Long time, no blog

Hello bloggy,

Feels like it's been forever since we talked, but really it's only been two weeks. I've spent the last two weekends snowed/iced in, which isn't bad in some ways. One of my friends owns a 4WD vehicle, so he came over for visits, and otherwise I managed to keep myself busy cleaning house and cooking.

I learned my lesson the first weekend when I was left not without food, but with just the remnants of the weeks groceries so I had to be creative. This week I was smart and went to the store Thursday night, so there was homemade pizza, homemade chocolate mousse, and chicken chili.

I know my blog is a pit of viral marketing these days, but I have to say that yes, my KitchenAid mixer has changed my life. The funny thing is, mixing anything in it takes so little time that I feel like I hardly use it. This weekend I used it to make pizza dough and whipped cream for the mousse. I think the next project will be calzones. I love a good calzone.

So, I've been enjoying my little Netflix adventure except that I keep choosing the most depressing movies possible. First, there was Closer. I did enjoy looking at Jude Law (he used to be too pretty and girlish, but I think age has grizzled him ever so slightly--an improvement in my book), and Julia Roberts was non-annoying and even enjoyable to watch. But wow, that was a brutal film. Call me old-fashioned, but I still believe a crucial element to fiction is a sympathetic character, even if it's a minimal few grains of likeability. When I sense that an author has total disdain for all his characters, I have to ask, "well then, why the hell should I read this book/watch this film?" And I really couldn't muster much sympathy for any of the characters in Closer.

So then this weekend I watched 21 Grams, which brought new depth to the word "brutal." I knew it was going to be a downer, but I was interested in seeing the scenes filmed in Memphis. How bad could it be, anyway? Well, it turned out to be uncomfortably close to very traumatic events I've peripherally been involved with over the last few years. It was like reliving some very bad days, and I could have done without it. And at the same time, the characters in the movie made some really bad choices that made their fates worse. Maybe I'm just having trouble suspending disbelief. I need to make sure my next Netflix movie is a nice little comedy.