Renovation Report, Day 3

A lot more work was done today, and it's becoming very obvious to me that I'm going to lose a significant amount of square footage in my nice, big apartment. I will have to be creative about rearranging my furniture once this is all done.

I am impressed, though, at how quickly this is progressing. It looks like they'll soon be ready to move on to the electrical stuff, then start drywalling and closing it all up. I'm scheduled for 4 weeks of work, but here's hoping it goes faster.

Here's the living room after 3 days... with one pump installed and the makings of a new piece of wall jutting out. I'm not sure why it will have to come out that far, but I know an electrical panel will be installed on that wall at some point. I am losing one of my main electrical outlets behind that pump, too. :-(


And here's the bedroom.... again, that unit is taking up a lot of space, and the new walls that will go around it will take even more.

I mentioned to a friend yesterday that all of this is rapidly decreasing my emotional attachment to this apartment. I know I won't be able to put it back the way I liked, and that's also helping motivate me for a move. Sure, all these improvements will be good in the long run, I just don't feel like stickin' it out that long.

Renovation Report, Day 2

Today, you get photos!

First up, proof of demo.... a new hole connecting my kitchen to my living room. This must be the future site of an air vent.

Here's the living room, and the other side of that new vent. Right now, I'm sitting on my couch in the living room and I can see through to my kitchen ceiling. Weird. And the little tiny holes from yesterday are now really big holes, filled with a big pipe and some square.... things...? I'm not sure what they are.

Cleo's checking out the new holes in the floor. The corresponding hole/plugs in the ceiling above are brand new. I don't think I'll be able to put any of my regular furniture back into these places, it won't fit.

More holes, tubes, and weird square things in the bedroom. Cleo continues to investigate.


Here's a close-up of the living room floor. If you look closely, you can see through to my downstairs neighbor's floor. I wonder what they can hear from me???

This is what the heat pumps look like. One will be put in to the living room, one to the bedroom, with drywall put up all around them. I'm curious to see how much square footage I'll lose.


Most importantly, trusty cat Cleo is doing okay with all of this so far.... she's a trooper!

Renovation Report, Day 1

I got home tonight expecting to see all of my stuff covered in plastic sheeting, as I have seen in neighbors' apartments lately. So when I walked in and saw that my stuff looked the same as last night, I was ready to be really ticked.... until I looked further and saw little clues to what may have happened in my apartment today.

First, all of my kitchen sink unit had been cleared off - my stuff moved to other places - and my cabinet doors (which I usually keep open cuz they're sticky) were all shut. It appears something happened in my kitchen, but after looking all over the place I can't figure out what. They probably pulled my oven out, but I'm not sure why.

Then I kept looking... and saw that in both my living room and bedroom, in the 2 spots where the heat pumps will be installed, there are now small, dime-sized holes drilled into the floor with single corresponding quarter-sized holes in the ceiling. Huh. I know these things are going to be hooked up and wired with all of the other apartments, and they're doing the renovations so that all the up and down tiers (apt 101, 201, 301, etc.) are all at the same time. So I have to assume all the places in my tier now have these weird little holes.

The good news is trusty cat Cleo survived! She has been acting a little subdued since I let her out, both cautious and curious as she checked out the little changes to our home. She seemed spooked, like she did hear some scary noises and is a little unsettled. But she had some tuna for dinner and I played with her for a long time, and she seems better. Until tomorrow morning...

Today was a bummer of a day, though, cuz it turns out that in my angry rearranging last night, I pulled a muscle in my back *and* shoved my shoulder into the corner of my armoire. That smarts! So I didn't sleep well and I've been all out of whack and kinda in pain all day... more Motrin, to the rescue. And, to make matters worse.... today also marked the first day of a small 1-3 day renovation project... at the office! Yes, I can't escape the drills, the saws, and the hammers.

'Twas the Night Before Renovation

Well, the long-awaited-for and anxiously-anticipated apartment renovations start tomorrow. For those of you just tuning in... my big building decided last year that it would be easier to renovate the nearly-century-old building with all of us still living in it rather than kicking us out. I'm beginning to regret that they didn't go with the latter. And, more importantly, I'm really wishing that I had my little financial windfall / debt payoff about 3 months earlier, so that I could've moved out by now. But alas, here I am, with the 4-week-long renovation about to start.

