Long ago, when I lived in Boston, my roommates and I had a problem with mice. Now, we were clean people, so it frustrated us that half a dozen mice had taken up residence in our house.
We set out traps and one morning my roommate Julia and I found a poor little mouse stuck to an icky sticky trap. Neither of us had the stomach to deal with it right after waking up, so we walked to Dunkin Donuts and had breakfast.
While we were gone, Kate and Hillary cleaned up the mouse.
Now, living back in California, I have no roommates. So if I go out for donuts, no one will be around to catch and clean up the mouse that is living somewhere downstairs.
I have GOT to get a roommate.
And I need a donut.
We spent time with family. We ate italian sausages. We played a part in some couple's engagement story in front of the National Christmas tree. We opened our new pajamas. And I cried while trying to read our traditional Christmas books.
Or any other body part for that matter. Now it was another story for Alex and Josiah.....
If there is anything my mother isn't known for, it's being graceful on her feet. My mother trips and bumbles over the smallest things, sometimes over nothing at all.
James Cameron’s AVATAR is in theaters today. What about this movie interests you the most?
Sponsored by AVATAR. In theaters December 18. Buy tickets now.
Before I say anything else, if you haven't watched this movie YOU HAVE TO! It's really nice. It's a bit long (not as long as the LOTR movies) though, but I swear the story is nice.
Okay so I gotta admit that when I bought tickets to see this film, I thought it was for Avatar: The Last Air Bender. All that registered to me was "Avatar". I was too excited to wonder why the poster did not show Aang. LOL. When the movie began, I was so confused about why there were mentions of cryogenic states, other planets... WTH?! I was afraid the movie was gonna be bad because I did not know what it was about! I really thought I was going to watch Aang and Katara and the other peeps from the Nickelodeon show.
What I liked about the movie was the sci-fi part of it, and the love story. I was totally hooked on the story. The effects were also outstanding. I actually want to watch this again.
Read because: I'm listening to all the HP books on CD
Borrowed from: the Sacramento Library
Rating: 8 out of 10
Synopsis: Harry is back and in fine form in the third installment of his adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His summer with the hideous Dursley family is cut short when, during a fit of quite understandable rage, he turns his Aunt Marge into an enormous balloon and then runs away. Soon, it becomes quite apparent that someone is trying to kill him; even after Harry is ensconed in the safety of fall term at Hogwarts, the attacks continue. Myriad subplots involving a new teacher with a secret, Hermione's strangely heavy class schedule, and enmity between Ron's old rat, Scabbers, and Hermione's new cat, Crookshanks, all mesh to create a stunning climax. The pace is nonstop, with thrilling games of Quidditch, terrifying Omens of Death, some skillful time travel, and lots of slimy Slytherins sneaking about causing trouble.
My review: I really like book 3 of the series. Things get really dark, with omens of death for Harry, a mass murderer on the loose, and some really close calls for the three wizards. I also love the introduction of Sirius Black (played by Gary Oldman in my head), who is one of my favorite characters in the entire series. He's extra crazy in this book, and it's really fun to watch Rowling develop his character, not to mention the characters of other adults in the book -- Snape, James Potter, Pettigrew, and Lupin. I also really like Lupin in this book, and how he gives support to Harry when most others write him off. And once again, Jim Dale is the best audio book reader out there. (Finished 11/23/09)
Recommended by: a bunch of people. Plus I'd read other books by Bell.
Purchased from: A Borders going-out-of-business sale, at 80% off. Woot.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Synopsis: "Is sex a picture of heaven?" Bell wonders. It's all about God and sex and heaven, he says: "...they're connected. And they can't be separated. Where the one is you will always find the other." It's the story of God becoming human, of humans mirroring God and love made manifest in the chaos of our humanity. Sex God is about relationships revealed in a way that elevates the human condition and offers hope to those whose relationships are wounded. In Bell's spare, somewhat oblique style, he addresses lust, respect, denial, risk, acceptance and more. He does a fine job using the Bible and real life to show that our physical relationships are really about spiritual relationships. This book joyfully ties, and then tightens, the knot between God and humankind.
My Review: I feel like I should have read this a long time ago. I've had it for a while and I read it in less than twenty-four hours. It was a wonderful picture of what God has set out marriage and sex to be. Bell really delves into how the spiritual and the physical come together and how our relationships here are a picture of God's relationship with us. It's fascinating, really. Bell's style takes a little getting used to -- it's sparse and really uses the white space on a page. This book, though, was probably the least-difficult to handle visually (compared to his other books). I wish I had it with me so I could quote from it a bit. Anyway, I highly recommend this book, especially to high schoolers and people who work with them. I could have used some of this information back in my youth-leading days.
I was challenged by someone to come up with top tens of the decade in these following categories, and decided I would record them here for posterity. Counting from January 2000 to December 2009.
Movies:
Lord of the Rings trilogy (counting as one)
Amelie
2046
The Fall
Monsoon Wedding
The Motorcycle Diaries
The Fountain
Munich
Paradise Now
Howl's Moving Castle
Books:
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Harry Potter (from the 4th book onwards) by J.K.Rowling
Tracks:
Backdrifts - Radiohead
Psyche - Massive Attack
Try - Nelly Furtado
Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Iron & Wine
Narc - Interpol
The Past and Pending - The Shins
Hyperballad - Bjork
Volcano - Damien Rice
Auf Achse - Franz Ferdinand
U Plavu Zoru - Pink Martini
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