Five years ago today (and after 2 days of contractions), I became a mom to this insanely adorable (cranky), tiny version of myself and Jeff. Having a baby is a miraculously overwhelming and incredible experience. You're pregnant for 9 months and then all of a sudden there is an actual tiny human in your house with you. Jeff and I didn't know what the heck we were doing when we first brought Charley home from the hospital. He liked to cry. I know all babies cry but Mr. Charley Bear cried ALL. THE. TIME. See, he had colic but none of the remedies for colicky babies would work on him. He just wanted to cry. It was never at the same time every day. Always at different hours. Sometimes in the middle of the night for hours, or in the morning, etc. He cried a lot, ok? There were times where I would be amazed that he could cry so much. How does it not wear him out?? He would even sleep-cry. Meaning, he would be sound asleep then cry for a few seconds with his eyes closed and then go back to a sound sleep. But we were still in love with him. This little bundle of blue eyed Charley-ness. I loved watching him (even as he was crying and I was completely exhausted). I loved that he was the perfect combination of Jeff and I. At around 8 weeks, he decided he didn't want to cry all the time anymore. It was like someone switched babies on us and he was happy as can be. Smiled all the time and laughed constantly. Oh, his laugh is such a great sound to hear. The two months of constant crying was so worth hearing his laugh and seeing his smile.
Through these last five years, I have learned to calm down a bit. Going from wanting to take him to the hospital at the smallest sniffle to just telling him to deal with it if he gets a papercut. I was a frantic first time mom. I remember reading directions and printing them out on how to give him his first bath. Actual directions and trying to time it perfectly. I didn't want to make any mistakes but here's the thing... you can't follow a plan laid out for you on a mommy website or anything described in a book. You have to go with the flow and believe me when I tell you, the tiny human is the one in charge those first few weeks. You learn to adapt to their personality and their wants and needs. You can readjust everything as time goes on because believe me, once you get used to one way of doing things for them, they immediately change things up.
All babies/kids learn at their own pace. I know there are charts and guidelines of where each kid at each age should be but that's all they are; guidelines. It doesn't mean your kid is unhealthy because he's smaller than the average 2 year old or that your kid is slow because he's not walking at 9 months. Charley walked when he wanted to walk... which was at 15 months. He was perfectly fine doing his army crawl and I was totally ok with that. One day, he just decided it was time and that was that.
At 2 years old he talked up a storm and (much to the delight of Jeffrey) was obsessed with Star Wars. I owe every ounce of our potty training success to that franchise. Charley knew that every time he would have a good potty training day/week, he would get a new Star Wars toy (we had a plethora of Jeff's old figures in our attic. TONS of them). Needless to say, he was out of diapers very quickly.
My point is, just go with the flow. Find your own ways of doing things and stick with it. Don't freak out if your kid isn't exactly where another kid is. They are all brilliant little creatures who will learn things in their own way. The first five years of your kids life is some of the most fun you will ever experience. Filled with new discoveries and a love that you never knew existed. It's fun and exhausting and such a joy to introduce them to new things. Being a parent is an incredible experience.
Charley is an awesome kid. I know I'm biased (I'm supposed
to be afterall) but he just blows me away with his little personality and those
blue eyes. He's so smart and creative and hilariously funny. He's shy and
stubborn and will argue with you until he's blue in the face.
Allow me to share with you some tidbits about that little Lego of mine...
-He has slept with a blanket that he nicknamed "na-night" ever since he was 7 months old. He still sleeps with it and asks for it when he's sad. He makes us find the tag on it for him, so he can hold it while he sleeps.
- At 7 weeks old, he got us kicked out of Kohl's in Westland Mall because one of the employees there was annoyed with his crying. (I told you, he cried all the time). When I told C this story the other day, he thought it was really funny.
- He learned to say "please" over a Wendy's Frosty.
- He can hold his own among any hardcore Star Wars fan. Also, do not get into a lightsaber/sword duel with him unless you are serious about it. He is hardcore.
- He loves to snuggle as a family on the couch and watch movies with all the lights off "just like a real movie theater".
He is addicted to popcorn and LOVES butter.
- His favorite CD's are the Star Wars Soundtrack and the Victorious Soundtrack.
- Poop, fart, pee. He loves talking and laughing about all of it. He's a boy! What can I say?
- He is funny. So very funny.
- He is always telling Jeff and I how much he loves us.
- He hates animatronics and people dressed up in big, fuzzy costumes. Completely freaks him out.
- He loves Logan and Bristow even though he tortures them incessantly.
- He loves mini muffins and is the pickiest eater in all the land.
- He gives really, really wonderful hugs.
- His favorite Superhero is Iron Man.
- He adores his cousins.
- He is smart. So very smart.
- He is one of the most stubborn people on the planet.
- He always tells me that I smell good (haha). Always.
- When he gets his haircut and they offer him a sucker afterward, he always takes 2. "One for me and one for Daddy".
- He has blue eyes and a smile that could melt your heart.
- He's very shy.
