geeking out over here

Oh lord.



I of course went to the midnight show of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. This was my favorite book so I was super excited to see everything on the big screen. I was less excited to hang out with twelve year old fan girls and guys shrieking in the theatre for over an hour before the movie started. My friends and I kept our cool. We sat there in our matching Harry Potter shirts and played HP themed hangman. Some ladies who worked at the theatre were tossing out candy if you answered their triva questions correctly. I tried to refrain from answering but couldn't help myself. Free candy and showing up the 12 yr olds - worth being a total dork for.

hey I'm going to spoil things for you if you haven't seen it so there


I loved this moive more than I thought I would. Hands down, my favorite movie so far. This one isn't as action heavy as some of the others; there's nothing like the ministry showdown from OOP. Most of the focus is on the teenage relationshippy drama, but the movie does a good job of combining that with the attacks from the death eaters, Dumbledore teaching Harry, and Draco's super angst.

So firstly, the teen drama. Harry suddenly realizes that hey Ginny's a girl but she's dating Dean and the two of them are all makey outy in front of everyone. No explosion from Ron about it though. Ron and Hermione are super akward and adorable but Lavender Brown wrangles him away from Hermione. The girl who plays Lavender was amazing. Seriously she committed to that role and I could not help but crack up every time she was on screen.

I was actually really impressed with the acting in the movie. The kids are growing up and getting so much better. Ron was the stand out for me. I mean, he usually gets short-changed in the movies but I think he made the most of every scene he was in. When he was under the love potion I about peed my pants. He was perfect! So funny and goofy and again he just committed to the part. No hiding that he is my favorite and I love him. Hermione had her moments too - I hardly noticed her eyebrows waggling at all.

Harry was a little stiff as usual, which is too bad. But after taking the Felix Felicitus (or however you spell that) he was hilarious. Pinchers! He managed to make me crack up just by saying "Hi." My favorite Harry moment was when he touched Slytherin's ring (although Dumbledore never tells him it was Slytherin nor connected Voldemort to Slytherin - ACK). Harry gets a flash of images and when he comes out of it he does that creepy neck twitch that he does when he's tapping into that connection with Voldemort.

The extra scene of the Burrow burning down was prety cool, even if Harry totally should have been killed then. Who runs out into the cornfield after Bellatrix LeStrange? Not me man. But it gave them the chance to show how unsafe everywhere is but Hogwarts.

Bellatix is pretty much made of awesome. Helana knows what she's doing. I loved her dancing on the tables in the great hall, smashing everything in reach. I was dissapointed that we didn't get to see the Carrows, even though I'm really sure I saw promos of their WANTED posters. Hopefully they're on a deleted scene or something.

The cave scene was great. Kept me on the edge of my seat, mumbling to Harry not to touch that freaking water. And everyone in the theatre jumped and shrieked when that hand reached out and grabbed him. The inferni were so creepy. They cut that great line after that scene though, where Dumbledore tells Harry that he isn't afraid because Harry is there.

The tower scene was really changed from the book, but I was ok with it. Although, to be fair, you just cannot apperate in Hogwarts, I don't care if you are Dumbledore. Harry isn't frozen in place and all the other deatheaters join in to watch Draco kill Dumbledore. I think it was easier to feel for Draco in the movie than in the book. In the book he was really whiney and in the movie he was more depressed and desperate. Harry's about to jump in when Snape comes in and tells Harry to be quiet. This moment is why I'm ok with the change. Because Harry makes an instant choice to trust Snape. Which makes Snape killing Dumbledore all the worse.

Uhhhhhh Snape. I wish that they had given him more lines at the end when Harry's calling him a coward. I also kind of wish Snape had been a little angrier at Harry. But I'll deal. And why didn't Harry freak the shit out when Snape is announced as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? There really isn't any Harry/Snape direct conflict in the movie which is super sad.

This moive is hella long - 2.5 hours - but they still had to cut a lot from the book. I was dissapointed that we only got TWO memories of Tom Riddle. I'm pretty sure they should have at least put the one with the cup in, because we don't get the sense that Riddle liked to make his horcurxes out of historically significant magical items nor do we see the cup. I wonder how they're going to have the trio learn about this in the seventh movie. The other change that bothered me was the whole Harry/Ginny kiss/relationship. More like lack of relationship and single peck in the room of requirement. It was nice to see Harry happy with her in the book for awhile.

