Quarta-feira passada, no auge de minha falta de sono, busquei um filminho água com açúcar para assistir e desacelerar os batimentos. Telecine Light, era a escolha.

Então a tv me apresenta uma violoncelista, interpretada por Keri Russell, assistindo a apresentação de um músico de rua, quando é surpreendida por um cantor-compositor, interpretado por Jonathan Rhys Meyers. 

Keri tem traços delicados e ares de anjo, Jonathan tem olhos azuis cativantes e estilinho de vocalista de banda de rock, mesmo. Não demora para a gente torcer pelo casal. Logo, fica claro meu engano: o filme passaria de um romancinho.

Pois bem, dessa relação nasce uma criança que acaba por não conhecer os pais. O menino cresce seguindo sons e sentindo que, quando ele toca uma música é como se seus pais o pudessem ouvir e a partir disso, encontrá-lo.

A música é retratada de diversas maneiras: num concerto, num show de rock, nas ruas, no cotidiano e até mesmo na igreja. Todas elas, deixam explícita a pequenês dos seres humanos diante do poder dos sons.

A grande surpresa ficou por conta de Robin Williams, que se inspirou no Bono (U2) para compor seu personagem. 

A trilha sonora bem trabalhada, tem a música-tema como responsabilidade de Mark Mancina, e pode ser escutada aqui. Do final, eu esperava um pouco mais ( me animei durante a trama).

Com direção de Kirsten Sheridan e produção de Richard Barton Lewis, “O Som do Coração” veio de mansinho e me conquistou. Ganhei a noite.

obs. Ainda me pergunto onde será que eu estava quando esse filme foi lançado? Dormi no ponto. Os que fizeram o mesmo, atentem-se dessa vez: o Telecine Light exibirá novamente hoje, às 17h55!

Racconti incantati è un film del 2008 commedia diretta da Adam Shankman che ha come interpret principale Adam Sandler

Leggi altre notizie su: | Adam Shankman | Adam Sandler | Keri Russell | Guy Pearce

เป็นการพบกันครั้งแรกของ 2 ดารา 2 รุ่น 2 วัย รุ่นแรก Brendan Fraser ดาราแอ๊คชั่นที่โด่งดังจาก The Mummy และรุ่นเก๋าเก่าลายคราม Harrison Ford สุดยอดดาราแอ๊คชั่นในอดีตจาก Indiana Jones ที่ไม่ได้มาจับมือกันเล่นแอ๊คชั่นบู้ระห่ำกันแต่อย่างใด หากเป็นแนวดราม่าสุดประทับใจต่อสู้เพื่อลูก ใน Extraordinary Measures!!

Extraordinary Measures เป็นภาพยนตร์ที่ถ่ายทอดเรื่องราวจากชีวิตจริงของ John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) ที่เขาต้องทำงานอย่างหนักที่กำลังจะเจริญก้าวหน้าในธุรกิจ แต่แล้วก็เหมือนฟ้ามาผ่า เมื่อลูกสาวของเขาต้องมาป่วยเป็นโรคทางสมอง John ต้องลาออกจากงานที่กำลังจะไปได้ด้วยดี เพื่อมาดูแลและทำทุกวิถีทางเพื่อให้ลูกสาวของเขาหายจากอาการป่วยให้ได้ และภรรยา Aileen Crowley (Keri Russell) ก็คอยให้กำลังใจและอยู่เคียงข้างเขาตลอด เมื่อ John ได้พบกับหมอที่จะมีวิธีรักษาโรคของลูกสาวของเขาให้หายได้ นั่นคือ Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) ที่กำลังผลิตยาในทฤษฏีของตัวเองที่เชื่อว่าจะรักษาหายได้ แต่อุปสรรคคือ เพราะเงื่อนไขทางธุรกิจทำให้บริษัทที่จะผลิตยานี้ไม่สามารถที่จะยอมรับตัวยาของ Dr.Robert ว่าจะรักษาอาการนี้ให้หายได้ พวกเขาต้องอาศัยศรัทธาและข้อเท็จจริงเท่านั้นที่จะพิสูจน์ให้บริษัทยาเห็นว่ามันหายได้จริง….ที่ไม่ต้องพึ่งปาฏิหาริย์!!

