Saturday Seven

I apologize for not blogging with any consistency lately. I'm sure all of my readers - the whole handful of you - are upset about this. Which reminds me, if you didn't watch the Emmy-award-winning season of 30 Rock last year, you should check it out this season when it premiers on Oct. 4.

Next week is TV premier week! Woo-hoo! I'm most excited about the hour-long premier of the Office on Thursday, and the next three weeks of hour-long episodes of the Office. I'm actually babysitting Thursday, so I will have to time-shift and watch all four hours of TV I TiVo on Thursday on Friday afternoon (or late Thursday). The show that is generating the most buzz - Pushing Daises on ABC - doesn't even premier for another week. Annoying!

Anyway, my topic today is not TV, but movies. Read below to find out what seven movies I am anticipating the most.

1. Atonement staring Keira Knightly and James McAvoy. Keira reunited with her Pride and Prejudice director Joe Wright for an adaptation of Ian McEwan's popular novel. Buzz on this is super positive, with many saying it is a lock for best picture and best actor and maybe best actress. And adapted screenplay of course.
   
   
2. No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers return with this faithful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's brutal novel. I started reading this book and couldn't put it down, read it in one night. And it's a bloodbath. It's generating very positive word-of-mouth as well.
   
   
3. The Golden Compass. Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig star in this adaption of the first of three books in Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy. I just finished the final book in this series, and each book was better than the one that proceeded it. If you can overlook the anti-religion theme in the book, you'll enjoy the series. Haven't heard much about the movie, but I can't wait to see it.
   
   
4. Juno. Who saw Thank You for Smoking? Director Jason Reitman returns to direct this story of a pregnant teenager who decides to give her baby up for adoption to a couple played by Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) and Jennifer Garner (ALIAS). Critics have been writing glowing reviews about this film. It's supposed to be a feel-good comedy.
   
   
5. Eastern Promises. I've only seen one David Cronenberg film that I'm aware of (The History of Violence - not recommended for general moviegoers) and it also stared Viggo Mortensen. They team up for another violent film surrounding the mysterious death of a women connected to the Russian mafia. Naomi Watts also stars.
   
   
6. Sweeney Todd. Tim Burton directs Johnny Depp in this musical about a murderous barber. Perfect for a Christmas release. :-) I have no idea if this will be good or not, but I want to find out.
   
   
7. The Kite Runner. If you haven't read this book, it needs to be the next book you read. You won't be disappointed. Hopefully that is what people will be saying about this movie. The posters look a bit cheesy, so I'm almost concerned.
   

Those are the movies I'm most looking forward to, in no particular order. I'm sure at least one of them will disappoint me, but such is the nature of the beast. Has anyone heard of any of these movies, at at least the books most of them are based on? What movies are you looking forward to the most?

Procrastination

I'm procrastinating. I need to make five development calls for the United Way, but I don't want to do it. So instead, I'm blogging.

We had a staff conference in May where we played get-to-know-you games. I have a stack of questions from one of those games, so I pulled five of them out to answer on this blog. Once you read them, you are tagged to answer the same questions. Don't worry; they aren't complicated.

1. What does your favorite t-shirt say? "The People's Republic of Cork" - Cork, Ireland, is where I lived for four months. I love this shirt because you can only buy it in one city, in one country, in all the world. I get a lot of strange looks when I wear it. However, when I wore it to an Irish bar on St. Patrick's Day, I got a lot of compliments.
   
   
2. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football, specifically the DALLAS COWBOYS! I went to my second Big 12 football game last weekend, which was a blast, especially because I didn't have to pay for the ticket.
   
   
3. What is your favorite season of the year? The Fall! I love the weather - cool, but not cold. Perfect for sleeping with the windows open and driving with the windows down. It's also football season and State Fair time. I could go on and on.
   
   
4. What was your favorite event as a child? I'm going to be vague here and say camping with my family. Growing up we only visited places we could drive to, including Calif. and Fla., and camped once we got there. Beaver's Bend is probably the campground I have the most memories from, but I enjoyed all of it. We started out in a tent, upgraded to a pop-up trailer and finally graduated to a RV. I wish I went camping more now.
   
