Austen and Masterpiece Theatre

PBS's Masterpeice theatre will be airing BBC versions of Jane Austen classics. Following is the schedule.

27. January -- Mansfield Park

3. February -- Miss Austen Regrets (dramatized Austen biography)

10., 17., and 24. February -- Pride and Prejudice (sans Keira Knightley!)

23. March -- Emma (Kate Beckinsale version)

30. March and 6. April -- Sense and Sensibility

Keep in mind that these are the BBC versions, so no Emma Thompson or Gwenyth Platrow. I love the versions I am used to but I am excited to see new takes on my favorites. And, of course, let's not forget that the "right" version of Pride and Prejudice will be shown.

Bringing Heartthrob Back

Who are the men that women dream about. Is it Bond? With his pimpin' ride, his gadgetry, and British accent. Is it Jason Bourne? Troubled, loyal, and willing to kill all who get in his way. Or maybe it's someone like Justin Timberlake? He brings sexy back after all. These are "men's men." These are men that other men would like to be. And I think some women get a kick out of them too. 

But then there are some men who other men just don't understand. But women love them.

He is the effeminate heartthrob. Also sometimes called the nice guy. He doesn't kill. He is usually nice, sensitive, and fights for what is right. And they are all straight! Straight hot!

The first one may have been Ashley, from Gone With the Wind. Compared to Rhett Butler's swearing, womanizing ways, Ashley (kind of a girly name) seems rather tame, safe, and sweet. Totally adorable. Totally too good for Scarlet. 

The way Kevin Bacon dances in Footloose is amazing. Cartwheels, spins, and a skinny body. That's hot. And he is fighting for what he believes in and thank goodness he does. The last dance scene is the best. I don't think many men rent Footloose. Women do. Why? Because Kevin Bacon is hot somehow. 

In the music world, there's Mika. He's smart, skinny, and sings really high. His mouth is huge; his hair gorgeous. No one can feel down, unloved, or ugly when they hear Big Girls. He wrote Lollipop for his little sister. How sweet! He speaks French, used to sing opera, and really understands musicality (versus, say, the genius that is Good Charlotte).

And the modern version of this type of heartthrob? Zac Efron. His troubled eyes when he's worried, his effeminate hand movements, and wearing capris in HSM II. Check out this dance from HSM II, an ode to Kevin Bacon's famous warehouse dance. This is hot and it's no where near Bond.

Who would you add to this list?

A Memo to the President Elect

I was at Borders getting a book about travel in France (and the odd impulse buy of Mona Lisa Smile) when I saw a book with a peculiar title. It was called A Memo to the President Elect by Madeleine Albright. All I could think is, "Hey, how many of these did they order because I think the book was only supposed to go to, like, 20 people... and it won't apply to most of them." I guess I just find it odd to publish personal correspondence. 

The Symphony

This weekend I attended the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall with a friend of mine. Before the performance, featuring Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," we attempted to eat at one restaurant. We found it closed and, because we were already parked, we searched for somewhere new to go close by.

We end up at Lamb's Grill Cafe. It's the type of place which disguises itself as a small, mediocre pub but is really a jewel. It is both home-like and sophisticated. The booths are intimate and cozy, with coat racks, and linens to give it an air of class. The table has a small lamp and a candle. There is a soft rumble from the other patrons' conversations -- a couple celebrating s promotion, the girlfriends getting together to gripe about boys, the daughter taking her elderly mother for a nice meal. The food was swell. I think you can always tell what kind of place you've come to by their hot chocolate. Ours was served in a tall glass with whipped cream and drizzled chocolate. The atmosphere was divine and the food reasonably priced -- for a sandwich, hot chocolate, and dessert, my meal was about $10.

On to the symphony. Parking was a beast and my shoes were not made for walkin'. We sat on the highest tier, on the front row. The program explained all about the performance -- you know, the why-this-piece-is-wonderful. These sorts of details are important for people like me -- people who understand that classical musical is pure genius but aren't sure exactly why. 

