A Hardy Jane

I am so exhausted today - the holiday weekend of running around like a crazy person was very tiring. I'm glad I didn't have to drive to all of the places.

I didn't get a single book finished this last week though. I am almost finished with The Jane Austen Book Club and I'm 400, + or - a few, pages away from being finished with Far From the Madding Crowd. I love Thomas Hardy! He's so amazing.

Not this one...but he's quite dreamy!

This Hardy

Anyways, I need to rush back off to work. Joy :D Thank God the busy part of the day is over so far.

Fa la la la - Yay Me!

Ohhhhhhhhh - I just bought myself a Christmas present! I 32" flat screen tv. Yay me!

Relationships: I've had lots of little old men tell me how cute I am recently. Lols. Maybe I'll just have to marry one of the 96 year olds that swing by and think I'm cute :D

Health: Well, as you read, yoga kicked my butt last night! But I think I am getting better and better at it, despite not knowing half the positions she calls out.

Well - I need to be off so I can welcome my nephew home!

Merry Merry Christmas to you all! :*

Eat Crow Ghosts

Ugh - I am super tired tonight!  Just like I was last night.  After I got done with work (around 7ish) - I went and cleaned up my apartment for my company this week.  I am so excited to see my nephew!!!!  Sometimes I think my heart could burst out of my chest - and that's just looking at a picture.  I'm so lucky to have him as my graduation present (he was born the day I graduated from college).  Today, I worked early until 6 - then I ran to my yoga class, where the instructor kicked our butts.  I honestly couldn't do a majority of the last phase of sun salutations.  I just kind of attempted, sort of....  What the heck is a crow position?!?!?

hahaha - yeah right!  I couldn't do that when I was young!

Afterwards, someone had brought wine and cheese and almonds and chocolate!  We munched and talked about scary ghost stories.  There is apparently one that haunts the yoga building and the one next door.  Two of the people last week heard the door rattling (like someone pulling on the door, trying to get in), first faintly, and then really loudly.  I got a chill as they were explaining this!  I told them about the rolling ball at the palace in Scotland and the library ghost that slammed the book drop closed one night as I was walking away from locking the front doors.  We had a lot of fun and then giggled at the fact that we were sharing ghost stories like the Christmas carol, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, says:

"There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago."

This begs the question - why are ghosts such a part of Christmas?  Is it all because of Scrooge and his Christmas ghosts?  Are there other ghost stories that are supposed to go along with Christmas?  I can't think of any off the top of my head...maybe it's because I spent too much time trying to do the crow.  What do you think?

Frightful Weekend

So I am going to try to breeze through this.

I watched Fright Night - which is pretty good. I liked it. It was one of those scary movies that was just a little to far past believability. Colin Farrell was fantastic - you could tell he loved his part. And personally, I would have PAID to be one of his victims. You could see Doris, the first victim, smile as he licked the blood from her chest to her neck. She was trying to hide it with a grimace, but she couldn't completely keep the smile from her face. I do not blame her at all. Lucky Doris. I like that this vamp movie makes vampires scary again - not like fluffy house pets. BTW, what is with Anton Yelchin (cutie little Russian) always playing a character named Charlie B.



I also watched Sarah's Key - it was a weekend for Christmas spirit..not! It was a good movie about a little girl that locks her brother in the closet so as to not be found by the police rounding up the Jews. They end up being taken away - for a long time. She escapes and manages to get back to her house - only to find, well, you can imagine what they found in the closet after several weeks of him being in there. The story is unraveled by a journalist who finds out about the Jewish family that lived in the home her family just moved into (the building has been in the family since they moved into it during the war). It was nice to hear all the French dialogue in the movie.

I listened to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne this weekend as well - see, I told you it was a weekend full of Christmas cheer! I watched this movie by myself in the palace in Scotland. It ripped my heart out. The book did the same - the movie was really similar to the book. The story is about a 9 year old boy who's father gets put in charge of Auschwitz. They move next to the camp, and despite being forbidden to go exploring, he does. While exploring, he finds a friend. He talks to the little boy on the other side of the fence and they become best friends. Bruno, the small German boy, is very confused by the people on the other side of the fence. On the last day before he leaves to head back to Berlin, he decides to go exploring a bit further.

A Matthew MacFadyen Universe

So last night, after completing my 40th hour of work, I ran home...cleaned...and got ready for book club!  We watched a movie last night: Death at a Funeral.  Matthew MacFadyen - you are dreamy! If only every girl could have one of you!  Lols - that strange alternate dimension would be beyond weird!

Anyways
Relations: Well, I've had a lot of fun with the ONE other person in my book club (yeah, that's how we roll).
Health: Well, I got to yoga once this week and I managed to lose a whole pound in a week.  Wii Fit is worried about me since my goal was only 1lbs in 2 weeks: I may be losing too quickly!
Career:   I'm still searching for the one that will be perfect for me and I for it.

Full Bellies

From work to yoga to packing food for kids around the world...I am exhausted. I packed meals and helped clean up for about an hour and a half. I'm just so happy so many kids in Guatemala and Haiti will have full bellies because of the work we did. Amazing time! I know myself, I hadn't eaten since lunch and my stomach was growling loudly in protest around 8:30pm. I thought to myself though: these kids sometimes only eat once every other day - the pangs in my stomach are nothing compared to theirs. Check it out, and if you can help somewhere this Christmas - maybe try a new tradition.

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles!

So I found out from someone recently that you can shatter bubbles like glass! I had no idea, nor would I have thought of this, but if you blow bubbles when it is below 32 degrees (freezing) they freeze and shatter. The bubbles will float for a bit until the outside air has chilled your warm breath inside of the bubble - the bubbles then fall to the ground and shatter. I attempted this the other night, but it was still just a little too warm for it (34 degrees). I'm really hoping that the temperatures drop enough for A. Some snow and B. So I can do this with my nephew. I can see his shocked little face right now!



From the videos out there...it doesn't look like they quite shatter.

