SBW: Older and Wiser Edition

I've found that, even though I'm now thirty, my list of secret boyfriends hasn't really changed. A long time SB standby is none other than the sometimes blonde haired, sometimes brown haired, Viggo Mortensen.

For one thing, I appreciate that he spells his name with an "en." After so many people misspelling my "en" name, I am all for more "en"s in the world. IMBD tells me his dad was Danish. Go Danes!

Then -- Indian Runner. Have you seen this? It is awesome, and he is dead sexy in it. Look at those tattoos. Oh my.

In addition to that little Lord of the Rings thing you might have heard of (he was sexy in that, but I really already have enough pictures on this thing, and the long hair isn't totally my thing), he was also in A History of Violence. I love David Cronenberg movies across the board, but this one I especially liked. Plus there are some very good sex scenes in it, and I appreciate a good sex scene since they are usually so formulaic and just stuck in for no reason.

I'm not sure why he is kissing David Cronenberg here, but I support that too.

[He is also the ex-husband of X singer Exene Cervenka. Woo!]

Three decades of laughs

Secret Boyfriend Wednesday will be officially postponed until tomorrow so that I can fully concentrate on celebrating my 30th birthday. SBs do make birthdays better, but today is all about me, folks. (Actually, it's also all about my youngest sister, who was born on my 6th birthday.) Since I've spent the first 10 hours of awake time on my birthday doing boring work related things, now is the time to relax and bask in my new found wisdom. In addition I will make my husband take me to eat a Brazilian feast and also give me the present he has been hiding in the closet for a couple of weeks. I swear I didn't peek, because I'm not that kind of gal.

P.S. I will be having birthday drinks at an undisclosed location on Saturday night, so if you want me to disclose the details, send me a note.

Work it out

Here is what you need to create a realistic office environment:

• Business Cards
• ID badge
• Checks
• Glasses
• Picture of a kid
• Computer
• Meeting board (with clock noting meeting time, space for notes, company name, and world map)
• Watch
• Calculator
• "I'm the Boss" Coffee Mug
• Personalized notepad
• Crayons
• Pen
• Calendar
• Stamper Thing? (I think? Unsure what it stamps out, though)
• Calendar
• Donut
• Cell Phone
• Stapler
• Pointing Hand on the end of a stick

My plan is to buy this, clear off my desk, and see if anyone notices the difference.

Thansky

Operation Fun Thanksgiving 2006 was a super success -- except in the way of me taking any pictures of the awesome feast that Josh created (pasta with a pork sausage, porcini mushrooms and escarole sauce and a yummy italian salad with homemade polenta croutons that I made). The best I did was a picture of the leftovers in the fridge with one round of all the beer we bought. When you have five thirsty folks, you go through a lot of beer. A lot.

In addition to beer drinking, we ate out a bunch, saw Fast Food Nation, climbed up Mount Bonnell, played drunken Uno, watched a bunch of Lost and Found Video, and spent at least 75% of the vacation in our sweatpants.

For further photographic documentation, go here.

Oh and one more thing...

...posting will be minimal the next few days as we entertain family and prepare a Thanksgiving feast. I can only assume that pictures of said feast will follow, so stay tuned.

SBW: 007 Edition

Here at Secret Boyfriend Wednesday, we like to keep up with what is hot in the entertainment business. With all the press about the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, he keeps floating across our TV and computer screens. Even though my chances of seeing the new James Bond movie are slim, each time I've seen him I had to comment on how sexy he is. (I'm sure Dr. M gets tired of this, but its part of the deal -- you marry me, you marry my SBs).

I don't like to have to hop on the bandwagon, because I know a lot of people have recognized Craig's SB potential. In addition, he is blond, and didn't I just have a blond SB last week? They are a rare breed, and don't generally pop up two weeks in a row.

Then last weekend, we watched Munich (eh, it was alright -- I didn't really care for the ending and the characters were pretty lame) -- and I got to see Craig walking and talking and shooting people and it sealed the deal. He is now an official SB.

Particularly when he unleashes these guys. Yowza.

Mysterioso

The top book on my pile of mystery and science fiction books purchased at the last Literacy Austin book sale called out and asked to be read. So what else could I do? I whizzed on through Evidence of Things Seen by Elizabeth Daly (1943).