And of course there isn't a funeral for Dumbledore. Nada. Harry does pick up Dumbledore's wand at the end (it's just sitting on his desk? really?) but there's no song from Fawkes or Harry procliaming that he's Dumbledore's man through and through. Sigh. The ending is actually a let down, but I was so excited from everything else that I didn't care. That might change next time through.


Needless to say, I'm seeing this movie again. I'm going on Sunday to see it with my little brother and my mom and I think I'm going again after that with friends. Oh and if you're interested, I blogged about the book at my other journal: girlreads. Here is the link to that entry: HP Baby

KaBOOOM

Oh Micheal Bay. You try so hard. Or not at all, I haven't figured out which.

I went to see Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen with my brother this past weekend. I'm making myself review it today because later tonight I'm off to see the midnight show of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and I'm pretty sure that's all I'm going to talk about for the rest of the week.

So, Transformers. I wasn't into the toys or cartoon show as a kid and can't really remember my brothers being into them either. I liked the first Transformers movie in that I got to sit in AC, eat popcorn and watch things blow up. I had a harder time in the first one telling the Autobots/Decepticons apart when they were fighting.

I loved Sam's mom. She was awesome but only in the first hour or half hour of the movie.

Plot-wise, you just have to suspend the notion that a movie should have a really gripping plot. There's a piece of that box from the last movie that makes Sam a little crazy and those Decepticons are after a machine that will destroy the sun.

Oh and now that I don't have to pretend to hate Shia anymore. I love him and his girly shrieks and rapid mumbling.

I think this movie had all the potential to be a good movie. They could have done so much more with the script in terms of Decepticons changing side and the morality of taking one life to save millions. But Bay just threw in some more explosions and called it a day. Which is what I expected, so I wasn't disappointed.

Fun note, when my brother and I parked at the movie theatre we parked next to a huge red semi truck.

I'll update the summer movie ranking later this week since I'm going to at least two more movies this week.

Guys should still dress like this

I've been looking forward to this movie for awhile for a few reasons: 1. Johnny Depp 2. Christian Bale 3. Guys in suits and 4. the plot and story and all that.

Anyway, Public Enemies is the story of the hunt for John Dillinger, big bank robber who was pretty much loved by the Chicago public. The movie also follows the start of the FBI, however, I think that could probably be a movie in itself as it wasn't really the focus here.

The movie starts off with a great prison break and follows Dillinger as he lives it up and chases after Billie Frachette (Marion Cotillard). This movie was fun because you're rooting for the bad guy all the way, or at least I was. It was insane to see how close the FBI, lead most of the time by Melvin Purvis (Bale), came to catching Dillinger. I mean, at one point he walks right into the Dillinger task force headquarters, takes a look at everything and then asks a guy what the score of the Cubs game is. You can't help but laugh; that guy had guts.

The romancey stuff is pretty good. I mean seriously who could blame the girl for falling in love with that guy, even if he was public enemy #1.

The sucky part of this movie going experience had nothing to do with the actual film. The theatre I was at had a power outage and the screen and all the lights went out at one point. They had a hell of a time starting it up again. The weird thing was that no one who was working came to explain it - this kid who happened to work there but was just watching the movie with his friends told us all what was going on. Anyway, the movie started but then had no sound, which was kind of fun because my friend whispered to me what he thought all the lines should be, and then finally the movie started playing correctly. It was just a good thing that it didn't stop at some big cliffhanger. On the plus side - we scored free movie tickets!

I would recommend this movie. It was both fun and sad at the same time. It made me more interested in the real Dillinger and made me again disturbed at the brutality of public crime fighting organizations. All of the actors did an amazing job. Depp and Cotillard especially. Bale somehow managed to keep Batman out of this (Batman would have caught Dillinger a lot faster, AND wouldn't have gone around shooting everyone like those damn FBI guys).


The summer movie ranking continues! Here's what I've got for you so far:

Star Trek
Public Enemies
the Hangover
Terminator Salvation
The Proposal
Angels and Daemons

I'm probably going to go see Transformers 2 this weekend. And omg you guys, Harry Potter next week. So excited!

The Proposal

I don't know what you did on Father's Day but I went and saw a chick flick with my mom. Ryan Reynolds as Andrew and Sandra Bullock as Margaret in the Proposal, to be exact.

The opening was a little too Devil Wears Prada for me, what with everyone whipping into a work frenzy when Margaret comes around and Andrew simpering on the phone to his family, but instead of a fashion magazine they work in a publishing house which I liked. Margaret learns she is about to be deported back to Canada, away from the job she loves so she tells Andrew that he's going to marry her. And they jet off to Alaska to met his family.

