I totally made a mistake. I made a cookie bar. I took my favorite cookie mix and added white chocolate chips and salt. Remember when I was talking about the fudge? Well, I had the same idea. My friend Sarah makes an impossible cookie bar. And it's got salt in it. It's perfect. She sort of got me hooked to the point where I went through my stash and had the nerve to call her and ask for a fix. Seriously. I don't know how much it would take for me to look all sweaty and have the shakes hovering furtively around her door. So, I was trying to do my thing. I made a big deal out of it to the kids. I fed them a new dinner. I'm a big fan of rice (think Ready Rice or Rice-a-Roni) mixed with a meat product (chopped up cooked chicken, ground round, Italian turkey sausage). I'm probably playing that card a little too often lately. Tonight it was the Italian turkey sausage crumbled and browned with Parmesan and Romano cheese Rice-a-Roni. It was fine. 5 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. It was sustenance. And sometimes, that's all I hope for. But I made the cookie bar - using two boxes of mix and my biggest pan and it showed very big promise. It was successful in getting 3 out of 4 to eat their dinner. That's right. I bribe 'em. We all gotta do what we gotta do. This is what I do from time to time. It came out and I proudly served it up. Then I got mine and took a bite. Salt. Lots of salt. Too much to be a pairing for the sweet. Bugger. Princess didn't even finish it. Scooby finished his but made sure to go on about it being too salty. Hubs was lovely. He lied. So I made a powdered sugar glaze and drizzled that over the top. Then I made another batch of powdered sugar glaze and poured that over the top. I just took a sampling. Unless some sort of miracle of osmosis occurs, I will be throwing these out. And making regular cookies with no additional ingredients involved tomorrow. Scooby and I have dubbed this batch Bikini Bottom Cookie Bar. Not good y'all. Not good at all. 3 out of 10 Jenny's jewels only because every now and then there was the ability to discern a chocolate chunk product.
Okay. Let's talk Black Friday. I didn't anticipate going out for anything. But the pull was just too strong. So strong, in fact, that I started the night before. That's right. I went out shopping on Thanksgiving night. Sure, okay. Some of you are thinking that's like sacrilegious or something. I understand. But I would prefer to consider myself patriotic instead. I am doing my part to help our economy. Let us not dwell on how many products have a made in a foreign country sticker or stamp on them. I did the very best I could to avoid slave-made products. Next year, I will do even better. I am happy to report that other like-minded patriots were out en force to boost some NASDAQ numbers. Actually, no, I have no idea what I'm talking about. I was there at 11:00 pm at WalMart. I know. WalMart sucks. But they had Leapsters for $25. And since I was buying 3 of them, that's a significant savings. Those were part of the midnight sale. There was another sale that started at 5am. I kid you not. There were people who brought or borrowed lawn chairs and camped out next to the pallets for some of the items that went on sale - in 6 hours. Laptops. I thought I was hardcore. Nope. Not even close. From there, I went to ToysRUs. Not anywhere near the insanity that was WalMart. But that is only because the crowd had moved on. Next up, Target. Oh. My. Word. I have truly not seen anything like it. I have been out on Black Friday before, believe it. But this was a whole new animal. I didn't take a coat out with me. I don't know what to tell you. I didn't plan on being outside much. I planned on parking and walking in and getting all hot in the stores and then walking to my car. No need for a coat to slow my roll. I pulled up just about 4 am. The doors opened at 4. This is a big Target. Not a Super Target but still. There are 2-3 stores next to it. Small ones. Then there is a Staples store. Then there are a few more stores and then there is a Panda Wok or whatever at the end of the strip. I hope this gives a fairly good idea of the distance I'm talking about here. So, I pull into a spot. I am looking to just kind of wander in but I can't. Because the line extends to the Asian food establishment at the end. There were people who stopped at a point to flow in when told to do so. You know what I did? I said, "screw