Movie Blog

Fido

Last night as we were driving home, Ant told me he found Fido. He said it was one of his favorite zombie movies and that it was funnier than Shaun of the Dead. I said there was no way- no zombie movie could be funnier than Shaun of the Dead. He said ok, maybe not, but it's still pretty funny. It's a tall order for me to like a zombie movie, but ok. I was wary at first, but it was pretty funny. Somewhere along the line when I was wondering about people's fascination with zombies, I though it must be due to their escapability factor. As far as nonexistent creatures go, a werewolf or vampire would pretty much have to be unaware of your existence for you to escape. In the event of zombies, all you need is to be ambulatory and carry a blunt object and you have a good chance of survival. Fido was actually a pretty cute movie, showing how zombies might be mistakenly treated like pets after a zombie war. Completely silly, but cute and a nice love story.

Freaks & Geeks

Rachel informed me that I must watch this show, so I put it in my Blockbuster queue. It only took about 4 years to let it get to the top of the list. I think it's good timing now, even though Ant's still in middle school. He adores the show, especially the Joan Jett song in the opening credits. "I don't give a damn 'bout by bad reputation," Ant goes around singing. Of course, this show is about a group of kids in high school that are supposed to be the outcasts, but they all feel quite familiar. It's not just knowing someone similar in high school, it's feeling similar. They capture feelings I had forgotten about. I was just telling Ant about how weird it feels to be a teenager,to not feel like you're any different, then having a kid in your life and suddenly sounding like your mom. This is an interesting time to reflect on such things, because yesterday marked five years since Ant came to live with us. We had planned to celebrate, but Chris was not able to break loose from work. I decided to just spend the evening with Ant and we'll take him for ice cream today. Besides, he'd been at the ballpark with Chris, working in the sun all afternoon. All he'd eaten was oatmeal and fries, and the smell of the soldering smoke almost made him throw up. I figured ice cream might put him over the edge. I really wanted to celebrate yesterday, but I was certainly observing the occasion. I looked at his hands and how much he's grown. I tried not to let the attitude and self-righteousness of his age ruin the conversation. I tried to keep my own surliness at bay. I cleaned the kitchen while he snuck around the house, trying to surprise me. We drove to Walmart to get Chris a Father's Day card and other supplies. Our cart made a thumping noise, so he tried to make music in time to it and we giggled as I sped up and slowed down. He figured out that he could shock me as I drove the cart, and still found it amusing long after I did. He told me about his girlfriend.

So yeah, Freaks & Geeks. Bet you thought I forgot, huh? We've been watching the shows at different times and reporting back to each other. I am seeing myself in the daughter and the parents, which actually helps me with perspective. I am trying to remind myself lately that this is his life, after all, and my job should be to teach him how to keep himself safe and how to be kind without crushing his dreams or losing my mind in the process. That is a wobbly line, indeed. But watching this reminds me that it really isn't as bad as it looks- there are mistakes, but sometimes it's tough enough just to go to school every day.

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I am fabulous.

But I don’t WANT to come back from my break.

Everybody feels the need to spell their name for me.  This is rarely necessary, since I only need the first letter of the last name and last four digits of their SSN.  Working here is teaching me not to launch into a long, meandering tirade when I call a customer service number.  Now I try to briefly summarize what I want and ask them what they need from me.  And I try to remember their name.  And I try to be nice, no matter how annoyed I am.  I always ask Chris to talk to the cable company for me because I immediately want to wring their necks, but now I’m reluctantly realizing that no matter how long I’ve been yanked around, THIS person is likely new to the situation and might try to help me if I’m not a total asshole.  I’m always kind of thrilled when someone is all angry and wants to talk only to their doctor or a pharmacist when I can help them.  It’s a game to see if I can calm them down enough to find out what they need, then surprise them when I can actually help them.  Ha ha, see?  You think I’m just a lowly messenger, but I am SO much more than that!

But Jennyway, these damn spellers are making me crazy.  We could be halfway through the phone call by now, but here you are going: “My last name is Beelzebub. That’s B as in boy, EE, L as in longer conversation than necessary, Z as in zebra, E, B as in boy, U, B as in boy.”  Uh… thanks.  Now can I have your last 4?  Sometimes this is helpful, like when they say, “Hi, my last name is ?An a;I;sz n; ovds xdoid c, that’s Q...”  Other times this is not helpful, like when their name is Thompson.  Or Smith.  I had a guy spell Smith for me yesterday.  I like the people who say “Blue, like the color” or “French, like the European people.”