This movie has everything you expect from a romantic comedy. Especially the bickering. My mom and I played the game where she'd whisper to me what she thought would happen and I'd whisper back "I know!" If you are looking for amazing storylines, you should probably look elsewhere. But, if you're looking for a movie that has a sweaty naked Ryan Reynolds then this is the movie for you!

It was cute, predictable, but cute. And holy crap Oscar from the Office has the weirdest part ever. Nails it. Also, Betty White is still pretty impressive. And COACH was in it. I thought that Reynolds and Bullock did have some really great acting moments. Especially when Margaret was opening up little bits of her emotional side. They were also funny together.

I want that house in Alaska. Someone get to work on that. The dog too.

I'd buy this for those girly nights when nothing but a sappy romantic comedy will do.

what was I thinking?

It is roughly 900 degrees here at work.

Our night desk guy called in sick.

There are a ton of high schoolers in the building due to summer camps.

I'm staying here until at least ten, maybe midnight, tonight.

My boss better appriciate this.

the Hangover

Yo

I actually wanted to go see Wolverine last weekend but the brothers nixed the idea and we went to go see the Hangover instead.

I had some pretty low expectations for this movie, but was pleasantly surprised. It was really funny. Although I kind of felt like I was watching what's going to happen should my brother Jeff ever plan a bachelor party.

More than anything this movie made me miss Las Vegas. Next time I go I am tearing it up.

Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis are great. I love Zach from his stand up and this man-child role was perfect for him. And Ed Helms singing is always a treat. His character isn't too far off from Andy Bernard either. Bradley Cooper had his moments too. Not enough shirtless moments though.

Fun fact: Helms wakes up and realizes that he's missing a tooth and I could totally relate! I didn't loose a tooth but one day I woke up and found that I had chipped my front tooth the night before (on a juice box mom) even though my friend had convinced me that my tooth was fine. I had it fixed but it still feels a little funny.

This movie just looks good. The music was perfect and the shots were great. Go see this if you like laughing without thinking too much.

Words of wisdom from my brother: "I feel wrong going to this movie without being hungover myself. Or at least being a little drunk."

i hate numbers right now

I have to do all this computer entry stuff for this group of kids that moved into the apartments at work and part of that means I have to select their room nubmer from this list. Which wouldn't be such a pain if the list was, you know, in numerical order. It isn't. At all. And we have 8 floors with over thirty apartments on each floor. So now my eyeballs want to bleed. Ugh.

And I'm craving salt like whoa. I want to eat a whole bag of potato chips. mmmmm.

It's Friday!

Tomorrow I am going to Chicago to go see the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. I am super excited! I'm going with my dad and my littlest brother. :) Don't fret - I plan on taking lots of pics.

We just had a scary meeting at work where my boss told us none of us are getting raises this year. But no lay-offs or anything so I am ok with that I spose.

I've been super tired all week. Usually I'm up until midnight or one but lately I've been hopping in bed at ten. And then I'm still tired all day. I could curl up under my desk right now and take a nap. I even had my coffee today - wtf?

I'm going to try to scam one of my brothers into seeing Wolverine with me this weekend. Maybe my mom. I actually can't believe I haven't seen it yet since my heart belongs to Gambit.

Speaking of my mom, I had to try to explain to her how to put music on her iphone today while I was driving downtown. She said has a hard time with technology. I said that's because she grew up using an abacus.

I love summer movies

Terminator Salvation

I saw this the same day I saw Angels and Demons - big movie day for me.

Terminator movies have scared me for pretty much my whole life. I remember watching the first ones and hiding behind the sofa cushions. I did go see the last one, T3 or whatever it was called and thought it was eh. I'm a big believer in Christian Bale so I had high hopes for this one.

I don't think it delivered. I mean, yeah, I was scared. I bit off all my nails before the movie was half over but still.

Basic plot: John Conner is trying to take down Skynet; Skynet is trying to kill all those pesky humans. Nothing new there. Conner is also searching for Kyle Reese, the teenager who needs to get back to the past and get with Conner's mom so John Conner can exist. Side note - have I mentioned before how much I love time travel? I do, a lot. Anyway, also in play is this guy Marcus, who is executed on death row in modern times and wakes up in future L.A.

