In the Here and Now

Skipping over the last year…

I just finished Season 5 of Drop Dead Diva. Loved it.
I also just read Where'd You Go, Bernadette? Best book I've read in awhile. And I've read a lot of interesting books recently.

Writing has been on my mind a lot recently. Maybe I'll get beyond a blog post soon.

Journeys

My life's journey seems to be going through a pretty nice prairie for the moment. I can see for miles and it is all the same. Pleasant. Not entirely interesting and perhaps a little...what is the word I'm looking for?...not boring exactly, but maybe rut-ish. But looks can be deceiving when it comes to the future, so I will keep moving forward and see what comes.

As for more literal journeys...I have a big trip planned in the coming months. And I'm über excited. It is the 10-year trip. The "I've been dying to go there for so long" trip. I'm a little stressed with planning, but most of the big stuff is out of the way, and next up is the fun part: what exactly to see.

And of course—a literary journey. I started reading The Wheel of Time series again in January. Oh so many years ago, my cousin introduced me to this fantasy series (and there is always a journey of one kind or another in those) and I fell of the slowly moving wagon years ago. I promised myself that I would jump back on the minute Mr. Jordan finished it. Well, Mr. Jordan died (our joking seems a little prescient now.) But, much to my relief, he had outlined the rest of the story with his wife and in notes, and the family hired another writer to flesh the rest of it out. The last book (14 when we thought there would be 10 back in the 1990s) came out in January. And now I am back on the wagon resuming my literary journey. It's weird reading books I read many years ago; I have this dim memory of certain things and no memory of others. I keep waiting for things to happen, only to have to wait more (because it happened two books later.) I'm currently at the tail end of book 4; once I get to 7 or 8 I should be past this weird memory part. And then it will be me impatiently reading to find out how it ends. Can't wait!

And lastly, little ladies' journeys: In February I was asked to be the godmother to a beautiful baby girl. And yesterday, my first niece began her life's journeys. I'm excited to be a part of these ladies' lives. Oh, quite serendipitously—they both have the same middle name! Love.

The Night Circus

I don't recommend things very often, because it is so much about taste. So, unless I know your taste, I probably won't recommend books, movies, etc., to you. I might say how I felt about it, but I will make sure you know I have broad taste. You may not. And I don't want to be responsible for your investing a decent amount of time in something you don't like.

That being said...

Read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It's just that good. The mood, the description, even the things I don't understand about the ending. Still really, really good. 

Bruno on the Street

A friend posted this on FB, and it tickled my funny bone—and was a useful cap to some discussions about different parts of my life recently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWp6kkz-pnQ

Try something new. And then keep trying.

Trampling Turtles in Suits...wait...

That'sTrampled By Turtles and Suits. The two entertainment pieces that made this weekend good. And what made it great?...well, that should be who. I spent some time in my old stomping grounds this weekend with new friends and then caught up with old friends. And then came home and caught up with more old friends. Overall, a very uplifting weekend.

Back to the entertainment! I started watching season 2 of Suits online a few months ago. And then I discovered a good friend is watching it too. And she just gave me season 1 for my birthday! I'm really excited to go back and catch up on the lawyerly goodness. It's a great blend of personalities and plot and bravura and learning lessons and growing up. And suits :)

I also had the privilege of seeing my second Trampled By Turtles show in Mankato this weekend at a beautiful 3-year outdoor venue. Perfect weather. Fantastic show. (Seriously, how do they play that fast?) Good friends. Great evening.

Thirtieth Olympiad

I love the Olympics. I fall for every ridiculous, cheesy overdramatized moment. I cry at the truly dramatic ones. I get into it. And yet, after a long weekend away with my family, when I wasn't taken away every day by work and instead could enjoy the Olympics at least in the background for four days straight, I think I may have reached saturation. Except that it is still on in the next room as I type this. So...addiction? Yep. It's only four more days and then I have to wait two years, so I may as well enjoy it. Maybe some day I'll even get there (as a spectator...I've long since given up dreams of making it there as an athlete...)

Favorite moments so far (either viewed, read about, or watched online)
Team USA beats Canada in soccer to get into the gold medal match...that was drama!
Missy Franklin...pretty much everything she was a part of, including that Call Me Maybe video.
Misty May-Treaner and Kerri Walsh Jennings three-peat in sand volleyball...their celebration was pretty epic.
Men's basketball players popping up at all of the events to show support...seriously, if you could, wouldn't you? (This also goes for the royals.) So fun!

I'm kinda sad that I haven't gotten more time in watching the lesser known sports like water polo, judo, and archery. But there is only so much time in the day...and I so love them all!

