Wandering Aimlessly

Saw Mystic River today with T and her husband, D. The movie was pretty good, and I might have to rethink my Oscar pick. Sean Penn was excellent. If I didn't think his not showing up to the Golden Globes was going to hurt his chances... hmm. Just one more Best Picture candidate to see before the end of February.

I had so much fun with T and D. They're playing around with the idea of moving out to LA, and how cool would that be? It'll be another year and a half before D can leave his job, but that's okay. Something to look forward to. And I got all over-excited again. I'm so antsy and anxious, and I want to go now. After the movie, we went to Starbucks and just chatted for hours. Like, four hours. Heh. It was good.

Had fun last night at Durty Nellies with the gang. This is dangerous, I'm starting to feel like I have a social life again! There was a good stretch of time in there where I was overscheduled and just didn't have time for anything. This is nice.

Because it deserves a mention, Tuesday was Brownie Day at work. We had a Brownie troop come in for a tour, and I planned and ran it. Really a lot of fun, it was. We started with a little lesson on what banks do and savings accounts and gave them sparkly pencils to write with. They were enthusiastic and participative, as seventeen third graders can get. I was glad they were excited. We then moved to the safety deposit vault and locked them in with the gate, then showed them the time-lock vault door and talked about not wanting to get locked in there, because it won't open until the next morning without some serious drilling. After that, we headed upstairs for the What A Teller Does section, where they got to see the reserve vault (but not the money, as we couldn't open that vault up just to show them...), the coin counter, got to play with the microphones in the drive, and learn about counterfeit money. Then they got their little goodie bags (which I had gone shopping for... whee!) and were on their way.

The girls seemed to have a good time, and the adults were very complimentary. I think everyone was quite satisfied, and I was all proud for having put it together. It's times like these when I kind of wonder why I didn't go ahead and become a teacher. Oh well.

Posted by kate at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, Oscar noms came out today. I'm excited. I get all giddy around Oscar time every year. The anticipation kills me! I think we need to have an Oscar party this year... who's with me?

Having seen three out of the five up for Best Picture (I have yet to see Lost in Translation or Mystic River, although I'm interested in seeing both), and not many of the films involved in the best actor/actress categories... here are my (oh-so-informed) predictions. Heh.

BEST PICTURE
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King It's time, man
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit

BEST ACTOR
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog
Jude Law, Cold Mountain
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation Not having seen any of these except PotC, which would be grand for JD, but not likely...
Sean Penn, Mystic River

Not even going there with Best Supporting Actor... haven't seen any of the films!

BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL)
The Barbarian Invasions
Dirty Pretty Things
Finding Nemo
In America
Lost in Translation Yeah, haven't seen it, but it looks good

CINEMATOGRAPHY
City of God
Cold Mountain
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Seabiscuit But where is LotR in this category, huh?!

VISUAL EFFECTS
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King If they couldn't get nominated for Cinematography, they've gotta win this.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

BEST DIRECTOR
Fernando Meirelles, City of God
Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingAnd again, he's accomplished something no one has even attempted.
Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
Peter Weir, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Clint Eastwood, Mystic River

BEST ACTRESS
Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider
Diane Keaton, Something’s Gotta Give
Samantha Morton, In America
Charlize Theron, Monster Hands DOWN
Naomi Watts, 21 Grams

BEST SCREENPLAY (ADAPTATION)
American Splendor
City of God
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Mystic River Haven't seen this, but it's bound to win something.
Seabiscuit

FILM EDITING
City of God
Cold Mountain
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Seabiscuit Loved the editing in this.

That's it for now. The rest of the nominations are listed here.

Posted by kate at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I saw Monster yesterday. I can't say I enjoyed it, as such, but it was definitely an experience. Charlize Theron was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Academy Awards, here she comes! She looked horribly awful, which was fantastic. Man. I'm glad I saw it, it was well worth it, but I don't think I could do it again. Disturbing and intense. WAY intense.

