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We were at dinner with some friends last night and I mentioned that Mr. T and I were going ring shopping this weekend.
"Wait," one of them said, "You don't have a ring?" I held out my left hand and explained that it was a "placeholder" ring (because I am HM and demanded that I pick out my own).
"Oh, it's FPO," someone said, and we all laughed. And then I couldn't believe we didn't think of that joke earlier, with Mr. T being a designer and me being in book publishing. If our trip Saturday is successful, we won't be able to use it for much longer, so I thought I'd put it up here, along with a helpful image:
I love designer/book geek humor. There's a great video about fonts here; if you're as geeky as we are you'll love it.*Note: FPO means "for position only." This term is used when a designer or typesetter doesn't have final art or photos, but puts an image in the document/website/etc. to show size and placement, or sometimes just to hold space so that when the real image comes in, the text won't have to move around--the FPO is the exact same size as the real image, so you just swap the files.
Okay, I've been reading the Offbeat Bride blog for months now and thoroughly enjoying it, so I thought I'd read the book, too.
This book was a quick, easy read. I really enjoyed the author's candid confessions and sometimes blunt language--I actually laughed aloud while I was reading this. Reading this book is like having a conversation with your girlfriends, which makes it very unlike the other wedding books out there.
In terms of actual wedding advice that I'd use, I don't know that I gained anything there. The author approaches it less like, "this is how you should do it" than, "this is how I did it, and here are a few extra ideas that you might consider." It did confirm my decision not to get entangled in the wedding industrial complex, but I also have girlfriends who can confirm that!
Even though I didn't come away with tons of ideas for my own wedding, I really enjoyed this one. I highly recommend it to any Offbeat Bride--the author's a great writer, and her book is funny and moving and honest.
I have been reading Wil Wheaton's blog for awhile now (can't remember how I stumbled across it, though--maybe through his work at The Onion?), so I thought it might be fun to try reading one of his books. His blog is entertaining and well-written, and I expected the book to be more of the same.
Just a Geek is indeed entertaining and well-written, but it is other things too, and one of those is: pretty dark for a good 3/4 of the book. I wasn't expecting that.
JAG chronicles what happened to Wil after he left Star Trek and struggled to find work as an actor, support his family, and confront the inevitable term that faces many "child actors": has-been. You really empathize with him as he details both hating the Star Trek legacy while also believing it was the worst mistake of his life to leave the show. The book is raw and he confides the really ugly stuff that most people keep to themselves: the self-doubt, the grief, the anger. It's pretty powerful.
It's also pretty overwhelming. I get the idea of a story arc, but the dark felt like it went far past where it should have. It was like, dude, get some therapy. You can't keep wasting your life bemoaning a choice you made when you were 16! However, I sensed that a happy conclusion was coming, because as I said, I read the current blog, and the tone is different. Sure, there's snark about the industry, but it's not so dark, these days.
Things pick up after Wil decides to start a blog, and through the process of learning people are interested in reading about what he has to say, become a writer. And, if you're a geek like me, of course you'd like hearing all the Star Trek convention stories. Patrick Stewart sounds just a gracious as you'd imagine. And Brent Spiner sounds much funnier than you would imagine. It made me want to watch Trekkies again.
He also details his feelings about so many ST fans hating his character on the show...and why he thinks that happened (mostly, the writers didn't write for a teenager very well). There's one funny story about how when he was at a convention, he came across some "throw Wesley out the airlock" buttons (the vendor tried to hide them but didn't manage to do it in time), bought one, and wore it. You have to admire that, whatever your feelings about Wesley.
I thought the book was completely worth the read and will probably see if the library has his two other novels. If you were at all a Next Generation fan, I recommend this one!
I talked about this primer before, but I hadn't used it yet, so I couldn't tell you what I thought. I used this recently for a gig and I give it a thumbs up!
The Smashbox website says:
Create a perfect canvas for foundation application with this silky blend of vitamins A & E, grape seed extract and green tea. The totally unique formula helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and pores for visibly softer skin. Wear under foundation to increase its longevity, or alone for a velvety-smooth finish. Now available in a .5 oz travel tube for flawless skin on-the-go. Best of Sephora Award Nominee for Best Primer.
