gnomi: (danny_what (celli))
that a conversation with [personal profile] mabfan suddenly sends me down the rabbit hole of "Well, maybe Coulson was sent undercover by Colonel Fury to buy CSC to be a cover for the planning around the origins of the Avengers? Having a New York television station in your arsenal is not necessarily a bad thing..."
gnomi: (1776)
On this day, 11 June, this happened.

Though most likely not quite this way.

(link is to music on YouTube)
gnomi: (miracle_max)
Scene: On Saturday night, [personal profile] mabfan and [personal profile] gnomi are at the seder with [profile] lcmlc and Abba-with-no-LJ. [personal profile] gnomi has just broken the Afikoman for distribution.

[personal profile] gnomi: There are pieces of varying size.

[personal profile] mabfan: Pieces of Varying Size? I don't believe they exist.

This subsequently sparked a conversation about "The Princess Bride," the fact that [profile] lcmlc has never read the book, and whether Goldman should do a digital enhancement.

[personal profile] mabfan: It would be like what Lucas did with "Star Wars."

[personal profile] gnomi: Inigo parried first!
gnomi: (Default)
-- We're having what I've termed "snizzle": could be snow, could be drizzle.

-- Due to the weather, many of my coworkers chose to work from home. Because of them and the coworkers traveling for various reasons, the office is really quiet today, to the point that I was the first one in the office today.

-- I have discovered some games for my phone that are addictive (Ticket to Ride, Where's My Water?). I am now looking for people to play Ticket to Ride with.

-- A fanfic project I've been pondering for a while just became both easier and harder due to a casting spoiler. ::ponders some more::

-- We have achieved Purim costumes for Muffin and Squeaker. Tried them on last night, and they were adorable.

-- Speaking of Purim, this year I thought ahead and got mishloach manot items at BJ's when I last went. I just need a couple of items and we can assemble them.

-- Speaking of assembling, check out the new Avengers trailer from Marvel UK. It's really cool.

-- Today's date makes me think I should be humming Sousa music all day. So does Sunday's date.

-- It's 1 March and already my grocery store has put out Passover food. This is ridiculous.

-- With the warmer-than-usual weather we've been having, the trees are confused and some of them are budding. So, of course, I'm having my annual Spring allergy attack. Spring allergy attacks should *not* start in February.

-- It's Thursday, and I have no clue what I'm making for Shabbat.
gnomi: (danny_what (celli))
(Background: [personal profile] mabfan and I enjoy superhero movies. This should not be a surprise to anyone. So we've been seeing all the Marvel movies and enjoying the various tags at the end when Nick Fury comes to recruit the movie's main character to join the Avengers. And some time this summer, I posited that perhaps *all* media could be improved by the addition of Nick Fury coming to recruit the protagonist, leading to...)

(Scene: [personal profile] mabfan is reading Corduroy to Muffin and Squeaker.)


[personal profile] mabfan: "You must be a friend. I've always wanted a friend." "Me, too," said Lisa. And then Colonel Nick Fury shows up to recruit Corduroy for the Avengers.

[personal profile] gnomi: "I must be a superhero! I think I've always wanted to be a superhero," said Corduroy.
gnomi: (mousie_with_bear (lanning))
-- I know I've been kind of quiet except for announcements of columns. Between Pesach (Passover) prep, Pesach itself, *recovering* from Pesach, and job searching, life's been busy. I'll strive to be more talky here, but no promises.

-- A posting on the Jewish Boston mailing list about someone trying to find a pre-season minyan on Cape Cod made me wonder about early Onset minyanim.

-- I've been and will be again chaperoning a couple's dates for religious reasons. If I have the brain to do so, I'll elaborate more in a later post.

-- I've come to the realization that I really like Shabbat morning Pesukei d'Zimrah (verses of praise, one of the early parts of the morning service).

-- Squeaker was convinced yesterday when [personal profile] mabfan was talking to [personal profile] osewalrus that it was Sabba (Hebrew for "grandfather"; what Muffin and Squeaker call my father) on the phone. I said, "No, that's Uncle [personal profile] osewalrus," and Squeaker just looked at me like I was nuts and said, emphatically, "Sabba!"