The World Isn't Fair

I finished reading The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson last week.  It was a really interesting novel - telling the story of the Chicago's World Fair and the infamous murderer and first American psychopath, H.H. Holmes.  I've already written a bit about this novel, but some of the most interesting information put forth in the book was about the World's Fair.  All the things that were introduced at the fair, how the main architect of the fair didn't have a degree (he had test anxiety), the landscape architect had extreme anxiety and insomnia, and how the Ferris Wheel came to be the rival to the Eiffel Tower despite everyone saying it would never work. 

The real thing I am excited to hear about is the fact that this book is going to be turned into a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio.  It isn't slated to come out until 2013 but it looks to be an interesting telling of the fiend of hell living side by side the heavenly white city of the Chicago's World Fair.

Take Me To the Movies

So I have a few movies to talk about: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Conan the Barbarian and Water for Elephants.

So starting with Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It's a chick flick to the CORE. It is a story of true friendship and it is gut wrenching. I really liked how they didn't hold back on the full details of how girls feet were bound and how they were the property of the men (not good enough unless you bore a son, able to beat you at his whim, and you HAD to OBEY him...even if that meant going to bed with him early despite the presence of your laotong). It is about a Chinese tradition of laotongs. It is basically girls who are bonded at childhood and are best friends/sisters through a strict code. Bingbing Li and Gianna Jun are the lead actresses; they play both the modern story and traditional story of loatongs. Snow Flower and Lily are bonded to each other through a matchmaker. Lily is an impoverished girl; however, her saving grace is the perfection of her bound feet. She is paired with the wealthy Snow Flower and they are taught the secrets of a laotong. Life flip flops on them, ending with Lily a wealthy woman and Snow Flower impoverished. Their friendship is really tested through these times. The story of Snow Flower and Lily closely mirrors the lives of Sophia and Nina - two modern day loatongs. Their friendship is also tested....

Crazy, Stupid, Love was just a spectacular movie. Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell, and Emma Stone were brilliant. I have to say my least favorite moment was the appearance of Josh Groban; my favorite was when he got dumped :D I so can't stand that man! Anyways...Steve Carrell's character, Cal, has a bomb dropped on him one night: his wife wants a divorce because she slept with another man. He is devastated and pretty soon he's spending his nights at the bar telling the air his sob story. Jacob, played by Ryan Gosling, is a suave and seductive man that takes pity on poor Cal. Jacob is giving Cal his manhood back - he's turning him into a suave and seductive man just like him. Both men end up finding exactly what they need.


Conan the Barbarian - I am so sorry Jason Momoa....you couldn't even make that movie better. It just seemed like every actor and actress was just trying a little too hard to be convincing in their roles. There were some funny/witty lines and some intense battle scenes, but just badness everywhere else. Ugh - it is really all I can say. It's depressing to me since I really wanted to see this remake. At least I hear that Thor really sucks it too. Story: young barbarian "prince" sees his dad brutally murdered for a piece of some ancient mask that was divided up long ago because it's power of bringing back the dead got too dangerous. He's pissed off by it and spends the rest of his life looking for the man who did that - he finds him and keeps trying to kill him. I'll give you a hint, he gets what he wants...and the woman too! ...before he rides off without her.


The most recent movie I watched was Water for Elephants. The book is way different and just better in the plethora of detail you get from the book that can't transfer to film. It was an overall good movie even if I didn't like a few of the character changes they made. The story is about an old man remembering his circus days with the Benzinni Brothers. He went to Cornell to study veterinary science and then work with his father. The day of his exams, he is informed that his parents have died in a horrible crash. He breaks down at the loss of his family and all of their possessions, so he tries to head for the city - he ends up on the circus train. There, he is taken in as the show's "Ivy League Vet." He diagnosis a terminal disease in one of the shows main attractions. The loss of this main attraction leaves the circus leader searching for a main attraction. He finds it with Rosie...an elephant. There's a love story, a cranky midget clown, a sweet old man, a bipolar header, and Rosie. It's a wonderful story, plus, I love Reese Witherspoon.

H.H. Yuck.

This week has been crazy!  And now, after putting in 40 hours at one job, I'm off to put in another 12 this weekend.  Migraines and stomach aches have had me off all week, but I'm sort of starting to feel better.  I feel asleep right away at 7 when I finished with work and ended up waking at 10 and staying up until 2.  I finished my book around 2 in the morning.  I'd had a stomach ache most of the night, but I think learning about H.H. Holmes twisted murders of the three kids only made it worse.  I must say - peppermint tea is fantastic!  My stomach still hurt when I woke up and so I made myself some peppermint tea and sipped it throughout the morning and my stomach ache literally disappeared.  It was nice!

This is the creepy murder - H.H. Holmes. And I'm guessing a picture of "The Castle"

Relationships:  I got to see one of my friends from school that I haven't seen in like a year.   It was fun to catch up with him.  We talked for hours and drank wine and wandered around town. He is one of my few guy friends whom I can just talk - intellectually - for long periods of time. 

Health: I went to the Holiday Hip Opener at the local yoga place.  OUCH!!!!  We watched Elf while we did some of the most PAINFUL hip opening positions.  I didn't realize it was a "special" night, but for an hour and 45 minutes...I was in HELL.  My knees were so bruised from the workout. It might have been all those moves down on my hands and knees...or perhaps my falling up the stairs as I was running to get ready for class. It took me 4 days to not be able to feel my abs so painfully every time I moved after the free hour long workout that I did on Saturday. 

Career: Mine is getting a little stressed with EHR requirements.  I'm starting to think a lot more about potential careers that I could be happy at - I'm still drawing a blank at the moment....maybe that will fill in some time soon. I hope so.

"Yes, I yell at inanimate objects"

So I have been listening to Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It is very interesting. I have spent most of the night struggling with my computer and the audiobooks site and transferring my books. I am now exhausted. I will write much more when I am not working straight 9 1/2 hours and feeling sick and fighting with my computer. Yes, I yell at inanimate objects. I'm special :D

Conan

I am currently in the middle of watching Conan the Barbarian.  I had to come back home to drop Elisabeth off for a babysitting job.  I have yet to finish it!  I also got Beastly to watch and it doesn't work!  Off to call Redbox and let them know...while also returning to Jason Mamoa!

