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Man this is a long entry.

I bought a monitor this weekend. It ROCKS. It was a little more than I had been planning to spend, but it was a really good deal so I'm forgiving myself. :)) I actually was trying to decide between seven different monitors, and was hoping that you guys would help me narrow down the field. But then LJ was down, so I had to go it on my own, and I don't regret my decision at all (which is not often the case). I ended up going with the Samsung 912N, because it had excellent reviews, a decent price, was a flat-panel LCD, and best of all, has 19 inches to love. *strokes new monitor* Everything looks ginormous! Now I'm really impatient for all the parts to arrive so I can assemble the new machine.

After a lovely lunch with

corianderstem, we went to Half Price Books, where I always manage to find something to buy. I got several books and the Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle soundtrack. (I have two words for you: Wilson Phillips.) Then we went to Barnes & Noble, where I got five books from Meg Cabot's Mediator series (I'm a bit less confident of her early teen series than of her newer stuff). The sixth (and final) book is in hardcover, so I can wait for that. I also picked up a copy of Victoria and the Rogue, which is the 2nd Avon True Romance that Meg's written. I didn't like the first one that much, but I figure, it's Meg so at least it'll be fun.

The next place where I did some damage was at CD Warehouse, where I always manage to buy a bunch of CDs (many of them guilty pleasure) for not a whole lot. I walked out with 9 CDs for $48, including the 2-disc Broadway sountrack of "Phantom of the Opera." (I haven't listened to it in years, because I used to listen to it so much I totally got sick of it. I still haven't seen the movie, but had a sudden hankering to listen to the music ... and I'm able to appreciate it again.)

I've been feeling pretty wibbly about all the money I'm spending on my computer (though if you think about it, considering how much time I spend on a computer and how much fun I get from it, it's totally worth it), so I bit the bullet and went to return a bunch of things I was on the fence about. The first to go was the pair of Seven jeans that I got at Nordstrom's. Then I went to return the first Juicy tote that I got, because I've never carried it and the tags were still on. However, when the salesperson rung it up, she said that if they put it out now, it was out of season so it'd be marked down $80. She asked if I wanted to just keep the bag, and she'd credit my account with $80. Hmm, Nordstrom's paying me $80 to keep a bag I already own/wanted? OKAY!

Then I returned a pair of unworn jeans to the Gap, because I went crazy before vacation and bought more pairs of jeans than I really need. However, while I was there ... I found this big, thick coat that was faux light-brown suede in a medium. I told myself that if it cost something reasonable, I'd consider getting it. The price on the coat was originally $128 ... but it had been marked down (for no discernable reason that I could see) to $29.97!! Plus I had a $15 'gift card' to the Gap, so that coat ended up costing me $16. Oh, it was such sweet shopping.

My last stop was Borders, where I bought a bunch of books (including several Calvin & Hobbes collections as a gift for my cousin) ... but my favorite was this coffee table book I got on WWII. Yes, how much of a geek am I?

Also, on Sat. I picked up the last remaining copy of "World of Warcraft" in the Puget Sound area, and possibly the whole wide world. You'd think I'm exaggerating, but ... it might very well be the truth. Hopefully by the time I get around to playing it, all the issues they've been having with their servers will be resolved. :p

It has been miserably snowy, rainy, and dreary here. Blah. Also, my strange dreams continue. It's been over a week now that I've been dreaming every night, and usually they're really bizarre. The fact that I would dream is strange in itself, because I usually don't dream ... or at least, not to where I remember much in the morning. But they've been staying with me.

I've been on a musicals kick lately, and I've noticed that the older I get, my appreciation for it changes. That seems an incredibly obvious thing to have happen, but I don't know, it's kind of odd, especially for musicals I've loved for years and years.

For instance, "Les Miserables." I've been lucky enough to see this one on stage at three venues: in LA, on Broadway, and in London. When I was young, my favorite character was Cosette. I pictured myself as being that poor little girl, so downtrodden but at last saved by Valjean to live the life of a fairy-tale princess.

In college and in my early 20s, my favorite character was Eponine, the poor girl who bore an unrequited love for the oblivious and rather callous Marius, doing the right thing even though she had such base beginnings. Cosette became a shallow, undeserving, bland character.

Now I find that my sympathies lie with Fantene, a woman whose crappy life can be attributed to that most evil of creatures: Man. All her dreams of romance and love are shattered by bitter reality, and she gives up her life and happiness for her daughter (who grows up with a better life, to be sure, but with little character). Eponine becomes a silly girl whose infatuation with the undeserving Marius makes her death even more of a waste.

Also, I used to despise Javert. When I was young he used to seem incredibly villainous ... how could he not see that poor Valjean wasn't a bad person, and that what he'd done hardly constituted what the law demanded? But now Javert is one of my favorite characters (possibly the same way Snape is my fave character in the HPverse), and "Stars" is such a beautiful piece.

