You (yes you) and Downton Abbey

 The question of the day is have you watched Downton Abbey?  The correct answer should be "of course I have Jaclyn - how could I not watch it and still be your friend?"  That said, I know some of you are busy with jobs, husbands (wives), kids, etc, etc. Those excuses, I promise, are not worth it. I didn't start Downton until December.  I was sure it wouldn't matter if I put it off for a few months. After all, it was a new semester, I was in the middle of my Grey's obsession. How could I possibly start a new show?  The real question though is how could I not?

Enough of the gushing rhetoric - here's the dish - I LOVE this show. I think about it on the way to work. I think about it when a kid is asking for the sixth time what we are going to do in class that day. I think about it when my therapist tells me not to think of anything (okay - not really...I'm not in therapy but if I were). I think about it when I am trying to tell myself to get a grip. It's just a TV SHOW....and then I talk to someone like Mel, Maria, my mom, Julie, Katie, Jennica, my coworkers, etc, etc and what little grip I had is gone.  

If you still need some convincing or you think I really need therapy, feel free to call. I promise to at least mute the show while we're talking. Cheers!

ps. I know, I know - dramatic much?  But let's be honest. We just made it through January without much ado thanks to the distraction of the upstairs and downstairs of Downton Abbey...and, of course, Mary & Matthew.....

The Lucky One

I know I say this a lot, but I really mean it this time - Don't judge me. I needed fluff and a promise of sappy love, melodrama, and a promise of a movie with delectable man candy in it. This book was not brilliant, innovative, or anything that truly remarkable fiction should be...but it was exactly what needed - an escape. And let's be honest, I can't wait to see the movie in April....

Sympathy Pains for J-2

My fabulous sister Jewels has been having some major pain her right hand. Clearly I wanted to do more than empathize for Jewels, so after school today I proceeded to hang up kids' projects on the wall in one of my classrooms. Sounds harmless, right? 1970s sheetrock is not as forgiving as you might think. Throw in that I'm not nearly as ambidexterous as I pretend to be. And so I pounded the stapler with the same part of my hand at least 460 times (not counting the many bum staples that had to be redone). Needless to say, my hand is bruised. It twinges with each right-handed key stroke.  Can't tell you how excited I am for the 270+ staples I have to put into my other classroom tomorrow.

Cute Juliann, Brett, and an easily distracted Mae on Christmas Eve

And Jewels - I always am telling you I want to be more like you. I just didn't think I wanted to be like you in such a literal way. Hope your hand feel better soon!

Hello 2012!!!

I had grand intentions of posting all sorts of witty and interesting things as the new year rolled around....and here we are, three weeks in, with no wit to be found. C'est le vie.  Here are a few little snippets that have occurred or been on my mind since we switched our calendars from 2011 to 2012. I promise more substance to come later.....

A new year means a new paper chain - this beauty goes from now until July. Why July? Because oddly enough I like it go just past the end of the school year and because I don't know what I'll be counting down to in the summer yet.

I realized that I especially love days when I am dressed like Callie from Grey's (translated - like a college student...t-shirt over a patterned henley without buttons).

I also realized that Europe tastes like watermelon chapstick and Louisiana smells like Apple Blossom Citrus lotion. Summer trip flashbacks hit me every time I use either of these items.

I am so impressed by the acting in Rabbit Hole - it's utterly depressing, but Aaron Eckhart and Miles Teller are fantastic. (Side note - Miles Teller as Willard is the only redeeming part of the new Footloose.)

Usually I shower without contacts in, so on the random occasions that I shower with them in, it's like a whole new world...and I realized that I have way too many products. How many shampoos and delicious smelling soaps does one girl need?

I cannot figure out why I love the movie Enchanted so much, but I fell asleep to it on multiple nights this week. It was a much better line of thinking than which finals I still had to write and which papers I still needed to grade.

I heard a Diablo Cody interview where she said on the topic of facebook, "It's like we're recreating high school every day, and it's weird." For some reason that has stuck with me over the last couple weeks, and for that reason I have deleted all sorts of people on facebook. If I'm never going to talk to them again, why are we "friends"?

