My Laptop is "Catching Fire" (and my plans for today)

I tried to write this post in the comfort of my bed on my 7-year old laptop. Unfortunately it's on borrowed time at this point. The above picture is a cable I ordered that came in the mail a few days ago. It now has a nice scorch mark from the input hole on my laptop. After countless times of knocking it off the bed the thing has always been difficult to charge and now it lives to burn any cable I plug into it. I'm planning on removing any files I feel attached to from it and then "pull the plug".

So I'm writing this from my awesome desktop and I'm writing it because I don't have to go to work today (either of them) and it's the first time that's happened in a long time. And so excited am I for the day I'm going to have that I decided to write my feelings before it starts.

This week was a long one. Starting on Wednesday I worked both of my jobs three days in a row. My first job starts at 10 and my second job ends at 10. Neither job is particularly stressful, but it's just a matter of being around people and wearing pants that bothers me. But I got through it, next week's paychecks should be bangin', and I got stuff to do today (stuff I can afford, thanks to all the working).

 I will share this: during yesterday's shift at the restaurant (we've had a very slow week as far as mornings go) someone put a "Kick Me!" sign on our dishwasher's back. Classic prank, right? I'm not sure why but I laughed like a little girl when I saw it. It's the little things that get you through work, am I right? I snapped a creeper picture of the sign, and gave it a weird Instagram filter because, well, bored at work. 

Anyway on to today. After I finish writing this I'm heading off to the library to pick up some books I got ordered. One is a book called Haunted West Virginia by Patty Wilson. I've been getting into West Virginia ghost/monster stories, and for a specific reason that I'm not gonna get into just yet. I'm also picking up an X-men comic and David Sedaris' Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls for when I get too scared or overwhelmed from reading about monsters.

This afternoon we're going to see Catching Fire and I'm really looking forward to it. I enjoyed the Hunger Games book series and the second book is very good so I'm hoping the movie adaption will be a good time. Then later tonight we're going to see Blue/Orange at the Pittsburgh Playwright's Theater, put on by new theater company The Phoenix. I will review both of these things and put them on my other blog, hopefully by tomorrow evening.

And then tonight, I'm unembarrassed to say, I plan on staying in with a bottle of wine and watching Josh Hutcherson host Saturday Night Live (I don't care, I went out last weekend). This combined with seeing Catching Fire is going to make for a very heavy Josh Hutcherson day which is totally fine. In fact let's start it right now.

There ya go: a little Catching Fire preview and some arm appreciation for both sexes. You're welcome.


Eek I don't really have a topic to talk about in full detail. This blog has become a sort of diary for me, sharing my thoughts no matter if they're mundane or interesting. It's also a way for me to force myself to write something, which is not something I'm always in the mood to do. So if you've made it this far, hey thanks for indulging.

I'll tell you about the dreams I just woke up from, because they were pretty weird and scary. I went to bed last night after reading about the Flatwoods Monster so of course it haunted me a little. It's a little hazy, but I recall being home in West Virginia and there were cars full of strangers parked outside (like a family reunion, they seemed friendly but I don't know who they were). Some of the cars were on fire, others had weird bird-like creatures inside scaring the passengers. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out someone's car, something I doubt I'd be capable of doing in real life.

I woke up suddenly because I thought THERE WAS A CAT IN MY BED AND THERE SHOULDN'T BE. I haven't lived with a cat in a while now but I swore I felt one jump over me in my sleep. Woke me up and had my heart racing. Stupid imaginary cat. At least I hope it was imaginary, I never did check under the bed.

Alright there, my plans and my dreams. Short and sweet, and now I'm going to abandon my computer for most of the day. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. I'll leave you with Josh Hutcherson holding a dog.

The Fool Reads: Clash of Kings and Rachel Dratch

It's been a long month of March and April, and I embarrassingly only have two books to show for it. However one was crazy long (and I admit, I read slow). So here are some thoughts.