My favorite edition of this musical is the 10th Anniversary one, where Lea Salonga sings the role of Eponine. Lea is one of my favorite female vocalists, and her voice is awesome. (Also, the woman (women?) who sings Eponine in the other versions grates on me.)

Another of my favorite mainstream musicals is "Miss Saigon." I cried buckets when I first saw it (in LA twice, though I would later also see it on Broadway and in London, and I cried every time). I was all about the poor star-crossed lovers, and despite how easily Chris seemed to have moved on with his life, I was convinced that he truly loved Kim.

Now I'm thinking that's just so much malarkey. Possibly it's because Chris now has the unenviable position of being like Vaughn from Alias, who did basically the same thing. They both claimed to love a girl, and then at the first sign of trouble, abandoned them and married someone else, all in the space of two years -- which is nothing at all. In this, Vaughn might even have the upper hand -- at least he thought Sydney was dead. And the climax of the piece is so painful, with poor Kim realizing that her hopes and dreams were the silly fantasies of a naive young girl (or like those of the whores she worked with). Whether or not Chris realizes that he actually does love Kim when he sees her at the end and is confronted by what she's done is debatable. It doesn't even really matter -- his behavior up to this point has been totally contemptible. The worst of his sins, imho, is his cowardly, cold-hearted assessment that Kim and Tam will have to stay in Bangkok, and he'll support them. Though not present to hear this decision, it's clear that Kim already knows it's the choice he'll make ... so she does the only thing she can; she removes the obstacle that keeps her son from living a good, decent life: herself.

Now, Kim's life sucks, so it's easy for her to have romanticized her time with Chris, and also keep 'faithful' to him and his promises of a better life. It could be argued that it was easier for her to stay true to their romance, because it was something for her to hold on to during dark times. But despite that, I can give her the benefit of the doubt. With Chris, that's a lot harder, if not impossible, to do, considering his actions during the time they've been separated, and then when he learns of Kim being alive and Tam's existence.

Still, I'm a sucker for this musical.

Another one I love, but I keep alternating between which characters I feel the most for, is "Jekyll & Hyde." This one I've only seen once, and while it was on Broadway, the cast was nowhere near as good as on the original Broadway recording (I love Linda Eder).

As for "Phantom" ... the first performance I ever saw remains the best. I'm not a big Michael Crawford/Sarah Brightman fan, though the Broadway recording is definitely decent. The thing about the Broadway recording is ... even though Raoul is such a bland character, the voice of the guy who does it on that recording sounds hot. So I like Raoul a lot more than I probably should. <g> But there was something about Davis Gaines and Dale Kristien as the Phantom and Christine that was just amazingly beautiful. Anyway ... I started to watch that old miniseries they did with Charles Dance as the Phantom and Teri Polo as Christine (Adam Stork as Raoul), but I actually missed Andrew Lloyd Webber's music. Does anyone know if Teri actually sang? It looks like she doesn't, but maybe it's just really bad dubbing...

I could go on and on, but those are the ones I've had swirling around in my thoughts lately.

Also, I saw In Good Company this weekend. If you've seen Little Black Book, you'll know why I compare the two. IGC was a better *movie* than I had expected it to be, but because of that, it leaves me with more of a bittersweet feeling than one of cotton-candy happiness. And you know, that's okay. Lord knows I despise typical romcoms, so mostly, I'm glad. The only part of me that wishes it might have been different is the part that wants to be able to watch this movie over and over as feel-good fluff. And I could probably do that, until about 25 min. from the end, where I'd have to turn it off. <g>

Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace gave really fine performances, and where the movie made you laugh, it was *genuinely* funny. The relationships between the characters -- particularly between Dennis and Topher (can't remember their character names at the moment) -- were the best part. The woman who played the mother freaked me out a bit because her features are so sharp and angular, and she was always made up in such a freakish way, but I liked the touch that she was a redhead and so was the younger daughter. A small detail to be sure, but too often movies throw together a bunch of people who obviously couldn't possibly be related, and sometimes it distracts me. I can take or leave Scarlet Johansson, but she's starting to grow on me, and I liked her in this role. (I should have known things wouldn't turn out completely hunky dory with her in it. She doesn't choose those kinds of movies.)

The weakest part of the movie was the climax ... it seemed really hastily thrown together, contrived, too quick, etc. But since the strength of the piece didn't center around the plot but the characters, it's easily forgiven. How everything turned out was right for the movie. I can appreciate that (just as for Little Black Book), but I can't help but hope that everything works out for everyone down the road. They definitely give you that hope, and end it on a nice note.

So, I'd recommend this movie if you're just looking for a nice, relaxing time out. Don't expect fabulosity ... but it just might surprise you.