Saintly

Today is Saint Andrews Day!!!!  St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.  I've been wearing blue and white all week. He was an apostle, a fisherman, and the brother of Simon Peter.  Some of his relics ended up in Saint Andrews (the city in Scotland) and he became the patron saint of Scotland.  The saltire cross of St Andrew is the Scottish Flag.

The Wikipedia article on St Andrew states: "According to legend, in 832 AD, Óengus II led an army of Picts and Scots into battle against the Angles, led by Æthelstan, near modern-day Athelstaneford, East Lothian. The legend states that whilst engaged in prayer on the eve of battle, Óengus vowed that if granted victory he would appoint Saint Andrew as the Patron Saint of Scotland. On the morning of battle white clouds forming an X shape in the sky were said to have appeared. Óengus and his combined force, emboldened by this apparent divine intervention, took to the field and despite being inferior in terms of numbers were victorious. Having interpreted the cloud phenomenon as representing the crux decussata upon which Saint Andrew was crucified, Óengus honoured his pre-battle pledge and duly appointed Saint Andrew as the Patron Saint of Scotland. The white saltire set against a celestial blue background is said to have been adopted as the design of the flag of Scotland on the basis of this legend."

It's enough to state that I completely miss my future homeland.  Oh Scotland...I miss you!

Retro That!

I did a few things I have not done in a while - I tested out being retro...of myself!

I busted out the journal, my knitting needles (with the same scarf I've been knitting since 2008 still on them), and my 8 Minute workout DVDs. After knitting for a bit, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep right away at 9pm. I woke up at 4:15am and after attempting to fall asleep again until 5:45am, I decided to get up and work out. Ouch does my body hurt (buns, thighs, arms, abs, stretch, and pilates).

I have to admit, I miss knitting. I used to do it all the time but my wrist tendinitis makes it sucky! I'm going to get back into it and just take it slowly.

Test out being retro! And pick up something you used to do all the time and just haven't done in a while!

Death, Love, Death

So I have finished quite a few books in the last week.

I finished the book about death and traditions since the beginning of time to now. I'll have to get back to you with the author and full title...it slips my mind at the moment. It was a really interesting book - I would have never known that there was so much debate on death and the afterlife. Some of the traditions behind death were really interesting as well. I had no idea that it wasn't until more modern times that people actually started burying people and leaving them in the ground. Equally astounding is how much harm cremation is doing to the environment - many mountainous places in Wales and Scotland have asked people not to spread their ashes there since it is destroying the habitat/ecosystem. There's also a "Green" burial where you get buried in a cardboard box and have a tree or other kind of plant placed as a marker/headstone. Personally, I always thought it would be cool to be but on a boat with a bunch of kindling (herbs and pine boughs) and lit on fire as I was pushed out to sea. I don't know why I find that idea so intriguing and interesting.

I also finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I really enjoyed this book, even if it did make me slightly depressed while reading it. It was really interesting to see her shift between the 3 stages of eating, praying, and learning how to love. Her journey was really interesting to hear and inspiring. It was inspiring to see someone struggle to get out of the darkness that had begun to surround their life. It can be a scary thing to stand up and say: "I'm not happy."






I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Just a side note - that boy be CUTE! Anyways, I was reading it slowly and surely...until I realized that I needed to have it done by this Thursday. I read quite a bit last Friday as I sat around with my grammy. I drove home, hung out with my family, and when I went home around 10:30 I started to read again. I didn't want to put it down and I ended up finishing sometime around 3:30am. It was nice though, it has been a while since I've stayed up the majority of a night just to read a book! The story of Leisle is so depressing and yet touching. Leisle is put in the foster care system of Germany around 1939 when her communist mother can no longer take care of her and her brother. On their way to their new family, Leisle's brother ends up dying. After the burial of her brother and her first time stealing a book, she ends up on Himmel Street with Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Hans is a perfectly loving father and he dotes upon Leisle. He teaches her to read and spends almost all of his nights coming to comfort Leisle after her reoccurring nightmare. Leisle develops a deep love for Hans, books, and her best friend Rudy. The story is told from death's perspective and he tells the painful story of Leisle's life in Nazi Germany. I am really excited to discuss this at book club.

How Beautiful She Looked

This last week kept me busy - work and migraines and holidays...oh my!

I haven't really watched all that many movies recently either.  I went back and I watched some bad Nick Cage movie and 13 Going on 30. I read a lot this week too - my book group (aka me) picked a 500 some paged book to read in 2 weeks (with a holiday in between). 

I have to say my favorite thing I got to watch this week was my grandma.  Everyone had left and it was just her and I and the dog sitting and reading.  Boys had headed into the woods, kids went to stores and aunt's places, and grandpa went out to through tools around in the garage...we got the house to ourselves.  She eventually tired and began to snore in her chair.  Her hands twitched with little movements and she breathed in and out through her mouth until she'd suddenly inhale through her nose and blow a noisy puff from between her lips.  Her book hung delicately on her chest as she continued to inhale and exhale.  The sleeping dog on the floor began to mimic her motions as his legs began to twitch with his dream world.  I sat silently, with a book in my lap and tears streaming down my face.  I thought about how beautiful she was and how much I'm going to miss her, how that stupid cancer is riddling its way through her body and 4 of her organs, and how much I wish I was still tiny enough to crawl into her lap and rock like I used to.

John Cusack Has a Mullet

Yup - I'm watching Serendipity at this moment...because it is on and I am bored....all I keep thinking is: John Cusack has a Mullet.  It honest to God looks like a Mullet.  It's better than Twilight that is on the channel above...and The Mummy ended a little bit ago (I love Brendan Fraser!) and I refuse to watch the Walking Dead...I have scary enough dreams as it is.  Te he.

This weekend our family movie was The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  It was a rather cute movie...but it was lacking something.  It had beautiful, wonderful Johnny Depp (I still can't get over how beautiful his eyes are!) but it was very anticlimactic. The funniest part in the whole movie was the line: "I support the missionary's position."  My mom and I had a hearty laugh at that but both of us thought it was lacking - not very memorable. The story of the fountain of youth should have been better - it seemed like they tried too hard to make it very dramatic and it just fell flat.





