The Zen of Doing My Nails

I had a long weekend. 

Lots of people, lots socialising, lots of family. I'm now sitting at home on my couch, watching reruns of The Mentalist (and loving Simon Baker...hmmm I have a thing for blondes *sigh*). I've unpacked my nail-care stuff. Nail-polish remover, various files and buffers, little cuticle scissors, cuticle care balm, extra-rich lemon scented hand cream, clear strengthening base polish, a selection of colours and my favourite extra-shine top coat. 

This friday, I had a dinner meeting with my cousin, who's getting married end of may. I'm one of his witnesses, as we call it these parts - that means I stand up for him in church, sort of like a maid of honour but for the groom. The groom's brother is a witness, too, as are two of the bride's best friends. 

We had all planned on meeting up that evening to go over the schedule for the wedding. Various spouses and siblings came along, too. Bride and groom presided over the meeting, although the bride definitely had things well in hand. She handed out five-page printouts of her List of Stuff To Remember so we could all make notes on our own copies. 

Those lists covered everything from how many chairs we'd have to put up in church (yes, we would have to do that) to who would hoover the carpets and check the lightbulbs. 

I've taken out some cotton wool thingies and removed my current nail polish. It's Noir de Chine, or rather it was. Once I've rubbed away the most stubborn bits of black, I go wash my hands, scrubbing my fingers with a soft-ish little nailbrush I bought last week. I dry them off and go back to the couch. 

The Mentalist is over now. I channel surf until I hit Transformers. It'll do. 

I was rather surprised (and somewhat amused) to learn that my main job for the wedding (it had to be my main job, it was mentioned no less than three times on that list) was to supply a large amount of our family-made plum schnaps (lethal stuff) for the banquet on the evening after the wedding. Right. 

books and movie-stars

I've been browsing the net (mostly wasting time I don't have) and stumbled across this one site on facebook. Amongst other things it's full of people suggesting the actors they imagine should play the different characters in a film version of the anita blake books by laurell k hamilton.

And what a fun exercise that was! (No I'm not being sarcastic)

It did, however, make me doubt my imagination at points - though to be fair I felt that way when I read the comic version. You know, when you read a book, you have a certain picture in your mind of the characters  the story is about. For me, these pictures develop rather fast, sometimes before there's been any sort of physical description in the book.

This can lead to disappointment when watching the movie, definately. And the more popular the book was, the more difficult the casting probably is. I mean, so many different people, with so many pictures firmly set in their minds, how are you going to find someone who actually fits?

I did actually post some of my suggestions for the Anita Blake actors, and was admittedly somewhat surprised at the rather indignant response I got about how unsuitable those choices were given the descriptions in the book. I had to think long and hard to reply to that.

I mean, I guess I didn't take the whole exercise very seriously, which apparently is a sacrilege in and of itself. But why should I? Also, like I said, everybody has certain pictures in their mind, and surely no two such pictures will be the same. Such is the joy of reading a book.

Once you have these pictures in your head, I guess some illustrations and/or actors just strike a chord. Or perhaps they just appeal in a more general way.

Well I guess that's it for my rant for now.