On that semi-negative note, I am off to go smell the rain (yes, you read right), sit closer to the fire, and get ready for Downton Abbey.  If you haven't watched it, start.

ps. To let you know that I really will post real things soon, here are a few teasers of what's to come once the grading piles have disappeared and the sickness has abated.

The holidays and the end of 2011 deserve a little more attention than I gave them. So Christmas, Courtney's wedding with Hill, Brandon, and Patrick, etc. will be make a showing sometime soon.

decluttering and rambling

I am in a decluttering mode – every unnecessary thing is being slipped into the proper drawer or chucked into the recycling bin. This also includes random scraps of paper or post-its on my desktop that comprise my random musings over the last six months. Here’s a hodge-podge of thoughts so I can free up that much more space.

*I love watching clips of my favorite TV show and movie scenes. They never get old.

*I love the youtube video of Anderson Cooper laughing. As a sidenote, I think Anderson Cooper is a great reporter.

*I love all the guest stars on Grey’s Anatomy (not to mention the fact that I LOVE Grey’s Anatomy). A few of the highlights in guest stars include two actors from the 90s version of Little Women (Meg’s Mr. Brooks and grown-up Amy), Kostos from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Mrs. Kim (sans Korean accent), Max Medina, Francie, and Grandma Lorelai all from Gilmore Girls, and Mandy Moore. I also love the episode that had Victorian romance scenes – Grey’s Jane Austen style was pure brilliance.

*I do not love that I agreed to be interviewed for a newspaper article on recent graduates who move home. I still believe that my decision to move home was a good one, but the article itself was humiliation in its purest form.

*I found a voodoo doll that I made years ago for a roommate of mine. She was hating life and one of her coaches, so my solution – voodoo doll. I know – I’m a strange soul. Don’t judge.

*I kept track of random quotes from Grey’s – the obsession this summer was raging. Plus I was unemployed…so I had lots of time.
Isn’t it easier to be single in pairs?  ~Callie

I’m not going anywhere without you.  ~Owen
Blondes are either badass or fun and you’re…you’re a brunette.  ~Mark

If you’re not scared, you’re not paying attention.  ~Miranda

I can’t breathe without you.  ~Christina
The person that invented the phrase happily ever after should have their ass kicked…so hard.     ~Meredith

*I decided (along with NPR) this summer that facebook killed the ten year reunion. I did not attend mine. Instead I went to Louisiana to hang out with Jewels and Mae. Best decision ever.

*Realization: my snark often equals my truth.

*Toni Morrison asked the following question and made the following statement:

         When a kid walks into a room, does your face light up?

         When you know better, you do better.

         When people show who they are, believe them.

*I don’t know where I got the notation, “four boxes – you have the rest of your life ahead of you.” But I remember thinking about the concept over and over again – if you packed up your life and moved on from where you are now, it wouldn’t be the end. It would just be a new beginning.

tech funk

I have not been in a techie mood in months. I avoid facebook whenever possible. I only check two blogs regularly. I certainly don't write on my blog with the exception of posting my book reviews that I do for goodreads. My online book club with Anna and Megan is going offline. All this is to say is I kinda wish it was 1995 when I still didn't have an email account or really know what the internet was.

Life, on the Line

Life, on the Line: A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat by Grant Achatz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was heavy - like, literally heavy, and surprisingly, I loved it. I'm not saying I'm surprised that I liked a heavy book, but I'm surprised that I thoroughly enjoyed a book about one of the most creative and successful chefs in America today. Grant Achatz has wowed critics and diners alike since first joining the famed French Laundry at the young age of 22. Achatz is remarkable because he has a vision unlike any other. His food sounds like the stuff of dreams. Throw in a brilliant businessman (Achatz's partner in opening Alinea in Chicago), 24 course meals, and you have a book that makes you hungry. Achatz's struggle with cancer only makes his success more remarkable.

My only complaint about this book is how quickly it wraps up. It's almost as if Grant and Nick (the brilliant businessman) realized the book had to go to print and cut one hundred books down to forty. I'd still recommend it. It makes me want to eat more adventurously, live more passionately, and travel to Chicago for dinner. Happy reading and happy eating!!