I've completed the prep work... and it sucked. I've cleared away 4-foot-clearance areas from each spot where they're going to do the work, in my living room and bedroom. That means that almost all of my furniture in both rooms is shoved against one wall. My living room is totally turned around so that I can still use the cable hookup for the next month, but it's not comfortable at all. My bed is now as close to the wall as it can get while still getting clearance for the closet, and the remaining furniture is all piled on top of each other in the corner. All my rugs are hanging from the other furniture or rolled up against the wall.

Tonight, I came home to find something that made me totally, completely furious. I got a notice in my mailbox, 13 hours before the renovations are supposed to start, saying that oh yeah, they also need to run wiring in my bedroom closet. And that if I want to prevent my clothes from being damaged, I should empty the entire closet.

Yeah, there were several expletives shouted aloud. And I called my mom to spew some bile and she was no help - "what can I say? you're gonna have to empty the closet." So... fueled by a decent amount of rage, I shoved things around and managed to get all my clothes into a front closet. My shoes and socks are in various tubs and grocery bags shoved against the living room wall. Great.

For those of you who see me on a normal basis, expect to see just about the same 5 outfits in rotation for the next month, cuz it's too much of a hassle to go digging for my clothes!

And the worst part? Yeah, you might be wondering how poor trusty cat Cleo is going to survive this. Good question. But I'm going to have to lock her in the bathroom every day for the next month. Not fun for either of us.

So... that's where things stand. The work crew will be here at 8:30 tomorrow morning, and I'll plan to post regular updates so y'all can follow along in this domestic drama.

The only good thing to come of this? I'm realizing just how much useless crap I've accumulated over the years, so once it's time to put everything back at the end of this ordeal, I'll have a pretty easy time of purging things for donations and a nickel-and-dime apartment sale. I can't wait!

The Best of Sunday Talk

Props to Joyous for sending me this awesome clip, which I have to share with you all:

Political Odds & Ends

In the midst of the Madness and my living-situation preoccupation, just a couple of things...

* Credit where credit is due... though I wasn't able to watch it live, I just read the entire transcript of Obama's speech on race, and it's pretty brilliant. I particularly like this line: "This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected." Jon Stewart said it pretty well that night, that finally (paraphrasing) "an elected official spoke to Americans about race as if they were adults." Kudos to the Senator and his team for such a real, honest discussion.

* Alas, the primary struggle continues, and I'm still just disgusted that for the foreseeable future, MI and FL won't have their delegates count. I've blogged about this before, and I don't care about the asinine party rules and rulings that brought this about in the first place. Knowing what it feels like to be a disenfranchised, non-represented American voter, it just burns me up. It sounded like the mail-in primary idea was a good option... even though I'd love for both states to go Hillary's way, I recognize that the original faux-primaries were slanted in her favor and a re-do is the most fair way to go. It doesn't look like that's going to happen... I hope at least they're able to assign delegates based on some apportionment by the national results or something. What a mess.

* Finally, I learned something disheartening while I was home. One of the things I was most excited about in 2004 was that, for the first time ever, all 4 of us in my family were supporting the same candidate. Bush and his war had killed any last vestige of my Dad's lifelong Republicanism, and had finally motivated my brother to get engaged and speak articulately about politics. Good stuff, right? Well, turns out it wasn't all as rah-rah as I thought. I just learned that my brother didn't vote for Kerry in '04... in fact, that he still has never even registered to vote. Wha?!? In this family?

Apparently my parents didn't know, either, and it led to a somewhat tense discussion one evening as we all watched Hardball and Bro revealed he still wouldn't be voting this year. Dad gave him the "well, then you can't complain at the outcome" speech, and Bro launched into a surprisingly heated diatribe about how the 2000 Bush v. Gore election just "proves" that votes don't count, and the people don't matter in politics. He said that election taught him that it's all corrupt and has made him think voting's a joke, so he doesn't plan to ever do it.

