I love my girlfriend Jill

Actual text messages from today:

Jill: I NEED A BEER!
Aaron: I would LOVE a beer!
Jill: MEET ME?

I hate Ohio. It's the worst state in the whole Union. I want Jill to come home!

End of whine.

Work Work Work

I just let out a lamaze sigh.  Work is very busy today.  I suppose it will be until 15 April.  Yikes.  That is a long way away.  I do not want to be this busy for that long.  It is tiring in this office.  The boss is at the tax office (his house) and he calls every ten minutes to give me something new to do.  At least he's not here terrorizing me.

I really want to go see The Royal Family at the Ahmanson.  Does anyone else want to go?

Tonight, I think I am going to head out to Westwood to see Fellini's I Vitelloni.  I just feel like taking a drive and going across town.  Anyone who wants to can join me...

Last night I visited my friends Chris & Kim Thomas after doing my brother a favor (he's refinancing his house... good for him!).  I also watched the 1967 classic film The Dirty Dozen.  It's not really a WWII film, but it's set in '44 and is about a fictional mission from WWII.  John Cassavetes is great in it, and Lee Marvin is damn funny.  I've decided I like Lee Marvin.

Who's your daddy?

This week has been kind of nice.  I have sort of eased the pressure off of myself for not having a life plan just at this moment.  Soon I will get up the nerve/courage/ambition to hunt for PhD/MfA programs.  Maybe next week.  Love's Labour's Lost is supposed to start this weekend.  Actually I think it's supposed to be at 11am on Saturday.  No late sleeping this weekend.  Ah well.  Gee, it's only Wednesday, but Thursday I am headed out to CSUP to a rehearsal of Cloud 9 with my notepad in tow.  Saturday I'm gonna see a bare production of David and Lisa at Los Altos High School.

Netflix is acting up again.... Grr.

Quote of the Day (okay, the quote of yesterday)

The world breaks everyone
and, afterwards, many are stronger at the broken places.

But those it cannot break it kills.

It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.

If you are none of these, you can be sure that it will kill you,

but there will be no hurry.

-Ernest Hemingway

Statement of Purpose Part Two

We must be prepared to defend every bit of work that we do, and every decision we make. We must continually ask ourselves why we are doing what we are doing and if we do not have an answer, we must be willing to stop doing it.

Hold on tightly; let go lightly.

Anyone who hasn't seen Croupier needs to borrow it from me.  It seriously is one of the best films ever made.  Clive Owen could not be cooler.  This movie just came out on DVD and someone in San Diego just bought it for me!  Thanks, guys!

Tried to read The Duchess of Malfi last night.  Snore.  I put it away after Act I.

Life is good, this morning.  Sorry about all of you back to school folk, but them's the breaks.

Potter

Call me emotional, but I just watched the trailer for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and I don't think it's possible that I could be more excited about this movie!  Emma Thompson just looks so fucking CUTE!  Sybil Trelawney is one of my favorite characters, and with Emma Thompson playing her, I will just want to hug her all the time!  David Thewlis is playing Lupin (and I haven't seen any of this David Thewlis' movies, but he just doesn't look right to me).  Oh, and since when is it pronounced "dementer?"  I always pronounced it "dementor," like it's spelled.  Hmm.

Here's the dish on Goblet of Fire:  the director is Mike Newell, who did Enchanted April, the fabulous Four Weddings and a Funeral, the great Johnny Depp movie Donnie Brasco, the great John Cusack movie Pushing Tin, and more recently the awful Julia Roberts flick Mona Lisa Smile. 

Peace out.  It looks like Mr. Cuarón has done a nice, dark job with the movie.

Working Man

My boss called to say that he is not coming in today.  Hooray!  Jill is coming home in exactly 2 weeks.  Only for a week, but still... I miss that girl.

I am at Nancy's station since that bitch called in sick and my computer is busy doing a software update that I swear is the longest thing I've ever sat through, and I have to do it for every single one of my payroll clients, which means like 30 minutes times 15.  Steve will not be happy, but what can I do?  The software has to be updated when the software company tells me it needs to be updated.  Tax season be damned.