- He loves Legos. He wishes he was a Lego. He loves building things with them. Watching them on tv. Playing Lego video games. Most of all, he loves taking them apart. Even the little hands. He loves taking them apart and mixing them all up (and it makes Jeff CRAZY).
From the moment I realized that I was pregnant, I have dreaded the day he would go to Kindergarten. It means he's no longer a baby. He's a big boy and growing up so fast. But he's so excited for it and he can't wait to meet new friends. It's just another chapter in this whole parenthood journey. We'll get through it and then move on to the next one. Until then, I will just be thankful for the last five incredibly (fast), awesome years.
Happy 5th Birthday, Charley Robert!!
Thanks for letting me take a quick break from the usual pop culture vibe
of this here blog, so that I could pay a little tribute to that
beautiful boy of mine. I'll leave you with my most favorite video of him. he was 2 years old here:
It's season finale time! I love this time of year. When all of our favorite shows present us with really kickass episodes to wind the season down. Now, a good season finale isn't all that hard to do. It should consist of a great storyline that ties up most, if not all of the loose ends that happened throughout the season but at the same time creating a whole new set up, with fresh storylines for the following season. If it's done right, it can be wonderful and by the end of the episode you should be left wanting more and frustrated that you have to wait however many months until the next one. I LOVE when it's done right. It makes me so happy and it makes me feel like I haven't wasted countless hours investing in a silly television show.
So far, this season finale.. uhh season has had a couple really great episodes and a couple of duds that have left me disappointed and angry. The ones that have left me angry inspired me to ask "what makes a really great season finale?" and to think about the episodes in the past that have left my mind blown or my jaw on the floor from shock. It happens rarely and that is what makes them stand out even more. When I sat down and actually thought about what my Top 5 Best Season Finales of all time are, there were only a handful to choose from.
I'm going to list for you my most favorite season finales of all time. With #1 being the best of the best. The usual SPOILER ALERT applies here.
5.) Dawson's Creek Season 3- True Love
After a season of trying to deny her feelings for Pacey in order to spare Dawson's feelings, Joey chooses who she wants to be with. Pacey is planning on leaving for the summer and wants Joey to go with him. Dawson wants her to stay with him. She chooses Pacey and fangirls abound rejoiced. The pair literally sail off into the sunset together:
The episode was real emotional and had you wondering up until the very end if she was going to pick Dawson or Pacey. It left me feeling happy, so happy ( I know it's dorky but I embrace my dorkiness). The episode also gave us the infamous Dawson Cry-Face and there was another scene where Pacey had written on Joey's wall (he had bought her a wall earlier in the season, to paint and she could never think of anything to cover it with), telling her to ask him to stay. It was cute and romantic and my geeky, girly heart loved it.
4.) The Office Season 2- Casino Night
Ohhh, I loved this episode. Dunder Mifflin holds a Casino Night in the warehouse to benefit charity. All the employees dress up and attend. There was a whole thing with Michael having two dates there (Jan and Carol) but what I loved the most was the flirting between Jim and Pam. She was engaged to that tool, Roy and Jim was toying with the idea of transferring to the Stamford office. There is a moment where he tells her he wants to talk to her and you think he's going to tell her about the transfer, but instead, INSTEAD! he does this:
When that happened, I literally gasped. It was so unexpected and so fantastic that I actually got choked up. The audience had known for so long that Jim loved Pam that to actually hear him say it out loud to her was so refreshing. It was like everyone was letting out a collective sigh. It is one of my most favorite TV moments ever.
3.) Grey's Anatomy Season 6- Sanctuary/Death and All His Friends
This episode. This episode was just wow. This episode was 2 of the most stressful, intense, crazy hours of television I have ever watched. Gary Clark (the disgruntled husband of a patient who had died earlier in the season) shows up at Seattle Grace with the intention of shooting Derek (whom he feels is responsible for his wife's death). Everyone he encounters gives him the brush off, so he gets angrier and angrier with each scene. He shoots Alex, he shoots Reid, he shoots Percy (the latter 2 end up dying). The hospital ultimately goes on complete lockdown. Over the course of the episode, everyone is hiding or taking cover and basically scared out of their minds. We also find out that Meredith is pregnant. Her and Cristina are hiding out in a utility closet when they see Gary approach Derek. Meredith tries to run after him but Cristina holds her back. Gary shoots Derek. Boom. The end:
Dawn and I watched this episode together. It had us holding our heads. Our hands were sweaty. We kept holding our breath. We kept gasping. By the time it was over, I was completely exhausted. It was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. One of the few times I can actually say that Shonda Rhimes did a brilliant job (unlike last night's finale which I will not go into because I am too upset over it).
2.)Alias Season 2- The Telling
I've talked about this episode on here before, so I'll keep it short. It was the first time I had watched a show and stared at the TV in shock when it ended. Completely shocked. It was so awesome. Sydney finds out that her mom has double crossed her. She finds out who the doppelganger is. She has the most epic of all epic fights with Fake Francie in her apartment. She wakes up in Hong Kong and finds out that she's been missing for two years. Oh and she finds out Vaughn is married now. That all rolled into one giant "WHAAAAT?!" moment. There was so much to process and so much speculation leading into the next season that it had us talking about it all summer long. It was so great.
