Middle of the night ramblings

So it's 1:30am and I'm here, writing. It's not unusual for me to be up this late - in fact, since I started working from home, I often find myself going to bed at 2am and waking up at 11. I'm sorry, I know you're all gasping in envy, but I seem to need 9 hours. It's what my body wants. If I get less, I just sit there craving a nap the whole afternoon. And I can work whenever I want, so why not sleep half the morning and do my work at night? Sounds reasonable to me!

Anyway, right now Mr RS is is the throes of a stomach bug of some sort - he seems particularly susceptible to them - and is lying groaning on the bed. I was keeping him company, until he suggested that he might need to vomit at some point, at which point I left the room at the speed of light. You might remember my intense fear of vomit. So now I don't know if he has - you know - or not. I much prefer stomach flu that only comes out the correct end. I won't be able to sleep if I think he might throw up. Which kind of ticks me off because I LOVE sleeping. No, I'm not pissed at my poor husband for being sick. I'm pissed at my own stupid phobia for making me unable to sleep in the suggested possible tentative chance of the presence of vomit.

Funnily enough, the cat vomit doesn't bother me. Well, that's because I don't believe Gollum know how to chew, because he always brings up a neat pile of unchewed cat pellets. They just look like damp new ones. So those I can pick up. Also, they smell like cat food, not like vomit. That's a big part of it.

So apparently this is just going to be a rambling, middle of the night post. Sorry. I'm bored. I don't feel like watching tv anymore, and nothing's happening on Twitter or Facebook in the middle of the night. My night. Actually, there is stuff going on on Twitter because it's still evening for the Americans. I'm just not in the mood. Maybe now would be a good time to go and read some of the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo in November. I haven't even looked at it since I finished it.

*Excuse me while I go read a 50000 word novel. I'll be right back.*

Movie Lists

Ha, so I've already broken one of my New Year goals - which was to post on here at LEAST once a week. Oops. Anyway, I thought I'd expand a bit more on some of my goals, and the first one that caught my eye was the one about watching 15 of the 40 AFI Top 100 movies I haven't seen. When I told Mr Ruby Slippers about this, he said it was a pointless endeavour, because "top" lists of anything are usually stupid, and influenced only by what the makers think people should think. Or something. Still, I think it's worth seeing some of them, especially the ones that are considered "important" films. Also, I like to see films just so that I can truthfully be able to say "I thought that was the most incredibly overrated film of all time" (*cough*BarryLyndon*cough) instead of, "Oh...I haven't seen that yet." But then, I am a movie person. :-)

So I thought I'd make a list of the fifteen films I intend to watch this year, and then I can cross them off publically on here as I watch them. That might motivate me a bit. :-)

For interest's sake, here is the full AFI list (the recent 2007 version). Everything I HAVEN'T seen is in red.

