Perhaps this was the man who broke into my house? Seems there would be more than one of them, but the crowbar makes it seem this could be the Bananna Thief.

So, last night, after missing almost all of the special ShadowApe event at the IMA because India Palace took forever to get us our food, my boyfriend Robert and I came home and found the back door standing open.

My first instinct: where is the cat? I was freaking out, afraid Nermil had gotten out and she didn't have her collar on with her tag. Robert, being from Memphis and therefore slightly more cautious, wouldn't let me in the house. Of course, as soon as he walked in I was behind him callin "kitty, kitty, kitty." Thankfully, since Nermil is rather fat and lazy, she hadn't wandered far from her food bowl. Not what you would call an attack kitty, like this one.

After locating Nermil I just kept saying "Why are there eggs all over the floor?" I had a bag of spring decorations from when my coven celebrated the spring equinox, and there were now plastic eggs all over the floor where the bag and been dumped out. Nermil thought they were toys.

So we cased the house and sure enough every cabinet door in the kitchen had been opened, drawers in my computer room were open and dumped out, a Winter Solstice present that had never been delivered was ripped open in my craft room-attic, but the worst was my bedroom, where my clothing was strewn on the floor.

So we called the police, and a cop was there super fast. He was really nice (and kept complimenting me on my house, which made me happy). He said that there had been a lot of breakins in the Irvington area, and after they set up a patrol task force there, the crime moved north, into my neighborhood, Emerson Heights. He said that the task force would shift into my area now.

So, what was weird was that all the robbers took were my bank and credit card statements ... and my banannas. Oh. And they ate a fortune cookie while they were here. Found the wrapper and forture: "You will have a bright future." They dumped out my change jar (where another cop took fingerprints), went through my jewelry boxes and could have picked up a handful of CDs or DVDs from the living room, but they just took the papers. Which was kind of lucky for me, because all I had to do was cancel all my accounts (which took a full half day at the bank to get done, but oh well). It could have been A LOT worse. And my cat, guinea pig, hamseter and fish tank were all fine, which was what I checked first.

The rest of the day was spent installing alarms and new locks. About 4:30 p.m. I crashed (I took a personal day) because I was just beat. Watched a couple episodes of "Buffy." I got season one as an early b-day present.

So, as I told my mom, I think I have now lived through everthing an adult who lives in the U.S. could ever have to endure, save a car jacking. And dude, with my car's gas milage, good luck getting very far.

A very cool web site: www.rof.com

Ostara, also known as the Spring Equinox, is a religious holiday for me. Do I have the day off? Noooooo. Here is a nice little article about the holiday: www.witchvox.com

So I was conversing with my friend Paul Pogue via e-mail this morning (since the FileMaker server decided to take a nap) because he commented on his agreement on "MirrorMask" being the best movie ever (see previous entry).

In any case, I told him I should use a comment in my blog, so in order to prove once and for all to all my readers just what I geek I am, I have pasted my response e-mail below:

(snip)

What a fantasic idea: "Labrinth 2"!

I LOVE MirrorMask sooo much because it was this decade's Labyrinth. I can bring my geekdom into the 21st century. Hey, I might have to use that line on my blog ...

Got your message last night. Was being a big ass shlub. Skipped dance class and played Lord of the Rings Monopoly with my b-friend. (Wow. This is really getting to be geek central here. )

(end snip)

As we were discussing the merits if Labrinth, Jim Henson and the fact that I skipped belly dance class in order to play LOTR Monopoly, my own little world came into sharp focus. Methinks it is time to start attending GenCon.

I have little spare time between work, theater and school, but I do have a few updates on some good movies and even better books that I have taken in recently.

First, I finally finished "Son of a Witch". I got it back in December when DoubleDay in Circle Centre was going out of business. And, I can say I actually enjoyed it more than "Wicked." Because the land of Oz is set up already, the author is able to concentrate more on actions and character development of Lear. Plus, everyone knows the witch dies, so there wasn't any suspense in "Wicked." Here, you don't know what is going to happen to Lear. And I'm not going to spoil it for you.

I have a penchant for young adult literature (as well as fantasy, so I lean towards young-adult-fantasy), so the next two are from that genre.

First, "Inkheart" is by Cornelia Funke, who, I read somewhere, is the second most popular author in Germany next to Harry Potter's creator. Although the book crafted an interesting world and had a fairly unique concept, the bloody thing was way too long and too short on momentum. I also have "Inkspell," the sequel, waiting for me.

Plus, "Inkheart" is slated to be turned into a movie, along with another YAF book I read and was ho-hum about, Eragon.

Since the explosive success of Harry Potter, it seems that they can't make YAF novels into movies quick enough, but The One, the book that makes "Harry Potter" look like "Dick and Jane," "His Dark Materials" by Phillip Pullman, has been "in production" for years. There is also a dramatization of it, but it tanked. Probably because it was over 3 hours long, required a talking polar bear and was 3 books shoved into one play.

Bliss. Hammer just gave me a box of Thin Mints, thus quelling a rant in the making.

Onward.

What I am reading now is "The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1)." Smart (very smart), fast-paced and funny as hell. Highly recommended.

Movie-wise, I saw the BEST MOVIE EVER (if you are me), "MirrorMask. This movie is pure drug-induced genius.

"Hungry. Still hungry."

Speaking of, these Thin Mints are a little melty.

Finally, I watched "Dark Water" because I like creepy movies. It was pretty good; the walls bleeding water were a nice touch.

In other brain-dumbing exercises, my boyfriend has me watching "Lost." Yeah ... lost time because the stupid show is addictive and Sawyer is hot.

Yup, I heard it first and I am posting it out to you.

Jonathon Markanday, an Indianapolis actor who left for greener pastures in LA in 2004, may have a major motion picture in the making -- but not as an actor.

His screenplay, "Foreign Exchange," has garnered some enthusiastic interest in the big city.

Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

Tee hee

I hate this blog picture. It's, like, about 6 years old anyway.

Here's one of my friend Criss and I at the Lord of the Rings exhibit at the State Museum.

I mean, it's not like I don't want to. But the colors on the monitor are so pretty ...

So, why didn't I see "Love, Sex and the IRS" at Buck Creek Players over the weekend? Well, not for want of trying. But I had to see "King Lear" at the IRT and "Urinetown" at Footlite. And, I admit, I had something else going on over the weekend, too. I was at a belly dance workshop in Bloomington all day Saturday. I'm sorry. I mean it. I asked for tickets this coming weekend, so I will get back to doing what I am suppose to be doing and forgo shimmying next weekend. Instead, I will be checking out giant doobies at the Phoenix, catching up on Buck Creek and ... something else is opening too. Darn it. I should be sleeping.

But this is too weird to not post.

Catholic town