Extraordinary Measures เป็นการกำกับของ Tom Vaughan จาก What Happens in Vegas ถ่ายทอดชีวิตจริงจากหนังสือของ Geeta Anand เขียนบทภาพยนตร์โดย Robert Nelson Jacobs จาก The Water Horse มีดาราร่วมแสดงมากมายได้แก่ Courtney B. Vance,Dee Wallace,Jared Harris,Patrick Bauchau,Ayanna Berkshire และอีกคับคั่ง หนังมีกำหนดฉายในอเมริกา 22 มกราคม 2010 นี้

ถ้าไม่บอกว่าภาพยนตร์เป็นหนังชีวิต ผู้คนจะเข้าใจแน่นอนกับภาพที่แสดงในใบปิด มันช่างออกแนวหนังแอคชั่นเฉือนคมซะเหลือเกิน!!

ที่มาใบปิด : IMPAWards

เป็นการพบกันครั้งแรกของ 2 ดารา 2 รุ่น 2 วัย รุ่นแรก Brendan Fraser ดาราแอ๊คชั่นที่โด่งดังจาก The Mummy และรุ่นเก๋าเก่าลายคราม Harrison Ford สุดยอดดาราแอ๊คชั่นในอดีตจาก Indiana Jones ที่ไม่ได้มาจับมือกันเล่นแอ๊คชั่นบู้ระห่ำกันแต่อย่างใด หากเป็นแนวดราม่าสุดประทับใจต่อสู้เพื่อลูก ใน Extraordinary Measures!!

Extraordinary Measures เป็นภาพยนตร์ที่ถ่ายทอดเรื่องราวจากชีวิตจริงของ John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) ที่เขาต้องทำงานอย่างหนักที่กำลังจะเจริญก้าวหน้าในธุรกิจ แต่แล้วก็เหมือนฟ้ามาผ่า เมื่อลูกสาวของเขาต้องมาป่วยเป็นโรคทางสมอง John ต้องลาออกจากงานที่กำลังจะไปได้ด้วยดี เพื่อมาดูแลและทำทุกวิถีทางเพื่อให้ลูกสาวของเขาหายจากอาการป่วยให้ได้ และภรรยา Aileen Crowley (Keri Russell) ก็คอยให้กำลังใจและอยู่เคียงข้างเขาตลอด เมื่อ John ได้พบกับหมอที่จะมีวิธีรักษาโรคของลูกสาวของเขาให้หายได้ นั่นคือ Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) ที่กำลังผลิตยาในทฤษฏีของตัวเองที่เชื่อว่าจะรักษาหายได้ แต่อุปสรรคคือ เพราะเงื่อนไขทางธุรกิจทำให้บริษัทที่จะผลิตยานี้ไม่สามารถที่จะยอมรับตัวยาของ Dr.Robert ว่าจะรักษาอาการนี้ให้หายได้ พวกเขาต้องอาศัยศรัทธาและข้อเท็จจริงเท่านั้นที่จะพิสูจน์ให้บริษัทยาเห็นว่ามันหายได้จริง….ที่ไม่ต้องพึ่งปาฏิหาริย์!!

Extraordinary Measures เป็นการกำกับของ Tom Vaughan จาก What Happens in Vegas ถ่ายทอดชีวิตจริงจากหนังสือของ Geeta Anand เขียนบทภาพยนตร์โดย Robert Nelson Jacobs จาก The Water Horse มีดาราร่วมแสดงมากมายได้แก่ Courtney B. Vance,Dee Wallace,Jared Harris,Patrick Bauchau,Ayanna Berkshire และอีกคับคั่ง หนังมีกำหนดฉายในอเมริกา 22 มกราคม 2010 นี้

ถ้าไม่บอกว่าภาพยนตร์เป็นหนังชีวิต ผู้คนจะเข้าใจผิดแน่นอนกับภาพที่แสดงในใบปิด มันช่างออกแนวหนังแอคชั่นเฉือนคมซะเหลือเกิน!!

ที่มาใบปิด : IMPAWards

Things have been a little “weedy” this week. I am all over the place. For those of you who have never worked in the restaurant biz, being in the weeds is when you are near or beyond your capacity to handle a situation or cannot catch up [with tables, etc.]

