it's just a start

no judging, please

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5161863827837566184

just like the pacific northwest

when i lived in portland one summer, my friends told me about something they called a "sun break," and that it was how they made it through the winters. Basically, in the wintertime there, it rains for days and weeks and months without end. However, every now and then, the sun peaks out. So, they'd be sitting in their offices, watching the rain run down their windows, when they see the sun, and so someone yells across the floor "SUN BREAK" (or, in the digital age, emails the same to their friends). Anyway, as you all know, it's been raining for like 2 months straight in SF. It's getting old. However, today at around 3:48, the sun came out. And not just kind of came out. It was shining into my eyes and blinding me as I sat here at my desk at work. So Marcelo and I took a jaunt around the block, making sure to stay in the sun. It was very exciting. I think i can deal with portland now.

king of carrot flowers (pt 1) and the accordion

i feel so proud. i figured out how to play king of carrot flowers pt 1 on the accordion. this is my first real feat as an accordionist. i made a video of it which is seriously hilarious (because it is so terrible, and i'm trying to sing, but it's way too low for my voice, so i'm changing octives all over the place). however, to amuse you all, i may post it here. i'll have to do some serious soul-searching.

good movies

I guess I just haven't been to the movies lately, so even though a lot of good movies came out in the past year, I just didn't go and see them. Anyway, the upside of this is that I've gotten some really great dvds lately. In the past week, I saw three great movies: the squid and the whale, a history of violence, and north country. north country was just good because it was well acted and had some women's rights elements and it was a good story and showed that the law can get good things done (I've been wondering about that lately). the squid and the whale also was really well acted, and was a great story. it had such a great mix of humor and sorrow and thoughtfulness and rawness and honesty. i know it's based on the writer/director's life, at least in part, and i always wonder whether that actually makes things seem more poignant. like remember a heartbreaking work of staggering genius? would that have been nearly as good if you knew it were fiction? this clearly relates to questions of the jt leroy / james frey "scandals" (are they really scandals?), and the question of, if it's good, why does it matter? finally, a history of violence was so unexpectedly good. i like cronenberg, but i don't like violence generally, so i didn't expect that this movie would be so well done and moving and interesting. anyway, these are all total generalizations, but i recommend all three movies. yay movies.