First up, the second in A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin: A Clash of Kings. I will admit, I got into this book series after seeing videos of the series on HBO. While that sort of makes me a wagon-jumper, I have no regrets arriving to this fantasy series a bit late. In my spare time I suffer from an addiction to the computer game Dragon Age, and I have come to realize I must have some sort of soft spot for the dragon-slaying, sword fighting crowd.

But the reason I really love this series is the huge ensemble cast. I love well-written characters and George Martin gives a whole slew of them, each giving their own perspective on the goings-on in the country. At the center of this novel is Tyrion, the clever dwarf who always has a hilarious wisecrack and a plan up his sleeve. We also get chapters from Jon Snow who is off dealing with all sorts of nasty things in the forest, and we get two new narrators in the rascal-y Theon Greyjoy and the "onion knight" Davos Seaworth.

Emillia Clarke as Daenerys

I confess to being partial to the amount of strong female characters this series offers, my favorite being the self-proclaimed Queen of the Dragons, Daenerys. Like the first book, she spends her time away from the rest of the main characters, but her trials are one of the most challenging and I secretly hope she'll take the crown one day. Other strong women include Catelyn Stark and her young daughter Arya, who both show of their strengths: Catelyn emotionally and Arya physically. The other Stark daughter, Sansa, is growing on me. In the first book she was incredibly naive, which made it frustrating to read her chapters. However, in this book she has grown more and it's more entertaining to see her struggle to survive.

I also have to give a shout out to Varys, the eunuch, who is probably my favorite male character. He doesn't serve anyone whole-heartedly: he does what is best for his kingdom, and what is best for him. We never get inside his head and that really adds to his intrigue. I hope he stays around for future books. I also enjoyed the addition of the character Brienne, a mannish woman who serves as a knight for King Renly (who is in a "don't ask, don't tell" relationship with Ser Loras, who is technically his brother-in-law. Gay drama!)

I really enjoy the TV series, and happily I finished the book BEFORE the entire season aired. There are supposed to be seven in this book series, and only five are released. I would like to tackle the third, but they take so long (this one was 1,000 pages) I need some lighter reading in between epicness. Which brings me to:

The last book I read, courtesy of Kindle: Girl Walks into a Bar: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle by comedian Rachel Dratch. Dratch was a star on Saturday Night Live for seven years, and was cast members with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph (my personal dream team). She was always one of my favorite cast members ever, and I'm puzzled as to why she's not a household name like the rest of her ladies. Her most famous character was Debbie Downer, a woman who always brought down the room with a horribly depressing fact (usually cat AIDS statistics).

Dratch starts off her book talking about showbiz, answering some questions about SNL and about her work on 30 Rock (she was originally supposed to play the role played by Jane Krakowski). Her book doesn't have as many "laugh out loud" moments like Tina Fey's did, but it was really entertaining due to the conversational way she writes.

Dratch as Debbie Downer

She tells stories about her early work in Second City (where she met Fey) and some behind-the-scenes stuff on SNL, which I love reading about. While she keeps an optimistic feel throughout the book, she doesn't shy away from admitting some harsh truths: Hollywood sees her as the "lesbian best friend" caricature, she hasn't really worked long term since 30 Rock, and she even read comments saying she was replaced by Krakowski because she was the prettier actress (and at times, Dratch worried that was the case herself).

The second half of the book deals with the discovery that Ms. Dratch was pregnant at age 43. Since it was considered an impossibility, she thought the child-bearing time of her life was over and never dreamt she'd become pregnant. When she did, by a man she dated for six months, she stepped into the role of mother, although not so gracefully or willingly. She doesn't harp on "the joys of motherhood" or anything; rather she pokes fun at herself for being disgusted by a breast pump and loathing baby showers.

She sums up her attitude perfectly in her closing chapters (Spoiler alert? Can you spoil an autobiography?). She says a typical call from her agent would be for a movie: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Maya Rudolph are in it playing superheroes. They want Rachel to play Amy's obese, lesbian, alien mother. Dratch happily agrees to do the film for little money (the producers thought she'd like to work with her old friends). She then hangs up the phone and goes to her baby Eli. She plays with his little feet and his toes, and says there is no better feeling.