Backpack...No, not Dora's

Oh how I am sick of hearing about the Boston bombings.  Honestly, when I first heard about it I thought about some sick loner, not a terrorist.  Maybe it was just me trying to be hopeful and not wanting every little thing that happens in the world being considered an act of terror.  No one thought about terrorists (Islamic, let me clarify that) when the Oklahoma City bombing happened.  We didn't think that it was anything but a sick freak that figured out how to make a bomb with fertilizer.  We like to add "terrorist" to everything that causes fear.  I am not saying that the people caught aren't the ones responsible for the bombing in Boston or even that mistakes in the media aren't made.  Heck, Zoey Deschanel's name was put up under the suspect on one news programs.  This little link just makes you think about what is happening.  It reminds me of Hodgins on Bones and all of his conspiracy theories (he'd be all over the theories swirling around about the bombing).  I really hope that two innocent men weren't just used by the government or other forces with money to get what they want.  I wasn't any where near Boston, so I don't even begin to understand what happened.  While I see the reason you'd want to injure a vast amount of people, especially at a fitness event, to cause a lasting terror for people (losing a limb and potentially the ability to ever run again); I, however, don't understand why a terrorist organization wouldn't do something more.  It is just my opinion, but if I were a terrorist, I'd say "go big or go home."  Those lost in Boston are very tragic loses of life and, in some cases, limb(s), but it pales in comparison to 9/11 and even the Oklahoma City bombing.  Anyways, I am completely out of my depth when it comes to this stuff.  I'm not saying the information in the link is true or not, it is just an interesting perspective on the bombings, who is being blamed, and what happened as a result of the incident.  It looks to me like both of the men deemed suspects didn't have backpacks on that looked nearly full enough to be containing a pressure cooker, but pictures can be deceiving and even edited now (thanks technology).

May the Force be with You

I am tired and crabby.  This day has sucked!  It started out so nice with a 3 mile walk listening to all the birdies chirp.  Now it has ended with going to the doctor (after I was told to get in to see him since I pulled a stitch) and getting a band aid in addition to the news that my grandmother is not doing well and isn't expected to last long.  Seriously, I'm leaving the country in a week and I have nearly sliced off my finger and now have the news that someone very dear to me isn't going to last very long.  I'm waiting to wake up from these last couple days and find that this has all been a very bad dream.  Oh life, sometimes I think your forces are just against me!  Can we just give me a little more good news than bad every once in a while?  I know there are a whole lot of people who would rather see puppies playing and good things happening on the news for a change.  Through all this bad news I will try to see the good.  Note, I said "TRY."

Words Slaying

I finished 2, count 'em, 2, books this weekend.  I finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Why Do We Say It. They are both really interesting books.  I'm not going to write much on either of them since typing is a pain in the butt.  I will say Abraham Lincoln was a really interesting mix of fact and fiction.  I was; however, annoyed by the fact that the front story about a guy writing a book for the vampire Henry has no resolution at the end.  It was also confusing knowing who was talking at times.  I was left to wonder: is this Henry, the writer, or Abraham Lincoln?  The Why Do We Say It book is also very interesting.  I have mentioned the same problem with it from the beginning: some of the explanations don't really explain anything or they are so unbelievably out there OR I have heard more logical explanations than the ones provided.  They are both worth taking a look at; I'm just happy to say that I finished a book!  Yay!

Just a Little Bit of Stupid

So I was all worried about injuring myself prior to going for my yoga training.  Guess what I did!  I hurt myself. Like, hey idiot, put your finger in the hand held blender and accidentally hit the button.  Luckily, there was lots of cookie dough stuck to the blade and in the little cavity area.  This stupid incident has now taken away my right to say: "I've never had any broken bones or stitches."  I honestly can't believe this happened!  I know better than to stick my finger in there.  I guess I will just always have a scar on my finger to remind me not to do idiot things.  3 stitches and an hour and a half in the emergency room later - lesson learned!  I swear, I have gotten more clumsy/clutzy/accident prone in these last couple months than I have been in my whole life!  This was the second time in about 2 months that I had to go to urgent care/the ER to get care for a deep cut.  I hope this is my bodies way of getting all this stupid crap out of the way BEFORE I can no longer be on my parents insurance.  I got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night and then I got up and made my french toast bake, another (this time successful) batch of cookies, and some bath salts for my brother and sister-in-law.  Now, I am exhausted.  I watched a really cute movie called Sassy Pants.  I'll have to write more on it later - more to come when I have had more sleep and don't have a huge bandage that makes typing a pain in the tuckus. 

