Movie Review--Seven

Okay, ladies and gents, it's the moment you've all been waiting for... I've put it off long enough, and now it's time to review Seven.

I loved Seven. I hated Brad Pitt's character through most of the movie, but I'm okay with that. I was happy with him at the end... kinda. Morgan Freeman's character was probably my favorite (there's a place where his character actually bursts out laughing--one of my favorite parts of the whole movie because for once, he's not being so doggone serious).

The premise: Serial killer flick meets the Seven Deadly Sins. You can tell me what you think. I say it was suspenseful, perfectly paced, and well-written. Like any movie you see, there were parts that seemed contrived (but then, my vice is looking for contrivances in books, movies, TV, etc.).

There are places that may raise your blood pressure. Heck, you might want to scream at some of the characters at times. But that's okay. That's what we want in a movie. As writers, we want our audience to relate to the characters we create, and I think we grow very attached to the characters in Seven. They are well-rounded, not stereotypes (that kind of characterization scores BIG with Sunshine Jones), and we actually care about them, which makes the movie worth watching.

So, if you like movies about serial killers and/or movies about Church doctrine relating to literature of the Middle Ages, definitely give Seven a look.

Lady Chadwick's Soiree

On my other blog, Word of the Day, I started a crazy trend. I should begin by explaining that on Word of the Day I take dictionary.com's word of the day and use it in a sentence or two as a vocabulary-building exercise. One day the word was "soiree," and I came up with a silly sentence, and some of my readers joined in until we had a little story. I thank everyone who played along, either with the Lady Chadwick story or with sentences of their own. I especially give props to Alisa, who came up with the name Lady Chadwick. I decided to take all of November's words (or a form of them) and combine them into one story. I've linked each of the words to its own entry for Word of the Day, so you can read the original post and comments for each word (side note: I invite anyone who wants to join in to post a comment using the daily words--it's really a lot of fun, guys!) Additionally, each Word of the Day post should have a link to dictionary.com's definition, which includes a pronunciation service. I tried to create original sentences for this one, so hopefully I didn't rehash an older sentence by accident. Enjoy!

Lady Chadwick's Soiree
It all started one day when I received an invitation to Lady Chadwick’s soiree. I was addled, thinking this guerdon must have been sent in error. Lady Chadwick is such a powerful aristocrat—everyone knows she is the eminence grise behind her husband, Lord Chadwick.

I envisioned Lady Chadwick ensconced in her resplendent gown. Such a beautiful nabob—it is unfortunate that the one flaw that adulterates her beauty is an aquiline nose. The nose, I’m certain, is the one factor that has kept Lord Chadwick from expressing his amatory affection toward his wife in public.

Having never been to a soiree before, I strolled into the party with a smooth cadence. The Chadwick escutcheon loomed impressively before me. The epicure in me recognized scents of wonderment to the olfactory system wafting from the kitchen into the dining area. What a Lucullan feast!

I took a seat near BJ and Alisa. We were admiring Lady Chadwick’s eminent figure as she leaned on the balustrade, smiling on her beloved guests. Alisa was explaining that according to her sidereal astrology, people like me did not generally appear at such grand parties. I couldn’t understand what she meant.

Suddenly, the merriment abated. Someone noticed that I was wearing a red hoodie and blue jeans. Horripilation formed on my freshly-lotioned arms. “Reprobate!” Lady Chadwick boomed. Reprobate was the mot juste for the occasion, it seemed.

“But I wore the special emollient you sent me, Lady Chadwick,” I protested, intimating that I had done nothing wrong. Though I tried to adduce evidence of my innocence, insisting that my removal was based on footless claims, looking back I realized that my choice of attire was a bit frowzy.
I see now that my affectations toward the upper crust citizens had gotten me nowhere. My presence at the soiree was nothing but an unwanted incursion. I paid my last respects to my high society life with proper obsequies. Wearing my jeans and red hoodie, I picked up what was left of my pride, and became a writer.

Monochrome Monday--Snowy Tree With Fence

I thought a nice snowy tree would be appropriate for the first day of December.

For more B&W/sepia shots, visit Monochrome Maniacs.

Sunday Scribblings--Winter

I don't have much to say about winter, except that I don't like it. I enjoy watching It's a Wonderful Life, eating popcorn, and drinking hot cocoa on Christmas Eve, and I enjoy getting together for the famous garage party to open gifts on Christmas Day. That is about the extent of my enjoyment of winter. And unfortunately, there are still just under three months of winter to still look forward to after my two days of enjoyment! I generally spend these months inside as much as possible, baking cookies and crocheting warm things. I prefer the outdoors, but in the wintertime it is just too cold to go outside. Oh yeah, and I hate sledding. So, there you have it--Scrooge's take on wintertime.

For more Wintertime scribbling, go to Sunday Scribblings.

Oh the Joys...

Yesterday was not good.

I was tired most of the morning and all of the afternoon. I dropped a notebook, a pen, a cross-stitch kit, and two forks. This is why I decided not to hold the baby.

After spending two hours at my grandma's doing the backbreaking task of Round One Photo Organizing, I came home to find a rejection letter from a job I applied to earlier this year.

At 6:25, I left home for a coffee house to meet some of my GA buddies that I used to work with during my MA. One of the girls is from Colombia, but she's working on a Ph.D in the States. I hadn't seen her in several months, so it was good to have the chance to get together.

I was actually on time, for once in my life. Maybe I got too smug, I don't know, but just as I was turning onto the road where the coffee shop is located, I saw red and blue lights and knew I was getting pulled over.

Mental check: I'd driven under the speed limit, I stopped at the stop sign, and I signaled. So what's up, Officer?

I pulled into a parallel parking spot and rolled down my window.

"Good evening, my name is Officer, so and so. The reason I'm pulling you over is that your license plate bulb is burned out."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that Officer, but thanks for telling me. I didn't realize."

"May I see your license and proof of insurance?"

I promptly handed him my school ID card. Stupid, stupid me.

"Sorry, that's my ID card--wrong one. Just a moment." I handed him my license and with slightly nervous hands (I was wondering how much this little infraction was going to cost me), and began remembering the rejection letter, the many dropped items, and my general sense of a bad mood. Then I remembered setting off the metal detector at airport security with my pocket full of change. It was actually quite amusing. Of course, traffic was heavy with rubbernecks gawking at me, the poor sucker, pulled over. I could hear them now, "I wonder what she did?" and "I'm so glad I didn't get pulled over." Finally, the cop came back and issued me a written warning. I was very grateful (but it's a little late to post another to prompt #138).

Anyway, I reparked my car (though I could have left it in the parallel spot) and walked back to the coffeehouse, only to see that it was closed. I sat on a park bench and called my friend AG to see if she had anybody's number. She didn't either.

Fortunately, KR showed up and told me that the little party was being moved to her house, so I followed her there, and in 45 minutes, was completely parked in.

The day got better at that point. I was able to catch up with four of the girls I had worked with and taken classes with. I got home a little after midnight and was pooped. I'm glad I didn't hit the truck parked at KR's neighbor's house. I'm also fortunate I didn't hit KR's front porch. Oh yeah, and the way my day was going, I'm sure KR is glad that I didn't ask to hold her baby, IR.

True Colours Thursday--Blue!

This is a tealight candle holder that one of my friends bought for my birthday a few years ago.


This is a pillow my grandma crocheted for me.


My grandma also crocheted this doily. However, the crochet hooks are mine.

Pudding, Cappuccino, and the IBBC (Not Necessarily in that Order)

Two days ago, my friend RC asked me for my vanilla pudding recipe. Of course, I forgot to email it to her until yesterday. It then occurred to me that pudding sounded good, so I made a batch of chocolate. I would have eaten the whole thing, except that her sister, SC, jokingly asked if I'd bring some with me later that evening when I was to go to the IBBC and watch both girls play their instruments for a praise service. I put down my spoon and acquiesced.

Fast forward to about 6:00 PM. I was ecstatic that I had just received my three blog awards from BJ, and was anxious to pass the awards on to Robin and Ray. Then it occurred to me that I needed to also add the awards to my own blog's sidebar. This all takes a ridiculous amount of time on dial-up Internet.

6:45...

"Come on! Hurry up, Blogger! I've gotta go!"

I really thought I was going to have time to post a little something before 6:45, as I was intending to stop by the gas station at that time for a quick cup of cappuccino to keep me awake. Alas, 6:45 came and went, and the next time I saw the clock, it read 6:54. The IBBC's Praise Night started at 7:00.

