post-Yule, pre-New Year's
Not bad. The C's party was nice. When last I saw their kitchen, the countertops and backsplash hadn't been installed---it's palatial, now. *sigh* They're got new area rugs in the living and dining areas, and the sectional in the l.r. has been re-sectioned. Also very nice.
I gorged on de-koshered hot dogs, which are something I only get at this time of year. So yummy---but the next morning, whoa! All that grease went right through me. I ended up postponing seeing Django Unchained until Wednesday, because I didn't want to risk interruptions. It probably ended up being a less rowdy crowd than opening day would've been, so no complaints there. Opinions ahead, but no real spoilers for plot.)
Django Unchained was quite good*; for a (nearly) three-hour movie, it didn't feel "too long". Tarrantino has still got it; each major character has a chance to explain what they're about, and of course, it wouldn't be a Tarrantino movie without at least one spectacular bloodbath. (I didn't know there was that much cherry syrup in the human body....) Foxx and Walz both seemed to be having a good time as Django and King Schultz, respectively Plus, Leo looked like he was having a fine time chewing scenery. I think Samuel L. Jackson has it in his contract that he's required to say "motherfucker" a certain number of times. Leo and Sam were the "bad guys", and they were both utter pricks, cinematically speaking. If I didn't like them both, I'd hate them now, if that makes sense.
Things I didn't like...was a little shell-shocked at the prolific use of the n-word, which was probably the intent. Was disappointed that so much of the supporting cast was under-used. I know; supporting means just that---but if I hadn't known the name of his character going in, I'd've missed James Remar completely, and I'd really hoped for more Walton goggins, too. Still, there was a lot of "OMG, that's---!" among the bit players---guess Tarrantino can hand-pick his talent, which is great.
Wednesday evening, Mb and I got together to exchange gifts. She's been kvetching that "Nobody ever makes me a stocking!", so I did. (Two kinds of mints, chocolate bark and hard candy, a little sock monkey, an air freshner and some Angry Birds lip balm in a marked-down plush stocking.) She gave me a leopard-print shopping bag with some chocolates in an ornamental tin, a leopard-print Christmas ball ornament for my tree and an IOU for a bottle of whipped cream vodka.
I haven't seen J yet, nor has she contacted me. That's okay. I haven't baked a single pan of brownies, either. Big Red is busy with out of town guests, ditto GK, although the Xmas CARE package was in Denver yesterday.
This year, the best part of the holidays is the one that's usually disappointing: yuletide. I didn't sign up this year, because there were no offers of anything I *really* wanted to get (Damn it, I'm NOT going to write my own KIA Soul Hamstas fic!), but there was a letter requesting something in a fandom that's one of my passions. Said letter indicated that an idea I had would be welcome, so I wrote it. (As my beta, karaokegal can attest.)
Previously, I've written non-assigned stories from prompts, and invariably they ended up duking it out with other stories in the same category. Not this year! For once, I've got the fandom to myself. I have a modest stack of warm comments, including a truly effusive one from the Recipient, who's delighted with it. It already has more kudos than the next two highest-rated tales in my posted works put together, and, another first, it's shown up on two lists of recs. For me, that's practically a blockbuster!
I need to go through and do a rec post of my own; there are some lovely stories out there this year, in fandoms I never thought I'd see.
TTFN.
* And the trailer for A Good Day to Die Hard looks fantastic!
.
I gorged on de-koshered hot dogs, which are something I only get at this time of year. So yummy---but the next morning, whoa! All that grease went right through me. I ended up postponing seeing Django Unchained until Wednesday, because I didn't want to risk interruptions. It probably ended up being a less rowdy crowd than opening day would've been, so no complaints there. Opinions ahead, but no real spoilers for plot.)
Django Unchained was quite good*; for a (nearly) three-hour movie, it didn't feel "too long". Tarrantino has still got it; each major character has a chance to explain what they're about, and of course, it wouldn't be a Tarrantino movie without at least one spectacular bloodbath. (I didn't know there was that much cherry syrup in the human body....) Foxx and Walz both seemed to be having a good time as Django and King Schultz, respectively Plus, Leo looked like he was having a fine time chewing scenery. I think Samuel L. Jackson has it in his contract that he's required to say "motherfucker" a certain number of times. Leo and Sam were the "bad guys", and they were both utter pricks, cinematically speaking. If I didn't like them both, I'd hate them now, if that makes sense.
Things I didn't like...was a little shell-shocked at the prolific use of the n-word, which was probably the intent. Was disappointed that so much of the supporting cast was under-used. I know; supporting means just that---but if I hadn't known the name of his character going in, I'd've missed James Remar completely, and I'd really hoped for more Walton goggins, too. Still, there was a lot of "OMG, that's---!" among the bit players---guess Tarrantino can hand-pick his talent, which is great.
Wednesday evening, Mb and I got together to exchange gifts. She's been kvetching that "Nobody ever makes me a stocking!", so I did. (Two kinds of mints, chocolate bark and hard candy, a little sock monkey, an air freshner and some Angry Birds lip balm in a marked-down plush stocking.) She gave me a leopard-print shopping bag with some chocolates in an ornamental tin, a leopard-print Christmas ball ornament for my tree and an IOU for a bottle of whipped cream vodka.
I haven't seen J yet, nor has she contacted me. That's okay. I haven't baked a single pan of brownies, either. Big Red is busy with out of town guests, ditto GK, although the Xmas CARE package was in Denver yesterday.
This year, the best part of the holidays is the one that's usually disappointing: yuletide. I didn't sign up this year, because there were no offers of anything I *really* wanted to get (Damn it, I'm NOT going to write my own KIA Soul Hamstas fic!), but there was a letter requesting something in a fandom that's one of my passions. Said letter indicated that an idea I had would be welcome, so I wrote it. (As my beta, karaokegal can attest.)
Previously, I've written non-assigned stories from prompts, and invariably they ended up duking it out with other stories in the same category. Not this year! For once, I've got the fandom to myself. I have a modest stack of warm comments, including a truly effusive one from the Recipient, who's delighted with it. It already has more kudos than the next two highest-rated tales in my posted works put together, and, another first, it's shown up on two lists of recs. For me, that's practically a blockbuster!
I need to go through and do a rec post of my own; there are some lovely stories out there this year, in fandoms I never thought I'd see.
TTFN.
* And the trailer for A Good Day to Die Hard looks fantastic!
.