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Small Talk: a.k.a. 'The Meet Market'


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I'm so glad to see all the Jane Eyre love. I had to read it in high school and like many novels I had to read then, I didn't actually read it. I think I read the first 100 pages and the last 50 so I knew what it was about. Same with Pride and Prejudice, Dante's Inferno, Portrait of the Artist and a bunch of other stuff I love now. Living in New York City and riding the subway for five years helped me rediscover all of those and then some. I even dragged the huge Lord of the Rings anthology around on the subway, but I got through it!

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I first read "Wuthering Heights" in 7th grade, and I didn't like it. I think I just wasn't old enough to appreciate its themes. But I had to read it again in 12th grade, and I liked it a lot then.

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I think Wuthering Heights is interesting as a character study, but I definitely don't read it as a romance. I'm not even sure it was intended as a romance because the whole point seems to be about how screwed up these people all were.

 

I liked The Tenant of Wildfell Hall a lot, though I think the narrative structure is kind of odd -- it was something like a letter being written about a story that was told, and then partway through the book the story that was being told was about some letters that had been read. Still, that book is more of a true case study of what it would really be like to be married to the dark and dangerous man, all the fantasy stripped away.

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I loved "Wuthering Heights" so much! I first read it in AP English my senior year of high school. It was quite the entertaining read. I feel like it had it's soap opera-ish moments. The best part was how the book was driven by Cathy's and Heathcliff's twisted, obsessive love.

The Laurence Olivier adaptation is probably my favorite. I'm happy we get to see them reunite in the movie. My mom's favorite adaptation is the newest PBS/BBC one they put out 5 or so years ago. I didn't care for that one though.

It always intrigued me how very few of the adaptations cover the entire story (pressed for time I suppose). It kinda makes me sad, because then you don't get to see the full extent of Heathcliff's twisted obsession through all his nefarious plans and such.

Sadly that's the only Bronte book i've read. I've seen the old adaptation of Jane Eyre though, with Joan Fontaine I think it was...

I also love the Austen books. This may be an unpopular opinion, but "Emma" was one of my least favorite books out of the group. I think I enjoy the adaptations more. I don't know. My two favorites are "P&P" and..."Mansfield Park," the latter not getting as much love as it should in my opinion. I loved it! Probably because I identified with Fanny the most (she was pretty introverted). It upsets me because I don't think any of the adaptations have done "Mansfield Park" justice, especially Fanny as a character.

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I liked the 1995 "Sense & Sensibility" as well. Has anyone here read "Becoming Jane Austen?" It was the basis for the movie "Becoming Jane". I enjoyed the film and the book, but regard the film especially as nothing but elaborate conjecture. It has been a while since I read the book, but the details about Austen's life as a single woman and author in such a patriarchal time is very interesting reading.

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Completely off topic.  (Sorry.  Really.)

 

Has anyone else noticed the Sprint commercial with the screaming goat?  I know the point of it is to get the viewer's attention--and it did--mostly because it makes me jump and shudder every time.  I remember it, all right.  But it makes me cringe and then makes me angry at the company.  Even if I were wiling to purchase their product before the commercial, I'm about 58% less likely to do so, now.

 

I realize I'm not the market they're going for, but does that commercial actually work?  Am I missing something?

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There are plenty commercials that I just for lack of better words despise.

 

But I absolutely love this one.  It also makes humans look like a bunch of idiots.

 

Be together not the same

 

I also can't stand Jane Austen.  I hated it when I had to read it for my English lit class and I can't go anywhere near her books still.  I think I'm still traumatized by my English teacher.   I do love Sense and Sensibility and it is still one of my favorite movies to this day.  And I'm not a fan of Shakespeare's either.  I also managed to misspell his name.

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I hate any commercial that has a doorbell, because it freaks out the cats and makes them run.

Forget the cats. That makes me run and then I wonder if I was doorbell ditched and then I realize it's the TV.