Oh my - I am having way too much fun watching Serendipity!  Well off to eat dinner and watch my romantic movie....where John Cusack has a mullet!  Look at it ----------->  Mullet-tastic! lols

It's getting hot in here!

It's kind of funny (not really) how fast a dark mood can set in on you and then dissipate. I went to bed Wednesday with the thought: "I'm just going to wash today off my skin and go on with life." The next morning I woke up and was perfectly content.

So my book club was last night. Only one person showed up. Oh well! It was still fun and I wouldn't have picked a better person to spend the night with - we picked The Book Thief as our first book. I'm excited and the next one should bring 2 more people to our group.

I've been working out and using the posture pump this week. Posture pump is a contraption that helps put the curve back into your neck. The cervical section of my spine goes in the other direction! The addition of a humidifier to my room at night has made and extreme difference in my health as well. I'm still hotter than hot at night. It stays 74 in my apartment at all times (I don't even have my heat on!!!!). I have consistently woken up around 4am every morning just to open my window because I am so hot. I am about ready to walk downstairs and tell the guys that live below me that they at least need to turn down their heat at night. I didn't even sleep under the covers last night in my light pajamas and I still had to wake up and open a window!

Fear and Self Loathing

So today I was confronted by this cute little old man as the "single one."  As if it were some horrible sin that I should be single.  Today was bad enough to begin with.  There is a line from a song I love and it goes like this: "Darkness is a harsh term don't you think, and yet it dominates the things I see."  Today was one of those days were everything was a shade of black.  I don't know if listening to all the depression and issues in Eat, Pray, Love is getting to me, but I was not a happy person this morning.  I hated life, I hated my job, and most of all - I hated myself.  The pretty, but can't quite be beautiful girl that is too clever for her own good and somehow completely unlovable and easily forgettable.  I kept pushing those things from my mind but pop, pop, pop - up they'd come again.  Like mental vomit - I honestly felt sick.  This single comment added to it - failure me still can't get a man!  What a pity for someone as cute as me to be single.  The "Daily Challenge" that popped into my inbox the other day was to genuinely compliment someone - I scoffed as I thought, I can't honestly compliment myself about anything. What can I do right?!?  I'm just the ugly, unrefined, unmarried, and unaccomplished.  Am I just afraid of me - fearful of accepting myself? 

Stalk What You Love

There is something so refreshing about stalking.  Yes, I said it: STALKING.  I haven't done it lately, but I love finding every youtube video with Mumford and Sons in it.  I am obsessed.  I can't believe it has been over a year since I have seen them.  I started out just youtubing the heck out of the band.  I couldn't get enough.  This song, Lover of the Light, was honestly the reason I fell in love with them...and furthermore, Marcus.  There is something so incredibly powerful and vulnerable in his performance of this song.



After I bought the MP3s, the Deluxe CD, and even 2 of their LPs - I kind of lost track of stalking them via Youtube.  Well, I am back at it and boy do I have a plethora of new songs to watch now that they have been touring and are about to put out a new record. So enjoy...maybe you'll go stalk your favorite band and find out what they have been up to lately!

 

It's sad, but I just thought about how much my former lingustics professor would geek out at the use of youtubing as a verb...kind of like he did over facebook being used as a verb!

Eat, Pray, Love or Die or Speak French

I haven't finished reading a book this week. I am nearly done with my book on death traditions and I have just started "Book 2" of Eat, Pray, Love. The title for this post is based off the fact that the writer of Eat, Pray, Love is always titling a section or so with three different titles; e.g. Happiness or Laziness or Business.

I am exhausted after working, working out, and doing French homework with my sister. I now need sleep...and I have to run 2 humidifiers to make it through the night without a bloody bloody nose! Night

Sweet

I recently just got into a show called Sweet Genius.  It is really interesting.  It's like Chopped, except with desserts.  Yummy!

The most recent movie I watched was The Zookeeper.  That movie was funny beyond funny.  It had some of those moments, like Bridesmaids, where it was almost too painful to watch.  The zoo animals of the zoo decide to help their zookeeper get a mate.  His ex-girlfriend is back in the picture and they are trying to help him get her back...animal style.

I am a little concerned as to why Kevin James is always the "nerdy fat" guy that can't have a hot girl for a girlfriend/spouse.  His TV show was about how he somehow landed a hot chick, in Hitched he needed help landing the hot chick because she was out of his league, and now this movie too.   The effing ton weighing gorilla picks a chick up at the bar faster than Kevin James.  It's like fat is a handicap in the US culture. Guys, most girls are not that shallow and infinitely prefer a SWEET guy to an hot jerk.

That's so Medieval

Ok. I'm giving up on craig's list for the night. That site can be deadly! It is kind of like the vortex of Facebook. You can't escape!

Today I def. ingested too much coffee which put me a little on edge. Not to mention my shoulder is KILLING me. I do not know how I am going to make it through 1ooos of cookies this weekend. I don't think I can scoop that much.

Relationships are meh. Book club starting...don't know if anyone will show up. Especially since my co-leader can't come anymore.

Health - caught cold; however, swallowing plan honey actually does help.

Career - I about ripped off someone's face this morning. Yet again, drank too much coffee when I usually drink none. I'm really beginning to get sick of being constantly compared to the person who had me job earlier this year. I wasn't trained by this person, nor was I really trained by the person who was trained by her....I wasn't really trained at all. In fact, I was left alone at the desk my 3rd day on the job. So I really get sick of "Well so and so always did it this way." That's the way that so and so did this." I admit I cried a bit, talked it out with my mommy and felt better after reading the Heifer International Magazine. Really, I wish I could be a humanitarian aid person. I'd love to go out and help everyone...I probably just don't have the right credentials. I could move to a country where they still have nuns - not like very many nuns in the history of the church have actually adhered to the faith that supports them. Most of them were just the extra kids aristocrats had and couldn't support - so they "donated" them to the church. I used to have a dream when I was younger that I was Mother Teresa. How weird...last night I dreamed I was / was watching Shia LaBeouf in a rather weird movie. He/I ended up locking ourselves into a port-a-potty to escape the cops. This is slightly more interesting than my dream where I was looking for health insurance and slightly less exciting when I was some kind of medieval princess being swirled around in a gorgeous dress in this glorious hall by a gorgeous man. I guess that is what you get for reading about medieval funeral rights before bed.

