Birthday Fortnight

Dagnabbit if I'm not falling behind already! It's been two weeks since my last post. As usual, a lot has happened. Fortuitously, I've been keeping good mental notes so here goes a data dump update of m' last two weeks:

Travels:

• *Oklahoma City to visit CS - weekend of Jan. 8

Guests:

• #LJ up from Austin - weekend of Jan. 15

Culture (pronounce "cult-chuh"):

• *OKC Natl Memorial (hauntingly beautiful)
• *strolled around OU campus (goooooooooooo Sooners!)
• #Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Sporting events:

• *OKC Barons (hockey - brrrrr)
• *Chief's game @ Hooters (at least the fried pickles were good cuz the Chief's sure weren't)

Theatre (pronounced "the-uh-tuh"):

• Shrek: The Musical (talented folks, so-so show, & crappy sound @ The Music Hall. Thank-God-for-1/2-price-tix!)
• Another American: Asking and Telling @ KC Rep (accidentally showed up a week early - excellent performance, though a little longish and loosely connected monologues are not my thang.)

Work/Meetings/Projects:

• ULibs mobile website releases/ads
• African American Read In releases/ads
• Robot's in the Social Landscape / Dean's Gallery opening (covered by 2 media outlets!)
• Friends of the Library board meeting
• legislative update w/ Senator Justus
• Provost's 20/20 Task Force
• Vice Chancellor of Communications and Marketing Search Committee mtg

Music:

• *"Gospel" Brunch @ The Boom (campy fun)
• #Mama Ray's Blues Jam @ BB's Lawnside BBQ (always a good time!)
• #Her HRC Battle of the Bands @ Crosstown Station (Go Animals with Armour!)

Games:

• #Wii Jeopardy & Wheel

Movies:

• *Country Strong (country GONG! - actually not that bad for a made-for-Lifetime movie)
• Rabbit Hole (all around excellent, nuanced performances)

Restaurants:

• Blanc Burgers & Bottles (consistently inconsistent. previously delicious lentil burger was overcooked and greezy)
• Po's Dumplings x2 (curry chicken is on the money! wonton soup was good but doesn't hold up to Blue Koi's. )
• *Beverly's Pancake Corner (home of "Chicken in the rough" - whatever that means. sassy service and amazing chicken fried steak!)
• *Tarahumara Mexican Restaurant (quite possibly the best TexMex I've ever eaten! holla for the swirly margaritas & complimentary queso!)
• #Gates BBQ ("HI MAY I HELP YOU?!" barbeque-saucilicious-perfection!)
• #Bristol Seafood @ Power & Light District (Sunday brunch was my best Bristol experience. almost died for the seafood enchiladas!)
• #Cafe Trio (six words: pork chops, gnocchi, OH-MY-GAWD!)
• Margarita's (typical Taco Tuesday)
• Westport Bar & Cafe (yummo curry carrot soup & perfecto mussels w/ tomato & fennel)
• Sahara Mediterranean (counter service, which is not my fave, but tasty fo' shizzle).

Bars:

• Hamburger Mary's (Bad Music Sunday w/ m' boyz)
• Finish Line (smokin' but not in a good way - coughcough)

TV:

• OWN
• True Blood season one - eps3-7 (Bill sucky on Sookie)
• The Fashion Show (Calvin in the finals? Oh HELLL to the no!)
• Real Housewives of...
• Atlanta (simmer down Nene - BAM! knock 'em dead Karaoke Kim!)
• Beverly Hills (can't believe I'm saying it, but feel sorry for Camille - f.u. Fraser!)
• Watch What Happens LIVE (have another one Jackeeeee)

(m' 4freakin'1st) Birthday:

• gifts ($$ for m' iPad - now if they'd just announce the release)
• greetings/well-wishes (4 cards, 6 calls, 11 texts, approx 300 fb posts! shazaam!)
• inches of snow (4-7)

Also this week...

food:

• made, shared, polished off my annual Hanukkah/holiday matzo ball soup (delish).
• bad food & bad services @Thirsty's. (don't go there).
• wonton soup @Po's (good, but not as good as Blue Koi).

tv/movies:

• True Blood season1, eps1&2 (interesting enough. quirky. bloody. BAD acting. didn't love it. that said, i recognize the need for exposition so looking forward to more).
• Joaquin (mo'fo'n CRAAAA-ZEEEE) Phoenix's "I'm Still Here."
• The Closer last 3 eps o' the season. (total old person show, easy watchin', i heart Kyra/Brenda).
• Top Chef All Stars (chicken feet, Casey. really? really?)

games:

• Wheel of Fortune on Wii! (fun!)
• Price is Right on Wii (less fun, but funny)
• Jeopardy on Wii (bought it but haven't played it yet).
• Scrabble on Facebook (keepin' on, keepin' on.)

meetings:

• Dean's Advisory Team
• Consensus board mtg.
• Kansas Citians United for Educational Achievement community mtg (well-intentioned cluster f-)

new music:

• Katy Perry's Teenage Dream CD ("B" some really fun songs and some duds. should have cherrypicked and not bought entire album)
• Willow Smith's Whip My Hair single ("B+" fun fun fun)
• Glee Volume 4 ("A" every songs a winner)

misc:

• on pins & needles waiting for news from AB-McD
• put cleaning service on notice. (be. on. time. send. same. person.)

Movies, Movies, Movies

With Golden Globes nominations announced last month and ballots being mailed to Academy members next week, movie awards season is upon us. I love the Oscars and make it a point to see as many as the nominated films as possible with the following priority: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor/Actor, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best screenplay, then hit and miss for all the rest. With this in mind I've seen a LOT of movies in the past few weeks (not all of which are or will be Oscar contenders). Here's a quick list:

• The Tourist (a solid "B" - thoroughly enjoyable. good story. good acting. VENICE VENICE VENICE)
• The Fighter ("A+" all around).
• The Black Swan ("B-" weird. not enjoyable. after seeing it I heard a reviewer say "a brilliantly made dumb movie. I concur.)
• True Grit ("A" that little girl was awesome).
• The King's Speech ("A-". great acting. good, though overly-Hollywoodized script.)
• The Town ("B+" I liked it.)
• Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work ("A". as good a doc as i've ever seen. LOVE joan. i laughed and -almost- cried.)
• The Social Network ("B+". interesting. well done. just not blown away.)
• Exit Through the Gift Shop ("B". interesting. mr.brainwash is insane.)
• Easy A ("B+" for what it was, it was great. thoroughly enjoyable.)
• The Bounty Hunter ("B-" it was fine for what it was. i like Jennifer Aniston. i like Gerard Butler['s hotness]. not as bad as the reviews.)
• Burlesque ("B". Fun for what it is. X-tina was great, Cher was Cher - underutilized, but love her!)
• Toy Story 3 ("C" to me. I get why the people who like those kinds of movies appreciated it, but I was bored,bored,bored. and I don't like Tom Hanks, even as a cowboy doll.)
• The Frog Princess ("B" old school Disney charm. plus it's in New Orleans so gotta love that.)

Also, just (re)signed up for Netflix and am so excited about the "watch instantly" feature - super cool! I've lined up a cue mile long and have the first season of True Blood on its way. Looking forward to seeing what the hype's all about. (I know - naked vampires, duh!)

P.S. and unrelated (my beloved doggy) Nixon turned 8 yesterday! (Happy Birthday and we all love you, Nix!)