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I love that Android commercial (even though I loathe my Android phone with a burning passion). I have to stop what I'm doing and watch whenever it comes on. But it also makes me pissed off again at this show for ruining Robin Hood because that's the song from the Disney Robin Hood, who as a cartoon fox is still a better Robin Hood than that creepy loser adulterer we're stuck with.

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Does anybody have any strong feelings about the Oscar races? Of the movies with major nominations, I've only seen The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Boyhood and Gone Girl. Of those, I liked The Theory of Everything the best. I haven't seen Michael Keaton in Birdman, but I thought Eddie Redmayne was fabulous in ToE. He had so much to deal with physically as well as ACTING.

 

I spent most of Boyhood being freaked out about how much the kid looked like a mini Ethan Hawke.

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Does anybody have any strong feelings about the Oscar races? Of the movies with major nominations, I've only seen The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Boyhood and Gone Girl. Of those, I liked The Theory of Everything the best. I haven't seen Michael Keaton in Birdman, but I thought Eddie Redmayne was fabulous in ToE. He had so much to deal with physically as well as ACTING.

 

I spent most of Boyhood being freaked out about how much the kid looked like a mini Ethan Hawke.

I saw Gone Girl, which I thought was even better than the book and Rosamund Pike was great. I could see her winning, but mostly because that character was so complex.

 

Other than that I've only seen Birdman, which I loved. I have sentimental feelings for Michael Keaton because of Beetlejuice, Batman, Night Shift, Mr. Mom, etc. So, he might get some sentimental votes from the Academy, but he was pretty amazing in Birdman and is a very strong contender for Best Actor. As far as the film, it's shot beautifully in and around the Broadway theater. Where one scene ends, the next scene begins so you feel like you're following the characters around throughout the days and getting to know them intimately.

 

I wish I had seen The Theory of Everything, but I just didn't have a lot of interest in Boyhood or American Sniper.

 

Oh, and I loved Grand Budapest Hotel, and Ralph Fiennes in that. Not Best Picture, but very entertaining.

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I don't know what happened, but I just haven't been interested in movies in recent years. I think it's a combination of having kids, which makes it more complicated to just go see a movie, and m increasing DVR addiction. Why go to the movies when I need to catch up on Game of Thrones?

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Everyone in my family fills out an oscar ballot and we see who gets the most right. Whoever wins typically gets some time of treat/food. My brother requested an angel food cake one year, and last year I won so I requested some key lime dessert. Nothing fancy.

Going to the cinema is kinda too expensive these days for us, so we only really get to see 1/2 movies a year. We typically wait to rent. Also, you're lucky if any of the movies are rentable by the time of the oscars.

It'll be an interesting year though.

I'm torn between Michael Keaton and what's-his-face from the Theory of Everything winning. I haven't seen either of their movies but I think Keaton won the golden globe and the other one won the SAG award if I remember correctly.

Julianne Moore does look like she has her award locked down.

The only movies I've seen are HTTYD2 (which I think will win), Into The Woods, and I'm watching GotG tonight.

The Grand Budapest seems like it has a chance of winning the most awards though (like production, costuming, etc.) because it did well at some of the award shows. Kinda like how that one year Hugo won a bunch of the production and technical categories.

One of my main gripes about the Oscars though is the cut off point for what movies can be nominated. I wish they would go from Jan. 1st 2000-whatever to Dec. 31st of that year. I do not like it when certain movies are nominated for oscars and then are released like a few days before the awards show (like Zero Dark Thirty was a couple years back). It's a new year, therefore those movies should be included in the following awards show.

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One of my main gripes about the Oscars though is the cut off point for what movies can be nominated. I wish they would go from Jan. 1st 2000-whatever to Dec. 31st of that year. I do not like it when certain movies are nominated for oscars and then are released like a few days before the awards show (like Zero Dark Thirty was a couple years back). It's a new year, therefore those movies should be included in the following awards show.