1. "Citizen Kane," 1941.
2. "The Godfather," 1972.
3. "Casablanca," 1942.
4. "Raging Bull," 1980.
5. "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.
6. "Gone With the Wind," 1939.
7. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962.
8. "Schindler's List," 1993.
9. "Vertigo," 1958.
10. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.
11. "City Lights," 1931.
12. "The Searchers," 1956.
13. "Star Wars," 1977.
14. "Psycho," 1960.
15. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968.
16. "Sunset Blvd.", 1950.
17. "The Graduate," 1967.
18. "The General," 1927.
19. "On the Waterfront," 1954.
20. "It's a Wonderful Life," 1946.
21. "Chinatown," 1974.
22. "Some Like It Hot," 1959.
23. "The Grapes of Wrath," 1940.
24. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," 1982.
25. "To Kill a Mockingbird," 1962.
26. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," 1939.
27. "High Noon," 1952.
28. "All About Eve," 1950.
29. "Double Indemnity," 1944.
30. "Apocalypse Now," 1979.
31. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941.
32. "The Godfather Part II," 1974.
33. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," 1975.
34. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937.
35. "Annie Hall," 1977.
36. "The Bridge on the River Kwai," 1957.
37. "The Best Years of Our Lives," 1946.
38. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," 1948.
39. "Dr. Strangelove," 1964.
40. "The Sound of Music," 1965.
41. "King Kong," 1933.
42. "Bonnie and Clyde," 1967.
43. "Midnight Cowboy," 1969.
44. "The Philadelphia Story," 1940.
45. "Shane," 1953.
46. "It Happened One Night," 1934.
47. "A Streetcar Named Desire," 1951.
48. "Rear Window," 1954.
49. "Intolerance," 1916.
50. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," 2001.
51. "West Side Story," 1961.
52. "Taxi Driver," 1976.
53. "The Deer Hunter," 1978.
54. "M-A-S-H," 1970.
55. "North by Northwest," 1959.
56. "Jaws," 1975.
57. "Rocky," 1976.
58. "The Gold Rush," 1925.
59. "Nashville," 1975.
60. "Duck Soup," 1933.
61. "Sullivan's Travels," 1941.
62. "American Graffiti," 1973.
63. "Cabaret," 1972.
64. "Network," 1976.
65. "The African Queen," 1951.
66. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981.
67. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", 1966.
68. "Unforgiven," 1992.
69. "Tootsie," 1982.
70. "A Clockwork Orange," 1971.
71. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998.
72. "The Shawshank Redemption," 1994.
73. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969.
74. "The Silence of the Lambs," 1991.
75. "In the Heat of the Night," 1967.
76. "Forrest Gump," 1994.
77. "All the President's Men," 1976.
78. "Modern Times," 1936.
79. "The Wild Bunch," 1969.
80. "The Apartment, 1960.
81. "Spartacus," 1960.
82. "Sunrise," 1927.
83. "Titanic," 1997.
84. "Easy Rider," 1969.
85. "A Night at the Opera," 1935.
86. "Platoon," 1986.
87. "12 Angry Men," 1957.
88. "Bringing Up Baby," 1938.
89. "The Sixth Sense," 1999.
90. "Swing Time," 1936.
91. "Sophie's Choice," 1982.
92. "Goodfellas," 1990.
93. "The French Connection," 1971.
94. "Pulp Fiction," 1994.
95. "The Last Picture Show," 1971.
96. "Do the Right Thing," 1989.
97. "Blade Runner," 1982.
98. "Yankee Doodle Dandy," 1942.
99. "Toy Story," 1995.
100. "Ben-Hur," 1959.


There are actually quite a few on there that I really WANT to see, and I've just never got around to it. Why on earth haven't I seen Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, for goodness' sakes? Luckily I have a couple of movie-crazy friends, and I'm pretty sure they can hook me up with the ones I want to see, which are:

1) On The Waterfront (#19)  ~ it doesn't sound that interesting, and Marlon Brando always annoys the heck out of me, but it won a bunch of Oscars, including best picture, which means I can cross it off THAT list too. And it's supposed to be good. I might enjoy it.

2) Chinatown (#21) ~ I hear it's good, and it has Jack Nicholson in it, which usually takes a movie up a notch. Unfortunately it's directed by Roman Polanski, and I'm usually not a fan of his films. Still, I'll give it a go. The plot sounds good.

3) Duck Soup (#60) ~ I actually really want to see this one. I love the Marx Borthers. I just haven't been able to get hold of a copy.

4) Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (#73) ~ Young, gorgeous Paul Newman and Robert Redford. In an adventure getaway caper. I'm there. And yes, I do already know how it ends.

5) The French Connection (#93) ~ A classic I keep seeing clips from everywhere. It looks like a good plot, so why not?

6) A Streetcar named Desire (#47) ~ I really have to watch this. It's just that I did the play at university, plus a bunch of other Tennessee Williams plays, and I really, really dislike his work. But bloody hell, if I sat through 'Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf' I can get through this.

7) The Bridge on the River Kwai (# 36)  ~ I've been meaning to watch this for ages. Secret? Ssshh. I already have a copy. I'm such a procrastinator.

8) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (#38) ~ Another one of those "it's famous, it looks good enough, it has quotable lines, why haven't I seen it?" movies.

9) Modern Times (#78) ~ I can watch Chaplin. In small doses, maybe, but he does have a quality about him. I enjoyed The Gold Rush, so I'm keen to see how this one turns out.

10) Bonnie and Clyde (#42) ~ Kind of middle of the road for me, but I reckon I'll enjoy it once it's there.

11) M*A*S*H (#54) ~ I'm starting to push it here as thing appeal to me less. It looks ok, though. And it can't be too bad if they made a soin-off TV show (that was how it went, right?)

12) Taxi Driver (#52) ~ I should TOTALLY have seen this. It just doesn't appeal to me. But I really should, and will!

13) City Lights (#11) ~ Ok, I can do two Chaplins.

14) Lawrence of Arabia (#7) ~ Sigh. It's high on the list, and it's famous....and stuff. I'll try.

15) Jaws (#56) ~ Hopefully this will now be too naff to scare me, which is why I've avoided it all my life. And it's famous, I should have seen it.


