Lately it’s been all undead, all the time. My friend Linda B. has been recording the deeply creepy zombie series “The Walking Dead” for me, and the two of us saw the zom-rom-com film “Warm Bodies” together. Last weekend, DF and I attended opening night (and the world premiere) of “At Home With the Clarks,” described by its author as “Father Knows Best” meets “Night of the Living Dead.”
All three got me thinking about class and consumerism.
Before I moved back to Anchorage I often took my niece and her two boys out to eat. I still do, sometimes, but lately have been focused on setting aside dollars for a trip the four of us hope to take this summer.
One recent Sunday when DF had business out of town I invited Alison and the boys over. I knew I’d need to feed them but our kitchen is stocked for frugal grownups. What did we have that would appeal to a couple of hollow-legged boys?
Then I flashed back on a game my daughter used to play: “Dinner and Movie.” She’d make up a menu based on what was in the fridge and we’d play restaurant, then watch something I’d videotaped (remember videotapes?) or just watch TV.
Thus was born “Café Awesome.”
Things got a little hectic during my New York trip last week. Too much to do, poor air quality, my inability to score at the lottery for “The Book of Mormon” tickets, heat and humidity, dueling deadlines and general exhaustion laid me low on Thursday evening.
(How many times do you get to use word “Mormon” and “lottery” in the same sentence? Not enough, if you ask me.)
Last week I neglected to post a giveaway, and swore I’d make it up to you. That’s why there are two prizes this week, both in honor of the re-imagining of the “Spider-Man” franchise.
I went to a 12:02 a.m. screening of “Prometheus,” one of the most unsettling films I’ve seen in a long time. Not horror-movie scary, sci-fi-movie creepy. It left me so jittery that when we got home at about 2:45 a.m. I couldn’t go right to sleep.
Instead I added video codes to today’s MSN Money post, cleaned up my e-mail inbox and finished tidying the scene of an earlier kitchen mishap involving overboiled blueberries (apparently I have something against my friend’s stove).
It was 4 a.m. before I finally went to bed, which probably isn’t the healthiest sleep habit. The kettle corn consumed at the theater wasn’t so smart, either, no matter how much I try to convince myself that popcorn = corn = daily vegetable intake.
But damn, it was fun. My friend’s got me hooked on midnight screenings. We’ve seen five since I got here.
I spent six butt-numbing hours at the movies on Saturday, watching the Metropolitan Opera’s live broadcast of “Gotterdammerung.” Spectacle, pageantry, a buff and bitchin’ Siegfried who turned out to have a down-home Texas accent – it was a very successful day.
The only thing better than opera is frugal opera. In fact, the show didn’t cost me anything:
I went to “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” today. It was loud. And long. And loud. The final battle scene was interminable. Did I mention the volume?
Surely there’s something a little less grueling to see if you win this week’s giveaway.
Last evening we visited the Forget-Me-Not Nursery in Indian, Alaska, then got a guided tour of plantings at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood. Really, though, it was just an excuse to enjoy a sunny summer-evening drive along beautiful Turnagain Arm.
All that scenery made us hungry. On the way back we stopped by a local eatery, the Turnagain Arm Pit BBQ. I haven’t had that much fun since downing the Salmon Dill Dough Pizza up in Talkeetna.
I’ve been reading and re-reading this wonderful Charles Portis novel since I was a teenager. Mattie Ross is a hell of a protagonist. She’s strong, determined, relentless and, above all, frugal.
Here are 10 things you could learn from her story, courtesy of Mr. Portis and the Coen brothers. And without a single song by Glen Campbell!
1. Negotiate. Mattie convinces Stonehill the stock trader to buy back the four ponies he’d sold to her now-dead father for $25 apiece. (Whether it’s the price of a car or a shirt, you might be able to strike a deal. Doesn’t hurt to ask.)
2. Stand up for your rights. Since her father’s horse was stolen from the stock barn, Mattie asks Stonehill to accept responsibility. He refuses, she persists. (If you think you’re being hosed, say so.)
That’s the question I ask in my current Living With Less column over at MSN Money. “Can your life be richer without TV?” refers to wealth both actual and abstract.
Non-watchers told me they save money (sometimes a lot of money) on cable costs and tend to spend less (sometimes a lot less) because they and their kids aren’t bombarded with ads and product placement. They find their lives are richer in other ways, too.
And they get more sleep.