Foreshadowing

I'm watching and loving Downton Abbey. It really is as good as I'd heard. But even though I have a free day and could get away with just watching the rest of the episodes I have on hand, I stopped. I stopped because they are foreshadowing something I really don't want to happen. And it's as if when I stop watching I can stop it from happening. Ah the control we wield over the imaginary...

Eventually (today probably) I will get to curious and finish watching this episode. I'll let you know whether I was unhappily right or delightfully wrong.

Bravery makes me cry.

I had borrowed Band of Brothers from a friend. And it sat on my shelf for a few months. And then on Memorial Day Eve I thought, "I should start watching this," so I did. And I cried. War makes me sad. And people who are brave enough to fight and die for what is right, well, their stories make me cry.

I continued watching on Memorial Day. And I read some articles about men portrayed in the miniseries. And I cried. Tears in honor of the friends they lost and the men they had to be.

More than 1 million U.S. service members have died in war. It is these men and women I honor today. May I live up to their sacrifice.

A week of music and Abbeys

This week in work-land, music came to the forefront as my job thrust me into the worlds of One Direction (a new boy band...) and Rodrigo y Gabriela (a fabulous guitar duo) among others. I had actually heard some music from Rodrigo y Gabriela before...I missed my chance to see them at ACL a few years ago—at least as evidenced by the fact that "Diablo Rojo" is on the sampler I got from that ACL trip. Amazing talent. As for One Direction, they are just fun, fluffy entertainment.

On the home front, I've been visiting the home of Lord Grantham on Downton Abbey. It is as good as I had heard, with the intrigue and personalities all well flushed out. And I don't know enough about the time period to notice any flaws, which I'm considering a good thing. Can't wait for the next disc to come!

getting started

A friend of mine loves Nerdist. I was intrigued. So I am listening to some Nerdist podcasts. My very first foray into podcasts. And I'm finding them very entertaining. (SOentertaining, you might say...) But this leads me to wonder...how does one decide that his/her conversation is worthy of other people listening to it? How does one get started doing podcasts? (This goes along with my question "how does one start ski jumping, etc.?") I guess it is somewhat like blogging. You just do it because you enjoy it and then if someone starts listening great.  

I discovered I really enjoy listening to people have conversations about random stuff. But I wonder how random is too random? Would I enjoy any conversation or is it dependent on something more? I will have to investigate...

The Ides of March Dream

So, I'm talking a literal dream here, so it doesn't make sense. (I fell asleep right after watching the Ides of March with Ryan Gosling and George Clooney.)

I'm sitting in the audience of an outdoor theater. It's a semi-thrust stage surrounded by stadium seating that would be more aptly described as high end diner seating than theater seating. Booths and tables are set at different heights of platforms; there was some neon pink, but mostly classy metals. The play (which was some new alternate ending of the Ides of March that I don't really remember but am relatively certain added some more Shakespearean tone) ends. Right after which, the outdoor theater clears out except for me, a 23 (or so) year old blonde woman, and Ryan Gosling, all sitting at different tables. The blonde quickly starts a conversation with RG and the two start flirting. I notice a jacket and overcoat that were a part of the play on the next stool over (I was sitting at a two person high top table) and give RG his jacket and overcoat saying, "I believe these are yours", which echoes how the other woman started talking to him. And then walk away.

I walk from my seat down the many platforms to the right side of the stage to get out of the theater, which takes me to the opposite side of where the parking is, but this is where the exit is, so I have a little ways to walk outside.  I know the ocean is nearby. To get back to my car, I must go up to the level of the parking lot. I see a set of stairs that I think will make the journey shorter, but which are folded up. They are white stairs with blue railings (they seem to be attached to a Culver's.) I start up the stairs and they expand, taking me closer to my car as I walk up. I get up about four flights, and then the expansion accelerates and suddenly they are going so fast that I have no choice but to just hold on wait until I get to my car. But they keep expanding to a size much bigger than they initially seemed and then I'm over the ocean and a giant wave comes and drenches me. Luckily, I'm up high enough that only the top of the wave hits me. I can see the next wave coming and wonder how far up and back toward land I can get before the next wave, when my alarm goes off.

I rarely remember dreams, but this one was really vivid. Ah, crazy dreams are fun.

As for the actual movie...I enjoyed watching it for the behind the scene atmosphere, but it left a bad aftertaste. Well acted and pretty well put together.

