Happy Mother's Day

I don't want to talk about any movie or video today. I made a short blip for my mom this Mothers Day. I hope every one had an amazing day and got to spend some time telling or showing their mom how much they love and appreciate all she does!

Thor vs. Conan the Barbarian

So I happen to actually like action movies quite a lot. I like blood and guts and gore. I'm a weird girl, but hey - I get arthritic fingers after a few days of using a hose for long periods of time...I have to get my thrills from somewhere! Two BIG movies are coming out soon. Thor seems to be new while Conan the Barbarian was already played by The Governator (a.k.a. Arnold Schwarzenegger...I'm a little afraid for my life and why I could just spell his last name without having to look it up).


Thor was released today and despite having cool people in it like Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins - I think it looks stupid. I hate to say it because I think that Anthony Hopkins would make one awesome Odin, but egh. I was watching the trailer with my roomies last weekend and they were all swooning over the guy that plays Thor...I was gagging. I know that the main guy shouldn't be the reason to go to a film...but let's face it - besides the action action movies bring to our lives...they also bring really hot men! Sad, but true. I'm sorry to the poor actor guy, but I do not think he is all that gorgeous and his voice actually annoys the heck out of me. This will further cement me as a nerd, but I have an image of Thor in my head and this guy does not even come close. The Scottish guys in this commercial come a tad bit closer to my imagined Thor. So here is a trailer - decide if you want to go see Thor become the defender of the people.



The other movie I wanted to talk about is Conan the Barbarian. I am kind of interested to see what will be done with this movie and story line...besides being able to finally understand the dialogue. I like Jason Momoa a lot! Heck, I watched Star Gate: Atlantis because of him and his gorgeous hair. I am also excited to see Rose McGowan in this movie. I bet she'll play a witch. I have no clue who or what her character does...but I am betting she'll be a witch! I guess I'm just more excited to see a hero in his own time period doing what he does best - kicking butt. Maybe that is why I am put off by the idea of Thor returning to earth and becoming the champion for humans...he just doesn't belong here! Sure, we have the tree of Thor in our houses every year for Christmas, but I think this is crossing the line! Enjoy the trailer of a gorgeous Jason Momoa kicking butt!

Letting Loose

I was wondering today while I was at work - pondering men and women's tales of going out in search of themselves. In Eat, Pray, Love , Liz goes out to find herself and she basically becomes a "slut". Ok, she's not a total slut, but she does give it up more times than any man on a journey to find himself. Thoreau and his counter part, Christopher McCandless become celibate hermit like creators completely devoting themselves to nature and the natural self. Is it because women are considered prudes that in order to find ourselves we need sex and love and men just need a wide open field and some fish to fish and logs to chop? Why can't women find themselves without giving themselves over to another person?

Anyways, I will head into the relationships section of my Thursday version of self-discovery. I had an amazing time just hanging out with my Scotland roommates last weekend and witnessing some real love! It was so refreshing to see two people so happy to say "I want you, and you alone, forever." I guess I'll just have to keep waiting and hope that my love life doesn't turn into a Nicholas Sparks novel or a Steven King one! Yikes!



Health is an okay situation. I don't think I have lost any weight at all, but my legs are getting pretty buff. I noticed while dancing in heels this weekend just how ripped my upper legs have gotten from the stair master. I got about 3 miles in yesterday and then I had about a good 45 minutes in the pool tonight.

Career...well, my whole body hurts and my whole car smells like pig poop! I was not made out for an "Agricultural" job. The knuckles on my right hand are swollen and I don't think my shoulders are ever going to forgive me for this one month. It is kind of weird, but working out seems to make it hurt less. hmmmmm.

Well, I am in deep need of sleep! So night!

Wacky Wednesday

I ached all day long at work. Headache and stomach ache. Ugh! Things got better after lunch and I stopped listening to my audio book. Going to the gym after helped. I got in about 3 miles and lifted some weights and I felt so much better. Now, I am starting to ache again after watching a wonderful Criminal Minds.

I am absolutely drawing a mind blank on what to write tonight. My mind is a complete blank. I can tell you I have to be this weirdest library patron ever. Tonight I got a book on catching serial killers and then a book on make-up. I have children's books, movies, Criminal Minds series, and then crazy other books! I swear if someone looked at my library account they'd think I was a crazy person.

Sometimes I feel like I am losing intelligence. I have been out of college for a year and even though I have read more books and visited more museums and studied some pretty interesting things. I have always loved other languages but I am pretty much a dunce when it comes to learning them. I am actually pretty proud of my acquisition of French in 6 short months. I am beginning to ache at not being able to stretch my brain muscles. I long to do something academic. Isn't it weird that I waited such a long time to not have to write papers and now I miss it? I miss the intense rush of writing a paper. I think I might start writing a reading journal like my English teachers kept shoving down my throat and I would write the night before while watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I guess what it comes down to is that I just need to learn how to be me without the crutches I have had since I was 6.

Pin Curl

I like retro things - and so I really wanted to try out pin curls when they turned up in my trusty copy of Let's Bring Back by Lesley M.M. Blume.

I had to get some help from several youtube sites, but I found that LisaFreemontStreet was one of the best for explaining how to do pin curls. I had a long day inside since it was pouring rain in Paris...thus I had a lot of time on my hands to mess around with hair. I put my pin curls in after I showered and then waited and waited. I had a little bit of a hard time since I have clumsy man-hands and super fine hair (my hair confuses me because I apparently have lots of fine hair...and ideal, but I can never do anything with it!).