Some of you have been wondering about when you'll get to read all the entries for

the_feast -- well, it should be in the coming week. A few of the judges are still scoring, but we hope to have a winner announced by Saturday. After that, all the stories will begin to post to

the_feast, probably three of them a day. We ended up getting 20 entries, so there are many great stories to look forward to! :D

Many, MANY *hugs* for

silverbookworm.

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The mom in IGC is Marg Helgenberger from CSI. Just sayin'. *g*

Also, this was a very fun entry to read. :)

Hmm, have never seen an ep of CSI, so wouldn't know anything about that. I hope for fans of that show that she doesn't freak them out as much as she freaked me out in IGC. :))

Kudos to you for making it through the whole thing! Heehee.

I used to be all sympathy for Fantine, and then one day I thought, "You know, this woman has the intelligence of cabbage." She left Cossette with the Threnadiers, which means either that they were complete strangers to her, or she'd been around them but somehow failed to notice what kind of people they were. Then when she gets fired and she sells the chain, believing her child desperately ill, she stays where she is and just sends the money. How much could it have cost to travel there? If she believed the Threnadiers were good people, why didn't she set out, walking or hitching rides, to work for them at the inn?

Do you want us all to post our own stories to the feast when it's time, or just let you do it?

LOL, that's true re: the Threnadiers ... though I also cut her some slack. From the sound of things, unmarried women with children had an extremely hard time of it -- I would buy that the Threnadiers were one of the few people to even agree to take in a bastard from a scarlet woman. All 'respectable' townspeople wouldn't have anything to do with them ... even Valjean initially cared not for her straits. And she probably couldn't have afforded a real nurse/childcare.

Just because she wants or would take a job at the inn doesn't mean there would be a job for her -- possibly factory work was the only kind she could get (before succumbing to even baser work). After all, she didn't know her daughter was being used as a little maid; she thought the Threnadiers were caring for her daughter, at the very least like a house guest. I can buy that she had limited options in terms of where to work during those times, and who she could find to take care of her daughter. That being said, I don't imagine it's cheap to travel back and forth from where she has to work to see her daughter -- especially not with the Threnadiers fleecing her of more and more money with false tales of Cosette's ailing health.

But, yeah, I mean, she's not perfect or anything. I've just found that my sympathies have grown for her over the years while they've waned for the other two. (Though Eponine is much preferred over Cosette.)

One part that bothers me, though, is when Valjean lodges with the bishop for the night, then steals away with some silver candlestick holders and what not. My question is: Why the hell does a bishop have all that silver/precious metal in his house anyway?? :-l

Re: your DG Feast question, here's from the submission acceptance letter (hope you got that!):

*All submissions will be posted to the community on the author's behalf unless you indicate a preference to do so yourself. If the latter, please respond to this email, and you will be assigned a specific day on which to post. If you want to link to your story rather than posting it to LJ, please provide its URL (if you are not posting to the community yourself).*

So write to dgfeast @ gmail.com if you'd rather post your story yourself. : )

The bishop has candlesticks, but they belong to the church, not to him. The parish is supposed to provide for the local priests in an ascending hierarchy, so a well-off diocese would have a bishop who lived like a lord. I mean, look at the Vatican - gold and priceless masterpieces as far as the eye can see.

And wrt to the feast thing, i r dum.

Oh my god, I'd forgotten all about the TV movie for "Phantom!" I remember watching it, but don't remember a thing about it.

And WORD on the Les Miz 10th anniversary CD. That was the first one I'd ever heard of that musical, and I loved it. When I heard Eponine on the original recording, I was appalled at how whiny and irritating she was. My GOD!

Haha, well, as you can imagine, it's not the most sophisticated movie ever made. But it actually got quite decent reviews at the time. It's just, while I'm watching it, I keep waiting for them to bust out in those old familiar songs, and they just never do. Hee.

I KNOW re: the original Eponine. I don't know what they were thinking, casting that girl. Maybe they really wanted the sympathy to lie with Cosette. :p

We bought the last WoW in the southeastern New England area today. BestBuy had it in the back because the cover was torn. Of course, we were looking to get TWO copies, so husband and I could play, but we'll just have to deal for the time being.

Wheeee! It's so cool that there are so many WoW players around (well, 4). <g> Hopefully there won't be marital strife as to who gets to play... ; )

Hi! Delurking, finally, after having read your journal and stories for a while. Just wanted to comment a bit on Phantom - I agree completely on Raoul's voice vs. his character in the original soundtrack. That's what made me love "All I Ask of You" so much even though I'm not the greatest Sarah Brightman fan.

