Would you be my zombie Valentine?

Have you seen the most recent Milla Jovovitch zombie-killer movie- Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)? It’s pretty good if you like that sort of thing.
Which I do of course.
I would watch it again and again, but with much popcorn and soda. Oh, and rapid access to the pause button on the remote to facilitate running commentary with my long-suffering husband. He only endures my love of trash horror/sci-fi movies only because he loves me more than coffee…usually…mostly.

(remember Evil Dead? Mars Attacks? Red Comet?!? I love those!!!)

Anyway – they introduce a character in that movie that I swore they were calling him Lord Jefferson (LJ for short). It immediately has become my favorite name for our as-of-yet unconceived first-born child. Can't you just imagine yelling that down the street when the little heathen doesn’t want to come home from his friend’s house?

“Lord Jefferson L***, get your butt home right this instant!’

“Good morning Lord Jefferson”

“Hello Lord”

We could even send him to boarding school in England, where he would immediately baffle the other children – Is he just a Deity? Or is he actually Titled? (I hear their priorities are a little whacked sometimes) So confusing!

Going straight to He11 – do not Pass Go, etc, etc.

My husband was somewhat amused, but I can tell the name idea wasn’t put on his “Serious Consideration For Naming A Child” list.

Then again, he likes the name Benedict. (which may indeed be a fine name for all of you Benedict-lovers out there, but it is not on MY SCFNAC list. I’m just saying that we don’t see eye to eye on the naming issue).

(Later IMDB’ing and Googling showed that the character’s actual name was Lloyd Jefferson). Somehow, it’s not quite as good that way….

Oooooh, I just noticed there’s a new Resident Evil coming out this year. Fun for the whole family!

And on a final note - it snowed this morning. Just a little, but here in the South, it counts!
Here's proof (and yes, that's snow, not salt or sand, so don't be a disbeliever.)




So Happy Valentine's Day.

Defending Your Life

One of my best friends is about to defend her dissertation. It’s for a PhD in Literature and, although mine was in a science, I can see that the process/hazing/trauma looks to be pretty much the same. So she calls me to ask for advice, tips, and insider tricks....and I don’t want to talk about it. My defense was almost a year ago (it was successful, thanks) and I am loathe to even think about it still. It’s sort of like PTSD- remembering the actual event brings an adrenaline rush and anxiety as if I were actually still there. As if no time has passed and “They” can still pronounce me unworthy with a resounding “NO”! It’s not called a “defense” for nothing. It would be more appropriate to be allowed to curl up into a ball to protect your vital organs, rather than have to stand up behind a podium and try to think clearly.
Good things happened that day too. It was a full house, all of my colleagues and fellow students were there. My husband sat proudly in the audience. The lights were in my eyes and the rest of the room was dark, so I couldn’t really see him. But I knew he was there and every time I tripped over a thought or phrase, (or said “um” again! I really need to quit doing that) I looked to where he was sitting. He was my mental and emotional touchstone. A really big rabbit's foot, if you will.
And boy howdy did we throw a party at graduation! All of the pictures verify that I was plastered (eyes half-closed, sh!t-eating grin on my face). Yep, it was done, the horrible experience was survived, now back to having a life with All-New Extra FUN!™ and HAPPINESS! ™
I wish her luck. She won’t need it, but it never hurts to have luck on your side. I’ve given her the only tips I know – get plenty of sleep, no distractions, stay in the mental zone, and bring snacks for the Committee. Bribery doesn’t hurt. She should be fine. She’s made it this far and, as they say, she is truly the most knowledgeable person on the topic she is about to defend.
But I neither miss, nor envy, what she has in front of her.

Road trip!

Ohhh, we're going on a roadtrip and I can't WAIT! Our MINI (meet Jezebel)
needs her regular service and we don't have a dealer in this state. So we are using this as an excuse to go to Nashville. Wheeee!!!!! The last time we went out of town, when we weren't going to visit someone else, was for our honeymoon!
I have done my homework. We are staying at a nice hotel that is NOT a chain. Dinner might be room service or a fancy-schmancy dinner in the hotel restaurant. The next day we will be having breakfast at the Loveless, or the Tin Angel, or even Monell's (depending on what time we wake up). We do have to take the dog, so I specifically researched nice, outdoorsy things to do. There is a 2-mile walk that goes past a lot of "historic Nashville" types of things that looks nice if the weather holds.
La la la la....Gosh, Wednesday is so far from Friday. Why isn't it Friday yet?!?