So here’s a little ode to the restaurant business where I truly believe everyone should work at least once. Gives you social perspective.

Pieces of flair, anyone?

Time for bed. 86 energy.

Peace,

Sources: bleubirdvintage, weheartit, vi.sualize.us

In college I would wear a denim jacket my dad used to wear in college. I got away with it until a watershed closet-purging incident at the end of sophomore year during which T officially banned it from my wardrobe. I dutifully returned the jacket to my father, but menswear has always sneaked its way back in.

What I’ve learned, however, is that you can’t just throw on a guy’s shirt and expect it to look the way it does on models and celebrities. There’s a difference between looking baggy-chic and looking like you’re wearing a bag.

I guess they’re calling the man-turned-woman’s shirt “the boyfriend shirt” nowadays but since I don’t have a boyfriend and since my source of men’s shirts tend to come from my dad and my brother, I’d prefer to just stick with the term “guy shirt.” TMI?

Here are some of my favorite looks from women who’ve pulled off the guy shirt in excellent feminine form.

Keri Russell had a gorgeous photo shoot in the January 2009 issue of InStyle magazine (more photos from the shoot here!). She cops to “wearing all of [her] husband’s clothes, including his shirts and sweaters.” Another reason to get married — instantly double your wardrobe.

I love the idea of wearing a loose button up as a light jacket. It gives the overall look a casual, effortless feel but looks amazingly well-played. Bravo. This look was put together by ShopBop.

So hot! Short shorts — and uh, ridiculously svelte legs — are advised. Check out more of Vanessa’s pantless look.

This is actually featured in Gap’s Maternity Wear section but who cares! And bonus? It’s on sale! Wear it with skinnies or leggings, booties or boots. Layer it with a comfy sweater or a leather jacket. Throw on a scarf and your favorite bag and you’re ready to take on a beautiful autumn weekend.

Pair a men’s shirt (this one’s her dad’s!) with sexy shorts and cute shoes and you’ve struck a perfect gender balance. Adelle has a ton of great looks you can see here on her Lookbook page or check out her blog.

I’ve been seeing the trailer for The Stepfather a lot lately, which led me to create this post.
Question: Which Gossip Girl cast member is landing the best gigs?

Blake Lively

She starred as Bridget in ever-so popular The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants 1&2
“Girlfriend” in New York, I Love You. She starred along side big names such as Bradley Cooper, Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Christina Ricci, and Rachel Bilson.
Also as Monica in Accepted, which stars Jonah Hill and Justin Long.

Leighton Meester

Leighton has had a lot of  TV exposure, with parts in shows such as Entourage, CSI: Miami, House, Shark, Numb3rs, 8 Simple Rules, 24, 7th Heaven, and Law & Order. On the movie side of it all, she hasn’t been in anything too popular. Date Night, slated to release in 2010, is supposed to be hilarious, after all it does star funnies such as Steve Carrell and Tina Fey.

Penn Badgley

He stars in the new movie The Stepfather, which is doing pretty good at the box-office, right? He also had a bit in John Tucker Must Die along side Brittany Snow and Ashanti. He also has TV experience on Will & Grace, What I Like About You, and The Young and The Restless.

Chace Crawford

Off the top of my head I can’t think of anything he has starred in, so I reached out to my dear friend IMDB.com for info.
He lent his voice to Family Guy and Robot Chicken in 2008/2009. He is also playing the lead in Footloose, out in 2010.

Taylor Momsen

She’s probably best known as Cindy Lou Who in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. She was also in We Were Soldiers which also starred Mel Gibson and Keri Russell.

Ed Westwick

I am fairly sure Gossip Girl is his first “big” acting gig. He was in Californication for an episode in 2009. Also, he played Randy in S. Darko, which I refuse to see. BUT, he is starring at Heathcliff in 2010’s Wuthering Heights.

So, which cast member do you think is landing the best gigs? My vote goes to Blake Lively, or Leighton Meester. Although Ed Westwick’s part in Wuthering Heights is sure to put him on the map, as well as Chace Crawford’s part in Footloose.