(I will give a special shout out to the Season 4 finale and the insane car crash that followed "My name isn't Michael Vaughn". That one had Carrie and I shouting at our tv's in unison. So awesome)
1.) Lost Season 3- Through The Looking Glass (Part 1&2)
How does one pick a favorite Lost season finale? When I was discussing it with Jeff, we literally could have picked any of them (he picked Season 5... poor Juliet). I went with the season 3 finale because of how drab and frustrating the entire first half of the season was. Now, I was pregnant and tired and very, very cranky during this time so that may have played into it but I think if you ask any Lost fan what the weakest season was, they will say 3. Even Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse recognized that they needed to do something to make the fans fall back in love with the show. See, most of the season was SO slow and we spent a good majority of our time watching Sawyer and Kate (ugh) in cages. We were all just waiting and waiting for something to happen and then this episode aired. it starts out with the island survivors planning to kill a bunch of The Others and Charlie diving into the water to get into the looking glass (a Dharma research station) to try to disable the system jamming outgoing transmissions. They wanted to try to contact Naomi's (the woman who showed up on the island an episode before, who Desmond was convinced was sent by Penny (his lady love) to rescue them) people and hopefully get off the island . Once Charlie un-jams the frequency, Penny shows up on the screen and tells them that she doesn't know Naomi and the boat that's out there is not hers. As Charlie is in the station, one of The Others (Mikhail) blows open the window, filling the station up with water. Just before Charlie drowns, he writes "NOT PENNY'S BOAT" on his hand and shows Desmond through the glass.WHOSE BOAT IS IT THEN!?
After all that happens, Jack is able to get service with a walkie talkie and calls Naomi's boat. The fella on the other end (Minkowski), informs them all that they are about to be rescued. Hooray!/What?! Throughout the episode, in typical Lost fashion, there are what appear to be flashbacks of Jack with an awful beard, working at a hospital, super depressed, taking pain killers. Then you see this:
It is done so perfectly that unless you were paying attention to specific details (the cell phones), you would have no idea that these were actually flashforwards. FLASHFORWARDS! Which left me (and the entire Lost world) saying "HOLY CRAP, THEY ACTUALLY DO GET OFF THE ISLAND!!?!?!?!" It was asbolutely, positively brilliant. BRILLIANT. It completely reinvigorated the series and made the fans ecstatic and so unbelievably excited for the next season. THIS is how you do a season finale. Lost has set the bar so insanely high that much like the show itself, I doubt any other season finale could come close to it. And that, my friends, is one of the many reasons why Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are geniuses.
So, what did I miss? I thought about putting the Buffy season 5 finale (where she sacrifices herself for Dawn) but I feel like it doesn't count in my case. I watched the show too late and was able to watch the next episode right away, so it didn't have the same impact as it should have. I could also put this season's Vampire Diaries in there because it was phenomenal. Also, the Friends episode where Ross says Rachel's name during his wedding to Emily. Oh, and the 90210 season 4 finale where Brandon goes to Washington DC and Kelly surprises him.
About a year ago, I made a list of my Top 5 Most Disliked Characters Of All Time. Well, with a fresh batch of shows that have come out since then and a reminder from an old favorite, I have been inspired to make this list again. A part 2, if you will.
Also, this time I will follow up my most disliked list with a list of my most favorite scene-stealers from the past season. I'm not going to rank the following characters as they all get under my skin and make me heave an equal amount of frustrated/irritated sighs, while yelling "Gah! I hate you!" at my television. Oh, as always a spoiler alert applies here, so read at your own risk, friends!
So without further ado...
- April Kepner ( played by Sarah Drew) from Grey's Anatomy. April was brought onto the show in season 6, as one of the rival surgical residents from Mercy West, who was joining the Seattle Grace staff. I instantly disliked her. They purposely made her into a competitive, overbearing outsider to show the tension between the original residents and the new. So, I guess, job well done on Shonda Rhimes part? She is unbelievably whiny and always, always, always yelling at someone in a shrill voice. It makes my ears hurt and I cannot count the amount of times her character makes me roll my eyes during an episode. She's constantly on the verge of tears and always throwing a temper tantrum. Quite frankly, she stresses me out and that's that.
- Joffrey Baratheon/Theon Greyjoy (played by Jack Gleeson and Alfie Allen) from Game Of Thrones. yeah, this ones a double dose of UGHness. Joffrey is a 12 year old King. Joffrey is a hole. There is no other way to describe him. He's a spoiled brat who gets whatever he wants and doesn't care who suffers because of it. He's mean and I hate looking at him. That sounds awful because it's just a dude, playing a character and I'm sure Jack Gleeson is a very nice boy in real life but his character does so many vile things that the site of him simply sickens me. George R.R. Martin and the writers of the show do a really wonderful job of getting you to hate this kid, trust me. Theon Greyjoy just grosses me out. No, he skeeves me out. He's skeevey. He was taken on as ward to Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) and was bff's with Robb Stark (Richard madden) and initially started out helping him fight a war against Joffrey (see, because Joffrey is a hole!). He ended up turning on him and taking the Stark's castle under siege. All the while, Robb thought Theon was helping him. Oh, and he is awful to women. He's gross. Just icky.