Well, that actually stumped the 3 of us talkers... how do you argue against that extreme cynicism? Any attempt we made to talk about having and using your voice, and that voting is both a right and an obligation, etc., he just shot down. So, while he has been paying attention and learning how to articulate his own strong progressive views - especially in his own field of education - he's not doing anything about it. How do we combat angry apathy?

Lost - "Meet Kevin Johnson"

Well, there you have it. The first 8 episodes of Lost Season 4... we've now made it through all of the pre-strike installments. How will we ever make it to April 24??? I know we've lasted through a much longer hiatus before, but this show is getting so darn good... it's like even more potent crack every week!

*** Spoilers Ahead ***

"Meet Kevin Johnson" allowed us to do just that -- to learn the truth behind Michael's alias and his presence on the boat. This was one of those very dense episodes, full of information, that went by really fast and that I know I'll need to watch again in order to make sense of all of it. Lost seems to either have action-packed or information-packed eps, and while the former feel more exciting I think the latter, like tonight, are the most important in helping us figure out the big, overarching storyline of this damnably addictive series.

So.... Ben's directions to Michael at the end of Season 2 must have been accurate. He makes it back to the mainland, after telling Walt the truth about what he did on the Island. (Yeah, that's got to be against every rule of parenting... no wonder Mama Dawson won't let him near the boy!) They're back in NY but have to remain totally silent about who they are and where they've been. And, in a well-written flashback parallel to the original flash-forward, Michael proves just as inept at suicide as Jack. And why? Perhaps the most revealing line of the night.... because the Island won't let him die. He still has work to do. This potentially has huge ramifications for all of the Oceanic 6!

In the midst of Michael's miserable Manhattanite existence, who should appear, cloaked and mysterious in a dark alley? Mr. Friendly! Yes, even though he was terribly scary in the first two seasons, I've really come to like Tom and was glad to see him. And glad to see that the Lost writers finally lived up to his tossed off line to Kate - "You're not my type" - by showing that he's more into sexy Latin men. Hooray, Lost! Love Big Gay Tom!

In fact, seeing Tom again reminded me that - as a whole - the Others are some really darn fascinating characters. Considering how little we knew about them in the beginning, they have become such interesting, rich, compelling characters. Kudos to the writers, for making Ben, Tom, Juliet, Alpert, Goodwin, even creepy Ethan so much more likable now. That makes it harder and harder for us, the viewers, to figure out who the good guys really are. (But I still don't like Naomi. I'm gonna continue thinking she's evil, even if she's just misunderstood.)

Speaking of that.... throughout the episode and Michael's filling in of the gaps, it's very clear that Widmore and Ben are each other's enemy #1. They've each got their followers pointing the finger at the other, each placing the blame for the faked crash at the other's feet. Who's right? Who knows?!?

This week, Sayid wins the Juliet "Oh, snap!" Burke award for tossing somebody under the bus... he marched Michael right up to the mysterious Captain Gault and called him a traitor. I expect we'll see the resolution of that little scene fairly soon, and I hope the fireworks between Michael and Sayid continue.

Oh yeah, and great seeing Libby! Even if she's just a figment of Michael's tortured subconscious.

And, back on the Island... the episode was bookended with a very short B-plot. Locke and Ben tell the rest of Team Island - including my Sawyer, still looking like he's got leadership potential down the road - the identity of the "man on the boat," and then Ben instructs Alex to go to the Temple. Krazy Karl and Mama Rousseau go with her, in the hopes of getting her out of harm's way. Alas, in a final-minute cliffhanger, something goes down in the jungle and both Karl and Rousseau are shot to death. Oh no! I don't really care about Karl, but I was really hoping for a good Rousseau flashback at some point! We've still got stuff to learn from her! They left us hanging on the identity of the shooter, but I'm pretty darn sure that Overprotective and Insanely Jealous Papa Ben set it all up. To anyone who thought *their* Dad was horrible when they were teens.... um, yeah, wouldn't trade them for Ben.

In the scenes for Season 4, Part 2.... lots to be gleaned. There's a war, some torch-lit violence, something goes down at Claire's house, Aaron is confirmed as one of the Oceanic 6, Ben's actually afraid. Um, adrenaline much? I can't wait!

