August Round-Up - 2010

I am writing about August, which was, for the most part, cold and foggy, at the end of September, during a week that has had some horrid hot days. That is why I never complain about our cold summers. Because hot summers in a city with no air conditioning? Are hell. The only time I want to walk outside and start sweating is when I am walking from my room to the pool in Palm Springs.

Movies Seen: Twelve, with one in a theater. That one being "Piranha 3D." OF COURSE! It was everything you could want from a 3D movie about killer piranhas. And more! I only wish a major spoiler about the film's end wasn't totally given away in the trailer. Curses!

Of the DVDs watched, "The Ghost Writer" was probably my favorite, although I feel really, really dirty giving good marks to a movie directed by Roman Polanski. The worst was "The Losers," another in a long string of useless comic book movies. I only sat through the whole thing so I could look at Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Books Read: Two. The first was "How Did You Get This Number," by Sloane Crosley. I had read her first book "I Was Told There'd Be Cake," and actually wasn't that impressed, so I don't know why I decided to read her latest. But, it was actually better than that first book, though I still don't think she can hold a candle up to other, similar, essayists, like Merrill Markoe, or Cynthia Heimel (who I really, really wish would write a new book!), and in the age of blogs, I don't think she's much better than any number of bloggers out there. So. Basically, I'm just totally jealous of her and her book deal.

The other book was "Jacqueline Susann's Shadow of the Dolls" by not Jacqueline Susann. It's a "sequel" to "Valley of the Dolls," that is reportedly based on the notes Susann had made for a sequel before she died, and was ultimately written by someone named Rae Lawrence. The infuriating thing is the book takes place in the late '80s, with the women all pushing 40. Of course, the math for that doesn't make a lick of sense, whether your writing a sequel to the movie OR the book, since the women are hitting their 40s at the end of those, and this is a few decades later. So, basically, the book upholds the horrible notion that women any older than 40 are not worth a story about. The book is as badly written as a Susann book, though, so kudos there!

Fancy Dinners Out: None, really, although I did attend a birthday brunch at the Presidio Social Club, which was very nice....

Live Shows Seen: One, and what a show! That would be Lady Gaga in San Jose, which I wrote about here and here.

Shoes Bought: One pair. These Isabel Toledo for Payless flats, which HURT LIKE HELL.