Waitress

The Spectrum Theatre is a little art house theatre a few blocks from our apartment. It is one of the best spots in Albany and certainly one of my favorite things about living here. The crowd is always ecclectic, the place is always packed and the parking lot is always full. There is a little coffee shop right next door that serves horribly bitter coffee and has a perfect atmosphere. Next door to that is a little art shop that sells great local and not-so-local artwork at super reasonable prices. The kind of prices that the working poor like Dave and I can afford. This block is in a scary part of town which makes it all that much better. Dave and I spend an excessive amount of time checking out the art, sharing a cup, and watching movies.

Tonight Dave was feeling in the mood to stay in and I was feeling in the mood to go out with my good lady-friend Karen. So we did little shopping and then headed over to Spectrum to see a movie that I have been interested in, called Waitress. I had heard about it online and read that it had been really well received at Sundance. Keri Russell stars as a waitress in a miserable marriage. Jeremy Sisto plays her dead beat husband.

Jeremy Sisto was spot on and though I hated him intensely he also gave the character this underlying sadness. So he was this intolerable tyrant but was also just so human. He was heartbreaking as well as infuriating. Keri Russell too was so amazing as the dispirited, luckless wife who was just getting kicked around by life.

I won't go any further into it as I don't want to ruin it for anyone who may want to see it. I just hope that everyone wants to go see it! It was really funny and moving and sort of gut wrenching. Truly this movie has been placed in my top ten.

The really sad part about this film is the story behind the writer/director Adrienne Shelly. Her apartment building was being renovated and she went down to a construction worker to complain. The argument got pretty heated and she slapped him. He punched her in the face and knocked her out. Because he was an illegal immigrant he was scared of being deported. He took her to her apartment and staged a suicide and hung her in her shower. She was murdered prior to her movie being released. She made an amazing movie and it's so tragic that her talent was cut short. It seems to always be the case that the most talented people seem to die far too soon. ie: John Lennon, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith...

Anyway, this ended up being a rather depressing blog. My point was just to convince you to see the movie... Hopefully I did that and didn't bum you out too much. ;)

The possible new ride.

So I think Dave and I are getting this car to replace the old as long as our insurance company doesn't completely screw us... Whatdya think? I know - orange is a bit garish but it's sort of grown on me. It'll look good with my freckles. It has everything we wanted in a car; cruise control, remote keyless entry, MP3 jack, and space for Freud. Like I said, no guarantees but I will be really happy if it works out. In fact, I won't even cry over the loss of the Spectra anymore.

the car.

This doesn't look totaled to me but that's the word from our insurance company. This would have been paid off next month. Fairly typical, huh?

So Dave and I are pretty frustrated about the whole thing as you might imagine. I keep trying to be positive about it... I could be dead, or hurt somebody else, yada yada yada. But I always go back to the fact that we were so close to paying it off.

I crashed my car...

and I am really sad about it. This was my very first at fault accident and I am 28... That's not a bad record, right? I was sobbing and I called my Daddy for a comforting word or two; though I claimed it was because I didn't know what to do.

Days like this make me wish that I lived closer to my family. All I wanted was for my Mom or Dad and Theresa to come rescue me on the side of the road. Instead I had to wait for officer Mike. Is it just me or is our generation incapable of severing the umbilical cord?

It's probably just me.

I feel like I am in constant need of my parents advice, guidence and/or monetary assistance. When my parents were my age they were already married, parents, divorced, remarried, and parents again. I on the other hand cannot keep a house plant for more than a month or two.

It's been a while... Let's play catch-up.

Did you know that drive in movie theatre's still existed? Cause I had no idea. I am pretty sure that all the drive-ins in Northern Virginia were closed down a long time ago but they are alive and well in Albany. Dave and I finally checked one out this Friday. It was great because we could bring Freud along. He's happy anytime he can go for a car ride. We saw Evan Almighty - it was crap and Room 1408 - it was okay... I think I may actually prefer the drive in to the more traditional theatres. Except for the wonky screen and the fog rolling in toward the end of 1408 we loved every minute of it. So if you are lucky enough to have a drive in close to you, you should definately give it a visit.

We also went to see the New York City Ballet's Romeo & Juliet at the Saratoga Performing Art Center. It was not that great. But the venue is really nice. We had a great spot under a big shady tree, we packed a great picnic, we got there early and stayed through the first intermission. I have always wanted to see the New York City Ballet and now I am not so sure why. I think it is that I have seen Romeo & Juliet SO many times that I was just completely bored. There were some cool moments but over all we mostly enjoyed the picnic.

Dave and I recently got a 55 gallon aquarium and have 9 fish in it so far. Truly this is the reason for so few blogs as of late. I am completely obsessed, sadly enough. What has my life come to? I sort of feel like a retiree with too much time on my hands.

Let's see what else is new... I signed up for classes for the fall semester. I have lost my mind and I will be taking 6! That will be in addition to the 30+ hours a week I still work as a nanny. Sheesh. If you think it's been awhile for a blog now, just wait till September.

Okay folks, I know you are dying to read more but this is all I have to report at the moment. Such is the life of the old boring lady I have so rapidly become.