I hate it when you can’t find out what movies will be playing at a theater beond the present week’s offerings. The theater over in Pullman has ‘coming soon’ listings on their website (and the film I want isn’t coming soon), but the theater in Moscow? Nada. You can’t get anything beyond the current week on Fandango, either.

I just want to know if Changeling is going to be playing around here, dammit!

P.S. Quantum of Solace in little over a week, woot!

Take tissues.

It was very good, but depressing as hell. I can’t say too much without getting spoilery. I recommend it, though!

One random note: The dishes Robert Neville uses in the film are the dishes Barrett got us for our wedding. :)

Guess what movie I’ll be watching tonight…

A must-see if you haven’t already. Though, you might have a hard time finding it to rent tonight. :)

Yep. The Po showed up a little while ago…

Mistaken identity, though. No fun! Turns out the officer (single responder) was looking for the other half of the duplex (wow… thank God I’m not Cory Maye) for some family drama relating to one of the visiting teenagers over there. Booooring.

The lulz came just now, when Mike and I were sitting on the couch, and I said, “That cop seemed like a pretty nice guy,” and Mike replied… “Yep. I bet he’s a perfectly nice guy. Probably donates to charity and helps out with the Boy Scouts and a bunch of other stuff that I would totally agree with. Hell - I’d probably buy him a beer! But when the order comes to go out and violate the Constitution, he’ll probably get right on it, and then I’ll have to kick his ass.”

Okay… maybe you had to be here.

On an unrelated note, we’re watching the PBS documentary PBS wouldn’t air.

“Muslims Against Jihad”. A Denmark Muslim was on a little while ago, talking about how his parents were insisting he honor-kill his sister for wanting to marry a non-Muslim or something equally ridiculous. Doubleyou-tee-eff. Really.

Summer Blockbuster Roundup

We saw Live Free or Die Hard the other day. Lots of ’splodey things, lots of Bruce Willis (swoon) and lots of Mac-nerd. I was pleased. Definitely worth the matinee price and 99% sure it’s worth the evening showings. Pretty much pure fun.

Now… as for Transformers: THAT MOVIE KICKED ALL THE ASS. I wasn’t a Transformers watcher as a kid, though Mike was. I expected lots of cheesy, unnecessary humor (a la the Spiderman trilogy, which I didn’t like), mediocre special effects, and an overall “kiddie flick” feel.

WRONG!

It was unusually pro-American (compared to other current movies), completely chock-full of some of the best special effects I’ve ever seen, and not cheesy. Period. There were a couple very brief moments of campy dialogue, but it was so overshadowed by the overall movie that it didn’t bother me at all. The likeable characters, were, the bad guys were, quite so, and… Yes. Very yes. Go see it, and see it again. It was great.

Wedding Countdown

This time, four weeks from now, I will be about an eight-hour veteran of the whole Mrs. thing. I can think of worse things to be. :)

Feedback request: any ceremony suggestions? Readings, write our own vows or not, etc? It’s all 100% up to us, since we have a friend doing the ceremony… I’m thinking perhaps a passage from Gates of Fire and something from letters between John and Abigail Adams. Maybe a Bible verse or two, too, though I don’t want to do anything too stereotypical. I’m a smidge infatuated with Proverbs 31:10-31, though, so maybe I’ll work that in.

PFT

I’m working up to PT with Mike (more on exactly why, coming soon…) but have a long ways to go. Still, I got 46 crunches in two minutes (yes, sucky, but considering the fact I haven’t done any crunches in… months - not too bad for Day No. 1) and am up to a 20 second flexed-arm hang. My upper body strength has been historically poor, but I’m making quick progress with the flexed-arm hang, so I’m pretty happy with that. I have not yet attempted a run. That is going to suck.

Was not very good. That’s really all I can say. Maybe worth the matinée price, but make sure you watch POTC 2 first (even if you’ve seen it before) or you’ll probably be a little lost.

Definitely the worst of the three, IMHO.

Ya like degs? — Degs? — Y’know, degs? — Oooooh, DOGS.

Mike and I are currently dogsitting for my friend Robby, who is out of town for the night. His big black lab, Parker, is parked (hurrr, a pun) in my living room, alternating between fearing Joey and wanting to eat Gipper. Somebody riddle me this - why do big dogs let Joey get away with being the little asshole he is? I keep a careful eye on them to make sure Joey doesn’t get eaten, but sheesh - he deserves it. Yet time after time, his bigger counterparts cower or avoid him.

Of course, this makes me want a big dog! I’ve been looking for one for a while, but Mike still isn’t sold on the idea. Hopefully he enjoys having Parker here, and he’ll change his mind… And my evil plans will succeed. ;)

PCU

We just watched PCU, which I’d never seen before. I enjoyed it. Then Daniel tried to watch Formula One racing, but I put my foot down about that… I hate car racing.

Easter

It looks like we’ll be barbecuing with friends, pretty low-key. I believe the Lutheran church I like is having a sunrise service, but I doubt I’ll go.

