So I Watched “100-Minute Lady Boner”

I mean, Drive.

  

Other movies I’ve watched while Justin is at work: Crazy Stupid Love, Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl, Murder by Numbers. See a pattern?

I have yet to watch The Notebook. Give me 24 hours.

Half Nelson was the most impressive and Crazy Stupid Love was the most fun, but Drive was 100 minutes of me writing “Stephanie Gosling” on the back of my social studies bookcover. It’s one of those movies where I walked away with more of a feeling than a story. Also: I love the soundtrack!

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While I’m talking about great soundtracks, I have to mention Hanna. And really, Gosling may be badass, but nothing he’s done compares to Hanna’s escape scene.

Especially since she spares the hot guy. That’s my girl.

Gifs by my braintwin starsweptnight.

You Talkin’ To Me?

Justin was playing with a fancy million-dollar camera and this happened:

And then I was playing with my free-with-purchase software and this happened:

In District Stephie, We Make Gyros

All the media tour clips of the The Hunger Games cast fucking with each other are charming the pants off of me.

 

 

Speaking of Peeta, I finally went to Pita Pit and oh mah gad.

(Gifs by starsweptnight, who has documented like every great quote.)

Eternal Sunshine Of The Offline Mind

Sometimes I wish I could just remove my thumbprint from the internet completely, so I wouldn’t have to think about certain people or, worse and more specifically, know that they are thinking about me. I’m engaged! I shouldn’t have to think about this bullcrap anymore! GO AWAAAAY

And while I don’t feel quite as dramatic as this (and definitely not lovestruck), it’s still worth sharing because I am dying over Charli XCX, seriously:

Also Grimes!

Help Me Gyro; You’re My Only Hope

I forgot to mention that Justin’s latest film project, which he hopes will play on the video wall at CityGarden, is shot entirely with a Lomokino so each 30-second scene takes like an hour to film. So when we do hang out, it’s usually me napping or reading in the shade while he does this:

I actually love it because it gets me out of the house to explore new parts of downtown, or stare at a giant full moon that I can’t see from inside my loft. I’m really only using this topic as an excuse to use that gif, because it’s so Justin it’s scary. (iwdrm)

I don’t mean to brag, but this week I started doing some free-weights moves that I’ve been doing off and on since high school, and I was in more pain after one day than after an entire week of P90X. I suppose the moral of the story is, stick with what works. And boy, do 15 lb. dumbells work. I’m still in pain 3 days later!

I’m finally back to running 5 miles a day, but just barely. I need a break or two. Chauncey sleeps in bed with us now, so I get pretty wheezy if I don’t have my inhaler. I would just kick him out again, but this is how Justin and Chauncey sleep:

It’s too precious to break up, right? I usually sleep on one shoulder and Chauncey sleeps on the other. Though Justin has confessed that sometimes he’ll lean over in a daze and either pet my hair or kiss Chauncey because he doesn’t know who’s who.

It’s Gyro Truck Day, which means Stephie is a happy lady. Justin is on Spring Break; he’s going to walk up here so we can eat gyros on the gazebo and feed pita bread to the koi fish. AND tomorrow we’re eating Lent pizza covered with clams with Miss Sarah Paradise. This will be my first clam experience. I love my life!

Finally, never get accused of a crime in Tennessee–did you know they will lock you up with absolutely no proof and dumb hick juries will vote you guilty because “it just feels like he did it”? And then when you file a motion for a new trial, the judge will write his decision like a week in advance and forget to change the date, so you know he made his mind up before he even pretended to listen? That’s what happened to someone I care about this week. He’s been in hell for over 2 years with no end in sight, all because someone wanted to do meth in front of her kids instead of paying him rent. Shame on you, Judge W____. (Will someone please tell me if I can add his name without getting charged for anything in Tennessee? Because with their logic and collective fourth-grade education, I feel like I could get the death penalty.)

However, get accused of whatever you want in Florida, because apparently people who murder toddlers or shoot an unarmed kid that was getting candy for his brother will go free. I’m so pissed about everything right now (except gyro day) (and my family).

Chasing Nothing

I’m alone a lot these days. Justin works Sunday and Monday nights, Tuesday he has class, and Wednesday he has Police Academy. And while I relish my time alone, lately it’s been causing some problems with my PTSD.

When I was first faced with my dad losing his legs, my shrink told me to just give myself 60 seconds a couple times a day to cry and let it all out. And it worked–the bathroom became my little safe place to be afraid or upset, and the feelings would pass like a tiny storm and I’d be fine again.

I never ignore those feelings. I never block them out. But PTSD is a lot different than grief or stress. It’s visual. It’s physical. Your body jumps from feeling fine to being back into that moment or period of time. The jump can be triggered by anything and it’s unexpected and shocking. And when I’m alone and not concentrating on a book, show, song or chore, it hits me hard and often.

Cheer Up, Sleepy Stephie

This month, I am tired. I’m tired of everyone bitching 24/7 on the Internet, I’m tired of politics, I’m tired of drama that people invent because they’re bored, I’m tired of negative people, I’m tired of angry/sad memories that haunt me unless I’m running, I’m tired of road rage even though I see so little of it these days, I’m tired of everything revolving around food and booze, and I’m tired of a couple people whose interest in me is borderline creepy. And obviously, I’m tired because I have a sleeping disorder.

Also, March is the last month I think I have to relax before the wedding planning gears back up and I really need to focus on getting in shape. These days, aside from P90X, walking to work, and a few 5-mile runs, I spend most of my time lounging around the house. (This sentence is making me laugh a lot. Remember when my only exercise was walking to school while chain-smoking and eating Doritos for breakfast?) I’m not going out much, either–my friends are either too crazy, too busy, too pregnant, or too exhausted like me. Here’s what I’ve been up to lately: A Song of Ice and Fire and Downton Abbey.

