day three hundred and nine

this is my left ear:

it has always made me happy. the piercings are neat-looking and there's a symmetrical, planned-ness to it all...

this was my right ear:

i hated it! both of these piercings were done on a whim (six and three years ago, respectively) when i had a free afternoon in madison with some extra cash lying around. it just all looks so random. i've always liked the placement, but not the jewelry, so i finally did something about it. thanks to a coupon from strangermart, and with the help of two incredibly friendly piercing artists at deep roots tattoo parlor, i love my right ear again! in addition to the jewelry upgrade i got a new piercing (#38) right alongside the top one (those are called forward helixes, apparently).

this my right ear, now:

the swelling will go down eventually and i plan on replacing the barbell on the new piercing with a smaller one to match the other, shorter one.

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earlier this week i took the long trip out to sequim for some work meetings. usually i leave early in the morning and get back in the evening, which means close to five hours in the car/on a boat. this time i decided to reserve a hotel room in advance and head out a day early, ideally making the trip more worth my while. but when i got there, i discovered what has to be one of the scarier motels that the olympic peninsula has to offer. i was already pretty bummed out and lonely for most of the day since i didn't talk to anyone except the guy who checked me in and the lady who served me coffee that morning. so i used this list as an excuse to get myself out of that horrible room for a bit and head to the theater solo (#32).

the port angeles theater didn't have a ton of options - i'd already seen inception, the other guys, and the expendables, and the last exorcism was surely too scary for me to watch then head back to the sundowner motel after dark, so i went with the american (george clooney). i was under the impression this would be a bourne-esque action thriller, but really, it's one of the saddest, quietest films i've seen... all. about. the loneliness of isolation. i think it was really well done, and a very pretty thing to watch, but due to my emotional state at the time i probably would've been better off with going the distance. bleck.

but something i learned, with the help of my good friend pam's insight, is that going to a movie alone allows you to have your own, personal experience of the film. she and i are alike in that much of our theater-going is shaped by what we think our companions are feeling as we watch the film together. if i laugh at something that my friend scoffs at, it can distract me and take me out of that moment. but when i'm alone i'm free to completely lose myself, and that's a new and really satisfying feeling for me.

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in literary news, i finished my booky wook. and i really liked it! russell brand is smart, funny, and tragic, but most importantly a brilliant entertainer who's done some livin'. i highly recommend it. and as far as this goal (#6) is concerned, i realized that when i said i'd read all the books i've bought, i meant "at this point, when i'm creating this list, right now... all the books i own need to have been read in the next three-ish years." at that point i had five unread books on me. i've purchased more since i started this project, but i think i'll leave those off the list and keep goal #6 narrow in scope.

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finally, even though i already counted #46 completed when i painted my kitchen chairs, i want to brag about how awesome the entire set looks now that i've gotten around to painting the table as well. it took an entire sunday, but it's so worth it. that color on top is brighter than this picture lets on, but check it:

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