]]> http://auriculardigital.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/videos-glamour-fashion-b-springsteen-bon-jovi-mecano-ii/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:00:39 +0000 elauriculardigital http://auriculardigital.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/videos-glamour-fashion-b-springsteen-bon-jovi-mecano-ii/

Los videos glamour & fashion de esta segunda entrega tienen en común la participación de rostros completamente desconocidos para el público en el momento de su filmación. 3 grandes nombres del panorama musical les dieron la posibilidad de darse a conocer y fue para ellos una inmejorable referencia en su curriculum.

Empezamos con el dirigido en 1984 por el director de cine Brian de Palma (Scarface, Los Intocables de Elliot Ness, La Hoguera de las Vanidades), en pleno éxito de Bruce Springsteen con su disco Born In The Usa.  Para uno de sus hits Dancing In The Dark rodó un concierto del Boss subiendo a una chica del público. Esa chica era una jovencísima Courtney Cox que en aquella época comenzaba su carrera como actriz. En los 90 adquirió gran popularidad por el papel de Mónica en la serie de televisión Friends.

Seguimos con el single más vendido de Bon Jovi en toda su carrera. En 1994 el grupo publicó la recopilación de grandes éxitos Cross Road y lanzó como sencillo Always, inédita hasta ese momento. La canción vendió más de 3 millones de copias en todo el mundo. En el video hacen acto de presencia varios actores y actrices que no eran aún muy populares pero que después han tenido una mayor relevancia: Keri Russell, gracias a la serie Felicity se ganó un nombre en el mundillo de la interpretación, a Jack Noseworthy le sucedió con Horizonte Final o U-571, a  Carla Gugino con Spy Kids, y a Jason Wiles con las series Sensación de Vivir,  Sra. Presidenta o Turno de Guardia.

Por último,  si hay un video en la escena española que puso en órbita la carrera de una aspirante a actriz ese fue el de La Fuerza del Destino de Mecano. En 1988 el grupo de los hermanos Cano, Nacho y Jose María, y de Ana Torroja, publicó Descanso Dominical, el disco de su consolidación en el estrellato. Entre las más de 200 candidatas resultó elegida Penélope Cruz que entonces tenía 14 años. Además de ser la pareja de Nacho Cano tras este video, 2 años más tarde se estrenó como co-presentadora del programa  La Quinta Marcha de Tele 5 (ver video), siguiendo después una línea ascendente que le ha llevado hasta la meca de Hollywood.

Scott aparecio en el post que The Directors Showband publico acerca del set en Montreal de La Version de Barney, aqui abajo la foto. Para saber màs del post clicar en el nombre.

Foto: The Directors Showband

Durante estas semanas Scott estuvo presente en Couples Watch, la seccion de People.com:

• El 30 de septiembre con Keri Russell

It’s a Felicity reunion! Former costars Keri Russell and Scott Speedman dined together at Gordon Ramsay at the London in West Hollywood. The two were catching up and “smiling all through dinner,” an onlooker says. “They were showing photos to each other from their phones. It was very cute.

• El 5 de octubre con Justin Long, Kate Beckinsale y Len Wiseman. Kate fue su coprotagonista en las peliculas Underwold,Len el director (que ademàs dirigio a Justin Long en Died Hard) y Justin es amigo de Scott desde hace tiempo.

Kate Beckinsale, huddling with hubby Len Wiseman in the dining car section of West Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont. The stylish duo soon moved to a table for seven on the patio where they joined pals Justin Long and Scott Speedman for a cozy gathering. Beckinsale laughed and giggled the night away and also cuddled with her director husband. She nibbled bits of his fries and chicken, and playfully tried to stick a straw up his nose!

The people that I like the most in Hollywood are the genuine people who are in it for the right reasons. These same people marry people that are NOT in the industry which makes them more likable.

When I was working in Hollywood most of my boyfriends were NOT in Hollywood with the exception of Jamie Foxx’s assistant. Looking back I actually prefer the carpenter/electrician versus the salesman running his penis into anything that walks.

Keri Russell was spotted out and about with her carpenter husband Scott Deary and their adorable 2-year-old son River, Brooklyn, NY neighbourhood yesterday (October 4).