I passed on the cappuccino.

Though I only live a few minutes from the IBBC, I really only had a few minutes to get to the IBBC. I felt a rebellious rush of adrenaline as I sped through the residential part of town at a whopping 25 MPH! I was certain I would be late.

Side note: I don't generally go to things like this, but I'd never heard RC play her flute or SC play her fiddle (she corrected me, saying it was a violin--I corrected her, saying what's the difference), and anyway, it was the most exciting nightlife within a 20 mile radius. Well, and plus I kinda wanted to see RC and SC.

At the four-way stop where the IBBC is located, I was horrified to see that the parking lot appeared full. I made a go of it anyway, and parked in an area that I hope was a parking spot and not someone's yard. Running down the sidewalk, I'm surprised I didn't fall and break my neck or something. I threw open the door to the IBBC, and out of breath and slightly disoriented, I tried to take an inconspicuous seat at the back of the church.

Just like on the rare occasions when I go clothes shopping, my presence was not unnoticed.

Several men started coming for me, and, fearing that they perceived me as a heretic, I prepared for the worst. Instead, they each jutted their hands out at me, welcoming me to the IBBC, asking how I was, and a plethora of other questions that swarmed around my head in a frenzy. Still in a stupor, I started to sit down. At just that moment, another man came toward me. I thought I had taken his seat, apologized, and walked into the aisle.

"No, you're okay," he reassured me. Oh, another greeter. I glanced across the aisle to see SC and her violin. I felt safe then. I rushed over to her, hoping to avoid any more well-wishers. I'm terrible with people skills. Eye contact is something I have yet to master. Eventually, RC waddled over from somewhere. I really don't know where she came from.

The service was nice, but completely different from what I'm used to. I'm used to churches where dancing is not only appropriate, but encouraged. I caught myself dancing to even the slowest and somberest of songs, bumping into RC a few times by accident.

I was impressed by both RC's flute playing and SC's fiddling. I was a little alarmed at the number of criers at the church though. As I later told R & SC, I don't react well to crying: I generally either become severely depressed, or start laughing uncontrollably.

'Nuff said on that one.

Afterwards we went to the gas station I had previously skipped that evening and ordered the cappuccino that I was jonesing for all night. The caffeine high fueled a ridiculous evening of foolery and laughter, intensified by the fear we all held of being kicked out of the gas station, and perhaps even permanently banned (and they have the best tasting and least expensive cappuccino around). Fortunately, I used to work with the cashier who was on duty last night, and she knows how silly I can be (the two of us used to do Napolean Dynamite impressions even after they had gone out of style).

The alarming crescendo to the evening was when SC would not get out of RC's car to eat her pudding. Somehow this talk of pudding eating puts the song, "Another Brick in the Wall" into my head. Anyway, I had my car turned on and was twanging like a drunken fool to "Luckenbach, Texas," which I really don't even like, but it's a heck of a song to butcher, and there is SC, sitting is RC's car, refusing to budge. Finally, I was able to get her into my car so she could eat her pudding (that I so graciously saved for her) and then I could get home. Once inside my car, SC gobbled her pudding right down, but RC took her precious time. My dad thinks that perhaps RC didn't like my pudding and was trying to save my feelings. Finally, I told RC to just take the dern stuff home with her because I figured I'd have to go to work today and I was kind of wanting to get to bed.

For once in my life, I slept like a baby when I got home. That RC can really wear a person out!

Three Awards!

I am so honored! BJ has given me these, not one, not two, but THREE awards today!

This just rocks because, with the cold weather we've been having, I have been finding reasons to drink more coffee! Hot tea is soon to follow.

I love butterflies, what can I say?



This award is very special, though.

Crystal of Memoirs of a Mommy designed this third award to honor the heart transplant donor that saved the life of her adorable son Noah. The rules of this award are very specific.
Link back to Memoirs of a Mommy to learn to learn more of this touching story & ask your recipients to do likewise. The photo of this little boy will melt your heart. After you read about Noah, remember to share this award with all those blogs out there that you love.
All the people who make you smile.
All those that make you laugh.
All those that make your day.
All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog.

I wish to pass this award along to Ray and Robin.

Monochrome Monday--Foxtail

For more black and white/sepia shots, visit Monochrome Maniacs

A Seasonal Meme

I've just been tagged by BJ to complete the following little meme about Christmas. I'm just going to copy and paste the directions I got from BJ, who in turn got them from Blue... etc., etc.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends! Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, & try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy and paste into a new form. Change all the answers so that they apply only to you. Then post it!
And, do remember to tell, all you tag, that they are playing too!
Here goes...


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
I'm a lazy and terrible wrapper. Definitely gift bags. As far as opening, I'm OCD about not tearing paper, so bags generally work better for me to open, though I really have no preference.

2. Real or artificial tree?
Artificial. I think a real one would be nice, but we haven't the space. Plus, our cats want to eat the plastic one, so a real one would be disastrous...

3. When do you put up the tree?
Mom starts fussing the day after Thanksgiving. Generally the tree goes up sometime between the day after Thanksgiving and the first whole week of December.

4. Wreath on your door?
Can't say we've ever done that.

5. Do you like eggnog?
Nope--I'm more of a cider person.

6. Favourite Xmas gift received as a child?
Cold hard cash. I always liked to pool my money and buy something "big" with it. Of course, something "big" usually cost 10, maybe 20 dollars...

7. Easiest person to buy for?
Definitely Mom. She always has a wish list that could reach to Timbuktu!

8. Least easiest?
My grandma. She already has everything.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
I think we have a small one. I don't remember putting it up for a long time though. This probably involves our cats who like to rearrange decorations...

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Oh definitely snail-mail. I'm not an "instant gratification" type of person. Waiting is the best part!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Probably something that was a "recycled" gift. I don't really remember details...

12. Favourite Christmas Movie?
Definitely It's a Wonderful Life. Okay, I don't care what you say. I know Frank Capra was a propaganda-monger. I know it's a cheesy movie. I know it's not my type. I just like it, okay! ;)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Oh dang. Christmas IS coming up, isn't it...

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think I've ever done this. Mainly because I have always feared I'd send the gift back to the person I received it from. I remember the gifts, I get confused as to who sent them.

15. Open presents on Christmas eve or morning?
Actually, we generally have a garage party gift-opening fest at my granny's Christmas night! We really do have to wait for it.

16. Lights on the tree?
I guess... I tend to prefer white or some other single-colored light.

17. Favourite Christmas song?
Silver Bells

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
I stay home, though I'd travel if I could and if I had need to. But wait, I don't like being out in snowy/icy weather.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Oh yeah, baby! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph (I had to have help from Mom on Dasher and Vixen though)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Good question. I think it's an angel, but I'm not positive...

21. Favourite thing to eat at Christmas?
Homemade cookies/candy

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Marketing/advertising.

23. Favourite Tree ornament, theme or colour?
Blue and silver antique ornaments. Love 'em!

24. Favourite for Christmas dinner?
For the past several years I've been bringing my cheesy potato soup to the garage party. We do soup and a cheeseball. It works well. My soup and bread are my favs (that's why I bring 'em!)

25. Brussel Sprouts - love or hate them?
Ick...

26. Favourite accompaniment to the Christmas Pud?
Something tells me this is probably not something a vegetarian would eat, so I'm going with: n/a

27. Favourite Christmas Carol?
I suppose "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear." I like several though.

28. Your very Favourite Christmas Thing?
Taking turns opening the gifts at the garage party. We get to see what everyone received, taking turns makes the event last, and we sometimes have wrapping paper fights afterwards.

29. A Christmas wish!
Peace.

30. Tag a Seasonal Six!

I'll tag Ray, Pansy, and Rachel. Anybody else who wants to play along is certainly welcome!

Sunday Scribblings--Grateful

Okay, let me preface this post with the following disclaimer: I am grateful for more things than I can put in a post of readable length. I can't really choose just a few things to write about, so, being the rogue scribbler than I am, I'm going to take a different approach, yet again.

Grateful Ramblings from a Junior "Dead-Head"

One of my favorite bands is the Grateful Dead. I'm sure Robin will agree with me on this one. I waited about a year (until I could get my hands on a blacklight) so I could buy a blacklight poster of the Grateful Dead dancing bears. It was wicked cool.

