Pork Chop Dilettante

Beach Treasures

Treasures from the Delaware Seashore State Park:

All images copyright emilie kleiner 2010. Please do not steal my images.

Movie Monday

I know I'm a day late, but when I woke up this morning it felt like Monday, so this still counts.

For my first review of 2010 is the movie Up in the Air, which released late last year. I had no idea what to expect from it, because I didn't really understand the plot from the trailers that I saw. Low expectations are usually good for me when I watch movies. Anyway, here is where I issue a SPOILER alert:

George Clooney's character is an emotionally and physically isolated businessman who fires people at companies across the nation for a living. He's likeable enough, but he has the usual annoying consummate bachelor quirks--casual relationships, lives in a hotel, barely knows his family. Then, magically, two women come into his life that each have major impacts on his philosophy. Yadda yadda yadda. I know that some people found the movie to be depressing, but I didn't. It wasn't a happily ever after kind of film, but it also wasn't one of those pretentious indie films that has a tragic ending because, well, that's practically the only kind of ending there is for a pretentious indie film. So. I think it was provocative enough to leave the viewer thinking about what it's like to be laid off, or how you'd really once you let it sink in that you spent most of your adult life shutting everyone, including your own family, out. You now have no memories that involve others who are close to you--you are always alone. Definitely something to ponder.

I'm glad I saw it. Some movies speak to me, and this one did. Netflix it, baby!

Treasure Hunting

I have an innate desire to find things. I do crossword puzzles and find answers to clues. I like to find the clean surface beneath a layer of grime and dust (vacuum cleaner commercials are especially thrilling for me). If you have misplaced your car keys, please ask me to help you find them. But my favorite thing of all is treasure hunting on a beach. Give me pieces of coral, small pebbles that have been tumbled in the surf, larger stones with striations of white that mark them like the trajectories left behind by airplanes in the sky. Even better are the whelks and razor clams and driftwood.

I'm sure there are many psycho-therapuetic inferences you could make about me, like I'm still searching for my purpose in life or something, but I doubt it. I think I'm just weird, and I've accepted that long ago. So anyway, on Good Friday this year my family and I went to the Delaware Seashore State Park to picnic and find little gifts from the sea.

Here are some of the photos from our trip. I'll have shots of my little treasures later on, but here you can see the peacefulness that is the shore. I think I should move there.

 Ladybugs like to hide under the dune grasses that blow onto the shore.

 

A driftwood boomerang

 

Paradise on the coast of Delaware...it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

 

All images are copyright emilie kleiner, 2010. 
  

Temptation

    

I’m in a fight—with someone who shall remain nameless—because she has introduced me to the drool-worthy shoes by Chelsea Crew. Holy schnickes. I’ve been scouring the interweb for great deals on this pair of shoes, and perhaps I will be successful. I’ll be sure to let you all know. I can’t stop thinking about those shoes today.

In other news, I am absolutely thrilled now that yard sales are in full swing. I have a few to check out this weekend.

I can’t help myself. But seriously, I’m on a budget so I am trying to find used versions of what I need, like a toaster or a blender. Shouldn’t be much worse than the crappy blender from the 1980’s that I’m currently using. Oh, and I use a skillet to make toast. So that gets a little annoying.

I wish that instead of working today, even though I’ve been very productive, I was at home cleaning my apartment. I am suffering through CHAOS—Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome—and need to remedy that. When I get home in the evenings I’m usually too tired to clean, but sometimes I have my moments. Tonight I need to do my taxes (I am such a slacker), so the decluttering will have to wait. At least I’m getting a refund this year, so maybe I can save up for a new vacuum cleaner…

Today is Tuesday, so it’s too late for me to do a Movie Monday review, but next week I’ll be discussing Whip It, Up in the Air, and New Moon. As for the rest of this week, who knows what I’ll write. Perhaps I’ll finally find time to take photos of all the treasures I found at Delaware Seashore State Park last Friday. It was a goldmine!

Cicada Design

Yeah, so we're not going to talk about why I haven't been updating my blog lately. I'm embarrassed. You all can come up with your own fantastical reasons, if you wish.

I am excited to announce that I have finally opened up my own jewelry business: Cicada Design. I have opened up shop at Etsy and I'm applying for some local and regional craft shows. I'm living my dream! Ha ha. This really has been a passion of mine for years, and folks, it was only fear that was holding me back. Don't let that stop you all--learn from my mistake.