   
5. Name three things you would like to accomplish in your lifetime. 1 - Run a marathon. If my tendinitis is going to flare up every time I hit a certain training level, that might be difficult. 2 - Visit six continents. I don't really care if I make it to Antarctica. I've been to North American and Europe, so I have South American, Asia, Africa and Australia to go. 3- Learn a second language. Spanish would make the most sense, but I would love to learn French.
   

Your turn!

Shoes and Tennis

I had a new experience today. I spent $85 on a pair of black dress shoes. I don't think I've ever spent more than $30. The tendinitis in my foot bothered me all week, even though I didn't exercise. I would switch to flip-flops about an hour into the work day because my shoes were hurting my foot. So I decided to buy comfortable, supportive shoes and accept the cost shock. I love the pair I bought - Nurture from Dillards - but the heel is designed for support and comfort, not style, so I might splurge and buy another pair of $80 shoes from the Naturalizer with a more traditional heel, to wear when I want to look a little more professional. And the shoes I bought have a lower heel, so all my dress pants would have to be hemmed to wear with my new shoes. I did buy a pair of brown shoes for $30, so I didn't go crazy. But I had a hard time telling the sales lady at Dillards I would take the $85 shoes. I can talk myself OUT of buying anything, but I didn't give myself time to do that. All I have to say is that these shoes better last me a long time (and not hurt my feet.)

Does anyone else have a problem buying expensive shoes? Has anyone found a better priced comfy shoe they want to tell me about? It's never too late to return my expensive purchase.

Be sure and catch some US Open tennis on CBS and USA this weekend. Sharapova has already lost (she was the defending Champion) and things are about to get very interesting on the women's side. What most would consider championship match-ups start happening in the fourth round. OH MY. Federer just lost the first set against John Isner, the tall, hard-serving 22 year-old American.

Friday Night Lights

It's plug time. Season 1 of Friday Night Lights comes out on DVD Tuesday and I encourage you all to buy it. Why not rent it? Well, it's five discs, so at $4 a disc, it's $20 to rent the season. You can buy it at Best Buy, Target and Circuit City for $19.99. NBC is so sure you'll love it, they are offering a money-back guarantee. So if you buy it, and don't like it, take it back and get your $20 back. And the camera work is less shaky and chaotic after the pilot, so don't let that discourage you.

Friday Night Lights is one of the most realistic shows on television and the acting is incredible. Any time Connie Britton is on screen, I'm blown away. It's ridiculous that she wasn't nominated for an Emmy. NBC made the decision to bring this quality show back for a second season even though the ratings argued against that decision. So support NBC's decision to support quality TV programming by supporting Friday Night Lights. :-) I watched the entire first season online on my laptop in one weekend, that's how good it was. Once I started watching it, I couldn't stop. And the show is about the people that play football and their community, not about football. It's relationship drama and probably the best depiction on television right now.

So go out and buy Friday Night Lights on Tuesday!

In case you aren't aware, the US Open tennis tournament started today on USA. Both Williams sisters play this evening after a tribute to Althea Gibson, the first African American to win a Gland Slam title. Both Serena and Venus were the first African American women to win the US Open and Wimbledon since Althea, respectively. Go Williams sisters! I'm hoping Venus wins it all. If that happened, it would be the third time she won Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year. The draw is stacked against her though. I know most of you don't care about tennis, but I'm excited. My TiVo will be working overtime the next two weeks.

Random Thoughts

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. Even my Friday Five recurring post has ceased to exist. It's not like I haven't tried to write a blog entry, I just haven't had anything interesting to say. I'm forcing myself to blog now, mainly because I'm bored at work. Also to give the few of you that still check my blog something to read.

I found out by reading the Sunday paper my age group (25-34) is the largest age group in the city. We make up 30 percent of the population. Where are all these people? I've decided they all work in banks. We have 22 or 23 different banks in town. It's insane. Other than that, I don't run into people my age very often. Why isn't the college population the largest percentage? The age brackets split freshmen and sophomores from juniors and seniors.

School starts Monday. The freshmen from half the colleges in town moved into the dorm over the weekend and there was a noticeable rise in traffic.

I'm growing jalapenos and green bell peppers and they have suddenly started sprouting. Unfortunately, the peppers are rotting before they are fully grown. I'm trying to feed them more water. This is my first time to grow produce and I don't know how big or small to expect the veggies, so I am probably letting them grow too long, thus rotting. I made jalapeno soup with my last batch of jalapenos, but I don't know what I'll make this time.

