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the movie biz
August 16, 2010
I spent a big chunk of my weekend editing photos and dealing with two (very!) different versions of Microsoft Windows Movie Maker. Neither one was much fun, although both were very absorbing. On my computer, I am working on a captioned slideshow of my State Fair pics to send out to AZ, and on Spouse's laptop, I'm trying to help him create a visual aid for his term paper on Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle".
Exhausting, to tell you the truth. And a little alarming to Spouse, who seldom sees me in the hyper-focused mode I get into on projects like that. On the rare occasions when I get to really dive into a project, I sort of disconnect from reality, and have a hard time finding my way back. Personally, I love losing myself in the process. But that leads to a bit of resentment on my part when I have to pull back out, and other people can find me disconcerting.
The weather was really killer all week. Brutal heat and humidity, with a severe thunderstorm every once in a while. But it broke over the weekend, and we are having a few days of perfection. Sun, temperatures in the low 80s, and lowered humidity. Heaven!
The other problem we are having lately is mosquitoes. After the heavy rains the past couple of weeks, they have taken over. And they are HUGE! I swatted one the other day with a wingspan the size of my thumbnail.
We use a mosquito spray in our yard that works really well (Cutter Bug-Free Backyard), but it has been a real challenge to find it lately, due to the high demand. Spouse went online and located some at the Lowe's store in Gurnee, so we ran down there on Saturday to get a couple of bottles. He dosed the yard right away, and I'm thrilled to be able to swim in the evening without the blood-suckers carrying me away.
Yesterday, we went up to Franklin to dog-sit for P&E. They went over to Madison for the day, and we popped in to feed and water their Akita, and let him out for a while. And I raided the garden (with permission). Got a beautiful eggplant, some cucumbers and tomatoes, about a pound of green beans, and several kinds of herbs. We had the green beans for dinner last night, and I have to say, there is nothing better than fresh-picked. Yum!
While we were up that way, we stopped at Sendik's to pick up some Fireworks popcorn--the kind we sent out to Phoenix in the last care package. My auntie has Spouse wanting some old-fashioned popcorn himself now.
It was a disaster, though. You just can�t get the temperature right for popping corn on our piece-o-crap induction stovetop. Half of it didn't pop, and the other half got scorched.
So. We decided we need to buy a popcorn popper. Spouse was giving me a hard time about my popcorn failure, until I reminded him that most wives wouldn't say "get a popcorn popper", they would say "I want a new stove!" That shut him up quick.
He's lucky I even agreed to spend 30 bucks on a popper. It isn't as though I like popcorn. In fact, I pretty much hate it. Couldn't abide even the thought of it for years, after having to breathe it every day at HellMart. And even now, 15 years later--taste, smell, texture, freshness, and the hulls all have to be just right, in order for me to stomach it. They hardly ever are.
Gack.
Spouse has been very busy with schoolwork; they are wrapping up the summer term. I have been trying to help him with visual aids for a presentation he has to give, since I am the one in the family who does movies and slideshows and stuff. He catches on quick, though, and doesn't need much help.
He got a bunch of his papers back from his College Writing course, and he is doing exceptionally well in that class. I was very proud to read the teachers comments and see his grades, and his teacher told him that he was one of the best writers she has ever taught in that class. Bright boy, that guy.
Reading: Hobby--"Patty's Fortune"(1916)by Carolyn Wells. The Heart of Una Sackville (1907), by Mrs George de Horne Vaizey.
General--"Speak to Me of Love", by Dorothy Eden. An old book (1972) that I picked up cheap at the Goodwill. I suppose that it's technically a romance novel, but it's one of those multi-generational sagas that goes from the Victorian age to the eve of WWII, and relates the story of a woman who runs a London department store. Not horrible, actually.
Surfing: Basket of Kisses.
Listening: Arcade Fire, Blondie, Pete Yorn, Fleet Foxes.
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