Decisions, decisions

Some thought-provoking decisions made by me while packing include:

1) Do not pack Harry Potter books. They may be needed for reference this weekend.

2) Do not donate the lined flannels you wore in high school as winter coats. Those clearly need to be moved one more time to take up space in your closet even though you will never wear them. Come on!! You wore them every day!!

3) Pigs officially get their own box this move.

4) Stop buying blankets. You have more than you need.

5) You really need to buy more shoes. You obviously don't have enough of those!!

6) You need to clean out your closet more frequently, fool.

This is my official playlist of packing:

1) (You Want to) Make a Memory - Bon Jovi - Yay for Bon Jovi going country!!

2) Whiskey Lullaby - Brad Paisley and Alsion Krauss - Does a sadder song exist?

3) Guys Like Me - Eric Church - They don't make lyrics like "you went to college/I pulled graveyard" all that often.

4) Teardrops on my Guitar - Taylor Swift - I don't even know what this song is about. But I like it anyway!!

5) Just Might Have Her Radio On - Trent Tomlinson - My sister thinks this guy is hot.

6) Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood - Hee. I try so hard not to like this song. But what makes you feel more like packing than the idea of some guy getting his "souped up four by four" completely trashed? Nothing.

7) Men & Mascara - Julie Roberts - Just to continue my theme of hating men through music. When I move in with Biker Boy, I will have to curb my men-hating song habit a bit.

8) Seven Spanish Angels - Willie Nelson & Ray Charles - The first time I ever heard this song I was in college. I tried really hard to find it on CD, but couldn't. Frequently, music clerks would stare at me like I was a complete and total idiot when I would describe the song to them. Eventually I learned that the internet could be used for things like this, but, hey, this was 1997. I was lucky I knew how to check my email at that point!!

9) Mendocino County Line - Willie Nelson & Lee Ann Womack - My sister hates this song. So I like to listen to it repeatedly.

10) Walkin' in Memphis - Mark Cohn - I accidentally downloaded some crappy live version of this song. But I accept my punishment. It's still an awesome song. "Tell me, are you a Christian, son, and I said ma'am I am tonight." Wheeee.

11) What's Your Mama's Name? - Tanya Tucker - Remember when Tanya Tucker was young and not white trash yet?

12) Forgive - Rebecca Lynn Howard - Okay, I've already written in previous posts about this song and how I'm not sure if I can really like Rebecca Lynn Howard, but I like this song, so it makes the list!!

13) Baby Girl - Sugarland - Sugarland is an impressive new country band. I hope they are successful and stop releasing crappy singles like their current single, Everyday America.

14) Y'all Come Back Saloon - Oak Ridge Boys - As this song came on, one of my roommates passed by my room. He looked taken aback. I immediately apologized for the condition of my room because it's quite crazy when you first look in here, but he said, "No, it's not the mess. I have just never met anyone in my life who actually listens to crap like this." And I said, with a completely straight face, "if I ever hear you call the Oak Ridge Boys crap again, I will be forced to kick you in the nuts as hard as I can." And I meant every word. Nobody puts the Oak Ridge Boys in the corner.

15) Because of You - Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson - Ummmm...I'm a sucker for Kelly Clarkson? I voted for her repeatedly on the first season of American Idol and I'm not ashamed of it? Okay, all right. I am a tiny bit ashamed. But I love her!!

Don't forget your sweater!!

Okay, until a couple of weeks ago, June 6 to be precise, I hadn't been to a movie theater since December when I went to see Night at the Museum with my sister when I was visiting Michigan. The movie was surprisingly better than I had imagined it being, but, you know, it sort of made me realize that there were very few movies worth the hassle of going to the theater, spending a lot of money, and being really cold (can anyone explain why the AC is always kept below zero in theaters?).

But then Ratatouille came out. Then Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came out. I have been to the movies twice in the last two weeks! So I have something to say. About stuff other people may actually also have opinions about. Whee.