Also, I just watched In Good Company this afternoon (what a coincidence!) and loved it because, like you said, it was based around the characters, and I felt that they all did a fabulous job. Topher was especially charming in an immature sort of way, which was perfect for the role, and Dennis's expressions were great. ^^

Hi! I'm so glad you've delurked for a moment to chat about Raoul. <g> There's just something about the timbre of his voice on that recording that just makes him totally smoking! I can understand why Christine would be torn ... but really, who can resist a guy with a voice like that? ; )

And I agree -- Topher was fabulous for the part. I've always liked him, but wasn't sure how he'd do in an adult role. He did great.

Oh eeeee! I just watched Les Miz in London, where they cast this really hot guy as Enjolras, and I was like damn, Eponine should have gone for him, because Marius, such a dork. He and Cosette deserve each other. Fantine definitely struck me as the "deepest" of the female characters though.

Oooh, YAY, I'm so glad you did! Have you seen the 10th anniversary recording? The guy who played Enjolras there was hot too, and had a loverly voice. *drools a bit* SO TRUE that Eponine should have gone for him!!! Oh, you know if I were in Les Miz fandom, I'd be an Eponine/Enjolras shipper. :))

Agreed. So much love for 10th anniversary Enjolras. *fans self*

but my favorite was this coffee table book I got on WWII

Marry me.

I'm yours, baby!

Score!

Still have not found copy of WoW. :\

*weepeth*

Well, my computer parts won't all be assembled until the end of this week at the earliest, so it's not like you'll be missing the unforgettable experience of playing with me. :)) And I hear from all over that they're going to be restocking in the next week or so, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.

Still, with the servers acting up as they are, maybe it's a good thing to wait. I really, really hope you find it soon though. :-S

Feel free to take your time. I'm moving at the end of the month so internet access may be a little spotty for me.

You know, I would really like to give Blizzard my money in exchange for their goods and services but they won't take it. "No, no," they say. "Come back later. We don't want your stinking lucre now." Teases. :(

We still need a fear inspiring name. Or are we going with the Red Pen Guild? Our logo could be a red pen...DRIPPING WITH THE BLOOD OF THE DAMNED.

HAHAHAHAHA I love the logo idea. But yes, we need to strike more PH34R with the name. Really, the best one is "We Write Harry Potter Fan Fiction."

You STILL haven't moved? What's taking so freakin' long? Slacker!! It's okay, I'll just get to be a highly leveled player so that I can show the nube (you) the ropes in the meantime. How sad for you re: Internet access. How very, very sad. Very, very, very ... what was I talking about? Oh yeah. ~~You're~~ it's sad. :))

You know I love you.

I HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE CURRENT RESIDENTS TO MOVE OUT. GOD. I can't just be all, "Hey, moving in now, don't mind me, yeah, I'm going to need this computer for the next six to eight hours, thx." I mean, they're my friends and all, but they don't like me that much.

It's n00b but I still love you too.

We can be the WWHPFF guild! Wwwwhipff!

You have friends? Who aren't me?

Nube is the new, cool spelling. Get with the times. Jeez.

That is actually a nice whiplashy sound. We have to wear all black vinyl and sunglasses even in the dark.

Hard to believe but true. Since your dulcet tones aren't available at all times, I must talk to others. Painful but necessary.

Nube makes me think of either nubile or pubes. Neither is good.

Too bad I never saw The Matrix. We can sing "Sunglass at Night" too.

Too bad I never saw The Matrix.

Are you shocked?

This has stunned me. First Friends and now The Matrix ... it's like you're deliberately sabotaging our relationship.

I must now take to my bed to ponder these new developments.

Hi! Random fan randomly finding your journal and randomly deciding to emerge from lurking...but I had to say, that if you're a fan of Les Mis, and looking for a fantastic recording of the Phantom of the Opera, you should check out the Canadian cast recording with Colm Wilkinson and Rebecca Caine...it's phenomenal!

Hi! Glad the universe works in such synchronicitous (that's so not a word) ways. :D I've heard about that recording, but I'm just not sure about Colm as the Phantom. Maybe I'm just too used to him as Valjean -- I'll definitely have to find it and give it a listen!

Yay for Nordstrom and their excellent customer service! :)

I remember listening to Lea back when I was growing up in the Philippines. She was a huge child star and her voice, even at that early age, was phenomenal.

I'm not too optimistic about my entry :P. But I was wondering if you guys tried out the recipe. And what you thought of it. :)

The one thing I have always regretted is that I didn't see Lea when she went back and reprise her role as Kim on Broadway a few years back. (By the time I saw it for the first time, she had already moved on from when she did the role originally.)

Because we're being totally anal about making sure authors' names are not connected with their stories (to achieve as much objectivity as possible), I don't yet know which recipe/entry was yours. But we probably did make it, since we did just about every one (the only ones we 'didn't' do were if we had repeats, but theoretically we did do them :D). All the recipes were very good -- I can't think of a single one that we didn't like -- but there were definitely variations on our preferences (even with each other).

Oh, right. I'm pretty clueless sometimes. :P

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