Decisions, Decisions

I've been super-busy lately, and feeling a little frazzled. There's been some travel with more to come. Work is in high gear, and I'm fighting the cold-allergy-cough thing as best I can. And, the worst of it, there will soon be major renovation going on in my apartment that will leave me very unsettled and grumpy for the scheduled 4 weeks. I'm feeling Scrooge-y. Bah and all...

But, I've got an interesting thing to think about. Remember how I was having a bit of car fever a few months ago? Practicality and the economy have pretty much killed that craving.

Instead, I've gone back to thinking A LOT about what my original long-term plan was, which really started germinating last year and was the reason behind my push to clear up all my finances by year-end.

There are still lots of details to be worked out, but I've pretty much made the decision that in just a few short months, my view will no longer be from 16th Street. I'm hoping it's more along the lines of upper Connecticut Avenue! Stay tuned as I figure out the plan....

At the Movies

I have made three trips to the cineplexes this week.... so what have I been seeing?

First up, in DC, I caught a matinee screening of In Bruges over the weekend. This was chosen by my movie buddy, and I wasn't sure what I would think of it.... but I loved it! Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play 2 moody hitmen hiding out in Bruges, Belgium, and I found myself laughing out loud several times at their hilarious antics as they try to kill time -- and maybe a target or two. Like most modern comedies, it morphs into more of a drama in the third act, but it all works. Both leads create really relatable, authentic-seeming characters, and I think this is finally the movie that got me to see what all the Colin Farrell fuss is about. Plus, it features a nearly-unrecognizable Ralph Fiennes as their sadistic hitman boss... who gets in more than a few laughs and shots of his own. The last few years of playing He Who Must Not Be Named seem to have affected Mr. Fiennes, as he's now a far cry from that debonair, smooth "Quiz Show" guy and now seems downright reptilian. It works well for him! For being such a pleasant surprise, and a picture postcard that has me actually wanting to go to Belgium, I give this movie an A.

Here in Bloomington, my brother and I were the only 2 people in the theater for yesterday's matinee of Be Kind Rewind. This light film, a little less absurdist than some of director Michel Gondry's other offerings, was one of those rare "comedies with heart" that works on all levels. Jack Black and Mos Def both do a good job of playing kinda hapless guys in over their heads, who come up with the perfect slacker/stoner solution to accidentally erasing all the tapes in a video store: they decide to film their own reenactments of the popular hits! Here's where Gondry's absurdism leads to a lot of fun, as their retelling of everything from Ghostbusters to 2001: A Space Odyssey was like a constant laugh reel. Good times! Danny Glover and Mia Farrow are strong in their supporting roles, and we both cheered to see Sigourney Weaver in a brief cameo. I was really hoping that the movie would allow those 3 heavy-weights to poke a little fun at some of their own previous works.... heck, they even had a middle-aged black mechanic play Sigourney's Ghostbusters role... but they didn't steep that low. I would've gone with them! :-) For a good 2 hours of laughs without too shmaltzy an ending, I give it a B+.

Finally, today Mom and I scrapped our original plans due to the gloomy rain and headed out for an afternoon chick flick... The Other Boleyn Girl. I've heard mixed reviews of this one so far, and I'll add mine to the pile. The acting is decent, the costumes are gorgeous, and the story is one of the most commonly told in history. So all of those things make it kinda work.... but... there were 2 things that I found distracting, almost to the point of being ticked about it. The first is that the director had some inexplicable obsession with framing most of his scenes so that they were at least partially obstructed. We'd see King Henry having a conversation, but only from behind a column that's taking up 2/3 of the screen. Or Anne and Mary would be having a conversation outdoors, but passersby keep blocking their faces. Or a key, poignant moment with a newborn baby is half hidden by a door or some ironwork in the window. Why?!? This was really annoying... it was like the director didn't know what to do to make a scene that's just people talking look interesting. And so many times, the beautiful costumes or scenery were nearly wasted because of this poorly-chosen directorial trick. Blech.

