It is Christmas … and you know what that means! It’s time to shower your favorite, neurotic blogger (that’s me) with tons and tons of dvds. What’s that you say? Low on cash? Well there’s movies on the list to fit everyone’s budget … from the expensive to the cheap. C’mon and make my holiday a happy, happy one.

I feel conflicted about the upcoming movie version of Charles Frazier’s “Cold Mountain.” It’s one my favorite books … a beautifully written story of one man’s journey from war and death back to his home and the woman he loves. The movie version looks like it’s gonna take this simple story and blow it up into some sort of epic tale. Argh. They have cast “pretty people” of course (see picture above). You never get the impression that there is anything spectacular about the characters in the book. In the movie’s trailer it looks like Ada has written to Inman begging him to return to her. This is a major departure from Inman’s character in the book. He simply decides that he has seen enough war and was to go back to his home … away from the death and misery that surrounds him. The trailer also hints at a lot of other “improvements” that will probably piss readers of the book off.

Yeah. I can say that I am also bitter they didn’t film the movie here … where I live. The real Cold Mountain is about six miles from where I sit right now. Seems like Romania is a cheaper place to film movies.

Oh, well. I’ll probably go see it just so that I can have something else to bitch about. And, who knows … it might actually be good.

Whee! It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed.

Not much … just about an inch.

But … it snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed. It snowed!!!~

So, here’s some eye candy for my hetero friends and all you people at work.

audio post powered by audblog

Routine:
1) Wake up. Eat. Dress. Sleep. Eat. Watch a DVD. Drink. Sleep.
2) Wake up. Eat. Dress. Work. Eat. Work. Eat. Rehearse. Drink. Sleep.
3) Wake up. Eat. Dress. Work. Eat. Work. Eat. Rehearse. Drink. Sleep.
4) Wake up. Eat. Dress. Work. Eat. Work. Eat. Rehearse. Drink. Sleep.
5) Wake up. Eat. Dress. Work. Eat. Work. Eat. Rehearse. Drink. Sleep.
6) Wake up. Eat. Dress. Work. Eat. Work. Eat. Watch a DVD. Drink. Sleep.
7) Wake up. Eat. Dress. Sleep. Eat. Watch a DVD. Drink. Sleep.
Repeat for the next week …

So this is permanence, love’s shattered pride
What once was innocence, turned on it’s side
A cloud hangs over me, marks every move
Deep in the memory, of what once was love
Oh how I realized how I wanted time
Put into perspective, tried so hard to find
Just for one moment, thought I’d found my way
Destiny unfolded, I watched it slip away
Joy Division – Twenty Four Hours [4.07 MB]

If you happen to read this site and are not registered to vote … shame on you! The 2004 Presidential Election will be here before we know it, and voting is the only way to make a difference if you are really displeased with the current leadership. Go. Register to Vote. Now!

Scattered thoughts for a Tuesday …

We did get snow on Friday night which was quite exciting. It didn’t really amount to much (about a 1/2 inch), but who cares! It snowed!!!

I feel like I am being taken advantage of on so many fronts by so many people.

Seems that we have gotten back to the way things were very quickly. Seems like I am good to keep in contact with when nothing else is going on. Seems like I won’t hear a peep until Friday when there’s nothing else to do. I don’t want that anymore, but can’t figure out how to say it without creating a huge scene where I come off like the crazy asshole.

I am supposed to be in Charlotte this weekend … but the drain on my extra cash from home improvements (and the fact that I don’t know when the roomie is gonna give me his rent payment) is making me waffle about the trip. Plus … if’n I remember correctly … Michelle will be a rock star with Son De Cuba on Friday night. I don’t want to miss that.

I need to save money right now. Christmas is here. Judy wants me to come to Washington before Christmas. I wanna beat it back to NYC next spring and hang out some more with a super cool fella.

Snowbabies are making me crazy. They’re like rabbits.

I have a new best friend.

Worldwide AIDS Statistics
People newly infected with HIV in 2002: 5 million
AIDS deaths in 2002: 3 million … that’s over 8,000 deaths per day
Estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2002: 42 million
Total of AIDS deaths at the end of 2002: 28.1 million
Total number of AIDS orphans: 13.2 million

If AIDS has started out primarily amongst heterosexuals would the totals above be as large as they are today? The perception of AIDS being the “gay disease” certainly wouldn’t be attached to it then. Would that have made the response time to the AIDS crisis quicker? Would the campaign for AIDS awareness be having more impact then?

Sadly, the link between homosexuality and AIDS will always be there. This makes AIDS awareness a tricky thing (in my opinion). Heterosexuals view the disease as something that doesn’t effect them. Gays now view the disease as less of a threat because the advent of better drugs. It does seem like there is a “who cares … it won’t happen to me” attitude out there. I was in high school in the late 80’s and it was very much in the front of everyone’s mind back then. Now it seems to have slipped into the background … like a monster that’s getting ready to leap from some dark corner. We know it’s there but don’t want to look. It is scary, but we have to face it to make a difference in the staggering statistics that are listed above. Safe sex has always been the answer for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Practice it. Don’t be afraid to discuss it with your partner. Don’t let the “heat of the moment” comprise your judgment.

Local Resourses:
Western North Carolina AIDS Project
Haywood County/North Carolina Resources