this noise! I am freezing!! I need to keep moving!!". That's what I said. So I walked all the way to the end and started walking in the direction I had just come from so that I could go in. I was still cold. But at least I was moving. And the pisser is that those people that were waiting at the point where I made the oh so smart decision to go to the end? Yeah. Those people were nowhere to be found. They got in. I was in line long enough to see people come out - with big ol' TVs. One guy couldn't even put it into his car because his doors had frozen shut. And when I got in there, there was this swarm around a bin that you would have thought had free gold in it from the activity surrounding it. It was $2 gloves. Those people were looking to warm up and I mean right now. Which I get because I am now the proud owner of a super cute reversible pink/orange puffer vest for $7.50. I picked up all the bargains I could find. I got 2 $85 dual screen DVD players for the car for our road trips. I got a hard drive for Hubs. I got pjs and jeans for the green giant that is Scooby. Now, I will try to explain the line to check out. It was a very very large square that ran through the store and started doubling up on itself. My strategy at this point was to find a cart for all the things that were straining and breaking my arms and fingers. Also, to look like a thief as I made my way past the checkout area to the Starbucks to get coffee and a croissant for sustenance so that I may continue my quest towards giving them my money. Also to look and look and look for more items because the longer that I wandered around, the shorter the line would get. Which of course became problematic. Because I walked out after $450. Yeah. I know. It's okay. I returned alot. Including the dual screen dvd players. Both of them. It was nuts. And I loved it. It was totally up my alley. Hubs can't shop. It's just not in him, at all. He physically depletes as he goes. I have seen it happen and it is so fascinating. I don't mean that to sound as though I delight in his discomfort. It's just so contrary to what I feel like when I go shopping. I get more energized as I go. So, the 6 hours I spent from Thanksgiving into Black Friday gets 7 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. If I had had a coat, a bottle of water and a few snack bars, I would have ruled the school. Not in a camped out in lawn chairs looking like hobos around some pallets kind of way but still...
I saw "The Expendables" the other night. I had high hopes. I am a fan of testosterony movies. I came up with a phrase for those kind of movies that probably someone else came up with already. Plus, it's kind of naughty. I won't tell you what it is but I will allude to it and you will get the idea. You know how they call Rom-Coms (that's romantic comedies to you lay folk...) chick flicks? Well, I would refer to Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, etc movies as Richard flicks. Only I would use a nickname for Richard. And it would rhyme with flick. And it wouldn't be Rick. I told you it was naughty!! But truly, these are movies that are all amped up and bad ass and macho and heroic and what not. And I dig those movies. It had some good casting. But Stallone was a co-writer. Which I would have thought would have been good as he has been in so many of these that he would know what to write but then I realized that he would also be responsible for dialogue and he's never been much of a talker in his movies. Put him and Keanu together and you really might as well do it as a silent film for all their speaking contributes to what they are doing. And Sly looked awful. I don't know what was happening with his hair but it was weird and the botox has not been kind. I like Jason Statham. I think that he is charismatic and truly lends himself to the movies he does but it was painful to watch him trying to carry this film as Sly's best friend. And Dolph Lundgren? Ouch. If they could have at least attempted to make fun of what they have done in their roles, that would have been crazy awesome. But they weren't. They were serious. They were really trying. The only one who actually looked comfortable was, God love him, Eric Roberts. Because he has done the same role in the same kind of movie for pretty much his whole career. It was so bad that I actually fell asleep during the climactic near ending. 2 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.
