In honor of having a date with my weights this afternoon, after a month-long hiatus (thanks, school/exhausting twice-a-day walk between Oltorf and campus - I have no idea how I kept up my daily work outs all summer, walking in that triple digit heat six days a week...) I'd like to introduce the women out there to my personal fitness bible: women's fitness magazine, "Oxygen". (Sorry, guys.)
Founded by Robert Kennedy (founder, publisher, and executive editor of the men's fitness magazine "MuscleMag"), "Oxygen" is a fitness, health, and nutritional guide for leading a healthy, active lifestyle. Each issue features four to five workout routines (one usually being a total-body workout, the rest for specific muscle groups); fitness, health, and nutrition news; healthy recipes; motivational articles; advice columns; fitness success stories; and coverage of the latest women's fitness competitions.
"Oxygen" is the magazine to turn to if you want to start weight training but don't know where to begin, or if you've found yourself in a workout rut and need a new routine. The routines usually come with separate guidelines for beginners, intermediate, and advanced. And there's always a fitness model demonstrating each move. So if you're new to the training scene, don't sweat it! (Ok, so you might sweat a little...)
The magazine is also a great source for nutritional meals and snack ideas, promoting clean eating (which any "Oxygen" woman knows goes hand-in-hand with building serious muscle.)
"Oxygen" also releases "Abs" and "Glutes" collector's issues every now and then, for those serious fitness gals out there looking to focus on specific muscle groups.
Filled with healthy, toned, glowing women demonstrating workout routines and written by fitness and nutrition experts who love motivating women toward a healthy, active lifestyle, just browsing through this magazine will make you want to put it down and pick up the dumbbells.
Just to give a glimpse of what you might find in an issue of "Oxygen", here are some of my favorite articles featured in the current issue:
"Your Time-Saving Fitness Plan" - An at-home, total-body workout that only requires a flat bench and two sets of dumbbells (one lighter, one heavier.) This workout also includes three cardio days. Total-body workouts are a favorite of mine during busy weeks that leave me little time to work on separate muscle groups every day - I can just do it all in one 30-45 minute workout a couple of days a week! (In fact, this is the routine I started today.)
"Moroccan Bean Salad" - A salad recipe, sent in by an "Oxygen" reader, made with black soybeans, lemon, lime, a red chili, cherry tomatoes, and mint. Easy to make (and takes only 20 minutes), this is a recipe I'll definitely be trying soon.
"Beat Stress" - Fitness model/competitor and "Oxygen" columnist Jamie Eason offers her strategy on kicking stress: she turned "stress" into an acronym for stress coping mechanisms. This article had perfect timing - during my busiest, and therefore, most stressful semester yet.
"Power Lunches" - I love sandwiches, so, naturally, I love this nutrition article featuring five muscle-building sandwich recipes. Salmon BLT on Rye, Roast Beef on Sourdough, and Turkey Caesar on Ezekial were the three that had my stomach growling.
The anticipated "FlashForward" premiered Thursday, September 24. Summer trailers (like the one above) gave us a quick synopsis of the show: Everyone in the world blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, and during that time, they get a glimpse of their future.
Another "Lost," you say? Yeah, that's what I said, too.
"FlashForward" does have that mysterious, all-questions-no-answers-quality of "Lost."
The premiere of the new series actually started much like "Lost" did: We don't see at first what actually happened; we see people, some injured, in a panic and surrounded by destruction, fire, and chaos - though the destruction in the opening of "FlashForward" is much more than a flaming plane crashed on an island. It's the opening of Lost but darker and more intense. There is nothing seemingly paradisiacal (no sunny skies, no white-sanded beaches, no crystal clear waters, no healing island...) in "FlashForward's" opening: a dim city-scene (Los Angeles) littered with crashed vehicles, people on fire, and screams of terror, perfectly reflecting the resulting chaos and panic of the 2 minute 17 second blackout.
This lasts about a minutes before the title of the show "flashes" onto the screen (again, similar to "Lost"). Then, "Four hours earlier" comes up. The show becomes heart racingly captivating soon after. Ok, so it becomes so intense that it was obviously leading up to showing the global blackout. But I still found myself holding my breath.
You know what I also found? Goosebumps. On my arms. I know a show is going to be intriguing and one that I'm going to watch religiously when it frequently gives me goosebumps in just one episode.
During the rest of the premiere, everyone realizes that they saw their future while blacked out, the main characters sharing what they saw with one another - some were bad, some were good, perhaps "gifts" as one character called them. The main character of the show, FBI Agent Mark Benford (Joseph fiennes) was getting close to figuring out who was responsible for the global black out in his glimpse of the future.
Oh, and the future that everyone saw was on April 29, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. Hmm...not sure what the significance is there yet. And yes, one person, so far, didn't see their future. So we know at least one character who is going to die before then.
While I was a little worried that the show was going to be too "Lost," FlashForward" looks like it's going to be a promising series...at least for the first season. (It's always hard to tell with these types of "Lost"-like shows that are only meant to last about six seasons. But they have all become hits, so I think it's safe to say that there's hope for "FlashForward.")