-- Muffin decided -- and convinced Squeaker -- that one of their tables, flipped over, is actually a slide like the ones they play on at the park. They now yell "Slide" and slide off the edge of the flipped-over table.

-- Help me. I think I'm becoming a Gleek.

-- Last week, [personal profile] mabfan and I watched the 1952 science fiction movie "This Island Earth." To then get the taste of that (honestly kind of wretched) film out of our brains, we watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie, in which *they* watch an abridged version of "This Island Earth." We were both amused when the robots said almost exactly something I'd said while watching the movie the first time.

-- I'm in that "I have a bunch of things on needles and don't want to work on any of them" stage, but I haven't 100% figured out *what* I want to knit. I may cast on a pair of socks, just because. Or I may knit an elephant. Time will tell.
gnomi: (Default)
This is what it's been like since Wednesday:

-- Wednesday: Finished my Thanksgiving cooking (I did half and [profile] lcmlc did half, and a guest brought a dish): pumpkin bread, crustless pumpkin pie (so more like a pumpkin custard), brisket, stuffing/dressing (it was outside the bird), and cranberry-apricot chutney. Also, saw "Harry Potter and the First Half of the Book Deathly Hallows Part I."

-- Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner at [profile] lcmlc and Abba's. Lots of food. Everyone around the table was family. Small crowd: to Muffin and Squeaker, it was Mommy and Daddy, Sabba and Savta, Uncle Bill, and Uncle David. Plus, of course, Muffin and Squeaker. Who loved all the food.

-- Friday: Home with [personal profile] mabfan and Muffin and Squeaker during the day. Cooked Shabbat lunch during girlie nap time. Took advantage of crazy-early licht bentchen (candle lighting at the beginning of Shabbat) (3:58, and that's not the earliest this year) to be able to have dinner out and still be home not too late for girlie bedtime. Also, our next column came out.

-- Saturday: Shabbat. Went to shul after hour-long power outage resolved. Upstairs neighbor had urge to run around our apartment and adjust our timers. Odd impulse that I was glad to take advantage of. ;-) Hosted lunch at our place for [profile] aunt_becca and R and B. Much fun was had. Much mac and cheese was consumed.

-- Sunday: Had Lexington-based family visiting for brunch combined with [personal profile] gnomi's Tailoring Services. Security blanket repaired.

-- Today: Up at 3:30 AM with a Muffin who is cutting four new teeth simultaneously. Somehow, Squeaker slept through the hullabaloo but was awake at 6:30. So far I have attended a webinar, made a job-search-related appointment for tomorrow afternoon, and put in a laundry. I am playing the hours that [personal profile] mabfan is at work as a hermit, only socializing with Muffin and Squeaker and their babysitter.
gnomi: (yeshiva_stewart)
-- As I alluded to last week, I again have the "Early Erev Shabbat, Too Much Stuff to Do Before Licht Bentchen Blues."

-- While doing some of my Shabbat cooking on Wednesday night while [personal profile] mabfan was out at Town Meeting, I started composing a new musical: "Vegetable Cooking Spray!" (the more health-conscious sequel to "Grease!"). Two songs from it: "You're the Bowl That I Want" and "Greased Bundt Pan" ("Oh, greased bundt pan/I'll bake a lemon bundt cake in you.")

-- The reason I was cooking on Wednesday was that last night (since there was no Town Meeting, the issues having been covered in two nights) [personal profile] mabfan and I went to see a real movie, in a theater (or theatre) no less. We saw "The Social Network," which we'd both been interested in. Good film, and a fun night out thanks to very good friends who gave us the gift of babysitting. We left them with a sleeping Muffin and Squeaker, so they had a relaxing evening of videos while we had a night out.