I have to say, it is silky. And I could feel the difference as I applied my foundation--it really just glided on. Color me surprised! I was sure that the hype was BS.
The downside is the price. Half an ounce, yes, you read that right, is $16 (yes, you read that right). For a girl like me, who loves makeup and new products and actually wears makeup all the time (with a somewhat legit reason to do it!), it wasn't so bad. I see the value in investing in quality products. However, if you don't wear makeup that often, skip this one. I'm unsure if it would contribute to clogging pores, also...I mean, it's one more layer. But I'll probably just wear it for gigs and to my wedding--not often enough to care overmuch about clogging.
If you're curious, I say go for it! Only, buy the travel size to make sure you like it. The full size is $36 (yes, you read that right!).
Two exciting actual wedding-task related things (see, you knew I'd get around to doing something one of these days):
The engagement party date was set, invites/the Evite went out, and people are RSVPing! It looks like my family won't be able to attend, unfortunately, but I'm excited anyway.
Mr. T and I set an appointment to go look at rings. Yep, in a little less than two weeks I will be trying on some bling. Not that I'm not fond of my little garnet. But I am super happy to be thinking about sapphires!
In not so good news, the venue is still in the air. We still don't know for sure about the football schedule, and the one venue I've tried contacting that's in a different area has been super flaky. Not a good sign. Well, I'll keep thinking positively...Send me some venue luck wishes!
First, in the grand tradition of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, let's talk about this cover. WTF is going on underneath the title? It seems almost like a reflection, but one that doesn't apply to his hands. It makes his torso look weirdly elongated, like he's some sort of snake bird man.
Also, having read the book, this cover has pretty much nothing to do with any of the short stories therein. I don't know why I'm surprised by that. There's one winged character, but it's a female.
I got this book out of the library because Amazon told me I would like it. Shame on you, Amazon. It contains 4 paranormal short stories--or rather, soft porn masquerading as urban fantasy. Sigh. I was clued in to the dubiousness of this book when I picked it up from the library and it had a "romance" sticker on the spine. Hm.
Not that I have anything against steamy love scenes. I just want them to be well written, and typically I don't want them to be the only thing in the book/story of any interest. The Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey does a great job at this--steamy and yet full of plot twists and intrigue. Oh, and the protagonist has a brain.
This book, on the other hand, featured pretty subpar writing, which made the love scenes even worse. I could see how some of the ideas behind the stories were good (a vet who can mentally communicate with animals, a guardian angel helping out a vampire, a woman covered in tattoos that protect her and leave her body to become demons at night, and warriors from lost Atlantis who protect humans). The tattoo story was the main reason I chose the book, and while it was probably the best, I don't think I'll be pursuing this author's work. The Atlantis one was probably the worst--crappy dialog, terrible writing, and it was hard to track what was going on; it seemed like a chapter in a larger novel set in the same world, hastily edited into short story form.
Also, and this is my own bias against short stories, the characters pretty much jump into bed with each other right away. I know there's not a lot of time for development in the short story format, but I found it all a little hasty. Take a girl on a date first, why don't you?
In summary, I do not recommend Wild Thing. Read at your own peril!
Next up: Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton. Totally looking forward to this one, since I love his blog.
Last night I met Mr. T at the grocery store after work. We were in the produce section, and Mr. T had just decided that the pears didn't look good, and was trying to find an alternate fruit.
I said, "What about these Jazz Apples? They look good."
Mr. T looked at me and said, "Jazz Apples."
Without another word, both of us turned to face the apples and did "jazz hands" at them.
This is why I love this man.
A friend of mine just forwarded me the following photo:
Mr. T would LOVE this. Since we're doing cupcakes for the actual wedding, this would definitely be a groom's cake option! His would be red, though, to match his drum set. Maybe we could put some finger cymbals on the top to represent me. ;-)
Google launched templates for an assortment of wedding planning documents. I haven't looked at them too closely, but there's a budget (of course), schedules, address lists, etc. I might be interested in using them b/c they'd be available all the time online...the bummer about our budget is that it's on my computer at home.
I think you can put any document into Google documents, though. I should check that out. It sounds better than re-doing our poor overworked budget.
Another old friend of mine is engaged. WTF? This is crazy.