I think you mean limited release, right? All those random movies come out in New York and LA at the end of December to make the cut, but the wide release isn't until a month or so later. So you get the release date all set and then you get the "Oscar buzz" to promote the movie when it goes to wide release.

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I guess maybe I do mean limited release? I don't know. I think I'd rather they use the wide release dates, unless the movies were a solely limited release (then they could go ahead and use the original release date).

But I suppose that would make a mess of things. I just don't like sitting through the oscars seeing a movie win stuff, when it hasn't really been released for everyone to see yet. Although, the general public doesn't matter when it comes to the Oscars.

I suppose I'm just too competitive when it comes to Oscar predictions.

How are we supposed to fill out our oscar prediction ballots with as much accuracy as possible if we don't even have the chance of seeing some of the movies????

Please ignore me. For some reason it just bugs me so much. I'll admit I'm petty.

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I've barely seen any movies this year, and none of the Oscar contenders. I have HBO, and between all the various flavors of HBO and HBO OnDemand, I can generally catch up with anything I care to see, without having to deal with people, and I can do other things while I watch (it's hard to knit in a movie theater). I have to be really excited about something, and it needs to be the kind of thing best experienced on a big screen, before I bother to go to the theater. And there's even a theater within walking distance of my house. I've been trying to remember all the movies I saw last year, and I think it was just How To Train Your Dragon 2, Guardians of the Galaxy, Into the Woods, and the last Hobbit movie.

 

I am planning a walk to the movie theater for the live-action Cinderella.

 

I doubt I will be paying any attention to the Oscars.

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Hoodlum -- I agree with that and think it's even worse with the Golden Globes. Oh, the 70 of you who vote for these awards are the only people who saw it in limited release? OK! The only redeeming thing is the actors all get drunk. :-)

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I've always found the broadcasting of award shows weird. It's like, we're going to broadcast to you (the tv viewing audience) a real life awards program that has nothing to do with you or your life. It's an award show about us the actors, writers, directors, producers and everyone who is not you, wherein we give each other accolades, show off how fabulous we look in the dresses and suits and on this bright red carpet, and then we'll pat each other on the back for it all and you all at home get to watch it and gossip about it, but your opinion doesn't really matter and really this has nothing to do with you or your life. Thank you for watching us give awards to each other. Don't you feel lucky, everyone who's not us?

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Thank you for watching us give awards to each other. Don't you feel lucky, everyone who's not us?

(I feel like I should be saying this in a little, tiny voice)   Thank you.  I might be a curmudgeon, but I am at least not alone in it.  It's not that I hate movies or performers, it's just that it's all so . . . pompously self-congratulatory.

 

I love checking out the clothes, but am not sure I can put up with Kathy Griffin taking Joan River's place  to watch Fashion Police afterwards, so am probably even skipping the clothes this year.  Can't say I was a huge Rivers fan, but she was comfortable insulting absolutely everybody, including herself, without worrying about who she'd offend.  That's rare.

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Heading to Texas for a week to help move my brother back up to Michigan.

I suppose the only bad thing about this is that I'll need to stay internet/twitter free for a whole week, otherwise all the tv finales (agent carter, parks and rec, htgawm) will get spoiled. Also, I'll be way behind on the discussions. I'm petty like that.

We should be back in time for Once's return though.

I've never been to Texas, so it'll be interesting. I've heard it''s around the 50s in temperature down there currently? Which means short and t-shirt weather!

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I've never been to Texas, so it'll be interesting. I've heard it''s around the 50s in temperature down there currently? Which means short and t-shirt weather!

Depends on where you are in Texas and what part of what day it is. At the moment in North Texas, it's in the lower 60s, but a front is coming through tomorrow, so it will be one of those drop 20-30 degrees in a few hours kind of days. Sunday is supposed to maybe make it into the upper 30s, with a possibility of sleet/wintry mix overnight Sunday into Monday morning. And then it will warm up again. So basically, bring shorts and a winter coat because you'll probably need both, depending on the day/time.