I was also quite Grateful when I saw the The Very Best of Grateful Dead album on discount at a local junk store around the same time.

Even before I started listening to their music, I wanted to meet Jerry Garcia. Who knows why. Who knows how I'd even heard of Jerry Garcia. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him, as he passed away when I was still in grade school.

I remember how excited I was the day I finally memorized all the lyrics to "Truckin'." Unfortunately, I forgot them shortly after. Oh, I can remember bits and pieces, but all in a jumbled mess, not in the actual order of the song.

When I was singing karaoke a year or so ago, I got a lot of applause for my rendition of "Casey Jones," which has long been a favorite of mine.

The first time I heard "Sugar Magnolia," I didn't know who sang it, but I was so excited that I had to literally stop my car in a parking spot (I was just pulling into a shopping mall) with good reception for that particular radio station.

Hooked? Oh yeah.

"U.S. Blues" and "One More Saturday Night" gave me the energy to clean my room one summer, and "Franklin's Tower" rocked me to sleep every night for about six months.

Yeah, not your typical post I realize, but you know, I am Grateful for the Grateful Dead.

I give Stan Ski props for inadvertently inspiring me to include song titles in this post.

True Colours Thursday--Red!

I'm so glad to see that my photos finally loaded! I initially had four photos, but after spending the better part of a day trying unsuccessfully to load them all, then after failing to load three of them, I tried loading only two. Apparently that's all I'm going to get this time. Maybe when red rolls around the next time I can use the other two.

These are nesting dolls from Russia. My dad spent a good part of the morning performing a low-budget Caesarian on the 2nd doll. Apparently the paint glaze dried in the joint, thus gluing doll #2 together and imprisoning the four other nesting dolls inside. But persistence paid off, and I was able to get this shot. It's not perfect, but it's here.

This is Mom's mug that she bought from Michael's craft store. She thought the mugs were "too cute," and dropped the hat (lid) off one of them. I was terrified that she had broken it, but fortunately it was tough and didn't break. Soon after that incident (which involved a total silencing of all patrons and the subsequent open-mouthed staring), I strongly encouraged her to just pick one so we could get out of there as soon as possible. This was the one she went with!

Blue, I realize that it is now actually Friday for you. I sincerely apologize for my inability to post when I wanted to (which was around 11:00 or noon today). Anyway, I may get an early start on next week by saving a draft early, and maybe even posting on Wednesday night!

True Colours Thursday--Still Not Working

I have been trying all day to post my photos for Blue's True Colours Thursday. Somehow errors keep popping up, and I haven't been able to get them posted. I have four pictures, three of which have a bit of a Christmas/winter theme. I may try again tonight, or I might try again tomorrow. Anyway, I am determined to keep trying. Sorry I can't get the photos to upload yet.

Portrait of Words, Perhaps Next Time

I had a submission for this month's Portrait of Words, but I really didn't like it all that much. It was absurd and over the top, and I just think I could probably do better, so I guess I'll have to wait until next month to post. Hopefully I can come up with something blogworthy by then.

But I can at least talk a little about what I've been doing since my last post.

Today I finished crocheting a laprobe for a girl at my church who had to have both her legs amputated. Not knowing how to approach gift-giving to someone in such a sensitive situation, I thought I'd leave the gift at the church anonymously and put her name on the bag.

I've also been reading BJ's book The Apple Tree and I'm enjoying it very much.

Yesterday, I bought a bottle of sparkling cider and was shocked that I didn't get carded for it. The last time I tried to buy some sort of nonalcoholic sparkling juice, I was asked to show my driver's license. I said, "Well, I can show you my license if you'd like, but that's just juice." To make matters even worse, as soon as I set the bottle on the counter, the kid behind the register ran off to get someone who was old enough to ring up alcohol purchases. So there I was, waiting, holding up the line so that someone of age could ring up my sparkling juice. It was embarrassing for all parties involved. However, I'm glad to say I didn't have to deal with any of that foolery yesterday.

Anyway, that's what's been going on in my neck of the woods. And that's the post that is playing placeholder for the absent Portrait of Words this month.

Monochrome Monday--Barbed Wire Fence

Check out Monochrome Maniacs for more black and white/sepia shots.

Meme & Award!

My friend, BJ has brought this meme to my attention, and has graciously given me the following award. Though she did not specifically tag anyone to do this, I thought it looked fun and decided to join in.

I will tag a handful of people to play along (bonus: players get to display the accompanying award on their blog). As always, these are just for fun and completely voluntary. Also, anyone that I have not tagged who would like to participate--feel free!


The meme requests one-word responses, but I won't take off points for multiple-word answers (Good luck though; I had a terrible time not doing essay, or at least short answer...)

Tagging: Ray, Aurora, and Robin

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Where is your significant other? n/a
3. Your hair colour? brownish
4. Your mother? reading
5. Your father? talking
6. Your favourite thing? camera
7. Your dream last night? bizarre
8. Your dream/goal? publishing
9. The room you're in? living
10. Your hobby? blogging
11. Your fear? heights
12. Where do you want to be in six years? traveling
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? hungry
15. One of your wish list items? books
16. Where you grew up? Illinois
17. The last thing you did? IM
18. What are you wearing? casuals
19. Your TV? big
20. Your pet? cat
21. Your computer? Dell
22. Your mood? mellow
23. Missing someone? sorta...
24. Your car? Mercury
25. Something you're not wearing? hat
26. Favourite store? Michaels
27. Your summer? nice
28. Love someone? yeah
29. Your favourite colour? green
30. Last time you cried? Friday
31. When is the last time you laughed? today

Sunday Scribblings--Stranger

I honestly do think that truth is stranger than fiction, cliche as the saying may be. This is why I typically write creative nonfiction. For example, just now, I completely forgot that I was making soup in the kitchen. BJ informed me that I am not to boil cream soups (thank you, BJ!), so this time, I think I burned the cheese. Drat! The bottom of my soup pan is suspiciously bumpy now.

Anyway, back to "stranger." When I was writing my thesis, I remember saying to my committee, numerous times, "I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to." This was true, as I often find it hard to believe that many of the scrapes I've gotten into were actual events.

Furthermore, I had a gig writing opinions columns for the school's newspaper for a while. I focused many of my columns on the outrageous news stories I'd read during the week. One of them involved experimenting with Mentos and Diet Coke (I tried this at home--it produces a volcano-like carbonation effect). Another was a response to a guy who got pulled over for "drugs," only to find out he had bags of cheese in his car. Really bizarre stuff.

That's about all I've got for tonight. Amazing that I'm out of things to say. What could be stranger?

For more Sunday Scribblings, click here

True Colours Thursday

I love green. It's my favorite color, and even a nickname of mine. I am a bit of an environmentalist, as I love nature and outdoors, and participate in recycling and using environmentally-friendly products.

But that's not what this post is about.

My friend, Blue, has come up with a very cool new meme called, "True Colours Thursday," and I am happy to be able to participate in it. This week's Colour is green, and I am going to post a few pictures of green souvenirs I picked up from my trip to Arizona last month.

This is the back logo of the t-shirt I bought at the Verde Canyon railroad. I considered buying an orange shirt to diversify my predominantly green and brown wardrobe, but I ultimately chose green because, after all, verde is the Spanish word for "green." I bought this cap at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park near Camp Verde, Arizona. There's a bit of a theme going on here. And lastly, this is a Saguaro cactus plush toy that I got from our hotel in Williams, Arizona (near the Grand Canyon). I love the saguaro cactus. I would have posted some pictures of saguaro that I took on the Beeline Highway northeast of Phoenix, but I took them as a passenger in a moving vehicle, so the quality isn't the greatest. That's why this little guy will have to be my saguaro representative.

Readers, if you have any green pictures, post them! This was fun.

Tagged by Blue...

Okay, so I have officially been tagged by Blue to do this survey thing. Looks like this will be fun. Thanks, Blue!

Outside my window... Are cardinals and blue jays.
I am thinking... "It's too cold!"
I am thankful for... My friends and family.
From the kitchen... I will be baking some chocolate chip and toffee cookies soon!
I am creating... A mess of my room!
I am going to... Work on crocheting an afghan.
I am wearing... A red hoodie and new blue jeans--all Arizona brand! (my favorite)
I am reading... Sanctuary by William Faulkner.
I am hoping... That my cousin gets over her tummy ache.
I am hearing... My cat snoring.
Around the house... Clutter, but there are new birthday gifts amongst it!
One of my favorite things... Is traveling--need to plan my next trip soon.
A few plans for the weekend... Tentatively, having pizza with my friends (weather and schedules permitting).
Remember... Life is what you make it, so be happy.

