mad hot weekend

so, this weekend, helen and i went to see mad hot ballroom, and let me tell you, it was such a fantastic movie. it was cute, it was funny, it was inspirational - it just fucking rocked. it's not playing in that many theaters so you'll probably have to wait until it comes out on DVD but it's worth the wait.

then, after mad hot ballroom, we snuck into the midnight showing of napoleon dynamite. now, helen feels the same way about napoleon dynamite as i do: i didn't like the movie at all, and was honestly surprised. so many people whose opinions i respect loved it, and i thought it was a total shitbag. so, we decided to sneak into the theater and watch it again, just to make sure we hadn't missed something the first time around. nope, we didn't. it still freaking sucked. i mean, there is absolutely nothing under the surface of that movie. like, some parts are mildly entertaining, but we don't learn anything about the characters' motivations, and very few of them have any redeeming characteristics at all. yeah, what a piece of crap.

then, my brother sent me season 2 of chappelle's show for my birthday! that was a totally kick-ass present, yo. my roomie david and i were watching it tonight and we almost fell off the couch laughing. i mean, the charlie murphy/prince episode is just unbelievable.

on a related note, david and i have upgraded to the 5-at-a-time plan on netflix, and it's a little overwhelming. i mean, wonderful, but sort of overwhelming. it's exhausting to watch this many movies, and i feel compelled to watch them as quickly as possible to make sure i'm getting my money's worth, you know? over the weekend: the sea inside, frida, and hard eight. tomorrow: harold and maude. next weekend: the life aquatic, in the bedroom, life of brian. WHEW.

also, i put in my application today with the ACLU as a legislative assistant, so keep your fingers crossed for me. i'll be applying for 7 or 8 more jobs over the next couple of weeks. my current psycho boss has just really come unglued and it's time for me to make like a bread truck and haul buns.

dan deacon = rad

so, last night i went to see dan deacon - there's a link to a video of him a couple posts back. anyway, he was fucking sensational. when i got to the show he was standing outside talking to some friends, and as i walked up they immediately turned to me, introduced themselves, etc. it was really cute. the actual show was technically pretty bad, because there were all sorts of mechanical malfunctions and whatnot, plus dan is suffering from a really bad cold, but he was so funny and good-natured about it that it was just charming, and a good time was had by all. at one point he danced so hard that he knocked his keyboard off the table, and he just made a pouty face and said "but i dance so good!" then he spent 5 minutes trying to put the batteries back in. furthermore, after the show, he came up to me again and shook my hand and said "stef, it was great to meet you, i'm so glad you came." i was like, SWOON. then he ran off to work his merch table - and i am endlessly charmed by performers who work their own merch tables.

there were 3 other bands there, but the only one whose name i remember was nuclear power pants, and they were okay. not great. it was their first show of their first actual tour - they've been playing around NYC for a while but this is the first time they actually left new york to play. i met all the guys beforehand and they were all wicked cool, but i just wasn't too impressed with their set. they all wore these big weird dinosaur heads and the two lead singers wore a costume that was designed to make them look like conjoined twins - funny at first but the gimmick was so distracting that i sort of lost interest. same with the songs - they only played about 4 songs because the really really horrible band before them (imagine the worst of the really earnest classic-rock-cover flunk day bands) went on for ages, but all their songs were like the same 5 lines over and over. hopefully they'll ease up on the nuclear power gag before the next time i see them.

tonight is the "knox kids who ended up in dc" dinner party and i'm pretty excited about that, except that it will be 3 couples and me. but whatever.

have a good weekend, guys.

to serve and protect

so, this morning i was on capitol hill dropping off a package for work, and two completely unbelievable things happened to me. first, i was crossing the street and there was a ton of traffic, so there was a traffic cop in the middle of the intersection. as i crossed the street, a car tried to turn left against the light, and the traffic cop screamed, "hey jerkoff! do you know what a red light is?" i'll be honest - the combination of the sun glistening off the capitol dome and a cop screaming "hey jerkoff" made me a little misty-eyed.

then, a few minutes later, i passed a cop who was obviously on security detail, and he was having what looked to be a very important, security-related conversation on his phone, nodding seriously from time to time. just as i walked by, he suddenly became more animated and said "wait, you want him to jump out of the cake?"

in other news, i found out today that i have to have a $900 root canal, in addition to a filling and getting rid of my fourth and final wisdom tooth, for a grand total of $1067. i'm so freaked out that i can't even make a joke about it.

ps - my brother is AWESOME. example: once he was telling me a story about something his wife said, and she's a really strait-laced conservative type - so, in the story, her comment was laced with profanity and i was like, "what? did chelle really say that?" and he said "no - a lot of times when i tell you stories about stuff she said, i insert some profanity so you'll think it's funnier." that's when i realized that i don't think anything is funny unless it is positively brimming with obscenities. so the story is sort of sad as a story about me, but excellent as a story about my brother.

don't worry, i'm a doctor

so, last night, helen and i went to this pretty in pink party and it was amazing - the idea was that you had to wear formalwear, or 80s retro, or all pink. the ease with which i constructed an outfit that was head to toe pink (shoes, purse, and jewelry included) was sort of disturbing, and the weird thing is that in the end i just looked like an outfit i would wear any day. helen went 80s, with a black silk shirt, pink tie, slouchy socks, and a side ponytail (crimped, of course). most of the girls at the party wore 80s prom dresses and it was all so hot.

at one point i had the hiccups, and i was talking to this woman and she asked if i wanted to get rid of my hiccups. i said of course, and she asked me my name, then she grabbed me by the shoulders and started shaking me and yelled, "stefanie, if you hiccup right now, i will give you a hundred dollars! do it!" clearly her goal was reverse psychology, but i actually did hiccup, and she looked really sad and disappointed (and didn't give me any money, i might add). but then she said "okay, we'll try something else. it's going to hurt." and i said "i don't care, i just want to get rid of the hiccups." so she said "take a deep breath in" and while i was breathing in, she punched me in the stomach. when i looked at her in total disbelief, she said "don't worry, i'm a doctor." the weird thing is that it actually worked.

also, yesterday lyle sent me this link yesterday and i swear i've watched it no less than 40 times. it's this musician named dan deacon, and he's too incredible for words. so, just watch it. the first few minutes is an interview with him, but the song starts like 3 or 4 minutes in. the interview is worth the time too, because he says that he tries to write music that, "if really cool 6 year olds got together with this equipment and they were like, let's write the most awesome music ever, this is hopefully what they would come up with." seriously. this video will change your life.

the prodigal daughter

things that have rocked my world since last we spoke:
1) KNOX (a few people and bars in particular, and PROM)
2) the movie Primer. dude.
3) the book he's just not that into you (not total fluff like i thought)
4) my new apartment
5) i saw barack obama yesterday on connecticut avenue as i was coming out of the gym
6) bogdan's shaved head. it's just as funny as he described.

things that will rock my world soon:
1) monty python & the holy grail friday night at midnight at my local indie theatre
2) dinner with helen tonight. she is precious.
3) texas in june with frank and carin! weeeee!