Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Have any of you heard of this book? Apparently it's taking the world (not just the U.S.) by storm. I've heard bits and pieces about it and remember seeing the movie playing at our local indie theater. But then recently, I've seen it all over the news, on display in bookstores, and it was even on the cover of last week's Entertainment Weekly magazine (the cover title was "Secrets Behind the Hottest Book on the Planet").

Today I was in Costco and I saw the "Tattoo Trilogy" on sale ("The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played With Fire", and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest") so I impulsively bought 'em! I had two separate people stop me on my way to the check-out line to tell me how much they LOVED these books.

As soon as I finish "Water For Elephants" (I'm almost done!), I have 3 new books to read. And I get to see what all the hype is about.

Has anyone read these? If so, did you like them?

Sunday, June 27, 2010

facebook relationship drama

I was checking facebook recently and came across some drama. One of my male college students (21 years old) and his girlfriend (20 years old) had both changed their status from "in a relationship" to "it's complicated". Uh oh. Trouble's a-brewing.

But then to my horror, they had a full-on conversation about it in the girl's status update! For everyone to see!!


Girl: "when are you gunna make it right. when??? I wish sometimes life was like the movies where girl is upset, boy makes it right, like the chick flicks, But its not :( I wish i could be proved wrong."

Boy: "Boy was told not to contact until girl did, and has been respecting that. Maybe boy figured girl needed her space and to think about things also and will hopefully remember that boy really loves girl?"

Girl: "girl actually is actually wanting boy to do opposite and contact her. remember what girl told boy? note: wishes life was like the movies (hint chick flick) Boy should prove his love then, cuz girl is feeling judged, used, and unloved right now"

Boy: "Well that was just put on here recently and not told to boy or hinted directly to him. and it made boy sad to see the relationship changed to 'complicated'. Also boy never meant to judge or make girl feel used and unloved."

Girl: "girl was upset to change it, but right now things have been made complicated and girl was really upset but should have told boy how girl felt"

Boy: "Girl never gave boy a chance to speak this morning and hung up."

Girl: "i'll message you"

Boy: "on here or on phone?"

Girl: "like in the inbox"


Ok, I don't even know where to BEGIN. Here are some thoughts:

* um, WHY put all this on facebook for the whole world to see?

* I felt uncomfortable the whole time reading this. I'm sure everyone else did, too.

* Is this what relationships in this generation are like now? Instead of calling each other up and talking it out, they speak in the third person on facebook?

* If chick flicks are to blame for mind games, I'm done with them. Seriously, you tell your boyfriend not to contact you so he doesn't because he respects you and wants to give you your space. But you actually are just SAYING that and hoping he will ignore it and call you to prove how much he loves you?! Ahhh!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

i luff summer

Summer, I love you. LOVE. Luff. You are my absolute favoritist season. I look forward to you every year. And you are HERE!! Thank you for being here!

Seriously friends, can I just describe my last week of life?

Friday - went and saw Toy Story 3 opening night with college students.

Saturday - went swimming, got to play with my precious 19 month old nephew, and then went with my parents, sister, and bro-in-law to see my sister Liz perform in "Godspell".

Sunday - Father's Day! Lunch, Toy Story 3 again (GO SEE IT), amazing steak dinner

Monday - beach volleyball and taco bar

Tuesday - 30th birthday party for my friend Amy. It was a Casino Night/James Bond/Casino Royale theme so everyone came in dresses, suspenders, ties, fedoras, and feathered boas. We played poker, blackjack, Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha, etc. until midnight.

Wednesday - bonfire, smores, and worship at the beach

Today - lunch with a student and then bible study at night

I can't even tell you how much I am enjoying life right now. It is SO nice to have a break from the craziness of the school year and enjoy the weather, people, and area I live in.

I hope you're enjoying summer wherever you are!!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Father's Day

Thank you for being my father. I love you so much!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

listening, reading, watching

Hello readers and friends! I thought it would be fun to do another rendition of "listening, reading, watching". I'll share mine and then I would LOVE to hear yours!

Listening: Katy Perry's "California Gurls". It's funny that Katy was in my last post because I cannot get this song out of my head. They play it on the radio all the time and it's so dang catchy. West Coast REPRESENT!!

Reading: I just finished "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert (which I loved! go read it if you haven't!) and was looking for a new book. And I found one. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. I actually first heard about this from my youngest sister, Emily. Em is down in LA trying to break into showbiz. She's been an extra in a bunch of TV shows and movies. She said she was getting fit for a really great Depression-era costume for a movie called "Water For Elephants", based on a book. It stars Robert Pattinson (Twilight boy) and Reese Witherspoon.