I'm going to tag a few of my buddies to play along (if they so desire)

BJ, Ray, Lilly, Alisa, Robin, "Alf Rocks", Roadchick

Photo Safari, Part II

This is actually the picture I wanted to post for Monochrome Monday, but I foolishly didn't label any of the pictures, so I ended up with a different one from the same area. I have another that I rather like, but I might save that for another day.

Birthday

Well, today was my birthday. I went out to eat with my parents, went to the mall, and then came home and opened gifts. We ran into a local newscaster at the mall. My dad said, "Well, there's a familiar face," and the newscaster got a strange expression on his face as if he were thinking, Should I know this guy? I guess I need to say something, and then he said, "Hey, how's it going?" and playfully patted Dad on the back. It's fun to freak out even local celebrities.

BJ, I apologize for having not yet finished Se7en to write a movie review on it. Lately, I've been so sleepy that I haven't been able to watch movies at night like I generally do before writing reviews. However, that being said, I do intend to finish it (and hopefully soon). I also bought The Good Shepherd today. I don't usually buy movies unless I know for sure that I like them. But I took a chance on this one. Hopefully I will produce a review of it soon, as well. Oh yes, and if I can get Blogger to cooperate, I also plan to post more pictures soon.

Photo Safari/Monochrome Monday

My mom and I went on a little photo safari yesterday in the country. This is one of my pictures. I plan to post more at a later date.

I wanted to go way out in the "boonies" for the photos, but Mom wasn't feeling so adventurous. And, considering we were both freezing our tails off, perhaps staying moderately near civilization was a good thing! This particular picture was taken across the road from a house. We pulled off at a little turnaround area to avoid trespassing.

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Sunday Scribblings--Change

Friday, November 07, 2008
#136 - Change
Apologies for the delay everyone! It was an easy prompt this week - you can either go your own way, or take the obvious route - it's "change."

Adding Up

I pick up pennies on the street. I'll admit it. I just can't help myself. If I see small change on the ground, I consider it fair game. The most I've ever made in a day is two dollars, but that doesn't really count, since I just happened upon two $1 bills one day in the English building when I was in college.

However...

I have made as much as 22 cents in change in a day. During a rough patch in my life, I found at least one penny every day for a streak so long that I stopped counting the days. I called them "Pennies from Heaven" and believe that if they were put there for a reason, it was to teach me to be thankful for even the smallest blessings in life.

I kept the pennies in a small plastic container. Eventually, I saved enough pennies that I had received in change and that I found on floors and on the ground that I was able to cash them in at the bank. It came to less than $10. I was still thankful for the pennies, wondering how much of that money I made from change that other people discarded.

Months later, I walked into the laundromat to wash a load of clothes, and I saw a tempting sight: pennies, nickels and dimes all over the floor in front of a washing machine. A young man was loading clothes into a washer near the change. He left while his clothes were washing, and I resisted the temptation to pocket all of the change. I figured that somebody who needed it more than I would see it and pick it up. Or maybe somebody who didn't need it at all would snatch it. Either way, I had learned my lesson and no longer needed to rely on the "Pennies from Heaven" to appreciate what I had.

I don't find pennies very much anymore. Maybe it's because of the economy, or maybe other people got the same idea I did. But I don't think so. I think it's because I don't need my object lesson anymore.

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A Little Jaunt to Barnes and Noble

I went shopping with my mom, aunt, and grandma today. This is pretty incredible, considering I generally don't care for shopping. However, today I was in the mood, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I hadn't noticed until today how long it's been since I've stepped foot into a Barnes and Noble, though. When I walked through the doors and smelled the coffee (wow, I missed a great use of the word "olfactory" here), and saw all the books on shelves and on display tables, memories came rushing back. Hours and dollars spent having a great time in the bookstore. I think I have a different interest every time I visit a bookstore, though. Sometimes I wind up in the cookbooks (vegetarian and desserts), some days it's classic novels (a.k.a. "literature"), on adventurous days, it's the travel section, when I feel like cleaning out old "junk" I check out the books on collectables, and the list goes on forever. Today, I visited literature and bought The Unvanquished by, of course, William Faulkner (definitely my favorite author at the moment). I also bought The Maltese Falcon. I've always heard of it, and it sounded interesting, and since I had a Barnes and Noble gift card burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to go for it. After literature, my next stop was books on writing. Along the way, my mom spotted David Morrell's new book, The Spy Who Came For Christmas in the Christmas display table. Whoa, awesome! I could have had an autographed copy of this book *slaps self in forehead*. Yes, I met the guy who created Rambo at a writer's conference in Scottsdale, Arizona last month. Yes, he was signing books. No, I didn't get one. I mean, I can't say that I'm a Rambo fan (I can't say I'm not either, because I've never seen the movie or read First Blood), but still, I could have gotten an autographed copy of something by the guy who created Rambo. Oh well. But when I got to the writing section, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a book on writing, written by none other than David Morrell himself. This one is going on my Christmas list. On the way out, I thought of the coffee again. If I hadn't been saving my money, I would have bought one for old times' sake. Coffee or no, this day will still make a nice memory for the next time I take a trip to Barnes and Noble.

Sleepy Thursday

It's been kind of rainy today, so I wasn't able to sit outside and read Faulkner. However, I was able to work on a crocheted afghan (YES!). Perhaps I'll get it done in time for winter.

In other news, though I did not make soup today, I did make soup yesterday. This time I made cheesy potato soup (very yummy, I may add). I don't measure very many ingredients when making soup, but I can say that this time I boiled three good-sized Yukon Gold potatoes (cubed) with one vegetable bouillon cube until the potatoes were tender, but not mushy. Then, I added a can of condensed cream of celery soup and a pound of Velveeta. I accidentally boiled the cream soup and Velveeta, which separated the soup a little. For best results, just melt the cream soup and Velveeta. Also, next time I plan to use more potatoes. The broth is good, but I like some substance to my soup!

Movie Review--Changeling

This is one of those movies I foolishly jumped into--I decided I wanted to see it after simply catching the tail-end of a muted trailer for the movie. However, let me say, up front, that unlike Scarface, this movie did not let me down.

Quite the contrary.

Changeling is based on a true story of L.A. crime in 1928. The story sort of ends in 1935, but you'd have to watch the movie to understand why. I'll agree with IMDb that the movie starts out a bit slow, but for a movie like this, it kind of has to. Angelina Jolie does a brilliant job of portraying Christine Collins, a single mom whose son disappears one Saturday while she is at work. Her acting, in my opinion, appeared neither contrived nor reserved. She seemed quite natural in her role. All of the child actors in this film were very believable in their balance between childlike actions and grown-up responsibilities (many of them were forced to react to situations totally inappropriate for anyone, especially young children). Jason Butler Harner (an actor I've never heard of) was freakishly talented at playing a delusional psychopath, and John Malkovich was stunning as Rev. Gustav Briegleb, a minister seeking to bring the truth of the LAPD's corruption to the public.

I highly recommend this movie; however, if you are the type of person who allows films to make you emotional, then come prepared with a box of Kleenex or two. I didn't cry during the movie, but there were a couple of times I came close (interesting side-note: I've only cried at one movie, and yes, John Malkovich was in it... Of Mice and Men). There were also moments in Changeling when I desperately wanted to give certain characters a standing ovation. Yes, the movie will pull at your heartstrings and manipulate you to a certain extent, but remember, this was based on a true story. Had it been a fictional movie, I would have said that never in a million years would this plot be possible. I was shocked and appalled that such crime actually took place in human history. There are some sickening scenes near the end of the movie, so make sure you've finished your popcorn early. You might also find yourself losing faith in humanity after watching Changeling, but trust me, the movie is well worth it.

One other note: I am by no means a historian, but with what little I do know of the late 1920s and early to mid-1930s, I found the costumes and dialogue to be very realistic. If you go see this movie, I think you'll agree with me that, though we don't have much background on most of the characters, you'll become attached to them anyway and feel like you know them by the end of the movie.