Mr. T scheduled a meeting with me for this Saturday to talk budget again. It actually turned out to be less a meeting than a mutual work session--Mr. T looked over our account to determine how much each of us needed to put in the fund by next October, and I did another pass at the overall budget. I'm pleased to say I got the budget down by a couple grand, although of course none of these numbers will really be solid until we book a venue, plan out the menu, etc.
It wasn't our most romantic date, but we both felt better about money afterward.
Just learned yesterday that my former roommate got engaged recently (this weekend?). Have we all drunk the Kool-Aid, or what?
Congrats A-Dub!
Hilarious, no? Available from One Horse Shy, creators of the "bad grammar makes me [sic]" family of products.I love geeks.
Funny wedding photos here. My fave? Probably the first.
More on the origins of those odd wedding traditions here. Nothing totally surprising, but I liked the snarky tone.
At the recommendation of the lovely Ms. Maloria, I checked this Chris Moore novel out of the library recently, and I enjoyed it.
Moore's novels are very lighthearted, fun page-turners. Perfect summer reading. This one is also set in SF and features some of the same characters as You Suck, which I liked. It's about Charlie Asher, who is in the room with his wife as she dies, and he sees the man (Minty Fresh, a 7-foot tall man in a mint green suit who calls himself a "Death Merchant") come to collect the object that now houses her soul: In this case, a CD.
Charlie should not be able to see Minty, but he can, and after he does, odd things start happening--It turns out Charlie's been recruited to join the Death Merchants too (there was once a big "Death," but he's gone now, so there are multiple merchants in every city to do the work). He is responsible for retrieving "soul vessels" and selling them in his second-hand store to folks who don't have souls. I thought it was an interesting idea, that you could be an adult and yet still lack a soul, until the right one finds you or vice-versa.
Mixed in with Charlie bumbling around trying to learn the Death Merchant business is the story of him missing his dead wife and raising their daughter Sophie alone, with the help of his sister and his two neighbors. The book possibly focuses too much on Charlie being a "Beta Male" and what that means, but only by a little bit. Mostly it was funny (and very true). Sometimes, though, you got the impression that Moore just learned the term and was fascinated by it.
The novel contains the usual ridiculous plot twists and outrageous humor and snark, but this one felt a little different to me. As Charlie learns the biz, he learns a lot about death and dying, and human behavior. It added a lot of depth to the book. During the book Charlie's mom dies of cancer, and he and his sister have to go take care of her during her final days. Finally, at the end of the book Charlie also meets and quickly falls for a woman who studied with a Tibetan monk and can prolong life, or send a soul on its journey, or push a soul from one body into another. Of course, the woman also animates ridiculous creatures out of different animal parts and costumes them in Baroque outfits, but that's another issue. I was struck by how much research Moore had clearly done about death, dying, and death/funeral legends and practices of many cultures, but aside from that, I was struck by the heartfelt feeling of the book. Sure enough, at the end of the book there's a note that both he and his partner's moms had died recently.
Anyway, Charlie learns there's a prophecy that the forces of darkness will rise up in SF ("the city of two bridges") and that the newly risen big Death (titled the Luminatus) will battle them. Charlie starts to believe he is the Luminatus, but of course it's obvious that his daughter is. How, you ask? Well, number one: the cover. Number two: Sophie can kill people or animals by pointing at them and saying "kitty". Number three: A pair of hellhounds shows up out of nowhere to protect Sophie after one of the Morrigan attacks her.
So, of course the darkness (the Morrigan and their crew) rises, and Charlie goes off to fight them, and then Sophie, who's six years old by this point, has to come rescue him, and it's as satisfying an ending as you'd want for a potentially world-ending battle in the sewer system of San Francisco.
I loved all the crazy side characters almost as much as the main characters. They were ridiculous and quirky and awesome. I would totally recommend it, and I would definitely read Moore's other work, too.
Mr. T is reading You Suck right now and enjoying it. The couple that reads together...
Welcome to the latest installment of "the books I've borrowed from friends or the library instead of spending money on them on Amazon in order to help me save money for the wedding."
This particular book was lent to me by a friend. You may recall that I read In the Company of the Courtesan by the same author (and from the same friend!) and had mixed feelings about it.