I was at our used bookstore last week and I saw it on sale so I bought it. It's really good! It takes place in the early 1930's. The main character is named Jacob and he is about to graduate from Cornell University with his Masters in veterinarian sciences. Right before finals, he finds out both his parents have been killed in an automobile accident. He leaves school in shock and grief and ends up jumping a train. He doesn't realize he has just jumped a traveling circus train. Through a series of events, he ends up being hired as the caretaker for all the animals in the circus (lions, giraffes, polar bear, monkeys, and they finally get an elephant). He falls in love with a female performer (who will be Reese Witherspoon's character) but she is married to one of the ringmasters who of course is a jerk.

Just a note to those who want to read this. I'm halfway through and I do recommend it, but I have to warn you that there's some sex stuff in there that's pretty graphic. I'm sure the author just wanted to be "edgy" (ie. "There are freaks in the circus who do crazy stuff!") but I really don't like it in there. The book would be just as good, if not better, without all that. But if can overlook those scenes, then you should like it. It's very engaging and hard to put down. I love books like that.

Watching: 2010 World Cup

GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!!

I have definitely caught World Cup fever. I get mad that I have to go to work when all I want to do is watch soccer all day. And I'm not even a soccer fan! But I dunno, the World Cup sucks me in. It's fun seeing all the countries playing each other. Speaking of which, how cool is it that we get the Olympics AND the World Cup in the same year!?!

So I have a confession. After watching the Argentina vs. South Korea game, I have a crush on a Mr. Gonzalo Higuaín. He is a forward on the Argentinian team and um, well, VERY easy on the eye. Not to mention he scored 3 out of their 4 goals - and 2 of them were head hits! (which I learned are called "hat-tricks", when you head-butt the ball into the goal) Marry me?

What are YOU listening to, reading, and/or watching? I'm always looking for new ideas for summer.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

the same person?

Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada, The Jane Austen Book Club, The Young Victoria



Lizzy Caplan - Mean Girls, Cloverfield



Zooey Deschanel - Elf, Yes Man, (500) Days of Summer



Katy Perry - pop singer



I cannot prove it, but I think these are all the same person.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

big ol' lizard

This past week I've been cleaning up the garage (the place we meet for college group). I've come across all sorts of treasures inside and under couches. Dust bunnies, nerf darts, coins, pens, mini marshmallows from a game we did months ago, old discussion questions, magnets, candy wrappers, etc. But none of them compare to this:


Yes, that would be a LIVING lizard. He was chillin' under a couch and started scuttling away when he saw light. 3 things ran through my head.

1) How long have you lived under there, buddy?

2) Good lord, could your tail be any longer? It's longer than your body. Dang!

3) Thank you thank you THANK YOU for not climbing out from under the couch and onto a college girl's leg during a teaching night.

I picked him up and took him outside to some tall grass. Hopefully he won't find his way back in.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

GLEE finale

Spoiler alert! Don't read if you haven't watched it.

So...what did you think of the season finale?

Before we say anything, let us take a moment and relive the episode's best Sue Sylvester quotes:

* "I have to be honest, Will. I'm having a really difficult time hearing anything you have to say today because your hair looks like a briar patch. I keep expecting racist animated Disney characters to pop up and start singing songs about living on the bayou."

* "Kiss my @$$, Josh Groban!!!"

* Will: "I should shake your hand."
Sue: "Not unless you got some hand sanitizer. I've seen that car you drive. I don't want to catch 'poor'."

* "But what kind of a world would that be Will. A world where I couldn't constantly ridicule your hair. A world where I couldn't make fun of you for tearing up more than Michael Landon in a sweeps week episode of Little House on the Prairie?"

* "I know you think I'm heartless, Will. And you may have a point. I spend large segments of each day picturing you choking on food. And I've recently contacted an exotic animal dealer because I had a very satisfying dream that the two of us went to a zoo and I shoved your face into one of those pink-inflamed monkey butts."

Honestly, the writers went all out for this final episode. As soon as Sue said these lines I would burst out laughing and then miss the next few seconds of dialogue. Why oh WHY is Jane Lynch so fabulous?!?

Ok, thoughts on the finale. LOVED the songs. Sometimes in episodes, I like a couple songs and the rest are just okay. I loved every song in this episode!

Faithfully - Fichel! (Finn + Rachel)

Anyway You Want It/Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' - awesome

Don't Stop Believing - how fun to see the other glee club members sing the song!

Bohemian Rhapsody - um, incredible. Some of those leaps and flips they did were craaaazy. I thought it was creative to go back and forth between the song and Quinn having her baby. However I wasn't the biggest fan of Jessie St. James being in the center of the group as if he's a baby being born. Do you know what part I'm talking about? Ew.

To Sir With Love - bawled my eyes out. If they could have held it together, I could have held it together. But no. They lost it so I lost it. Even Mr. Schuester lost it.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow - very sweet and tender. Loved Puck and Schue singing together. Again, teared up.