54,000 adults in my community of 200,000 people are illiterate.

Has anyone read the His Dark Materials trilogy. The first book, The Golden Compass is a movie staring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig (aka James Bond.) The book is anti-religion, but I read an interview with Nicole saying that aspect has been played down in the movie. II actually wondered how they would handle that aspect in the movie because the religious right is so vocal about representation like that. I'm reading the second book right now. It's a enjoyable read. I bought the second book by the author of the Kite Runner. That book is also being made into a movie. If you haven't read it, I recommend you do so. It was one of the best books I read a few years ago. Can't wait to start A Thousand Splendid Suns. Not a fan of the title. Can't ever remember it. (I just had to look it up on amazon.com to include it here.)

That's all I got folks. Not much going on.

100 Things

I am going to do this 100 Things tag that is going around. If you read it, I hope it's interesting.

1. I was born and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas.
   
   
2. I've lived in L for almost five years now. (I'm stuck here.)
   
   
3. I lived and worked in London for six months.
   
   
4. I lived and worked in Cork, Ireland, for four months.
   
   
5. I spent five weeks backpacking in Europe alone.
   
   
6. I've been to 14 countries in Europe, most during those five weeks.
   
   
7. I love going to the movies.
   
   
8. I love reading books.
   
   
9. I love theatre.
   
   
10. I love watching TV.
    
    
11. Thursday night is my favorite night of TV. I watch My Name is Earl, The Office, Scrubs and 30 Rock on NBC and Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy on ABC.
    
    
12. I couldn't live without TiVo.
    
    
13. Or my iPod.
    
    
14. I mow my own yard.
    
    
15. I have a younger sister.
    
    
16. I do not have any living grandparents.
    
    
17. I've watched 38 movies and one TV series season on Netflix so far this year.
    
    
18. I love the Dallas Cowboys.
    
    
19. Emmitt Smith is my favorite Dallas Cowboy ever.
    
    
20. I like Tony Romo right now.
    
    
21. I played tennis in high school.
    
    
22. I've been to Wimbledon.
    
    
23. I saw the Williams sisters play doubles at Wimbledon.
    
    
24. Pete Sampras is my all-time favorite tennis player.
    
    
25. Rafael Nadal is my favorite male tennis player right now and Venus Williams is my favorite female player.
    
    
26. My tennis injuries include a bloody nose and black eye.
    
    
27. I was in drama in high school.
    
    
28. I competed in two One Act plays.
    
    
29. I took advanced art in middle school.
    
    
30. I took roller skating lessons in elementary school.
    
    
31. I sprained my left arm skating.
    
    
32. I broke my right arm in second grade.
    
    
33. I went to a private elementary school.
    
    
34. I've never had surgery.
    
    
35. I collect key chains.
    
    
36. I've kept a happy list instead of a journal since my junior year in high school.
    
    
37. I'm growing jalapenos and green bell peppers, the first things I've ever grown.
    
    
38. I love the Dixie Chicks.
    
    
39. I have no idea what I want to do with my life.
    
    
40. I don't watch reality TV.
    
    
41. I love to go camping.
    
    
42. Beaver's Bend State Park is where my family always went camping.
    
    
43. I remember very little from my childhood.
    
    
44. I am an incredible Taboo player.
    
    
45. I saw my first opera in Verona, Italy.
    
    
46. The last book I read that I couldn't put down was No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy.
    
    
47. I voted Democrat in the last presidential election.
    
    
48. I've never had a traffic ticket.
    
    
49. My favorite color is green.
    
    
50. Then red.
    
    
51. I hate to dust.
    
    
52. Mint Chocolate Chip is my favorite flavor of ice cream.
    
    
53. I can't eat hamburgers at Wendy's because the patties are square.
    
    
54. As a volunteer I raise money for the United Way and the Children's Miracle Network.
    
    
55. I lived with a boy for two years (we were not dating.)
    
    
56. I will look at a billboard and count the colors or say every color represented in my head.
    
    
57. I will count the "sections" of things like entertainment centers in my head.
    
    
58. I used to count steps.
    
    
59. I must be getting less crazy because I do those things less often now.
    
    
60. I dye my hair to cover up the gray, which there is a lot of.
    
    
61. FRIENDS is one of my all-time favorite TV shows.
    
    
62. I threw a book away in Italy because I couldn't stand the thought of leaving it around for someone else to read, I thought it was so bad.
    