I figured out what was missing from the other book: passion. The author told me how the dwarf was feeling, but as I learned from one of my college professors, "show, don't tell." There was a lot of telling and very little showing, which meant that the book didn't resonate with me emotionally at all, and felt hollow.
In The Birth of Venus, on the other hand, the author did a much better job. Perhaps it's that she could imagine being a rebellious teenage girl better than being a middle-aged dwarf?
The novel, which is set in Florence, is told from the perspective of a 14-year old merchant's daughter who has no desire to follow the typical path of her peers: marry and have children. Instead, she argues about philosophy, learns Latin and Greek, and other languages, and spends much of her time drawing (she is not allowed paints, but painting is what she most longs to learn to do). Her father brings home a painter to work on their chapel, and Alessandra is of course fascinated by him. She corners him several times, risking getting caught by her parents or the servants, and tries to get him to teach her how to paint and draw.
The book is set in the 15th Century. Throughout the course of Alessandra's narrative, the city is slowly taken over by a monk who decries the sinfulness, vanity, and pride of the city. Women are expected to stay at home, and households are required to give up valuable vanity items to be burned, because they are ungodly. The city is also stricken by a plague, an invasion by the French, and a serial killer. It's quite a busy little plot! In the meantime Alessandra concedes that she must be married in order to be protected from either being sent to a nunnery or targeted by the French invaders. What she doesn't realize, until her wedding night, is that she has been married off to her brother's middle-aged lover. She feels horribly betrayed, and it worsens her already terrible relationship with her brother. She also ends up having an affair with her father's chapel painter, which of course you could see coming. What I didn't understand was why her husband got so upset--he did say she could take her own pleasure so long as she was discreet. She wasn't so discreet, but what 14-year-old would be? I could see wanting to ensure that your heir was actually your child, I guess. Still, it was odd since he was shagging her brother all the time.
The novel is enlivened mostly by the relationships between the women--Alessandra struggling to understand her sister, Alessandra enlisting her slave, Erila in helping her obtain painting supplies, and especially Alessandra talking to her mother about her desires for life. What Alessandra doesn't see until later in the novel is that her bold, headstrong, intelligent nature comes directly from her mother, who has tamed it in order to fit in with society. It was kind of reminiscent of Little Women (like Jo and her mother). There's an interesting twist where Alessandra figures out that her birth father and the man she was raised by are not the same people...infidelity apparently also runs in the family!
The other thing I enjoyed about the novel was all the descriptions of the art and artists of the era. Alessandra and her husband discuss politics and art as a matter of course, making it (almost) the perfect marriage for her.
The book ends with Alessandra's husband faking his death and running off with her brother. Alessandra and her child (the painter's daughter) go into an unusual convent where the nuns are allowed tremendous freedoms. Alessandra spends her time painting the convent's chapel and raising her daughter. Of course the painter looks her up, whereupon they hook up in her cell! I found that a little unbelievable, actually. Anyway, he stays around and helps paint the chapel, and finally he leaves, and she sends their daughter with him. There's also an interesting part where she tattoos a snake on her body after the painter put it on her with paint. Erila helps her get the needles and ink to make it permanent. She then writes her memoirs and then when the convent is taken over by stricter hands in her old age, decides to kill herself with Erila's help.
So, some strange twists, and a very busy plot, but it didn't feel too convoluted as I read, and I found Alessandra an enjoyable narrator. The language was lovely, also. I'm not sure I'll check out the author's other work, but I'm glad I read this one. I'm also curious about the painter's real identity--he is only ever known as "the painter" and Amazon seems to hint that his character is supposed to be a famous painter from history. Certainly the author doesn't hesitate to weave in characters from history, so I wonder why this mystery wasn't revealed? I'll have to Google it.
I'm not anticipating having a hard time picking music--if anything, the dilemma will be that we have too much music, as we did for our recent BBQ, when iTunes told me that our playlist had 13 hours of music, about double the amount needed. Mr. T and I both love music a lot, you see.
And unlike the narrator of this essay, thankfully we have pretty similar tastes in music! My favorite parts:
Good Lord. How can I marry this woman? She doesn't even own any songs in 5/4.
Maybe I should just pick a song that reflects our wedding theme: The Wizard's Role in an Android-Based Society.
