This will reveal to you the full extent of my tech-illiteracy.

But I'm going to ask, anyway:

Can one send text messages in italics?

Despite my use of a crappy phone (well, not too crappy, but not a cool iPhone like everyone else has), I love texting. I text more than I call, more than I email, etc. Perhaps owing to the seven years I've been studying English, I like to text in Standard American English as much as possible: I punctuate correctly, I use standard syntax and spelling (OK, not always spelling). And I like my texts to be emphatic. Sadly, my phone doesn't enable the use of italics, which I use a lot in other forms of written communication. Italics are my lifeblood. Or one of my lifebloods. Bloods: that's a weird plural.

So tell me: am I missing something? Can I actually use italics now? Am I just too technologically incapable to realize it? Or what?

Liking things I've never liked before...

Or, more accurately, liking things I previously professed to hating.

Exhibit A: Apocalypse Now. We watched it in "Fiction to Film" Monday, and I was astounded at how much I enjoyed it. Really? YES. I know. I viewed it the first (and only other) time for Freshman Preceptorial in college, and I remember hating it - as in, not even sitting through the whole thing. (Sorry, Stuart Allison.) I don't remember why I hated it (though any reasons I provided were probably just reconfigurations of my generalized freshman year surliness - sorry, everyone), but this time around, I dug it. Great use of sound, some beautifully framed shots. I didn't even mind the voiceovers! The ending, admittedly, dragged on; I also didn't really need the scenes of the cow butchery interspersed with the slaughter of Kurtz, but that's neither here nor there. This post is about my changed opinion, after all. (*)

Exhibit B: Modern Fiction. Some of you may recall a time in the not-so-distant past when I professed to only liking literature written in the last 30 years. OK, I never actually made such a ridiculous claim, but you'll grant that I read/discussed/emulated mostly contemporary fiction. No longer, friends. This Fiction to Film class has really changed my view. We're currently reading The Quiet American, and I love it. As in, I don't want to stop reading it. When has this ever happened? I mean, when (in the last few years) have I loved a modern novel this much? This, friends, is a pressing question.

I'm not sure what's going on here, all of my opinions undermining themselves, but if the trend continues, I might just end up liking other things I hate, like Hummers, Jessica Simpson, and seafood. !. Just kidding: I'll never like Jessica Simpson (or Hummers. Jury's still out on seafood). Whatever the reason for this change, I am glad.

(*) Just had a terrible thought: did we even watch Apocalypse Now for FP? All these years, I was convinced that we did & that I hated it, but I might be thinking of Blade Runner (which I actually do dislike, and which I know for certain that we viewed in Harbach). Nevertheless: continue.

That's what I'm talking about!

Amy Adams' Fred Leighton necklace was awesome. And Jennifer Aniston took the prize for best hair. (Yes, I could write an entire entry about my abiding love of side braids, but I'm going to be late to Pilates.) That is all.

Sunday, Sunday

Having an uncharacteristically productive day of editing, hence this mini-foray into blog posting. Woke up early (7:00), made a breakfast of hard boiled eggs, toast, sliced strawberries & coffee for E. and myself. Tidied, got showered, and have spent the majority of the day (give or take a few hours) reworking two stories. I still feel like I need feedback on one of them, but things are looking good. Now, if only I can be this productive in the weeks to come...

Am supposed to go to an Oscars party tonight but the cold of death has descended on me. I've been taking cold meds every four hours, drinking tea nonstop, and taking Ricola honey lemon lozenges (which, I've read, are among the best throat lozenges), but nothing seems to be working. Drat, as they say. Drat.

Full Moon

The white spot to the upper left
which looks like the pith plug
in a peeled orange is the crater Tycho.
I have never been there. Perhaps one day
you will. I saw many jackets in the coatroom
but none of them were his. I know someone
who is alive somewhere.
It is embarrassing to be alive.
Sometimes you have to stand out on the street
and look upwards, and then you have to pretend
the stone at your feet
is not an object of observation,
when it is.

Mary Ruefle

Yesterday picked Jane up from the airport, and I realized how much I missed/need highway driving. Highway driving was a therapeutic staple while I was in college (and beyond), but I haven't had much opportunity for it while living here; yesterday I also realized that my move to the midwest in a few months will likely be the last time I make the trip through New York/Pennsylvania/Ohio/Indiana/Illinois/Wisconsin. I feel like I'm forgetting a state somewhere.

Yesterday I also went to the chiropractor for the first time, not for any major complaints but just because my shoulders are sometimes tense and because I got a recommendation for this particular D.C. Let me say, I was skeptical of chiropractors at first, but my shoulders feel like 75% better. Also, I am going back this afternoon because most of yesterday's appointment was spent talking about the spine in general/the physiological effects of eating refined sugars. (For this week, I am experimenting with not eating candy to see how this lack affects my mood and shoulder tension. Though now that I've decided not to eat candy for one week, I just want to munch on my leftover Conversation Hearts. Sigh.)

Valentine's Day was nice and leisurely. E. and I went to play with some pet store puppies; went to lunch; bought some shoes; bummed; went to dinner; ate some dessert and watched "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." I bought the necklace, too(!) Impulsive: yes. Awesome: yes.

A random question: does anyone have a good recipe for Kale? I would like to start eating Kale, but need some inspiration.

ONE MORE THING!

I swear, I could not get the pic any smaller than that. (I could have, if I had resized it using any of various photo programs, but blah. Aah! What is wrong with me and why am I so lazy?)