Tampa Film Fan

gone film festin’

Light posting over the next few days, as I won’t be home much. (Regular readers know that this is not unusual around here; sadly, the unusual part is that I’m giving advance notice before disappearing for a few days.)

I’ll be watching movies, making painfully awkward attempts at small talk, gushing over filmmakers and watching more movies at the Gasparilla Film Festival.

…and hello 2008

It’s the fifth day of 2008 and I’ve already broken several of my new year’s resolutions. How about you?

Most of my resolutions can be summarized in one word: MORE.

I want to watch more movies, attend more local film events, meet more people. Get better at small talk for when I meet those people. Be healthier, happier, richer, nicer. Write more often. Be a better writer, better friend, better person. Laugh more, play more, enjoy life more, get out of the house more. Watch more movies — have I mentioned that one yet? It’s pretty high on the list.

THANK YOU all for being bored/crazy/interested enough to visit this blog. I appreciate all your email: the updates (whether your own event or something you saw in the paper and wanted to make sure I knew about), the questions (it’s a terrific ego boost that anyone wants my opinion), the invitations (wish I could say yes to them all), the jokes, the constructive criticism, the corrections, the holiday/birthday/get-well wishes, the suggestions and everything else.

I even appreciate the crazy person who posted an illegible rant — calling me a bitch, no less — on one of my social networking homepages. A lot of my blogger and online writer friends get hate mail, death threats, insulting/crazy emails, stalkers, marriage proposals, etc. (And book deals, speaking invitations, media attention…) I’m not eager to attract any crazies, but I’m relieved to finally have my first online insult out of the way. Hopefully my blogger badge will arrive in the mail soon.

Here’s to a happy, movie-filled 2008 for us all!

happy holidays

I hope this holiday season is full of friends, family, food and fun. And great gifts. Can’t forget the gifts!

My holiday haul satisfied all of my personalities…my girlie-girl side got pajamas, lotions and potions, and more lip gloss than one person can use in a lifetime; my film fan side got movie tickets and a stack o’ DVDs; and the book lover in me got a Borders gift card and a huge reference book (about TV shows, for my inner couch potato).

Plus the gift basket from my sister, the culinary school grad. Fa-la-la-la-YUM.

Happy holidays everyone!

happy holidays

Was kidnapped by Santa and am being forced to work in elves’ workshop. Cobbling shoes is hard work. Constant supply of cookies and milk help somewhat.

Hope to escape soon.

is thanksgiving over already?

We’ve all heard and read the stories about people getting sleepy after eating turkey. It seems that merely buying a turkey puts one to sleep as well. Either that or someone slipped something in my tea, ‘cos I’ve slept about fourteen hours a day since Tuesday. I’d be asleep right now if it wasn’t for pesky things like work, bills, laundry and email.

Friends and family were ignored, calls and emails went unreturned, deadlines were missed, pies from scratch became frozen pies from the grocery stores, and so on. I managed to read one book (Darkness Falls – liked it alot — review pending) and watched the Law and Order marathon on TV.

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving too.

tgif

It’s been an odd week.

Earlier this month I returned to my Real Job after a six-week absence and managed to work an entire four days before getting sick and being told by the doctor to stay home. So I missed four days of work. I came back on Monday and have worked four days this week. Today will be the fifth day of working, as long as I can break the four day cycle that has come into existence. I’m a little worried that I’m gonna get hit by a truck before I make it safely into the office this morning.

And it’s pretty weird that it was more difficult for me to catch up this week after only four days than it was originally to catch up after six weeks. I don’t get it.

It’s also been a week of coincidences.

**On Sunday I posted here about Cary Elwes not looking the same as he did in The Princess Bride and then a couple of days later, the blog Talking Moviezzz writes about the 20th anniversary of The Princess Bride. Twenty years already!! I guess that explains what I wrote about.

**On Monday, I posted here about Brittany Snow being honored by the Gasparilla Film Festival in February and then the next day local film critic Steve Persall posted the same news on his blog. That’s not the coincidence, because news is news and multiple blogs will write on the same topic or share the same info. No, the co-inky-dink is that Persall posted the exact photo of Snow that I came thisclose to posting here. After looking at several photos, I narrowed it down to two pics…thought long and hard…couldn’t decide…realized I was spending way too much time deciding….and posted one. And Persall posted the other one.

**The writers and readers of a local blog I write for are getting together tonight. And so are the writers and readers of a local website I write for. Tonight.

Months and months — years? — of sitting at home and now I have two events to attend in the same night. I know, I know, spend some time at one event and some time at the other…easy solution, quit my whining. That’s what I’m going to do. It’s just that both of these get-togethers are events where I want to spend every minute there, to be the first one to arrive and the last one to leave.

Unless there’s some incredible time manipulation/cloning/virtual reality device invented and perfected by 5 p.m. today, I’m planning to go here first for a couple of hours and then head here.

**Speaking of writing for local websites, my FANGRRL column over at CrazedFanBoy.com last week was about the fall TV season so far. I griped a little bit about how disappointed I’ve been in NBC’s new show Bionic Woman. So guess what happened next? (Hint: it involves a coincidence.) Yesterday local media critic Eric Deggans posted on his blog his analysis of what is wrong with Bionic Woman.

I told you it was an odd week. If only I could use this new superpower of mine for the good of humanity. Or at least my own personal gain.

I’ll give it a try:

I am officially posting, here and now, that no one in the world will go hungry ever again and that Britney Spears will always wear underwear. (This is the “good for humanity” part, but I must confess that both of these would make me happy and Spears really needs some undies.)

Also, I will win the biggest lottery jackpot in history, be able to eat whatever I want without gaining a pound, and age gracefully. (This, of course, is the “personal gain” portion, although you could make the argument that some of this might also benefit humanity.)

I’ll let you know how it goes.

back in a few days

Four weeks after surgery and *now* I’ve developed a sinus infection (my allergist blames the hospital) and *now* my surgeon thinks that the problems I’ve been complaining about since the surgery have been there all along, pre-surgery, and I’ve just “never noticed.”  (WTF?)  (Note to my doctor: it’s ok to use the phrase “I don’t know” instead of making up crap.)

So I’m off for another round of tests and bloodwork — fun, fun — so I’ll see you sometime next week.

All things being equal, I’d rather be blogging.

i’m back, mostly

Here I am!  Did you miss me?  I missed blogging, although I must admit to enjoying the break (if you call major surgery a “break”).  Let’s see… 271 emails (and that’s after deleting the ones that I could get by with not reading)…5 DVDs that I’ve received in the mail to watch and review…

I think I need another break…

out for a while

I’ll be out on medical leave until the beginning of October or so. Please check back then (and keep your fingers crossed for me in the meantime!).

UPDATE 9/11/07:  Check out www.caringbridge.org/visit/lisac for way too much info (if interested).

thank you

Thank you for all the notes of support and well wishes regarding my crazy busy life. My mom is still in the hospital, but is doing much better. I appreciate your comments and emails!

Also, thank you to all of you who voted for TFF for Best Local Blog in Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay poll. I haven’t had the time to answer each of your emails, but I want you to know that I appreciate your voting for me.

Now turn that movie back on!