- Daisy Wick (played by Carla Gallo) from Bones. Daisy is one of the revolving interns at the Jeffersonian who help Dr. Brennan and company solve murders. I love all of the other interns. I love that they have a new one represented each week. I don't love Daisy. She is a know it all and she knows she's that way but she doesn't care. I guess it's supposed to be an endearing quality about the character but I can't stand it. I love when Brennan shows her up and puts her in her place. The other thing that annoys me about her is she is dating Dr. Lance Sweets (John Francis Daly), whom I adore. She's super lovey dovey with him and calls him Lance-a-lot in every episode she's in and it drives me nuts. Her presence is like nails on a chalkboard to me.
- The cast of The Secret Circle. I won't name them all because that would take up too much space. Just know that never before has there been such ill fitting cast members on a show. The books that this show is based on are really, really good. The story is really, really good. The characters are really, really good. They mutilated all of that when they brought it to tv. They changed all of the characters personalities and eliminated half of them. One who is supposed to be the epitome of understanding and kindness in the book is a total B in the show. One is super whiny. One only whispers when he talks. One is constantly pouting. It's just a complete mess. Such a mess that we stopped watching it.
- Lori Grimes/Carl Grimes/Shane Walsh (played by Sarah Wayne Callies/Chandler Riggs/Joe Bernthal) from The Walking Dead. That's a lot of people from one show to be annoyed with, isn't it?? I like the zombies better than the 3 of them. Lori is an adulterer who plays her husband, Rick (Andrew lincoln) against her lover (gross), Shane. Then she turns around and gets mad at each of them when they end up doing what she asked of them or insinuated in the first place. She never watches her kid (Carl) but is constantly going on and on about how they have to keep Carl safe. MAYBE KEEP AN EYE ON HIM THEN!??! Carl is a 12 year old boy (hey, just like Joffrey!) who, for some reason, finds it necessary to continuously look for trouble when there is a zombie apocalypse going on. Oh, hey, there's a Walker stuck in the mud? I'mma throw rocks at him and get real close since there is just no way he could ever break free and try to bite me (sarcasm)! Shane is a hothead and a big, giant, man-baby. Always whining about how he can take better care of Lori and Carl than Rick can and how he's a better man than Rick. You are a grown man! Stop whining all the time! He is always threatening to leave and then never following through on it. He hurts people so that he can stay alive. He's just a jerk. A big, giant, man-baby jerk.
Now, my most favorite scene stealers of the season!
- Schmidt (played by Max Greenfield) from New Girl. I love Schmidt so much that just the thought of him makes me smile. When the show first started, I figured he would annoy me. He plays a douchebag and I figured it would be way too over the top and annoying. The thing is though, they gave him a hilarious personality on top of it. Sure he does douchebaggy things but he's also OCD and has a genuine appreciation for his friends. He's funny. He's so very funny and I just love him. You will always find a Schmidt line from any given episode to quote the next day. He is so much fun.
- Klaus (played by Joseph Morgan) from The Vampire Diaries. Klaus is a bad guy. He's one of the Original Vampires and he's a total badass. BUT he also has a sweet side that makes you kind of fall in love with him. He can be ripping someone's heart out or throwing a temper tantrum because he can't get into Elena's house in a scene and then be wooing Caroline or getting yelled at by his mother in the next and you go from hating him to feeling totally sorry for him. Joseph Morgan is a phenomenal actor. He does such a fantastic job of portraying Klaus's very wide range of emotions. I love watching him. He is a bad guy that I never, ever want to go away.
- Dr. Jack Hodgins (played by T.J. Thyne) from Bones. To say that this season of Bones has been a bit on the lackluster side would be an understatement. The one character getting me through that every episode (aside from staring at David Boreanaz) is Hodgins. He's the comic relief and always has me laughing. I told Jeff that he is the best part about the show these days.
- Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin (played by Robert Carlyle) from Once Upon a Time. I love this character so much. Even the way Robert Carlyle portrays his movements from Mr. Gold to Rumpelstiltskin is mesmerizing. He is awesome. Every time he is on screen, I am riveted. he knows everyone's business and everyone's secrets and has plenty of issues himself. He is an absolute joy to watch and I look forward to it every week.
- James Van Der Beek (played by... James Van Der Beek) from Don't Trust The B--- in Apartment 23. This one may not count completely because I haven't been watching the show consistently, but what I have watched has impressed me. JVDB is brilliant playing a fictionalized version of himself. Any actor who can embrace their past accomplishments, ones that fans love them for and display it proudly earns lots of respect from me. He is always giving Dawson's Creek and Varsity Blues shoutouts and making fun of the ridiculous of being a celebrity and I absolutely love that. It is so so clever and I give much kudos to him for doing it. Well done, Dawson... er, JVDB!
