Links: The Greatest Movies Ever Made

Roger Ebert's reaction to London Magazine Spectator's Greatest Movies List.

It's an interesting list and an interesting reaction. Specifically I appreciate Ebert's point that these lists are mostly arbitrary and useless in the sense of actually ranking films. What they DO provide is an excellent source for discovering films you may not know or sharing films you love with the world.

I was surprised to see Night of The Hunter at the top of the list. I don't think it would have ever occurred to me to rank that as a number 1. I do love that film though, Mitchum's performance alone is spectacular, and it made me smile to see it at the top.

I also have to agree that Sight & Sound's list is somewhat more useful than IMDB's.

Links for the original Spectator List as well as past Sight & Sound rankings can be found at the bottom of the article.

Girl Talk Thursday - How Do You Unwind?

I try to keep this blog, and my online presence in general, positive and upbeat. My goal isn’t to be on here bitching and whining and moaning about how awful things are. Because they’re not! Things in general are good.

But seriously guys, I’ve been mostly unemployed since the beginning of February. A little work here, a little work there, but thankgodforunemployment ‘cause how am I paying rent this month? I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t stressed out.

It does get completely overwhelming, especially this time of the month when all the bills are coming due. Sometimes the stress manifests itself in really bizarre ways. Take the other night; I had just gotten home from San Diego and Comic Con and a brilliant weekend. Real life came back and some of that reality was unpleasant. Like the balance of my bank account (not surprising even though I spent next to zero dollars over the weekend).

I went into the kitchen to make dinner and was immediately confronted with a sink full, no, not full, OVER-FLOWING with dirty dishes. I was tempted to ignore the mess but of course items I needed were buried in there. So I pushed back my sleeves and started washing dishes.

Mid-scrub on a mashed potato encrusted mixing spoon I lost it. I started bawling over the dirty dishes. WTF right? Something about the potato that would just not come off put me over the edge. All I wanted was a quick dinner and a clean spoon and knife and cutting board so I could make that happen. But no! I had been thwarted by potato!

It’s actually kind of funny to think about it now.

And this is the part where I unwind.

I let myself have a good little cry and a few minutes of self-pity. Then I put the potato spoon down since I did’t really need that particular spoon. I picked up the knife, went to the cutting board, and chopped the hell out of some onion. After a few minutes I felt better.

After a large glass of wine and a giant pot of simmering veggie chili on the stove, I felt amazing.

Cooking is one of my favorite unwinding activities. It requires focus so my mind is forced to stop wandering for a while. All I think about are flavors and spices and tasks. When I’m finished, I have something delicious to enjoy. So not only does it take my mind off of stressful things, it gives me a reward for all of my hard work! It's great.

The wine doesn’t hurt either.

****

Some other unwinding things I do:
-Take pictures
-Bike rides
-Phone chats
-Drink some good coffee
-Happy Hours with the friends
-Beer! And I mean a good tasty beer, not a whole bunch of gross PBR type beer. Although I’ve been known to drink that on occasion when a certain former co-worker is involved. My current obsessions include all things Stone (but especially the IPA) and Flying Dog’s Gonzo. So good.
-And of course the old stand-byes of reading, movie watching, reading about movie watching…

Notice how I didn’t mention Facebook or Twitter? Yeah… just sayin.

(It’s my first Girl Talk Thursday! Happy Dance!)

Comic-Con in Pictures

As many folks who like comics, video games, sci-fi, Twilight, movies, and all other things nerdy and geeky all ready know this past weekend was the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. I guess folks who live in San Diego probably noticed as well.

It was my first year going to SDCC. In fact, it was my first time going to ANY kind of Con. (How does a self-described nerd get away with never attending a convention? Um. Nerdfail?) It was also completely unplanned. I literally found out I’d be able to go a half hour before leaving. A friend and coworker type person had an extra pass and when he realized I wasn’t going… He’s a really, really good friend!

I drove down Thursday night with another friend for Wil Wheaton’s reading at Stone and then made my way to downtown Friday morning. There were many nerdy adventures to be had, a lot of food and beverages, and rather than try and recount it all I’ve decided to just be lazy and share the pictures.

Thursday Night:



Steve and I with Wil Wheaton.

By the time we made it through traffic from LA we had unfortunately missed his reading. But we did get to say hi, drink beer, and watch part of the RiffTrax movie playing in Stone’s garden. All in all a successful evening and a solid start for Nerd Adventures.

Friday & Saturday:



Check out my Comic-Con set on Flickr. It pretty much sums up the weekend. Since I didn’t know I was going until the very last minute I really never made much of a plan of my own. I mostly just tagged along with my friend. Which worked out quite well I think.

If I go again next year (when I go again next year) I will definitely make more of a plan. For the most part I’m not sad I didn’t really go to many panels, the lines were absurd, but there are a few I wish I had tried to check out. And staying Sunday may not have totally sucked.