Katie keeps reminding me that planning a wedding is all about compromise. And I agree that I don't necessarily have to approve the engineering specs for the wedding cake. I mean, it's enough that it's in the shape of the E.L.O. spaceship, but compromise on our song? Katie did say Sting. Sting would be about compromise the way carrot cake is about compromise. A dessert no one could possibly want, just to have dessert. I mean, I do respect that he decided to do "I Hung My Head" in 9/8 just to confuse the Memphis Horns, but how can I trust anyone with that kind of commercial success?
Hilarious. I love McSweeney's. Also, I should note that Mr. T loves carrot cake.
Every so often I Google "red wedding dress" to see what pops up. Here are some of my recent finds:
I kinda like the above dress, and it's even made by a regular wedding dress maker (which means made in China by underpaid workers, most likely). Here's what I like about it: the corset bodice, the criss-crossing straps on the bodice (there's no telling how this would look on a bustier girl, but it's so Grecian and lovely), and the skirt, which doesn't look like a wadded up mess. My reservations would be: strapless (which would be a joke on me, frankly), the ruching in the bust area, and the Cinderella ball-gown look of the skirt...part of me kinda likes that, the other part thinks it's just a little too much. I guess I'd have to try something like that on to know if I liked it or not.I also found this image on a photographer's site (I was bad and didn't keep track of which one):
The red of the gown is lovely, but this is a perfect example of why the Go Fug Yourself writers have anagrammed A Satin into I, Satan. Really, you look at satin in the wrong way and it instantly wrinkles. Very impractical.I also found this lovely bouquet while I was looking:
Perfect color, and I love the little branches. Beautiful!And, in a less serious vein, I found some alternative cake options for brides on a budget. 1. Donut cake decked out for a pirate wedding:
2. Hostess cake (Mr. T might actually want this. Hopefully he skips this entry...):
And finally, a symbol of what's wrong with the wedding industry:
As much as I bemoan the lack of space in our tiny apartment, I don't know that I'd go as far as this couple and live in a completely different apartment than Mr. T. I kinda get where they're coming from--I have a friend who lives in a little bungalow right next to her fiancee's bungalow, and that works great for them. And I'm a girl who likes her space. (Especially her closet space.)
I begged Mr. T to move in with me, and after he did (five years into our relationship), I realized that I was the one having a hard time adjusting to living together. It turns out those two nights a week he spent at his place had actually made a big difference to me after all (I was relating this story to a friend recently and Mr. T was in the room. He exclaimed, "You never told me that!" Whoops. Sorry, honey.).
Anyway, I adjusted, and we try hard to respect each other's space, although in a tiny apartment that's tricky. I look forward to the day when Mr. T's dresser is not directly behind the bathroom door. I also look forward to someday having TWO sinks in the bathroom. Or even separate bathrooms. One of our friends swears by that.
Regardless of all these little things, I don't think I could give up sleeping in the same bed every night. I would really miss that. I particularly love weekend mornings when we can wake up slowly and then we realize that the cats are in bed with us, too--just one cozy comfy little family.
So, yes, I'd like more space, but separate apartments? Not for me!
Mr. T and I are settling into being an established engaged couple. We are growing more comfortable with terms like "future wife" (or husband) and do a lot of teasing like "yep, that's who you're marrying." At a party this weekend one of our friends declared, "I've made it a policy never to sleep with friends," and Mr. T and I leaned forward so that we could see each other and we both winked at each other at the same time.
I knew it was risky when we started to date. Really, there was no going back. And I'm glad. So, while I can appreciate the caution, I can't say that I agree with the rule!
Anyway, when we first got engaged, I bought some books and magazines, and one of my friends gave me about 20 more magazines. The coffee table became so heavy that it was difficult to move it. I tore out pages and put them in pretty file folders and became overwhelmed with all of the details the articles said that I just had to include. One day I just stopped. It was a little bit like waking up from being brainwashed. None of the details in these magazines, once I stepped back from them, seemed to have anything to do with me or Mr. T. I did appreciate some of the timeline stuff, but I don't think total immersion in the bridal machine is the way to go.
In a seemingly unrelated piece of news, we have two fireplace screens. One is a pretty stained glass one that I found at Tuesday Morning in Idaho that doesn't sit flush to the fireplace (which is constructed of lumpy bricks), and behind the pretty screen is the other, a plain black wire one that was in the apartment when we moved in. We had the wire one, which is flimsy and tends to fall over, blocked with a plastic Harry Potter bucket full of pennies. If we hadn't blocked the way, the cats would have driven us crazy getting into the fireplace and emerging all sooty--I tell you this from experience.
