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My father turned 61 today. He's in Paris, and the event was celebrated with birthday candles in a tomato. Yay, Dad! I had a nice weekend, as I had decent shifts which allowed me to have weekend evenings like a normal person. On Friday, I went to visit a friend who was having a birthday party at the bowling alley at the end of my street. I didn't know anyone, so I only stayed for about an hour and a half, and didn't bowl as my tattoo was taped up and sore.

On Saturday, I got to see my new ink, which is healing nicely. After work, B* and I ventured out to Port Moody for a friend's birthday party. This friend is a bit of a foodie, so there were copious amounts of wine and cheese at his house. Unfortunately, I was allergic to something in his condo, so I cut our evening a bit short because I wanted to go home.

Today I worked, and then came home at a decent hour. I did a bit of crafting, which was a treat because I haven't crafted since November when I made my Christmas cards. I feel like I don't really have space to set out a huge project, but I did manage to take over our kitchen table to construct some bookmarks and marble magnets.

What I've been watching lately...

This week, I rented the first DVD of "Desperate Housewives". I watched the first two episodes before deciding that the show is not for me. I don't think the acting or writing is bad; it's just that there's something about it that just doesn't capture me and I'm not quite sure what it is. It's very clearly made for the same demographic that enjoyed "Sex and the City."

I also watched "Jesus Christ, Superstar" this week. I had never seen it, but I had heard a lot about it. Many people who went to my high school had performed it at their elementary school, so I'd heard countless tales about the songs and the production itself. Last year, I read Norman Jewison's autobiography, after falling in love with "In the heat of the night" and reading an article about his contribution to film and the creation of the Canadian film institute. I still want to see more of Jewison's films, and they shall be added to the old zip.ca list after I've watched a few more Oscar movies and some of the other things on my list. I love the songs in "Jesus Christ, Superstar", and I thought the casting was great. Carl Anderson makes an amazing Judas, and Ted Neeley was a good and good looking Jesus even with his wall eye. I found this movie to be so completely '70s, from the costumes, to the singing. At some points, I even expected Jesus to start doing the rock finger or the devil horns! I do love my glam rock, though, so I enjoyed it.

I also watched "C.R.A.Z.Y", a French Canadian movie that has 13 Genie nominations (approx). My mother saw this movie months ago, and raved about it. When she raves about something and tells me to see/watch/listen/read it, I usually heed her advice because her taste isquite good. (If she tells me that I will not like something, she's usually right). This is a great movie. It's a family story about a group of brothers, one of whom happens to be gay. It's a good story about how the boy and his family eventually come to terms with this. The film is both funny and sad, and very believable, with good acting and good writing. I've heard some people have said that it's nice to see a coming-of-age story with a gay character, where no one gets A.I.D.S. or acts like Crazy Flaming Jack on "Will and Grace." This was Canada's entry to the Foreign Film Category at the Oscars, and it's worth seeing.

What I've been reading lately...

1. Undead and Unappreciated by Mary Janice Davidson- Not much to say about this one. Frothy chicklit with vampires, shoes and dating. Funny and amusing, and I'm going to read the other ones too.

2. The places that scare you by Pema Chodron- I think I might have read this book before, but I'm trying to reconnect with Buddhist books and philosophy, because I feel rather removed from it right now. Buddhist philosophy and ideals have given me so much strength over the past 10 years, and I feel like I keep on learning about how to use these principles, and apply them in my life. While I was reading this book, I had a few people act in ways that caused me to feel really hurt. This book, which addresses pain and suffering in such a straight forward way, really helps me to get through that. The more I learn about Buddhism, the more I feel that it helps me be a better person.

3. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray- Whipped through this one during B*'s eye surgery weekend. It was the perfect book to read while I was holed up inside, as I had a hard time putting it down. I really like this series. These books have so many things going for them. They're set in a girl's boarding school during a Victorian time period, they have mysterious and ghostly elements, and the action, plot twists and characters really pull me in. I'm excited for the third one.

4. Wanting in Arabic- Trish Salah- A collection of poems by mixed race, transsexual writer Trish Salah. Gorgeous work. The best poems in this book were one that Trish wrote about being mixed race, and another, very gripping poem about her transition and gender surgery. Excellent.

5. Hip the history- John Leland- This was the selection for book club. It took me a really long time to read, because it was so densely packed with information. I loved it, even though I strongly suspect that not everyone in my book club will like it. It traces the rise of hip and outlaw culture from jazz, to Mark Twain and Whitman, to Brando, to the Beats, to cyberspace and the Internet. Reading this made me feel like I have a pretty good grip on the history of American pop culture, which was kind of nice. However, I also learned a lot from reading it. I also liked how the book concentrated on equally on Black and White culture and history in the United States. The text also raised many other questions which I hope to discuss with the other members of my book club.