    
63. If I think about it too long, I still feel bad about throwing away that book.
    
    
64. I love cookie cake!
    
    
65. I have one every year on my birthday.
    
    
66. I refuse to wear clothes with the brand name or logo on them.
    
    
67. I can't whistle.
    
    
68. A co-worker made my cry.
    
    
69. I love taking exercise classes at the gym.
    
    
70. I don't like to talk on the phone.
    
    
71. In high school, I had long hair that went down to my elbows.
    
    
72. The first car I drove was a baby blue VW Beetle.
    
    
73. I believe everyone should know how to drive a standard.
    
    
74. I think President Bush is an idiot.
    
    
75. I love cheesecake.
    
    
76. I stopped wearing makeup in middle school and just wore it for special occasions until last Saturday when I became a full-time makeup wearer.
    
    
77. Almost nobody noticed, which I take as a compliment.
    
    
78. I haven't run since Thanksgiving 2006 due to a foot problem.
    
    
79. My knees pop every time I bend them.
    
    
80. I was a counselor for ACU Leadership Camps.
    
    
81. My favorite season is Fall.
    
    
82. I love the snow!
    
    
83. I walk to work, or at least try to. I've had so many off-campus meetings lately I haven't been able to.
    
    
84. If I had an opportunity to move back to Europe and work, I would do it in a heartbeat.
    
    
85. I don't have a land line, just a cell phone.
    
    
86. My birthday is during spring break, so I only remember going to school or working on my birthday once.
    
    
87. I had a solo in a musical in elementary school.
    
    
88. I'm addicted to Chapstick. I always buy Chapstick Medicated and take the wrapper off so it's a brand-less white tube. If the clothes I'm wearing have pockets, I keep my Chapstick there, otherwise I keep it in my purse. I have a to-go Chapstick attached to the outside of my purse. When I travel, I have those two Chapsticks, plus at least two backups. I also keep a Chapstick in a drawer at work.
    
    
89. I love to sing along to music when I'm in the car or washing dishes.
    
    
90. Diet Dr. Pepper is my soda of choice.
    
    
91. I wish I could dance.
    
    
92. A 31-year-old divorced bus driver asked me out. I said yes before I said no. I'm cruel, but not intentionally.
    
    
93. I love scary movies, but rarely watch them.
    
    
94. My bedroom is red, white and black with the walls painted red.
    
    
95. I like High School Musical.
    
    
96. The last movie I saw in theaters was Hairspray.
    
    
97. The next movie I plan on seeing is Bourne Ultimatum.
    
    
98. My dad always gives me candy for Valentine's Day, even if he has to mail it.
    
    
99. I wish my drive to work was longer than one minute so I could list to Kidd Kraddick more.
    
    
100. This was fun, but harder than I thought.

If you read this, I tag you to do it.

New York, New York

Where have I been lately? "Working" in New York. Jaime A. went with me. If you watched the Today show on Tuesday, you saw me and my group, even if you didn't realize it. Here are a few pictures of the trip.

The group ready for television.

In front of the Today studio.

Me and Meredith. BFF.

Me and Jaime in the Target room at the Top of the Rock. Electronic lights follow you around and occasionally the whole room lights it. So fun!

Frozen hot chocolate is yummy. We had an hour wait, so we took a cab to the Apple store and called people from the iPhones. Forgot to take a picture of the cool Apple store.

Tiramisu at Alfredo's of Rome our last night in the city.

My friend D just moved to New York. I met her and her mom for a walk Monday morning.


Matching shirts for the Today show. If you can't tell, the shirts aren't printed with ink, they are covered with beads.

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" encore of Mary Poppins. Didn't feel bad taking pictures during the bows and encore. This number was the show stopper. Show was great!

Prometheus at Rockefeller Center. I ate dinner at a table next toe the fountain.

I ran around the Jackie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park Sunday morning. This is my re-enactment from the Top of the Rock.

This is a view across the reservoir. Unlike the above picture, the run was casual run with frequent picture stops.