And then, the Golden Globes! LotR: Return of the King swept! Whee! It's funny, the last two years, when I hadn't seen the movies, I would get all irritated that they'd be up for so many, and I'd be all anger-ball when they'd win. Now that I have been enlightened to the wonderfulness that is that trilogy, I realize that they deserve every award. And I get all giddy!

And Dom, with the tear, when Peter Jackson won Best Director!

Also, because I can, I created a "States I've Visited" map. I don't *think* I've been anywhere else...


create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide

Posted by kate at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't think I've updated since before the bachelorette party last weekend. What fun it was! We started off at Jamie's house for some pizza, and then headed downtown to go to Howl at the Moon. The wait there was an hour, however, so we made our way to Lincoln Park to a bar Emily knew of there. It was great fun. Everyone had a good time. Jamie's dad, saint that he is, came and picked us up at 2:30 in the morning and drove us back home.

The week went by quickly. Had Monday off for MLK Jr. Day. Good times. I got a manicure Thursday, which was fun. Friday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal went well... we went through once, and then again turbo-speed. The dinner was really, really yummy. It was at Dover Straits in... Hoffman? I think. Anyway, good times.

Saturday was the Wedding Day. All the girls congregated at Jamie's house in the morning to get our hair done and do our make-up and have pictures and all that jazz. I loved my hair! So pretty. Everyone's hair looked fantastic, really. Jamie found a really good hairdresser. Good job, Jamie! We finished making the bouquets, did our make-up, and got dressed. Debbie had a slight dress emergency, but it all worked out alright. We had pictures, and then headed for the church. Jamie couldn't have asked for a more perfect day... the weather was gorgeous! It had snowed the night before, and it was sunny with blue-blue skies, and not terribly frigid. Beautiful.

The ceremony went flawlessly. Everything (especially Jamie!) was gorgeous. After the ceremony, we realized it was SNOWING! Big, fat, fairytale flakes. Just what Jamie had wanted! We boarded the trolley amidst the snow, and headed over to the Marriott for the reception. First, there were appetizers and drinks out in the lobby-ish area, and then, a bit later, dinner and the rest of the reception in the hall. So pretty. The colors matched Jamie's colors.

Craig's mom orchestrated a fun little "event" for after the Best Men speeches. When Eric finished his speech, he said something along the lines of "Now that Craig is a married man, I know there are some people out there who still have keys to his townhouse. If you could please bring them forward, you won't be needing them anymore." Craig's mom had given almost ALL the girls in the place keys. We all took them up and piled them in front of Craig. TOO funny. And THEN, Eric said "Does anyone else have a key?" and Frank stood up all sheepish and handed Craig his key. It was priceless! Such a great "joke" to play. Hee!

The party was grand. There was dancing, dancing, and more dancing. So much fun! SO much fun. I think everyone had a good time, especially Jamie and Craig.

And now, if you're interested, My mom and I took some pictures. Hers are from the ceremony, mine are from before and at the reception.. A little disclaimer: Mom made me promise to have people take pictures with ME in them, so I did. Apparently a lot. *giggle* And there are many people I did not get pictures of at all, a few I got a LOT of pictures of. I also tried to get them in order, but the way the slideshow is set up, it was a bit hard at times. So they're in as *close* to sequential order as possible. Enjoy!

Posted by kate at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been kind of neglecting my blog. I really have no good excuse, as I have not been busy, really. I can't even think back to what I've done since last posting. I think I had last Wednesday off, in which I cleaned 'n stuff. And Saturday I went to Wisconsin to visit my possibly-future-roommate. A friend of a friend's, whom I'd met once before. It was a good time. She gave me the tour of Racine, her home town, we did a bit of shopping, had some dinner, and then settled in and watched TV most of the rest of the night and all day Sunday. And chatted. And looked at apartments. And tried to figure out the logistics of moving. It was good times.

I had Monday off, during which I cleaned (again). Huh. Boring week. Nothing really grand has happened. See, this is why I haven't posted! I've mostly been spending my evenings since returning from Wisconsin watching the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Cast Commentary in bits and pieces, as each of the two films is over three and a half hours long. I'm about halfway through The Two Towers as we speak. Or as I write.