At the end of the day though it was lovely. The hotel was perfectly situated, the food was tasty, and, most importantly, the company was fantastic. For a first time Comic Con adventure, this was a great way to go.

I’m excited for the possibilities of next year.

****

People should also really share pictures with me. I want to see evidence of other experiences! Send me links! Email me! Whatever. Share! Please? Pretty please double chocolate fudge ice cream sundae with a cherry on top?

Thoughts: I'm a Writer?

I’m doing this thing that I’ve mentioned on occasion called Writing. Right. Write. Really. I know that’s a weird thing to say, of course I’m writing. I write all the damn time. Sometimes I write in this blog. Daily I write in my journal. Hourly I put words on Twitter.

I’m obsessive with writing. It’s this weird thing I’ve been doing ever since I learned that putting letters on paper in a certain order made words. Frequently they were the wrong letters in a bizarre order. But still, words! Sentences! Paragraphs! Thoughts! Ideas! Stories? I started keeping my first diary when I moved to Florida in 3rd grade and while there have been periods of quiet I’ve never stopped.

I have notebooks full of stuff. I have notebooks half full of stuff. I have notebooks with a page full of stuff. I have a quote book that I’ve inflicted upon my friends (and filled with our nonsense). I have a self-inflicted rule that I’m not allowed to buy any more notebooks until I use more of the ones I all ready own. I frequently break that rule, but I try.

However, in all of this writing and babbling I never actually believed that I could write anything of any real length. Sure, I’ve written a few short stories, some really bad poetry, a short screenplay or two. A novel though? Not bloody likely! What about a feature? I don’t have the patience or the focus for a feature!

Yeah. Belief. What a funny thing.

I know I've all ready talked about it but I'm saying it again. Guys, I’m writing a feature. For real here. I know, I’m probably jinxing myself talking about it as it’s happening. I’m not allowed to keep a running page count anywhere (I’m on page 87). I shouldn’t be so giddy when it’s not even done.

I am though! Giddy that is. I’m giddy and surprised and pleased. I honestly don’t really think it’s very good, yet at least, but the fact that I’m actually writing this thing. I’ve been working on it for a solid two months now, after leaving the idea alone for two years, and it feels so real.

And please don't ask what it's about or if you can read it or anything like that. We'll get to that but we're not there yet. Yeah, I shouldn't talk about it if I don't want to TALK about it. I do a lot of things I shouldn't do.

This writing thing is such a strange development. It’s my work. I’m unemployed sure, but I’m still working. Every day I write something. Sometimes it’s just notes in one of my many notebooks. Sometimes it’s five whole pages. Sometimes it’s not even one. Some days I write for twenty minutes. Yesterday I wrote for over four hours.

I think what’s most exciting about this for me (other than the fact that I’ve written 87 freakin pages) is that I’m discovering things about myself. I’m learning what works for me. I’m realizing that I actually have a process. A process! My very own!

I’m putting together words that are forming sentences that are telling a story.

I don’t think of myself as a writer. I don’t think of myself as a director. I only vaguely think of myself as a filmmaker. I feel like these are all titles that I need to earn. How can I be a writer if I’ve never really finished anything that feels substantial? How can I be a director when I’ve only directed one short film? I work in the film industry so I guess I can sort of get away with the filmmaker thing. Even that I’m not so sure of yet.

I don’t know. When do I get to call myself these things? These are the things I aspire to. I suppose I’ll get there eventually.

For now, it’s just one word in front of another.

****

In the meantime, other things!

Movies!
There are good movies out right now that people should see. I highly recommend Hurt Locker and (500) Days of Summer. I also really enjoyed Harry Potter. Transformers 2 I skipped but I have to admit that I kind of really want to see The Ugly Truth. Funny People looks possibly worthwhile and Humpday I cannot wait to see.

Photos!
I gave in and made my Flickr Pro. I'm very pleased. The photo posting will not be stopped. My Photostream

Crafts!
I love crafts. I love people who make cool, original things. Sometimes I buy them. Some recent cool discoveries from the Renegade Craft fair:

Vital Industries: They make cool shirts with bikes. I love all things bicycle related.


Supermaggie: More fun t-shirts. And notebooks! I adore the little notebook I got.



And finally, Ex Libris Anonymous: Not only do they make super cool notebooks, they are SUPER cool people.



(This is the part where I fail at not buying more notebooks. So worth it though.)

That's where life has me right now. Broke, unemployed, writing. It's certainly been an interesting year so far. What's the rest of '09 got in store?

Production: Returning to Unemployment, Quiche, Bicycles, and other Summer Activities.