No, Changeling is not exactly a feel-good movie, but it's not a total downer either. It's a great mix of genres: drama, mystery/crime, political, horror (arguably), and even a little romance at the end. I absolutely abhor sentimental movies, but this one was excellent. Clint Eastwood directed Changeling, and I was impressed that it was neither overly bloody and violent, nor overly dramatic and sappy. I think the cast and crew did Mrs. Collins' story justice with this one. Go out and see it for yourself--let me know what you think.

Randomness...

I am still digging this awesome November weather. This morning, I sat outside and read some William Faulkner. I finished Light in August, and now I'm on Sanctuary. I also played around with taking some pictures (I'm considering photo memeing) in sepia tones and black and white.

This afternoon, around 3:00, my boss called with a little bit of work for me to do. So from 3:30-4:15 I was editing! As soon as I got home, my cat Peyser jumped up in the chair with me and proceeded to climb up my back! This made for difficult blogging (but he's gotten down, now).

Not much else going on at the present, but I just wanted to note that I had a pleasant day.

Movie Review--Scarface

Okay, I suppose I set myself up for a letdown when I waited literally years to see a movie. I built it up in my mind, expecting it to be something it wasn't. Another serious error I made was renting an older movie. However, I didn't want to own it.

After quite a bit of searching, I finally found Scarface for rent at Family Video for $1 for five nights. The price was definitely right. Somehow, I expected the movie to be about Al Capone in Prohibition-era Chicago, but instead, it was about some Tony Montana in 1980s-era Miami. Not exactly what I was expecting.

The disc I'd rented was pretty badly scratched, so there were places where the movie would kind of "hiccup," and others where it would stop altogether. It was horrible. I wasted most of the extra hour we got from converting back to standard time just trying to find what point I was at in the movie when the disc got stuck. Finally it occurred to me: I don't even like this movie, so why am I worrying so much about it?

In all fairness, I don't have the authority to review this one, since I didn't see all of it. There were simply scenes that would not play. This meant that I often had to skip scenes, meaning I missed pieces of the plot. However, I wasn't impressed with the parts I did see.


The only characters I'll even mention:
Al Pacino: Tony Montana
Michelle Pfeiffer: Elvira Hancock

I hate to say this, but I was bored by the movie. It moved slower than I expected, and it was fairly predictable. I know it is supposed to be a classic, but I can't figure out why. The dialogue didn't seem all that great to me. I can handle profanity in dialogue that is realistic, but littering a script with "The F-word" is a sign of bad writing. I understand that these characters would use a lot of foul language, but it was completely overdone in Scarface, to the point that it lost its effect. It wasn't shocking, it didn't seem realistic, and it just sounded like a group of teenage boys trying to sound tough to impress one another.

Al Pacino's strangely charming demeanor at the beginning of the movie is all that really saved him (in my estimation) in Scarface. I can't figure out what he did to make his character so charming, though. Maybe it was the Cuban accent. I don't know. Maybe it was because his character hadn't gotten so deeply involved in drugs yet. Either way, I got annoyed with Tony Montana about halfway through the movie. He was getting too cocky for me. I wanted Elvira to slap him. All I ever saw her do was anger him by badmouthing him to his face. But then, I hated her character too. It was one of those movies where you just kind of want the main characters to jump out of a window while they're hopped up on cocaine. This scenario would have shortened the movie significantly, saving me a bunch of time. Anyway, Tony's character had far more flaws than good qualities, and by the end of the movie, I felt he got what was coming to him.

Moral of the story? Read a brief IMDb summary before renting a movie, Sunshine. Readers, if you go in knowing kind of what the movie is, perhaps you will like it better than I did. However, I'll just be honest and say I think it is overrated.

Welcome to November!

I'm excited that this is the first day of November. It has been unseasonably warm today. I sat outside earlier, just baking in the sun. It was great. Mom and I went to Wal-Mart this morning. I'm not fond of Wal-Mart, but eh, it was nice to do something with her. While we were there, we picked up some Ben and Jerry's pumpkin ice cream. I can't remember the name of the flavor, but it was pretty good.

I am about three pages from the end of Light in August. Why I haven't yet finished it, I do not know.

Oh oh oh! (Pardon the Dick, Jane, and Sally-type repetition). I finally got my grubby little hands on Scarface today! I'm so excited! I plan to watch it tonight. Hopefully it's not a letdown.

In other news, I tried to watchSe7en last night. It looked fairly interesting (though I abhor Brad Pitt's character in the movie), but I fell asleep. Have to try it again soon. Movie reviews of both are sure to follow.

And, of course, my birthday is coming up. YAY! All great reasons to love this first day of November :)

Trick or Treat

Well, my mom and I got conscripted for trick-or-treat duty at the bank. It was pretty fun, except that I totally do not know how to relate to children. Trying to appear cool, I said horrendous things such as:

"Whoa! It's Superman. I've always wanted to meet you!" (the kid hid behind his mom at this).

"Nice hair" (to a girl dressed in black with black and white witch hair).

"Oh man, we don't want to make this guy mad. We better give him what he wants" (to a kid dressed as the Incredible Hulk).

One parent was trying to get a kiss on the cheek for a trick-or-treat gift. I declined and tried to offer a bag of Fritos. Fortunately, my mom knows the person. You just never know what you'll run into in these small towns.

Oh yes, and the highlight of the evening was when Eeyore showed up and took not one, not two, but THREE bags of chips. I thought maybe she was choosing one, but when I saw her stuff all three into her plastic pumpkin, my mom and I both started saying, "Only one--let's save some for the other kids." It didn't work. She just walked off. And this Eeyore incident happened while we were being ambushed by a large group of kids.

They weren't all bad, though. I was pleased when, not knowing what to give to the kids, I offered a ninja a bag of Barbecue Lays, he said, "awesome!" Then, when he was walking back to the car with his dad, I overheard, again, "See what they gave me? Awesome!" Rock on, Sunshine, ya done good for once.

My First Attempt at Meme-ing

Sunday Scribblings

#135 - Scandalous
Have you got some juicy gossip? What about a bit of scandal? Have you caused a commotion in your life? Would you like to? In this week full of politics and financial woe, let's add a bit of spice and fun, shall we?

Chicken

I have been a vegetarian since conception. In other words, my parents quit eating meat before I was born. Apparently one of my uncle's girlfriends once fed me a ham cube, but I couldn't help that. I mean, I was just a toddler--I didn't know any better.

Then, when I was six years old, my school held a pizza party. I can't remember the occasion. Anyway, I didn't want the veggie pizza because I was a picky child who hated green peppers and tomatoes. I took a slice of what I thought was cheese pizza. Near the crust, I found something round, red, and mostly eaten protruding from under the cheese. A pepperoni! How dare they hide meat in my pizza!

Fast forward 16 years. I was a senior in college, sitting at Taco Bell with a friend. She had ordered a chicken chalupa--something that always sounded strangely alluring to me. When a chunk of chicken dropped from her chalupa, the devil on my left shoulder told me to eat it:

"Come on, you know you want to."

The angel on my right shoulder put up a decent fight:

"You can't eat that. You don't know what will happen. You might get sick."

The bickering continued:

"Normal people eat meat. Even most vegetarians started out life as carnivores."

"You aren't "normal people."

Finally the devil half stuffed the chicken piece in the angel's mouth to hush her, and I tried it. It tasted like, well, chicken. The soy stuff, anyway. I felt that I had experienced a rite of passage. At 22 years of age I had finally tasted chicken. And I liked it.

I still haven't told my parents though.

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Movie Review--Max Payne

Let me start off by saying I have only seen three movies (that I can think of) that were based on video games: Tomb Raider, Silent Hill, and just recently, Max Payne. Tomb Raider, in my opinion, was nothing like the game, and it was pretty forgettable. Silent Hill was pretty decent and had some elements of the game in it. Max Payne, on the other hand, actually tried to explain some of the background of the game (things that you discover as you play said game). As always, I apologize for being elusive, but, you know, someone might want to run out and see it.

Anyway, some things I found a little unrealistic: Max's wife's murder has been a cold case for how long now? Was it three years? Why is it that all of a sudden another murder is linked to it years later? The persons behind the murders seem to come out of the woodwork at just the right times. Are we to assume that they've been quietly doing their own thing, evading the cops for so long?

Side note: You just have to ignore the fact that Marky Mark of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch plays Payne. Otherwise, you won't take the movie seriously at all.

