Wednesday, October 28, 2009

lost in Sherwood Forest


I checked out season two of Robin Hood yesterday and watched three episodes. It was almost like eating potato chips because I watched one episode and had to watch two more. This BBC version of Robin makes him a little too cocky for his own good, but his charming good manners and dedication to helping the poor won me over again.
This makes me curious to see how Russell Crowe will portray Robin in the soon-to-come Ridley Scott movie. And, to see Matthew Macfadyen shed his Mr. Darcy past to play the sheriff might make the movie worth seeing.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

falling on ice

Winter has struck where I live - first snow and now ice. Today, I wanted to go to the bank before work. Since I travel by bus, and the bank is not by my work, I got up earlier to make it happen and picked what I thought would be the best the route. But, that route depended on a certain bus, and I missed it so I came up with Plan B.
But, I wasn't sure how the return trip from Plan B was going to work. In the best scenario, I'd go to the bank and have a enough time to catch the next bus to the mall which is a transfer point for the bus that takes me to work. For this plan to work, though, I'd have to quickly get my bank business done and book it to the bus stop in like 5 minutes. So I went for it because it was 20 degrees F this morning, and the next bus wouldn't come for an hour.
I'm trucking down the sidewalk in what I thought would be adequate footwear - hiking shoes. However, I was so focused on getting to the bus stop that I didn't realize that the sidewalk had moisture on it. Snow from the day before had melted and froze on the sidewalk. Which considering my fairly brisk walking pace were no match for my hiking shoes. I felt my right foot slide when I stepped on it and my body starting to fall. My knee blocked a complete butt wipe out, but the fall flustered me. I thought it hindered my chances for catching the bus, but I didn't have time to think about it so I just kept moving, across the street, and down towards the transit sign. I arrived and looked down the street - here comes the bus. I made it, ice and all.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

waiting for 40 minutes

Today has crawled by for me. Maybe its the fact that it's the end of the quarter at my work, and I'm ready for a break. Or, perhaps the sinus infection that I've had has dwindled down my patience. I usually don't mind the quiet - when students and staff aren't around to use the library. But, tonight - I just want to go home and down some chocolate! And, settle in to watch maybe Adventureland or more of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Last night, I finished this book in the picture - Only Uni. Most of my reading is fluff, but this had something more. Characters that I could relate to as they struggled to grow in their relationship with God and juggle their work, family, and dealings with the opposite sex. Only Uni is the second book of a series so I look forward to getting the next one.
Now I'm down to 30 minutes. Agh!
The flow of words to put in this post has temporarily stopped so I think I'll sign off.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

did you ever have one of those days..

when things seem out of wack? Today is that day for me. My alarm woke me at noon. Who knows how long I would have sleep if I haven't set it? Anyway, Friday is normally my laundry day, but I had no quarters so I left for the bank at a time (I thought) that would allow me to catch a bus to get there, but I was wrong. So by taking, an alternative route, I walked about 10 blocks to get there. That's okay - it was nice day. So I get my quarters, and I plan how to get home, but I soon find out that my plan is arry because I see two buses that I could have taken whiz past me. Since I wasn't near the bus sign, they didn't stop. So I come up with Plan C, but I had to wait about 15 minutes. Not bad, but by that time, I'm kind of sweaty from walking to the bank and to the bus stop. So I sit on the curb, next to a shady tree and a motorhome in the Walmart parking lot and wait. I catch my bus and make it to my next stop, the library. Now the bus that dropped me off was late so I was booking it to walk to the library, return my items, pick up my new items, and make it to the bus stop. Luckily, I didn't have to wait to be helped, but I had this guy basically staring over my shoulder to see what movies I had to watch. Which I found annoying and slightly creepy especially since I had only five minutes to catch the bus. I suppose I should have been more pleasant. But, all I could do was smile and say "un huh" and "I didn't know" when he asked which ones I was checking out. Maybe if I had given him a detailed description he would have left me alone, but I didn't so he was craning to see the spines of the DVD cases. Anyway, I made it to the bus stop and after about 10 minutes or so I assumed that I had missed it so I started walking home. But, low and behold, I looked and saw the bus coming down the road. Running, I make it to the next block and the bus stops - yeah! Since the bus was late, though, it made my connection to another bus moot since it had already left so I wait about 10 minutes for the next bus. By this point, I'm very thirsty and hungry since I really didn't eat lunch. So I hit the only fast food joint in my neighborhood - Mr. Twisty. I order a walking taco and hot fudge shake. Digging into the taco - I realized that it has everything in it that I asked for except the meat. Go figure! Instead of complaining, I laugh to myself and consume my meatless taco mainly because the shake was kind of thick like a frosty. So I come home and do my laundry. I watch the last two discs of season two of How I Met Your Mother. All was going well until the last disc - the first episode was fine. But, the DVD got randomly got stuck on the remaining episodes after that. So I was able to tell that Lily and Marshall got married and Ted and Robin broke-up. But, anything in between that, I missed. So move onto a movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar called Surburban Girl. The cover made it look like a chick flic - romantic comedy, but I quickly discoverd why it wasn't in theaters. The girl that played Buffy making out with Alec Baldwin - ick! So then I decided that I'd order some stuff from Amazon that I've been wanting. But, when I log onto my comptuer, big surprise, it starts doing the security scan. I suppose I could order the stuff, but I didn't. I decided to record my wacky day here. So that brings me to now. It's after midnight and the Superchick CD has run its course. So I guess I should sign off, and unpack my laundry. My sheets and pillowcases are in there. So ta ta for now. Oh, if you by chance, oh library shoulder watcher, should be reading this, these are the movies I checked out that I haven't mentioned already.
Slings and Arrows
Burn Notice
Fireproof
Henry Poole is Here
Samantha Who
Duplicity
My Bodyguard and
Due South
Good night my non-existant readers. :-)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