So, here is what is happening on our quest for a different Christmas this year. It got sketchy right away. As a reminder, our goal is to take all the gift money from all the gift giving parties and pool it together giving each child 3 presents each. So. It started with the Leapster. If you buy one, it doesn't have much to offer on it's own. You need the games/cartridges. So, I got three. Each. I've already gone over the 3 gifts each situation!! What the hello kitty is it that I am supposed to do now?? So, after some breathing and some coffee, we decided that the Leapster with the games is a gift - gift number 1. So, for Princess, her next gift was to be a craft like product. But it felt so LAME to just hand her a Color Wonder packet or something. It totally wouldn't be a Color Wonder packet. There is nothing wrong with those but she's way more crafty than that. We agreed that bundling 2 or 3 crafts together would constitute gift number 2. And that's what we pretty much did for the remaining presents. I know. It totally looks like I fudged it all. But here is exactly why I feel so at peace with how this turned out. It made us really consider what it is we are buying. As I said, my nature is to squeeze as much present as I can out of every dime and we end up with tons of crappy stuff that isn't even noticed or played with. Hubs and I really thought through each gift. Here is a for instance. Big Stuff is getting an Imaginext Bat Cave. I know. Totally awesome!! But at the same price, they also had this Imaginext Aircraft Carrier. It was killer. I bought it. I also bought the Imaginext Space Shuttle because the shopping strategy for Black Friday this year was buy it all right now and return most of it later. Whatever. It worked. The Bat Cave was a no-brainer. That's a keeper. And we were going to keep the Aircraft Carrier as well. But then I came across this Buzz Lightyear backpack. It looks like Buzz's space ship. And I thought about all the pretending that Big Stuff likes to do and I decided that I would get him binoculars and a cool flashlight and turn it into an adventure pack because he likes to say "I'm goin' on a adventure!" and then he does. It was going to cost a little more than the aircraft carrier but it is going to be so much fun for him. That aircraft carrier was really cool. And it was a good price. I have a little bit of returner's remorse. It's stuff like that - we just really thought about the gifts this go round. The next reason I am at peace is because I fully believe that we have spent far less money on Christmas than we normally do and that is a direction we want to continue going in. Our children have been mentioning how kind of bummed out they are about only getting three gifts. I could focus on the fact that they are being materialistic greedy little so and sos. Instead, I look forward to the morning when they are surprised by the quality of those three gifts and how satisfied they can be with less. And the final reason - Yes. Three gifts was good enough for Jesus and therefore, three gifts is more than enough for our kids. But God's love is abundant and surprising. He is not stingy. He looks to bless us at every turn. And that is a facet of God that I truly want to share with my kids as we celebrate the greatest gift He ever gave us. Which, by the way, is what Christmas is actually about. Ahem. Anywho.... Staying the course and seeing our Christmas plans through gets 10 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.
This is what I have to tell you. I shared how much our church raised for the 4 initiatives that we are trying to accomplish. That number has actually gone up. By about another mil. Hubs and I have actually already seen some amazing, unexpected financial blessing as a result of our walking out in faith and committing God's money right back to Him. It wasn't huge but the reality is that if you don't see it coming, anything can be generous. And this is generous. It means that the commitment we made to start making good on our pledge by the end of the year is a little less nebulous. Some of it fell straight into our hands. It's every indication to me that He truly does just want to know and give you the desires of your heart. So if the desire of your heart is to please Him, He totally just pleases you right back and gives you the means to the end. There's this diamond cut called the Gabrielle cut. It is 105 facets. Based on my extensive research (inclusive of a google search and perusal of about 2-4 sites to verify...), this is the most faceted cut for a diamond. Imagine that God has ever shifting infinite Gabrielle sections. And every time that He allows me to gaze upon one of those facets and glean a better understanding of who He is and what He is about - it's a sweetness like no other - with no salt to be found.
Showing posts with label Target. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Target. Show all posts
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Lighten up...
Okay. So what do you want to talk about today? Wouldn't that be fun? It would be almost like an improv session. You could give me a topic and just watch me spin a yarn a mile long about it - perhaps even making some connective points. Feel free to leave a comment if you have suggestions and want to try that out sometime.