Empire State Building.

Good thing we were there to keep this huge piece of art balanced.

Our group ate lunch at Tavern on the Green our first day.

Inside the Tavern.

We took a two-hour semi-circle cruise at sunset. Nice time for pictures.

I loved that I get paid to travel, but I'm anxious the whole time. It's a relief to get home where I'm not responsible for the safety and enjoyment of 30 people.

AmeriCone Dream

Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's the Colbert Report has his own brand of Ben & Jerry's ice cream: AmeriCone Dream. I originally bought it because it was Stephen Colbert's, but I'll probably by it again because it's delicious. It's vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and caramel swirl. Yummo!

Wimbledon starts Sunday! I've actually been to Wimbledon, so it's my favorite. Maybe it's always been my favorite because Pete Sampras was always my favorite tennis player and Wimbledon is the tournament where he excelled.

Nothing much going on. One camp down, one to go. Then it's off to Dallas for a few days, then off to New York!

Sorry I haven't been commenting on your blogs lately. I've been reading them, but I haven't had time to comment.

Rafa's Reign

After a week break, I return to you with tennis on my mind. Rafael Nadal, my favorite tennis player, won his third straight French Open title today beating Federer, the top-ranked player in the final. Yay!

Camp is over as well. Only two kids were sent to the hospital and neither with serious problems. According to my pedometer, I walked a total of 55.41 miles during the week. Had to make up for all the food I was eating.

In other news, I've been "promoted" from a Loaned Executive to an Account Executive (that supervises a team of LEs) for the United Way campaign this year. The AE that I'm replacing is moving to Dallas for a job. I'm interested in the job she is leaving. She works at a company that promotes from within, but who knows. I'll keep you posted.

We've been getting crazy amounts of rain and the grass in my yard is at an embarrassing height, so I need to mow. I'm going to wait a few hours for the temperature to drop.

Long Time No Blog

Sorry it's been so long since I've written. I started a few blogs but never got around the finishing them. This is the busiest time of the year for me. Most people that work in a university find the summer to be the slow time of the year, time for planning and strategy and vacations. I work with summer camps, so I go non-stop from tomorrow until July 1. I even temporarily move offices to be closer to the camp action. I take a short vacation, and then it's off to New York to guide 30 alumni around the city. Tough job, I know.

Enjoy your June!

Weekend Recap

Normally when I go home for the weekend I have some down time. Not this trip. Here are the highlights.

1. Taste Addison: Saw Blues Travelers and the Los Lonely Boys in concert. It seems wrong that my entry fee does not cover food for an event named Taste Addison. It was fun.
   
   
2. Tennis. The only time I play tennis these days (sigh) is when I'm in DFW, so this is always a plus. However, playing tennis at noon on a hot, humid day is not ideal. Summer is here.
   
   
3. Georgia Rule. Jamie's decree: SKIP IT. One, it's not a good movie. Two, if you haven't read anything about it, you will go see a different movie than the one advertised in the previews. It's one of those. Just like all the children that had no way of knowing the sadness awaiting them at the end of the "fun, fantasy film" Bridge to Terabithia.
   
   
4. Trinity Hall. It was fun to drink Strongbow, eat bread pudding and listen to an Irish band on a Saturday night.
   
   
5. Mother's Day. The card I got my mom was "retro." It was a child's Strawberry Shortcake card. It was a hit. My mom laughed and informed me that she still had my Strawberry Shortcake sheets in a closet if I wanted them. I wonder if this closet stores my Rainbow Bright sleeping bag.
   

Friday Five

1. Those of you that know me well know I have been trying unsuccessfully since freshman year in college to get my hair cut a certain way. The style has changed through the years, but the inability to get the right cut hasn't. I got my hair cut last week for Cuts for the Cure, and I'm more than 50 percent satisfied. Usually the back of my hair isn't cut right, and the front is fine. This time, the back is right and the front is wrong. Go figure. But after almost five years in this town, it looks like I finally found a hair dresser.
   