This is a nice little mystery about a high-society woman who is renting an isolated summer house with her husband and another couple during the war. She and her maid get there early and begin to settle in, but are disturbed by the regular appearance of a strange woman in a sunbonnet at odd times when no such woman should be around. They find out that the sister of their landlady died in the house under potentially suspicious circumstances (said landlady came into a bunch of money thanks to her sister's death). The neighbors suspect the landlady of poisoning her sister, and a bit into the book the landlady also dies under mysterious circumstances. Did the ghost do it?

This is a nice little mystery, with enough twists that I didn't guess who had really dunnit until the solution was revealed. It does have some rather dated ideas about men and women and about class differences, but nothing too cringey. Since the book is billed as a Henry Gamadge Mystery, I can only suspect that he shows up in some other Daly books. I really liked his wife better than him, though, so if I read another one, I hope she comes along for the ride.

It's funny that I started reading this last week, just after we watched The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which is also about woman and her maid living in an isolated house that is haunted by the ghost of the former house-owner who died under mysterious circumstances. A lot less murder in the movie, though.

And if you like that sort of thing check out the back cover here.

Inappropriate

Last week when the temperature dropped, I was watching a little local news while I ate my cereal in the morning, and they had a reporter doing a story about this local charity group that goes out and distributes blankets to the homeless on really cold nights. Pretty nice, right? They backed it up with some statistics about how many homeless people there are in Austin and how many are sleeping out on the streets each night. All very timely and interesting information.

But then the camera pans out and the same reporter segues into a story about these dorks who have been waiting outside of an Austin Best Buy for three days in order to be first in line to buy the new Playstation. "Not everyone has to sleep outside on a cold night, but some people actually choose too! These Playstation fans are braving the cold temperatures for a chance to be one of the first in Austin to purchase the new gaming system."

Inappropriate.

Who needs IKEA when we have the Internet?

Shouldn't you be thinking about getting fabulous gifts for all your friends and family? Spacebeer
understands your shopping needs and has kindly assembled a one-stop shop of links that will cover everyone. You can thank me later in the form of gifts.

Pretty Good Things (plus the shop on Etsy)
For lovely earrings and purses and bracelets and soft fortune notes (pictured here) and just everything.

Hilary Sorensen Photography
Beautiful nature photography and abstract images. Order a print or order some coasters or order some playing cards or a t-shirt. Just go wild with orders.

Bumbles and Lu
Vinyl wallets that will break your heart with cuteness, plus the best scarves ever. And other things.

Young and With It Industries
Stationery that explores the age-old theme of "Guess What?"

Dan Machold Photo
Amazing shots with rich colors. Order your prints framed or unframed.

[did I forget anyone?]

SBW: The Blond Exception Edition

Although my SBs are almost never blond, occasionally an exception sneaks into the pack. One such exception: the lovely James Spader.











I have to admit, his rich and jerky sexed-up coke-head bad guy character in movies like Pretty in Pink and Less than Zero always held a certain fascination for me as a young girl. He always seemed to throw the best parties...







But what has really done it is his more grown up (and often extremely sexual) roles, which include a turn with the gal-pal of last week's SB, Maggie Gyllenhaal, in Secretary.

A little car crash feitishization in Crash....







And video-taping Andie MacDowell (who I normally don't really like, but who I do like in this movie) and her sexual fantasies in Sex, Lies and Videotape. And occasionally baring it all for our enjoyment.

Thanks James.

Book Club Update

I am a super speedreader, it's true. I finished our next book club selection a few days ago -- the wondrous and awesome Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1848). I read this book once before, for a class in college, and it totally floored me. Ever since I've been planning to read it again, in a non-class setting, but just never gave myself the chance. Now I have, and there are no regrets. Hopefully the other two book club members like it too, since I was the one who suggested it.

I don't want to say too much about it, since that is saved for the sanctity of the bookclub. If you do feel like you might want to read some nineteenth century literature, give this one a try -- it is action packed with revenge, romance, and potentially the most twisted family tree on earth. Heathcliff! Catherine! The moors! Wuthering Heights has got it all.

Now I just have to re-read Jane Eyre...

Mama? Is that you?

While watching the Tales from the Darkside episode "In the Cards" last night, I almost immediately recognized the lead actress, Dorothy Lyman as daughter-in-law Naomi Oates Harper from the TV series Mama's Family. At first I was very proud of this, but in retrospect, I'm kind of un-nerved. I mean, I watched some Mama's Family in my youth, but I didn't think I watched it that much. Apparently I watched it just enough for all the characters to be permanently burned into my brain...