The other thing that I found troubling - which I'm glad to say as at least partly alleviated by the movie's epilogue, so stick with it - is that the film offers *horrible* messages to women. Now, we all know it was not a good thing to be a woman at this (or nearly any other) point in history. But, stories can still be told about spitfire women who find ways to get ahead and be good examples and such. Not here. The message this film seems to convey is that women have 2 choices.... be ruled by love, proving yourself weak, vulnerable, and doomed to be hurt; or, be ruled by ambition, and turn yourself into a witchy shrew who just gets her head chopped off. No, thanks. Like I said, there's a teeny bit of redemption in the "where are they now" coda at the end of the movie, but this particular story of Mary and Anne Boleyn is not necessarily one I'd want to share with a young, impressionable girl. For those of you who read the book, is it the same? Or has Hollywood dumbed it down? I give this movie overall a C, but I do offer a special shout-out to the hotness of Eric Bana in period clothes, which in itself earns an A.

The good news is that with all of these trips to the movies.... I've finally seen the full trailer for Sex and the City. And the verdict? I can't wait! I got a little teary-eyed even now!

Lost - "Ji Yeon"

Tonight we were given another *major* episode of LOST.... one that resonated emotionally almost as strongly as the gorgeous, hopeful Desmond-and-Penny story in "The Constant" a few weeks back, although tonight's tone was remarkably bittersweet in comparison.

***Spoilers ahead***

Finally, after weeks of just seeing them in the background, we spent the entire hour with the most complex, layered couple on the Island - Sun and Jin. While on the Island, these two have rediscovered their love for each other and moved beyond the significant problems in their marriage (he was a vengeful thug, she was an adulteress). They've even created new life, and now we know that Sun is indeed a member of the Oceanic 6 and triumphs over the Island curse to give birth to their beautiful daughter, Ji Yeon, when she returns to Korea.

But.... here's one of the big reveals of this episode, that I'm smugly proud to say I've been predicting for weeks.... at some point in the future storyline, Jin dies. He does not survive to see their baby girl, but as of yet we do not know how - or when - it happens. Does Jin die on the Island, trying to save Sun and their future child? Is he one of the 2 bodies that, according to Future Jack's story, is found along with the living Oceanic 6? Or does he somehow die upon their return to Korea? I think the 2nd option is most likely, though we do see Sun and Hurley visit his grave to introduce him to his baby girl. (Cue the welling up of the eyes.) That makes me think he's probably one of the "Oceanic 8" - but not one of the 6. Sad.... I really like Island Jin, so here's hoping we still have 2 1/2 seasons of current-time Island action in which to see his story further develop.

(Note: Kudos to the entire Lost team... the introduction of flash forwards has really opened up so many structural possibilities for their style of storytelling. Tonight's trick was very well done, and I didn't even really start to suspect until almost the end that we really were seeing both Sun's flash forward and Jin's flashback. Smart!)

In their most recent podcast, Damon & Carlton said that by the end of tonight's episode, we would know all of the Oceanic 6. Does that mean Aaron is included? Or is Jin included, if he dies after being rescued? It's a wee bit annoying that they probably have *technically* given us the answer, but we're still guessing. I don't like having Aaron count.... but, alas, I don't write the show.

Another major scene tonight featured Sayid, Desmond, and the mysterious captain of the ship... who seemed almost a little too eager to tell them all about Mr. Widmore and the faked crash of 815. While I do think this provided more info on what has to be a major feud between Ben and Widmore, we should still heed the anonymous note and remember not to trust the captain... after all, the guy let one of his crew just wrap herself in chains and drown! Strange moment. For the sake of the actress who's been credited for several episodes this season, just like with Fisher Stevens, I hope we get a freighter flashback so we can learn more.

The other big reveal of the episode? Unfortunately, this had been hinted at all along starting with Damon & Carlton's own announcement at Comic-con, so it wasn't as much of a satisfying shock as it could have been: Michael is on the freighter. And he's most likely Ben's mole on the boat. It was a nice moment when Sayid and Des were doing the heavy-intense-eye-contact thing with him, trying to suss him out. It appears that next week's ep, entitled "Meet Kevin Johnson," is going to bring us fully up to speed on Michael, his new alias, how he ended up on the boat, and what exactly he's doing for Ben. I'm looking forward to it! I still think the biggest shock this series has pulled off was late in Season 2, when Michael unexpectedly killed Ana Lucia and Libby. I literally screamed at the tv! So Michael's definitely got some redeeming to do... I hope he gets his chance. And where's Walt???