I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. It's time to get my tooth fixed. I get to sit in a chair for about 2 hours or so while they build me a crown. It'll be custom fitted. I'm gonna feel a little like a car - they will be all up in my grill and everything. Woo boy. That was a good one. Anywho. I was at Target picking up a prescription for 2 Valium. I was worried because I have gone to the pharmacy with a fraction prescription before and they tried to charge me for an entire lot and I was all like, heck no and my body was all like, uhm, yeah, you can't afford to skip this stuff and I was all like, nuh uh and my body was all like, see what I mean. So I spent the $30 co-pay for like 4 or 5 pills. But this a prescription that was written out for just 2 Valium. And I didn't have to pay full price. I get to take them tomorrow. I don't mean to sound eager but when you are someone who is a little uptight like I can be from time to always, I'm interested in a mellow down moment. On top of that, I have to just be still. They said I could read or listen to music. Or sleep. Hubs has to drive me there and home. This is gonna be like the best dental visit of all time. So, I was strolling around Target with my $10 gift card that I scored for letting them fill my $5.99 prescription. And I was feeling all giddy like I do when I have money to burn. But I didn't have money to burn. I realized that when I was looking through the clearance sections for these amazing candles I found a week or so ago. The scent is so delicious - just strong enough and not overpowering. All I found was one. It was still marked as crazy expensive - $9.xx on clearance. I was about to take it over to the "please verify that this item hasn't become more affordable scanny thingy" when I stopped myself. I didn't need that candle. I wanted it - sure. I had a gift card that would about cover it if it wasn't marked down any further. And the reality is that even if it was marked all the way down to 2 or 3 dollars, I still didn't need it. It was an extravagance. And I put the candle down. This probably sounds perfectly logical to some or most of you. But it's not that kind of no-brainer for me. For me - if I want it, I get it. Fortunately, I don't much want to be dripping in diamonds, wear designer clothing or drive the most gorgeous, brand new, deluxe mini-van. What? I'm just sayin' - I still have munchkins to cart around and there are a lot of them so what else do they fit in - it still has to be a mini-van. Whatever. You know it's a lovely, roomy ride when you are in one so don't even play. But if I want a new shirt - I get it. I'll search high and low for a good bargain on one, but I'll get it. I loved this candle - sought it out and everything. But it doesn't fit in with where I'm trying to take myself at this point. I made a commitment and I'm thoughtless and I'm selfish from time to time but I'm trying to get there. And even a $2 candle (should it have been such an incredible bargain... do you think it had gone down again? Maybe I should have just checked? Wouldn't that make this all the more poignant, if it had even been cheaper and I still walked away???...) shouldn't be enough to sway me. Now, had Jungle Jim's had some salted caramel flavored jeni's splendid ice cream in stock today - you know for $9.99 a pint, perhaps that would have been a harder temptation to resist but they didn't so I didn't have to worry about it. I bought some milk, some yogurt, 2 packs of coffee (the little one pot size) some shampoo and some conditioner and I left. And I still have 2 bucks and change left on the gift card. Maybe it's enough to double check on that candle...
Speaking of stuff I like to eat (what? It just happened - I mentioned the jeni's splendid ice cream. C'mon, I move fast, you gotta keep up...), I just tried the Yoplait Light Boston Cream Pie flavor that I didn't get to try during the get-together and it was DEEE-licious. 9 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. I will state that I am disappointed that I only save 60 calories with the light yogurts over the regular style. What's up with that? If it's all sugar free, shouldn't it be like 8 calories? And don't tell me that it's because it's dairy because I hold firm that yogurt has barely any sort of a milk situation going on. So, unless cultures are caloric, I am not understanding this at all.
Here's what I am processing through these days. So, Unbound is over. The campaign is over. The Saudi moved out. I know that I told you I had grieving to do. And I still do. But on top of that, I'm feeling ridiculous lightness. I used to feel like the phrase "room to breathe" was really just that - a phrase. But now I get the truly literal sense of that. It feels as though these commitments were pressing down on me like cement blocks and I was barely even able to enjoy those things much less anything at all anymore. I'm not saying that I have made a total return and I'm Holly Golightly (I've totally never even seen that movie) but I've never been a Holly so that would have been an unrealistic expectation. Just for now, I'm feeling an expansion. Don't get cute - I'm not talking about my bum. Not this time.