Really, it was a pretty decent movie, if you like that sort of thing (and I tend to). I thought some of the fight scenes were a little overdone (as they totally are in the video game). And, as a purist, I always hate it when movies leave scenes out. There is some crazy navigating around on the tops of buildings that is in the game, but is underplayed in the movie. There are also several plot changes that, unfortunately, I can't really disclose. Plus, the ending was different. One thing the moviemakers hit head-on was the setting scenery. I know this sounds weird, but many of the scenes looked like they came out of the video game. And I mean this as a compliment. The cinematography was just really cool. Yeah, everybody wears black, and nobody seems to know how to turn on a light (but what can you expect--it's Max Payne).

All in all, it's a pretty good movie. I saw it on a Tuesday night discount ($5.50 for the show + free popcorn), and I completely felt it was worth it. Let's put it this way, though I had to go to the bathroom about halfway through the show, I sat in agony until the end of the movie. I didn't want to miss anything. If you like noir stuff, action movies, and movies based on video games/graphic novels, then I definitely recommend Max Payne.

But the Jason Bourne series still ranks #1 in action films, in my book.

P.S.

Soon (perhaps tomorrow), I plan to do a movie review of Max Payne along with a brief account of what I did yesterday. Too sleepy to think about it tonight :)

Thanks for the Idea, B.J.!

Thanks to B.J. who told me the other day that she was having soup for supper. This inspired me to make some soup of my own! I also baked a loaf of bread. I haven't done this in a long time, so I kind of forgot how to bake bread. Fortunately, I had the old breadmaker, complete with its handy-dandy guide to help me along the way! I tweaked a recipe than I had been using--it worked out pretty well anyway. I made a loaf with half bread flour and half whole wheat flour. I also substituted honey for the sugar, and I put a half cup of oats in it.

As far as the soup went, I tried to do a low-sodium vegetable soup. I started out with some water (I don't tend to measure when I make soup). I then added one large potato, cubed. I cooked this for a while, and then I added one can of dark red kidney beans, one can of corn, and one can of peas. Side note: being a vegetarian, I have soy meat substitutes, most of which need to be refrigerated or frozen. Anyhow, I dumped some frozen Tender Rounds (these are a veggie's equivalent of meatballs) into the mix to thaw out and gather some of the soup's flavor. I did mess up by not adding seasoning earlier to let it all cook together, but eh, it was good anyway. After the Tender Rounds had cooked, I added a half can of tomato paste and shook in a hearty amount of Montreal steak seasoning. Voila!

Now I'm curious to know what kind of soup Calista Blu had.

All Apologies

I'm sorry I haven't written anything thus far this week. I haven't been terribly inspired to write anything. So now, I have to force myself to write about something so I don't forget how to do this.

One bit of news: apparently my thesis is NOT yet at the library. I don't understand this, because my copies have come back from the bindery, but when I do a search on Booth browser, it says my thesis is still at the bindery. Odd.

I helped celebrate my uncle's birthday on Saturday. Wait, maybe there is something blogworthy about eating a birthday dinner in my grandma's garage. Her Contour makes a great backdrop for all the birthday photos.

My birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks (yes!) Looking forward to the garage dinner. Then, my cousin's birthday will be the 22nd of November. He's due to come up from Texas for the occasion. He and his sister both live and teach in the Rio Grande Valley. I applied for a job there as well, but then I received a letter saying they had filled the position. Oh well, I guess I can say that I won't have to pay for expensive airfare to come to my own birthday this year.

How's that for a post? I didn't think I had anything to say, but it didn't stop me.

Movie Review--Juno

Okay, so I promised a review of Juno as well. Here it goes.

I'd never heard of Juno until it was released for sale on DVD at Wal-Mart. Obviously I was intrigued by the cartoonish drawings and the largely preganant girl on the cover. Plus, like several people, I am intrigued when something takes the country by storm. It just takes a little longer for the storm to get to me.

The clincher was when I received a copy of Writer's Digest a few months ago. This particular issue sported a picture of Diablo Cody (author of Juno) on the cover. Of course, I had to read the interview. Cody has lived an interesting life. Then, like the sell-out that I sometimes am, I had to go out of rent her movie.

Initially, I had my doubts about Juno. Teen pregnancy movies (well, any kind of pregnancy movies, or comedy, or drama, or romance), typically aren't my style. I go for action movies and the occasional "thriller," but even at that I'm pretty choosy. My favorite part of Juno was the intro, if that tells you anything. The rest of the movie was cute in parts, sad in parts--you know, your typical comedic manipulation. But all in all, it wasn't as bad as I expected.

Having never read the book, I don't know if I should attribute this compliment to Cody or the director, but somebody did a great job of capturing the attitudes and dialogue of a sassy, unconventional 16-year-old.

I know I don't have much to say about the film, but really, what can I say? It's about teen pregnancy--but the cover art of the box will tell you that. If I say much more, it will give away too much of the plot. If you like the idea of seeing what a sassy 16-year-old will do about an unwanted pregnancy, and if you like the concept of awkward teenagers trying to figure out love, and, oh yeah, if you like pop culture references in your teenage coming-of-age comedy/drama movies, then watch Juno. If not, then just read an IMDb synopsis.

Movie Review--No Country For Old Men

I rented No Country for Old Men on Wednesday, I believe it was, because I was completely unable to get my paws on a copy of Scarface. I was not disappointed. This movie is not for those unaccustomed to blood or opposed to graphic violence, blood guts and gore, etc. My gosh, Javier Bardem! WHOA! What a great actor! I know makeup made him up to look creepy, but my gosh. Unlike most "horror" movies that become tacky in a handful of years, I think No Country is going to be fresh for a while.

It takes place in border cities of Texas. At one point, El Paso is mentioned, though it seems that the story takes place in some other, smaller Texas towns. The year is 1980.

I don't want to give much away, because I seriously do recommend this movie, but I will say that Javier Bardem's character (Anton Chigurh) is defined by Bardem himself as an incarnation of violence (I paraphrased this, but you get the point).

Josh Brolin also does a remarkable job as Llewellyn Moss, a retired Vietnam vet, turned hunter who gets messed up in a murderous crime spree in the Texas desert.

That's all I'll say. Go rent this movie--tell me what you think.

Anchovies, Reasor Park, and No Scarface

I did something yesterday that I haven't done in a very long time. Too long, actually. I went on a drive. Sarah invited me up to see where she will be doing her practicum or student teaching or whatever. You'll have to forgive me for getting the two confused--I wasn't in the teacher certification program.

Anyway, we drove around Mattoon some, and then I remembered that I wanted to stop at Buffalo Wild Wings to pick up some hot sauce. It's one of those things I've always wanted to do, but never did--until yesterday.

So, Sarah and I waited an eternity for someone to emerge from the back to get down a jar of Parmesan Garlic and a jar of Wild sauce. As soon as I'd paid for my goods, the lady disappeared, just as mysteriously as she'd appeared not five minutes prior. As Sarah and I were walking out the door, I had the crazy idea to read the ingredients label. I really shouldn't do this, because, to my knowledge, I have no food allergies. And as far as the vegetarian thing goes, if I am not aware of animal products or by-products, it's fair game; once I learn of said products, my stomach gets queasy.

Yep. You guessed it. Wild sauce has anchovies in it.

Anchovies are not a major player in the Wild game--they're second from the last on the list of ingredients. They are the second to last important ingredients in the sauce. I considered returning the bottle, but then I remembered how long I had to wait just to get the stuff. Then I thought, I'll just eat it and not think about it. I mean, after all, I ate Cheez-Whiz and Worcestershire sauce with anchovies for years unawares.

Coming back to Charleston, Sarah and I decided to check out Reasor Park. I've tried to find Reasor Park before, only to get derailed by the Lafferty Nature Study Center. Anyway, this time, since Sarah and I had been discussing the park via IM earlier that day, we thought we knew where we were going, so it shouldn't be a big deal. It looked like a good-sized park, anyhow.

We took off down University Drive (don't even get me started about the name of that street), and started looking for Lover's Lane. That is seriously the name of the road on the map that takes you to Reasor Park. I never saw any "Lover's Lane," but Sarah saw a sign that read "Reasor Park."

I missed it.

I had to turn around in the church school's parking lot (I think it is Calvary Baptist or Calvary Christian Academy or something like that) and head back to so-called "Lover's Lane" (I never did see a street sign for it. This should have been my first clue. Hey, don't get me wrong, it was a pretty drive, but that's all it was--a drive. I got to the end of it and started recognizing Reynolds Drive (I got lost there looking for Reasor Park on yet ANOTHER occasion).