The "L" Word

Relationships:  Well, I am an auntie.  Life is pretty great!!!!  I cannot wait to see her this weekend.  I guess I've also managed to make someone fall in love with me.  At least that is what I have professed in a text message.  I'm not taking it too seriously; the last guy to put the "L" word in writing didn't mean it at all.  It is really ok, because I look back and am disgusted at what low hanging fruit I was willing to grab at.  I don't have that much against this poor guy, I just don't know him at all, nor am I attracted to him.  Boy, two years ago I had no prospects and now I have the "L" word being thrown around by a guy I only like as a friend.

Career/Health:  I'm getting super excited and nervous for yoga training.  I still have quite a bit of studying to do before I hit the mat to begin my 200 hours of training.  Eeck!  I also found out today, at my real job, that I will be responsible for dipsticks too.  Joy!

Now that you're in the world

I can't think of much to say today - I'm an auntie to a beautiful niece!  That is all I need to keep a smile plastered across my face for .... well, let's just say, a very long time!  I know it wasn't written with this in mind, but this song is for Finnley.  "I hope you don't mind, I put down in words how wonderful life is now that you're in the world."  I first heard this song when my nephew was still a baby and I felt the same way about him too!  Such a great day!  I can't wait to shower this new little bundle of niece with love this weekend.

Vampires

So I am almost finished with.... Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.  Bet you weren't expecting that book!  It isn't like I have mentioned about 40 books that I have started and not finished as of yet.  I'm sort of cheating with this book.  It is an audio book and I have been listening to it a good amount while I clean and go for walks.  Tonight I got a wonderful hour long walk.  I even got to spend some time watching a beautiful sunset and watching/listening to all the wildlife.  A little black duck popped up pretty close to where I was, a hawk flew by, and there were the lovely sounds of a loon echoing across the lake. The sunset was indescribably beautiful, but I'll try:  soft yellowy rays streaking out from behind a few clouds to reflect off the lake.

Anyways,  I still am putzing along with a few of my other books.  I still have a long way until Avalon is finished.  I am happy to say though, that I will soon be finished with the Why We Say It book as well.  That book just makes my mind spin.  Sometimes I understand where they are coming from, sometimes I want to say BS, and sometimes I feel like the "answer" you get is a bit of a "dog chasing it's tail" (meaning, it uses a lot of words in a confusing manor and you just leave scratching your head).

I am currently making some applesauce.  I am trying it with half the amount of sugar and a bit more cinnamon.  I also had a bit of an inspired moment in the kitchen this last week.  I don't really have a recipe because I just added things to the bowl, but I made some killer "Almond Joy" cookies.  I started with a basic chocolate chip recipe and then I began to add things.  I had a bag of coconut flake on the counter and so I added a handful or two of coconut, a splash of almond milk, and about a tsp of almond extract.  This is how good they were: my little brother declared that he didn't like almond joys, so he wasn't going to eat any...until he ate about a dozen!

A Triumph for Love

Sometimes I don't know what is up with the world.  Today is Jackie Robinson day and the day my very first niece may come into the world; oh, wait, don't forget to make it tax day and add a bombing at the Boston Marathon!  Seriously?  As if the tax day wasn't enough!  I seriously wish the world could just take a chill pill.  It isn't really my personality, so I guess it don't come close to understanding, but how can there be people in the world that are just filled with so much hate?  Hate, hate, hate - I hate hate. It is good to get angry from time to time; then you let it go/work through it.  I rather remember this day as a day that love and compassion triumphed over hate, anger, and ignorance.  Love to those of Boston, especially the those that lost someone or a part of themselves.  Help these people to have the love around them to rise above the hate that was shown them. 