Okay - on to today's new thing. And it is a doozy. I have told you about my adoration of Netflix and the worlds it has opened up to me. For instance, tonight I thought that I would check out a movie called, "Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter". I dig camp. If it was pulled off just right, that could have been a killer combo. Are you kidding me? The Light of the World against creatures who aren't allowed to be out in light? Think it over peeps. It could have been killer. But they didn't do it right. I watched the intro and the credits and knew that it just wasn't gonna work. So, for background I turned on something that I have had in my queue for a while. I don't know if I should just jump in with what it is or tease this out. The reality is that I am watching it right now and I'm struggling just a little with words. I know. This is that good. And by good, I don't necessarily mean Oscar worthy. Which is an excellent segue as this has some Oscar connection. Alright, alright. I'll tell you. It's called LXD. Here's the premise as laid out by Netflix:
This unique Web series combines breathtaking dancing and a taut storyline about the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers: a group of former nobodies who suddenly acquire superpowers and face off against shadowy enemies. Injured ex-soldier Sp3cimen (Chadd Smith), widowed nurse Autumn (Pandora), petty criminal Jimmy Angel (Travis Wong) and the other members of the LXD seek to unlock the mystery of their newfound abilities
I would like to point out that it is in the comic book and superhero genre as well as the Urban and Dance, pop cross reference.
There are disjointed episodes with a dude who is doing some sort of cryptic story telling narrating. And it's all melodrama and nuances and knowing stares. And dancing. Ridiculously talented dancing. I don't know if I'm looking too hard to find the connections or if I am missing something or what. But I'm just having a little trouble following the common thread.
It starts with this motherless kid who grows up with an overly protective father and he's in high school and he just wants to go the last school dance of his high school career and stare at his crush who of course has a boyfriend. But the dad is all - no way. And the kid of course sneaks out and gets to the dance and blows everyone away because they just thought he was the quiet dork and he is an amazing breakdancer. And some other guys come dance with him and the boyfriend of the girl tries to front him but oh, no, he can't because he's not an extraordinary dancer and therefore not in the League of eXtraordinary Dancers. Which is who ends up recruiting the dancing kid.
The next segment is two dudes dancing it up in an warehouse. And using packing peanuts to take their dancing to acrobatic levels. That's right. One says "later" to the other one because he's been recruited to the LXD. He's all like - next time it'll be you dude. So the other dude is all sad and doing some sort of dancey twirly stuff and this obviously bad guy is spying on him and sees sad dude's backpack and notices that there is a recruitment letter tucked in the pocket. So sad dude was recruited too and he didn't even know it. And I looked away for a second but I suspect that the bad dude hurt the sad dude. Because in the next one, there are no words and this guy is in a hospital and some sort of ominous other guy is sticking a wood cube in his guts which starts dancing in him and he starts rehabilitating with dancing. That's right. And this nurse helps him but is wracked with guilt about something so she stops visiting him and he keeps waking up at the same time to dance with her but she's not there until finally she leaves him a note to get out because it was a set-up. If you need to know what the set-up is - I can't help you there.
The last one I'm going to lay on you is the next one. I'm finding it all very entertaining and definitely odd but I'm in front of it and I just don't know if it's coming across on your end or not. It's an office setting and a secretary is filling the boss in on what's going on for the day and she tells him the new guy is starting. So the new guy conveniently walks through the office right then and is all staring at the boss man. And the boss man seems confused that the new guy is staring him down but he doesn't fire him - which is more proof that this is all quite so fantastical because he would totally fire the dude in the real world. So, this goes on the whole day and at quitting time everyone leaves the office and the two dudes run at each other and have a dance off. It's pretty awesome and only ends because in all their fury and flurry some papers go flying around and new guy slips on some paper while standing on the table and falls and cracks his head on the table. Which is totally what I tell my kids will happen and now I have the proof that I can show them.