"We must all have waffles forthwith."  It is hot today, and lovely.  I wish I were outside.  Perhaps I will take a walk this evening down to the promenade, but then I will want to BUY things, and I need to not buy things.

What am I doing with my life?  I need to go back and think some more about my statements of purpose.  There is more that needs to come out.

I was rereading Pinter's play "Family Voices," Is that what it's called?  And I was thinking that what I want to direct is The Designated Mourner, I mean as well as my new love Valparaiso.  I think Valparaiso is more of a kick in the ass... maybe that one would be better.  I'm thinking about it.  Bill might have some ideas of what he wants me to do next year, but if he gives me something crap to do, I may just say no across the board.  Hmm.

I Might have enjoyed it even more if it had gone on longer.

Dogville has one HELL of a payoff.  That's all I am gonna say.  I don't know that I can really recommend it to anyone, but at the same time, I feel everyone should see this movie.  Any charges of anti-Americanism thrown at this film are way off base.  I don't think the movie is necessarily anti-American.  But it is Randian in the very best sense.  This (unlike, at least for me, Von Trier's other movies) is a film with a deep sense of justice and morality.  No more discussion of the film's content:

Nicole Kidman was okay here, but mainly not as exciting as she could have been.  I don't get excited about her the way I could about Cate Blanchett or even Naomi Watts, both of whom would have been more effective in this movie.  (Although the Roommate tells me that the part "was written for Tom Cruise's ex-wife.")  Patricia Clarkson is a standout for me in the cast of a very capable ensemble including Lauren Bacall (!), Stellan Skarsgård, James Caan, Jeremy Davies, Philip Baker Hall, and (a personal favorite) Cleo King (who played Marcie in Magnolia).  Chloë Sevigny was in it, too, and so was Ben Gazarra.  Whatever to them.  Also, Paul Bettany is officially irritating in this movie... he has been moving in that direction ever since A Beautiful Mind.  John Hurt is the narrator.  His voice is very cool.

This movie recalls Thornton Wilder, especially, and Ayn Rand.  Never thought I'd see those two names together, but they fit.

I haven't left a movie feeling this satisfied and arrogant since... well, I don't know when.  It gets a piece of me that I forget about sometimes, but that I'm reminded of when I read Atlas Shrugged.  It, perhaps, is the most precious piece of me that exists.

I had a great time with and , with whom I went to see the movie.

Whenever you guys are ready to sign up for Archangel, just let me know. ;)

Employment.

I think that maybe the whole job search thing on the internet is perhaps a little silly. I mean, how am I going to find a steady job at a theatre in this city? It's just not gonna happen. I NEED a steady job. I can't just farm out my services on some kind of week by week basis for anybody. I can't afford to do it. This is why I am looking for a career in education in the first place. I just can't take the instability. Forming my own company is a whole separate dream for which I need someone ELSE. Someone who can plan and decide things and help me because I am not the type of person who can DO that.
If Nancy quits, I guess I'll get more hours, and if I get more hours I'll be happier with my work. If she stays there I really need to think about getting another job... even if it's in the accounting field. If Linda could hire me fulltime next year that would be an option, but she just won't and it's silly of me to entertain this notion.
I dunno. Perhaps I should have spent my day researching PhD programs instead of researching employment.
I saw The Shop on Main Street today. It was excellent, and it started me thinking about heaven.
What a ludicrous idea heaven is. I mean, the more I think about it, the more implausible it sounds. Like Tom Stoppard says in Arcadia when he calls it the great get-together in the sky. I can see why so many people believe in Heaven. It's really a wonderful idea, but that just makes it seem all the more silly.

Statement of Purpose Part One

We have to stop doing theatre just for the sake of doing it. If all we are doing is keeping theatre alive, it will die. Our theatre must be a constantly changing force, full of questions and statements and failures, as well as successes. But there must be a goal—a new question or a new answer—at all times.

Someone got in trouble...