-- We went to see the movie at the Chestnut Hill AMC, and on the way out of the movie we saw a bunch of folks lined up to see the midnight premiere of "Harry Potter." As we walked back to the Chestnut Hill T stop, we saw all sorts of people in Gryffindor scarves. It took me a minute, but I realized why Gryffindor was the most represented house: Gryffindor shares its colors with Boston College, which is within walking distance of the cinema.

-- Today I attended a mandatory seminar at The Work Place (mandated by the MA Department of Unemployment Assistance. I'd been concerned, because a Friday class in Standard Time, even a morning class, makes things tight for Shabbat prep (which is another reason I cooked on Wednesday). But much to my amazement, and very much appreciated, while we started ten minutes late to accommodate late arrivals, we ended at 10:57, giving me time to do the errands I was worried I'd have to skip if the class went long.
gnomi: (Default)
-- While making French toast on Sunday, I ran out of custard half way through the last piece of challah. I therefore created what I am now calling Quebecois Toast: half French toast, half Anglo bread.

-- Entertainment Weekly did a poll recently to see who people think would be the best actor to play the next Superman. The six choices were Matt Bomer, Henry Cavill, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jon Hamm, Brandon Routh, and Tom Welling.

-- Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll yesterday.

-- Anyone looking for a technical writer? Inquiring minds want to know.

-- I think we have successfully gotten Squeaker to sleep through the night (she was doing what the medical professionals consider sleeping through the night -- 6 hours of sleep -- but I don't consider a baby who wakes up at 3 AM to be sleeping through the night). Now her biggest impediment to sleep is Muffin, ready to play, waking her up at 6:45. If Squeaker had only said, "Mommy, Daddy, I want a crib tent" ten months ago, we wouldn't be so underslept.

-- On Monday I discovered that no matter how good the map you're carrying, it is still very possible to get yourself on totally the wrong street in the Beacon Hill/West End section of Boston. While walking from Government Center to the Mass General area, I managed to almost end up on the Suffolk University campus, at the Garden (it will always be the Boston Garden to me), and in an apartment complex behind Charles St.

-- I am watching with interest the increased scrutiny of late hits/helmet-to-helmet hits in football.

-- The combination of more sleep at night and a bit more free time in the evenings is inspiring me to get into writing regularly again. Beside the Patch column, I am hoping to get back into regular fiction writing again.
gnomi: (danny_what (celli))
Scene: [personal profile] mabfan and [personal profile] gnomi are finishing up dinner with Muffin and Squeaker. [personal profile] gnomi is cleaning Squeaker's hands and face.

Squeaker: jabba-baba-jabba-jawa-maba!

[personal profile] gnomi: Don't worry, Squeaker. We're not going to turn you over to Jabba.

[personal profile] mabfan: Of course not. Jabba's through with you. He has no use for smugglers who drop their shipments at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser.
gnomi: (Default)
Scene: [personal profile] mabfan and [personal profile] gnomi are getting dressed for work.

[personal profile] mabfan: I was woken in the middle of REM. In my dream, I had to drive a truck into a hotel elevator.
Inception Spoilers Within )
gnomi: (Default)
Link to YouTube

Statement of belief that Title of the Song should appear on the soundtrack.

Expression of gratitude to [profile] affinity8 for the link.
gnomi: (Default)
I have a vague idea that I have posted on this topic in the past, but I can't find it and I admit that I am working today on a serious Squeaker-induced sleep deficit, so just go with it.

Twice today I have referenced popular culture in conversations with [personal profile] mabfan, and it reminded me just how much of my daily conversation is either taken directly from or in the style of dialogue writers that I admire. Today it was Joss Whedon ([personal profile] mabfan: Did I fall asleep? [personal profile] gnomi-in-Topher-voice: For a little while. [personal profile] mabfan: Shall I go now?) and Aaron Sorkin ("Turns out, I have a rose garden" in reference to a resource I hadn't realized I had at work). But sometimes it's William Goldman ("As you wish," "Who are those guys?") or Marta Kauffman/David Crane ("Could it be any colder?") or some other writer I'm not thinking of right now.