Cheers to the Games

I was all set to write yesterday...and then my internet didn't work.  As I was already snug in my pjs under the blankets there was no way I was venturing out again.  I ended up doing my budget instead (what fun!).  I'm so excited that I'll have both of my credit cards and my two new sofas paid off by the end of the year! 

This weekend my aunt and I went exploring our local thrift store - I got two glass mugs (perfect for hot toddies or hot chocolate)  and a wine glass for storing my q-tips.  It sounds a bit odd, but it works! Kind of like these ones...only a shorter stem. I also ended up getting a few games there - Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, and Disney Trivia.  I'm really excited about the Disney game...maybe that makes me a little sad....maybe that makes me SUPER COOL (I'd like to think the latter).  The Trivial Pursuit ended up being so old that my parents hardly recognized the actors in the Pop Culture section (try Olivia de Havilland

- I know who she is because she's in my fav. movie, but I had no idea she had a sister actress let alone what a sister actress was!).  We ended up getting everyone to play (except my one sour puss brother) and it was amazing the learning as well as the fun that was occurring.  Having to take words from a card and then think about how to convey that in pictures to someone else really made my ESL (English as a Second Language) siblings have to think and comprehend words in order for them to draw them.  I think this might
be a fun new way to help them learn and understand English words.
 We might have to implement family game night more often!

 Anyways, I think I have managed to pick up whatever bug one of the kids has been walking around with - fever, cough, sniffles.  I have a horrendous headache right now and would very much like to not have it. This coupled with the first snow of the season has left me a little - bluafh;awoieu.  Yes, that is a literal term - it's meaning is general and broad...encompassing anything you'd like to throw into the mix. As I ran through the sheets of rain this morning, I wasn't planning on having to scrape off my car at lunch.  This weather in Wisconsin can be so flighty.

Resistance to the Assassin's Accomplice

Boy - I have been bad about posting. My Internet has been a little iffy lately, so...still no excuse. 

This weekend I watched Brigadoon.  It was fantastic.  It still makes me want to have a day where I just randomly burst into song an dance. Gene Kelly is so fantastic!  Get it, watch it.  That is all I can say.

I finished reading The Assassin's Accomplice, Resistance, and I started (and am almost finished with) Hatchet.

The Assassin's Accomplice by Kate Clifford Larson was really interesting.  It is definitely a burst to the bubble if, like me, you watched The Conspirator and loved it.  The "real" story is quite a bit different and Mary Surrat is more guilty than she appears in the movie.  The movie version definitely takes on the Southern sympathizer/sympathizers to the female state. It was really interesting hearing all the details, conspiracies, and rumors about the trial and the conspirators. 

Resistance by Agnes Humbert was an interesting story of French resistance during WWII.  Agnes was very involved in organizing one of the first resistance groups in Paris and in creating links.  She took the group from merely writing a resistance newspaper to smuggling documents (like maps).  She was a very strong woman that lasted 4 years in prison for her workings in the resistance movement.  She spent a year in French prison and then was deported to Germany to a labor camp.  The vicious work was horrible on the eyes and hands.  The cruelty of the guards was also a hardship to deal with - thirst can drive people to the brink!  I liked the book and her triumph through resistance, but she annoyed with me by stating about a man on the bus: "There will not be room for that kind of person in the "new France."  It made me angry because what was separating her from the Nazis she so adamantly was protesting against.

I loved the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen when I was younger.   I'm not quite finished!  So I'm off to finish reading it!

Victorians

I honestly cannot think of anything to right about right now.  My mind is a complete blank.  My dream last night was pretty weird though - it was a mix of Criminal Minds and The Assassin's Accomplice.  I was part of the plot to assassinate the president and the Criminal Minds team was tracking us down.  My dress was fantastic though - ugh, I wish I lived in the Victorian Era!

Halloween Aftermath

Wow - I seriously only ate like 5 pieces of candy yesterday (the small fun sized ones) and today I've felt like tossing my cookies - that could also be the extreme migraine I've had since 3am. I am off to sleep again. Night!

Sparrow

I read a rather depressing novel this last week. I listened to Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse. The author takes on the little discussed subject of Japanese attacks on the Aleutian Islands and what happened to the natives that lived on those islands. The Aleuts were forced, almost like the Japanese of the United States, into camps; "for their protection." The book has a very interesting, piecey style that kind feels like traditional story telling. It tells the story of the evacuation, camp life, the lives that are lived so far from home, and the eventual return to their sometimes destroyed homes and villages. Some towns were to never be repopulated with as many as one in four of the evacuated Aleuts dying of disease while in the camps. The audiobook that I listened to had an additional historical section and an interview with one of the little girls who had been evacuated from the islands.

Head Over for Ruins

I watched a new movie and an old favorite this weekend. My sister stayed over Friday night and most of Saturday. We plowed through a package of Oreos and several glasses of guava mango juice. Our company was My Life in Ruins and Head Over Heels.

My Life in Ruin had my sister and I running around screaming "Poupi Kakas" all weekend. My mother thought we were being immature. Then our whole family watched it after I made dinner last night. She laughed so hard she started to CRY when he was introduced as Poupi Kakas. The movie follows the story of Georgia. She was a professor in Greece until cutbacks left her with the only job she could get - a tour guide. This particular tour, she has a new driver (the other one eloped) and the other tour guide has made a deal with their boss: a raise in exchange for her resignation. Nico, her fellow tour guide, does everything he can to make her tour go so poorly that she quits. This tour though, there are two people that help her make it through the torture and come out on top. It was so cute, my sister and I watched it 3 times. Not in a row!!!!!! But close enough :D


 

In between watching My Life in Ruins, we watched Head Over Heels. This movie is SO cute and who doesn't love Freddie Prince Jr.?!? Amanda had had horrible luck with men and she just wants to find the one man that won't hurt her and still makes her weak in the knees. She catches her current boyfriend in bed with a model so she moves out...into a den of models! She ends up meeting the cute neighbor whose apartment just so happens to be right across from their bay of windows. Her and the models conduct an investigation to find out if he is a creep or not - that investigation takes a murderous turn and Amanda finds out that Jim isn't exactly who he said he was!