So today was sort-of productive. I went to the grocery. I made soup. It is this quite delicious corn chowder with bacon and cumin in it. Yum. The roux went perfectly and I added a little extra cream for richness. I rerecorded the message on my voice mail. It was too pathetic, even in jest.
This afternoon I called Jai to get her to hang out. She was going to make an appearance at the D-Naz party with Bobby and the girls. Who the Hell knows why. I tried to talk her out of going, but instead we made plans for Monday. I told her I was calling Derek and telling him to ditch the D-Naz party and go to the movies with me (NO ONE wants to go to this party) So I called D and he said he would call Julie and cancel his attendance at the soirée. So I promptly called Jai back to gloat on my victory. Meanwhile, D has called and told Julie that his allergies are acting up and he's gonna stay at home and Jaime has been on the phone with Julie saying that D and I are going to the movies, so D is caught and Julie calls and tells him she knows he lied and then texts him some bullshit about how she doesn't know why he felt the need to lie to her.
COME ON. Julie sets the fucking agenda for EVERYONE. I am so fucking SICK of her. I didn't even talk to her today, but she pissed me off. I mean, why the Hell should everyone go to this party at Darren's. No one even KNOWS Darren anymore. Just because he's Bobby's friend doesn't mean we all have to go the party. Not that I was even INVITED in the first place! Bobby is cool, sort of, but DARREN?! Furthermore, Julie did this same lying to one friend and hanging out with the other like a month ago to Jaime! GRRRR!
I swear. Julie infuriates me sometimes. And I keep thinking about my birthday and the attention that got from Julie. I had a fun birthday, but Julie didn't have a damn thing to do with it, because she couldn't even be bothered to SHOW until 11pm! Okay, no more Julie-bashing.
D and Ryan and I saw The Ladykillers, which is first rate and very funny. That Marlon Wayans can do no wrong, I feel, and it has a great soundtrack. BTW: Never again will I attend the Ontario Mountain Edwards 14. $9.25 for a movie! Ridiculous.

Lazy Day

I finally watched Bicentennial Man after letting it sit around my house for over 2 weeks. And... I liked it. Really. I was surprised to find it intellectually engaging. It was, of course, being a Chris Columbus movie, treacly and cloying and waaay to fucking sweet to be a good movie, but it was moderately good and rarely boring in a kind of Romantic Comedy way. Robin Williams' sense of humor is well-used and never overdone, and it deals with pretty much the same issues as A.I. does, albeit without 6 endings, and without the hotness that is Jude Law. Embeth Davitz is excellent, and I actually liked Sam Neill for probably the first time in the history of his films. It is overly long (about 2 1/2 hour), and very heavy handed (Columbus is an absolute hack), but it says interesting things.
Color me surprised.
I have decided to cook today. It will not be a day of complete laziness. Perhaps I shall pay bills, too, but then again perhaps not.

Bon Voyage

Saw Jean-Paul Rappenau's new movie, Bon Voyage, this evening. It was very well-made. It is a late 1930s farce that has all of these melodramatic and chase-movie elements. It really is an excellent picture, and very funny to boot. Isabelle Adjani is the main character: this extremely shallow, almost ridiculous, actress. Adjani hasn't really made too many pictures in recent years. The woman is (to be frank) nearly 50 and oh my god she doesn't look a single day over 39. But I didn't really like her in this movie. She's kind of vapid and boring. Virginie Ledoyen is the younger love interest, and she is quite sexy and charming. I also met my future husband. The lead actor is this gorgeous man named Grégori Derangère, who I've never seen in anything before, but hello! I'm looking up his oeuvre!
Gérard Depardieu is in this movie too, but... whatever. Also... Peter Coyote: speaking French and German flawlessly. I was kinda impressed, but he's just never been sexy to me, and that means I have no interest.
One weird thing about it, the composer is credited: "Music by Gabriel Yared" but to my ears the score is nearly identical to the score for The Talented Mr. Ripley. It sounds like they just borrowed it and made a few modifications.
At any rate, I recommend this movie, and if you haven't seen it: Rappenau's movie before this one: Le Hussard sur le Toit (The Horseman on the Roof) with Juliette Binoche and Olivier Martinez (hubba hubba).