So...That's that. If I can make it through these 15 movies I'll probably never see any of the others, most of which I'm avoiding because I don't like the subject matter/plot (Raging Bull, Rocky, Do the Right Thing, Spartacus, Easy Rider, The Wild Bunch, Apocalypse Now, Nashville...) But hey, you never know.

In case you're interested, my picks for "WTF is this movie doing on any kind of Top List??" (that I've seen) are: The Godfather, The Last Picture Show, The Maltese Falcon, Snow White (being groundbreaking doesn't mean you're brilliant, IMO - in that case include Star Wars and Toy Story as well), Network, Raiders of the Lost Ark (it's fun, but it's Indiana Jones, for goodness' sakes!), and Blade Runner.

My picks for "hell to the YES for including this!" are: Singin' in the Rain, The Shawshank Redemption, Sunset Blvd, Bringing Up Baby, Some Like it Hot, It Happened One Night, All About Eve, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Forrest Gump and The Sixth Sense. And perhaps Swing Time, though I have to say that Top Hat would have been a better choice if they wanted a Fred & Ginger movie.

Did I mention I'm a film nut? Does anyone else make lists of movies to watch, or lists of movies they've seen?

Yet another year, with bigger and better goals

Two years ago, at the beginning of 2008, I was newly-engaged (a whole two years and ten days ago I got engaged! Wow), and because of that, my New Year's goal for 2008 was pretty much "get married awesomely". Most of 2008 was sucked away in accomplishing this, but I'm okay with that, because I DID accomplish it, and it was awesome. I also managed to break free of the horrible chain bookstore job I'd had for three years, which I hated 98% of the time*, and found myself in another retail job that I thought I'd like more, but which I ended up despising for different reasons (except for the customers. I hated them in both shops).

One year ago, at the start of 2009, I posted a list of New Year Goals. You can see the full list and explanations here, but I'm going to go through them now, and see how I did. This is a bit scary, because I haven't actually gone back and looked at these since I wrote them, or at least not since early last year, so I'm not really sure how I did. Even now I haven't looked at them. I'm going to go through them one at a time.

1. Get a new job. DONE
I started my own photography business, although I probably still need a part time job to bring in more money so I can afford stuff.


2. Take at least a month off before starting alleged new job. DONE
I took my photography course during this time. I REALLY needed this break. I felt like I was going to have a nervous breakdown, the way I started crying every time someone asked me how work was, or how I was.


3. Buy a house. NOT DONE

Yeah...we just didn't have enough money to consider this one. But we still need one, so badly. Renting is horrible.


4. Take singing lessons. NOT DONE
I don't mind so much that I didn't get to do this one. When it came down to it, I had to decide whether to put the money I had towards singing lessons or photography classes. At the time I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to make photography my career, but I knew I most certainly wasn't going to make one from singing, so I chose photos. And I'm glad. I can always do it one day.


5.Do a Photography course. DONE
Self-explanatory. Best thing I ever did.


6. Be happy within myself. MOSTLY DONE

This is a hard one, because there's no tangible evidence that I accomplished it. I AM happier, though. I finally have a new job I love, and that makes a huge difference. No one is trying to steal a piece of my soul anymore, I'm not treated like a moron, and I can go to the damn toilet without having to ask customers to leave, lock up, and get a security guard to watch the outside books. Oh, and I get a lunch break. Of my very own! :-)


You see, I'm a person who likes solitude. I go crazy in busy places, and I get all weirded out. My brain starts going fuzzy and I forget words and talk nonsense. It's not as bad as it sounds, but I do go slightly weird. I really should never have worked in retail. I'm surprised I never had an anxiety attack or something around Christmas time. Working as a photographer is perfection for me. You get to spend time with people on their happiest day, and then go home and work on their images in peace and quiet. And eat lunch without interruptions.


So, now for THIS year:

1) Shoot at least twelve weddings as the primary photographer.
2) Grow Kat Forsyth Photography into en established business, with a recognisable name (or at least, the beginnings of that)
3) Buy a house (well, there has to be one carry-over, right?)
4) Get some kind of part-time income in order to afford to buy and decorate said house.
5) Tidy and clean the house more often (I'm a lazy slob sometimes)
6) Go to gym at least once a week (technically it should be twice, but I might have mentioned I'm lazy)
7) Watch at least fifteen of the forty movies I haven't seen on the AFI's 2007 Top 100 Movies of all time list.
8) Have a proper Date Night with my husband once a month.
9) Post on here once a week, at least. Preferably twice.

I think that's enough for one year!

I hope you all have a great one. I intend to.




*I still miss the 2% I didn't hate.