 

Where in Texas are you going? Depending on the region, I can provide food recommendations.

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I've lived in Houston, but it was long ago, so I don't know it well anymore. My brother lives there, so I tend to avoid it. If you're taking I-45 north from Houston, though, there's a good barbecue place in Centerville. It's actually a kind of meat market/store place, but you can get food to eat there, and their smoked pork chops are a work of art. Look for the giant smoker shaped like a revolver (yes, this is Texas).

 

I don't think the ice is supposed to get all the way down to Houston, so you should be okay unless you're driving north. There's a chance Dallas could be a nightmare. Or it could turn out to be nothing. It's hard to tell how things will go.

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It's been out of stock since it went on sale. As described in this Wall Street Journal article, the second printing was sold out before they'd even finished the print run. They are currently on the third printing now with the run being three times larger than the first two. The press is very, very small and they just were not expecting the response to it. Those who've read it say it's excellent and very interesting.

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(I feel like I should be saying this in a little, tiny voice)   Thank you.  I might be a curmudgeon, but I am at least not alone in it.  It's not that I hate movies or performers, it's just that it's all so . . . pompously self-congratulatory.

 

My thing with award shows is that they are so snobby about it.  Its like a movie that is comedy or genre has no redeeming value and the actors in those types of movies have no talent if you believe award shows.

 

I was reading an article the other day that said they increased the number of nominated films to ten to try to get more of the films that people actually go to see nominated; but it turned out that they just ended up adding five more niche films, year after year, that no one has ever heard of or gone to see.

 

I am at least going to watch they opening to see if NPH can top the 2013 Tony Awards but I'll likely bail after that.

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That's why I like the Emmys and the changes they recently made. Drama and comedy are different ways to act and the Oscar votetrs seem to not think there are any intelligent comedies out there. Ever. For many reasons, I prefer TV shows and the Emmys.

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I avoid award show like the plague now.  I used to watch every single one of them until I'd say my mid-20s.  Now it's just one of those things I wish would drop off the face of the earth especially since they managed to put in this reality show "stars" like the Kardashians as presenters.  I'm just not down with that at all.  I'll look at the dresses the next day which is about the only interesting thing.

 

Anyway, all that to say that I thought one of the best movies this year was The Grand Budapest Hotel.  Ralph Fiennes was really, really awesome and I don't believe he has been nominated for anything.  I'm also pretty sure I haven't seen any of the movies that have been nominated though I might give About a Boy a shot just because the concept sounds great.

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I went to a Supernatural convention yesterday and got a photo op with Jared and Jensen, then with Misha. They are oh so handsome. :) it was fun, lots of loud rock music. Even got a picture in front of an impala. Used no self control and bought a handmade glass pendant with the Jolly Roger on it, the emblem ,not the ship. Lol

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Has anybody read Pioneer Girl, the new Laura Ingalls Wilder biography? I was waiting to see if I got it for Christmas or my birthday, and now it's out of stock everywhere, it seems!

I did! I had to order straight from the South Dakota historical society. I loved it, but I'm a total nerd for annotated works. The Annotated Alice by Martin Gardener is still one of my all time favorite books.

Pioneer Girl is a great read. A little darker than the original series, less sugar coating of difficult times, and more of a sense of the rougher nature of the settlement of the Midwest. I found it a fascinating deeper dive, but I could understand if people who love the view of the books come away a little disenchanted with the less idealistic spirit of the original manuscript. If you are good with that, I would absolutely recommend it.

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Okay, where is everyone on this last weekday before the show returns? It's too quiet around here and I need distraction. I've been doing work around the house, but that allows me to think, and I'm trying not to do that right now. My dad was just diagnosed with congestive heart failure and my mom's in a tizzy about it (two tearful phone calls so far today). I can't even get to them to try to help keep my dad in line (he sees the cardiologist Monday but he's being stubborn about what his other doctor has told him he needs to do this weekend) because we're having a snow storm (well, for Texas, minor for the rest of the world, but the highways are nearly impassible) and my parents are getting freezing rain. I know there are treatment methods and that it should end up making him feel a lot better, but that doesn't stop me from worrying. And then I get mad at Regina all over again for murdering her father and apparently still having no regrets about it because it got her what she wanted.