Mr. T has been rolling all our (mostly his) spare change for the wedding fund and the Harry Potter pennies have come up again and again. "But if we roll those pennies, what will we hold the fireplace screen up with?" we keep asking each other. Still, we couldn't have those pennies go to waste, right?
Last week it dawned on me. "Let's use the wedding magazines to hold up the screen," I told Mr. T. His eyes lit up and within a couple of days I noticed that the magazines had vanished and the pennies were in the process of being rolled.
I don't know what the solution will be once we decide to recycle the magazines, but for now, they're out of sight, and we're getting some use out of the pennies, finally.
Although, even hammered, I don't think I'd end up like this.At the second venue we toured, we loved the wedding coordinator, who told us three or four horror stories about drunken fights and screaming brides. They were hilarious to hear, although I'm sure they weren't so fun to have to deal with.
I'm still recuperating from the weekend. I need another day off!!
In the meantime, I'm going to pull a Neil Gaiman and leave you with a list of links that I thought were interesting:
Here's yet another post on the Thriller wedding dance subject. After watching this video and cringing at the lack of synchronicity, I decided there's no way in hell I'm choreographing (or participating in someone else's choreography, a la Thriller) a dance for the wedding party. I would indeed turn into a bridezilla: "No, your arm's too high. You should kick higher right there and then spin. Remember, the zombie move is on the 7,8, and then head slides are on the 1." I would drive everyone crazy. I'm not sure what Mr. T and I are going to do for our first dance, since we never do partner dancing (just your average bootie shaking at the club, which I suspect neither of us wants to do for an audience of 100 of our family and friends). However, whatever we do, it won't be highly choreographed, or Mr. T would kill me. Really.
Planet Gordon was started by a groom-to-be. I've been slowly working my way through the archives from 2003, when he got engaged. He's a really funny writer and actually wrote a book called The Engaged Groom, which is reputed to be funny and accurate--weddings from the male perspective. I've been pondering getting it for Mr. T.
Zazzle does both custom wedding stamps and custom ties. Well, they do custom anything, but those two things caught my eye.
Carbon Footprint offers a wedding registry where guests can register to have trees planted in the UK or Kenya. Those country choices seem a bit random to me, but I like the eco-friendliness of the idea. They also have a carbon footprint calculator on their site, which I need to try out one of these days.
And finally, who doesn't love Peeps? Here are some in wedding garb. Enjoy.
It's early for this, but Mr. T and I are setting up a meeting with a potential photographer next week. I don't want to give any details too early, but I like what I've seen of this person's work, so it would be great if it worked out. More on that later!
Re: photography, I like the pseudo "photo journalistic" style that is so popular at weddings these days. Yes, I want the family shots to frame and put up around the house, but I also love detail shots of the rings, flowers, getting ready, and the unposed shots that just seem to capture the feeling of the day much better than the "standing in a group looking at the camera" posed shots ever will.
Offbeat Bride had a little ad for J. Scott Photography, a photographer in Indiana, today. The ad featured a red-dress bride; I've decided I definitely don't want my skirt to look like a crumpled piece of paper. Hooray! I made a decision.
I also don't like how uncomfortable the bride looks here.What I do love is this shot. LOVE it.
It speaks to the classicist in my soul.
As I mentioned, red is a very auspicious color for brides to wear in India. I am also considering having my hands henna'd for the big day--I love henna, and perhaps having it applied will force me to sit still when I'm probably going to need it the most (henna takes a long time to apply, and an even longer time to set into the skin).
However, as much as I love Indian culture, I have to admit that Mr. T would never agree to ride an elephant to our wedding ceremony, like a traditional Indian groom. He thinks elephants are dangerous, but I just love them.
But if any of you out there want to hire an elephant for your wedding, do visit Have Trunk Will Travel. They seem like they're genuinely concerned for the welfare of the animals--all the income goes toward their care.