I considered myself brilliant when I was able to pick out some musical points of interest or feel the emotion the composer was getting at. But I felt best when a rush of relief breezed over me as the 18th variation -- the famous variation -- of the "Rhapsody blah blah blah" began. Da, da da, da daaaaah, da, da, da, daaaaaa. 

It was a lovely evening. We dressed to the nines and enjoyed ourselves even more. There is so much "of good report or praiseworthy" in this world. Why do we ever settle for less than the best?

Chances go Bye Bye!

I've been working on this guy for a year. We'll call him Scott*. I knew him from a ward. Then we both moved out. Then he moved in and back out. Then I moved in and soon out. Last Sunday he was at my ward. We reconnected! I flirted. He touched his arm in the way that books tell you to touch arms. He got my number (Like the third time I've given it to him). Maybe this time...

Later that week... I took my dad out for his birthday. As we were waiting for a table I ran into Scott.

"Hi! This is my dad." Now it's time to introduce Scott but I can't remember his name. Brain fart. Well, it's sure to come by the end of the sentence. "And this is ... Steve."

"Scott," Scott corrects.

I didn't think I had too much of a chance to begin with but I don't think my apologies de la millions conquered this mistake. As we parted I said, "Send me a text so I'll have your number..." and so I can apologize another million times. No text. No call.

*Names have been changed to protect the uninterested.

New Year's Resolutions

I came up with three resolutions for 2008.

1. Get into a regular exercise routine.

2. Create and stick to a budget.

3. Leave the country.

I decided to get to work right away. And I began with the last. 

For the past year I've really wanted to head to Europe. I've made lots of, uhh, wishes with friends about a European trip. I have lots of options. But here is the concrete thing. I want to go to France. I don't really care about any other country right now. So I began fulfilling my goal by looking up flights. 

I am on salary now so I can expect a certain amount of money. It's also real money, meaning I don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. I can save and invest and buy big ticket items. I want to have all my ducks in a row so I need help. I need a financial advisor. I did a bit of a search online. I think I am going to need more time to look into that. Anyone know anyone?

Lastly, exercise. My work offers a $3/month membership to the local rec center. I looked it up and it has some pretty awesome classes. Problem is the local rec center is local to work, not local to me... living in suburbia... with my mother. I like my mother but I need to grow up. And moving out will also help me to make the rec center local to me. And then maybe I would go there and do the classes. So, in order to get fit, I looked up some apartments.

So those are the resolutions. I am throwing them out there to the universe. 

Hey, Universe! I am throwing you some wishes!

Hair Dye Insights

I'm waiting for the timer to go off and announce that the hair dye has set in and I can shower. (Was that a run-on sentence or just a lot of conjunctions?) So I have time to think and a few things have occurred to me.

• Flirting isn't really taking me to "the next level."
• Some hair dye kind of stings. Or it makes me itch. I don't know what to call that.
• We should all be more righteous. Not in a California sort of way, but spiritually and morally.
• Good people are everywhere. 
• Your soul and body both thrive on good nutrition. When you take in crap, you feel like crap. So stupid/amoral/inappropriate entertainment makes you feel stupid. Get my drift?
• Jordan Bluth is the Mormon Josh Groban. 
• Cook books don't make you a chef. But they do make for good reading.
• Saying thank you ten times goes a long way.
• People really do like to talk about themselves more than any other topic. We should indulge some people more often. It makes me feel like a winner.
• It really doesn't make you feel better when people say, "You are so wonderful/pretty/smart/etc. that I can't understand why some guy doesn't just nab you up!" It makes you doubt men's intellect and then they are less attractive. 
• My family's okay. 
• Sometimes when you don't know what else to say you shouldn't think of something and hope it flies. 
• Stories like And There Eyes Were Watching God and the Outsiders remind me that everyone has a story to tell and something to offer the world.