But I don't know that I saw anything new. John Conner's running around trying to kill all the machines and have meaningful moments with his preggers wife in a future where California is pretty much a barren wasteland. The machines are cool, but nothing is as scary as the T-100 from Terminator 2. The big machines that captured people reminded me too much of the alien ships from War of the Worlds. The really big guy's face also looked like one of the clones from the Star Wars movies.

And I have an issue with the Marcus premise. I don't know how much of a spoiler this is because it seemed obvious to me but maybe it isn't and you don't want to read the rest of this if you haven't seen it. - Anyway, with Marcus we learn that Skynet is building machines (or for now a machine) that are part human and think that they are human. I felt like they wanted this to be shocking and emotional, but frankly I've read way too many Philip K. Dick short stories for this to be a surprise. It was like reading the Second Variety, only with a happier conclusion.

Bale talked in Batman voice for a lot of the movie. I know he can sound different, why, why is Batman yelling in this movie? And seriously, he just walks into Skynet and they only send ONE terminator after him? Come on Skynet - it's like you're not even trying.

I said above that I love time travel in movies and books and just in general. It was surprisingly absent from this movie! I mean, you could argue that Marcus travels forward in time, but that's not cutting it for me. Pretty disappointed in that.

Shout out to Anton Yelchin who plays Kyle Reese and also is Chekov in Star Trek. I was actually really surprised with how different he was from each character. Reese was the one character in this movie that I was mildly interested in.

Looks like McG (who I still can't help but connect with the O.C.) is geared up to do at least two more of these suckers. How about spending some time on some character development next time dude?

In the end, this movie was predictable and I didn't care too much for any of the characters. Well, I care about the characters, but only the ones from previous movies. What they do in this movies doesn't endear them to me that much. Except for cutie Reese.


Summer blockbuster movie ranking so far:

Star Trek (by a lot)

Terminator Salvation

Angels and Demons


Oh, and I got really excited because I saw the preview for the Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. So excited for that one.

Movie time!

Well, girl went to the movies this weekend. First up was Angels & Demons.

I did go see The Davinci Code when that came out, however I have not read either of the books. Which is kind of weird if I think about it. Anyway, I feel that I was able to enjoy the first movie more because I hadn't read the book. Judging by my father's and littlest brother's reaction on this movie, I'm glad I didn't read this book either. They wouldn't shut up about the differences.

Basic premise of this movie is that the Pope has died, and before a new one gets elected there are some Illuminati terrorist acts. They kidnap the four favorites to be Pope and are going to blow up the Vatican. Luckily, Tom Hanks - Robert Langdon - is on the case!

What was cool for me about this movie is that I was just in Rome. I was hanging out at the Vatican and running around all the old churches. The driving in the movie was pretty much how it is all the time over there - everyone is in a super hurry and no one pays attention to pedestrians.

The other cool thing about this movie for me was the whole notion of science and religion being at war. It's no revelation that these two butt heads all the time, but it is nice to get a little kick in the pants to start thinking about it.

Religion in general is always a touchey subject. For me, watching movies like this causes me to feel a spilt in two different ways. On the one hand, I feel very much rooted in this word, science and reason. I see a lot of hypocrisy, hate, and general unpleasantness that stems from religion and I don't want to be connected with that. On the other hand, I have a hard time giving up the idea of God. And I see the comfort that so many people take from church and tradition. I had a hard time not feeling moved in all of the churches in Rome. I'm just not sure. Langdon is asked at one point if he believes in God and he respones with something like he isn't part of the church but then is asked again if he believes in God, not what men say about God. Which is a really good question.

My problem with this movie is that I saw where everything was going. Nothing really surprised me, and I could tell they were hoping to shock me. I did find myself hoping for the "bad" guy to get away with it - just to illustrate how things can go horribley awry when you but so much faith into set systems and so much faith in people.

I thought this was a good movie. I enjoyed it, even if it was a bit predictable.

My thoughts to my family as we left the theatre:
"All I'm saying is that if Ewan McGregor was Pope, you'd see my ass in church a lot more often."

So far, summer-blockbuster-movie-wise Star Trek is wining. By a lot.

weird

I am having a weird week.

I feel restless and crabby and a little sad. Well not sad-sad, but just discontent. Family stuff, work stuff, friend stuff, lots of stuff is a little off right now.

I should be happy since I just had a super long weekend, got an iphone, and had a lot of fun seeing friends and family. I'll just blame in on the weather how bout?

btw, I watched the end of last year's spelling bee last night and was amazed at how fun it was to watch. And with how bored the guy reading all the words sounded.

how bout this crazy show huh?