Sad as it may seem, I have mentally put together a list of places where I am confident, I will not ever meet the guy who will be “the one”. A bar sits at the top of the list, followed by basically all retail stores with a few exceptions. Actors, it appears don’t have that same list that has guided me so well over the years and if they do, meeting on-set is not on that list for many of them. In my heavy rotation of movies, TV shows and just plain random online viewings, I have run into a spate of formats that feature co-stars who are married, dating, or have been an item in the past and are able to share the screen together post-mortem. First, my interest was peaked as result of  my investigation into “Young and the Restless” hottie, Thad Luckinbill(great name, by the way, although I still think that Benedict Cumberbatch has you beaten) and come to find out that he’s married to his co-star, Amelia Heinle, who plays his wife on the show. So what happens when these two characters get divorced on the show, which any viewer knows is going to happen sooner or later?  Rift in the “real” marriage”? My second co-star hookup was discovered after watching “Death at a Funeral” (terrible film- don’t ever watch it), as I looked up information on Matthew MacFadyen, who, by the way, is much younger than he appears to be on-screen, but more on that in a later blog, and surprise, surprise, he is married to his co-star, Keeley Hawes, in this film and who starred alongside him in “MI5″ or “Spooks” if you’re of the English persuasion.

How did this phenomenon happen exactly? After all, we are told that actors are supposed to be professionals who can separate work from their private lives, right? Apparently not. Pondering this idea further, I was able to come up with a laundry list of actors and actresses who have fallen into co-star hookup’s clutches. In my personal DVD collection alone, there’s Scott Speedman and Keri Russell from “Felicity,” Ed Burns and Maxine Bahns from “She’s the One,” Justin Long and Drew Barrymore from “He’s Just Not That Into You,” Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams from “The Notebook,” and Julia Roberts and Richard Gere from “Pretty Woman.” Then there’s Jennifer Aniston who seems to have made hooking up with her co-stars into an art form. Way back in the day, she was linked with Tate Donavan, who guest starred in “Friends,” Vince Vaughn from “The Break-Up,” Bradley Cooper from “He’s Just Not That Into You” and the list continues. The only guy that she failed to appear in a film or other program with, at least until after the relationship was firmly established was the man that she married- Brad Pitt. But then he guest starred on “Friends” and, in my mind, it was all downhill from there. Could Aniston’s experiences be telling of some fatal flaw in the co-star hookup? Or are all of these relationships more or less doomed because the eyes of the world are constantly on these folks, providing no shelter for the hook up dust-up to be anything less than magnified in all of its subsequent bitterness? For the most part, co-star hookups don’t last. Of the list that I mentioned, we can glean from that that, not only do a have a penchant for owning a plethora of  movies from the romantic genre, but that only Drew and Justin and Rachel and Ryan (this after a series of breakups) are still together. So maybe “on set” does need to be on an actor’s list of places not to meet Mr. or Ms. Right? Possibly right at the top of that list. This then begs the question, where are actors and actresses supposed to meet potential soul mates? These crafters of the art of the imagination would probably complain that there is no where else for them to meet the persons of their dreams.

My suggestion s that if actors insist on dating/marrying other actors that they A.) don’t marry/date anyone that they’ve starred in a program with (Kim Bassinger and Alec Baldwin can attest to this one- Has anyone ever heard of  “The Marrying Man”? I hadn’t either until just now); B.)don’t act together in a program following a hook up or marriage (just look at Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck- Anyone remember “Gigli”? I don’t think that they want to remember it either); and C.)don’t ever go out in public again. Seems simple enough to me.

So congrats to those co-stars who have hooked up and been able to stick it out through thick and thin. My awe is definitely upon you. To those who haven’t, I bet that list of “I’ll never meet my significant other in…” is looking mighty good right about now.

Eight Days a Week (1997)

IMDB Score: 6 out of 10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 22 out of 100

I really wanted to like “Eight Days a Week,” a teen sex comedy written and directed by Michael Davis, the guy who made one of my favorite bad movies, “Shoot ‘Em Up.”

What's with that hat? Apparently Peter's best friend is a sex toy obsessed rastafarian.

It’s a real surprise to me, then, that I thought the film was complete trash.