Fault x 2

Well, I inadvertently fell off the blogging (train, bandwagon, rail?) for awhile there. No one's fault but my own (I don't even have a good excuse.) Best just to dive back in, right? Just finished The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Great book. I have read a few other John Green books after the recommendation of a friend, who also suggested I check out his and his brother's vlog...and I finally did and wished I had earlier. Funny stuff. Back to the book...their are many things to take away in this book, but the thing that stands out most clearly for me is the treatment of the parents. So many children's and YA books find a way to kill off, vilify, or ignore the parents, and this one doesn't. And I found that refreshing. Biggest thought provoker: (spoiler here) this book is about childhood cancer, so a lot of the book discusses the meaning of life and facing death. And I found this discussion enlightening and disheartening. I have a very firm Christian belief about life after death, and I found it fascinating to be in the mind of people who don't who are having such honest discussions about it. But sad, too.

Side note: I'm obsessed with names and how people and things are named. And I watched one the vlogs where John Green answered questions about this book...and discussed the main character's name. The answer made my heart really happy. Well chosen, sir, well chosen.

30

It is the tail end of my 30th birthday. I freaked out about almost turning 30 last year, but over the past 365 days I've become okay with it. Today I enter a new decade. I just pray it is as blessed as the last 3. So far, so good...

Catching Up: Movies

Last 7 movies:
No Strings Attached
Salt
New York, I Love You
Love and Other Drugs
True Grit
Bright Star
A Star Is Born

Looking back on these movies, the main thing I wonder about is why the recent with sex-first relationships in movies? Seriously, it's disgusting. Second thing is I watched a little bit of the extras on Salt and the people interviewed kept talking about making Salt a vicious fighter and making her as tough as any man. But I kept wondering while watching the movie if any of it was at all realistic. I'm not a fighter, but I have hard time believing someone of Angelina Jolie's size and strength could beat up three (or more) people who are at least decently trained--no matter how awesome she is. But maybe I'm just ignorant.

word association:
No Strings Attached--seriously?
Salt--sequel-ready
New York, I Love You--next?
Love and Other Drugs--support
True Grit--revenge
Bright Star--nap
A Star Is Born--drugs

Books

The last 5 books I've read:
Bite Club by Rachel Caine
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
The Shack by William P. Young
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez

It was book club night--always a good time. The Shack was the book for this month. We even managed to discuss it for awhile. I was surprised by this book. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. And it was a great conversation starter.

Celebrating Independence

Today I'm celebrating Independence Day by doing exactly what I want to do. Which today boils down to very little. I'm enjoying the freedom to watch a little TV, cook some lunch, wash clothes, organize some of my living space, and write to you. Without anyone limiting me. It is fabulous.

The United States isn't perfect. But it is a great place to live. Today I'm going to forget about state shutdowns and sports team lockouts and the stagnant economy. And I'm going to be thankful for the many people that have made and do make my country great.

Thank you to the men and women who dreamed up our country and fought to make it happen. And thanks for all the women and men who fight to keep it free, and work to make it prosperous.

Happy Fourth of July!

Cinderella

I was in a fairy tale mood this week, so I reread a book from a kid lit class I took in college: Ella Enchanted. Very satisfying retelling of the Cinderella tale. Smart girl; realistic growing of a relationship, and some fairy godmothers who aren't perfect.

And now I'm watching the classic: Walt Disney's Cinderella. It's funny the things you notice when you rewatch a movie from your childhood. Here's the line in Cinderella that stood out to me: "Leave the sewing to the women." I'm pretty sure the outcry at such a line would stop it from being included now, no matter how well it fits the song. Of course, the entire outline of this movie follows along those same lines. But you know what? I still like it. Whether it is the nostalgia or the happily ever after, I'm a fan.

upheaval

Literally. In Japan I mean. I can't even imagine going through what that country is going through. I know it has been more than a few days. I'm still thinking about it frequently. So I'm just going to take a minute for prayer again tonight:
Thank you, Lord, for my life and safety. Please help the people of Japan and the people of the world come together to get through this time of great struggle and pain. Help me help them in whatever way I can. Amen.

pity party

I was feeling a little blue recently (okay, last night) which made me wonder: what do most people do to cheer themselves up? Or do they wallow for awhile and it goes away? So, if anyone reads this, what do you do?

And for the record, if you need a pick me up, ask your FB friends to cheer you up. It works :)

bad poetry

I wrote a poem while walking to the train today, and I don't remember it completely, but here is the not-as-okay-as-the-original gist of it:

Ode to Indigo

Falling off the edge of the rainbow
Neither purple nor blue
Fading into black
Blending into white
It has a mood of its own.
Falling off the edge of the rainbow