It’s official, or rather has been official since last Friday. I’ve returned to Unemployment-Land. The land of… well, unemployment? Job(less)-centric anxiety attacks fueled by a dwindling bank account balance, uncertainty over the future, and infinite amounts of boredom. The question of “Why am I doing this?” being asked countless times a day, in between cups of increasingly cold coffee and a phone that remains stubbornly silent. WAITING.

At least, that’s what it could be (and I have to admit, has been). It doesn’t have to be that though and I am determined to not LET it be that this time around. It’s summertime and I live only 30 minutes or so by bike from the beach. I have a basket full of projects I had to put on the back-burner while I was working, including a feature length screenplay that I’m all ready 60+ pages into (yes, seriously, I’ve actually been writing something beyond a blog. How weird is that?).

So rather than lamenting about my lack of prospects, my financial uncertainty, or any of that other stuff, I am going to instead focus on the things I enjoy spending my time doing. Writing. Taking pictures. Bike riding. Cooking. Spending time with my friends and family. These are the things I’m out here for after all. What’s the point, I ask myself? Well, all of that really.

Writing: As I mentioned, I’m working on a screenplay. Yes, I know everyone and their mother in LA is working on a screenplay. I’m working on incorporating all of the clichés into my life. Screenplay? Check!

I am really excited about this writing adventure though. Sure I’ve written things before but this is by far the longest, most real feeling project I’ve worked on. I don’t know how good it is or anything like that but honestly at this point my goal is more to finish something. The rest of those concerns are for the next draft.

Bicycle: I got a new one! After my old one died (the rain killed it, I swear) I was feeling rather helpless and stranded. So on Friday, just in time for the 4th of July festivities, I ventured up to Hollywood and bought my new ride out of some random dude’s garage. I love you, Craigslist.

She was a little rusty but some steel wool and scrubbing took care of that. Really the bike is in great shape and kind of completely perfect for me. I now even know a tiny bit about Raleigh bicycles. Yes, I googled it almost as soon as I got home. NERD.

Here she is:



Photography: (I know, I’m going out of order here) Back in December I purchased my friend’s old Nikon D40X. He was upgrading and since this was the camera I’d be lusting after for months, it was the prefect opportunity. I took it on a road trip and played with it a little but now I’m finally, actually, attempting to learn how to really use it. So far my photo subjects have included flowers, my friends, my cooking experiments, my new bike, bees (poor idea), and an onion (um, better idea than the bees?). I don’t know that I’d call my photography “Good” yet, but I’m learning! I’m pleased. You can see some of my efforts over on Flickr.

And, finally,

Cooking: Quiche! I made one! I’ve been promising my mom I’d post this recipe (I’m only two weeks late) so here it is:



Adapted from Vegetarian Times

Vegetarian Times has this whole cool crust part of the recipe involving phyllo dough but I have to admit to laziness on this part. I went with the store bought Pillsbury variety. Which is apparently vegan, good news for the roommate! Not that she’d eat an egg filled quiche anyway, but I digress.

As they also note in the magazine, a quiche is perfect for customizing. Add the ingredients you love. The original recipe called for Feta cheese, which I don’t really like, so I used Gruyere instead. It also called for a red onion but since I had a yellow one all ready on hand, I went with that.

Crust:
Pillsbury Pie Crust (usually found with the pre-made cookie dough and biscuits and all that stuff)

Filling:
Fresh Spinach (You can also use frozen. 1 10-ounce pkg., thawed and all liquid squeezed out)
1 Yellow onion, finely chopped (depending on the size of your onion, you might not need all of it. I had a bit left over)
½ cup cheese (I used Gruyere, one of my favorites and GREAT for baking)
10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Batter:
2 eggs
1 cup soymilk (or your milk of preference)
pinch ground nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray. Make the crust at this point if you’re going from scratch. Press your crust into the pie pan.
2. Filling: Stir together spinach and onion. Sprinkle cheese over crust. Top with spinach mixture. Arrange tomato halves over quiche.
3. Batter: Whisk together all ingredients in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour quiche batter over the filling in the crust. Set quiche on baking sheet, and bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until top is brown and center is set.

And that’s it. Seriously. How easy is that? If you’re making a bigger pie, it’s ½ cup milk for every egg used.

The recipe really is great. I think my favorite part was the nutmeg. It added such a perfect, subtle touch. The cheese on the bottom keeps the crust from getting too soggy so it held up really nicely for meals over the rest of the week. I think I may actually make another one this week. Maybe trying out a few different ingredients. Maybe not.

Other upcoming culinary adventures: Whole Wheat Pasta Stir Fry (also ganked from Vegetarian Times), a spinach smoothie, and a Rhubarb-Mango crumble my lovely friend posted over on her blog Do Not Feed the Editor.

I suppose that’s enough chatter for now. I should probably actually eat food, not just write about it. And there is more screenplay writing to be done as well. Maybe I’ll even make it outside today.

Unemployment-Land, here I am.