Life has changed and 2) Drunk people are idiots. At the risk of sounding like the crotchety old lady that I am fast becoming, I never acted like that.  Drunk people are much less obnoxious when I, myself, am drunk.

After navigating a path for the stroller through the kegs and the empty beer cans and the drunk guys trying to touch my ass (dude, I have a baby! Did you miss that?) I realized that parades are not for kids. Nor are they for crotchety old women.

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I joined NetFlix. All the kids are doing it these days and I had to see what all the fuss was about. I signed up for the 3-movie-at-a-time plan. I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed. It’s not NetFlix’s fault, I’m just an instant gratification type of gal. The whole put-the-video-in-the-mail-and-wait-5-days-for-another-one is not for me. I’m more suited for On Demand (not that we have it because I’m too cheap to get the fancy digital cable). It’s not that I have the time to watch a DVD once a day, sometimes they just sit around and collect dust for a week or two, but I like to have the option of watching a new one as soon as I’m done with one. Also, Michael has gotten his hands on the account and keeps ordering crap like The Chronicles of Riddick. When you ask yourself “Who watches that shit?”  well, now you know. He’s a Sci-Fi geek. Also a computer nerd. I have no idea how we ended up together. I’m taking my Garden State and finding myself a man who appreciates a good film!

So he gets one movie, I get one movie (or TV show. Right now I’m on a CSI kick.) and we get one movie to watch together. Last weekend, thanks to the snowstorms that screwed up the mail, we had no movies. We had to go to the video store and rent! So old school!  My solution to the problem? I’ve upped my account to 4 movies. Next week I’ll probably up it again to five. Maybe I’ll join Blockbuster AND NetFlix. A DVD a day. I have to do the math but it’s still cheaper than friggin digital cable.

I just can’t tell Michael or I’ll have to share – a concept that I’m normally okay with, but not when it means the possibility of having to watch Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

 

Comments

[Linda]

Okay, I used to have a high opinion of you, but if you don't like Netflix, I'm afraid you'll have to go on The List. Sorry.

Seriously, when on earth do you watch TWO MOVIES IN A ROW?! We usually have 2 waiting for us to watch and one in transit. It helps that we live near a hub because we put it in the mail and get a new one 2-3 days later. Andrew also likes it because he can get old or unusual movies that The B won't have. Oh and you should hear his tirade against The B. We rented Requiem for a Dream and they had EDITED it to make it more "family friendly." He was pissed to high heaven. I still hear about it anytime someone mentions The B or, God forbid, censorship.

And if we ever have a film night where we each choose a movie, I'm not watching Michael's choice.

[Kelli]

I've heard that about The B. I never knew if it was true or just an urban legend. We never go there. We actually have a really great local video store but you have to get there early on a Friday or you've got little to no chance of getting a new release.
Netflix has been working out great for our weekend movie viewing (with the exception of the snowstorm incident). I think it's my TV shows that it's not working out so nicely for. I'm catching up on the first few seasons of CSI and then I have The Office and Gilmore Girls on my list. Ideally I'd like to always have a DVD on hand so I can pop it in and watch an episode here and there. Problem is, to do that I'd have to give up my movie choice. So it's either wait 5 days in between CSI discs or watch Chronicles of Riddick or similar crap every weekend!
So you see, dilemmas!

[Catt]

1) One word - Dramamine. It knocks them out like a champ.

2) We went to the big St. Pat's Day Parade/Party yesterday which happens to be right near our neighborhood. This year I didn't drink. Drunk people are stupid (*I'm* never stupid mind you, when I'm drunk. Of course not). It was nice not to be passed out or hungover by 9pm, though.

3) I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has a Hubby with "questionable" movie tastes. At least my son will watch crap like "Alien vs. Predator" with him so I don't have to.

[Kelli]

Ha ha! "Alien vs. Predator" was one of the first movies on his NetFlix list.
Want to hear something worse? He made me watch "Freddy vs. Jason". In the theater!