Hey have you guys heard about this crazy show called Heroes? Holy crap this show is nuts.

I've been a long time Heroes hater just becuase I think it's a lamer version of X-Men, but ummm I caved and rented the first two discs tonight. Quinto may or may not have been a big reason.

son of a bitch someone ate those people's brains!

uuug damn now I'm going to have to stay up watching all of these.

Worth it

This is going to be a shameless ramble; you've been warned.


I'm was at my momma's the other day and we were talking about how things are going with me and all of a sudden I started crying. A lot. I'm not big on crying. And she started saying things like I've had a really rough year and she was amazed I'm still out having fun and not crying myself to sleep in the bathtub. Which got me feeling reflective.

This year sucked. Like majorly, majorly sucked. I was supposed to be married and well on my way to being a happy homemaker mommyblogger by now. But instead I am single and kind of live like most college kids. I've lost my best friend and had to watch him make a royal mess of his life without being able to help him. Without really wanting to help him.

This year has also been one of the best years I've known. Awesome in fact. I've travelled to San Fransico on a whim for a weekend. My dad and brother and I went to Yosemite park where I hugged a redwood and stood at the edge of a cliff. I went on a trip to Philly and NYC with a guy whom I hardly knew before this year to visit a girl I hardly knew as well. I hopped around Italy for two weeks with my brothers and father. I got promoted at work. I moved to a new and amazing apartments closer to downtown. I go out all of the time and I see more of my family.

And then I start thinking about my friends. I was kind of at a loss for awhile in my city - I had a couple of girlfriends but we only saw each other every now and then. I am so grateful for my friend Josh. We worked together and I blabbed on and on about my relationship issues and he (and everyone else at work) could see how sad I was. So he invited me out a few times. I don't really remember the first time or two I went - I'm sure I wasn't too much fun but at least I was out. And I met a group of people that have made this year out of this world amazing.


I now hang out with a handful of people that now feel like a family. We get together at least once a week and usually much more often. I wasn't really sure about where I was going to fit in with this group. I wasn't dating any of the single guys and I didn't want to feel out of place with the couples. But they all embraced me and took me in. I was continually excited when the girls invite me out or any of them call me to do something. A lot of this is my insecurity - I usually feel like people who invite me out don't really want me to come over or whatever, so when I get to the point where I feel comfortable going over to someone's house just becuase, it's a big deal for me. We joke that I ninjaed my way into this group, that they just came around one day and I was there, part of the gang. And I am. I no longer need Josh to go hang out with any of them - in fact I see some of these people more than he does.


Now most of them are moving closer to where I live and I could not be happier. I feel like I've found my own little sense of community and family really. One of them offered to drive me an hour to get me to my car once - without being asked. We talk about taking trips together - heck Josh and I went to Philly/NYC on a whim. Concerts, movies, camping trips - we have our own shared google calendar to keep up with each other. When we get together a lot of the times we'll sit down and eat "family dinners."

What I guess I'm gushing about is this: I've had a rough time lately, but it was worth it. I'd do it again next year if I had to, if these people were the payout. I'll take seven friends over one crummy relationship. It's taken me awhile people - but I think I learned a little something this year.

HEY GUESS WHO CAN BREATH AGAIN?

it's me!

Let's talk about those eyebrows

I haven't been to that many movies lately. But, my brother came home this weekend and I was craving popcorn like whoa so we hustled over to the theatre to see Star Trek. If you haven't seen it then don't read the rest of this sucker.

So, here's the deal. I'm not a trekkie. I am pretty sure I've never seen an episode of Star Trek in any of its variations. I maybe caught a few minutes at a high school party one (yeah B-town parties know how to rock) but that's about it. So I did not expect to get a whole lot of the inside jokes or have any preconceived notions of the movie. I also only saw one trailer way forever ago.

That being said I was ah-mazed at how much of this movie felt familiar to me. I think that Star Trek is so ingrained into cultural consciousness that it's hard not to be somewhat aware of it. Although I do watch a lot of Futurama which references Star Trek a lot, maybe that's just it. After the movie my brother and I were talking about it and he pointed out that I know a lot more about this Star Trek world than I think. We had a fun time at the movie, thought there were a lot of points where some die-hard fans were laughing or clapping and I was just like uhhh whut? But at the same time I don't think I really missed anything that kept me from enjoying the movie.