   
2. LOST was awesome Wednesday! (SPOILERS AHEAD) Every commercial break I found myself muttering "Awesome." I wasn't on board with the whole invisible-Jacob twist until he went all telekinetic. After reading that Jacob briefly appeared after he pushed Ben against the wall, I went back and watched it; it's totally creepy. And who knew Ben was pure evil? He killed his own people! LOST has had back-to-back disturbing episodes. I still can't get Sawyer strangling Locke's dad out of my head. And the mass killing and mass grave this week. I like the darkness though.
   
   
3. Speaking of TV shows, Friday Night Lights has been renewed for next season! Whoo-hoo! If you haven't watched this show, I encourage you to check it out. All episodes are available online, and NBC will air repeats beginning May 27. And the DVD is schedule to come out before the second season, so you have no excuse!
   
   
4. What do I have to say that is not TV related? I've been experimenting with keeping my happy list in my purse. The result? I never write in my happy list. Out of sight, out of mind. I miss happy list writing. Several things have happened in the last month I wanted to write down, but forgot about them. Operation: Resume Happy List Writing is in full swing!
   
   
5. I'm teaching the toning class at work again on Monday. I haven't changed the routine I originally created, and this will be my fourth of fifth time to teach. It's too time consuming. I have much more respect for instructors at gyms that vary what they do every class. Granted, they've had training, but it's still time consuming.
   

Battle of the Surfaces

Another victory over Roger Federer for Rafael Nadal. Yes, that is a half-grass, half-clay court in the picture. Federer is the King of Grass, winning Wimbledon the previous four years (Nadal made it to the final last year) and Nadal is the King of Clay, winning the French Open the past two years, the only two years he's played the French. (Nadal knocked Fed out in the semifinal two years ago and defeated him in the final last year.) Nadal has also set the record for consecutive match wins on clay at 72 and is 7-3 against Mighty Fed, the world's number one player. Despite his appearance in the Wimbledon final last year, Nadal has never made it past the quarter finals of the US Open, and his record on every surface but clay is mediocre. His level of play on clay is off the charts, so I think exhaustion plays a part is his descent the second half of the year. Especially last year when he made it to the Wimbledon final just two weeks after he defended the French Open title.

So you got two posts in one day and both about sports.

Live to Die Another Day

I'm elated the Mavs won last night, but did they have to stress me out so much? And they will do it again Thursday night I'm sure. Good thing this team knows how create winning streaks because they need two more back-to-back wins to advance to the next round.

In other news, Veronica Mars is back to the TV schedule. Yay!

I'm getting my hair cut on Sunday. You might be thinking: Sunday? The Susan G. Komen For the Cure is sponsoring a Cuts for the Cure day on Sunday when 100 percent of proceeds from select salons go to the Komen foundation. I need a haircut, so I might as well help fight breast cancer with my vanity. :-)

I ran a 5K race on Saturday for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). It was my first race since October and my first time to run 3 miles since November. My foot's been OK lately. I didn't set a PR, but I didn't embarrass myself. And I got a medal! And they called my name as I crossed the finish line. It was the least organized race I've ever been to, but CASA fights for children, not organize road races, so I can cut them some slack.

Graduation is Saturday. I'm feeling a little sentimental about this graduating class because it's the first class I've watched from move-in day to graduation. (I've been here too long.) It's interesting to watch the transformation of the students. I interviewed a student for a job in my office four years ago, and I didn't hire him because he couldn't communicate effectively. He went on to be a leader on campus. I hired a guy that became Student Senate President, Homecoming King and Mr. University.

Friday Five: Independent Film

I love movies. I love all genre of movies. I'm more and more attracted to movies most people have never heard of. Technically I don't know if foreign films are considered independent, but for the purposes of this post I will place them in that category. They probably qualify anyway as they are not created in Hollywood, have much smaller budgets than Hollywood films and generally have a limited release. So for today, here are five reasons I love and support independent film.

1. The Spitfire Grill. My senior year in high school, my aunt dragged me and my sister to see this movie. All she told us about it was that it was an Official Selection of the Sundance Film Festival (an Audience Award winner to be more exact). I loved the film and credit it for my passion for indies. Ironically, my aunt ignores most of my opinions about movies because my "superior taste" (her words not mine) and resists all attempts on my part to introduce her to new movies. She couldn't believe I made her sit through Stranger than Fiction.
   