42

So my days were a bit off last week.  It was really hard to tell any of the days apart last week because it didn't stop raining!!!!!!!!!!!  Tomorrow starts another round of fun!  Yay.  It was a bit of a testing week too, this last week.  Some things had me about ready to walk out on everything.  I also woke up at 5am twice this weekend.  My time to sleep in and I'm being woken up by not pleasant-ness.  One of them was a text message professing love and "you're always on my mind."  Ugh - sometimes, I wonder why me?  Sometimes I just think I must be broken - most girls would probably find it romantic that guys would manage to get your number and text you for a date or a guy you like (as a friend) telling you that he thinks about you all the time, loves you, and thanks you for being you.  Oi!  *Face meet palm*

Enough about that.

Movie time! *On a side note, the MTV movie awards sucked.  Other than Vin Diesel looking fine and making me feel old, it could have been done away with completely.  I take that back, Rebel Wilson was funny and I loved the opening by the Pitch Perfect cast.   Now everything can be deleted.  Seriously, I can't believe Tom Hardy didn't win best villain. I haven't even seen the movie yet and I can tell you he was the better villain, mainly because I've seen the guy who won play his stupid little villain.  Not even close!  These young kids now days, they don't know what is good!*

I watched 42 today.  It was so amazing!  Here is my typical girl comment that I will get out of the way: OH MY GOODNESS, Chadwick Boseman (Jackie Robinson) is gorgeous!  Or maybe it is just because I like baseball guys...ok, enough of that.  It was just a phenomenal movie with a pretty spectacular cast: Lucas Black as Pee Wee (my FLASH), Ryan Merriman as Dixie Walker (he was from that Disney movie where he wins a high tech house and it goes a little crazy, you know which one I'm talking about), Harrison Ford (we all know him) as Branch Rickey, T.R. Knight as Harold Parrott (I knew I knew him, but it took until just now to realize that it was because he played Dr O'Malley on Grey's Anatomy), Chris Meloni as Deroucher (SVU), Alan Tudyk as a jerk of a manager for the Phillies (I like him much more as a recovering addict in 28 Days) and John McGinley as an announcer (it is so weird to see him in any roles where he isn't screaming at the Scrubs cast).  There were also a lot of other rather new actors that I haven't seen before.  Hamish Linklater, who played Ralph Branca, had one of the best exchanges with Jackie.  It went something like this: "Come shower with me...I mean us...wow, that came out wrong." Jesse Luken, who played Eddy Stanky, I could have kissed him!  He was the one who finally had the nerve to stand up to Alan Tudyk's asshole of a character.

Lucas Black (Pee Wee) and Chad Boseman (Jackie Robinson) showing people what kind of men they are.

The movie is just a phenomenal telling of the story of Jackie Robinson and the integration of baseball.  Go watch it and don't pay any attention to the fact that a bunch of idiots only gave it a 3 out of 5.  Those same idiots thought The Host deserved a higher rating.  Seriously people, we are going to pick a rather stupid alien love story over the true story of a man who had the guts to step up to the plate and be the first colored player.  Shame on you for giving The Host a higher rating.  Then again, why do we want kids to see a movie that might change their world view or expand their minds?!?  It isn't like we still have segregated proms in the South and who knows what else down there.  Ugh.  It makes me want to find the nearest man of color (even rainbow colored would do) and walk down the street holding hands.  That would probably just be my two sweet little brothers, but it still would probably raise all kinds of hell.  Seriously people, you need to get over it.  Shakespeare even had blacks and whites mixing back in the effing 16th Century (that was a long time ago). 

Soggy

So, I know April showers are supposed to bring May flowers; however, right now, all these April showers are only making me want to roll over and pull the covers over my head.  It seems like there has been nothing but a constant downpour since Monday morning.  Sure, it lightens up a bit from time to time, but not much.  Right now, I'm waiting to leave my parents' home because the rain is just pounding down.  I don't even want to attempt the 6 feet from the garage door to my car.  Not to mention, every one in the area, except for all those already awake, got a rather stormy alarm clock this morning.  There was a flash of lightening so bright I thought I had imagined it (and this was with blinds drawn and eyes closed) that was a followed by thunder so loud that it shook everything.  My bed shook, the wall hangings rattled, and the skies grumbled.   EVERYONE that I saw today asked about the thunder and if I had felt it too.  Yup, I did.  So please April showers, bring these May flowers real soon.  If it really is supposed to rain all week and potentially drop a mix of snow and rain on Friday, you owe us that much!

