I'd rather play at hug o'war

1. I am alive. We survived the storm relatively unscathed. Besides a few shingles pulled off the roof and our fence well and truly fucked, Ike took pity on us. Centerpoint Energy, on the other hand, did not; we didn't get our power back for a week. Now THAT was a bitch and a half.

2. My consult with the boob doc went well. It's only a matter of waiting to find out if the insurance approved me, or if I'll have to go a round with them to prove that I do need to get my Ks down to a C. *fingers crossed*

3. I am officially in love with Step-Up 2: The Streets. Don't even ask, people. It's positively AWESOME. Of course, I have a great love for Fast Forward, so. Grain of salt.

4. Privileged is, hands down, my favorite new show this season. I love it like burning. And I finally - FINALLY! - figured out where I know Brian Hallisay (a.k.a., hot neighbor boy Will) from: he played Jimmy in the Cold Case ep "Forever Blue." That episode made me cry like a wee baby. Plus, hello, HOTNESS.

5. The Grandmother is finally back home, which means I get to go to the movies this weekend for the first time in four months. I swear, I could cry. Nevermind having back my weekends. I have missed my weekly movie fix. Eagle Eye, here I come.

( Idaho was chilly, rainy, and windy, but absolutely lovely. )

In other news of the awesome, Lewis Black is coming to Houston in July. This makes me veddy, veddy happy.

And finally a book rec: Max Brooks’ World War Z. I read it while I was in Idaho Falls and immediately had to pass it on to Zeebert before I left who was to then give it to Rae for her flight to Europe. All I have to say is: NORTH KOREA. That shit freaked me the fuck out.

Saw POTC3 Saturday. People are catching onto the whole $5 movie before noon. The theater (and concession stand and parking lot) was packed for just shy of 11am. I am not happy about this.

Anyway, I loved the movie. Mom, too. It was a vast improvement over the second, but the second was a lot of set-up for the awesome payoff in the third. Most on my flist have mentioned everything else I loved (and my few quibbles), but I’ve seen a lack of talk with regards to the ending (this includes the scene following the credits). ( spoilers, spoilers, spoilers. )

And don't hate me, but I REALLY want to see Transformers. Sadly, it only has a tiny bit to do with the fact that Shia stars.

It rained all day yesterday. Like, when Mom flipped over to the Weather Channel at one point, our area was under the orange part of the storm. ALL DAY. RAIN. We didn’t get to have our Pho Bowls at Hot Wok. Max and Boo were in a mood, constantly whining to go out back, and when we’d open the door for them, rain splattering on the linoleum, they’d give us the eyes, as if we had any control over the weather. All in all a sucky-ass, if wonderfully lazy (didn’t get out of my jammies at all) day.

It is 39 degrees outside but feels like 28.

What the HELL, weatherman? It's only supposed to be in the 40s right now. That's why I thought I'd be okay in my terribly thin, zipped hoodie. You know, since it was hotter this morning than it was yesterday afternoon.

This would not be a problem, but now I have to go to the store for extra ingredients for the German Potato Soup.

Frickin' Houston weather, man!

My car is parked across the street in the Target parking lot under what I hope is a working light post. A fine thick sheen of rain glosses the windows until everything is blurry, flashes of color against the dark night.

This would be pretty except that it took me an hour to navigated all the flooded streets to get home. A five-minute drive turned into one long frustrating nightmare that ended with me trudging my way from the aforementioned Target parking lot through mid-calf high water to even get into my neighborhood, much less all the way to my house.

Such is life in Houston, Texas, and if I haven't mentioned how much the heat and humidity and mosquitoes the size of Buicks irritate the shit out of me about this city, these type of days are what really seal my non-love for all things Houston. The city planners, oh you, the biggest fucktards of all the fucktards in the land, probably never have to figure another route because Almeda-Genoa turns into a raging river when so much as two heavy raindrops fall simultaneously. And of course, that would have to be the main road to get to the street that leads to my neighborhood, wouldn't it?

Grrr...

( I've included pictures for your viewing pleasure )

Now, on to much more pleasant things, like How I Met Your Mother, which continues its run of pure awesomeness. ( Cut for spoilers )

As for The Class, Jason Ritter and Lizzy Caplan remain the biggest draw for me, but I didn't really dig their storyline this week. Meh. The only thing that makes me sad at the prospect of cancellation is that those two will be out of a job, once again, and no longer cute-ing up my TV screen every week.

(RIP, Related. RIP.)

Now, as for Heroes. ( Holy shit with a dollop of what the fuck! )

With that, I'm off to bed. 'Night, folks.

Watched the Everwood series finale last night. I will miss this show so much, and I don't think it really hit me until the very end. The way the camera pulled back from Ephram and Amy to show the twinkling lights of Everwood and the mountains beyond was just so fucking perfect. So symbolic that it makes me teary-eyed even now.

Sigh.

In other news, it's fucking hot. HOT. The humidity is something fierce, and no matter how long I live here, it always takes me by surprise that first true day of a Houston summer.

Also, holy shit, is anyone watching Rescue Me? Specifically the episode last night? Fucking hell, man!

It was so, so gloomy all day. The sun was there as, every so often, the sky would get this back-lit look to it, but the sun just could not penetrate the thick bank of clouds. On top of that, there was intermittent, drizzly rain most of the morning and early afternoon, which is annoying but manageable. However, add in the terrible wind gusts and one ends up with a fine predicament - especially when one is trying to navigate 45S.

Oy to the vey. I had wanted to go down to the Galleria, maybe even Hotel Derek, see if I could spy me any celebs, whether of the star or sport variety - I was not going to be picky - but alas, the shitty weather put the kibosh on that. I'll simply have to live vicariously through my coworkers come Monday morning since LaLa started at the Toyota Center this weekend and Del was going to a couple of parties where her brother scheduled to DJ.

I did finally watch The Constant Gardener on DVD though. Fuck - what a lovely, sorrowful film. My heart is still aching.