Somewhere in the boxes in my storage unit, there are 16 individual T-120 VHS tapes labeled "The Prisoner." They belonged to my father, who was a huge fan of the show. Somewhere else in the unit is a paperback copy of "The Prisoner Companion." Also his. I've never given either much examination. I will someday. In the meantime, I'm very sad to hear about Patrick McGoohan. But then again, dear Daddy now has yet another person to meet in whatever ether/universal waiting room we all may or may not go to (along with John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and Johnny Cash).

I'm breathing fire here, guys, so I'll keep the rest of this entry brief:

New job. (nothing has been quite so satisfying as telling Borders "I quit.")

New job I can put on my *journalist/activist/queer chick resume* and not my customer service one (Field Manager-In-Training for the Fund for the Public Interest).

Invited two friends to go and see "Milk" on Tuesday. Neither even bothered to call or text message me back. *shrugs* I've probably earned some of that, since I didn't get back to Caroline before New Year's about ice-skating. But, then again, she had her fiance with her. And Rene. Eww.

Had a date two weeks ago (with a man) and have another one this coming Saturday (with a woman).

Canvassing in freezing weather is infinitely more rewarding than making coffee for mall rats/playing "queen of the playground" with an ill-tempered alcoholic. It may be the most rewarding thing I've done since writing the Arkansas articles for Vital Voice.

Have been watching more Classic Who -- Patrick Troughton this time. Have fallen a little in love with Frazer Hines (boy in a kilt -- who wouldn't? And he clearly enjoys touching the doctor. A lot.).

Bought a new fun hat for canvassing. It kind of looks like Jayne's hat from Firefly, but pink and purple. Goes well with the red hair, German army coat and the cock necklace.

I'm officially a bad Blockbuster employee. Why?

I've signed up for an account with NetFlix.

And I'm *not sorry*: their website is better, they have more detailed search engines, more categories to choose from (including a Gay and Lesbian category -- which BB Online *used* to have but got rid of overnight last year), AND they have NC-17 rated films.

The first films in my queue were John Water's A Dirty Shame, Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus -- which andiefreude recommended I see. It's the best, most intense film I've seen in a long, long time (thanks Justin! I'll never be able to hear the Star Spangled Banner the same way again..) Mitchell is such a game director, so collaborative with his actors and so creative. I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next.

BVD has some amazing extras, including a five-minute short of Erica Gavin and Cynthia Myers discussing their love scene in the film. They're both in their late fifties now, still very beautiful and seated close together on this loveseat in a studio somewhere. The two-shot of them is amazing and makes me wish I still had a WinDVD program and Photoshop so I could screengrab it and make it into an icon like (points up) this one.

I'd seen A Dirty Shame before -- BB carries the "neuter version." But I rented it because I wanted to see all the things that got cut to make the "renter-friendly" R-rated version. It includes: Selma Blair's breasts, Johnny Knoxville's "python," a mimed cunnilingus scene, the *word* cunnilingus and... mostly language. The MPAA seems to have a problem with the word "clitoris" as well as cunnilingus -- probably because they can't find one and can't do the other.

And the John Waters commentary is, as always, a joy to listen to. He tells stories on the various generations of Dreamlanders -- turns out Susan Lowe actually did get a concussion when her dog leashes got tangled and she fell onto a concrete sidewalk. Selma Blair went for a walk during her first night in Baltimore, got caught out in a hurricane and ended up taking brief refuge on a neighbor's houseboat -- who turned out to be an arms dealer (he's since been busted). Ricki Lake could not appear in the film personally because she was going through her divorce at the time, but of course a clip from her show turns up on Sylvia's television. This is also the first Waters dvd that has a second commentary track -- with Pat Moran, Van Smith and Vince Peranio, who seem to be the new "trio" on all the new dvds since Cry Baby was re-released. They have as many stories as John and many stories *about* John that are fascinating.

All in all, a good triple-feature. The next films in my queue: Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, the 1979 BBC version of Romeo and Juliet starring Alan Rickman as Tybalt, and La Cage Aux Folles.

From the American Dream entry:

The American Dream is a subjective term usually implying a successful and satisfying life. This term usually implies financial security and material comfort, but can also imply a dream of fame, exceeding social, ethnic, or class boundaries, or simply living a fulfilling life.

Oh shit. I've got one of those.

It's to be an out, full-time working, queer journalist with a good health plan.

This will all end in tears, won't it?