In next week's preview, the ABC Promo folks used their usual heavy hand with the "And. Someone. Will. Die." routine. Of course, now the natural expectation is that we'll see Jin's death next.... but, this is Lost. Remember when they told us Charlie was going to die and found a compelling way to drag it out for half a season? I'm thinking something similar will happen with Jin. And, lest we forget, there's another castaway whose future is very much in doubt. Right now, I'm putting my money on Claire going to see Miles - you know, the captive with the grenade in his mouth? - and something very bad happening.

This was another very strong episode in the midst of an exceptionally strong season. Off to devour all the blogs.....!

Greetings from B'ton!

After a pretty couple of weeks that have been jam-packed - both intellectually and emotionally draining - yet thankfully successful, I am taking a break.... and since life's a little slower in Bloomington, Indiana, this feels like the right place at the right time!

While my last few days in DC have been completely dominated by heated, cynical political conversations - Hillary vs. Barack! Gerry Ferraro! All Spitzer, all the time! - the first night in Indiana has had a surprising theme. Maybe my family's not all that unusual after all, but I certainly didn't expect to be coming home to a night of dirty jokes and porn references!

Example #1 - My brother, a high school guidance counselor, has apparently picked up a whole repertoire of bad jokes from his students and coworkers. A sample... (Warning, this may be offensive to a group of people who will probably never read this blog, but my whole family laughed. That said, prepare for poor taste....) Q. What do you call a man with his hand up a horse's a@@? A. An Amish mechanic. Yikes!

Example #2 - Again, from my brother... according to his entertainment sources (which I could Google but, frankly, haven't), today's main reason for celebration is that it just so happens to be Mr. Ron Jeremy's 55th birthday. Raise a glass! (Or, as a texting friend said, raise any other appropriate part of the anatomy.)

Example #3 - This was the most disturbing. The fam went out for dinner at a sushi/ichiban steakhouse kinda place. We sat at one of the big grilling tables with another family of complete strangers, an older couple, their adult daughter, and her baby. As we were all perusing the menu, my doesn't-have-an-inside-voice Mom said "Hey look, you can get a screaming orgasm!" (Yes, this was on the menu.) I literally covered my ears with my hands until she stopped laughing about it. The older guy next to her looked over at me and laughed when I said "Things you never want to hear your mother order...."

What's in the water here in Bloomington? Or has the Spitzer scandal made dirty jokes cool again?

By the way, I also had a nice little reminder that people really DO talk politics outside the Beltway. At the restaurant, the table behind us was filled with a group of office-type coworkers. And right here in Bloomington, Indiana, they had a lengthy discussion about delegate math and brokered conventions, about the popular vote vs. the electoral college, and about why they want Hillary to stay in the race so that they can vote for her in the IN primary in May. Bam!

Simple Podcast Pleasures

I have to give a quick shout-out to some folks who have been making me very happy lately..... Ira Glass and the entire crew of This American Life. I always enjoy the show, which I subscribe to on iTunes, but for some reason the episodes recently have just been stellar, particularly in the quirky comedy department:

Episode # 323: The Super included a nearly-fantastical story of a mysteriously colorful NYC building superintendent, and former tenants' reminiscences of his crazy antics and unbelievable (but true?) stories of his past as a military assassin.

Episode #348: Tough Room focused completely on comedy, and what it takes to makes things funny. This broadcast starts with a rare "look" into the inner sanctum of one of the most reliably funny sources around -- the writers' room of The Onion. It was fascinating to hear how the writers come up with their headlines and determine which ideas are funnier than the others, and which are strong enough to hold up a whole "article." Plus, you hear from young Onion staffers who are in the conundrum of now working with those comedy writers who they idolized growing up, but now often have to critique for having outdated or recycled comedic ideas. Very interesting, and funny. Then, in Act 4, hip journalist Malcolm Gladwell (author of two my favorite books, The Tipping Point and Blink) tells an audience about his early days in the business, back when he would *make up* stuff just to get it printed in The Washington Post. This was freakin' hilarious!