Good grief.  I just checked my total calls for the day and I am currently tied with my record, which I set on Monday.  118 calls.  Sheesh.  One more call to break my record.  Now I’m wishing the phone would ring.

Chris and Ant have been working very hard on the yard and the house.  It’s nice to come home and find them in the yard, struggling with sprinklers or plants.  They show off their hard work and I swoon appropriately.  We have an ant problem (lowercase this time) and it would be made a lot better if Chris could just put his damn dishes in the dishwasher.  He has been sealing up the cracks in the window that they keep coming through, but we MUST REMOVE THE TEMPTATION!!!  He seems to think it’s just part of kitchens and they aren’t really a problem.  That’s just because he doesn’t want to do his own damn dishes.

120 calls.  New record.

Exploding hearts sounds like a bad thing.

If I post too many pictures of my dogs, it's because my heart explodes with love when I'm around them. I can't help but feel that if your heart doesn't also explode when you see how adorable they are, well... you must not have one. I imagine this is why people's Facebooks are covered in baby pictures, but of course, no one finds those more precious than their own parents do. Except maybe their grandparents. I have a confession to make: When I post a picture, I can't stop looking at it. Why would I want to if it makes me so happy my heart explodes?

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Pretend like I posted these yesterday.

Yesterday we drove out to Fallon to see some drag racing. I didn't take any pictures, mostly because we didn't stay very long, despite the fact that we drove forever to get there. Do people seriously commute from Fallon? Wow.

While I didn't take pictures, I did see some... colorful people. Watching the dragsters race was cool, and most of the people were really nice, but I overheard some kid who was maybe 7 make a shitty remark- something about being an "American"- to two non-white kids walking by. His dad smiled and some bitch behind us found it hysterical. Then Ant went to go get a sandwich from the cooler in the Dodge and on his way back, some old crusty guy called out to him: "Nice clothes you got on there, bozo." 

Oh wow, you turd. Guess you've forgotten what it's like to be a teenager. And really, Ant's look was quite tame. Ant said he just said thanks kind of sarcastically, and I can't think of a more appropriate response. I'll never understand how anyone can feel that free to make shitty comments to a complete stranger. And what sucks worse is that I seriously doubt that guy would have said anything if Chris and I had been with Ant, but he felt free to rag on a kid. What a shithead.

So after that we drove down to Sand Mountain just to look at it.

I tried to get some other pictures too.

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Envision a totally creative title here

60 calls before 11:30?  I think I’ll start my lunch two minutes early, thank you.

Good grief, what a busy day.  And it doesn’t help that I didn’t get much sleep.  The plan was for Chris to drive me in today, then go get the Dodge smogged.  We got to bed late, then I spent most of the night waking up to the various movies Chris was watching because he couldn’t sleep.  At 6:30, when I fortunately checked the clock and found out that I was late and still don’t know how to set the new phone alarm, I crawled toward the bathroom and informed Chris of the good news.

“Uhhhhhnnnnnnnhhhhhhhhh, I feel terrible,” he said.

Ditto, but I don’t have much of a choice, so you shouldn’t either.

“UHHHHHNNNNNNNHHHHHHHHHH.”

This means I’m driving myself to work.  This is not awesome because I am already running late, but it gives me leverage.

“If you get to sleep in, I’d better come home to a clean house.”

“Oh yessssszzzzzz. I’ll make dinnnnnnerrrrrrr.”

“And you have to clean the kitchen floor really well.”

“Sparkliiiiiinnnnnggggggggghhhhhhhhhh.”

Fair enough.  I just had to leave a note in the kitchen to remind him that this was not, in fact, a dream.

So it’s just about noon and it’s guaranteed that I will not get to write once I’m back on the phones.  My butt muscles are very unhappy after sitting in the car for so many hours yesterday.  I will post some pictures on my break, perhaps.  For now, it’s time to slap on my headphones and prop my head back up on my second can of Diet Pepsi.

Deep breath.

“Hi, you’ve reached the communication center.  My name is Jenny, I’m non-clinical, and I’m answering for… wait, who am I answering for?  Oh, pharmacy.  How can I help you?”