Okay, I was not crazy about the idea of Ratatouille. When I first saw the previews, I was sad that Pixar had went with the rat as chef idea. But, I also wasn't crazy about the idea of The Incredibles, which I found I did enjoy, so I trusted Pixar. And, I tend to trust Metacritic, which gave the movie a 96 out of 100. By the time I sat down in the theater seat for the movie, I was basically bouncing up and down with excitement. About twenty minutes into the movie, I could barely keep my eyes open. Seriously. I was so bummed. This movie had the slowest start to any children's movie I can remember seeing in recent history. And the movie never got better.

Apparently there are a lot of people who disagree with me on this, but Ratatouille is definitely my least favorite Pixar movie and I really feel like I am owed those $8 dollars and 110 minutes of my life back.

Okay, it's boring. Fine. But I also feel like the movie contradicts itself in a lot of ways. The chef guy has this whole "anyone can cook" thing, but it turns out his own son CAN'T cook and relies on a rat. And, worse still, by the end of the movie, when the kid has been getting the help of the rat for a long time, he still can't cook. And that bothers me. I just felt like the ending that the movie deserved was the kid pulled out a fantastic dish without the rat's help and the rat went on to live a normal rat life and the kid could manage the restaurant and leave the cheffing to others who have actually worked for it. The whole anyone can do anything was just lip service the writers said, but didn't actually demonstrate.

Biker Boy had this whole thing about how he hates movies that philosophize directly to your face (like the scene where the father rat is all, we are what we are, don't get above yourself stuff) and I really feel like this movie was guilty of that all over the place.

So, thumbs down for me on Ratatouille. (As a side note, I went to the movie with a bunch of people and as we were leaving they were all talking about what a great movie it was and Biker Boy and I stayed really quiet. When we separated from the group, we looked at each other and began laughing because we already knew, without saying a word, that the other one had been really disappointed with the movie. It was a fantastic moment of communication without any words.)

Okay, so Harry Potter!!! Oh, MY GOD!! The new book comes out on Saturday and the last thing I have time for is to read it, but you better believe my list of things to do on Saturday involves 1) pack for an hour 2) read HP for an hour 3) pack for an hour 4) read HP for an hour and so on. Oh, and we have to do a social event thing, too, but I think I can convince Biker Boy that an hour and a half is enough being nice for a weekend.

Now, the movie. I will fess up right now and tell you that The Order of the Phoenix is my least favorite Harry Potter book. Harry was such a whiny bitch in that book. I just wanted to punch him. Really. Punch him. It's like 600 pages of angst and then 200 pages of solid Harry Potter story telling. So I had low, low, low expectations for the film. I just couldn't imagine how a book that was so into Harry's internal feelings and head could translate to the screen.

But I found the movie to be the best of the movies yet. I didn't fall asleep (which I'll admit is a first for me in the Harry Potter movie series). And it took a brilliant approach and actually (I feel like I'm guilty of blaspheme here) improves on the book in some ways. It made me feel way more sympathetic toward Harry than I did when I read the book. Further, it made the somewhat protracted novel (remember the 600 pages of angst - about 500 of which were unnecessary) concise and user-friendly.

There were things I didn't like. I didn't like that we didn't get to see the scene at St. Mungo's where the gang sees Neville with his parents. I didn't like that Cho was the one who narced on the DA. I didn't like that everyone heard the prophecy at the Ministry of Magic. I didn't like that Harry didn't use the Pensieve to see Snape's thoughts during the Occlumency lessons. I didn't like that the final fight scene between Voldy and Dumbledore didn't involve the magical brethren statues (something I was looking forward to seeing very much). As someone who is so wrapped up in the books, I can't separate the books from the movies at this point, I can't tell if the movie could be understood on its own without knowledge of the books, but I read a review that said you need a PhD from Hogwarts to understand the movie, so that may be a valid criticism.