This site will bring it all back for you, explain why the show was funny, and connect it all with Chuck Taylor high tops. Just be patient.

[Additionally, Dorothy Lyman was married to Louis Malle's brother from 1987-2001, making her Candice Bergen's sister-in-law. Weird.]

Art!

Don't you like great photographs? Don't you like free beer and snacks? Don't you like DJs? Don't you like me? Then come to End of an Ear with me on Sunday to see Dan's photo show. Sources say it will be awesome.

SBW: Overly Vowelled Names Edition

I'm kind of subdued and overwhelmed for a variety of reasons this week, but I figure that looking at some nice SB pictures is always good for ones mental health, and a pleasant way to pass the time.

With that in mind, let's take a gander at SBWs pick of the week: Peter Sarsgaard.









He passes one major test by often running around town with a full beard. My do I like a full beard.










He has also babyfied with one of my Secret Girlfriends (who incidentally also has a rather overly vowelled name), Maggie Gyllenhaal.



And the final test: no shirt. This would be even better if he had some arm tattoos, but I'm not picky. This will certainly do.

Play time

My latest randomly-generated read is yet another book from the wonderful world of Josh's book collection -- Complete Works: One (1954-1960) by Harold Pinter. Since Pinter is almost entirely a playwright, this first volume of his complete works is almost entirely plays, with the exception of two early short stories. The best known work in this volume is probably "The Birthday Party", which I had never read, but had heard of, and which has apparently been made into a film, which I'd really like to see.

In fact, I don't believe that I had read any Pinter before checking out this volume, and I would be more than happy to read some more. I like how no one in his plays really ever says anything that means anything to anyone else, and yet all the stuff they aren't saying means even more than it would if they just said it. Make sense?

It had been awhile since I sat down and read a collection of plays, and I really enjoyed it. Why don't I read plays more often? I'm going to have to try and work that in...

Next up: Wuthering Heights for the super three-person awesome book club with no name. Said book club could totally expand if anyone else wants to be included. You might have to think of a catchier name for it, though...

Unemployed

Oh, but just for two days.

My last day in the work of archival mathematics stuff was on Friday, and my first day with archival churchy records is Monday. My old work buddies were very nice and threw me the ultimate goodbye triumvirate of Lunch (the Eastside Cafe - yummy), Cake ("Congratulations Kristy" with purple flowers, eaten at 9:45 in the morning because they like it that way), and Happy Hour (the Crown and Anchor, because its right by my old work. And actually, right by my new work too.).

Now I have to get used to driving (and walking twice a week, that's my goal anyway) to a new place, figuring out where to get coffee, getting all my stuff just where I like it in my new office, and figuring out what all is in my new collections. When you are an archivist, the old historical stuff that is entrusted to your care sort of seems like it is your stuff after awhile. I hope they hire someone good to take care of my math stuff, because I kind of already miss it. Damn stuff.

SBW: Thursday Edition, GBV-style

It is hard when one of your secret boyfriends is the former bass player in a band that has since broken up. It makes it very difficult to find a picture that is just of him and that really captures the cute teddy-bear nature of his face, and the awesome rock and roll power of his stage presence. Tim Tobias is one such fellow.




Since Guided by Voices is pretty much Dr. M's favorite band of all time, we saw them every chance we could get before they broke up (which I think, for me, was five or six times?). Most of the times that I saw them, Tim Tobias was the bass player in the lineup. Just look at how cute his round face is. I love it.

On stage, Tim Tobias and Nate Farley would sometimes get so riled up by the rock and roll and the whiskey that they would kiss each other. I can't really explain it, but this was extremely sexy.

Once we saw them play an in-store at Waterloo, and we were ridiculously early (as usual). I was pretending to browse through CDs and Tim Tobias was looking at the CDs just across from me. Our eyes met and he smiled. Truly magical, folks. And honestly, probably the closest I've gotten to a personal encounter with any of my SBs.

It's hard to pick a favorite SB of all the GBV members (except the drummer, for whom I have no particular feelings). Nate Farley kisses the bass player and has this awesome rock and roll arm thing he does on stage. Plus cute tattoos. Tim Tobias has the teddy bear face and droopy eyes that I like. Robert Pollard does high kicks, has sexy grey and sometimes curly hair, and swings his microphone a lot. Doug Gillard is a class act, a great dresser, and an amazing guitarist. It is hard to choose, but, world, I've made my choice.