Between Fort James and Fort Howard

Sweetness

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:43:39 -0800

It took that extra day, but it was worth the wait. Wish I could have been there to feel the energy in the streets. Meanwhile, I couldn't be further away here in Mudsville.

As I described before, Game Four really took me on an emotional ride. Last night I just felt content and pleasantly anticipatory throughout. It seemed clear the Yankees would win from the start (how could they not, with Mary K. Blige singing the national anthem?). They definitely pulled out all the stops. What a mythical performance by Matsui, with his iconic stance (funny how all the batting stances or pitching motions are as instantly recognizable as the way certain dancers move). And Mariano, like a grizzled Roman senator. But of course, Pettite has always been a favorite (now the sinner redeemed).

I contemplated calling in sick to savor the mood, but don't want to use up those sick days on frivolity with H1N1 lurking in every corridor. The nicer co-workers were conciliatory, the shitty ones silent. Keep it up and I have the makings of a "hostile workplace" grievance. Now wouldn't that be something?

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Chagrin Again

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:06:04 -0800

Well, that didn't work out too well. Although the Yankees showed signs of life at the end after the pitching had disappointed. Better to win in New York anyway.

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Stunning

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:30:14 -0800

A rare little interlude of feeling good; even work crones and other dolts cannot completely annihilate my spirit today. Thanks for the extra hour of sleep ('tho staying up an extra hour undid any good). It was nice to step outside this morning and not be in total darkness.

I am savoring this World Series with its hints of mythic '77,' 78 and '96. I'm not taking anything for granted, but I do hope the Yankees can pull out one more win tonight. I am ready for it to be over. Last night I felt so drained when the game concluded. I was literally kvelling.

Here's to the Frisco Kid!

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Boo

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:59:05 -0700

Nothing to do with Halloween; just boo to everything in general.

The Yankees lost last night. Hopefully today will be a turnaround.

I had my first meeting with Miss Caswell recently. She appeared to make an effort to secure me as an ally, while simultaneously trying to assert her authority and maintain a charming mien. In spite of her confidence, her insecurities show through. I find her officiousness to be strident (why do we always find women we don't like to be strident? unfair, I suppose, but that and "overreaching" are the words swirling through my brain). It seems fairly obvious to me that she will become a real bitch the first time she does not get her own way in something. I was my usual "nice" self, but not very forthcoming. Although I was cordial, I suspect my contempt is as transparent as her sense of entitlement.

Fun times.

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Intrigue

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:37:05 -0700

I need to find a better balance between my "work life" and life itself. An innocent bystander, I've been forced to observe our own little workplace All About Eve, though minus the wit or style. Very surreal, but I am afraid that the ingenue in question will prove to be more Miss Caswell than Eve Harrington (and I'm falling short in the Addison DeWitt department).

Yesterday was another one of those bleak days in which everything goes wrong. The Yankees lost. The heretofore cheese-tastic Battle of the Blades eliminated the only contestant worth tuning in for (thereby demonstrating that Canadians can be as crap-tastic as the rest of North America). I was having problems with my computer at work (forcing me to focus more on our little office drama than I would have cared to). And other assorted pettiness.

But the weekend approaches with some potential fun on the horizon. I'll write more when it happens.

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Message 2U

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:35:35 -0700

"Why what a smooth-spoken false-tongued world it is! ....Let a man succeed in his vilest scheme, and no living creature will care to ask by what foul means he may have won his success!"

You know who you are.

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Divided

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:50:43 -0700

It was nice to have the extra day off today and it's put me in a somewhat better, or at least, feeling less weird mood.

Spent most of the day wandering in and out, catching some of the tennis (though I somehow managed to miss the Federer match, damn them for constantly changing the channels that carried the tournament throughout the day). Why is it that I dislike the American players automatically? Not all of them are boorish, yet there is always something that rubs me the wrong way. This year, for example, we have Melanie Oudin, who seems like the American Kim Clijsters, which is bad enough in itself, but we also have to put up with the return of Clijsters herself.

I was persuaded against my better judgement to catch an early showing of Ponyo yesterday, which was filled with irritating children and their even more irritating parents. My partner complained of a migraine which magnified the smell of pee (I didn't notice it). But madam, did it never occur to you that it is rude to express your milk three inches from someone's head?

As for the flick itself, I don't know, I'm a huge fan of didacticism, but I found the moral of the story hard to figure out. Maybe something lost in the translation? Why, for example, were the wizard and the sea goddess estranged? And what did it matter? What was the test of love Sosuke had to undergo? Also, while Tina Fey may have played some role in the happy outcome of the presidential election, I still despise her. Please go away.

Oh, and they showed the trailer for No Impact Man, which seems destined to become a big hit here in Sanctimony Town. At least they stopped showing that same Stella Artois commercial.

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Companionship

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 18:41:46 -0700

Just got back from the county fair, which, as always, was fun. Although I always get antsy stepping outside the urban environment (even such as it is in this lameass town). And it's especially annoying having do it via public transportation. Here are some of the dangers to which you are exposed:

Angst-ridden, bored suburban teenagers who seem even more vapid than they did back in my day. Getting shoved aside by typical over-privileged elderly couple basking in their sense of entitlement. Smug about the virtue they are displaying in riding public transportation and engaging in some over-the-top PDA and sharing of information. He, commenting on a second marriage, after the death of "his wife" two years ago, "well you need it you know, companionship" to another older man.

Do you? Get a cat then. Who knows how I would actually feel in that situation, but I can't imagine getting over the death of my partner in just two years, let alone wanting to get remarried. And all for the sake of "companionship?" There are things and people that happened years ago that I'm yet to be "over." I don't get it.

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Backsliding

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:32:19 -0700

I might as well give up any pretense of doing my work at work. So fucking hard to concentrate when you've completely lost any hope of making things better. One of these days the shit is going to hit the fan, but I just can't help myself.

How many days is it until my next trip to New York? Still too many.

I am in the throes of my latest girl crush (aren't I getting too old for this?), but I usually am most vulnerable to this type of obsessive behavior when I am feeling demoralized about a job or school or some other relationship. But it's not all bad and it's led to some strange bursts of creativity (in other venues, of course).

Time to crack open a beer and start watching the U.S. Open (and wait for the beginning of the ballet season).

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Pentultimatums

nobody@vox.com(bellawilfer) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:54:40 -0700

Who will be this season's winner on SYTYCD? Although I've been watching pretty faithfully and it's been an interesting season in some respects, I find it hard to get worked up about the results. Each of the final four has his or her strengths and weaknesses. If I had my pick, I guess it would be Brandon, who appealed to me from the start and seems to have the most potential to do interesting things with good training and opportunities. Who do I think will win? Brandon may still be too gay for America, I'm afraid. Evan is too polarizing a figure. And since I don't see either the great technique or performance qualities that so many seem to find in her, I doubt that Kayla will be America's Favorite Dancer. That leaves Jeanine--who is both "feisty" and bland--as the safest bet. Fine with me, but it still should have been Janette.

I guess it's encouraging to see the kind of popularity the show has generated. But has it stimulated an interest in dance? Would the same audience that filled the huge auditorium in which the finals were staged ever venture into a performance of a mainstream ballet or modern dance company? I think not. All in all, the choreography the show presents, and which the viewers go apeshit over, still sucks. The pretentions of Mia Michaels come closest to "serious" dance. Her piece last night was boring and derivative (Ulysses Dove?), but it was a relief to hear Steve Reich (and I don't particularly care for that genre) as a break from the rest of the schlock music. Why is it that the line separating cheese from "art" seems even thinner in dance than in the other arts?

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