Recently one morning, I got an email from Stefan that said:
Around 10 a.m. you might hear a explosion, that will be a WWII bomb that they have to blow up near Ahrweiler.Ah, explosions... memories of Afghanistan...
I haven't been able to quit the country cold turkey: I read A Thousand Splendid Suns, by the author of The Kite Runner (which I haven't read yet), I'm in contact with several people back in Kabul, I'm still monitoring my RSS reader for news from Afghanistan and reading most of the stories, and I stop everything for anything about the country on the TV.
Who is Albi? Albi is the Mighty Mighty Mouse Hunter, that's who.
Albi has decided that hunting mice in the fields we walk through every morning is her official job. And there is something oh-so-hilarious about her suddenly pouncing, landing with her nose to the ground and rear-end stuck up high in the air. She's tried hundreds of times, and caught two... which she dropped when I told her to (in my oh-so-pleasant hysterical voice). Both, I'm sorry to say, did not survive their capture.
Bought Little Shop of Horrors, the movie musical version. I used to listen to the soundtrack of the play over and over in college, and then became a huge fan of the movie when it came out back in the 80s. It was great to watch/listen to while stressing over the planning and preparations for wedding celebration (which continued right up to the last minute; geesh).
But it provided little consultation at having to miss Lucinda Williams in Cologne, the Asylum Street Spankers in the Netherlands and Tommy Wommack in Ireland...
Anyway, I completely agree with the changing of the ending from the stage play for the movie. Some things that will work on stage or in a book just don't work in a movie. Listening to the commentary by Frank Oz really brings home why the ending had to be changed -- and affirms that he had never originally intended to do so. I just wish they could have come up with a way for the plant-eating-New York scenes to stay in (maybe as a fantasy sequence?) and the full version of "Meek Gonna Get It" to be shown (I know they recorded it, because I have the soundtrack too).
It's nice to be so popular -- but I'm overwhelmed with all the online social networking invitations I'm getting. Last year, it was MySpace, this year, it's FaceBook -- what's it going to be next year? I can't keep jumping around...
I cannot believed I freakin' cried at a replay of news announcements and the funeral from 10 years ago regarding Princess Diana. Come on -- what is up with that?! Other than getting up in the middle of the night on a school night to watch her wedding (I was 14 -- that's what 14 year-olds do), I never followed her life. I never cared, other than glancing at tabloid covers in the grocery store check out line and thinking, leave her ALONE. Geesh. When she died, I was so taken aback at how I reacted -- but I just couldn't stop crying. I was active in an online group for women who worked with networking technology, women who were career-minded and went off-topic only about politics -- and most of the women on the group reacted the same way, and were freaked out at their own reaction. Why did we react this way? I have never understood it. I guess it had something to do with all of us thinking of her as being used by almost everyone she loved, and being so let down in very public ways, again and again, by people she trusted. I think most Western women identify with that in a major way.
Somehow, while tooling around my favorite web site the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), I ended up on a web page devoted to the Tirades of Julia Sugarbaker, the character played by Dixie Carter on "Designing Women." I had a friend who used to tell me that, when it came to my mouth, I was Julia Sugarbaker. But I've never been as eloquent as the real thing. Anyway, I laughed myself silly over the Tirades. Amen, sister. Amen.
Started The American by Henry James while still in Afghanistan and only finished it just before our trip to France. I picked it up at Cabul Coffee House (I don't remember what book I left in its place). I picked it up for the title, but ended up really enjoying it. It's slow to start, but then really picks up.
There's something really wonderful about an informal book exchange -- you end up reading things you would probably never read otherwise, and it's fascinating to see what other people have read (or given up on).
I've added a new section to my web site about reading old novels that have been around for so long and are so famous that no one reads them anymore, because they've been made into movies or TV mini-series (often many times over), or because they've entered into our pop culture references so frequently that people *think* they know them without having to actually read them. Hope it leads to some good books suggestions for you (added bonus: you can find these rather easily at half price/used books stores and cafe book exchanges).
As for the wedding: we're still recovering. It was, in a word, amazing. If you were there, then you know why. My mother and one of my brothers and his wife were able to come, as well as oh-so-many friends from back in the USA. It's a time I will cherish forever.
I wrote the place in Delhi where I bought my wedding sari, and included a photo attachment of me in the sari, but never heard back. I was kind of disappointed -- I thought they would remember me!
What am I going to do with the sari? I have some ideas...
And what happens now? Other than a trip to England, NOTHING. I need a break! It's been an insane year. It makes my head spin to think about it. Time for a lot of reflection... and to decide for sure if we're moving to the USA next year.
More later . . .
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