And, finally...

Episode #220 : Testosterone both pokes fun at and challenges all of our stereotypes of what it means to be more or less "manly." What happens when someone loses all of their testosterone? What happen when someone has injections of super-doses of the stuff? And, most amusingly, what happens when the staff of a radio show get tested to see who has the most or the least testosterone? (Not recommended for any offices near you.)

So, if you see me walking around town with my earbuds in and a big, silly smile on my face, chances are I'm listening to Ira and the gang and having a ball! If you're not already a fan, I urge you to check it out soon.... I'm sure all you readers will love This American Life, too!

Lost - "The Other Woman"

Yay, a Juliet flashback! Her episodes from Season 3 were some of my favorites, and this one was also a really good story that filled in some background and kept the major mysteries moving forward.

***Spoilers below***

The biggest thing we learned in this episode? Juliet's questionable romantic past behind, the big revelation is that I was right and it's Mr. Widmore who's behind the freighter. He's searching for the Island, alright, though we don't know why yet. This is just more evidence, in my opinion, that the overarching series storyline is going to end up being the resolution / reunion of Desmond and Penny. Lots more to think about there.... like does Ben know about Desmond and Penny? He must, and boy will that be a great moment to watch, when he finally reveals how much he knows of the master plan!

Things I loved in this episode:

* Juliet. She's by far the most interesting female character on this show, but Charlotte and Harper are both promising too. It's about time the women characters were more developed!

* Andrea Roth as Harper. She plays an even better woman scorned as a brunette than she does as a blonde. (See "Rescue Me" to watch her go toe-to-toe with Denis Leary in a marriage from hell.)

* Great to see some old Other faces - yay, Tom! and yay, Goodwin! (He's my vote for 2nd cutest Other after Richard Alpert.)

* The beginning of the episode, when Juliet goes to see Harper the therapist, was a great fake-out by the writers... tricking us to think it was a flash-forward, when it was really a flashback!

* The chronologically older love triangle (Juliet, Goodwin, Harper) is far more compelling than the getting-way-tired trio of Kate-Jack-Sawyer. Perhaps Jack and Juliet really will start exploring their own storyline... maybe I'll hate him less.

* This exchange: Jack, "You have a therapist?" Juliet, "It's very stressful being an Other, Jack."

* As usual, everything Ben says and does and squints, whether he's a tortured and cruel megalomaniac or a guy with an awkward crush. Frankly, if he were ever to scream "You're mine!" at me, I'd turn and run the other way.

* Lost is doing a great job tying in some old storylines.... as in Ben and Juliet's dinner date discussion of the list. When will we learn more about Jacob's list - who's on it and why??? Nice twist that Goodwin was arguing for Ana-Lulu when she's the one who killed him.

* I'm still really liking Faraday. Can't wait to get a real flashback story on him!

* The chemical weapons / transformer / electricity / power grid station (whatever it was) is called The Tempest. Awesome. The past is prologue!

* Still no idea on who's a good guy and who's a bad guy.... Ben or the Freightors? Who would you put your lot in with?

* Didn't actually love this, but have to comment -- what's up with our newly-glam girls? Claire looks like she just stepped out of a salon makeover, and Kate suddenly has 3 times as much hair as ever before. Is that what showers and electricity do for them? Or was this ep filmed after some hiatus where the actresses got dolled up? It was very distracting.

Thoughts on the trailer for next week?
We'll finally see Michael again, and it looks like he's on the ship. We'll find out the final members of the Oceanic 6, and I'm sure that Sun is one of them. But I also am really thinking that Jin is not going to survive, and their moment of "rescue" will be when he has to take a stand and die a heroic death. Looks like lots of good fighting and betrayals and stuff, too, can't wait!

And.... is everyone else still wondering if Aaron counts as one of the 6? We either have 1 or 2 slots left, but that answer is key!

