Ok, tonight I read one those stories that's so bizarre, so dark, so unexpected, that I read the whole thing almost non-stop from beginning to end. Abimagique by Lucius Shepard absolutely floored me. For starters, it's written entirely in the 2nd person, which is quite interesting. The story's structure is very free form and the 2nd person perspective really gives the reader the sense that they're living the story. The more I think about Abimagique, the more I dig it. At first, it seems pretty straightforward, but things get really creepy really fast. It's the kind of story that's so unsettling, your chest hurts, but in a good way. However, anybody easily offended by sex would definitely do best to skip this tale.
I finally finished The Probable Future and it was quite a good read. Alice Hoffman is so good at infusing magic with ordinary life. Her characters are so real, but they experience life with surreal elements. A kiss isn't just the touching of lips, it's an explosion of heat and energy. Love's not just a word, it's a condition that wipes away all reason and rationality. Stella Sparrow's a normal teenage girl who doesn't see eye to eye with her mother, yet with a glance she can look into a person's future and see the circumstances of their death. I actually lamented finishing this book because I knew I would miss the characters and their small town in Massachusetts. Alice Hoffman has yet to disappoint.
Tonight on 20/20 they did a cool special called, On the Trail of Dracula. Lately, I've been all about zombies, but now I think it's time to turn my attention toward vampires. I'm going to pick up a bunch of vampire movies and watch them as a crazy marathon. I also bought a copy of The Historian and am going to read it. Lastly, if I can find an actual vampire, I'll see about getting turned. Oh, and I'll write a short story involving vampires.
So, thank Bender, I wasn't hacked up and stuffed in my own freezer. Bullet dodged! As it turns out, my friend from the interweb has fallen ill, so the evisceration has been postponed. Honestly, I was quite nervous about the entire situation anyway. Quite often, social confidence isn't exactly my strongest suit. Basically, I'd definitely like to meet this girl, but I'm afraid to do so all at the same time. I always tend to focus on everything that could go horribly awry, it's just my way. However, I am proud that I invited her to a movie; at least I can say I did that. Life's in the doing. I'd rather regret things done than regret things undone. I find that regretting the undone stuff is far more annoying. It's not that I don't regret certain things that I have done, it's just that those things don't bother me as much at 3 AM. Of course, I've never killed anybody and buried their body in my backyard as a constant reminder of the night when I gave in to my most wanton fan... er... um, nevermind.
In other news, I have to buy another copy of Ghost World today, as mine has seemingly vanished. For some reason, I feel like watching that movie, hence my dismay when I tried to do so yesterday and it was gone. Where do these things go when they're gone? Somewhere little imps are watching MY DVDs on their plasma tv with 5.1 surround sound.
Ok, if nobody sees me on AIM after tomorrow, it's because the girl I met online and invited over to watch a movie cut me up and stuffed me in my own freezer.
I partially retract much of yesterday's post, save for the part about Zoidberg.
So, I haven't been quite this bored since cable went out for two days during last year's Hurricane Fest '04. Though, that was an anxious kind of boredom. I was uneasy about the hurricanes, uneasy about the lack of net access, uneasy about the tree limb that almost ended up in the living-room and so on. Basically, I was bored and nervous. However, today, and for who knows how long I am flat out bored. It's like watching a bad movie that just keeps going. Granted, were my life a movie, I'd obviously rather it just pick up the pace than roll credits. I'm writing about how bored I am, that's how bored I am. Bored of WoWing, bored of movies, bored of reading, bored of being bored. The trick is fixing it. Apparently, it's a trick I never bothered to master. Not that I did it on purpose, things just sort of happened this way. Sometimes I think that my real problem is that I hold on to a sort of false hope for things that simply will not happen. That seems kind of harsh though, as very few things in life are absolutely impossible. I mean, a plane could fall on my house, but it's clearly unlikely. I've done some things that most people will probably never do. I have a lot of really nice stuff. Yet, right now, I'd quite literally trade it all to have what would shake off the dulness. Anyway, such writing is pointless, and I feel like I've pretty much written it all before. So, ha ha!
Zoidberg FTW!
Some say that there's nothing better than a good plan coming together and going off nicely. However, such efficiency and rewards that follow are passe in my book. It's much more interesting and hilarious when things go awry. Plans are so pointless. Things happen how they're going to happen. Just sit back, watch and "ha ha!" Jack the Ripper style when things go astray. The only true reliability is that almost nothing is reliable.
Fry, Leela, Robut! Whatever you're doing tonight, I have no plans.
Zoidberg FTW!
You like snow but only if it's warm
You like rain but only if it's dry
No sentimental value to the rose that fell on your floor
No fundamental excuse for the granted I'm taken for'Cause it's easy not to
So much easier not to
And what goes around never comes around to youYou like pain but only if it doesn't hurt too much
You sit... and you wait... to receive
There's an obvious attraction
To the path of least resistance in your life
There's an obvious aversion no amount of my insistence
could make you try tonight'Cause it's easy not to
So much easier not to
And what goes around never comes around to you
To you to you to you to you to you...