I got my hair up, wrapped it up, and set to waiting with a Sherlock Holmes book. I also skyped with my brother who has learned to just accept my quirky ways by now. After several hours and some FINALLY dry hair - I took out my bobby pins and carefully brushed out my curls. I have to be really careful since my hair doesn't like to hold the styles I attempt and my curls tend to fall to pieces quickly. I got them brushed out and styled them a bit...and voila!


(note the snow was an effect I added in my rain soaked boredom).

I really liked how it turned out and it wasn't actually all that hard to do. It was just the waiting for the hair to dry that was the long and arduous part. I think if I were to do this again I'd have to do it before I went to bed and then somehow avoid moving at all during the night. I could also fork over a boat load of money to get a salon style hair drying bonnet, but then again I don't always spend a lot of time on my hair!

Arabian Nights, like Arabian Days...are full of stories!

This week I read Arabian Nights (or at least selected stories from the Arabian Nights). It was pretty interesting - there were a whole lot of genies and interesting ties to other stories. I got the feeling that the tales had originally been translated by a Frenchman since it referenced the Muslims and Musulmans (the French word for Muslim).

One of the stories is of Sinbad and his 7 voyages. I was very interested by Sinbad's similarities to Odysseus (this makes me slightly curious about which came first). Sinbad had a very similar encounter with a cyclops. A big difference between Odysseus and Sinbad was that Sinbad would return home between his voyages. I wish I could luck into some of the stuff Sinbad did - he said he had suffered greatly, but from what I could tell - he was the Forest Gump of the Middle East (he just complained more about his "trials" that brought him immense wealth).

I also really liked the story of the three incredible gifts - golden water, a talking bird, and a singing tree. It was interesting that the girl was the only one clever enough to stop up her ears to make it past all the discouraging voices (hello again Odysseus reference). She seemed a little stubborn and spoiled about having to have those three gifts, even after her two brothers went and died in attempting to retrieve those luxuries for her. What struck me most about this story was that the King (the kids birth father) had believed that his wife had given birth to a dog, a cat, and a piece of wood! The kids aunts had sabotaged their sister's relationship with the queen by fabricating these lies and then setting the babies out into the stream (where they were discovered and adopted by the barren Gardener...a bit of a reverse Moses story).



Another story that I really enjoyed was that of the one Prince that was exiled (while still in the womb) and came back to his father's kingdom to bring glory to his name and his father's kingdom. He goes disguised to win the honor of his father and brothers and he just ends up inciting his brothers' envy and his father's respect and love (Joseph much). He defeats the evil "black vampire" that has kidnapped his brothers and wins the affection of one of the women he also rescued from the vampire. His brothers get pissed and attempt his murder. He gets rescued and comes back to save his father's kingdom as two of his father's enemies begin to converge upon the city. This wins him his father's kingdom and the ability to spare the lives of his jealous 49 brothers.

Of course there was Aladdin, who was actually much more of a punk that didn't deserve the things he did get. He was mean to his parents and a lazy boy who expected things to just be given to him. He gets misused by a black magician - I'm sensing a theme...who comes back to destroy his happiness after he has won his princess bride.

I can't forget about the 40 thieves. I really liked this story. It had another kick ass heroine. She not only single handily eliminated every one of the 40 thieves, but she out witted them too! She was just a slave, but she was smart and resourceful and that ended up winning her her freedom and the master's son in marriage.

I want to leave some for you to enjoy - so go out and get the book!!!

And yes, I did hear about Osama last night. I just didn't want to mention him in my happy posting. It is sort of interesting to see people saying that celebrating the death of even an enemy is sad; however, I think the world can smile a little bit more knowing the man that rejoiced in the deaths of thousands of innocents because he loved himself and Machiavelli (he would harm his own people if the ends beat the means).

Weddings Galore

I did not write at all Friday or make it up yesterday, because I was no where near a computer. I was busy celebrating the wedding of my Scotland roommate. It was a pretty amazing time and an absolutely lovely wedding. I am so happy for her and her husband!! It was a pretty wild weekend with some pretty crazy ladies, but then again my Scotland roomies are pretty crazy. We pitted the Wisconsinites against the Minnesotans in an epic battle...much like our roommate's wedding.

Other weddings that have happened - duh, the ROYAL WEDDING HAPPENED! I have to say, despite my deep love for everything royal...I woke up the day of the royal wedding with my Scotland roomie texting me to say my man was officially off the market and then I watched the balcony kisses while at the gym and then I worked the day away and spent the rest of the day driving to Green Bay. I do have to say - LOVED THE DRESS! I love the lace overlay. I always loved that look since my mother's wedding dress had a lace overlay. Now every dress with lace overlay for the next century is going to be extremely over priced...good thing I will most likely never get married! I thought it was a very beautiful and classy event. Go Wills! I am sure that your mother was looking down on the event and admiring the man that you have become and have yet to become. I'm positive she is so proud of both you and Harry!

To keep the romance theme going, the movie I am watching for today is A Walk to Remember. I have not watched or read the book in a really long time! The book is an amazing story - pretty much a very loosely linked relationship between the two, but a similar theme. I love this movie and Mandy Moore and Shane West are just perfect together and she is just beyond beautiful in this movie. The movie follows the lost, popular kid, Landon, who gets in trouble and has to pay his debt off to society by working in a number of different organizations - drama club, Saturday morning tutoring, etc. All of these things lead him to the path of Jamie. He needs the nerdy, religious, preacher's daughter to help him with his lines as he is made the lead of the school play. They fall in love.....and drama ensues as the trouble maker popular kid turns into a caring human being through his love of Jamie and the opening of his eyes to a different world. This movie is just a classic tear jerker as usual from Nicholas Sparks! Love, love, love it!