i love when colin firth talks.  really.  i didn’t watch the awards the other night (in fact, i have to say “awards” because i’m not entirely certain which awards i’m referring to.  gun to my head?  i’d say the oscars.)  anyway, while i didn’t watch the show, i did scope out firth’s acceptance speech when i saw a link posted in my morning news.  i would have tended to believe that the fabulously witty and gracious comments were the result of a good writer or a whole lot of prep.  but i also saw his interview with jon stewart back in january, and found him to be just as fun and quick then.

it’s really difficult for me to watch interviews.  pretty much any interview, but especially interviews with celebrities.  first of all, with my theatre and speech background, i have a tough time not judging every intonation.  then there’s my constant fear that someone i like will disappoint me, forcing me to dislike and disrespect their work forever onward.  for example:  have you ever seen an interview with rachel mcadams?  oh.  my.  she’s down right tragically painful to watch.  and until i saw her talk, i could actually stand her.  now?  every time i see that she’s in a movie, i automatically decide to pass on it.  no huge loss, but unfortunate nonetheless.

but colin firth?  so far, he has passed the test.

i know i’m a grown-arse woman, but sometimes i still like to play pretend.  like around here, at the village star studios?  well, i’m the only employee.  but there are times when i still like to imagine that i work with several people, and it doesn’t have anything to do with being lonely.  it’s much more due to my theatre background—i just like to have a full cast of characters.  so there are days when i will just kind of let my head wander while i’m working on whatever project (serious or random).  and that’s when this sort of thing happens.

this morning, i was just finished putting out feelers for new job opps when i skipped over to a few news sites, and was shocked to discover that the musical mishaps of super bowl sunday are still in the news.  first of all, the fact that they were news to begin with?  well, that just tickles every cynical inch of me in a most unpleasant way.  but, i have to admit, i spent two hours of my sunday night camped out on my parents’ sofa to check out commercials in a life-long tradition that i’ve kept with my mom.  these days, i occupy my time with crafting while the tv’s on, since tv in and of itself has become a bizarre foreign presence in my life.  anyway, my point is that i was present when christina aguilera botched the national anthem.  and i sat through the black eyed peas’ uncomfortable halftime performance.

so freakin’ what?

we should all be honest here, folks.  raise your hand if you were watching the super bowl and got confused when christina aguilera started singing, because you thought that (surprisingly fully-clothed for freaking once in her life!) girl from glee had already done the national anthem.  go ahead.  no one can see you put that little paw right up in the air.  because a heap of reports and recollections i’ve read since sunday have said just that.  some large percentage of the nation wasn’t even aware that there was a difference between “america the beautiful” and “the star-spangled banner”.  (go ahead, again.  raise your hand if you were also unaware that the name of our national anthem was something more involved than, “the national anthem”.

did christina aguilera screw up some lyrics?  yep.  did half the country go, “huh?” when she started singing because they thought that other girl had already done it?  yep.  using that principle–and a little george carlin “ten commandments” revision action here–i’m going to go ahead and officially make that story NOT NEWS.

now.  the black eyed peas.  anyone who knows me knows that, despite my otherwise exceptional and completely flawless taste in all manner of actual music, i have a passionate and completely bizarre hero-crush on fergie.  i don’t want to dress like her, sound like her, look like her, smell like her, date her, climb a mountain with her, or even freaking meet her.  there is no suitable explanation for the fact that i can even stand her existence.  but for some reason, i just can’t hate her.  but even if i absolutely loathed the woman, i’d still have to shrug at the people who are making such a big deal over how much the half-time show sucked.

really?

when hasn’t it sucked?  remember last year?  when the who played?  remember how people complained the next day?  the who played and people whined all week.  and the year before that?  bruce springsteen.  and before that?  tom petty & the heartbreakers.  and before that?  prince.  and every single year the halftime show has sucked.  the next morning, all the cable news shows are like, “wow.  that aerosmith is really getting up in years.  did you see their halftime show?  really unfortunate.”