Then we got the bright idea to check out VFW Park. I'm not even going to comment on that one.

In Mattoon and Charleston both, I looked Family Video for Scarface. I thought I found it at Charleston, but someone had stuck the movie Predator behind the Scarface box. Mattoon didn't even have it. I wanted to watch Scarface because I saw an interview with Michelle Pfeiffer on TV. Isn't publicity great?

When I came back home, I checked Visual Effects--no Scarface. I then checked Casey's. I settled for No Country for Old Men and Juno. Those movies sure were a change of pace from one another. Movie reviews of these coming soon.

Patti's Birthday

Hey hey hey! Well, my cousin Patti's 39th birthday was last Wednesday, but we finally got around to celebrating it today! I think that my grandma (Patti's guardian), wanted to celebrate on a Tuesday so we could do the night buffet at Pizza Hut. By the way, if you're wondering why Patti has a guardian at 39, it is because she has Down's syndrome.

We had a lot of fun. After Pizza Hut, we went back to my grandma's house and gave her her gifts. I got her this totally awesome 3-D sticker kit thing from Hobby Lobby. I dern near bought myself one while I was at it. I may just have to add it to a wishlist for my birthday (which, by the way, is next month!)

My grandma is on a special diet where she basically can't eat anything. She didn't let it stop her from eating pizza, though. However, she did bypass the pop tonight. And I noticed there was no cake or ice cream. Just as well--I'm not crazy about cake or ice cream anyway. Sometimes on my own birthday I request pie instead of cake.

Standin' on the Corner Park (Winslow, Arizona)

It was probably a silly stop, but when I found out that Winslow, Arizona was between the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest, I knew I had to go there. I've been a fan of the Eagles for, oh, I'd say about 15 years now, and one of my favorite Eagles songs is "Take It Easy." This song has a line, "Well, I was standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flat-bed Ford slowing down to take a look at me." Believe it or not, the town of Winslow has actually dedicated a corner of a commercial block to be "the corner" from the song. And, yeah, I had to go there.

Mom and I wasted a good 15 minutes trying to find the derned corner. But it was cool to drive some more of historic 66--especially through a town. We met up with a road closure, which really threw us off, but we continued to search. Eventually, we found our way back out of town, without spotting the corner. Mom got back on the interstate, got off at Mike's Pike (where we had some delicious Pizza Hut pizza and an order of Quepapas the night before) and took me to Wal-Mart, because, after all, I was nearing the end of my memory stick.

I had to wait for an eternity at the photo area of the Winslow Wal-Mart, because it was not only still before 8:00, but also there was another customer who had been waiting longer than I, so he got waited on first. I bought my memory stick and asked the woman in photo where this "Standin' on the Corner Park" was. She gave me some directions which sounded nothing like the directions that Mom had printed from the Internet. So we headed back onto Route 66 and tried it again. I'm not exactly sure how Mom found it, because she was neither following the Internet directions nor those of the photo lab expert. Still, though, we did find the corner, and this is a picture of me with the statue they have erected to resemble whichever Eagle it was that met up with the mystery woman at that location.

As far as the waits? They turned out to be in our favor, because the gift shop (yes, of course there is a gift shop on the famous corner) didn't open until 8:00. In fact, Mom and I meandered into it before it was really supposed to be open. Thus, we had to wait a few minutes before I could buy anything. I'm not sure why this is, but the woman working the cash register claimed she couldn't make a sale until 8:00 when the store officially opened. I was kind of in a hurry to get to the Petrified Forest, because I knew we'd be taking some pictures and visiting (yes, another) gift shop, and then we would have about four hours of driving to get back to Scottsdale. It was to be a full day.

About those gift shops, I'm fully aware that they are tourist traps that steal your money, but dang it, I like to have a souvenir for a visual aid to help me remember the places I've been. Call it a memento.

Verde Canyon

This is a magnificent view of the Verde River as seen from the Verde Canyon Railroad. This train ride was awesome! Mom and I rode first-class in the Wickenburg car. We each had a complimentary glass of sparkling cider, table and chairs, climate-controlled car with restrooms, nice decorations, and large viewing windows. This photo was actually taken through one of the windows. I have over 200 pictures of the Verde Canyon, and I could have taken thousands more. The landscapes out there are simply marvelous, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word. I was amazed.

When we got to a depot, Mom and I stepped out onto the open-air viewing car, which offered views even more spectacular than those from inside the car. We had to be careful not to stick our hands outside of the car, though, because the train passed very close to many of the jagged rocks. Since the train ride back simply went in reverse, we were able to see the other side of the canyon on the return trip. It was cool to see some of the old cliff dwellings and the ruins of the retired mining industry. Plus, I was able to nab some of the free snacks they offered on the way back.

Random Thought About Food...

If you like jalapenos, then try the quepapas from Pizza Hut. They rock! I first tried them in Winslow, Arizona, naively thinking they were a Southwestern specialty. When I got back to Illinois, I learned that they were offered here, too. But who cares? Now I know that I don't have to go all the way out to Winslow to get them. I just had some this afternoon, a few minutes ago.

It's getting to be the time of year for soup, as well. I made a potato, broccoli, and cheese soup a few days ago. It was pretty good, except for the broccoli. I'm just not a fan of green vegetables. I try to force myself to eat them, though, because they are good for you.

Related to soup, I've also been wanting to bake bread for quite some time, but never seem to actually do it. Does anyone know why this is? Somehow I'm too lazy to measure out flour, honey, salt, milk, yeast, oats, gluten, and water and then press a couple buttons on my breadmaker. And really, though the bread takes a while to bake, it's not like I've had to go to work for two weeks. You'd think I'd be able to find the time...

Painted Desert

This is the Painted Desert. Such a beauty. When Mom and I left Winslow (which is another story in itself), we headed east on I-40, which is basically old Route 66. It was cool to see some of the old billboards--just as I imagined it would be. We drove through a little of Holbrook (side note: it was also cool to drive through almost all the towns named in the Arizona section of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath), and then we got off the interstate and entered the Petrified Forest from a highway. It was pretty cool to go that way, even though it felt like backtracking, because taking the scenic drive from south to north saved the Painted Desert for last. Unfortunately, during our trip, it was very windy in the north half of Arizona, so it was difficult to get pictures. I think this one turned out pretty well, despite my hair blowing in my face and my camera running out of memory.

More Pics Forthcoming...

Well, I plan on writing more little blurbs to go along with a select few of my other trip pictures. When you learn that I took over 800 pictures, you'll understand why I'm only choosing a "select few." Not sure when these may pop up, so stay tuned!

Sedona!

These are the beautiful Red Rocks of Sedona. Actually, we are just south of Sedona in this picture. Mom pulled off the road so I could take a picture. McCain picked a great place to live. Heck, I might consider retiring here! Also in Sedona, Mom and I visited a vegetarian coffee shop called D'Lish. It was pretty cool. I call is a coffee shop because I'm not really sure what it was. It was awesome though. I got a quinoa bar and a clementine drink. If it hadn't been so late when we got there, we would have ordered a meal and sat outside. This was the night of the crazy AZ-89A mountain roads. I kept seeing signs that read "Watch for Rocks" and "Watch for Ice." I'm sure it was beautiful in the daytime (when this rock picture was taken), but after the sun went down, it was kind of scary--two lane twisty roads with the possibility of ice!

Sporcle!

Hey everyone--I suggest a cool link: . It is a cool place with trivia games of all sorts. I have five pulled up as we speak. Happy Friday, all! Peace.

New Blog

Hello all,

I am seriously considering starting a new blog. I intend to keep this one as well (this one will still be my random thoughts and wacky, silly, funny things that happen to me, etc.), but the new one would be dedicated to my writing. What do you think? I might put short stories and/or book chapters in the new one.

Thesis

My Master's thesis came in last week. It should be available for checkout through Booth Library. Anybody who is interested should check it out--literally. The book is a collection of personal essays about driving. Most of them are trips that I took, but there is one about getting a renewed driver's license. A word of warning: I've already noticed one spacing error in the manuscript. I'm not happy about it, but what can I do? It's already bound now. Anyway, the book is called "Driven to Distraction."

In other news, now that I'm done with school, I plan to update this more often. I know I took a long hiatus (I'd prefer to call it a "sabbatical") from writing in here, but I'd like to get back in the habit of blogging on a regular basis.

