Sal. Kitty. Ooooooh.

Let me sum up:
Sal dances. Kitty gets it.





Let me splain:
I am a theatre-geek. My two serious boyfriends before my husband are both gay. One of them has über-evangelical parents and once told me that if I hadn't broken up with him, he thinks he might have tried to make me a Beard for Life. That's terrifying to hear. That's why I was super mesmerized by this scene from "Mad Men" season 3. It's gorgeous. And so sad. Kitty doesn't have many scenes but man, she nailed this look. My husband had to ask "Is that her getting it?" "Yeah baby. That's her getting it."

I also wanted to post this scene because my husband and I are almost finished with season 3. I have a lot of empathy for Kitty. But also for Sal. I think every Sal storyline made me cry at some point. I'm pretty big on martial fidelity, but I was totally rooting for him every time it seemed like he was finally gonna get some XY love. And events near the end of season 3 made me very sad indeed. Totally thought Don had Sal's back. But of course, Don just minds his own business, until someone's "business" interferes with business.

~Geek out

Last Minutes With Oden (Warning: wrenching tears)

Let me sum up:
Beautiful documentary about parting with a much loved friend.





Let me splain:
This is a little off the geeky path, but I will gladly defend my status as an animal geek. I think I've mentioned the dog paw mark that would pop up on my forehead when I cried as a kid (it has resurfaced recently...you can catch it in some of my photos). At any rate, this mark was often deemed appropriate for a girl who favored St. Francis and who maintained her Ranger Rick subscription until the age of 15.

However, I also came from an allergy heavy gene pool. We never had proper mammals growing up. A couple family pets--a hamster named Marble, a tarantula named Noel. My sister got an adorable lop that ended up being more akin to the Monty Python bunny. And I sated myself with a snake named Blossom and three chameleons (named--possibly to overcompensate for "Blossom"--Byron Caliban Mission De Bergerac, Vladimir Adrian Chernabog Dodgson III, and Dolores Augusta Persephone Liddell).

I have, however, developed a big old pile of love for my husband's family dog, Shelby. A few years into my relationship with my husband, I mistakenly thought I'd achieved Family Member Status when Shelby stopped jumping on me when I entered my in-laws' home and barking at me when I hugged my husband. I quickly realized, however, that Shelby's aging muscles and eyes were the true culprits.

Shelby is hanging in there but I've recently begun to realize that soon I will be faced, for the very first time, with the loss of a dog I call family. The video above captures the struggle to release the pure, unconditional love that a pet brings. The eyes of a dog have a sort of wonderful warmth and acceptance. The same feeling we get when we bask in the face of a tiny hu-man...before language comes along and mucks things up. Letting go of this kind of love necessitates overcoming a basic human selfishness. Just like reconciling ourselves to the death of any loved one who has been in immense pain. Physical or otherwise. Trading our pain for their liberation. Letting go as an act of love.

~Geek out

I Am in Ur Teen Novels, Stealin Ur Awesome Lines

Let me sum up:
"I love you." "I know."



Let me splain:
Alright, this is an obvious choice for a romantically inclined geek. But I needed to do this post for the youngins out there. My sister is teaching Jr. High in Mississippi this year. Which means she is privy to the latest and greatest trends in young adult novels. And she and her kids are going batty over the "Hunger Games" trilogy ("It's the next 'Twilight!'" as one of her students exclaimed). I never liked a dystopia novel I didn't meet, so I decided to give the trilogy a whirl. I'm halfway through the second book, "Catching Fire" and I'm enjoying the series. But I was dismayed a few chapters back to see the dialog "I love you." "I know." dropped UNABASHEDLY!!! For the love I bear the books I'm going to pretend this was intentional homage. But if I catch any 11-teen-year-olds giving these books credit for such romantic patter, there will be consequences.

~Geek out

Uncle Touchy's Naked Puzzle Basement

Let me sum up:
Patton Oswalt comedies...



Let me splain:
I think this is the 3rd or 4th time I've mentioned Patton here. But I loves him. And he is the first comic I can remember making me laugh til I cried (his "Alvin and the Chipmunks" bit). I got to bond with my sister and her boyfriend over one of his shows this summer, but my husband was sadly absent. This week, however, we're going on a hot Patton date (after consuming some pho at nearby "A Dong." Heh). The show will be at the theatre where I briefly got to be a back-up dancer for Weird Al a couple years ago...geek-glee! And I thought my memories there couldn't get any better than sitting backstage with the "Fat" suit.

Anyhoo, I love the clip above because I was dying to see what Patton might say about Ratatouille in his act. I caught a couple interviews with him on the Disney channel before Ratatouille came out. Patton can be whimsical, but he's also surly as hell, and chatting with Disney's bubbly child hosts did not seem like his idea of a spendiforous day. Turns out he did die a little inside, but mostly due to the changes the movie wreaked with his Halloween celebrations. Plus the title quote almost makes my husband cry.

Odds on Patton talking about doing a book tour at the same time as Snooki?

~Geek out

I believe, I believe, I believe

Let me sum up:
threesixty° Theater's "Peter Pan"



Let me splain:
This was my big Christmers present. My parents saw it in Orange County a while back, and then the run was extended so I got to play, too! The video doesn't do it justice.

And how many times did my lachrymal glands take flight? Twenty one. Twenty one freakin' times. Dude. That's not okay. There is something distinctly wrong with me. And remember folks, that's just spillover.

So what's my deal? Well, I'm a legitimate "Peter Pan" geek. I own 32 different printings of the book. My first 5 paragraph essay in Jr. High was entitled "Hook: Protagonist?" I've seen probably 7 or 8 different stage versions. And this one was fantastic. Wonderful combination of stage hijinx and nifty technology (albeit fairly shoddy CGI). And many little details that I absolutely adored. A Tinkerbell reminiscent of Björk. Hook's hook on the right and correct side (harder for the actor, but makes Hook more badass for RE-learning to fight left-handed). Bonus points for blood splattered hook cuffs. The best depiction of Wendy meeting Hook that I have ever seen (Barrie writes that Wendy was entranced by Hook...which allows Hook to stick around long enough to realize that Slightly has grown tubby from an addiction to water and that his entrance to the home underground will accommodate a fully grown pirate). And, beautifully, a moment added early in the play where Peter calls Wendy by her mother's name. This killed me.

After the show, my husband asked me to estimate the happy/sad tear ratio. I think happy won out. I didn't cry at Hook's demise, which is a rarity. A lot of the tears were purely whimsy induced. But the play is also wrenching. Which is to be expected from a children's story which concludes: “Thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless.”

~Geek out