Sesame Street goes Mad

"Good work, sycophants" has to be one of the best lines ever uttered by puppets.

questionable fences

We got a note from our neighbors in our mailbox today, asking us to please clean up our front yard asap as it is an eyesore. i'm pretty upset about it, mostly because i'm already embarrassed by the state of our yard on a daily basis and to have a stranger point it out only drives the point further. i'm also upset because there's very little we can do about how ugly it is. There's no sprinkler system to water what little grass there may or may not be from month to month, and we can't afford to put one in anyway. We're trying to make house payments and car payments and pay for the air conditioner that died, and in between those bills we eek out what few projects we can handle on the inside of the house. The front yard was in shambles when we purchased our home and will require a major overhaul to beautify it, as in, completely excavating it and rearranging everything. Until then, we have no desire or ability to dump a hundred dollars here and there into making it semi-presentable. If you know what our parents' yards look like you know what kind of standards we come from. Suffice it to say, we hate our yard too and no neighbor can possibly be more embarrassed by it than we are. We know ours is the ugliest house on the block and knowing that sucks. But we don't have a functional bath tub. And there's mold growing where the dog likes to lay all day. And there are portions of dirt floor. And there are areas where there's no real ceiling. And when it rains we have to come home from work to divert the deluge from flooding our living room. Not to mention less drastic but nonethless bothersome items, like the fact that if you're not careful, you'll hit your head on the sink when you're on the toilet, or the presence of cheap wood paneling where there should be insulation and dry wall, or the shower door with the fugly crane embossed on it. When they bought their home (the same time we bought ours) there was already grass and landscaping. When we bought ours, it was a wreck. The only thing growing at 1142 Walnut was the pot the previous owners were growing in the garage. That should give you an idea of the kind of upkeep that wasn't happening before we took possession. We do take pride in our home, but when our hands are tied, where is that pride supposed to go? It sucks.

Farewell, Vida Boheme

Patrick Swayze passed away, and i'm sad because there are only about 5 movies which i MUST watch every time they're playing on basic cable, and 'To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar' is at the top of that list. It's a silly, formulaic movie about three drag queens stranded in a tiny, small-minded town, but i love it, mostly because of the leading man. Patrick Swayze played Miss Vida Boheme, the 'drag-queen-with-the-heart-of-gold' who was best friends with Wesley Snipes' character, Noxeema Jackson, and maternal mentor to John Leguizamo's Chi Chi. i'm not an expert on drag queens, but i know enough to think he nailed the performance, which also nabbed him a Golden Globe nomination. As legend has it, he showed up for his audition in full drag and improvised a 30 minute monologue inspired by the bullying he endured as a kid taking ballet classes from his mom in Texas, and when Steven Spielberg watched the audition tape, he didn't even recognize Patrick. He'll mostly be remembered for his dancing, and i think it's a shame that he passed at a time when dancing is come back en vogue in mainstream pop culture, what with competitive dancing shows and musicals on tv and movies. i hope in his last years he was pleased with its resurgence. Anyway, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy and i'll watch 'Too Wong Foo' a little wistfully from now on. 

There's something in the water...

...and it was put there by my mother.

i don't have a huge circle of friends/acquaintances. It's about half a dozen college pals and half a dozen family members and local pals. Out of that dozen, at this moment in history, THERE ARE 5 BABIES IN 4 WOMBS. By next summer, the population of my social circle will have increased by almost 50% and NOT by me going out and making new friends (which i suck at anyway). If you ever had an interest in learning to sew miniature clothing items, come over pick up a needle because i can't keep up with the demand.

masochism via Sydney Pollack

i need to remember that i have seen 'The Way We Were' enough and i don't need to watch it every time it's on TCM because it's two hours of 'ohhhhh, Robert Redford is heaven' and 'man am i glad i have straight hair' and 'i love Robert Redford' and 'i don't get the political references, but Robert Redford can politically reference me any time he wants' and 'why does Barbara Streisand wear her eyeliner like that?' and 'i don't think Brad Pitt would be anywhere near as famous if he didn't resemble Robert Redford so much' and 'yeah, marraige is complicated' and 'croquet sucks' and 'it's hard to drool over Robert Redford when your husband is watching' and so on and so forth until the end where Katie's all "Stay until the baby is born" and Hubble's all "You never quit" and the brushing of the hair off his forehead and that damn song in the background and it's JUST SO SAAAAAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!