R.I.P. George Carlin

Hey there to anybody who gives a crap. It's been a while since I posted anything on here, but I have to say, I was saddened today when I saw that my comic hero, George Carlin had passed. This guy's biting, tell-it-like-it-is (and sometimes FCC-inappropriate) wisdom was a big inspiration for me growing up. Though I try to keep my humor cleaner than Carlin (and I wasn't crazy about his take on religion), he nonetheless contributed to the matter-of-fact everyday humor style that I'm crafting in my creative writing (and trying to implement in my Master's thesis). So, there ya have it folks--the end of an era.

What a Day!

Well, today has been pretty crazy. Mom complained about my messy room this morning. As if I couldn't take the hint, she then proceeded to ask me to please clean it (I get it, okay?). So I've been trying to clean. I forgot what a pain in the butt it is to clean out school folders. I've gone through two of them so far. Funny thing is, I have like five or six of them, but I only had four classes last semester... On another note, I received my syllabus for my mentoring class. I tried to print it out and, to my chagrin, learned that we are pretty much out of black ink in the printer. And Mom wants me to wait until she gets home before I change it because she also has some concern about the color cartridge.

I attempted to bake some cookie dough that was preparing to rot in the fridge, but I decided I'd just take care of it before it grew hair and teeth. The stuff tasted good, but the cookies spread out and the edges burned. As Dad so cleverly noted, I burned more calories trying to pry the cookies from the sheet (where's that crowbar when I need it?) than I could possibly consume eating them. He has a point.

I then managed to burn some flour tortillas that I was trying to fry so I could make chips.

Let's not forget the three-year-old veggie chicken and cheese sticks that I burned in the toaster oven. But they were burned before: freezer burned.

Why am I still cooking?

The flour tortilla pizza I made was, ironically enough, the tastiest dish I made all day.

But on a better note, I had a great Christmas. I got a lot of cool stuff, and I had fun. If anybody still reads this, let me know how your Christmas was.

And happy new year. I raise my burnt cookie as a toast to '08!

Blah

I feel like crap today.

And Now It's August...

Well here I am. I was going to get so much done today... and I wound up playing Luxor on the computer. Grr. Why do I do this? I have been very busy making Christmas gifts for people and doing wedding planning. In fact, I've started on my dress. I am baking a loaf of bread also. I didn't have to work today, so I'll probably spend much of the day doing my craft projects and working on my dress. Did I mention that I am making my own wedding dress with the help of my mom and grandma?

Kris and I have begun registering for bridal showers and the wedding itself. We even looked at some wedding bands. It has been a very busy summer. I just turned in the last of my assignments for my internship yesterday. Then school will start again in less than 3 weeks.

Well, I finally lost my Luxor game, so I guess I can get back to more productive things now. Kris went to the dentist yesterday, Mom went this morning, and my cat Mary is coming home from the vet today. The poor kitty got one of her eyes removed because basically, it had too much pressure and it popped. I'll be excited to see her when she comes home in a few minutes.

July Update Already?!

Seems like it was just the other day that I wrote my June update and already I see it is time for a July update. I finished my paper for the internship yesterday and emailed it to my professor. I finished my last in-office day for the internship of Tuesday. I'm still finishing some at-home work for it. Then I have a couple more assignments to finish. Luckily, I have begun both of these assignments.

So I started some sourdough starter a week or two back. When I thought it was finally time to make the bread, it disappointed me. I have put many of my craft projects on hold. Kris and I have been trying to make some wedding plans. We have to squeeze planning time in between his job searching and my schoolwork.

We watched Patti the other day. What a deal. She got 35 books on presidents from the library. Oops! Didn't realize I'd have to watch her like a hawk at the library!

Currently I am updating the website for the Parks and Rec Dept, but this computer is being very slow. I'm about done baking bread for a while. I think I need a break from bread to try cakes. Or perhaps cookies. In fact, I may just bake up some cookie dough that's in the fridge. Mom and I are trying to do a better job of being organized. That includes not leaving stuff in the fridge for ages upon ages.

I had Indian food last night. It was a microwavable dinner I got from an ethnic food store. It tasted like chili.

I am looking forward to writing my thesis. I haven't done much creative writing to speak of since I did the honors thesis last fall. I'm itching to do some creative writing again. I hope I haven't lost my touch.

Some guy is painting natural scenes on Create right now. The Garden Home was just on. I'm not much into a gardening mood right now. I'd rather see a cooking show (probably because I'm hungry).

I just never was that much into painting.

Somehow I think I can make that Indian chili stuff with a few kidney beans and some curry powder. Something about it made me feel good. My mood was better today than it has been in a while and I even woke up in a good mood.

Kris and I are going to try to start exercising more. I think exercise will be good for my mood as well. Mom told me that sports and exercise are stress relievers and plus they are good for health and help you sleep.

Well I see that Martha's Sewing Room is now on Create. That'll do. I need to start sewing too so I can make my wedding gown. I'm a little nervous about making my own gown... BUT! It will not only save $$$, but I can also make it the way I want it and it will make a cool memory.

Well, I probably better get back to work. I've been working in between sentences, but I really need to finish up this data entry so I can concentrate on the rest of my assignments and finish up this class. Ciao!

June Update

If I still have any readers out there, I am posting my June update now. Yesterday I made pretzels and baked this funky cheddar/spice bread stuff. It was okay. I made Persian bread earlier this week as well. I have been working on a rug and a crocheted afghan. The afghan is a continuation of a project I started a year or two ago.

I went to work for a little bit today. I am starting to get in the creative mode (hence the update) and want to start writing again. I got so burnt out on reading and writing both last semester that I feared I might never write again.

I was sorry to hear about Thomas Yocum. He was killed in an automobile accident last weekend. Please say a prayer for his family.

I guess this is sort of a downer post. Usually I have something funny to say, but today I seem to have a headache that won't go away and I'm really tired. Plus I have 3 hours of work left on my at-home internship work, so I guess I should just get started on that. Or cleaning my room. My mom has really been getting after me about keeping it clean.

Three Months Late

Okay, if anyone wonders why I haven't posted since February, it is because I tried a few other times and it appeared that my blog was deleted. Today, for no apparent reason, I tried to log on and saw that my blog was here! So I decided to write a new post.

I am trying to do some shopping for Kris since he is graduating tomorrow. Of course I waited until the last minute, but I don't think he'll mind getting some graduation gifts after the fact.

Wow. Montel is on the TV right now. Something about junk food. How does that make me feel? I'm in college.

So I went to work today for a couple hours. I'm on break right now. I handed my last assignment in on Wednesday. Then on Tuesday I start my internship, so I'm way super busy right now. Add to that the fact that I'm going to try to sew this summer so I can make my own wedding dress and then take three more classes in the fall, three in the spring and write my thesis next summer, I have a very busy schedule between now and then.

I won't lie, I've been really depressed lately. This semester has been hell. I have taken three classes and was constantly reading something or working on a paper. i played a little bit of Playstation baseball and I got on to check my email and stuff like that, but I didn't have much time for trips or anything.

Heck, I still haven't seen Lisa's baby.

But I feel better now. I popped my neck, so it's not so sore anymore. And I'm going to get some of my writing books out. I may get a head start on some writing exercises. I guess I was able to watch a few episodes of "WKRP" and "One Day at a Time" but seriously, I've been swamped this semester.

I'm going to try for a second job along with doing the internship. It's going to be a full summer too, at least it looks that way. Peace out.

It's February... You Know What That Means...

I don't know if anybody even reads this thing anymore. Quite frankly, I usually forget that I have it, but then I remember in time to at least meet my once-a-month posting quota.

Well, school is too much work. It's depressing. I don't seem to get to do things for fun anymore because I spend all my time reading this lousy crap for my classes. Then I have to go to work. For what? To scrape together enough cash to put gas in my car so I can go back to school and do it all over again.

Needless to say, I'm not terribly thrilled about grad school. I just want it to be over so I can get a job and get married. I guess one thing I am looking forward to this summer is the class reunion. I'm not even sure why I care though. Probably for the karaoke.

Happy New Year

Well, here it is, 2007. And time for my monthly post. Yes Amanda, I finally got my grades. I was antsy to check them, but I wasn't able to access them until the day after they were due. I got straight As. Which means 2 As because I only took two classes ;)

Christmas and new years was awesome. I can't believe that when school starts this month I'll be a grad student. Now where's that diploma??? Did I even really graduate?

Well, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great new year!