I'm mesmerized. It's so weird and I just can't bring myself to turn it off. Imagine the fine acting and cheesy set-ups of Power Rangers (without the stupid alien type beings - as of yet) and then put that to some pretty cool music and mind-blowing dancing. You see what I'm saying now, right?? And the thing is - apparently the LXD performed at the Oscars. Which I would know except that somehow I stopped watching the Oscars. That's a story for another day. One final note. The dude who plays Mike Chang from Glee is a choreographer for the show and he is in the episode that is on now. He has found some shoes in an ornate wooden box hidden behind a wall. My guess is that they make him dance. Like real good. Yep. I called it. And they don't even need his help. He's just sleeping and they are gonna dance anyway. So far, this is my favorite one. As a whole, I will rate The LXD 5 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. I'm so on the fence. You know the phrase, "that's just crazy enough to work"? I just don't know if it is or not. I know it's crazy. I don't know if it works.
Speaking of Glee, I got to watch it tonight and it was incredible. I don't like Gwyenth Paltrow. Probably it's jealousy but I like Kathy Griffiin and she's met her and the way that she describes her in person is pretty much exactly like I have always imagine her. So, I was right all along. But I'm going to give her some mad props. She did a great job. And there was some serious music tonight. I have never heard any Cee Lo before. I don't even know what local station on my radio (do I sound like a total antique right now??) would play his music. I'm going to go find more and listen to it. He might be a little naughty so I'm not recommending him to the under 18 crowd. I'm just saying I liked the way it sounded and I want to know if I'm missing more grocery store worthy music. Glee gets 10 out of 10 Jenny's jewels tonight.
Here's the deal, folks. You have GOT to stop keeping me up so late. I have to hang with the four year old crowd again tomorrow. And then I'm getting a crown. And then I'm going to the Unbound celebration. It's a big full day. I can't be all the time staying up until 11:30!! Oh well. I'm just going to tell you that you are worth it. Do I need a sign off? Like a regular one that I use every time? I don't want to become predictable. Hmmmm... At any rate, for me, for now, it's lights out.
I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. It's time to get my tooth fixed. I get to sit in a chair for about 2 hours or so while they build me a crown. It'll be custom fitted. I'm gonna feel a little like a car - they will be all up in my grill and everything. Woo boy. That was a good one. Anywho. I was at Target picking up a prescription for 2 Valium. I was worried because I have gone to the pharmacy with a fraction prescription before and they tried to charge me for an entire lot and I was all like, heck no and my body was all like, uhm, yeah, you can't afford to skip this stuff and I was all like, nuh uh and my body was all like, see what I mean. So I spent the $30 co-pay for like 4 or 5 pills. But this a prescription that was written out for just 2 Valium. And I didn't have to pay full price. I get to take them tomorrow. I don't mean to sound eager but when you are someone who is a little uptight like I can be from time to always, I'm interested in a mellow down moment. On top of that, I have to just be still. They said I could read or listen to music. Or sleep. Hubs has to drive me there and home. This is gonna be like the best dental visit of all time. So, I was strolling around Target with my $10 gift card that I scored for letting them fill my $5.99 prescription. And I was feeling all giddy like I do when I have money to burn. But I didn't have money to burn. I realized that when I was looking through the clearance sections for these amazing candles I found a week or so ago. The scent is so delicious - just strong enough and not overpowering. All I found was one. It was still marked as crazy expensive - $9.xx on clearance. I was about to take it over to the "please verify that this item hasn't become more affordable scanny thingy" when I stopped myself. I didn't need that candle. I wanted it - sure. I had a gift card that would about cover it if it wasn't marked down any further. And the reality is that even if it was marked all the way down to 2 or 3 dollars, I still didn't need it. It was an extravagance. And I put the candle down. This probably sounds perfectly logical to some or most of you. But it's not that kind of no-brainer for me. For me - if I want it, I get it. Fortunately, I don't much want to be dripping in diamonds, wear designer clothing or drive the most gorgeous, brand new, deluxe mini-van. What? I'm just sayin' - I still have munchkins to cart around and there are a lot of them so what else do they fit in - it still has to be a mini-van. Whatever. You know it's a lovely, roomy ride when you are in one so don't even play. But if I want a new shirt - I get it. I'll search high and low for a good bargain on one, but I'll get it. I loved this candle - sought it out and everything. But it doesn't fit in with where I'm trying to take myself at this point. I made a commitment and I'm thoughtless and I'm selfish from time to time but I'm trying to get there. And even a $2 candle (should it have been such an incredible bargain... do you think it had gone down again? Maybe I should have just checked? Wouldn't that make this all the more poignant, if it had even been cheaper and I still walked away???...) shouldn't be enough to sway me. Now, had Jungle Jim's had some salted caramel flavored jeni's splendid ice cream in stock today - you know for $9.99 a pint, perhaps that would have been a harder temptation to resist but they didn't so I didn't have to worry about it. I bought some milk, some yogurt, 2 packs of coffee (the little one pot size) some shampoo and some conditioner and I left. And I still have 2 bucks and change left on the gift card. Maybe it's enough to double check on that candle...