I Am Not Nostradamus

Apparently, you should never come to me for fortune telling or any other future-predicting purposes.... cuz boy did I get it wrong on projecting McCain's long-term success! That's why I'm just a lowly blogger, not an actual pundit or operative. My bad!

(Now let's just make sure he doesn't win!)

Calling Them on the Catcalls

Hey baby! You got a boyfriend?
Gorgeous, can I get your number?
Why are you sitting all alone? Can I buy you dinner?
Hey beautiful, you better thank Jesus and your mommy and daddy for that smile of yours!

Aaargh. Last week, I was on the receiving end of the most aggressive attemped pick-up I've ever seen.... cuz my pal was a few minutes late, a delivery guy at the restaurant thought it was a sin I was sitting by myself and proceeded to loudly announce to the entire crowd that he wanted to take me out. Awkward much???

When my pal did show up, and after the ladies at the next table helped me reenact the scene, the whole thing led to a good conversation about catcalls in general that I'd love to pull all of you readers into....

So, questions / thoughts for you all to ponder:

- Have you ever seen a catcall get an actual result? A woman (my unscientific guess is that 99% of the time it's women on the receiving end of this) hears some stranger on the street or across the room call out to her, and she says "Why, yes, I'd love to have dinner with you!" Does that happen?

- If it doesn't happen, why do these men do it? Do they think it's flattering? Cuz my instinct is that for most of us women, it's really not. Or are they purposefully being kinda jerky to make the woman feel uncomfortable? If that's the case, then what sort of creepy satisfaction are these particular men getting out of it?

- Why is it almost always men who do this to women? Why don't women feel the same urge (usually) to call out to strangers? My pal said this is yet another example of male entitlement in our still sexist society. Thoughts? I'd love to play out this debate in the comment section!

- What's the worst / funniest / most awkward catcall you've ever heard????

Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Jack!

In case you haven't seen this yet.....

My New Favorite

I have probably seen somewhere between 100 - 150 performances of live theater in my life. And if you had asked me this morning which had been my favorites, I would've easily answered: Ethan McSweeny's Wit starring Lisa Harrow at Pittsburgh Public Theater in 2000 and Gale Edwards's Richard III with Wallace Acton at the Shakespeare Theatre in 2003. Well, after half a decade, there's a new show to add... right at the top!

My new favorite production is Mary Zimmerman's gorgeous Argonautika, closing today at the Shakespeare Theatre. Ms. Zimmerman put together all of the right ingredients to make a nearly perfect example of what theatre can be: she started with one of the most beloved stories in the history of the world, filled with gods and heroes; then added set, costume, and production designs that made the most of both form and function, with lighting and sound that enhance everything you can see on the stage; she assembled a cast that could play tragedy, comedy, and adventure with a physicality that made the whole show sexy as hell; and she injected the whole thing with a very modern sensibility even while staying true to its ancient roots. Voila! There you have it, Argonautika. I spent almost the entire 3 hours with my mouth wide open in a giddy, goofy grin!

At times, it seems like the Shakespeare Theatre and other classical companies almost have to work against themselves in order to attract audiences. For those who don't already love drama, the notion of "classical theatre" can sound pretty boring.... plays written by dead Elizabethans, or based on those ancient myths everyone had to struggle through in high school English class? Snooze, right? But, luckily, sometimes these institutions bring the right combination of visionary people together to breathe new life into the classics and prove that not only are they every bit as exciting today as when they were written, but they can entertain the pants off of a modern audience that's used to summer blockbusters and HBO.


Argonautika's biggest success, in my humble opinion, is that it remembers that, at the heart of of all, the story of Jason and the Argonauts is an epic adventure -- it should be exciting! There should be drama, and humor, and suspense, and music. And I'm guessing that's exactly why today's final matinee performance was completely sold out. I hope that the great buzz for this show was enough to introduce new audiences to the power of live theatre done right. I'm just sorry I didn't see it until today, cuz now I can't go back and see it again!

Side Note: Help me, my fellow DC-area culture vultures.... please reassure me that I'm not the *only* theatregoer in our nation's capital that still giggles when I see a former cast member from Studio's Take Me Out in a new show. Tee hee!

(Photos from Digital Shakespeare.)