Scorpion Queen

I have decided it is a goal of mine to be able to do the scorpion pose by the end of the year.   I'm really rather excited about this challenge.  The last two mornings I have gotten my butt of of bed and started working on the moves to work up to the scorpion pose.  What can I say, I saw this pose in a book and I became obsessed with it.  Just look at that BAMF skill.
This is what scorpion looks like:

So until I am BAMF enough to pull this off, I've been doing forearm planks, dolphin pose, and single leg dolphin pose.  Surprisingly, it was already getting a little bit easier this morning.  That is just working on getting to the forearm stand.  Once I master that, then I can add the bend.

Oh, I like making challenges for myself!

Carrying Your Love with Me

I am so super tired.  If my internet had been working earlier like I'd hoped, I wouldn't be writing this right now.  I'm seriously like 5 seconds from falling asleep on my keyboard. 

Two things to talk about:

1.  Playing for Keeps:  Cute, but not worth it.  I love Gerard Butler and Katherine Zeta-Jones; their presence wasn't enough to redeem this bad movie.  I think Gerard may have taken the role just to pretend for a minute he played for the Celtics. Jessica Biel, I really haven't liked you as an actress, ever.  I didn't even like you in 7th Heaven.  This just made it more obvious that your acting really hasn't improved since you were on that show. 

Movie synopsis:  George (Gerard), a now retired soccer star, moves to Virginia to be close to his son.  George is having some tough financial times and he's trying his best to get into something he'll be good at: sports casting.  One day, at his son's soccer practice, he gets fed up with watching the kids just run around without any direction from their coach who is constantly on the phone.  All the ladies begin to take notice of the hunky, unattached Scotsman that has begun to coach their children.  While trying to get his life together, George has to overcome several distractions.  A chance for his dream puts him in a tight place:  choose a career or his son.  What will he choose?!?

2.  AMCAs:  Seriously, it was just bad.  Blake Shelton and the other guy hosting just had bad timing.  There was no flow to their banter.  It just came off as forced.  Not to mention, the awards are really very stupid to begin with; country has to have their own awards because otherwise they'd never win any music awards.  Sorry, that is what I feel.  I do like the occasionally country song and quite a bit of bluegrass and folk.  I swear they are the only genre of music to have their own awards.  It took about 30 minutes to get to the first award presentation.  It takes that long between awards because they have about four to hand out to begin with!  The first half hour was all performances; I only semi-enjoyed George Strait.  He seemed really pitchy and slightly off.  Alas, George Strait had my heart when I was 10; you don't forget that too soon.  I think I still have a tape of his floating around somewhere.  Also, what was up with having the lyrics on the screen behind the performers?  It's country, not rap. 

Yup, I owned the tape at one point if not still!

Haim-ing It Up

I bought some new music for the first time in a long time.  I think it was actually my first music purchase of the year!  I finally bought Haim's record instead of having to bring up youtube all the time.  They are really good.  I am super lucky to have gotten a chance to see them this last summer at the Dixon Stopover.  I would give you a taste but youtube is being a pain.  I can link you the video here.  The oldest sister - she is straight up raunchy.  You'll see what I mean when you watch the video.  She is stunning to watch perform; I was just kind of riveted.  Now I shall continue with work and cheering on the Brew Crew! 

Sleepy Hollow

I didn't finish reading anything - not even a newspaper article recently.  I am pathetic!  I did read about 20 more pages in my book club book.  I have about 150 pages still to go by this Thursday!  Eeck!   Right now I am trying to motivate myself to do some sort of workout; however, I am exhausted and feeling a bit stomach flu-ey.  Ick.  I just want to sleep.