Grandma Gracie full of cheer :)

This picture was taken at an early dinner at Lucille's in Long Beach last summer.

Oh, for warm weather again!

This picture was taken last summer...good times, warm weather...

Mexico, 2004

Working at Work

This week I'm getting my butt kicked at work. But it's good solid work and even though I'm pooped at the end of the day, I'm having a pretty good time. My customers seem to be having fun, so that makes me feel good.

Tonight, Mark and I had half-price black bean burritos and quesadillas at One World Cafe (Tuesday nights are "Mexican" night). They were delicious as usual.

Mark's out playing basketball with his intramurals team: Memesis.
He and his grad-school buddies had intended to call themselves "Mimesis," but a little typo by the uniform shop and...

I just learned how to make links out of words, instead of by pasting the whole URL into my post. I'm very excited and intend to include links much more often.

Happy Tuesday, everyone.
(Cool storm, Georgians!)

Weekend Movies

In addition to watching lots of Han Solo and Princess Leia, I watched Elf twice and Constantine once. I really enjoyed Elf. I think I may watch it a few more times...I may even make it a Christmas tradition. It's difficult to explain its charm. Its all the absurdity of Will Farrell without any of the "bathroom humor," as Mark pointed out to me. The main character, Buddy the Elf, is a 30-year-old man with the mentality of a super-go-lucky 7-year-old on a massive sugar high. Yet from within the space of the film, all of Buddy's 7-year-old-ishness is validated as feel-good truth. This movie is highly likely to make you smile, laugh out loud, and maybe even (if you're as silly as I am) come close to a touching tear at the end.

I also enjoyed Constantine. It was very tame on a gory level--that is, for the genre of exorcist, horror type movie that it seems to lean towards. So I (who am rather shy at horror-style gore) was able to watch straight through the whole film. I especially enjoyed the scene when Satan pays John Constantine a visit. Thank you, Bryan, for an excellent recommendation.

What a hotty--that Han Solo!

Last night Mark and I had a Star Wars Marathon (A New Hope through Return of the Jedi) with some of our friends. I didn't make it the whole way through, though, and its too bad because Return of the Jedi is my favorite one.

Missing Thoughts

I haven't been posting much lately. This is not because not much is going on.
On the contrary: much is going on. But I am not inclined to discuss the goings on of my life here, yet. So for now, I just stay silent, simply because I cannot even seem to think of anything BUT the goings on of my life.

Refreshing my Japanese

This morning I had some fun practicing some basic Japanese at
http://www.japanese-online.com/

Watashi wa Davis Anne desu. Hajimemashite.
(I am Anne Davis. Nice to meet you.)

Are wa hon de, kore wa zasshi desu.
(That over there is a book, and this is a magazine.)

Good fun :)

I am currently reading Haruki Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle"

"The sun managed to find its way in there for the smallest fraction of each day, so the earth was always black and moist, and all we had by way of garden plants were a few drab hydrangeas in one corner--and I don't like hydrangeas.

"There was a small stand of trees nearby, and from it you could hear the mechanical cry of a bird that sounded as if it were winding a spring. We called it the wind-up bird. Kumiko gave it that name.

"We didn't know what it was really called or what it looked like, but that didn't bother the wind-up bird. Every day it would come to the stand of trees in our neighborhood and wind the spring of our quiet little world."

Last night was Game Night. But after hours of perfectionism-style Scrabble, we both forfeited.

Life is good...

Things are going smoothly this side of town. A little snow here, a little cold there. Work is going well. Mark is back to school (though I must say his schedule is a little ridiculous--just Monday and Tuesday and only half days!!!) Ah well :)
Rumor has it, it's going to be almost 60 degrees this next week. Woohoo!

(sorry, no pictures this time)