But I feel like those minor plot points that were adapted to create a screenplay were certainly worth the added enjoyment of the book. Next time I read the book, I will try hard not to hate Harry.

Time of Transition

We put in an application on a place. Our application has been accepted (after much nail-biting on my part). So we'll be moving in a couple of weeks. I really just need some reassurance that the commingling of stuff from two adults who have lived on their own for a decade each can be done with a minimum of fuss and head butting.

My hair is now shorter and lighter than it was two and a half hours ago. It looks much better and I no longer look like a real-life version of Daria.

I went to visit Dexter, Moosey Fate's new puppy. And, ummm, you know, see the new house. The new house if freaking gorgeous. And the puppy!! The puppy!! He's smooshy and white and little and I just want to eat him up. He likes to cuddle with boobs and he took a little nap on my lap and argh!! The cuteness!! I can't describe the cuteness. It's indescribable. I want a puppy to go with my new hair. I think accessories should be purchased very close to one another.

Biker Boy bought a new guitar.

I'm going to Cleveland this weekend to visit my best friend, who is due to give birth soon. And I will give her all the presents I have been hoarding for the last six months. Seriously. As soon as I found out she was pregnant, I made a trip to Baby Gap. And Baby Gap and I are now close shopping buddies. Anyway, so this weekend I'll be in Cleveland.

Other big events this month: moving, new Harry Potter movie, new Harry Potter book (the last one!! eeeee!!!), wedding in Iowa, and somehow still doing my job and not going absolutely insane. I am hoping my new haircut will keep my brains from exploding.

A Heathen's Prayers Go Unanswered

Clearly my prayers to the Minneapolis housing gods have fallen on deaf ears. It must be my heathen ways. Do you think that if I sacrificed a virgin I could get an apartment in my budget with charm,character, hardwood floors, a storage space in the basement large enough for at least one bike, a decent neighborhood close to bike paths and bus lines, with room enough for the cumulative stuff of two twenty-somethings who have lived on their own for the last decade? Oh, I guess not. It was too much to ask.

This has taken over my life. I can't think of anything else. I am consumed by an all encompassing desire to check various web sites on the housing market every hour of the day.

Next week I will be consumed by something more pleasant, I promise. Like what the hell Brooke was thinking on Charm School?!

An Auspicious Start?

Biker Boy and I are going to move in together next month. I am super excited for several reasons. 1) I won't be driving back and forth across town every single day. Biker Boy will be conveniently located in my apartment. 2) I get (imagine how decadent this seems to me) more than a single shelf in a side-by-side fridge and more than a single cabinet in which to store all my food. 3) No roommates inviting strange folks into the house without letting me know about it. 4) A white bathroom (for those of you who don't actually know this about me - non-white bathrooms are horrible - how on earth do you do make-up if you don't have white? - this is a serious bone of contention between me and the landlords who painted our originally white bathroom brown - WTF?). 5) Did I mention that Biker Boy will be conveniently located?

Okay, so early last month we briefly looked for August 1st openings on a couple of web sites. We struck out, so decided we'd look this month. And we did. But there aren't that many places available. Damn it. So we made an appointment for what seemed like a dream come true place. It was on the low end of our price, in a great location re: bike paths and public transit, and allowed cats. But we get there and it was carpeted, had a bathroom with pink tiles (did I mention that a white bathroom is a necessity for me?), was garden level, smelled like cigarette smoke, had the tiniest of bedrooms, and had a family of raccoons in the tree right outside the window. The woman showing us the apartment acted as if the raccoons were a selling point, "which I think is just lovely." BB started chuckling at this point. Between the pink bathroom and raccoons, I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could. (Remember how I saved Biker Boy from the rabid raccoons? You'll note that Biker boy was simply my "friend" in that post. We weren't even dating yet!!)

I don't think we'll be calling that lady again for an application.

We have appointments with three more places and about a billion phone calls out. Please, gods of Minneapolis apartments, get us an awesome place!!