Oh, what the hell...

I was tagged for the 8 Things Meme again, this time by Dr. Criddle. Although I've already done my official entry in the meme, I figured I'd oblige with 8 more things, what with it being a slow work day and all. I won't burden you with the rules again, nor will I tag 8 more unfortunates. I've done my duty to the meme- this is just gravy.

1. I know this won’t sound very politically correct, but since we’re being honest here… I find the word "homo" hilarious. In particular, every time I hear someone whose age is in the double digits say "homo" in reference to a homosexual, I have an almost unbearable time containing my laughter. It’s one thing to hear a kid use it- kids are often prone to using cutesy names for stuff that shouldn’t be talked about in "polite" conversation (see also: "doody," "nards," "frenching," "cooter," "doing it," "wiener," and so forth), but adults who wish to be taken seriously at all have no call to say "homo." It’s just so bizarre to hear it in a supposedly grown-up voice that I’ll end up laughing to myself about it all day. I wonder what gay people make of this word- it’s undeniably a smear against homosexuality, but at the same time it’s so childish that laughing seems practically the only reasonable response. Thoughts?

2. I’m probably in the minority on this, but I don’t find Kirsten Dunst hot. I know plenty of guys who are into her, but not me. The only movie I find her even remotely appealing in is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which oddly enough had perhaps the least flattering cinematography of any movie she’s made. In the Spider-Man movies, on the other hand, I’m just not feeling it.

3. I was pretty musical in my youth, taking piano lessons for ten years and playing in the marching and symphonic bands in high school. I would like to learn another musical instrument. Several, eventually, but one to start out with. I’m not all that jazzed on learning to play the guitar, woman-attracting potential aside. I’m thinking something more along the lines of a classical instrument- perhaps the violin, or even the flute. The flute would be a better option given my current living situation- if I had my own house, I wouldn’t have to worry about noise so much, but in an apartment complex you don’t want to disturb the neighbors. Or maybe I could learn to play the theremin…

4. In addition to my instrumental music endeavors, I’ve also done a lot of singing in my life. Between some musical theatre, high school choir, and Men’s Glee Club in college, I was pretty active there for a while. And I was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself- I had a strong, clear baritone voice, well suited to both solo and ensemble singing. Unfortunately, in the intervening years my voice has suffered, due to lingering issues related to allergies and a seemingly endless string of minor respiratory ailments. I just can’t sing like I used to, and when I try I can’t keep it up for long. Damn.

5. I’m the only member of my immediate family who has never worked for Goodyear. Then again, I’m also the only one who doesn’t live in or around Akron, home of their world headquarters, so I suppose that makes sense.

6. Of all the movies I haven’t seen in my life, the one I’m most ashamed of is Pialat’s A Nos Amours. There are others I’m more eager to see, but of all the films on my lift, Amours is the only one I actually own. I’ve had a VHS copy for about 5 years and I STILL haven’t gotten around to watching it.

7. The more I think about it, the more I’ve warmed to the idea of naming my purely hypothetical daughter Muriel. I originally named my guinea pig Muriel in part because I liked the name but didn’t consider it something I’d name a child. But given my love for somewhat outmoded names, I could do a whole lot worse. And it beats the hell out of the lame crappy names you hear nowadays. I can’t tell you how sick I got of hearing the name "Chelsea" while working at the movie theatre. Gee lady, I wonder who was president when you had HER?

8. The thumb on my right hand is double jointed, but not on my left hand. So much for bilateral symmetry.

Meme fever!

Perhaps as payback for stealing his idea to post great faces, Dennis tagged me for the Eight Things meme that has been making the blog rounds of late. But first, the rules:

a) Post the rules
b) Post eight random things
c) Post the names of eight as-yet un-chosen bloggers who will subsequently ignore your tagging them or put off posting their own responses

Anyway, here goes. Unlike Dennis’ contribution, my eight things are all true. Make of that what you will.

1. I’m currently planning a trip to the Toronto International Film Festival this fall. As part of my fundraising attempts, I’ve cut back on all incidental spending. The biggest sacrifice will be my plan not to buy any more DVDs until after the fest. Granted, this will be made somewhat easier by the fact that the upcoming Zodiac DVD reportedly contains no extras, but still- given that I average at least one new DVD a week, this’ll be kind of tough.

2. I have very pale and sensitive skin. I generally avoid the sun for fear of getting burned, many fragrances tend to irritate my skin, and I redden easily, particularly on my neck. The latter provided my high school classmates no end of amusement, as they would always jokingly refer to me as "redneck" or ask me who give me those hickeys. Ever since then, I’m inclined to think that anyone who calls high school the best years of your life could probably use a good punch in the face.

3. That said, not all my high school experiences were negative. Of course, since they take place over four years, how could they be? But for all I accomplished back in high school, nothing made me prouder than a long letter I wrote to the school newspaper my junior year. The subject of the letter was my displeasure with the publication’s tendency to publish as many athletics-related stories as possible, to the exclusion of other activities and interests. Not the most original subject, but it was very well-received by many of my peers. On the day it was published I actually received a standing ovation from several of my classmates, and several "hell yeah" response letters appeared in the next issue. Last summer, when I was sorting through some of my old personal affects, I found the letter and read it again, and to my surprise it still hit home. What struck me wasn’t simply how exhaustively I argued my points, but the passion with which I had written it. I sometimes wish I had something in my life today that I could be this passionate about, or simply the energy to be passionate about something.

4. I’m not a big fan of weekends. Having few major commitments in my life, I find that I need to keep busy or else time slows to a standstill. Back when I was at the theatre, I would always request never to be given two days consecutive off unless I had specifically asked for those days. The reason for this is because by afternoon of the first day I usually ran out of stuff to occupy my time. Things have gotten better for me ever since I started writing for Screengrab, since now I have something to focus on over the weekend. So that’s nice.

5. As much as I write- and profess to enjoy writing- I’m not a big fan of the writing process in and of itself. Simply put, it takes me ages to write something that’s actually to my liking. Much of this comes from the fact that I constantly second-guess what I’ve written, and that I generally rewrite as I go. I think of part of this is due to the dinosaur word-processing program I used in my youth, which didn’t even have spell-check, so I had to pay particular attention to everything I typed. But whatever it is, the simple fact is that it takes me FOREVER to write anything longer than a Trailer Roundup. Once, I told someone that I wish I could attach a printer to my brain to print out all of my creative ideas, since while I don’t like writing, I really like re-writing, and if I could jump straight to the re-writing the process would be much less of a chore. Sadly, I don’t think that’ll happen anytime soon.

6. I own the Hudson Hawk soundtrack CD. I can’t remember why.

7. About a month ago, I was holding my guinea pig Muriel when I noticed some strange growths on the outsides of her front feet. I inspected them (she has an occasional tendency to nip at my hands) and concluded that they were probably calluses. However, a few days ago I was holding her again when I noticed that they had grown out. These growths weren’t calluses at all, but extra claws. As the fellow said, life is full of surprises.

8. I haven’t been in a serious long-term relationship since Clinton was president. Just wanted to get that out there.

Finally, I hereby infect: Jason, Steven, Mark, Jay, Kent, Tosh, Danny, and, uh, Kevin. Let the disregarding commence!