I’m a big fan of teen romantic comedies. As a former lovelorn teenager myself, I can sympathize with stories of young men who attempt to win the hearts of their playground love. During high school, I ate these movies up — using them as vicarious nourishment for my own romantic longings.

It’s a good thing I didn’t see “Eight Days a Week” as a teenager because a younger me would have thought the film’s plot was a great idea.

In the movie, Joshua Schaefer plays Peter, a glass-wearing, scrawny teenager with a crush on Erica (played by the gorgeous Keri Russell). While Peter has lusted over Erica his entire life, she has never paid him much heed. Desperate to put an end to being ignored, Peter sets off on a summer-long quest to sit on Erica’s lawn day and night until he can prove his devotion to her.

As a kid who constantly made mix tapes for his high school crush, wrote four page love letters and once considered kidnapping the high school band and forcing them to play Mr. Big’s “To Be With You” under his own crush’s window, I would have ate this movie up like so much cake when I was in high school.

Today, being a little wiser and perhaps a little more cynical, I couldn’t stand the fantasy wish fulfillment this move propagated.

Maybe it’s because I didn’t want future generations to continue on the same fruitless path of puppy-love devotion that sucker punched me as a kid, but I felt that “Eight Days a Week,” with its shallow plot, even shallower characters and an amazingly unsubtle deux ex machina, is a dangerous film.

Using a gratuitous amount of voice-over narration as if it wanted to be the “A Christmas Story” of sex comedies, “Eight Days a Week”’s narrator proves to be a shallow sex-obsessed teenage boy. While this is hardly an oddity, the movie’s admittedly clever premise is tainted by the main characters superficial motivation.

Peter does not begin his yard-sitting quest out of any real love or affection for Erica as a person, he does it because he’s obsessed with her perfect breast — which he constantly waxes poetic on as the film offers substantial close-ups of Keri Russell’s chest.

While I can’t argue with facts (Keri Russell is, after all, one of the most beautiful women working in Hollywood today), I also can’t help but feel that the movie’s main character seems more like a sexual deviant in training then any classic romantic hero.

Seriously, if I tried this shit in real life, I’d be arrested and the laughing stock of the entire community. In the film, Peter is celebrated like some kind of saint — expressing a devotion of love that us mere mortals will never know.

As a young adult quickly approaching having lived a quarter-century on this planet, I can’t help but feel that my sense of reality has been slightly skewed by a childhood spent watching too many movies like “Eight Days a Week,” where everlasting love can be won in the final five minutes of the film and earned on the flimsiest of reasons. Besides, everybody knows the only way to win a woman’s heart is to play Peter Gabriel on a boombox outside of her window. If Peter had tried that, his summer sitting on Keri Russell’s yard would have been a lot shorter.

i have known this woman for most of my adult life. she’s been a friend, a mentor, a compassionate and sometimes “what the fuck are you doing” ear. like me, she doesn’t know how to swim, but man-o-man can we float! she wasn’t upset when i didn’t invite her to our city hall wedding; hers was a similar wedding, which was planned on a monday with the deal done on a friday. physically, we are complete opposites! she’s nearly 6′ and i’m 5′5″. her short, blond, punky (with help) hair has always been that way, while my long (down to my ass) dark brunette hair would remind you of keri russell’s prior to “the cut of the century.” she doesn’t give a shit about politics and i am, well, the crazy conservative cougar who’s never missed a vote.

The way you carry yourself says a lot about your personality. If you slouch around, it shows your lack of confidence. So stand tall. Pull your stomach in,  head high and shoulders back. Without sticking your boobs out!

Not only does a good posture work wonders for your looks and how clothes fit, it’s good for your health too. If you slouch you’re more likely to have back problems and not breathing correctly. Your not breathing all the way to the bottom of your lungs and not getting the oxygen  needed.

You might try to  straighten yourself in front of the mirror going out but the next thing you know you, you’ve got back your slouchy ways.  You have to keep reminding yourself. The best way to practice walking straight is by balancing a couple of books on your head.  Push your shoulders down and back cross your hands at your back and holding on to the opposite elbows.  

Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly Perefect Posture

 

Draw an imaginary line on the ground beneath your feet. Your footprints should fall on either side, as close to the line as possible.  Toes pointing outward, not inward. Move as little of your upper body as possible.

Nostalgia is a funny thing. It’s not rational–the things for which we become nostalgic.  Wikipedia sums up, “The term…describes a longing for the past, often in idealized form.”  Idealized form.  That makes sense.  That explains why I get nostalgic so often–I’m quite idealistic.  Take that diner there.  I only went there once.  The service wasn’t great.  I ordered a omellete and it ended up coming with both cheese and shell inside.  And not just a little bit of shell–two eggs worth of shell. It has since closed, which isn’t a huge surprise– But still I’m nostalgic for it.  I’m nostalgic for the person I went there with, the neighborhood surrounding it, and the person I was.

I tend to think that all diners should remain open regardless of their quality or their chances to pass a health inspection.  I would rather eat at a crappy diner, in a booth with a torn cushion, served by a waitress missing most of her teeth, where I will be forced to pick dried-on food out of the tines of my fork and pull a long hair out of my ice water, than eat at a chain, fast-food, or upscale restaurant.  Diners have character.  Diners are America!  Diners are pulling a double and drinking burnt coffee to get through it.  Diners are truck drivers who haven’t had a homecooked meal in months.  They’re laminated menus from which you can order breakfast at midnight just as easily as noon.  They’re miniature jukeboxes on each table.  They’re plastic cups, swivel stools, and rotating cake displays.  Diners are Keri Russell’s Waitress character declaring, “I don’t want you to save me. I don’t need to be saved.”  They’re Meg Ryan’s character in When Harry Met Sally faking an orgasm.  They’re no frills.  Their doors are open, their floors are dirty, and their grills are on.

In short, diners are good.

instyle magazine / january 2009 / photographed by pamela hanson

I know this shouldn’t interest anyone but me and I don’t even believe Frank when he says he likes hearing my dreams (isn’t it just another relationship obligation to endure, hearing your partner’s dreams and pretending fascination?), but since you’re under no obligation to read this and this is merely a place where I post things of interest to me, I’ll record what I’ve been dreaming of recently.

Following in the tradition of previous non-contact sexual dreams about women, last night, I was swimming with only bikini bottoms on in a crowded indoor pool with the actress who played Felicity, what is her name . . . Keri Russell, she of the wavy locks.  She was in my store of recent thoughts because Frank an I got sick of the repeated wavy-haired heroines portrayed by the Ukrainian sand painter extraordinaire, Kseniya Simonova, who recently won “Ukraine’s Got Talent” but really gets monotonous after watching a series of her creations/performances.

On a previous night, I was kept captive by a giant, who had a troop of elves doing his bidding, not because they liked him but because they feared repercussions should they follow their instincts, this dream probably inspired by Steve’s new love-interest who’s kept in upstate New York because she was waiting for school loans to afford gas and tolls to drive to the city for a date and whom Frank and I had compared to Rapunzel waiting for her hair to grow or for the gift of a hair weave (i.e. good luck meeting her).

Just two, we could have handled

Speaking of little people (perhaps my mind has room only for the shrunken individual?), I dreamt earlier this month that Frank and I were tending a litter of little people (about one foot tall) in a German castle.  Fitting their surroundings better than Frank and I did, these little people wore 16th century outfits, the men in slim-fitting horse-riding pants, the women with their heaving bosoms squeezed into bustled dresses.  This litter o people had procreated and given rise to another generation or pack of little people who came out inst-adults already looking like their parents.  I send Frank to get rid of and/or spay and neuter this generation because it’s obvious they’re reproducing much quicker than we can handle and we’ll soon run out of resources to manage them.  He takes them away, but doesn’t end up doing either of the tasks I’d set him to do, so they’ve bred themselves and he returns not only with the 2nd generation but now a 3rd generation of tight-and-bustle-clad adults.  The 2nd generation little people started abusing the 3rd generation, which also attacked its own members, and I remember only feeling helpless and afraid of them all and overwhelmed.  Happiness.

And the last dream I was going to recount is too personal to record publicly, as the range of its potential meaning show my continuing questions about an experience I had.  I prefer my dreams to be simple fairy tales, not crusades.