Definitely looking forward to next week's episode.
My new phone arrived yesterday, so I picked it up from my apartment complex's leasing office this morning on my way to the bus stop. I excitedly opened it and put the battery in, only to realize that I needed to charge it.
I just wanted to take the phone with me (so I could charge it at work), but I didn't feel like walking back to my apartment (at the back of the complex.) So I've been carrying around this little box that's too big to fit in my school bag. (If you've seen me around today, yes, that's what was in the box.)
And yes, I did leave it in a classroom this morning. (Every day, I prove why I should not be allowed to use electronic devices.) Luckily, it was still there when I realized 15 minutes later what I had done.
I was listening to The Morning X this morning, as usual, when Jason and Deb bring up this news story on Fox News in Cleveland (while laughing hysterically): a report on a black bear a Cleveland resident spotted in her backyard. However, the bear ran off right after the resident saw it.
So what's a reporter (told to cover the story anyway) to do? Re-enact the bear siting, with a card board cut out, of course.
It was kind of like that ridiculous Alabama leprechaun news story that came out a few years ago: is this real?
Jason and Deb actually got the reporter, Todd Meany, on the phone to find out.
The answer? Yes. It's real.
When the story came in, Meany was told to go report on it. So he said, "Ok, is there a video?" No... "Well, are there pictures?" No... "So why am I reporting this story?"
So Meany went to the resident's home anyway. He found a Cleveland Metroparks Naturalist to talk to her about black bears. And what did she happen to have lying around? A black bear card board cut out. (And a rabbit costume, apparently, which Meany made use of.)
Annoyed with having to report on the story, Meany got a little creative and used the cut out for a re-enactment. It went a little something like this:
When Jason and Deb asked Meany if he had gotten in trouble for reporting the story, he said that they didn't even show anyone the coverage of the story before it was aired, so he was kind of nervous going into the newsroom, because he thought he might get in trouble. However, everyone loved it. No harm done.
Jason and Deb said they hope that he gets some recognition out of this...maybe a spot on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show." Meany seemed to like that idea.
Carrie Fountain, author, poet, and visiting professor of English Writing and Rhetoric at St. Edward's University, will be reading from her first collection of poetry, "Burn Lake," at St. Ed's, on Thursday, September 24.
Fountain's "Burn Lake," which recently won a National Poetry Series Award and will be released in 2010 by Penguin Publishing, is "set in southern New Mexico" and "weaves together the experience of life in the rapidly changing American Southwest," as stated on the events description on the St. Ed's Events Calendar.
The reading is at 7:30 p.m. in the Maloney Room (Main Building). For all of you Fountain fans, poets/writers (or poetry/writing lovers)...or, well, anyone, this is the place to be Thursday night: listening to poetry and perhaps (for the writers out there) being inspired by what you hear. At least for me, it will be inspiring to hear the work of a poet who won such a prestigious award (and will be published by such a prestigious publisher) for her first collection of poems. (In case you didn't know, that's kind of a big deal.)
So I'm pretty excited about going. Even though I'll have to make the bus ride/walk to and from school (on yet another late, dark night) on a day that I don't have to be on campus (which doesn't seem like a big deal, but when you do that twice a day, five days a week, days you don't have to be on campus - and therefore, don't have to wear yourself out with all the walking - are rare and spectacular), I know it will be worth it. And, as a poet, I'd be absolutely crazy not to go.
"Who I was before the accident is just a story now. Everything before now, before now, before now, is just a story I carry around. I guess that would apply to anybody in the world. What I need is a new story about who I am."
- Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
I read a book shelf's worth of books during the three months of summer 2009, but the book I enjoyed the most was Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. This was the first book of his I've ever read. Yes, I know, I'm insanse for never having read Palahniuk before now. But after a friend of mine - a fellow writer/bibliophile - recommended him to me about a dozen times, I figured it was time to give it a go.
Invisible Monsters is an oddly amazing book. The protagonist, Shannon, a former fashion model, is left with a hideously disfigured face and the inability to speak after a freeway gun "accident." Before, she had everything - beauty, attention, a loyal best friend, a boyfriend, and a modeling career (though not the kind of glamorous, runway, couture, fashion magazine modeling career you'd imagine). After, she becomes an "invisible monster," her face always covered in veils, searching for reinvention with the help of Brandy Alexander, a transsexual one operation away from being a woman, whom Shannon meets while recovering in the hospital. But Shannon isn't just looking to reinvent herself. She's looking for revenge.
What I love about this book is not only the simple, yet deep and meaningful writing, but the unorthodox story line: the constant twists and jumping around. This isn't a from point A to point B, chronological story. It's more like, from point A to point C to point B to point D to point A to point W to point B...well, you get the picture. It's a story told in pieces: pieces of Shannon's presetn and past that reveal how the actions she's made through out her life have affected those around her as those pieces are put together.
