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