There you have it. I'm sure I've missed some, so feel free to tell me yours or if you disagree with my choices (though, hello? why would you do that?! Haha), you can tell me why.
Let me tell you something... the days sure fly by when you aren't sitting at a computer, staring at the clock all day long. My Staycation (a vacation from work where one does not actually leave to go anywhere) went by in a blur. Allow me to list for you our adventures as I took a glorious week off from work to spend time with my boys and to indulge in some mental relaxation.
-To kick off my time away from work, I decorated a surprise Hunger Games cake for my niece Emily's Birthday sleepover. She hinted that she wanted one, so Rhonda and I collaborated on it. She baked it and I made it look cool. I stayed up until 2am trying to make it perfect. It wasn't perfect by any means but I had a lot of fun doing it (C and Jeff had fun eating the scraps) and the look on her face when I walked through the door made it worth all the effort I put into it. She was ecstatic, as were her friends. They put on their own version of the games while Dennis and I helped a little and it was hysterical and so much fun to watch. The cake was super delicious as well!
-We took Charley to see Pirates! Band of Misfits. It was about The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) and his quest to win Pirate of the year. It was silly and cute and not too long. All things a kids movie should be. In the middle of it, as C was shoving popcorn in his mouth, he said "this is a REALLY good movie". So I guess that's all the review you need of that, haha. We then took him to Barnes and Noble where I saw no less than 4 books that I wanted to purchase for myself... but I did not.
-We tried to take C to Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum. TRIED. I should have known better. I know my kid has my fear of dolls that move and things of that nature but I had a Groupon for it and showed him a video of the place beforehand and he was all for it and was actually excited to go. Then we pulled into the lot and he was instantly terrified. As soon as we walked through the door, he said "I don't want to play any games here. I want to go home. Now." We forced him to walk through real quick and I kid you not, he was shaking. he was so freaked out. If you don't know what this place is, it's basically an old timey arcade with lots of old fashioned coin operated machines. In other words, there are moving dolls EVERYWHERE. I'll admit, it freaked me out too but I was putting on a brave front for C. He was having none of it. Needless to say, we left soon after arriving. So, Dennis... you and the boys got yourself a free Groupon for there whenever you feel like going!
-I made some homemade cinnamon rolls. This was exciting for me because I have always shied away from the recipes that require too much work. I.E: dough rising. I don't have the patience for it and always figured I would screw it up. I decided to make them at 8pm on Sunday night and an hour later when I went in the kitchen to see if the dough had risen and it had, I actually squealed in delight. SUCCESS! They turned out good and Jeff and Charley liked them, so hooray for that. I also baked an apple pie for my neighbors, for dog sitting for us.
-We went to the zoo and had the best day there that I think we have ever had. Animals were out, it wasn't too crowded, wasn't too hot or too cold. It was just fantastic.
-Drove up to Port Austin for a couple days to hang out with my parents. I realize that this technically makes the staycation null and void but we don't count it because it was only 3 hours away from our house and it was really only for 2 days. The weather was nice for the most part, we ate a lot, we laughed a lot and we walked a lot. It was so much fun.
-Enjoyed a delicious coffee drink from Dairy Queen (a mocha moolatte') on the drive home. Because a vacation just isn't complete without a fancy, delicious coffee drink!
-Took Charley to Comic City in Novi for Free Comic Book Day, where we got to visit with the owner and our very good friend, Jill. It was fun to see all the people crowd around the free books, some dude dressed as Batman and to see how excited Charley was about buying some weird comic book version of the Star Wars movies. In it, Darth Vader looks like Kermit the frog when Luke takes his helmet off at the end. C thought that was hysterical.
-On our last day, Charley and I ran errands while Jeff stayed home and cut the lawn. We purchased some Birthday invitations, which he was very excited about and then ventured on over to the mall to get some Mother's Day cards (it's this Sunday, friends!). C unfortunately wanted to walk around while we were there and "see daddy's work", which broke my heart a little. When I told him that it wasn't there anymore, he said "I know, but I want to see what it looks like now". So, we walked around and by the time we got to the location formerly known as FYE, I was all sorts of choked up and C didn't even recognize it. "That's it? That girl store right there?" he said. Yep. We continued our depressing walk around the mall and it helped me come to the conclusion that between the crappy stores and empty spaces, Westland Mall is a sad version of it's former self and I hate going there now.
And that was that. Not a lot done but it was a good time and went by super fast. Now, I look forward to my next day off, which is this Friday so that we can take Charley to Kindergarten Roundup. ACK.
A few miscellaneous tidbits:
I have told you all before about one of my most favorite book series of all time, The Enchanted Inc. series by Shanna Swendson which is about a magical immune (she's immune to magic) and a handsome wizard, named Owen Palmer and the goings on of the company that they work for; Enchanted Inc. Up until now there were only 4 books in the series. On my last two Birthday wishlists, I wished for the 5th book to be published and chances were looking mighty slim... until now. Shanna announced on her blog last week that they will be releasing the 5th book in the series and I am absolutely ecstatic! It will only be available through e-readers at first (which means I will be borrowing my sisters since I do not own an e-reader) but I am ok with this as long as I get to read the story. No release date has been set but it should be some time this summer. HOORAY and now I can cross this item off my Birthday wishlist!