Work/School

I’ll be picking up a little extra work for Palouse Scoots, some more advertising as well as hopefully improving the website. I might eventually get into floor sales, depending on how busy things are. I’m going to have a hectic first few weeks of summer, because I’m planning on taking three month-long classes - nine credits of compacted courseloads. I’m hoping to not work at all for that month, but I’m not 100% sure how things are going to work yet.

Great or awesome?

I’m watching it for the second time, and it gives me fits. Maybe I should be an asshole lobbyist for a living.

ETA: The AdSense ads that are appearing on this post are ironic to the max.

I can never get that two and a half hours back, can I?

Wow. Unparalleled suckage.

That is all.

Getting paid to do things I do anyway:

I think I officially qualify as one of those people they talk about on NPR, working two jobs, just scraping by…

Just kidding. I am gainfully employed x2, however - the new gig? Ride around on the scooter once a week, look cute, and hand out fliers.

God, I love being me.

Really though, that’s it. I’m official public relations for Palouse Scoots. I get to ride around at UI and WSU, talk to people, look marvelous, and hand out fliers and such. And yes, I’m getting paid for this.

Did I mention I love being me?

In case you’re curious, the scooter I own is the Classic 150, except mine is a flashy metallic pink color. Hence the necessary visibility for the job.

Random medical news:

This is disturbing. I would call the link work safe. Mike and I have had several conversations about this condition since I showed him the article - what if you were having a romantic evening, and your new significant other decided to rub your feet? How do you explain that? I wonder if she ever got pedicures? I mean… eww?

AR-15 (non)progress:

No new purchases yet. I know, I know - what am I waiting for? The thing is, this is going to be my baby, my pride and joy. I already warned Mike I’m going to love it more than I love him. Thus, it has to be perfect - I want it to all fit together just the way I want it. Plus, there are so many things to consider - do I want flip-up sights on front and rear? Just on the rear? Neither? Removable carry handle, or none at all? Set it up to allow for optics, or cross that bridge when I come to it - which Mike insists I will? (I don’t care for optics, so…) I mean - I haven’t even settled on a barrel length for sure. I’m either going with 16″ with the midlength upper or 20″ with full rifle. I just don’t know!

What I do know: no broomstick, no handguard rails/open handguard (I prefer to not have mud/sand/dirt caked around my barrel, kthx), no… Okay, that’s about all I know for sure. All the rest depends on the aforementioned length/optics/etc. criteria.

But I want it nowwwww!

Heeeeeeere’s Johnny!

Mike’s about to make me watch The Shining, which I openly admit I have not yet seen. Yes, I mean like ever, in my whole life. Time to make some popcorn!

Southwest Airlines

And I always do. And I always regret it.

The latest round of drama has started, and I’m not even to the airport yet. I was talking with my cousin tonight, and she mentioned something about me being there for St. Patrick’s Day. Um… no, I’m going to be in Seattle at a pub, not Prohibition County, USA - c’mon now. She swore up and down that my itinerary said Monday to Monday, so I went and looked it up - lo and behold, that’s exactly what my confirmation email said.

Here’s the problem: I made a reservation for Monday to Friday. I guarantee I did not select a flight on the 19th, for two reasons - 1) I know what day St. Patrick’s Day is, and I made a point of choosing a flight that would return in time to celebrate in Seattle. 2) I have to be at school and work on Monday - I wouldn’t choose a flight that had me getting into an airport five hours away on Monday evening! It doesn’t make any sense, and for once in my life I am absolutely positive that I did not screw this one up. Somewhere between the confirmation screen at Southwest.com and the confirmation email that came to me, something got switched.

So, I called Southwest, and to make a long story short there was “nothing they could do.” I’m sure they don’t believe me - they probably get this kind of thing all the time, and I have no way of proving their system switched me instead of screwing it up myself. To change my flight to Friday cost me $94. I’m thinking the $100 I spent at Victoria’s Secret today was a mistake… (Okay, no, that was a necessity. I seriously needed new bras… I just wrote “bars” instead of “bras.” Time for the twelve step program for me…)

Anyway, if this were just a matter of being here for St. Pat’s, I might have said screw it and saved myself $94. I have to be back for school and work, though, so I had to change the flight one way or another - chalk it up to lessons learned, the lesson being “Don’t buy tickets through Southwest Online EVER AGAIN.”

I will be writing a letter to Southwest expressing my displeasure; I’m a fairly frequent flier and I’m disappointed their service is taking a turn for the Alaska/Horizon style. I’m hoping though customer service was all “nothing we can do about it,” somebody in corporate will at least spot me a gift certificate or something. If they don’t, I doubt I’ll be flying Southwest again for a long time.

Google

Get this - yesterday a Google search for Laurel Zimmer brought up LaurelZimmer.com as the #47 result. Today? I’m #1. That’s quite the jump - I didn’t expect to shoot up in the page rankings that fast. Lucky for me, there apparently aren’t any famous Laurel Zimmers (no offense to the other Laurel Zimmers out there) so for once my uncommon name is actually helping me out.

300 - Again

We (Sara, her friend Chad, and myself) went to see 300 today. It was the second time for both Chad and me, first for Sara - I cried like a baby again. This excursion also gave me the opportunity to discuss World of Warcraft with Chad, a fellow player, and watch it go right over non-gamer Sara’s head. I love that. :)