I am sitting in a new world, my very first fully functional home office.

It was a lightbulb more than a fire that motivated me to set this room up. As cheesy and/or cliché as it may sound, it was influenced primarily by Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.

In the early 90′s, I was fortunate to spend a semester of college studying abroad in London. I took the following Woolf anecdote to heart during my stay there; it encouraged my daily strolls and weekends:

London itself perpetually attracts, stimulates, gives me a play & a
story & a poem, without any trouble, save that of moving my legs
through the streets… To walk alone in London is the greatest rest.

And now I sit in a room of my own, across from a framed poster of The Hours, with Nicole Kidman’s Oscar-winning nose and Woolf’s spirit gazing back at me in an almost challenging manner. It might seem strange but it feels right.

But don’t worry, I won’t sit and stare longingly out the window like Woolf’s cover girl. Not only is my new desk positioned facing the door (I Googled ‘feng shui home office’), I plan to be far more productive than reflective from now on.

Once again I find myself sharing without purpose. I have marketed this site as a pop culture blog, but sometimes I have tangents. This was one of them.

I was happy to discover that this particular post happens to be my 400th. In just under 3 years, that is far more than I ever thought I would write or share.

So I had to share. Here are some suggestions for your own contemplative road trip or hike:

1. The Blower’s Daughter – Damien Rice (O)
2. City of Blinding Lights – U2 (How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb)
3. Chocolate – Snow Patrol (The Last Kiss: Original Soundtrack)
4. Cold Wind – Arcade Fire (Six Feet Under: Everything Ends, Vol. 2)
5. Heartbreak World – Matt Nathanson (Some Mad Hope)
6. I Will Possess Your Heart – Death Cab for Cutie (Narrow Stairs)
7. Private Universe – Crowded House (Afterglow)
8. Read My Mind [Like Rebel Diamonds Mix] – The Killers (Read My Mind – EP)
9. Remember Me As a Time of Day – Explosions in the Sky (How Strange, Innocence)
10. Scared – Liz Phair (Liz Phair)
11. Walking After You – Foo Fighters (The X-Files: The Album)
12. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi – Radiohead (In Rainbows)
13. When Your Mind’s Made Up – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (Once soundtrack)

See you next week. Time to pack up the laptop (a cold mist is moving in quickly) and enjoy the scenery instead.

We just experienced a rolling 5.6 earthquake. The chandelier is still swaying slightly, and the cats are less than thrilled. All of the updated safety training I helped to present last week at work? Gone. Hi, my name is panic. I can be the most prepared adult girl scout in the world, but the minute the ground beneath me begins to shake, my legs become weak and so do I.

I was going to post a review of Michael Clayton today, but my mind is elsewhere. Like most others in California and beyond, I am glued to the TV watching news about the insane fires burning up the southern part of the state. We have family in the San Diego area, and are awaiting updates about their homes and current whereabouts.   

UPDATE: Apparently my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their families are gathered together in San Diego and both houses are safe.

File under: random. Last night I stopped to get gas at a Shell station. Normally I head for the cheap stuff but right now they’re all competing within $.01 per gallon higher or lower in my neighborhood. Anyway, I froze while removing the gas cap, because I thought my car became possessed or secretly transformed into Kit’s ugly cousin on Knight Rider. All of a sudden I heard, “next on Access Hollywood…” I turned around and saw that there was a very nice flat panel HD TV above the gas pump, running promos for NBC shows. Like a vidiot, I stood there staring up at the TV, mouth agape, filling up my tank.

File under: not fair. The TV at the gas pump is better than my own. By a long shot. The screen is smaller but the resolution is better. My 12 year old television is dying a slow death, and I can’t wait to upgrade that and my TiVO (hello, I need far more hours than the archaic version currently holds). Dear Santa…

I am about to go on vacation, so there will not be any posts here for two weeks. That gives you plenty of time to catch up on older entries and peruse/make fun of my insane Lost theories, leave comments, or play the silly movie game. Or not.

My mind has already wandered far. I have been thinking about vacation movies, or at least the ones which feature traveling and/or beautiful locales. So here you go.

• 50 First Dates & Blue Crush (aloha)
• Amelie (the Paris I would like to see, not the one I experienced many years ago)
  
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (fabulous!)
• Brokeback Mountain (quite possibly the most visually stunning setting ever for a film)
• Cocktail (although Tommy wouldn’t be in my tropical paradise)
• Dirty Dancing & A Walk on the Moon (for family cabin camping and drama in the Catskills)
• Little Miss Sunshine (the van of my childhood was more spacious and reliable)
• National Lampoon’s European Vacation (I prefer it to the original)
• The Talented Mr. Ripley (sans the stalker/murder stuff)
• Under the Tuscan Sun (I heart Italy)
  

Obviously there are far more that would fit this list. By all means, please remind me what I’m missing!

Bon voyage.

It is just over 100 degrees outside, and the power went out at work this afternoon, so they sent us home. It’s sad – I dIdn’t know what to do with myself. I was thinking about going to rent 300 but…

Because I’ve been making an effort to be more ‘green,’ as is the trend right now, I felt guilty about sitting inside with the TV system and air conditioner on. And I didn’t want to pollute the air further by driving any more than I already have today.

I could sit and read a book, but that won’t happen. I’m the kind of person that reads right before bed or on vacation only.

Somehow my guilt dissipates when I’m on the computer. Yes, it takes up energy, but I justify it because I am productive.

So for lack of any other original ideas, here is quick look inside my brain at the moment:

Umm…I think this clip speaks for itself.

Wow. I doubt they would have cooperated enough to choreograph this together on Oz.

There is a story in the upcoming issue of ESPN The Magazine called “ Is Cabrera Living Too Large?” It is about the weight that Florida Marlins star Miguel Cabrera has gained over the last four years. That’s right, an entire article about a man who has packed on a few extra lbs. and how his financial future might be impacted by it.

Is it wrong that this article made me happy?

In the interest of research and comparison, I’ve put together the photos above of Cabrera a few years ago vs. Cabrera this season. It’s just like US Weekly might do for their Tarts of the Week..on the rare occasion that the skinny minnies eat sandwiches.