I like to see movies a lot. Now I'm all for seeing Oscar-worthy, meaningful, change-my-life movies, but there is just something about summer blockbusters that gets my ass into the theatres. This movie reminded me why I love going to movies, because this movie has so much of what I love to see in movies. Space, romance, time-travel, bar fights, back stories, witty banter, and eyebrows. I loved this movie.



Now sciencey people are harping about how black holes just don't work that way - but frankly I don't care. It worked for me in Donnie Darko and it's working for me now. There's no other way to restart a series and maintain room for a creative storyline. Otherwise all the bigger geeks would ruin what is going to happen and then I'd be pissed. Now I can enjoy the sequels they do (what what rumor has it that the cast is signed for at least two!) without knowing what's going to happen.



This movie was visually appealing. I'm not really sure what that big canyon is doing in Iowa, but hey it looked really good so I'll take it. The space ships, the buildings, ice caves, everything just looked impressive.



I thought the acting was really good. Pine managed to have a little Shatner in his performance but didn't go over to cheesy - all I can picture now is the Shatner from the Family Guy episodes hopping all over the place. The secondary characters were all pretty good too. Though, I have to wonder why all of the kids snuck into these big jobs and the other senior officers just shuffled away. Especially with the dude Uhura replaced. He didn't even say anything - he was just like oh yeah I can't speak Romulan, peace out guys. But whatevs.



What was Winona Ryder doing in this movie? I saw her face and just what the hell?



Annnnnd can we talk about Spock? I didn't know that guy could kick so much ass. From the moment he stuck it to the man by rejecting the Vulcan something-something academy, I knew I was going to like him. I loved the dialogue between him and Kirk. And that scene where Uhura was all pissy about him not treating her like teacher's pet. Even though he's this big stoic guy with emotional repression issues, I think that the movie did a great job in balancing the human and Vulcan in him. I love, love that he's got the girl that Kirk's been eyeing up. And Quinto looked like he could be related to Nemoy. Freaky. As I said on twitter, I would get all makey-outy on this Spock. Contrary to my dating record, smart guys are pretty high up on my hot list.



The bad guy in this movie seemed almost like an afterthought though. I mean he's there, destroying planets and what-not, but I'm more interested in Spock kicking Kirk's ass. I think for me it was because Nero wasn't that distinguishable from the other Romulans on his ship. At least not to me. It was hard to tell sometimes who the main bad dude was. Although, to be fair, face tattoos.



I'm not even going to try to hide how much of the dork that I am about this movie. I'm seeing this one again, at least one more time. Hopefully at the Imax this week. And I may have loudly claimed that I'm buying the d.v.d. as soon as it comes out.

4 or 5??

Dude do I work until four or five today? I cannot remember for the life of me and I'm the only one in the office today. I could bail I guess but I'd rather get paid.

That's all!

catching up

I'm home from vacation!

I went to Italy for just about two weeks with my three younger brothers and my dad. It was pretty instense. We saw amazing art, buildings and mountains. We played cards and shopped at fancy stores. I bought some watercolors in Venice, where my dad lost all of our passports. That was the biggest non-fun part of the trip (there were a few). We had to go to the police station for awhile, I took a lovely nap there, for my dad to fill out a report. The two older boys, Fro and Ryan, and I were pretty pissed so dad bought us a bottle of wine with diner that night. We ended up having to go to the embassy in Milan and got five new passports for the price of $600 with a bonus 4 AM call to my mother since Mikey is under 18.

Anway, we had a good time. We got lost every day but the last day, and that day we were running so late we thought we would miss the plane home. Driving in Italy is crazy. Street signs are very hard to see from the road and from what I can tell the drivers think that those lines on the pavement mean nothing.

The best part of the trip for me, (other than all that mushy getting to know my brothers as people kind of stuff) was that I had some big moments of inspiration and got some writing done. The trip also gave me a few more stories ideas so we'll hope that I follow through with them.

Now I'm home and trying to get back into the swing of work and home. I took this morning off of work because my throat feels so gross and nasty. Yesterday I sat myself at the computer and made myself type all of the notes and additions I wrote on the trip to the piece that I'm working on. Well almost all of them, just about done.