finished breaking dawn

wow! In some ways, I found Jacob imprinting on Nessie a little too tidy. But, I was glad to see the Edward-Bella-Jacob triangle be resolved And, the ending, I wanted to read it all the way through, but distractions preventing me from doing so. But, I'm glad Meyer picked the conclusion that she did. Anything else, I think, would have been very depressing.
And, I think I like Bella married to Edward and being a mother to kid. But, maybe that's the point of the series - watching Bella mature.

Monday, August 31, 2009

i don't know what to post

I'm not sure what is going to come from this post. Honestly, I just needed a break from reading Breaking Dawn. A co-worker of mine told me that it took her a while to get through reading it. Of course, at 768 pages, it close to the length of a Harry Potter book. So it's not a light-weight by any means. In fact with a spine 1.75 inches wide, Breaking Dawn could cause some real damage if I ever needed to wield it as a weapon. Fortunately, that hasn't been the case which I'm glad about because its a library book, and I don't want a fine for its damage.
The break from Breaking Dawn, though, was more facilitated my the need to give my brain a rest to process what is going on in it so far. I am somewhat of a Twighlighter because I'm reading the books, and I'm curious about what happens to Bella, Edward, and Jacob. But, as a reader, I prefer more of popcorn-style subject matter rather than the intense drama of Meyer's books. I can read them for a while, but then my brain needs a break from Bella's angst of becoming a vampire and Jacob's pain of knowing he'll lose Bella. Ah - the drama.
So in non-Twilight speak, I've become hooked on two TV shows recently. How I Met Your Mother annoyed me at first because my first impression of Barney was that he was kind of sexist. And, Ted was so focused on being married that he was kind of desperate. But, I kept watching it, and I don't know if it was the repetition or the fact that I was won over by the funny, quirky storylines. And, seeing Neil Patrick Harris as a hippie was a hoot as well. But, I could only get season one and half of season two from the library at once so that left me with time to start another new series.
Actually, its a cancelled TV series, and I saw the pilot a long time ago. But, I recently watched Men With Brooms again so it made me curious to see more of Due South. So right now I'm trying to watch season one before it's due back at the library. The funny thing I that I noticed last night about watching this series is that I was most concerned about the wolf. I mean the main character, Constable Benton Fraser, is an attractive man, but while watching him and Det. Stanley Raymond Kowalski solve crimes, I was was constantly watching to see if Diefenbaker (the wolf) was okay when they encountered trouble. Hmm - so maybe worrying the wolf isn't exactly non-Twilight speak.
But, I did watch a movie recently that had nothing to do with wolves. I actually got to see The Hurt Locker at my local cineplex. My faith that its 18 screens can show alternatives to mainstream cinema is restored. Well, a little bit at least. As soon as I saw The Hurt Locker playing, I knew I had to go right away, and I'm glad that I did because a week later, the only showtimes available were in the evening.
So about The Hurt Locker - I agreed with the Time review that it was an "almost perfect film." Because it was. The action was suspenseful. The storyline made you interested in the characters and what happened to them. But, walking out of the theater, I just felt numb. The adrenalin level of the film was so high that I felt spent. And, in some ways, I felt like I would never be the same because I had seen something quite extrodinary. Men who suit up and walk out into no man's land to disable bombs. They don't know always where they are or if the people around them are friend or foe. But, they control their emotions and figure out, if they can, how to cut the wire before they and their friends are blown to bits. Walking out of the theater and knowing that what I saw was somewhat based on reality, I was in awe.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

pasta rant

I tried this mac and cheese dish tonight for the first time. And, what did I find in it besides the pasta, cheese, and veggies featured on the cover? Tofu - ick!

This is the 2nd time I've discovered weird things in my pasta. When I visited the Hard Rock Cafe in Nagoya, Japan, I found squid in my pasta dish. Yuck! It was kind of nasty, but the good thing about finding it there was that I had no qualms getting some Ben and Jerry's ice cream for dessert. That was my first encounter with Ben & Jerry so I guess the squid was worth it.

Now I'm just waiting for something good to come from the tofu.