Hourglass

Bethany and Chip  - Pic courtesy of Sassy Pictures

by blogSpotter

Welcome to my first blog of 2013... it’s been awhile since my last entry.  New Years is almost as painful now as a birthday -- a reminder that (to quote a soap opera intro) the days of our lives are like grains of sand in an hourglass.  With that happy observation, I’ll proceed.. Today’s entry is a mixed bag of retrospectives and a movie review.  

FACEBOOK SPAM
Retirees, housewives and the self-employed -- you know who you are. You’re on my friend list because I like you and want your unique viewpoints.  However I didn’t expect you to post an update every 3 minutes, all the livelong day.  I have 100+ FB friends and 5 of those dominate my news feed.. they have plastered my news feed with news about waking from a nap, making soup or walking a dog.  Another two feel the urgency to repost every YouTube cat video or Obama cartoon.   Please give it a rest!  If you can dial it back to one a day it gives someone else a chance to shine.  I’ll leave it at that.. don’t want to be “unfriended” after all  :-).

NAMES AND PLACES
Getting back to the age thing, I start to worry.  I have a boss from 20 years ago, and I can’t recall his last name.    Then there’s the branch manager who used to sit across from me until 6 months ago... Can’t remember his last name.   Alas, there is the project leader I had for 3 months in 2011 -- I have her last name but not the first.  It starts with a “P” I’m pretty sure.  It’s as if my brain has done a data purge on any name not in current use.   I’ll have a problem if I can’t remember my catch-all password or where I put my spare key. As my dentist would say, “Let’s put a watch on it”.   I don’t think I’m losing it, but we have that in my family history.

SASSY PANTS
I just watched a hilarious indie comedy titled Sassy Pants on Netflix.  It tells the story of Bethany, an 18 year old girl who’s effectively under house arrest by her recently divorced, domineering mother.   The mother, June Pruitt, is played by Anna Gunn (of Breaking Bad fame); her portrayal of an obsessive control-freak is extremely convincing.   Bethany “runs away” to her father who is newly out of the closet and living with his much younger boyfriend.  I won’t do a whole synopsis of the movie, but it has several twists and turns.  Bethany must navigate a brave new terrain of self-centered adults, mean girls, horny dudes and career upsets.  She happens to be a centered, honest, sweet person whose determination gets her through all the ups and downs. If you haven’t seen Haley Joel Osment in a while, he’ll be unrecognizable in this movie.   His portrayal of Chip is amazing and I’ll leave it at that.

STARBUCKS @ LEMON AND KNIGHT AND ELEANOR RIGBY
I’m in a crowded, wet Starbucks on a Saturday night.  The USA is having “freak show” weather this week -- San Diego is having ice storms while Washington DC is having short-sleeve, balmy weather.   Dallas is on the dividing line -- we had 72 degrees yesterday and it’s a blustery wet 40 degrees today.  I get an Arctic blast with each customer coming in.  Am now scanning across the crowd ..I see a few students, but mostly disheveled middle aged geeks such as myself reading, blogging or checking emails on social network sites.  Most fall into that last category. All the lonely people, where do they all come from.          

CHROMEBOOK DOWNSIDE
For some reason, blog2print couldn’t correctly format the two blogs I did using Chromebook. I know there’s a connection but I’ll investigate it later.   The Chromebook couldn’t find Starbuck’s attwifi network without a lot of cajoling and rebooting.   That’s a little jarring since it doesn't even function without a wifi connection.  I finally got it to connect but am not liking what it took. I guess my dour, chilly wet observations tonight are enough to suffice as a kickoff to 2013.   Hoping you and yours have a drier, more comfy year than I’m experiencing on this winter’s eve.

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