Thoughts

What follows is a random and inchoate stream-of-consciousness style of my thoughts. I have to say that I love narcissistic characters. Sometimes I read a review of a book or film that I found delightful and the other people complain that the characters are shallow, narcissistic, unlikeable, etc. To them I say, get off your moral high horse. There are shallow, self-important, narcissistic people in real life and I LOVE them. Probably because I'm narcissistic myself and I adore people who have been touched with a dash of high school bitchy. "You know what I think it really was? He was a narcissist. I love narcissists . . . you don't have to buoy them up." My friends are having a Death by Chocolate party tomorrow to celebrate Valentine's Day. I'm pretty excited. I'm bringing three desserts which is quite excessive. I'm making a delicious Devil's Food cake that is so moist due to the secret ingredient of beets! You would never even know. We are not going to tell Chris that there are beets in the cake because otherwise he will refuse to eat it. He is a notoriously picky eater. I'm also making a delicious French Silk pie with a coconut crust that is my uncle's specialty. It is pretty simple but so decadent and rich. And finally I'm making a mousse which is just chocolate, eggs, and salt. Yes, salt--it gives it a nice little bite and makes it more interesting. If you want to make good food all you really need is fat and salt--makes everything taste better. Of course, this is not acceptable in our Atkins and South Beach Diet society. I need to make the cake today and the pie and mousse tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a packed day. I start training at the SLC library tomorrow and I will miss sleeping in on Saturday morning. I haven't worked on the weekend since June. It's been nice. Then I need to make the desserts and buy a wedding gift. My friends Ken and Abbey are getting married. Ken was my best friend in elementary school and we've remained friends since. Abbey and I went to junior high together, but we weren't friends till high school. We were in theater together. And the summer after my sophomore year of college we hung out a lot. It was me, Elise, Dain, and Abbey. Anyway, she and Ken were something of high school sweethearts, but then he went on a mission, and then she went on a mission, but now they're getting married. However, I haven't really spent much time with either one since their missions. But of course I must get them a gift and go to their reception tomorrow night which keeps me from dying of a chocolaty nature and means that by the time I bring my three decadent desserts they will already be tired of chocolate. I think I should also bring Vicky, Christina, Barcelona--it's such a fun film. It's a comedy and it's romantic, but it's not a chick-flick romantic comedy like He's Just Not That Into You or Confessions of a Shopaholic. No, it's a Woody Allen film. I'm reading far too many books right now. I've started Guns, Germs, and Steel which puts me to sleep every time I open it. We decided to read a history book this month. I think I would have preferred Summer for the Gods, The Devil in the White City, or The Big Oyster. I also want to finish this ghost story by Edith Wharton. I'm also reading her finest novel (according to Harold Bloom anyway), The Custom of the Country. I just adore Mrs. Wharton. In the novel, Undine just went to the Opera with high society New York. And then I saw the Gossip Girl episode where everyone goes to the opera. I thought, more than a hundred years later and it's essentially the same scene. And while we may think that our society is more open and free and tolerant, Park Avenue continues to be exceptionally snobbish and puritanical. I am also reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman in preparation for Sigma Tau Delta in March. I should also be reading Curiosity Scribbled the Cat but I'm sorry Alexandra Fuller, I just can't get into it. I also need to decide which Michael Perry book to read. I'm leaning towards Population: 485. Anyway, I also love to read Neil Gaiman's journal--you can find the link on this page. I think I'm going to see Coraline even though I generally hate and fear Tim Burton. Maybe I'll read the book first. Gaiman says that adults usually find the book more frightening than children do. I just want to share this gem of a review too: "Amidst a flurry of the traditional Valentine's Day Hollywood rom-coms, February contains such counter-programing as "Coraline" and "Friday the 13th". Of these two films, I can say with some certainty that one features some of the most genuinely terrifying sequences to hit the big screen in years, while the other is about a killer wearing a hockey mask." That's from Collider. It makes me laugh. I laughed a lot last night when I watched The Office and 30 Rock. They were both hilarious. I was in such a good mood that I skipped down the hall and hit my head on the doorway post. I immediately took two ibuprofen and checked for external bleeding--there was none. I was still wary of suffering a concussion. So far, so good. Liz Lemon met her perfect match in the form of John Hamm who I didn't even recognize. He switched his iconic, quintessential 1960s man's man Don Draper character for Dr. Drew who is a SNAG which is "sensitive, new-age guy." He's much cuter that way.It's probably all the brylcreem. My new crush is Matthew Del Negro who plays Bram on The West Wing. Here he is:Those brown eyes just unstitch me. Yum. I don't really remember what I was saying anymore. And I don't think I can top Matthew here. So just stare at him for a while. Until next time, Ciao!