"Friday" and "Thirteen" 6:44 p.m. 2003-09-06

Current Listening: Pagan Babies by Elmore Leonard
Current Reading:Cuba Diaries: An American Housewife in Havana by Isadora Tattlin
Recipe of the Day: Chilaquiles with Chicken and Cheese, Nopales in Chipotle Sauce, Dulce de Leche(Crockpot Recipe)

1. What housekeeping chore(s) do you hate doing the most?

I would have to say that the thing that I hate doing the most is picking up stray Coke and Non-alcoholic beer cans from various places around the house - mainly because they are not mine.

2. Are there any that you like or don't mind doing?

I actually used to not mind cleaning the bathroom - I was just reading Texas Peach's diary, and she said she disliked that. The bathroom is small and powerful cleaners make the job relatively painless!

3. Do you have a routine throughout the week or just clean as it's needed?

I aspire to a routine, and occasionally will mentally divide the house into sections to work on each day of the week (except maybe Sunday...). But, who are we kidding here? Basically, I'm a big baby, and if he's not cleaning, then I ain't cleaning. When we have a party, that gets some things done, but it invariably makes my husband want to clean his office (quite a chore in itself) - leaving me with most of the rest of the house...

4. Do you have any odd cleaning/housekeeping quirks or rules?

I am trying to emphasize the small amount of effort needed to move the plate left on the counter above the dishwasher - to the dishwasher itself.

Seriously, I am not a paragon of cleanliness. As a matter of fact - and I have to 'fess up here because a former roommate reads this journal - my office is lined with piles of books and unfiled objects, my bathroom has make-up strewn about the counter, my bed is not made, my clothes have been washed a week ago and are in the basket, unfolded. I would like to say that this doesn't bother me, but it does. I have not become my mother, but her spectre hovers, disapprovingly. ;-) (My mom also reads this journal, so I am sure I'll hear something about that!)

5. What was the last thing you cleaned?

I just cleaned off the kitchen cabinets, and started the dishes in the dishwasher. Now begins the Mexican stand-off between me and my husband as to whom will empty the dishwasher...

Today was a lazy day - I stayed in last night while my husband went to see Wishbone Ash at a club in Little Five Points. I officially got up at 11:30 and made a sandwich, had some ice cream, and looked for a movie to go see. I settled on Thirteen, a film co-written by a 13 year old, Nikki Reed. A quote from a reviewer says:

"One of the more remarkable things about "Thirteen" is that the movie was co-written by Reed, a friend and neighbor of Hardwicke's. Reed was 13 when she co-wrote the movie and 14 when she acted in it. It's an amazing performance. Reed has most of the cunning tricks and foxy mannerisms down cold. She suggests a kind of teenage Barbara Stanwyck or Kathleen Turner - a femme fatale in Jennifer Lopez drag. Even more impressively, Reed does this despite the fact that she isn't even playing the part she lived. In real life, Reed was Tracy, the good girl pulled down a bad road. This is easily the movie debut of the year so far."

All of the actors were great, but I have to agree with another reviewer:

"Granted, the teen hubbub and gratuitous titillation of Thirteen may sag for some, and the movie doesn't reach the girl-angst gold standard of Heavenly Creatures..."

Man, Heavenly Creatures - now that was a truly terrifying movie! The reviewer also made reference to Heathers, but that was more camp than true life, although it certainly resonated with me!

No, I was not a Heather - but I recognized the potential cruelty of the A-list people. Welcome to the Dollhouse also was recognizable as real!

I even had a flashback to a movie called The World of Henry Orient, described as:

"About when Peter Sellers gained immense popularity by his role as Jacques Clouseau in "The Pink Panther," he starred in this little comedy. A young teenage girl falls in love with an obscure surrealist pianist, Henry Orient (Peter Sellers,) so she and her buddy start following the guy around. Henry Orient is a man who often engages in affairs with married women and thinks that those little girls are spies! "The World of Henry Orient" certainly isn't a great comedy, but it makes fine entertainment for the entire family."

And let's not forget The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie...

Okay, I'll stop now. All I have to say is, please give us more positive movies about coming of age, like Whale Rider and Freaky Friday, which I saw last week. Reality may be gritty, but it also might glamorize the lifestyle that it was meant to caution against...

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