Sick

I am so tired right now. I stayed up way too late reading Texts from Last Night. That site is so ridiculously hilarious.

Besides being really tired - I think I am getting sick. ugh. that is my life update. I now have to go text my second boss to see when/if I am working this weekend since the schedule wasn't up on Tuesday.

I could really just use a day curled up in bed with hot tea and a good book.

Can I Keep You?

As I am sitting here watching Casper - I am wondering why his ghost looks nothing like his physical being.  Bill Pullman's ghost looks exactly like him and so does the evil chicks.  Casper's three uncles don't look like their 'human' selves.  I know they probably wanted him to look like the cartoon version and you they didn't exactly have Devon Sawa back  in the day when Casper came out. 

I have some intense memories with the cartoon version.  I went in for surgery on my ears and they ended up postponing the surgery for 2 hours.  I was so nervous and so hungry - I sat in the kids waiting room and that was the thing they had playing - Casper.  Weird how things like that will stay with you.

I love Casper the movie.  It is just such a great story.  I read more in my death book last night - I must say, it is very interesting the stories people make up for creation and death.  It is amazing the different explanations cultures have come up with to deal with things like death.  In Casper, the father felt the presence of his son still around - so he spent all his time developing the Lazarus.  Would you do anything to get back someone you loved? 

"The flesh that lived and loved will be eaten by plague / so let the memories be good for those who stay" - I love those lines from Mumford and Sons.  I remember listening to their album for the first time the weekend I went up to spend with my grandma after she had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in three organs. The book brings up thoughts about the afterlife and if it is something we make up to comfort ourselves or are they just ways to explain away what we don't know  .Is it a way for us to 'keep' our loved ones after they have died?  Is life after death...just like life?  Or like Whitman thought...do we just continue on through this world as constantly evolving matter?

Pineapples

Last night I chopped up some peppers, onion, and pineapple - this topping a piece of cooked chicken!  Fantastic.  It was just something I threw together in a pan with a little bit of olive oil!  What a great meal.  I forgot to thaw the pork chops I wanted to originally cook with it, but the chicken was good too!  I had to learn how to cut a pineapple though - weird!  I tried growing a pineapple I bought from Ikea once....it didn't make it! :(

Three Musketeers

Yesterday, as I was blogging, I was thinking: "Hmmm...I know there is another movie I wanted to talk about....oh well." Then it hit me - The Three Musketeers!!!!!! I went with my sister on Friday for my birthday present. What better birthday present is there - Matthew MacFadyen (whom shares my birthday day)! It was a really good movie. I am a HUGE fan of the older version with Chris O'Donnell and - ugh- Keifer Sutherland. I don't know why I detest Keifer...I just do! *Side note: Donald Sutherland is WAY hotter than his son!*
The film follows D'Artagnan who joins up with the Three Mustketeers: Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Athos has been betrayed by his love and the designs for a flying ship slip into the hands of the English. The Cardinal of France is plotting the taking of all power in France - by controlling the dimwitted King of France. The main drama of the film takes place when the Musketeers are sent to England to retrieve the diamonds that were stolen from the French Queen - a plot to convince the king that she has been unfaithful. They must retrieve the diamonds and get back before the king's ball.

Flying Aeon

I watched several good movies this week/weekend: Aeon Flux and The Flying Scotsman.


Aeon Flux is a future story of human existence. A mass disease comes up to destroy the whole of the human species, but one man finds a cure.  This man, Trevor Goodchild, must then spend his time trying to cure the side effect of his "cure."  The people of this society are haunted by things they cannot explain.  Certain people in that society desire to rise up against the regime the Goodchilds' have set up to rule over them.  Aeon is one of those people - she is sent to kill the scientist...little does she know, she will discover something so much greater than what she had originally thought!  I have to say, Charlize Theron...lucky!  Not only did she hit the beauty jackpot - Stuart Townsend - sigh!  He only turns up in the movie to make out with her and slip her a pill that reveals a secret message!

The Flying Scotsman was a really good movie.  It really opens up the world of mental disorder and how much depression can screw you up.  Jonny Lee Miller plays Graeme Obree, a Scotsman who loves cycling.  He designs his own bike to try to beat records for cycling - like going over 32 kilometers in an hour!  He reaches that only to have his record beaten the following week.  He is a very driven man and he goes on to become the World Record holder in another short distance biking thingy. The World Cycling Federation (or whatever bollix it is) decide that he shouldn't be allowed to win anything, so they keep inventing new rules to disqualify him or make him change his bike to a more conventional contraption.  I think one of the most touching things was seeing him overcome his demons and the judges constant challenges. 

Gorged!

Relationships: I swear to God, my sister and mother are relentless.  My mother actually google stalked a strange guy to find out about him because my sister had said he'd be perfect for me.  They're sweet to care so much, but come on!  I'm about ready to hand them the song from Brigadoon where the girl tells all her sisters - I marry a man, when I find one worth marrying.  Gah! 

Health:  Oi - I think I ate myself sick on candy today.  I had resisted quite well all week long, but today I broke down and ate a ton of the candy that sits in the bowl in front of me at work.  I worked 9 3/4 hours today and it was a busy day.  I was meeting myself coming and going - not to mention, my lunch was a bit later than usual and I couldn't resist the draw of the candy anymore. 

Career:  I like my job...I'm just happy I don't have to do my CA training again this weekend!

What's the password?

I was thinking the other day...as I typed in my umpteen millionth password...what a person from the middle ages, or even the early 20th Century, would think about all these stupid passwords we have to enter.  I think with the age of the computer came the age of the password.  I have a page of passwords just for programs at work and those change every few months.  We aren't getting to sneak into speakeasies or secret parties...nope - access to a bunch of programs.  Oi!  And you can't use all the same thing for everything or else you'll get hacked. I remember when having secret passwords was something fun, now I have to wrack my brain every time I sit in front of the computer.

