525,600 Minutes...

I seem to be completely unable to focus on a single topic these days so y'all are getting another junk drawer sort of post today. WooHoo! 1. To Dee: Frances liked the shoe quiltlet, so I'm sending it on to her as promised, but if you'd be interested in buying something similar-but-not-identical (because I hate making the same thing twice!), email me and we'll talk. I would email you instead of posting this here, but you have your comment thingie set to "no reply". My email addy is somewhere in the sidebar over there >>>. 2. To everyone else who commented on yesterday's post: Thank you! Those were fun remarks to read! 3. Crazy Aunt Purl has posted her December Horror-Scopes for anyone who is interested. They unique and wonderful, as usual! Here's mine:

PISCES (Feb. 19 - March 20) Been listening to a lot of music lately? Trying to avoid coming down with a bad case of Holiday Spirit, are you? I suspect all those song lyric cliches are keeping you from truly getting into the moment, living out loud the way we do nowadays. (I'm trying to start the Livin' Out Loud movement... like Scientology only not creepy. Less jumpy on the couchy.) You, pisces, are the psychic of the zodiac. Imagine for a moment that we are all zodiac siblings, a family of 12. You are our listener, the one who feels us. We need you in your true skin, not some put-on-made-up mantra for the season of grieving. Besides, that silver lining in your cloud goes so well with your candor and kindness. Live. Out. Loud! We need to hear what you have to say!

This month she's also included alternate "bad" horror-scopes for Evil Exes. Too funny! 4. I went to see the movie version of "Rent"yesterday and I loved it. I'd love to see it again on the big screen, but don't know if I'll get to, as I had to drive into Lexington, which is 50+ miles away. That makes for an expensive show with the price of gas these days. But it's definitely one I'll want to buy on DVD when it becomes available so I can watch it again and again. Maybe if I see it enough I'll get through it without crying someday. Maybe. Warning: spoilers below if you don't know the plot of "Rent". 4a. If I can interrupt myself for a moment, I am envious and resentful of people who can cry without it showing. I had a friend in high school who was like that. Her name was Pam, and she had perfect zit-free skin, and big green eyes, and when she cried her eyes just looked bigger and greener and more luminous. They never got red and neither did her nose. She didn't turn into a snot factory. Her face didn't get blotchy. She just looked all dewy and gorgeous and the boys fell all over themselves to offer her a shoulder on which to shed her refined, pretty tears. I sort of hated her sometimes. Was that wrong? 4b. I do not cry prettily. Never have, never will. I get red and blotchy and runny-nosed and stuffy-headed and a bit pissed off about it all, and I stay that way for quite some time after I'm finished with the actual tears. It made stopping for the requisite post-movie frappuccino a bit embarrassing, as I walked in looking like I'd just come through an ordeal, or maybe like I had the plague or something. I got a funny look from the girl behind the counter, but I didn't think she'd really get it if I blurted out "I've been crying because Angel died". So I just bought my peppermint mocha frap (yum!) as quickly as possible and skedaddled. 4c. Where was I about the movie? Oh yeah, I love it! I have to say I still prefer the stage production, but the movie was wonderful in its own way. They made the choice to lose some of the songs entirely (like "We're Okay", "Contact", and all the "Tune Up" songs), and to change others into spoken dialogue (like "You Okay, Honey?" and all the "Voice Mail" songs), and I found I missed - at least a little - having the entire story told through music. But on the other hand, having it set in "real" places and in some scenes even being able to see what was going on in a character's head during the songs - that was cool. I actually preferred the movie versions of "One Song Glory" and "Tango: Maureen". I was happy with the casting decisions on the two characters that weren't the original stage performers. I loved (repeat: LOVED! ) the voice of Tracie Thoms, who played Joanne. And I thought Rosario Dawson did a good job as Mimi. She has a lighter, sweeter voice than Daphne Rubin-Vega, IMO, but for me that worked ok for Mimi. Her girlishness and vulnerability seemed to me to make it believable that men would want to both protect her and take advantage of her. 4d. Does anyone know if the star tattoo on Idina Menzel's rear end is real or just put on for the show? It was pretty cool. 4e. Taye Diggs is seriously hot, even if the character he plays in the show puts the "erk" in Jerk. 4f. The very final shot before the screen fades to black for the credits is just beautiful. 4g. Did I mention I loved this movie? 4h. I loved this movie. 5. Just before the show, as I walked into the theater lobby, a little girl, probably a year and a half to two years old, tore herself away from her mother's hand, raced across the lobby, and flung herself at my legs, babbling baby-speak all the time and eventually letting go with one arm to make that "pick me up" gesture that little kids make. Her mother rushed over and I could tell she wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed on behalf of her child or if she should punch me or something, like maybe I'd lured her baby over with a quickly-hidden puppy or candy or something. I sympathized entirely. I imagine I'd feel the same way. The thing is, this isn't the first time this EXACT thing has happened, and is far, far from the first time something similar has happened. For at least the past 15 - 20 years, I have regularly had small children I've never seen before stare at me, smile or giggle, make the "pick me up" arm gesture, and sometimes they even call me "mommy". It can be very disconcerting. I would love to be able to look through the eyes of a small child for just a few minutes and figure out what the heck it is they see when they look at me. Hhhhmmm....