I got an email from a grad school in MN that I applied to about extending my application for their second semester acceptance. I hadn't really planned on moving from where I am, but more and more I think that it might be good for me. I'm sending in the paperwork they need so I guess we'll just have to see.

rant

Ok so yesterday I drove home and was getting all my crap together (for whatever reason I feel the need to take at least two books with me to work along with a notebook and usually like two water bottles) and prepared to exit my car. I looked for cars (my street is crowded cause you can park on both sides) and opened my door. When out of nowhere this dude on a bike flies past me, missing me by inches. He yelled "Watch for bikers!" as he scooted on off. Now I, in my flustered state, pretty much screeched "I'm sorry."

But here's the thing. He had the whole freaking road to bike - there were no cars coming in either direction for blocks, and yet he felt compelled to drive right by the car that had passed him a block before and just parked and obviously would have someone exiting the car in moments. Had he not said anything I would have probably just felt bad and then been careful from then on (or at least for the next week or so). BUT, because he had to tell me to watch for bikers in a condescending I'm-so-much-better-than-you-and-your-shitty-centra-with-a-broken-headlight kind of way, I'm just pissed. Fuck you biker man.

Now I live in probably the most biker friendly city in the Midwest. But seriously most of these bikers do not have common sense! And yeah, ok you're a better person than I am because you bike to work and I drive and you clearly are more in tune with the world and issues and whatever, but seriously I do not care.

AND, now that I'm on a roll here, when I was younger I was hit by a car while I was on my bike. Through no fault of my own, the guy took a corner too fast and clipped my back tire sending my flying through the air. I was like 10 at the time so you can imagine how fast the guy slammed on his breaks to see if I was ok. Which I was. But you know what? I didn't tell the guy - oh you should watch for bikers. I FREAKING WATCHED OUT FOR MORON DRIVERS FROM THAT POINT ON. And you should too biker man. Cause if I see you again I might be tempted to throw my door out on purpose. Jeesh.

Writing

Right now I'm trying to motivate myself to seriously work more on my writing. I printed off about 40 pages of a story I'm working on and I trying to edit what I have at this point. I have to write everything by hand for the most part. I just feel much more connected to what I'm doing if I have the pen in my hand. Then I can type it. And then I print it out and write all over the printed copy, which makes me feel like I'm working in the writing center at school again.

Back to it!

goals

I've been reading a lot of blogs about people in different industries who are extremely passionate about what they are doing. I want that for myself. I was digging through some of my writing files and stumbled across a few pieces where I have no idea what my overarching goal was but I liked what I read. I'm going to try to make time to write every day. I feel so much better and more at peace with myself when I'm writing and I could use some good feelings. :) I'm going to continue to read about others who do their best and are committed to their goals to inspire myself to do the same.

Birthday Highlights

My best friend came to see me. She stayed all weekend and we had a great time. Here are some sweet highlights!

• Girl's night: four of us sat around eating everything in sight and drank a few bottles of wine. We then watched Pride and Prejudice; there was much swooning.
• Liz and I went to the gym for about three hours on Saturday. We worked out then went swimming. Hot tub and steam room. mmmmm.
• We then ate half a thing of french onion dip and chips.
• Another high school friend came to see me! I like her!
• Lots of friends came out to diner with me.
• We went to my fave bar and I went from 0 to drunk in about 3 min.
• Some guys tried to pick us up over a shared love of Poweraide.
• I laid down on my neighbors yard.
• Awesome Sunday breakfast followed by Sunday shopping.

One bad thing about diner was that the wait staff was horrible. I called a week prior for a table of 14. They said no problem. I talked to them that day to confirm that everything was fine. They said no problem. We get there and they had two tables of six. We had to sit seperately and squish. The waitress poured water in my soda and was so flightly and weird that it was hard to enjoy the meal. Luckily there was booze and good people.

I spent my acutal birthday at my mom's. Rachel was adorable; she kept saying happy birthday and telling me that we were going to have cake. Mom and I went shopping, then dad took Mikey and I to go buy some books. We had my fav pot roast for diner. Rachel gave me a picture she drew that I love. And my mom got me some cute jeans and Twilight on dvd. I made her watch half of it and I about died giggling. When I went to leave it was raining so hard that I got drenched just bringing my laundry to the car. But I made it home safe!

hey brother

Ok so I just now realized that yesterday, when I was talking to my oldest younger brother, he willinging and without provocation started telling me about a girl he was going to go see this weekend. One that he's dated before. And my response was pretty much "oh, cool." Now I wonder if I should have asked him anything more about it or said anything. I mean, he never talks about girls. We all are just waiting for him to walk in someday with a wife and kids. We're not big on talking about relationships in my family. I mean, when my wedding got called off I think Jeffy and my mom were the only ones to talk to me about it (too be fair I wasn't really looking to talk about it).