Ben Folds Five is working on a new album at the moment. Instead of doing the usual press tour with talk shows and radio interviews, they are strictly sticking to asking their fans to get the word out and using social media. I think it's so brilliant and shows the fans how much the band cares about them and their input. Just another reason to love the genius that is Mr. Ben Folds.
The season 5 premiere of True Blood airs in 35 days.
Spoiler alert for any Game Of Thrones fans out there who didn't watch last nights episode... Not only did Joffrey have poop thrown in his face (POOP! LOLZ) by a starving, angry citizen of Kings Landing, he was also slapped by Tyrion. IT WAS WONDERFUL. That character is so wretched, he deserves any and all bad things that are headed his way.
Lots of season finales coming up in the next couple of weeks! Castle tonight, New girl tomorrow, Vampire Diaries on Thursday!
- I received my invitation to join Pottermore a couple days ago. Believe me when I say that it is everything a Harry Potter fan could ask for. They took such great care when they created this site. It is exquisitely detailed and bursting with so much new content and information that it is a Potter fanatic's (me) dream. You start your journey with Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone. As you go through each chapter, you discover new content and backstories (like how Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia met and fell in love) and you can collect items to put into your trunk. When Harry meets Hagrid and takes him shopping in Diagon Alley, you get to go shopping as well, but not before you visit Gringott's and stock up on some Galleons. You get to go to Ollivander's and purchase a wand (the core of mine is a Pheonix Feather, which is extremely rare) and once you arrive at Hogwarts, you are sorted into one of the houses (I am in Ravenclaw). You can earn house points by collecting Galleons and books as you go through the chapters, as well as by concocting potions correctly and challenging your friends to duels. Simply put: it's brilliant. Check it out... but only if you have a few hours to spare. It's insanely addicting and very time consuming... and I am perfectly fine with that. Oh, my screenname for the site is MagicWing21495 . Look me up and add me and we shall duel and fight the Dark Lord together!
Speaking of J.K. Rowling and her brilliance... I'm sure you have all heard that she has a new book coming out, The Casual Vacancy (geared toward adults), set to be released on September 27, 2012. She is also currently working on a Harry Potter encyclopedia. I imagine it will hold some of the new content found on Pottermore plus other stuff as well. All the proceeds from this book will be donated to charity. You know I'll let you know when I find out the release date for it!
- Jeff and I finally watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo over the weekend. I liked it better than the Swedish version, if only because they seemed to pay close attention to the details of the book. I love when that happens. Even though they changed the ending a bit, I was OK with it... which is weird (I know) but it didn't ruin the story in any way, it just kind of simplified it, so I am alright with that. Daniel Craig did a great job as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara kicked ass as Lisbeth Salander. As I have said before, the books are real hard to get through but the story is worth it in the end. The movie does a good job of taking the most important bits of the book and putting them front and center, while weeding out the mundane stuff like shopping lists and what they put on their toast (I'm not kidding when I tell you that there are pages and pages of shopping lists in the book). Anyway, if you are interested or are a fan of the books, check the movie out. It's good.
- We also watched The Muppets with C (finally). I loved it. I loved seeing all the nods to the original show and the previous hosts. Jason Segel did a fantastic job with the storyline and the songs were wonderful. This part made me get all sorts of choked up:
- While at the library a couple weeks ago (Sidenote: I love the library so much. You should visit your local library ASAP. They have so much more than just books that you can check out. You can get DVD's and CD's as well. For free. Free! Libraries are awesome.) I stumbled upon a book by Katie Fforde. I had never heard of her before, but the name of her book Love Letters caught my eye. It was after I had read Lucky by Alice Sebold and was desperate for a happy story. After reading the summary (to make sure it wasn't a sad book disguised as a happy book) I was sold. It's about a 26yr old girl named Laura, who is in charge of running a Literary Festival in England. She is tasked with the job of going to Ireland to track down her favorite author, Dermot Flynn, to convince him to headline the festival. I know it doesn't sound like much, but give me a book about a girl who loves books and an Irish boy and I am hopelessly hooked. I love this book. Absolutely loved it. I am now going to try to work my way through Katie Fforde's other books. That should keep me busy for a little while at least.
- Speaking of books... Laurel Park Place's Bookstock begins this Sunday, April 22nd and runs through April 29th. My sister and I are really, really, really excited for it. We have been looking forward to it since last years ended. It is one great big, giant, used book sale. Compared to other used book sales, the books are kind of on the high end ($4 for a hardcover) but the selection is huge and it is so much fun to walk through a mall and see tables upon tables of books. Books, books everywhere! Check it out!