I know [personal profile] mabfan and I aren't the only ones who do this. So... who writes your dialogue?
gnomi: (danny_what (celli))
Last week Tuesday night at dinner, somehow the subject of "Shrek" came up. And we were talking about ogres being like onions and then segued into how the "Shrek" sequels didn't work as well as the original. At some point in the conversation, [personal profile] mabfan said something about Fiona, and suddenly my brain went somewhere very scary.

Fiona, meet Fiona.

I'd love to see Fi's methods of beating the various villians that Shrek and Fiona have faced.
gnomi: (danny_what (celli))
Scene: [personal profile] mabfan and [personal profile] gnomi are watching WarGames.

[personal profile] mabfan: That's Cheyenne Mountain.

[personal profile] gnomi: Yeah, it is.

[personal profile] mabfan: The Stargate isn't there yet, though.

[personal profile] gnomi: They probably moved the 'Gate in there after they moved the WOPR out.

[personal profile] mabfan: Yeah, probably.
gnomi: (penguin_chevruta (rjcardinal))
-- You can now go on a moose safari in Maine.

-- [personal profile] mabfan and I went and saw "A Jihad for Love" and then attended the Q&A thereafter with the producer and director. I enjoyed the film, but I'm still processing my thoughts about it.

-- Random "I hadn't made the connection before" moment from yesterday: The
actor who played the "real" Captain Jack Harkness in "Captain Jack Harkness" (Torchwood series 1 episode 12) is the same guy who gets a plug at the end of every Reduced Shakespeare Company podcast.

-- New TV shows with which I have become enamored: "The Middleman" and "In Plain Sight."

-- Returning shows the premiers of which I am anxiously anticipating: "Psych," "Eureka," "Stargate: Atlantis," "Burn Notice."

-- Now that it's summer, and with a vengeance, I've been looking for cooler and cooler (temperature-wise) ways to cover my hair. I've settled, for now, on tichels (head scarves), digging out the collection of scarves I picked up in Israel almost 20 years ago. But now I want to get more scarves. Because I like variety. :-) And [personal profile] mabfan and I have this desire to wear matching tie (his) and scarf (mine) to shul. So I'm now looking for, among other things, a scarf with Superman shields on it.

-- For those for whom this is relevant, tomorrow and Friday are Rosh Chodesh Tammuz.

-- I cannot turn off the editing part of my brain. This was brought into stark relief on Shabbat when the rabbi said that the pit into which Korach's followers fell was created "on the first Friday of creation." I leaned over and said to my friend (whose sister-in-law, to whom I had not yet been introduced, was sitting between us), "Hang on… the first Friday of creation? Wasn't there only one?" Immediately, the s-i-l knew that either (a) I am a language pedant, (b) I'm a bit nuts, or both.
gnomi: (bankrupt_kitty (lanning))
-- Had guests for both meals on Shabbat. Was much fun. People ate lots. We still have lots and lots of baked ziti left (because I made two pans, lest we not have enough food).

-- Am going to make another pot of corn chowder tonight, for eating the rest of the week. No particular reason other than it's tasty and we like it.

-- To ponder: does corn bread go with corn chowder, or is it too much corn all in one place.

-- Note: chocolate carrot cake makes excellent cupcakes. Also note: having folks frost their own (bringing the container of cream cheese frosting to the table) is an excellent idea all around. And it prompts people to randomly eat the frosting. Further note: making the frosting in a Gladware container was good decision.

-- Watched "The Specials" on Saturday night, borrowed from [personal profile] xiphias and [personal profile] cheshyre. Was cute movie. Still liked "Mystery Men" better.

-- Sunday, saw "Iron Man." Highly recommended. If you go, do stay through the credits. It's worth it. Trust me.

-- Sunday afternoon spent mostly editing. Got lots done, still some to finish up.

-- Now back in office. Cannot type "None" without almost typing "Nomi." Fingers clearly trained.
gnomi: (danny_what (celli))
(Scene: [personal profile] gnomi has just gotten a sudden invitation in e-mail for an around-the-corner visit; [personal profile] mabfan is napping on the bed.)