If I ever picked a good time to start using a Kindle, this is it–each book in A Song of Ice and Fire is at least 1000 pages. I just started the third book, and it’s about 1200 pages long. The most recent is so long that they split up the paperback into 2 parts in the UK. So thanks, Kindle Fire, for saving me from crampy hands and bad circulation. Also, I found that by reversing the display to white text on a black background, the Kindle doesn’t mess up my sleep cycle anymore. Good thing, since I have roughly 4000 more pages (or 80,000 locations) to read.

A Song of Ice and Fire is the series that HBO’s Game of Thrones is based on. It doesn’t seem like something I’d be into, but the tv series was intriguing and when your female doctor and lawyer friends start gushing about fantasy books, you pay attention. I am insanely addicted to these. In fact, writing about these is making me want to wander away from my computer to read some more.

Why do I love them? For one thing, the books play out like a TV series–each chapter is from a different character’s perspective, so you jump from city to city and scene to scene. With so many characters literally sprawled across the world, it helps you keep track of everyone. The characters are all great, but my favorites are tomboy/badass Ayra, little person with big brains Tyrion and bastard Jon. Giving each of the Stark kids a direwolf was a nice touch (I love that Jon got his own special wolf, and Ghost is clearly the coolest out of all the direwolves); I’m interested to see if their dreams about wolves lead anywhere. Also: dragons are schuper schweet!

I’m much more interested in reading these days than watching TV, but I’ll be so sad if I fly through these books. So lately I’ve been throwing episodes of Downton Abbey into the mix. My co-workers are totally obsessed with this show. My boss has basically dedicated his Facebook page to it. So I figured I’d give it a shot; I’m about halfway through. It’s lovely and I love Mr. Bates. If you’re not drinking the Kool-Aid yet, give it a shot.

Speaking of great TV dramas, Vulture has this whole Greatest TV Drama bracket going on right now, and while I should protest it simply because Six Feet Under was knocked out by The Sopranos, I’m still in it to root for Buffy. My buddy Davy had the tough choice of choosing between My So-Called Life and The Wire, and I think he made the right call.

Because I’m boring right now, I’ll tell you what Justin’s up to lately: Police Academy. That’s right, Justin and his best friend are taking a citizen’s class at the Police Academy, where he gets to tour the 911 call center and juvy and do ride alongs and hopefully Citizen’s Arrest some folks. My brother and I are especially delighted by this because we were obsessed with the Police Academy movies when we were little. My personal favorite was Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol.

He is also very, very sad about Peyton Manning. 😦  Hell, even I cried during that press conference yesterday. Hoosiers have the biggest hearts in the world. When their hearts break, mine does, too.

F This March: Fuel and Finally Writing That Post About The Spot

I’ve been walking to work at least three times a week lately, so it’s time to step it up. I’m going to fill up my gas tank tomorrow, and then that’s it for the month.

(I was about to type, “I’ll only use half of it this month”, but I might want to visit my mom or grandma, and poor Justin has been driving so much for school and work that I try to drive when we go out. Still, it might happen!)

The other goal is self-explanatory. Poor Ron. I hope I can find that napkin where I wrote down everything that happened.

Tucker Jesus and the Sad Hipster

You know it’s going to be a good day when you kick it off with a sunny walk and a Jesus sighting.

Why yes, I saw Jesus. He was walking down Tucker, which I consider one of the more treacherous downtown streets. He was spotted in several places, including asking people for hugs in a public housing neighborhood where people get shot at least once a month.

Yoinked from @jdh583

I spotted him on the bridge that crosses the train tracks, though thank … him … that he was on the other side. He was bouncing his staff up and down with a beatific smile, and stopped to wave into street level windows once he reached the other side. This would have been awesome, but it was a preschool.

Jesus kicked off a pretty great day. On the way to work, I pass by the courthouse and usually get hit on by someone smoking on the front steps. This time, a nice young man offered to buy me breakfast. 10 points for pancakes! (I’m so happy that I can deflect these invitations with, “Sorry, I’m married!” now.)

Once I got to work, I had to work on a pretty urgent project with the head of my department–I kicked its ass and got kudos from my bosses, their bosses and some of the top people in the company! It wasn’t even that hard! I left work early!

On the walk home, the bridge was still happening. As I crossed over the train tracks, I glanced at a small maintenance vehicle that was riding down the tracks. The driver waved and honked his train horn at me–the noise echoed off all the downtown buildings and was so loud that it made everyone on the bridge jump. Way to make a lady feel special!

After work, I caught up with my best friend in Florida, Liz, for about an hour. We spent the last 20 minutes doing our usual validating the shit out of each other, which always makes me hang up with a smile (mainly because I know I’ve made her smile).

THEN, Justin and I went to see The Artist at the Hi-Pointe. The Hi-Pointe is the oldest continually-running theater in St. Louis, so there’s this great Old Hollywood vibe to it and there’s a dog who is always running around the lobby to catch dropped popcorn. So it was the perfect place to see The Artist and it’s always a romantic spot for a date. Also: I drank champagne out of a can with a straw!

Tonight is the first Fish Fry of the season, which we’ve already established is awesome. But today?

I just got invited to SXSW Interactive for work, but I can’t go for several reasons–mainly I have Radiohead tickets for that weekend and I offered to have a pre/post-show gathering at my loft. WORST DILEMMA IN THE HISTORY OF EVER? Just say yes.