Library...oh Library

This testy Tuesday has left me tested.  I have spent the last two days with a large bowl of candy sitting in front of my face.  OI!  I don't know if I can make it another two weeks with the candy bowl by me.  My co-worker and I keep eating more and more.  I'm happy to say I limited myself to just 2 things today.  Hopefully by the end of this month I won't have gained 50 pounds!

I am also testing out what it is like to type this up at the library.  Library facilities are becoming better and better.  It is actually quite pleasant.  It is a little bit slower than my parents computer, but if I don't want to spend every night or afternoon at my parents place using their computer, it is nice to know I can take a pleasant walk down to the library and use the wonderful technologies that are available...and hopefully I can make it out without grabbing 20 books to add to my already enormous pile!

Birthday Reading

I started reading some books I used to read like every summer...and I'm hooked.  Off to read some more of it for my birthday!!

Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies!

I'm quite excited right now!  I just bought the stuff for my Halloween costume!   I'm going to go as a Jane Austen zombie. Why not?!?  I've only been hooked on Jane Austen stuff for the last couple of weeks. 

This weekend I watched Mansfield Park.  It had both Jonny Lee Miller and James Purefoy.  I was slightly disappointed that you hardly ever get to see James's face!  He looks much different with sideburns and without the suit of armor. Mansfield Park is about Fanny Price.  She is taken in by her more well off aunts at a young age - taken in at Mansfield Park.  She has a flare for telling stories and is constantly writing to her little sister Susie about the things she's learned, the news of the family, and all the stories that pop into her head. When Fanny has matured, Mr. Crawford and his sister move into the parsonage and begins to take notice of Fanny.  She finds him disingenuous and still has her heart set on the one man she has loved all her life: Edmund.  Edmund though, has begun to take notice of Miss. Crawford and can see her as "the only woman he could ever think to call wife."  Fanny is sent back to her family upon her continued refusal to marry Mr. Crawford. She is called back to help heal Tom, the eldest son at Mansfield Park.  Drama ensues, as it always does, and things turn out as they should be.    I think if I ever get a horse, I shall name it Shakespeare!  It was a great movie, but then again, BBC always treats Austen very well.

I also watched Byron.  What a horrible movie to watch...unless you feel like being horribly depressed.  Poor messed up guy.  I can't help to pity him, despite also wanting to vomit at the thought of some of the things he did.  Byron tells the life of Lord Byron and it was crazy: he was a molested child that grew up to be sexually confused and promiscuous in every possible way...including sleeping with and falling in love with his half-sister.   



I played Stardust for my sister last night after we finished re-arranging my living room.  She ended up loving it as much as I did.  Tristan, a young man trying to find his place in the world sets off an a mission to collect a star for his beloved.  He is surprised when the star turns out to be an actual woman.  He sets off on a quest not only to bring her back to his precious and fickle Victoria (in order to keep her from marrying another) but to save her from the witches chasing her for her heart.  They run into the Princes searching for a diamond to restore to the ruby that will bring one of them the throne and sky pirates.  The pirates end up helping them.  Twists and turns occur and all ends well.  I especially love what happens to Victoria!

I Feel like Dancin

Oi - this coming week I am going to be having another birthday! This weekend is my "birthday weekend." My birthday happens on a Monday, so I need to party it up while I can! I am not sure what all I will be doing to celebrate, but hopefully it will be something epic.

Relationships: I'm excited, my little literature society will be starting up soon. I can't wait for us to start meeting. I'm also having my "(gay) boyfriends" over for dinner and a movie this weekend. My sister likes to add the little bit in front of boyfriends. I don't care, I love them to pieces!

Health: I haven't worked out nearly as much this week. Soccer mom duties and migraines have blocked off two days, but I'm feeling good. I'm a little sore from last weekend. My siblings and I rented Just Dance 3 and I kicked there butts at every song! Apache killed my arms, but was the best song on there, other than I Don't Feel like Dancin'.


Career: Things are going really well at work. New software is killing me! I have to go through and enter nearly 3000 people into the new program. Oi!

Columbus the Killer

I am sorry for everyone on Columbus day getting off on bashing Columbus.  He was a dick that did some horrible things - and Americans continued to do shitey things to the natives of the Americas; however, why is Columbus the only explorer/conqueror that we bash?  We praise the Roman Empire and their might, we call Alexander "the Great" because of his conquering half the known world!  Genghis Khan was a pretty horrible guy - he liked to have people torn apart!  I think one of my favorite lines from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is: "I came, I saw, I conquered, and I feel really bad about it." He did some horrible things, but he also opened up a whole new world to everyone! Besides, if it wasn't him, it would just be some other poor schmuck who'd had the vision and bravery to attempt to sail to the edge of the world to find the sea route to India. 


I was having a discussion with a business consultant the other day and I find it amazing how dumb the government finds us.  I can't decide to quit a health treatment plan (like chemo, dialysis, taking a prescription, etc.).  According to the law - the patient is stupid and as the doctor or the doctor's staff, I am required by law to "educate them."  If they refuse after being educated, the doctor must legally release them from care.  If I don't take all of my prescription and I get sick again, it can be held against the doctor or their staff.   When did the freedom for me to do whatever I want with my body change in the land of the free?  If my choice does not match set notions of the correct treatment...I am stupid and need to be educated.

Ladies or Ladies' - that is the Question!

Ugh - can I just say - my "twin", Angelina Jolie (as my friend likes to call me, I don't see the likeness), is so freaking lucky. She married "Sick Boy," aka Jonny Lee Miller. I am quite curious as to how that relationship was...we obviously know how it turned out!

This weeks testy Tuesday has mostly to do with me attempting to start a "Ladies Salon Society." It took me a long time to reason between "Ladies" and "Ladies' " since both are correct; however, you typically see things like the "Ladies Aid Society" without the apostrophe. I have designed a little flyer to post around town and had several discussions with my co-host. I am quite excited to hopefully get a group of girls gathered for a fun time discussing literature and movies!