What the conversation should have been:

[personal profile] gnomi: Wake up, [personal profile] mabfan! We're going to [profile] elul_3 and [profile] joules314's!

[personal profile] mabfan: [Half asleep] Like hell I am. What for?

[personal profile] gnomi: For the carrot cake and conversation!

[[personal profile] mabfan gets up and marches off right behind [personal profile] gnomi]
gnomi: (practice_acts_grammar (commodorified))
...by [personal profile] gnomi

In handy-dandy bulletpoint format:

Friday

-- Got up at regular time
-- Did lots of Shabbat prep (without the crazy running-around bits, for once)
-- Ran a couple of errands in the neighborhood
-- Brought in Shabbat on time (without even using the 18 minutes at all)
-- Relaxing dinner with [personal profile] mabfan: mac & cheese and homemade challah and homemade pumpkin pie (along with other stuff)
-- Early to bed, early to sleep

Shabbat

-- Shul with not-such-a-surprise kiddush for [profile] queendeb
-- Lunch with many people ([personal profile] mabfan, [profile] elul_3, [profile] joules314, their kids, [personal profile] mbarr, who was visiting, [profile] maric23, his parents, and A)
-- Quiet motza"sh at home with [personal profile] mabfan, watching stuff on TV and DVD (lots of SG-1)

Sunday

-- Made pancakes for breakfast (since had milk left over from making mac & cheese for Shabbat dinner)
-- Knit and watched football while [personal profile] mabfan visited with former student
-- Met with [personal profile] lucretia_borgia and other shul friend about stuff
-- Home, dinner with [personal profile] mabfan, more SG-1

Monday

-- Up early.
-- Went with [personal profile] mabfan to Boston Museum of Science for the CSI: The Experience exhibit (closing 1 January). Was quite enjoyable (we did Case #2, the body in the alley).
-- From museum, went to Loews Boston Common theater to see "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." Assessment: Ludicrous but fun.
-- Went home. Ate late lunch. Watched a bit of TV.
-- Went back out to Circle Cinema to see "Charlie Wilson's War." Assessment: enjoyable and thought provoking. Yay for Sorkin script. Boo for Sorkin-script-but-no-Josh-Malina.
-- After film, home to catch up on sleep from getting up early and running around like semi-crazed monkeys.

Tuesday

-- Quiet morning at home. More SG-1, as SciFi channel showing marathon (all of season 9, it seemed).
-- Out to see Juno. Assessment: Funny and sweet, very enjoyable.
-- After movie, late lunch at Ta'am China, thus fulfilling the two mitzvot of the day (for those of us in cities. Those in the arei haprazot are not m'chuyav in both Chinese food and movie if, for them, Chinese food is not available).
-- At TC, ran into [personal profile] mbarr, [profile] maric23 and A. After browse in Israel Book Shop, brought them all back to our place briefly. Got to see [personal profile] chanaleh and [profile] jessruth when they came to get [personal profile] mbarr.
-- Spent quiet evening at home. Knit more on TARDIS.

Wednesday (AKA today)

-- Slept in slightly while [personal profile] mabfan went workward.
-- Ran various errands, then went to meet [personal profile] mabfan for lunch at Milk St.
-- After lunch, ran other errands, then came home. Knit more TARDIS.
-- Meeting friends (including [personal profile] llennhoff and [profile] malkaesther) for dinner
gnomi: (force_strong_penguin (shoegal-icons))
The following are the sources of the quotes in the meme I posted yesterday. As a note, for almost all of these, it was really hard for me to choose just one quote.

Meme Part 1:

1. The American President
2. The Court Jester
3. Get Smart
4. Moonlighting, "Atomic Shakespeare"
5. The Princess Bride
6. Stargate SG-1, "Window of Opportunity"
7. Sports Night, "Napoleon's Battle Plan"
8. West Wing, "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part II"
9. Sallah Shabati
10. Due South, "Call of the Wild"

Meme Part 2:

1. Clue
2. Noises Off

And I completely left "1776" off the meme. "Saltpeter!"

August 2015

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