Things I Love Thursdays: Catbird

Last night, Sarah, LNRB, and myself headed over to Chinatown to grab burritos and a movie. Our plan was to see "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." LNRB was a little nervous - she'd read the book and knew it was a tear jerker - but I was excited. We even got our tickets for $6.50 by spending $7.50 at Cal Tort (don't say I never told you anything useful). But then we got up to the ticket counter and the woman gave us the bad news: the movie had closed captions.

CC might not sound so bad at first. We watch our TV with captions all the time so that we can keep the volume low after Jack goes to bed. But movies are different. John and I made the mistake of seeing "The Hangover II" this way, and it sucked. Maybe it was just the movie, but it was a miserable experience. Every punch line appeared on screen before the actor had uttered the words. Plus, the lyrics to every single song were included in the captions. Needless to say, we decided to see a different film.

The only thing playing around the same time was "The Grey." In case you haven't heard of it, it's basically "Alive" but with wolves. Lots of wolves. Big, scary, evil wolves. (Because surviving a plane crash and braving the Siberian tundra isn't bad enough, apparently.) LNRB can be a bit jumpy at times, so I tried to warn her that it was going to be a thriller. "No, no," Sarah insisted. "It's just suspenseful. It will be fine."

"She screamed in 'Water for Elephants,'" I reminded Sarah, but LNRB felt up to the challenge. So in we went.

The next two hours were some of the most tortuous of my life. All I could think about was the fact that I could be living in Russia some time very soon. All Sarah could think about was the fact that LNRB was probably never going to speak to her again. And LNRB? Well, it was hard to tell what she was thinking, considering she'd tied her scarf around her face. I haven't screamed in a movie in a very long time, but I shrieked almost as loudly as LNRB last night.

It's hard to say if I got some of the worst sleep of my life last night because I'm sick, because I drank a gallon of Diet Coke at dinner, or because every time I closed my eyes all I could see were big, scary, man-eating CG wolves. Either way, Sarah found a little something that might keep the evil wolves at bay:

This gorgeous ring by Digby and Iona (via Catbird), is inscribed with the words Auribus teneo lupum; "To hold a wolf by the ear." I'd prefer to grab the tail, thank you, but there's something about a Latin inscription that makes me feel a little less afraid... Even if you're not in the market for anti-wolf amulets, Catbird has some fabulous jewelry and gifts you should definitely check out. After all, Valentine's Day is just around the corner...

Bow and arrow necklace by Love and Victory

For the book lover.

(Sarah got me one of these necklaces by The Black Spot Books, and I adore it!)