the entirely unintentional theme could've, should've been Best Actress Golden Globe winners of the past few years as we saw Away With Her (Julie Christie) and Julie & Julia (Meryl Streep) over the last two nights (also Carolina's record-setting third loss in a row).
I was a bit scared heading into Away as Alzheimer's is pretty much, to quote my new friend Buster, my "second greatest fear." and that's actually probably selling it short.
but we tried since it was coming on IFC and isn't available on Netflix's instant play and we're thinking about killing the cable.
any thoughts there?
our trial session of Hulu has left me less than impressed and, of course, there doesn't appear to be an answer to the sports void we'd be creating (at least until ESPN360 works a deal with PS3).
but we watch TV together - just the one large television in the one somewhat large room - and I feel rather selfish for anything past Carolina basketball (this time of year at least).
and it's really not the $70 a month (though that sounds ridiculous for cable) as much as there really isn't much to watch on non-network TV and the customer service (I'm guessing I don't need to repeat) is the worst.
I may well receive $70 worth of satisfaction telling Time Warner that we're pulling the plug. but I won't relish having to head to a sports bar when the first Duke-Carolina game is played (I think ESPN usually gets the first and network usually gets the second).
anyway, Away With Her is good movie. strong movie. excellent performance by the entirely lovely Ms. Christie and not as depressing as I expected.
and to the best of my knowledge (because we do not live in Canada), none of the movie was filmed anywhere close to our apartment.
however, a good portion of Julie & Julia was.
Julie's apartment can't be much more than a mile from here, if that, and at least two scenes were filmed on the next avenue over (including the scene just before the scene pictured above).
not as close as Nurse Jackie (Jackie's husband owns a bar that is maybe 120 yards from where I'm sitting now), but still pretty damn close.
I guess I should be more surprised, given the proximity of Silver Cup, that more "outer boroughs" movies and shows aren't filmed in the neighborhood.
Contra, by the way, is better the tenth or twelfth time you listen (as opposed to the one and a half times a recent post was based on). still not a fan, at all, of the opening track.
so Julie & Julia, for the two of you who aren't aware, is a movie based on a book based on a blog by a young woman in Long Island City, Queens, New York, the United States, North America, Earth, etc.
and she began her blog as she began working her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (the blog being some kind of reminder/reinforcement so that she wouldn't let her project drop).
and that's great. wonderful. good for her.
but I think I'm just a little too self-conscious to try such a thing.
I mean, the blog, this blog has it purposes (though admittedly I've killed it in my very own head on more than one occasion).
if nothing else it gets some writing done when the prose is rusty, and so it'd be great if I was just knocking out the word count and keeping it all for myself in order to return and cannibalize later as necessary.
but of course if you're never going to show it to anyone, why bother writing it in the first place? (one self-defeating argument might go)
an aside, particularly for those of you who are scared to ask/mention/broach the topic of the Tusk book (for good reason actually) . . .
the manuscript has been turned in once again with the only major (if you can call 1000 words major) change being the addition of an introduction which, I assume, is supposed to be some combination of a warning shot/statement of purpose/disclaimer.
I'll find out soon enough, I guess, if that's NOT what my publisher/editor had in mind.
in any case, in the on again/off again world of big-time (and small-time) publishing, it did actually seem like Tusk was off-again for quite some time. at least long enough for me to do the whole gulp, swallow and accept thing.
but the situation changed (and maybe one day I'll talk/write about it) just about a month ago. one particular day out of a string of two or three really good days (I write that to remind myself that strings of two or three really good days really do happen, if only sporadically). and it looks like the Tusk book will finally see the light of day sometime this spring, maybe early summer (even being on both ends of the publishing process on numerous occasions I still don't have a good handle on how long this stuff actually takes because so very, very much of it is completely out of my hands).
so back to the neighborhood, Julie & Julia and just what the hell blogs are for.
now that Tusk is once again out of my hands, it's more than time, past time one might say, to get on with the next project.
and I've known what I want to do (or at least one of the things I want to do) for quite some time.
and really I should've plowed in, if not when I turned in Tusk the first time at least when we returned from the odd (in that we took one) vacation (I turned in Tusk via e-mail and was on a plane less than four hours later, if memory serves).
excuses, excuses.
I really didn't produce much in 2009, though I feel good about Tusk (doubt that others will feel as good about Tusk but I certainly feel good about Tusk) and I guess that ought to count for something (it damn well better, otherwise you (meaning me) are having to look back on a pretty much wasted year).
anyway, I've know what I want to do next for quite some time and it's pretty much time to, you know, get started on it.
but I'm a little hesistant, nervous (understandable, I think) about just how to start.
have even thought about posting an ad on Craigslist.
which I'm not opposed to.
in fact, I think I'll probably get there eventually (actually probably within the next month and a half but that's another story), but I don't know that I actually want to start that way.
so here's what I need/want:
I'm looking to talk to and possibly interview people who have lost their job involuntarily some time in the past two years (call it January 1 of 2008, though I can't imagine anyone actually got let go on that day).
and yes, Conan O'Brien would qualify. or will in the next 48 hours. so if you know Conan, please have him contact me.
doesn't matter if the person who lost the job has found another job, hasn't found another job or has given up looking for another job. does not matter.
does not, does not.
I just want to speak with folks who, for whatever reason, lost a job involuntarily some time in the past 106 and a half weeks.
if that's you or someone you know, please hit the Comment box (I won't post any communication on this topic unless you specifically say that it's okay or you actually want your comment to be posted) and keep me off of Craigslist for at least the time being.
muchas grassyass.
(post-script: looks like the Tusk pub date is now July)
No comments:
Post a Comment