Emma

After watching the movie...several times...I decided to pull out my copy of Emma and actually read it. I'm about 100 pages or so into it and have another 100+ pages to go, but I am loving every second of it. Jane Austen's stories are so very interesting; however, I tend to fall asleep on them. If the book isn't smacking me in the face I'm typically slouched over onto the book! It has nothing to do with my lack of interest, but more my tired eyes cannot keep up with the verbose Victorian style.

I have also been keeping up in my Intellectual Devotional and I am now nearly caught up. I did not know that cows could even dream prior to reading this book, let alone did I realize that they couldn't dream while standing. I already knew that cows could sleep while standing, but apparently they cannot dream and sleep while standing - to enter REM sleep (the state in which you dream) they have to lie down.

I am also working on a book about death rituals, customs, and beliefs. I haven't gotten to far into this book, but from what I have read so far, I find it very intriguing. On the Pacific Islands, some tribes have life sized dolls they make and leave outside the tomb to represent the dead. I had no idea there were so many different perceptions on when the point of death actually occurs.

Emma has been Sourced

This week my sister and I got Source Code to watch and drool over Jake Gyllenhaal. It was a really interesting movie. I thought it was very interesting the theories after death after just starting reading a book about death and its rituals. The movie is about Cpt. Colter Stevens who is being sent back to figure out who is bombing the train. He is a gallant soldier that does his best to figure out who is bombing the train and who is planning an even bigger attack on the city of Chicago. He also begins to solve "his" problem. I had it figured out relatively early on - the first time they explained what the "source code" was, I new! I don't want to give too much away, but it is interesting comparing other peoples' ideas of death (when it happens, when the body is no longer a person) and this movie. I thought it very interesting, especially after had I had read about Hindus believing that the person is not fully dead until their head splits open on the funeral pyre.
Anyways, it was a very good movie with a surprise ending that is both happy and sad at the same time.


I also go to finally finish Emma! *Sigh* I have no idea why Jane Austen is so perfect at describing amazing men. It's probably because she had a whole lot more time to contemplate the perfect man. Oh, the Victorian romance novel it is - I am absolutely sure that Jane herself fell in love while dancing. Every single one of her stories has some sort of pivotal moment while dancing. The only thing I know about Jane's life is what I have learned from Becoming Jane; I'm not sure how much you can trust a movie version of her life! The movie was quite amazing and will have every girl smitten with Mr. Knightley. I so need this on DVD!

Fruition?

I totally forgot to mention my favorite part of Ironclad - the Buliwyf (Vladimir Kulich) was in it!  I saw him and I SCREAMED "BULIWYF!"  I swear, my neighbors must think I'm crazy. 

Relationships: This week, I have an friendly older gentleman telling me my "just friend" guy is going to become something more.  I was laughing because my "just friend" is gay.  That is about the extent of my relationships this weekend.

Health:  I've been working out for 30 minutes after work and I've already lost 3lbs.  I'm quite excited to be getting healthier.

Career: Nothing new at all - still working on how exactly to bring my dreams to fruition.

Vacation

I totally want to go on a vacation!  I want to go to Yosemite and hike around or go to someplace tropical and lounge on a beach! Time to get away and relax sounds so amazing. I am excited to say that this weekend - I am FREE for the whole weekend. 

So in other words - go do something really relaxing this weekend.  It is actually supposed to be warm and sunny this weekend!  I can't wait to get out and get some sun!

Cullen All Cookie Lovers!

Today has been pretty exciting in terms of new: working with new software at work and getting a new fridge!

Despite all this new, I have to discuss the recent invention a friend of mine and I came up with - Halloween special. A sugar cookie with toffee chip eyes, white chocolate nose and fangs (dipped in red food coloring), then, you sprinkle the thing with edible glitter - thus, the Edward cookie was born! We are contemplating ways of making other Halloween type characters into cookies.

Captured

I finished reading The Capture by Kathryn Lasky. The Capture is the first book in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. This book follows Soren, who is shoved out of his nest and snatched up by a patrol of owls from St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. He meets several owls at St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls and they plot ways to stay themselves and escape the evils of St. Aggies. Soren meets Gylfie, an Elf Owl, and they become great friends that help each other survive the perils of St. Aggies.

This book is really interesting and has fantastic use of language. I love Twilight and his witty use of words, rhyming, and poetry. He may be an "uneducated" owl, but he's got spunk and wit. Gylfie is incredibly intelligent - her and Soren make a great pair for figuring out riddles. This is a great book for kids and even adults.

Better Get Your Gun

I was pleasantly enjoying watching the Masterpiece Theatre's version of Emma this afternoon. I left to go grab my clean laundry upstairs and bring it down to fold - AND IT WAS GONE! There was some weird movie on with Buffalo Bill and a creepy, dirty lady with a gun. Turns out, it was Annie Get Your Gun. I stopped to watch it, hoping maybe PBS had made a mistake and would switch back to Emma at any moment. Oh, Mr. Knightley! SO CLOSE! Anyways, I recognized several of the songs and continued to watch. I was also too busy being dazzled by the lyrics - rhyming - smittin', sittin', knittin', and kitten. And -

"But a man never trifles

With gals who carry rifles

Oh you can't get a man with a gun."

It was actually a pretty good movie - if you get over the fact that Annie is pretty much a complete basket case.

I also watched The Timekeeper. It is a rather intense movie. It is kind of weird and a lot gory. I never really expected to see a man take buckshot to the face and continue to gurgle on many hours after being shot. It follows a young man that is now penniless after his father's death. He goes to a railroad camp in the middle of no where Alaska/Canada to be the recorder of worked hours. He's an honest man, so he runs into some trouble with the not so honest foreman. Him and "the wild ones" develop a plan....

I watched this French film a few weeks ago entitled: 400 Blows. It is an interesting movie about the life of a young boy in Paris in the 1950s? He gets in trouble at school and with his parents. He ends up getting shipped to a reform school of sorts. The boy is really smart and savvy. I had just one issue with the movie. He looks at something off camera and has this inexplicable expression on his face - I want to know what he saw! It's probably like what Scarlett Johansson whispers to Bill Murray in Lost in Translation; forever lost to us.