2. Film Festivals. After watching the Spitfire Grill, I started seeking out movies that were Official Selections of the Sundance Film Festival. Rachel V. is a movie buff as well, and in college we would stroll through Hastings looking for independent films to rent. Back then I didn't research films or read reviews online, so we made our decisions on the spot. We watched some bad movies, (Photographing Fairies), and odd movies (Being John Malkovich) but mostly we were rewarded with movies like Memento, Billy Elliott and Run Lola Run.
3. Originality. Writers and directors hired to make blockbusters usually cater to the lowest common denominator or are encouraged to stick to what works, so these movies usually lack creativity and originality. Obviously, this is not always the case. And independent films suffer from the same problems too. Charlie Kaufman is completely original, and his films are good because of his originality. See Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation and Being John Malkovich if you want to see a unique vision. And you don't have to love these movies to appreciate what they bring to the film world.
4. Documentaries. I've already dedicated an entire post to documentaries, but they are an aspect of independent film that shouldn't go unnoticed. These filmmakers work with limited budgets and are often self financed. These movies don't make much money at the box office, so to get their movies seen and create revenue, documentary filmmakers sell their movies to TV stations. What's the problem with this? For a documentary to be eligible for an Oscar nomination, it has to screen in theatres and the additional screening rules in place prevent filmmakers from working with TV. Grizzly Man was one of the highest rated movies last year, but wasn't eligible for the Oscar because it aired on cable. I have almost never been disappointed in a documentary, whereas feature films let me down consistently. So if a documentary comes to a theatre near you, pay to see it.
5. Foreign Films. If you can't get past the subtitles you are missing out on great films. Amelie just makes me feel happy. The Best of Youth is one of the best movies I've seen in years. It's six hours long, but I want to watch it again. The martial arts films like Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are beautiful works of art. And City of God is one of my all-time favorite movies. It's not very often that a foreign film has it's director nominated for Best Director at the Oscar, but that happened with this film. I like foreign films for their originality but also for the different outlook and voice they bring to cinema.
   

Tuesday Topics

I've been asked to update my blog so people can have something to read at work. At least I know someone reads this boring blog. Anyway, here are some random thoughts.

I'm running the CASA 5K on Saturday. Normally this is not news, but I had to stop running on Thanksgiving due to inflammation in my left foot. I've recently resumed running, but I'm not up to 3 miles yet. And I run at 6 a.m., in the cool morning darkness. Running at 9 a.m. with full sunlight is always more draining. But CASA is a United Way agency, and I support them.

The Lives of Others is playing here! I got so excited when I found out, and I'm seeing it this week. Because I know you are all curious, I will let you know if the movie is deserving of the Best Foreign Film Oscar it received in February. On a related note, I've read the horrible news that the brothers Weinstein have bought the rights to remake this film. A film that just won an Oscar, that topped just about every Best of 2006 list. Apparently they want this film to reach more people, so instead a huge marketing push and a wider release, they think the solution is to remake it in English. have yet to see a remake that is better than it's foreign original. This particular story is about the Nazi Stasi and spying in East Germany! That doesn't really translate to our culture. And don't even get me started on subtitles. Americans will watch movies with subtitles, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, Amalie, etc. The main problem with foreign language films is the way the subtitles appear. Subtitles should never, ever be white. Too often the words get washed out in the background. And on widescreen DVDS, the subtitles should be placed below the picture. I could continue my rant, but I'll stop there.

I'm busy at work finally. I'm writing multiple articles for an upcoming alumni magazine, planning a staff conference and preparing for camps and my trip to New York. It's to the point where I almost have so many things to do this week, I don't know where to start. I need to finish this post and read a chapter in a book on fundraising so I am prepared for a book study tomorrow morning.

LOST is getting good. Juliet's character is fascinating. I'm curious how the season is going to end. I heard the producers wanted to bring back Michael for the season finale, but he said no. I would think he would still be under contract because his character's story line is not finished. I'm loving the string of new episodes. If ABC chooses to delay the start of LOST until January, ala 24, I totally back that decision.

Veronica Mars returns next week! I doubt any of you watch it, but it's great!

I'm usually consistent with my cardio, but fickle with my toning. I'm finally doing both again, and every time I do, I always think that it's an interesting way to live. I'm constantly living with sore of fatigued muscles. It's not always the I-can't-take-another-step soreness, but something is usually tight, sensitive, sore or tired. Maybe if I didn't go through phases where I dropped the toning for periods of time, my body would settle down. Or maybe I should consider this normal and not being sore or aware of my muscles as the odd state.

