You can has mah bookz

Today I called the Montclair Public Liberry to see if they would take my books. They said they would, provided I not bring more than a couple of boxes at a time and that the books are only gently used and not basement-moldy. 

So, I began the process of culling the wheat from the chaff and delivering said chaff to the liberrian. 

And... I still have a bunch of books. Sigh.

Phase 2 of Hippy Alternative Medicine Crap: Biofeedback!

I heart Itunes - yesterday I bought two guided meditation mp3's. Both are by Dr. Kimeron Harding, a psychologist. One is specifically to get to sleep and the other is for general relaxation. I did them both yesterday, and I completely approve. 

My criteria for choosing a guided meditation recording were that it not have anything to do with yoga, and that it not be too, you know, gay. I was also kind of hoping for some storytelling/abstract imagery (something like, 'imagine the tension is a big yellow balloon, and you can feel it pulling at you until you let it go and it gently rises into the air'... ok, that is kind of gay) but Dr. K does more of the 'think about the muscles of your forehead, eyes and temples, and now let them relax' type of stuff. In the end though I think it's all about following the voice, and regardless of if you follow the instructions by the letter, just focusing on the voice allows you to relax. Or I was able to relax anyway.

I listened to the sleep one before going to sleep. I didn't exactly drop off in the middle, but as soon as it was over I did. Success? Maybe. It's not like I have a lot of insomnia issues, but it was still nice. 

The music is typical new-agey hippy stuff, but I'm ok with that. It's windchime-heavy, for sure. 

Hot Blooded!

I had session 3 of accupuncture today. As my back pain is mostly gone, I asked the doc/supervisor for an overall diagnosis. She said I have spleen chi and kidney chi issues, and that I also have blood heat issues. She thinks the blood heat deal is why I've had eczema forever, and gave me some oibs in pill form to take for it. 

Weird as it is, I agree that I have overheated blood. My temperature has been 99.5 the last three times I've had it taken at the doctor's office. The accu-people also say my pulse is usually fast and my skin feels hot. Hot blooded! Woo! 

Thanks to the Intolerability Index...

...I ended up watching the documentary Summer Camp fo' free online yesterday; it's on Snagfilms.com. I loved it so very much - it brought back tons o' my own camp memories, and it's so fun/funny/heartbreaking hearing kids describe their lives in their own words. Hearing the counselors bitch about how burned out they are near the end of camp is fun/funny/heartbreaking too.

Not Really Dark Knight Spoilers

So, I just saw Teh Dark Night today, feenalmente. I have to say, I think Katie Holmes made a better Rachel Dawes. I'm surprised to find myself writing that, cuz usually the Gyllenhal is pretty damn awesome, but in this crazy action-packed explosion movie, she kinda seemed like she was phoning it in. Crazy, right? I know. It's nuts. What is happening to me and the world. But for reals, I just liked Katie Holmes more. 

Also, I think the reason I liked Batman: Beginnings is because it featured so much delicious nutritious Christian Bale. He is mmm mmm tasty. Gravelly voice, attractively wrinkled features, soulful wounded eyes... you can't get ANY of that when he's in the batsuit! And he's in the batsuit for way too much of Dark Knight. But there was a preview for another movie starring Christian Bale, which I'm totally going to see, cuz I'll see that kid in anything. 

On the plus side: Aaron Eckhart. Hell to the yeah! I have hearted Aaron E. since Thank You For Smoking, and it was a delightful surprise for him to get so much screen time. His face is completely fascinating - no other face so perfectly embodies the phrase 'Gosh darn it, kids, let's put on a show!' I think he's a pretty good actor too, altho' a lot of his acting is just him sort of pointing his face at the camera. 

Of course of course tragically post-mortem'd Heath Ledger was amazing. That was not a surprise since we've all known he was amazing since Brokeback Mountain. I liked this version of The Joker, but found myself distractedly comparing him to the Jack Nicholson one. Both versions work, and I'm actually glad they're playing fast and loose with the origin stories - adhering too closely to the accepted version of a fantasy stifles creativity. 

Overall impressions - there were many moments that made me squeamish and have to cover my eyes and cringe away. I'm not sure if the movie was really that gross/violent or if I've become less immune to movie violence (possibly because of roller derby?) but there it is. And, um, well, overall... I was a little bored. Yeah. I said it. It was formulaic, and while I loves me some formula, I wasn't comfortably reassured this time. And yeah, it was 'dark'. Dark and kind of hackneyed. Yeah, I said that too. And as usual, too many villains! Too many devices! Too many essplosions! 

The secondary characters, Alfred and Lucius, who I prefer to call Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, still ruled. So basically I guess I just want to watch the Bruce Wayne show. Can that be arranged?