I'm sure I'm over-thinking this whole thing with my brother. I liked that he mentioned it though. I never got to meet the girl but I hear good things about her.

2 topics for the price of one!

couple things going on right now

First of all the Office last night - WTF? I am so concerned for Jim right now it is not even funny. And thank the lord we had dvr because we all missed what Micheal said at the end. I don't even know if I can think about it without getting all flustered. This episode was on par with "The Dinner Party" as one of the more awkward Office episodes.

The opening though was AMAZING. And of course it was classy.

Ok now that that is off my chest I am tweaking out with excitement because my BFF is coming to visit me this weekend! She's going to meet almost all of my new friends so I can prove they really exist. And we're all going out tomorrow night for my birthday at one of my fave restaurants. Liz and I plan on spending a whole lot of time tomorrow at my gym because it is pretty much the bomb. We're going to work out, swim, sit in the hot tub and then chill in the sauna. And she just told me that she gets to leave work early now!

zombies

Last night I had a terrible dream. After seeing 28 Days Later a few years ago zombies have creeped me out to no end. Anyway, in my dream there was a zombie outbreak. Some friends (I don't remember who) and I ran to the closests shelter - the mall. In an effort to protect everyone, some mall offical locked down the place to ensure no zombies got in and ate our brains. However, one was already inside. I was absolutely terriffied even though I'm not sure if I actually saw any zombies. I woke up with a pounding headache and a cold sweat. Not the best way to start the day! And now it's all dreary outside and I keep thinking I see something out of the corner of my eye....

Random Idea!

One of the guys I work with and I were talking about books the other day (we're cool - don't be jealous) and came up with the sweetest idea. There should be one day a year where everyone celebrates reading. Gutenberg Day, if you will. Everyone gets the day off work and you go home and read a book, curled up in a comfy chair, preferable with a cup of tea and a cat on your lap. If you have a family, use the day to read to your kids or spouse. Just something to make the world a little nicer.

the smell of my soul

I was checking out Rainn Wilson's new website: http://www.soulpancake.com/ and I came across an interesting question, What does your soul smell like? I thought for awhile about my answer and jotted down a few things. I couldn't really stop at smell; I just went along with it.

My soul is the smell of tobacco on my fingertips, the cool smell of grass at night and the tingling of the air before a thunder storm. It smells like thrift-store t-shirts and dirty sneakers. And the gentle smell of old books.

My soul is a white stray cat walking along a field. It is the sparkle of broken glass, the scrap of a knee, the chip of a tooth. It tastes like sweat and secrets and salt on the rim of my glass.

My soul is ornery, hair standing on end, claws bared, goose-bumps everywhere. It gives a screech and a wail, and purrs in my ear. Guitar rifts, cumming's poems and the tinkle of an ice cream truck's bell.

My soul is the rip of a scab, the depth of a sigh. The waxy feel of chapstick, the fizz of soda, the stain of red wine on my lips. The blood on skin after a new razor. The tingle of a sleeping limb. My soul is the cracking of joints and the brush of nail polish. The press of ink onto paper, pencil shavings, and record grooves. The bite of stomach bile, the burn of gin, and the bittersweet of chocolate.

That's what came to mind. I like it. The website is really interesting and thought provoking.

Nothing too exciting

I don't think I've slept in after 12:00 pm for a long, long time. I work up today after one. Jeesh. I wasn't even up that late!

Days like this are when I wish I was back in school. I really feel like I should be doing homework or something. I haven't heard about grad school yet but hopefully I'll be getting some good news soon. Otherwise I may have to start just writing actual book reports for my own enjoyment. Of course, if I do get in I'm sure I'll be posting about how I want to do anything other than homework.

I'm all a fluster because a boy said I was pretty. :) Just nice to hear every now and then! Especially since yesterday I had the brilliant idea to cut my own bangs. Now, I have a serious love-hate relationship with my bangs. They grow too fast and always get in my eyes and sometimes get in other people's faces in photos. Anyway, they were out of control and instead of going to a pro and paying like what $5 to get my bangs trimmed, I grabbed some scissors and took action. Acutally I stood in front of the mirror for like ten minutes saying "this is a bad idead, this is a bad idea" over and over again. We all know how well I listen to myself. I was doing fine for about the first five seconds and then BAM! Attack of the kindergarden bangs. Oy. Bobbypins and headbands are going to be my friends for the next few weeks.