There's no love no money no thrill anymoreThere's an apprehensive naked little trembling boy
With his head in his hands
There's an underestimated and impatient little girl
Raising her handBut it's easy not to
So much easier not to
And what goes around never comes around to you
To you, to youget up get up get up off of it
get up get up get up off of it
get out get outta here enough already
get up get up get up off of it
Obviously, I didn't write it, but I feel like parts of it.
Earlier this evening, believe it or not, Hell froze over. Satan's lacing up his pink figure skates right now. There are hosts of demons merrily suffering through rainbow snow cone induced brain freezes and making snow angels. I'm not kidding, it really happened, just check the Weather Channel.
Zoidberg FTW!
Being an avid DVD whore, I totally had to pick up my copy of Sin City on DVD today. What a freaking awesome movie, it's a perfect mix of film noir and modern movie making technology. It's what Sky Captain should have been. The entire movie's so good, but Marv's story of love and brutal vengeance is by far my favorite section. Marv's such a badass, and Kevin's ultra cool in a sadistically creepy sort of way. Just writing about the movie makes me want to watch it right now. The DVD also has a great "making of" featurette.
I considered writing something more profound than my love of Sin City, but I don't particularly feel like doing it right now. Maybe later, or tomorrow.
So, somebody IMed me today and mentioned that they were sick of my Devil's Rejects post and that I needed to write something new. Thus, here we are.
Lately, I've been really lazy about the blog, I just can't seem to get into it. I'm proud to say that as of last Sunday, I've seen every single episode of Futurama. I've been buying the seasons on DVD and loving them immensely. It was such a witty show, I can't believe it only lasted 4 seasons. It's sad that The Simpsons, a show that has sunk to a sickeningly stupid level, is allowed to continue, while Futurama got the axe even though it never even hinted at sucking. The unexpected final episode was pretty fitting though. It felt like a series finale, even though it wasn't necessarily meant to be one. I like to think that Fry and Leela ended up together, but I guess we'll never know for sure. In any event, I just want to say, Zoidberg FTW!
I've also seen a few movies lately. My brother and his girlfriend dragged me to Murderball and it was pretty freaking dull for my 8 bucks. I mean, I understand how one could call it "beautiful" and "inspirational", but... it's hard for me to explain this part coherently... It just annoys me that a movie is required to show people that people with disabilities can do or want to do the same things as anybody else. Like, "Wow, people in wheelchairs want to date women? That's really interesting." Of course, we dig the ladies. Why wouldn't we? Why should something so obvious be so intriguing to people? It's just common sense, it shouldn't be worth a documentary. For me, it was just boring to watch. I also think it's unnecessary that rugby's just a sport, whereas wheelchair rugby is somehow "special". They're both just guys playing a sport. Why do people in wheelchairs make theater goers weep just because they can play a sport? Why is regular rugby less inspirational? Sports are sports, people! It amazes me how little people expect from people with disabilities, that anything we do is spectacular. I'm always annoyed when I give an assistive technology demo and people are impressed by the simple fact that I can type an e-mail with my thumb and switch. Sometimes, I barely plan my demos, because anything I do is met with rousing applause. I also got weird looks while leaving the movie, as if people were thinking, "You're so brave, I understand now." Ugh...
Aside from Murderball, I just saw The Skeleton Key and it was pretty good. It wasn't amazing, but it definitely had good atmosphere, solid acting and an interestingly dark ending. I didn't mind slamming down my $8 for that movie at least.
In other news, I'm reading a really good book by Alice Hoffman entitled, The Probable Future. I've already read 2 of her other books, Practical Magic and Here on Earth, both of which I really enjoyed. Especially Here on Earth, which was wonderfully dark. Hoffman has a knack for magic realism; infusing supernatural and surreal elements with believably real characters and settings. The Probable Future centers around the the decendents of Rebecca Sparrow, a woman who was tragically tried, convicted and executed for witchcraft. The Sparrow women each possess a certain magical gift. For example, Rebecca literally couldn't feel physical pain. Often, such gifts are more of a curse, making "normal life" difficult for the Sparrow women. I'll write more after I finish the book, but it's excellent so far.
Let's see... what else...? On Saturday, I got particularly bored with my lack of good company with the fairer sex, so I decided to do something crazy. A friend of mine had mentioned going on a decent date or 2 with girls he met via the ever-popular craig's list. Now, part of me worries that net dating is one's social rock bottom. Dozens of Judge Judy horror stories come to mind when I think of net dating. Still, I also feel like quietly complaining about the situation won't fix things either. Therefore, I wrote up and posted a little ad. Sure, it's the most losery thing I've ever done. It's worse than the earring that I briefly wore in the 90s. Yet, it's something to do and I did it. So far, I've had 3 replies, 2 of which were pretty, um, not good. The third, however, was intersting. We've chatted on AIM a couple of times, both of which were more fun than WoWing. Anyway, I'll write more on this later.