I've had some strange dreams lately. One involved a Terminator-esque creature with scary guns and a warehouse-like office building thing, in which there was a lot of running. And a nursery-type room with babies, which had a bout a 70% chance of saving my life, but a 30% chance of costing the babies theirs, so I opted out of it. I wonder what that says about me. I also had a dream involving Josh Hartnett. Weh? Yeah, I don't know, either. I don't really know much about Josh Hartnett, or particularly care to learn a bunch about him, but there you have it. We were at the zoo, and Burger King (and, while I think about it, I really don't enjoy Burger King at all!), and I think we went to my godfather's daughter's wedding, which is this coming July in Washington DC.

Aren't you all jealous of my way exciting life? I think you are.

Posted by kate at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Friday, it was 60 degrees. Today, right now, it's -2. That's not taking wind chill into account, either. It's a cruel, cruel world we live in.

I am eternally thanful I no longer have to walk a mile across campus to class. The extent of my being "in the elements" lasts the length of a parking lot. So I've found one upside to my job! Hee.

Today's going to be a slow day, I can feel it. Because who wants to go out in weather like this?

Posted by kate at 06:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's strange to think I started this thing in 2001. Near the end, yes, but this is still the fourth calendar year in which I will have blogged.

Last week went by rather quickly. I was sick on Monday and stayed home from work. I'm not sure I've ever stayed home from work due to illness, in all my years of working. I can think of a few times when I probably should have, but this is the first time I did.

Tuesday I was still sick, but thankfully, it was my day off. And actually, being the stubborn person I am, I refused to give up my plans to go downtown with my mom and sister. Maybe not the best choice, but after two and a half days flat on my back on the couch, I needed to get out for a few hours. We took the train downtown to Marshall Field's. We saw the windows (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and ate in the Walnut Room. Did a bit of shopping in between, as the wait for a table was three hours (!!!). It was good, not strenuous, and the day wasn't too cold.

Wednesday I worked, and then Sarah, Brad and Aarti came up for New Years Eve. Good times! We actually ended up going to Aarti's friend Mary's apartment downtown. We had dinner at a little Mexican restaurant and then played games at the apartment, and made brownie sundaes. YUM. It was very low-key, but exactly what the doctor ordered. ;) I actually don't know a single person around here who went OUT for NYE. Everyone seemed to have a low-key night of being at someone's house. Guess it was just the year for that.

On Thursday, I made breakfast for everyone. Three kinds of pancakes (regular, blueberry, and chocolate chip), Dad made some eggs, and Jess did sausage and bacon. It was fun to have a "real" breakfast with everybody again! Then Aarti and I went shopping some, came home and made fondue, and then John and Meghan came over. Hadn't seen John since Em and Frank's wedding, so it was good to catch up while he was in town.

Friday, work again. It was sixty degrees out! Can you believe it? In Chicago in January!! Went home and watched Emperor's Club with the 'rents. Good movie.

Saturday, work once more. Came home and rushed to the movies with Dad and Jess. We saw Return of the King, second time for Jess and me, first for Dad (he'd had to work when we went with Mom, and he was all bummed that he'd missed it, so Jess and I treated him). It was just as good, if not better, the second time! In honor, a new little icon picture thingy on my sidebar. Isn't he pretty? I colored that picture in myself with PSP8. ;o)

After the movie, we went to the Melting Pot for some fondue. Ohhhh, heaven. We had the Wisconsin Trio as our cheese fondue (with bread, veggies and apples to dip), then the California salad, and then we got three meats: center cut serloin, teriyaki steak, and chicken to cook and dip in sauces. THEN we had dessert. We got the Ying Yang, a white chocolate/dark chocolate mix fondue. Mmmmmm. You dip strawberries, pineapple, bananas, pound cake, cheesecake, brownie bits, and marshmallows into the chocolate. The PERFECT end to the meal. Took two hours, but it was DELISH!

Today, it's snowing. I am living in a snow globe. Big fat flakes swirling around. It's very pretty! They're saying 6-9 inches, but I'll believe it when it actually happens. Too many times last year they predicted a foot and we got an inch. It's awfully pretty, though!

Posted by kate at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)