Here is some of my work (all images copyright emilie kleiner 2010. Please ask permission before using):

All work is low carbon steel and various semi-precious gem stone beads, except for the last picture, which is a vintage celluloid tatting shuttle.

I love to be creative and I know this will fill a huge, gaping hole in my soul that has been missing since I graduated from college with my art degree. I'm excited to be on this path and can't wait to make a name for myself!

Helpful Advice

The Last Judgement by Michelangelo

Some helpful advice for you, my friends: don't fall asleep while watching the History Channel's two-hour line up of end times prophecies and apocalypse theories. Yikes.

List

Cute babies always make me smile. Image copyright emilie kleiner 2009.

Things that made me happy today:

Waking up to sunshine
Getting hugs from Taylor and Shaquanna at the Learning Center
Lunch with Gerry, Arun and Saprina at Gerry's Goods
Smelling cartons of strawberries at the grocery store
The ability to laugh at being told I have no ass by some neighborhood punks
Drinking a sparkling pomegranate Izze with dinner
Realizing that this weekend I get to be surrounded by art and craft
Snuggling with my kitties on the couch

I believe you can always find at least three good things about each day. Try it some time...especially when you're feeling blue. I love my life.

Decluttering Pains

I'm reading through some magazines so I can recycle them, and I came across a great (but not new) idea for organizing DVDs in stylish binders. It brings up a recurring problem for me: what to do with all the DVD cases? Also, will I miss looking at the artwork on them? I have the same problem with CDs--it's difficult for me to buy music only online. It's mostly because I love the thrill of opening up a new CD, looking at the artwork, and reading about the music. I have another issue though--not buying CDs anymore makes me feel like I'm not supporting local record shops. Sigh. Why do I feel like it's my duty to make sure they don't go out of business?

What do you do? Have you overcome this weird type of self-imposed guilt or am I the only one?

Dairy Queen

Did you know that Dairy Queen had a mascot? Neither did I. This beats getting your picture taken with the Easter bunny for sure:

Image copyright emilie kleiner 2009.

Yesterday I was doing some pondering while I did chores around the apartment. I wondered how it was discovered that one could pick a cherry off a bush, removed the pit and voila! A coffee bean. I am aware of the Arabian dancing goats story, but come on, who would think to roast the beans, then grind them, and force hot water through a puck of the grounds with high pressure? People amaze me. I could see how hard cider could be discovered by accident (since I did via my grandmother's fridge when I was eleven), but there are so many steps to the end product of coffee or espresso. Anyway.

I bought Neko Case's new album, Middle Cyclone, in preparation for her concert next Wednesday at the 9:30 Club. I'm beyond excited to go see her! I need to listen to the album a few more times and learn the lyrics so I don't look like a poseur trying to fumble my way through all the new songs. Anyone who reads lips could surely spot a fake...

Could I Possibly Have Arthritis?

I can't sit Indian-style, yogi-style, whatever you want to call it, for more than 10 minutes at a time. Whaaa, you say. Every time I go see a movie, especially if it's summertime and the A/C is really pumping, my knees ache so bad when I walk out of the theater. If I go on a trail ride that lasts more than an hour, I nearly cry as I try to unbend my knees and ankles.

Perhaps I'm too tense? That's a possibility. My mom thinks I might need more yoga. She could be right. I just think I'm weird. I also have an unending addiction to microwave popcorn. Perhaps I should invest in one of those microwave air popper thingys.

Image via www.marylanddogsledding.com

So, I always read the latest issue of the Urbanite about a month after it's been released. Anyway, in the January issue, I was so excited to read that I can go on a dog sled ride! Maryland Dog Sled Adventures LLC has a program on the Northern Central Railroad Trail in Hunt Valley, and for $75 smackeroos you can help rig up the puppies and go for a ride! I want to do this. I want to go! They have a blog, too. I didn't know this, but Fair Hill Nature Center has fun runs for dog sled teams. There are pics on the MDSA blog of the dogs on the same trails that I ride on horseback! Life is too cool.

What is up with all these movie remakes? Why does the original Jason movie need to be redone? And while we're at it, who on earth thought that The Day the Earth Stood Still needed a remix? Did you know there are three different versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers? For serious. I've actually seen two of the three. I'm such a hypocrite. I guess while I'm at it, I should make snarky comments about how many different versions of Batman there are. But I won't, because I love me some Batman.

I think I'm done for the night. Perhaps you'll hear from me later this week. Happy Monday!