So those are my random thoughts for Tuesday.

Friday Five: West Texas

West Texas is an interesting place. Here are five signs you live in West Texas.

1. When you leave for work in the morning, the sky is blue. When you come home, the sky is brown, dirt brown.
   
   
2. You can run past tumbleweeds in the middle of a residential street before sunrise, and probably any other time of the day. Quite often you have to dodge them while driving around town.
   
   
3. Your interior window and door frames are always, always, covered in dirt.
   
   
4. There are as many 24-hour local weather channels as there are local network channels.
   
   
5. You couldn't direct someone to a hill if your life depended on it. The flat land and never-ending horizon makes for beautiful sunrises and sunsets though.
   

Saturday Shocker

SNOW!!

It's Easter Saturday at noon, and it's 28 degrees with two inches of snow on the ground. (I'm making that figure up. I have yet to find a news website that tells me how many inches or rain or snow we get after a storm. You'd think the citizens would want that information, especially since we have channels dedicated to nothing but local weather.) Crazy! More snow is in the forecast for this evening, so I'm sure the roads will be fun Sunday morning. Here are a few pictures.

The front yard.


The back yard.

This has nothing to do with snow, but a few weeks ago after a heavy rain storm, a large double rainbow filled the sky. Rainbows can disappear so quickly, I took this picture from my back door so I wouldn't miss it. You can't see the reflection, but it was gorgeous!

Friday Five: Gael Garcia Bernal

I watched the Science of Sleep last night, Gael Garcia Bernal's first English-language film. I like him. I thought he would be the subject of my Friday Five, but first I had to make sure I'd actually seen five movies Bernal acted in. I have seen eight. You may have seen him in Babel. He played the son/nephew of the nanny that caused the problem at immigration. Without further ado, my five favorite movies with Gael Garcia Bernal.

1. The Crime of Father Amaro. This is where I discovered Bernal. He was so cute in this movie, but the crime was not the crime in all the headlines. He was a young, attractive priest in love with a girl. Should he break his vow of celibacy?
   
2. The Motorcycle Diaries. He played Che on the motorcycle ride that led him to become a revolutionary.
3. The Science of Sleep. Bernal's first English language film. The movie was wacky, written and directed by the guy that helped write the story for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Charlie Kaufman. His scenes with the neighbor that shared his interests were great.
4. Bad Education. A film by Pedro Almodovar, so you know it's strange. Bernal plays three "characters" in this film. And this being a Pedro film, he is a transvestite.
5. Y tu mama tambien, aka And Your Mama Too. This is an Alfonso Cuaron (HP and the Prisoner Azkaban, Children of Men) film, so it gets bonus points for a director I like. This is probably the hardest of the five movies to watch because it's a coming of age road trip, foreign language film style. Foreign films almost always have more language, nudity, sex, alcohol and drugs than American movies.
   

The Joys of Technology

When I moved into my new old house, my TV became the living room TV. Jaime kept her TV in her room, and her father brought a TV down from Fort Worth that I took by default. The TV was manufactured in 1989. I tried to hook a DVD player up to it, and the port the cable went into was the only port. I don't know if port is the right word, but I can't think of anything else, so I'm going with it.

This wasn't a big deal until recently. I'm a Netflix subscriber. I've realized in the last few weeks that I'm not moving through my movies at a fast enough pace to make the monthly rate worth it. When you have a roommate, you can't just come home and ask her to turn off what she's watching so you can watch an obscure French film. At least I don't think you can. When I lived there before, with different roommates, the person watching TV first was in control of the roommate. I still live with that mentality.

I did a little research yesterday and purchased a RF modulator. Everything plugs into this little box - cable, DVD, S-Video, and then you run one cable to the back of your TV, and presto! Cable or DVD, take your pick.

That's all the exciting news in my world. Oh, and because I'm incompetent and can't stick cables in the right portals, I thought my first RF modulator was broken. I bought a different brand from Wal-Mart, cheaper as well, and then realized the error of my ways. So this weekend I get to return the more expensive product. Yay! Isn't my life exciting?