- Jeff and I are kind of over Bones at the moment. The last couple of episodes have gone beyond my tolerance for television believability (if that makes any sense). Normally my tolerance level is pretty high. I can buy a polar bear on a tropical island, no problem, but there is just something off about seeing a "genius" 9 month pregnant woman, running through a dining hall full of fighting prisoners (not to mention giving birth in a stable with no medical help whatsoever and going straight home afterwards) that makes me put my hand up and say NO.
- I won't go on and on about Matt Bomer's guest appearance on Glee anymore (it was magnificent) because I gushed about it enough (it was SO good) when it aired last week, but if you enjoyed him on there or at least enjoyed looking at him, I encourage you to check out the first 3 seasons of White Collar. Season 4 doesn't start up until July 10th, so you have plenty of time to get caught up before then. I promise, it's a great show. You won't be disappointed.
- I don't care that Brad and Angelina got engaged. Do. Not. Care.
- I cannot stand/detest/loathe/am repulsed by Jaleel White. I look forward to his elimination on Dancing With the Stars. He makes me cringe.
While most of you are out celebrating Spring and the beginning of the baseball season, as well as the awesomeness that is Justin Verlander, I am stuck here, at my desk, trying to keep myself entertained by perusing the internets and listening to the game via my handheld am/fm radio.
Now, on a normal day, Dawn and I will spend the hours messaging each other back and forth via google chat, trying to make one another laugh, sharing internet links with each other, or just listening to one another vent. It helps make the day go by fast and I look forward to it daily. On the days when she is off (I.E. TODAY), I am quite bored. So, anticipating my boredom, Dawn gave me a list of things to do while she is off having fun and I am sitting here, staring at my computer screen. The following is the list she made me and documentation of how I completed each task.
1. Take a blank piece of paper and ensure all of your pens, highlighters and markers work at your desk.
Done. I even threw away 3 pens that no longer work!
2. Read about something you never thought you would want to read about.
This is what I chose to read about -------> Toilet Story
3. Fall asleep from reading that boring subject.
I didn't fall asleep but I did laugh. I mean, it's a story in the newspaper about fancy toilets. FANCY TOILETS!
4. Start your fanfiction hobby that you secretly can't wait to start.
She's joking and being sarcastic of course, because she knows how much I detest fanfiction (come up with your OWN story, people! Don't piggyback off of someone else's good idea). Anyway, I didn't write my own but I did do a search for some Hunger Games fanfiction and found this ---------> Cheesy Fanfiction . I read some of the stories and then I wished that I hadn't because, no, just stop it.
This is a wonderfully, fantastic time waster and while I have not yet finished going through all of these posts, I did find this one --------> 10 Reasons to Date a Unicorn.
7. Facebook stalk people you wouldn't normally stalk.
Listen, I Facebook stalk people all the live long day. This task was done before 9am... Oh, don't judge me! You know you all do it too.
8. Clean your desk.
I cleaned it with that blue, fuzzy thing right there. My space is now dust FREE.
9. Start your own fantasy baseball league.
I did not start my own league as I don't feel I am qualified enough to do so, I am, however, listening to the game on my above mentioned handheld am/fm radio and eating some Cracker Jacks, so it's almost as if I am really at the game!
10. Clean out your emails.
I had 121 spam emails. Almost all of them were trying to get me to buy Viagra or Cialis. They have all been deleted forever. Hooray, no spam here!
11. Document yourself doing this list.
I have no pictures of myself actually doing each task because I am just one person and I was too lazy to have someone take pictures of me. But here is your documentation, nonetheless!
Project: Completed.
Now, some miscellaneous tidbits/musings:
- If you have SOAPnet and you are a Kristen Bell fan, you should tune in to the network on April 15th, from 8am to 7pm. They will be showing an all day marathon of Veronica Mars to kickstart their weekday showings of it at 5pm and 6pm. The show originally aired from 2004-2007 and was about a teenager named (duh) Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) who was a detective in her spare time. She solved crimes big and small with her witty personality and never give up attitude. Enrico Colantoni played her father (whom I adored) and over the course of its run, they had a wide array of guest stars from Ken Marino to Richard Grieco to Charisma Carpenter. The stories were always clever and kept you guessing and it was a genuinely good show with a short life span. I am ecstatic that they will be showing reruns of it. Fans have been chomping at the bit for a movie to be made and this will have to hold us over until that time comes. For real, people, check it out. It's a great show!
- Season 5 of True Blood starts on June 10th at 9pm. I can't remember what happened in the finale last year and I have no clue what this season will be about. All I know is Scott Foley is guest starring, as well as Christopher Meloni and I am all for that.
- You all know I watch Dancing With The Stars. This season, I am absolutely in love with Katherine Jenkins. She's so pretty and humble and talented. I look forward to watching her dance every week and needless to say, I am pulling for her and Mark this season.
That's all for now. I am well aware that it is only 2pm and I have a few more hours to kill, but I hope you are all having a great day celebrating baseball. GO TIGERS!