What are your thoughts on the finale? Do you wish they had won? Are you glad they didn't? What about the "I love you"s spoken tonight? Discuss.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

my first vlog

Don't worry, I will not be replacing blogs with vlogs - I enjoy writing way too much. However, I thought I'd try out my first video blog. It's about a recent purchase I made that I'm stoked about.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Baby-Sitters Club nostalgia

When I was growing up (we're talking between the age of 10-17), I was TOTALLY into The Babysitters Club book series by Ann M. Martin. Oh man, those girls were the schizz. However, as every good mother should feel, my mom didn't really like me reading them. They were "too easy to read", "silly", and "full of things you don't need to think about at 11 years old." (ie. boys, makeup, shopping, eighth grade shenanigans, etc)

*my whiny voice* "But Mom! They're a BABY-SITTING club! Shouldn't I read them so I can learn how to be a better baby-sitter??" But deep down, we both knew I wanted to read them so I could learn more about boys, makeup, shopping, and eighth grade shenanigans.

So my mom and I made a deal. For every Baby-sitters Club book I bought and read, I had to read a challenging book. A book above my reading level. Extra points if it was a Newbery Award winner. So when I went to our local bookstore and bought "Island of the Blue Dolphins" I also indulged myself and bought The Baby-Sitters Club book #60 "Mary Anne's Makeover" (or whichever one was most recent).

Oh those books! Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, Mary Anne, Dawn, Mallory, and Jessi. They were the coolest. I spent many hours reading those books. I wished I could be a part of a baby-sitting club. I even made "Kid Kits" like the girls did and brought them to houses when I baby-sat.

My favorite character was Claudia Kishi. The Japanese-American vice president of the club who loved junk food (and hid it around her room), Nancy Drew novels, and making art (especially her own jewelry). The only bad thing was Claudia was not a very good student and a horrible speller. I meen, shee wood spel werds like thiz. And she was in eighth grade. (Maybe my mom had a point...)

What I loved most about Claudia was her outfits. She was the coolest dresser. The author always spent lots of time describing what Claudia wore and I'm sure every little girl reading these books wished she had her style.

Well the other day, I ran across gold in the form of a new blog. (Haley - I think I saw it on facebook or twitter from you?) It's a website called "What Claudia Wore". Holy crap, you guys. I read this blog for an hour yesterday and I was crying from laughing so hard. It's written by a girl named Kim (26 years old) who lives in Massachusetts. Like me, she grew up reading the BSC books and has dedicated the entire blog to going through Claudia's outfits from each of the books and adding her comments. Below is an example from book #36 - "Jessi's Babysitter" (the book is written from Jessi's point of view). All comments from Kim are in brackets and pardon the language.


Jessi: "My friends and I were dressed in typical outfits. Typical, but not necessarily traditional. For instance, Stacey was wearing tight black pants that reached just above her ankles, and sported a column of four silvery buttons at the bottoms. The buttons were just for show, I think. Over the pants she was wearing a long blue jacket made of soft material. Under that she was wearing a sleeveless blouse. Now that was unusual. [And by unusual, she means stupid. Keep trying, Stacey.]

Claudia was wearing a fake leopard-skin vest, a fairly tame blouse, and blue leggings. She had made her jewelry herself - five papier-mache [always with the papier-mache] bracelets that were painted in soft desert colors.

Mary Anne and Dawn had traded outfits, which they do pretty often. That's one nice thing about having a stepsister who's your best friend and also about your size. They were both dressed colorfully, and trendily, but not as wildly as Claud and Stace. [I love how Jessi kind of glosses over Mary Anne and Dawn...the author must have run out of steam after dreaming up the soft jacket and blue leggings. "They're colorful and trendy, okay? Moving on!"]

Then there was Kristy in her jeans and turtleneck [what she ALWAYS wears, dammit Kristy]. And finally Mal and me, also in jeans, but wearing (if I do say so myself) pretty fresh [fresh = cool, for those of you who've forgotten that the baby-sitters have not discovered drugs and alcohol yet and thus have to entertain themselves by making up annoying slang] sweat shirts. And Mal had been allowed to buy high-top sneakers with beaded designs on the sides!"

[Goody for Mal. I think we'll all sleep better tonight knowing that her high-tops are beaded. One small victory for fashion-challenged eleven year olds everywhere.]


As you read, Kim actually make comments on all the girls' outfits, not just Claudia's. I was swimming in a sea of BSC nostalgia and modern day snark. A perfect combo, I must admit. I seriously could not stop laughing.

If you want to read more entries, I would recommend going to the website and clicking on "2007" (when Kim began blogging). Start at the beginning (the bottom) and work your way up to the present. You will be amazed at the 80's and 90's fashion described in painstaking detail in every BSC book. And you will laugh at Kim's witty observations.

I am curious: who grew up also reading the Baby-Sitters Club books? (Or were you a Sweet Valley High girl?)