how are we not used to the fact that every time the super bowl comes around, all the sound techs are shrugging and throwing their hands up in the air saying, “wow!  it just snuck up on us!  should we think of a way to mix this so it sounds good in the stadium and on tv?”  then the janitor walks by and he’s like, “nah.  the people at home get up for refills on snacks at halftime.  plus they’re drunk by then, so they won’t care.  you guys chill out and just do your thing.”  and all the sound techs are like, “sweet.  thanks, man.”  and then the janitor gives them this crazy deep all-knowing look and pushes his little janitor cart around the corner.  and then the sound techs see that he dropped his hat or broom or something, so one of them runs to catch him, but when they get around that same corner, he’s gone.  like he just disappeared in a mist, or something.  at least that’s how it goes in the movie.

let’s go back to the drawing board for another revision:  if the super bowl halftime show always sucks, and this year it sucked, then no one can be surprised.  so, we’ve effectively made this year’s sucky halftime show NOT NEWS.

holy crap.  in less than ten minutes, i’ve eliminated two of today’s top news stories.  give me egypt; i’m getting scheisse done!

anyway, to get back to the point:  when i pretend that there are more people than just me wandering around this place, i like to think that we’re an important enough organization that tabloids would report on even the most obscure events of our days.  and today, the tabloid would say something like this:

“confused lols were overheard at village star headquarters early wednesday morning, when it was discovered that the unfortunate events of super bowl sunday were still in the news.  one editor quipped, ‘when you get paid over 100 zillions of dollars to do it next year and you pull it off without a hitch, then you can come back and complain.’”

so, it’s been a while since i posted last.  i know, i know.  it’s been busy around here!  lex took me to nyc for our two year anniversary (it.  was.  awesome!)  i’ve started working with the college again, this time assistant directing little shop of horrors.  i also inherited the leadership role for the local improv troupe.  and then there’s testing for job stuff and on and on and on.

needless to say, things were starting to feel a little hectic and yet…somehow…mundane.  i’d run like hell all day long, only to crash with lex in a heap of exhausted nothingness to watch random bits of movies and shows on the schmancy new tube.

last weekend, i finally decided that enough was enough.  i’ve been going through my vast mountain of craft stuff, trying to weed out various bits that i want to keep versus things that i can send someone else’s way without too much separation anxiety.  i kept coming across things that i had no use for…but was unprepared to part with—especially recyclables.  i have a habit of saving everything that would otherwise end up in the trash, if i think that i might be able to find some use for it.  this has led to a wild collection of cereal boxes, fabric scraps, and other random junk just waiting to be repurposed.  i started doing some web searches and came up with a few tutorial/inspiration sites that were packed with fascinating projects from all over the place.  doing that search was like taking the first breath of fresh air outside on a frigid winter morning.  it shocked my senses and made thrilled me in a dangerous, invigorating way!

already, i have made on full project, plus i’m about halfway through my second.  and i’ve managed to keep up regular fresh cooking and job stuff in the midst of the crafty renaissance

on a related note, it’s always nice to know that you’re not alone in the world.  so it was actually somewhat comforting for me to read that my good buddy, amanda, was stuck in a similar rut all the way out in texas.  i hate that we were both in such a pit of creative stagnation, but that makes it all the nicer that we’ve both managed to start creeping back out into artistic territory!

anyway, here’s some of what i’ve been working on lately:

made from an old t-shirt.  it’s very funky and light—it’ll be a great one to wear all the way through the summer!

this scarf was super simple and quick to make.  plus, it used up one of my favorite old t-shirts that had grown entirely too large for me, while allowing me to keep it close to my heart!

here’s another view of it—lex took the picture

i made a spider toy for the cats out of the scraps from my scarf project.  they loved it!

roasted chickpeas = awesome!

indian lentil soup.  amazing on a winter day!

both of these recipes were concocted in the kitchen on the same day.  the result?  a house that smelled so good you’d want to eat the paint right off the walls!

this week is bound to be busy, again, but i’m hoping that i can stay active with my crafting and posting on here again.  one of these days, i swear i’ll get it all straight!