There is something about loving a book series that makes me so happy. It's a great feeling to get lost in a world unlike your own, whether it be for a few minutes or a few hours and become truly connected to the characters within it. I have such respect for the people who can write genuinely creative, smart, good stories. Suzanne Collins did that with The Hunger Games series. I've written about this series before, so you all know that I was hesitant to read it at first but then absolutely fell in love with the books as soon as I began reading them. It should come as no surprise then, that I was very, very excited for the movie to come out.
Here is your SPOILER ALERT. Please, please believe me when I tell you this is a wonderful story and if you have any urge whatsoever to read the books, then stop reading my blog right now. This is truly a story where you do not want to be spoiled. You want to experience everything for yourself with fresh eyes and not go into it knowing everything that is going to happen. Trust me.
So again... SPOILER ALERT.
Ok, if you are still with me and you don't plan on reading the books, the movie (The Hunger Games) is based on the book of the same name. It takes place in a post apocalyptic future, where the world (Panem) is divided into 12 districts and The Capitol (which is where the President resides). As a way of reminding the world of the rebellion which caused the apocalypse in the first place (and a warning not to start another one), one boy and one girl (ages 12-18 and known as Tributes) from each district are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games, which is a televised fight-to-the-death battle that takes place in an arena for all the world to see. The names are chosen at random and when 16 year old Katniss Everdeen's 12 year old sister is chosen, she volunteers to take her place. The movie shows what she goes through to prepare for the games, how she endures the games and how she unknowingly starts a rebellion. That's a real short and quick description for you.
I went to see the movie with my 13 year old niece, Emily and my two brothers, Dennis and Jay. All of us have read the book and love it. The theater was pretty full but not overwhelmingly so and that was nice. To say Emily and I were excited would be an understatement. We drank our 12oz, $3.75 (absurd!) slushes while impatiently sitting through the previews (though I was very happy we got to see a teaser for Breaking Dawn Part 2 and a teaser for The Host) and when the movie started we were riveted. District 12 looked exactly how I pictured it in my mind. They completely captured the poor, run-down, starving feel of it and Jennifer Lawrence is so perfect as Katniss. She looked the part and played her so, so spot-on. I was really impressed with her.
Let me give you a list of my favorite things about the movie:
- The behind the scenes stuff with Seneca Crane. I absolutely loved being able to see how they operated things for the games. You don't get any of that when you read the book. I found it absolutely fascinating.
- When Peeta touches Katniss's braid as they are about to eat the Nightlock Berries. It was sweet and it was simple and it stuck with me.
- Caesar Flickerman played by Stanley Tucci. This character in the book just seemed like a silly fella to me. I didn't like him, I didn't dislike him, he was just part of the story. Stanley Tucci brought such life to him that I beamed every time he was on screen. He was so entertaining. I thought he was phenomenal.
- Elizabeth Banks as Effie. She "got" the nature of the character. Her ridiculousness and her "Capitol-ness" were played flawlessly and exactly how I pictured it in my mind.
- The flower bed that Katniss made for Rue. The whole scene was done exquisitely. Emily and I cried and cried during that entire part. So much so, that she had to ask me for more napkins, haha.
- I loved that the Tracker Jackers looked normal and not like giant, mutant wasps (which is how I pictured them when I was reading them). I also loved how they explained them to the audience. It was so clever.
- The Reaping scene. I know this book is an emotional roller coaster but I didn't expect to get as emotional as I did watching the movie. The entire Reaping scene was so well done that it had me holding my breath, trying to hold back tears. If I had been at home by myself watching it, I would have been a mess.
- The Capitol was perfect. The colors, the people, the absurdity of how nice it was, it was perfect.
- Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. The girl can act. The girl can shoot a bow. The girl is kickass and beautiful to boot!
- The shot of all the Tributes on their platforms as they are counting down. It gave me goosebumps.
And now, a few minor criticisms:
- No bread from District 11 for Katniss. Yeah, they showed them uprising (which I thought was brilliant) but I thought that was such a sweet moment in the book. It would have been nice to see.
- I wanted more of the Cave Scene. That is such a big part of the book and truly where Peeta and Katniss's relationship blossoms. We got a tiny portion of it in the movie but I wanted more. I wanted the flirting and the lamb stew with dried plumbs and her tricking him into drinking the sweet syrup, so she could get his medicine from the feast. It may be silly, but I wanted it all.
- I wanted more Haymitch. I get that there is only so much you can cram into a 2 1/2 hour movie but why wasn't he at the Reaping?
As with any book to screen adaptation you lose some of the magic of the story. Jeff hasn't read the books, he has just listened to me prattle on about them for months so I was excited for him to see the movie. We went to see it last night. He said it was okay but he felt like it was missing something. I had to explain some things to him because I knew the background information from the book but overall he said it wasn't bad. I really loved it and was so happy with it. I think It captured the emotion and the heart of the book and you can't go wrong with that. Yes, it's a story about children killing children for entertainment and adults cheering them on but underneath all that, is a story of hope. It's a story about being able to stand up for what's right in a horrific situation and it's a story about courage... With a little bit of a love story thrown in.
