"It's not going to stop, 'til you wise up." ~aimee mann

Merry (belated) Christmas, everyone! I had a lovely holiday. My grandparents stayed with us and my aunt, uncle, and two cousins from NY came down for the day. Some family friends joined us for dessert. We had lots of great food, conversation, and games. I received some wonderful gifts. My grandparents gave me an absolutely beautiful antique diamond and sapphire ring that I love. Some of my other favorite presents were the Little Miss Sunshine DVD, a few fun t-shirts, the Spring Awakening OBCR, and tickets to see The Vertical Hour on Broadway (starring Julianne Moore and Bill Nighy, two of my absolute favorite actors). I was reminded of how fortunate I am. The best part of the day was spending time with everyone, though.

The day after Christmas I woke up and felt awful. I'm glad it didn't hit me until after Christmas. My throat hurt like crazy and my nose wouldn't stop running. I've spent the past couple of days doing nothing but lounging around the house, and I'm feeling better. I've watched some good movies, including The Man in the Moon (Reese Witherspoon is so young) and Mulholland Drive. Mulholland Drive was sooo confusing, but I really enjoyed it. It was almost as confusing as my first viewing of Magnolia, which is saying a lot. Have I written about that here? First of all, let me say that I adore Magnolia. I think it's a fabulous film. The opening quote for this post is from a song that the characters in the film sing, and it's a beautiful moment. There are some amazing performances (including one by Julianne Moore). Anyway, Storytime: My mom and I rented Magnolia from Blockbuster a long time ago, back when VCRs and VHS tapes were in fashion. From the moment it started, we were completely lost. My mom kept asking me what was going on, and I kept shushing her, telling her that it wasn't supposed to make sense and that we weren't supposed to understand it. It gradually began to make sense as we got to know the characters, and I think by the end we both got the gist of it. When I took the tape out of the VCR, though, I noticed that it said "Tape 2." Apparently the movie was so long that it was on 2 VHS tapes, and we had only gotten the second one, so we watched the second half of the movie without realizing that we had missed the first half. We went back to Blockbuster the next day and they apologized and gave us the first tape (along with a free rental). So then I watched the whole thing (in correct order), and it made much more sense. But anyway, it was very confusing at first (and understandably so). And Mulholland Drive was just as confusing. I understand it now, though, after perusing the IMDB boards and running everything through my head a few times. Naomi Watts gives a fabulous performance.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!