Speaking of stuff I like to eat (what? It just happened - I mentioned the jeni's splendid ice cream. C'mon, I move fast, you gotta keep up...), I just tried the Yoplait Light Boston Cream Pie flavor that I didn't get to try during the get-together and it was DEEE-licious. 9 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. I will state that I am disappointed that I only save 60 calories with the light yogurts over the regular style. What's up with that? If it's all sugar free, shouldn't it be like 8 calories? And don't tell me that it's because it's dairy because I hold firm that yogurt has barely any sort of a milk situation going on. So, unless cultures are caloric, I am not understanding this at all.
Here's what I am processing through these days. So, Unbound is over. The campaign is over. The Saudi moved out. I know that I told you I had grieving to do. And I still do. But on top of that, I'm feeling ridiculous lightness. I used to feel like the phrase "room to breathe" was really just that - a phrase. But now I get the truly literal sense of that. It feels as though these commitments were pressing down on me like cement blocks and I was barely even able to enjoy those things much less anything at all anymore. I'm not saying that I have made a total return and I'm Holly Golightly (I've totally never even seen that movie) but I've never been a Holly so that would have been an unrealistic expectation. Just for now, I'm feeling an expansion. Don't get cute - I'm not talking about my bum. Not this time.
Okay - on to today's new thing. And it is a doozy. I have told you about my adoration of Netflix and the worlds it has opened up to me. For instance, tonight I thought that I would check out a movie called, "Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter". I dig camp. If it was pulled off just right, that could have been a killer combo. Are you kidding me? The Light of the World against creatures who aren't allowed to be out in light? Think it over peeps. It could have been killer. But they didn't do it right. I watched the intro and the credits and knew that it just wasn't gonna work. So, for background I turned on something that I have had in my queue for a while. I don't know if I should just jump in with what it is or tease this out. The reality is that I am watching it right now and I'm struggling just a little with words. I know. This is that good. And by good, I don't necessarily mean Oscar worthy. Which is an excellent segue as this has some Oscar connection. Alright, alright. I'll tell you. It's called LXD. Here's the premise as laid out by Netflix:
This unique Web series combines breathtaking dancing and a taut storyline about the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers: a group of former nobodies who suddenly acquire superpowers and face off against shadowy enemies. Injured ex-soldier Sp3cimen (Chadd Smith), widowed nurse Autumn (Pandora), petty criminal Jimmy Angel (Travis Wong) and the other members of the LXD seek to unlock the mystery of their newfound abilities
I would like to point out that it is in the comic book and superhero genre as well as the Urban and Dance, pop cross reference.
There are disjointed episodes with a dude who is doing some sort of cryptic story telling narrating. And it's all melodrama and nuances and knowing stares. And dancing. Ridiculously talented dancing. I don't know if I'm looking too hard to find the connections or if I am missing something or what. But I'm just having a little trouble following the common thread.
It starts with this motherless kid who grows up with an overly protective father and he's in high school and he just wants to go the last school dance of his high school career and stare at his crush who of course has a boyfriend. But the dad is all - no way. And the kid of course sneaks out and gets to the dance and blows everyone away because they just thought he was the quiet dork and he is an amazing breakdancer. And some other guys come dance with him and the boyfriend of the girl tries to front him but oh, no, he can't because he's not an extraordinary dancer and therefore not in the League of eXtraordinary Dancers. Which is who ends up recruiting the dancing kid.