Hair's done baking. What insights have you gained?

The Nutcracker

 The Nutcracker ballet should only be undertaken by those artists whose talents assure perfection. Last year I attended at Nutcracker ballet performed at a large theatrical barn. It was awful. They added to pieces which were blasphemy in themselves -- an Irish dance piece and something that reminded me of a disco. There were many other awful things about last year's performance which caused me to feel betrayed, upset, and ripped off.

This year I returned to the Nutcracker company of my youth -- Utah Regional Ballet. The ballet begins with the party guests arriving. Among the pack is the über-creepy Godfather Drosselmeyer. He gives Clara, our heroin, a Nutcracker (every little girl's dream) which her brother Fritz breaks a bit. I find Clara a bit over-dramatic. She runs to stage right and cries something fierce. Oh my entitled child! Finally everyone goes to bed and there's a crazy dream sequence where the Christmas trees grow! Mice, including the matron mouse with a pink bow, start a fight with the Nutcracker who has now come to life. At this point in the ballet I start to feel uncomfortable. True confessions, male ballet performers have the most awkward costumes of anyone on any stage. It takes a moment before I can forget about my discomfort. The Nutcracker defeats the Rat King and flies Clara to someplace where it's really snowy. Then there is kind of a boring dance with snowflakes. My mom really digs this part but for me the second act is the best. After the intermission taken to sweep the snow off the stage, Clara finds herself in the land of the Sugar Plum fairy. She sits in audience as the coolest dances are performed to the coolest music. The Spanish and English dances are short but full or energy and momentum. The music constantly drives the ballerina at a fast pace around the stage. The Oriental and Russian dances are full of quirky and energy and each one is a prize. But my favorite is Madame Ginger. Always played by a man, this huge woman produces tiny girls from her skirts. How awesome is that! Everyone loves the dance of the sugar plum fairy and the Corps de Ballet and Grand pas de Deux.

Every year I yearn to be a ballerina. They are true athletes and make something absolute gorgeous to behold. Nothing makes me feel more like Christmas than a good Nutcracker ballet.

Pushing Daisies

So my appointment canceled on me and I had a couple hours to kill before the next one. I was at home and flipping channels and came upon the coolest thing ever. ABC's Pushing Daisies is a new show about a man who can bring the dead back to life with a touch and with another touch they are dead forever. He teams up with a detective to solve the mysteries of the people's deaths. And he brings to life his childhood crush, whom he calls Chuck, and there is still love there, but they can't touch each other or else she will drop dead forever.

It isn't creepy like CSI or anything. In fact, it's really witty and clever, and watching it feels and looks a little bit like watching "A Series of Unfortunate Events." The set decoration is gorgeous and the characters are quirky.

Granted I've seen a whole half-hour of the show, but what I saw was really impressive. And if what I've said so far isn't enough, the has a neat narrator and costars Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked!). Check out this clip and let me know what you think.

Bite me!

I was sitting in supervision. That's a once a week occurrence with my supervisor which amounts to therapy. I was telling him that I wanted to put one of my kids on a special program to help him stop biting the skin around his nails, an  unhealthy coping skill for an extremely anxious kid . Long story short, it's not bothering the kid; it's just bothering me. I left supervision feeling anxious. And then I was anxious all week long. I'm still feeling anxious. It's like my supervisor brought something to the surface, something that was doing very well buried deep, deep in my soul.

Truth?

Truth is I don't know if I am doing a very good job. I don't think I've hurt anyone. But I take it personally when a kid doesn't improve.  I'm not confident enough about my own abilities to blame a lack of progress on the kid. So my kid's biting issue had less to do with him and more to do with me. I see it as a lack of progress; he's still anxious, and that means I'm not a very good therapist. Logically, I see the thinking error; in my heart --  or rather in my stomach -- I don't. I still get uptight when my kids don't improve. 

What crazy beliefs do you have about other people that have nothing to do with them?