Perhaps I will be able to persuade Mr. T to take me to the Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand one of these days (honeymoon?)--Elevate Destinations offers a stop at the sanctuary as part of their Southeast Asia trip. As a bonus, every Elevate Destinations trip benefits environmental preservation and community development.
If you haven't seen this movie and plan on seeing it, don't read this entry, 'kay?
Mr. T and I are big fans of SATC. I remember when we first started watching it--my ex-roomie's boyfriend at the time picked up a wire that was laying on our floor, plugged it into our TV, and voila! Free cable, including HBO! I don't know how we got free cable without having to shimmy up telephone poles to monkey with the wires, or bribe the cable guy, but at that time, it was such a decadent privilege. Mr. T and I would watch every Sunday night, and it was never enough--we couldn't wait for the next installment.
Samantha was my favorite character, of course, but in reality I figure I'm probably more like Miranda (sigh). Mr. T says that's not so, but he's biased.
We were super-excited to go see the movie, and mostly we really liked it. Someone had commented that it wasn't as edgy, and I agree. What made the series edgy, though? I think it was that they had such a limited time to get the stories across--a half-hour is just not a lot of time. They lost all the fat and the plots were zippy, the dialog sharp and to the point. The movie definitely lost some of that fast-paced feel. Especially because it was over two hours long!
The main plot point of the movie is Carrie's marriage to Mr. Big. First, because this is SATC, let's talk fashion. I kinda love the crazy bird on her head, but the dress does nothing for her boobs, frankly. I loved that she picked the NY library as her ceremony site, too. I would totally get married surrounded by books!!
In general, SJP looked emaciated. That was a little disturbing. After Big jilts Carrie, however, I think the skinniness came in handy. I read some review complimenting SJP on letting it all hang out while she's grieving the relationship, and it's true. She really looks bad. You believe her. I think everyone who's ever had a bad breakup can relate.
Because of that, it makes the scene where they get back together even less realistic. I mean, really? You'd go there AGAIN? Really? And of course they do get married, in a small city hall ceremony, and the girls surprise her afterward, and I was shocked that they seemed so happy. Like, this guy just screwed over your best friend for the umpteenth time and you're excited that they're married? REALLY?
Although, those blue shoes she wears to the city hall wedding are to die for. COVET. And I typically don't covet heels like that. They are just SO CUTE.
As for the other ladies, they get their smaller plotlines too. I related to Charlotte being afraid to be too happy for fear of something bad happening, and Miranda and Steve's struggles were totally understandable too, and I empathized with both of them. I kinda didn't get Samantha's dilemma. I just didn't see how such a strong character would end up dropping everything for a man, even Smith (although I must say, he's not aging as well as I thought he would). And I realized we didn't get one Samantha sex scene the entire film, which perhaps was the point, but it felt bizarre and very un-SATC. Although you have to give the producers props for allowing some male full-frontal nudity. When does that ever happen?
Finally, although the gals may not be out partying every night anymore, that felt normal to me. I mean, they're aging, and it felt like a natural progression. I think that was one of the poignant parts of the movie--passing the torch, if you will, to the younger ladies. And the friendships remain strong. I loved the little moments between the girls--as one reviewer pointed out, when Miranda and Carrie are fighting, and Miranda comes over in the cab and rolls down the window, it's really reminiscent of early SATC with Mr. Big, and it's a nice reminder that the women's relationships are as important as their relationships with men. Another moment that really struck me was when Mr. Big and Carrie have the showdown in the middle of the street in their wedding garb, and Carrie's storming back to her limo, and Mr. Big's attempting to follow. Charlotte, who's holding on to Carrie, her eyes blazing, tells Mr. Big, "NO!" with such vehemence, it just got me. And then when the girls arrange to get Carrie's apartment back, and get her things back in it, and take care of Carrie while they're all on her Mexican honeymoon, just said a lot about the power of friendship and how women rely on each other.
After we got out of the movie Mr. T took my hand and said, "I don't feel that way about our wedding." [Part of Mr. Big's jilting Carrie was a reaction to not wanting any hoopla at all, hence the City Hall ceremony that ended the film.] To which I responded, "If you really wanted a City Hall wedding, I would do it." And I would.
Never fear, though, we're still on for a fabulous Halloween party wedding. ;-)
I love designer/book geek humor. There's a great video about fonts here; if you're as geeky as we are you'll love it.
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