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I'm so sorry about your dad, Shanna Marie! That is definitely upsetting news to get. Of course you're worried. I hope your dad will listen to his doctors -- I know that can be a challenge for some people. ::hugs::

 

People may be cranky about spoilers and distracting themselves elsewhere. That's what I've mostly been doing!

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I can't criticize my dad for his stubbornness because I'm almost as bad. I'm sure he's mostly "acting out" right now because he's scared and doesn't want to admit it. But he really digs in his heels when my mom tries to suggest that it might be good for him to do something, and one of my gifts as a grown-up Daddy's Little Girl who never took advantage of that fact is that I'm still able to wrap him around my little finger and get him to do what I want him to do and make him feel like it was his decision, so my mom often calls me in to play Dad Whisperer.

 

The thing that has me worried is his doctor gave him a list of symptoms to watch for and told him that if any of them happen over the weekend, he needs to go to urgent care immediately. He started grumbling about how he wasn't going to do it and he could wait for his appointment on Monday. That's where I might have been helpful over the weekend. I could have known what to look for and could have forced him to go to urgent care and could have backed up my mom. But I think my mom would have a heart attack if I tried to drive in this weather. I think my mom will call me if there's something she's worried about so I can give the order to go to the doctor. I used to do medical writing and worked at a medical school long ago, so my parents act like I'm a medical expert, and sometimes that works.

 

It's just hit me that both of my parents had lost a parent by the time they were the age I am now. I'm not sure I'm ready to move into this phase of life, being the grown-up looking after aging parents.

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I'm getting into that phase of life as well, and it's definitely challenging and upsetting on several levels, especially as an only child. It sucks that the weather is keeping you from them, but there's clearly nothing to be done about that. I imagine you will be on the phone a lot this weekend!

 

You're probably right about your dad being scared; I'd imagine it's a subconscious way to exert some control over a situation he feels like he doesn't have control over. I hope your mom will watch him like a hawk for those symptoms. One of the challenges with my mother, for example, is that she is so determined not to be a burden or worry anyone that she sometimes doesn't say when something is the matter. 

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One of the challenges with my mother, for example, is that she is so determined not to be a burden or worry anyone that she sometimes doesn't say when something is the matter.

That's my dad. My mom had to start going to doctor appointments with him because she found out that when the doctor asked him how he was doing, he'd reply, "Fine," because he didn't want to be a bother. He was treating it like a social question. So the doctor had no idea how bad his condition was. His doctor learned to ask for her to be there and to ask her questions after one time when he said "fine" and she pointed out the reason he'd made the appointment. He got a lecture from the doctor about how it's not a social question when he asks it, and he can't help if he doesn't know that something's wrong -- in fact, he's wasting the doctor's time if he doesn't tell everything. It was the reminder that instead of being a burden, he was wasting the doctor's time that finally made him a little better about it, but this is the reason that he didn't have his severe rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed until recently. He was in terrible pain but didn't want to sound like a whiner, so he didn't say anything about it to his doctor.

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Thanks for letting me vent. I needed to get my freakout out of my system so I can be calm and steady for my mom. Facebook isn't an option because I'm from a very small town where my dad was a teacher for a long time, and I don't think he'd want his business shared among his former students and colleagues (I'm Facebook friends with a lot of my former classmates and teachers). My real-world friends are of the "it's a problem, and I must solve it!" persuasion, so they'd inundate me with links to web sites with useful information and offer suggestions, which I don't really need right now. For one thing, there's a good chance I wrote those web sites, or at least earlier versions of some of the information on them, so I have the information or know how to get it. Now I feel a lot steadier.

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