The next segment is two dudes dancing it up in an warehouse. And using packing peanuts to take their dancing to acrobatic levels. That's right. One says "later" to the other one because he's been recruited to the LXD. He's all like - next time it'll be you dude. So the other dude is all sad and doing some sort of dancey twirly stuff and this obviously bad guy is spying on him and sees sad dude's backpack and notices that there is a recruitment letter tucked in the pocket. So sad dude was recruited too and he didn't even know it. And I looked away for a second but I suspect that the bad dude hurt the sad dude. Because in the next one, there are no words and this guy is in a hospital and some sort of ominous other guy is sticking a wood cube in his guts which starts dancing in him and he starts rehabilitating with dancing. That's right. And this nurse helps him but is wracked with guilt about something so she stops visiting him and he keeps waking up at the same time to dance with her but she's not there until finally she leaves him a note to get out because it was a set-up. If you need to know what the set-up is - I can't help you there.
The last one I'm going to lay on you is the next one. I'm finding it all very entertaining and definitely odd but I'm in front of it and I just don't know if it's coming across on your end or not. It's an office setting and a secretary is filling the boss in on what's going on for the day and she tells him the new guy is starting. So the new guy conveniently walks through the office right then and is all staring at the boss man. And the boss man seems confused that the new guy is staring him down but he doesn't fire him - which is more proof that this is all quite so fantastical because he would totally fire the dude in the real world. So, this goes on the whole day and at quitting time everyone leaves the office and the two dudes run at each other and have a dance off. It's pretty awesome and only ends because in all their fury and flurry some papers go flying around and new guy slips on some paper while standing on the table and falls and cracks his head on the table. Which is totally what I tell my kids will happen and now I have the proof that I can show them.
I'm mesmerized. It's so weird and I just can't bring myself to turn it off. Imagine the fine acting and cheesy set-ups of Power Rangers (without the stupid alien type beings - as of yet) and then put that to some pretty cool music and mind-blowing dancing. You see what I'm saying now, right?? And the thing is - apparently the LXD performed at the Oscars. Which I would know except that somehow I stopped watching the Oscars. That's a story for another day. One final note. The dude who plays Mike Chang from Glee is a choreographer for the show and he is in the episode that is on now. He has found some shoes in an ornate wooden box hidden behind a wall. My guess is that they make him dance. Like real good. Yep. I called it. And they don't even need his help. He's just sleeping and they are gonna dance anyway. So far, this is my favorite one. As a whole, I will rate The LXD 5 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. I'm so on the fence. You know the phrase, "that's just crazy enough to work"? I just don't know if it is or not. I know it's crazy. I don't know if it works.
Speaking of Glee, I got to watch it tonight and it was incredible. I don't like Gwyenth Paltrow. Probably it's jealousy but I like Kathy Griffiin and she's met her and the way that she describes her in person is pretty much exactly like I have always imagine her. So, I was right all along. But I'm going to give her some mad props. She did a great job. And there was some serious music tonight. I have never heard any Cee Lo before. I don't even know what local station on my radio (do I sound like a total antique right now??) would play his music. I'm going to go find more and listen to it. He might be a little naughty so I'm not recommending him to the under 18 crowd. I'm just saying I liked the way it sounded and I want to know if I'm missing more grocery store worthy music. Glee gets 10 out of 10 Jenny's jewels tonight.
Here's the deal, folks. You have GOT to stop keeping me up so late. I have to hang with the four year old crowd again tomorrow. And then I'm getting a crown. And then I'm going to the Unbound celebration. It's a big full day. I can't be all the time staying up until 11:30!! Oh well. I'm just going to tell you that you are worth it. Do I need a sign off? Like a regular one that I use every time? I don't want to become predictable. Hmmmm... At any rate, for me, for now, it's lights out.
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