I forgot to mention this yesterday, but this struck me as odd and I wanted to capture it: Last night while watching Queens, which was in Spanish with English subtitles, I turned up the volume at one point. I can’t fathom why I felt the need to do that, since I was “reading” the dialog at the same “volume” before and after.
Can’t explain it, but I felt the need, and it felt better after I did it.
Today, while I had my new wide screen monitor hooked up to my laptop to watch those DVDs last night, I went ahead and watched a (2000) movie I’ve owned for over a year now, but have never watched:
| Movie Synopsis: In Amores Perros (Love’s a Bitch), a horrific car accident connects three stories, each involving characters dealing with loss, regret, and life’s harsh realities, all in the name of love. Three interconnected stories about the different strata of life in Mexico City all resolve with a fatal car accident. Octavio is trying to raise enough money to run away with his sister-in-law, and decides to enter his dog Cofi into the world of dogfighting. After a dogfight goes bad, Octavio flees in his car, running a red light and causing the accident. Daniel and Valeria’s new-found bliss is prematurely ended when she loses her leg in the accident. El Chivo is a homeless man who cares for stray dogs and is there to witness the collision. |
My one word summary of this movie is: Intense. If you are disturbed by dog violence, or are the kind of person that can’t suspend your disbelief, then you will probably turn off this movie in the first 10 minutes (and it’s probably for the best). I absolutely loved all two-and-a-half-hours of this movie.
Aside: It, too, was in Spanish with English subtitles, and I watched and “read” it at a volume that was comfortable to me. 
Hardly a thing gives me more pleasure than to be able to click here, and for the fourth year in a row, see entries under every single day of the year. Another full year of blogging. Yay!
The beginning of a new year means the end of an old one, which also brings my friend Rob Shook’s Year-End Reminder of Things You Should Do Annually. From Rob…
Every year I post a list of the things I think folks should do, get done, or (actively) decide not to do—not just let fall by the wayside due to inaction. Here’s this year’s! Feel free to share this with friends & family.
- Get a copy of your credit reports from each of the three credit reporting agencies. You get one for free each year from each of them: know precisely where you stand. Don’t fall for their ploys to get you to subscribe to a (pretty worthless) “credit watch” service… although you may want to purchase a copy of your Fair, Isaac (FICO) score for a nominal fee from one of the agencies. If you opt for one of the “consolidated” reports (which you often must pay for), you’ll have to fight any inaccuracies only in writing. By getting the report directly from each of the agencies, you can dispute and resolve most problems on-line. While you’re at the reporting agency’s site, take time to opt-out from pre-approved credit offers (so a pre-approved application doesn’t land in your mailbox, waiting for someone to steal it… and your identity…).
- The free reports (the really free ones) are available only through www.annualcreditreport.com. You may wish to spread these out so you get one from a different agency every four months and keep an eye on things throughout the year.
- Consider putting a “security freeze” on your credit report. (New for 2007!!)
- Upsides:
- No one (including you) can open “instant credit.” It takes three days.
- You must have a special identification number to open your credit file.
- Companies you’re already doing business with can continue to access your information.
- Downsides:
- Your have to plan ahead if you want to open a bank account, line of credit, or investing account with a new institution.
- Depending on which state you live in, the cost for doing this with each agency may cost you up to $10.
- It will cost you an additional $10 with each agency to “unfreeze” your credit to open a new line (I have successfully negotiated reimbursement for that to come from the company that wants to grant me credit, however.)
- Further information on security freezes is available at:
- Get a copy of your file from the Medical Information Bureau: http://www.mib.com/html/request_your_record.html
- List yourself with the Direct Marketing Association’s opt-out service to reduce junk mail: https://www.dmachoice.org/MPS/
- Make sure all your phone numbers are on the national Do Not Call Registry: https://www.donotcall.gov/
- Opt out of receiving pre-approved credit offers at 1-888-5OPTOUT.
- Ensure your will is up to date, and that your family knows where it is.
- Ensure your beneficiaries are named (and up to date) for any life insurance policies, pensions, etc. For those with domestic partners, the “default” may be to your next-of-kin, which could be a parent (and it could have tremendous tax consequences even if your parent then passed the proceeds along to your partner). Render your wishes explicitly.
- Make a photocopy of your passport and the contents of your wallet (fronts and backs of credit cards, licenses, etc.), and keep it somewhere safe.
- Does your family know what you want done when you die? Check out http://www.funerals.org (What a cheery website!) for more information about how to avoid unnecessary expenses, lists of decisions that will have to be made for all of us—hopefully a long time from now.
- Ensure your powers of attorney for finance and health care are up to date and that your loved ones know where they are (not in a safe deposit box—in case of your incapacity or if it’s needed on a Sunday, they’d have no way of getting to it) and how to get to them quickly if needed.
- Consider creating a “Family Emergency Plan,” similar to the one available through www.texasprepares.org. Forms are downloadable without having to register at the site.
- Create a wallet card for you and all members of your family with vital information and emergency contact data on it.
- Backup (to CD or DVD) any vital photos or files you have, and put those in your safe deposit box—or at a friend’s, or at your parents’ house. That way, if there’s a fire or other calamity at your home, the backups won’t be lost. If they’re stored in a different part of the country, a local disaster is less likely to affect the backup.
- Gather your receipts, pay stubs, stock transactions, charitable donation receipts, etc. in preparation for tax time. Get a large envelope or folder to keep everything in until you sit down to do your tax return. Set up a folder to keep things in throughout 2008 so everything can be in one place next year at this time.
- Get your yearly health exams and screenings.
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If you print this, it makes a real nice to-do list.
Joe and I met at Flex at 9:00 for some pool and karaoke. We played several games, and later, I played three games with Jeremy, who, intermittently during the night, seemed to be flirting with Patrick and vice-versa.
We left shortly after midnight, and stopped at The Borough for a midnight snack. I had their new Tenderloin Quesadilla, and it was most delicious.