Mumbling Towards Hell

Yay.  I look good today.  In an act of desperation, I tried to go see Tito at his job today, but he wasn't there.  (Not really.  I actually ran into the mall only to go to See's Candies with my parents, who had a free pound coupon.)  I went to visit my folks after work today.  They were both home when I got there, and so we went to the bookstore, where I was very good and made no purchases.  I was quite proud of myself.  I did, of course, write down five books that I really need to get that I promptly added to my Wish List at Amazon (in case you're feeling in the need to shop for me.)  Plus I started reading Antonin Artaud's Theatre and Its Double and I need to finish that book.  It's awesome.  The preface felt, in scope, like Theatre of the Oppressed.  Tonight I'm gonna go see Bon Voyage at the Laemmle Playhouse.  I want it to be good so badly.  I hope it does not disappoint.  I also really want to see the new Ladykillers, but foreign flicks take priority over studio pictures, because I know I'll get to see the studio picture later if I want.  I wonder if I can get anyone to see Fellini's I Vitelloni in Westwood sometime next week.  Hmm.

Roommate just left.  Yay.  I love living alone... even if it's just for the weekend.  The parents took me to Stuart Anderson's.  It was fairly good.  I did have a nice rare steak that I enjoyed.  I also recorded the most hilarious voice mail message that I think I'm gonna have to delete in two days or so... it is too controversial.  But it made me laugh, so I kept it.

I'm sorry I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong.  That I know that I am, I am, I am the luckiest.  My new fucking favorite song.

I promptly moved an F.W. Murnau movie to the top of my Netflix list.  Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.  This Murnau was quite a visionary, I am realizing, (ignoring the heinous portrayal of him in that movie Shadow of the Vampire with Malkovich.)  Who knew?  Sunrise has really stuck with me.  My favorite part is the sequence with a drunk piglet.  It may be one of the most charming scenes ever filmed. 

I wish I were in love.  Fuck those people who hold hands in the mall.  I start hating on the breeders... but it's not really your fault.  It's just that I am alone.

Ain't that some shit.  Yay for James Ferguson.  What a genius he is.

So guess who will be teaching movement, intermediate acting, and directing Mud next quarter!  I actually know but I am not writing it on the web.  Linda told me... whatever.  She is so nuts that she says "would you teach a class if I hired you?"  Well, yeah, Linda, I would, but why bother suggesting this if you aren't gonna follow through.  It's a good thing that I stop myself from getting excited immediately.  I mean, I know she's not gonna really hire me, so it's silly to think about what I would do if I got hired.  No skin off my nose, I guess.  Whatever. 

No Construction This Morning

There is no water in my building this morning because someone on the first floor is having repairs done. Bastards. But at least there is no noise coming from my window. I will just have to be smelly and funky all day. I should have thought about it and showered last night but I didn't.

Sunrise: a Song of Two Humans was AMAZING. It was so great, and they talked about their goals with the restoration. They didn't really explain what the other films in the series would be, but it was cool anyway. Parking was FREE and the movie was only $5. I couldn't believe it. Awesome. Plus it was at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theatre, which is very nice and on Wilshire. The whole reason they played Sunrise was to be in conjunction with the F.W. Murnau exhibit at LACMA, which is playing some 6 or 7 of his films over the next 2 or 3 weeks. So exciting. I love when I feel a sense of artistic community like that.

After the flick, Sarah and I went to Toi on Vine and had fairly good Thai food. And Green Tea Ice Cream. Yum.
I like hanging out with Sarah. No sentiment. No retardation. I don't have to work at our relationship AT ALL. We talked about Julie a little, but got nowhere really... she isn't even up for THAT, and I have to admire it. Talking about Julie is going to deep for Sarah. It was cool.

I'm headed to La Verne this afternoon after work. That should be fun. My dad and I are gonna hang out and then pick up my mom and then go eat. Yay, people bringing me food! I need coffee, and I have no water at my house.
I'll have to run to STBKS.
Thanks for the call, Ash. I was in Beverly Hills tappin it up with, well, with no one, really, but I was in Beverly Hills.