What I love is that nothing is as it seems in this book. With most of the books I read, I can usually predict early on what's going to happen/how the story is going to end, or I can sense what's about to happen just as it's coming up but before anything is revealed. (And while I enjoy the books I read, predictability can get boring after awhile.) But with Invisible Monsters, you don't know what's happening until it's hitting you in the face. While there are hints through out the story - the importance of intermingling the past and present - the way Palahniuk executes the piecing together of everything is done in a way that's always leaving you surprised; reading a line and thinking (even saying out loud), "Wait...what!"
I'm trying not to give too much away here because I think it's best to read this book having absolutely no idea what it's about besides what the inside cover synopsis tells you. Not knowing any more than that about the book, for me, added to the constant shock I found myself in while reading it. So hopefully I've given you enough, without giving too much, to offer you enough intrigue to read Invisible Monsters.
To sum up: Captivating, draw-you-in, can't-put-this-book-down-for-a-second (not just because it's so good, but also because you might get lost) story; brilliant (and for me, as a writer, touching and inspiring) writing; thick, juicy, twisting, page-turning plot; climax after climax after climax...(no, this book does not have one or two major climaxes; it has several, littered through out the story); and plenty of surprises around every corner.
This book might fascinate you. It might horrify you. It might inspire you. It might disgust you. It might make you want to recite a few Hail Marys (yes, things get a bit graphic from time to time.) It might feel like seeing a car wreck: you don't want to look, and you try not to, but in the end you can't help finding yourself twisting your neck to get a good look at it anyway. But one thing it will not do is bore you.
I went to the AT&T store today a little more excited about the aspect of getting a new phone (I had kind of settled on the Samsung A767 Propel - which I did not post in my other phone entry because it is a keyboard phone, and I'm still not sure how I feel about those), but found out it's not time for me to get an upgrade yet.
So I could either spend $250+ on a new phone (negative) or take advantage of my insurance (only a $50 deductible) and have a new LG Shine sent to me (um...yes, please!).
So it looks like I'll continue to have a Shine after all. As excited (kind of) as I was about a new phone, I'm relieved that I don't have to take precious time out of my too-busy life right now to pick out a new phone (and figure out how to use it.)
However, no more red Shine for me:
Customer Service Rep: You're all set. Any other questions? Me: Um, not that this matters, but do I get a choice of color? CSR: Well, we only have silver left.
Sadness. But a Shine's a Shine. And I should be getting my new one in 1-2 business days (so probably Tuesday/Wednesday.) And luckily, it's just a damaged screen, not a dead phone, so I don't have to go spend money on prepaid phone that I'm only going to use for a couple days. (Hello, again, optimism.)
Well, you had a good run, One Tree Hill, but it looks like this is the beginning of your end.
I could tell last season that the show was losing its spark. And after watching the seventh season's premiere....that spark is out. It's officially out. And without Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Peyton (Hilarie Burton), the show doesn't stand a chance.
(Note: I probably should have mentioned this in my previous blog (unless it was obvious) but, in case you didn't know, Peyton and Lucas are pivotal characters on the show. Lucas is the main character, and I've always seen Peyton as the second most important character. And the relationship between the two has always played an important role on the show - the "will they ever be together" characters.)
(Another note: I apologize if you've never watched the show and have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'm not going to explain too much because that would take hours and thousands of words.)
The show that once offered a beautifully written script (many of my favorite quotes are lines from OTH); memorable characters with substance, unique personalities, and a realness to them; a discovery for GOOD music (something the show has always put a lot of thought into and has always been known for - OTH introduced me to some of my favorite music); interesting, unpredictable, grabbing plot lines, has lost its depth.
The script in the premiere still had a bit of that "memorable lines" quality, but it felt like the writers were trying too hard, which ended up making lines that would usually sound unique, meaningful, heartfelt, and inspiring, cross over the thin line between breathtaking and naturally and subtly romantic (I don't just mean romantic lines, but they're included, because there are many of them through out the show's history) into just plain sappy.
For example, one of my favorite moments on OTH was when Lucas realized Peyton was the one, after years of almost being together but never quite making it. The Ravens (the high school basketball team Lucas, and his half-brother Nathan, played on) had just one the state championship. Confetti was falling from the ceiling. Lucas looked at Peyton from a distance, walked over to her...
Lucas: It's you. Peyton: What? Lucas: When all my dreams come true, the one I want next to me....it's you. It's you, Peyton.
Oh, ok, I'll just show you:
Just an example of the simple yet beautiful and tear-jerking (sometimes heart-wrenching) almost-could-happen-in-real-life moments on One Tree Hill. (And see what I mean about the show offering beautiful, put-alot-of-thought-into-it music?)
Tonight? Brooke said the following line to her boyfriend (after he decided not to go off and produce a movie for 10 months - see, the interesting plot lines just aren't there): "What if we ruin it? [...] The feeling I get when I see you after a month, and the way my heart aches when I smell your skin. I don't want it to go away." To which he responded, "It won't. We won't let it."
Ok, so it's not a terrible line, but it's trying too hard. And I think the boyfriend's response is what made the whole scene too sappy.
Basically, the script was just flat.
As were the characters. They just don't seem themselves anymore. Particularly Brooke (Sophia Bush), who used to have a lot of flare, self-confidence, and independence. Now she's just...boring. I really can't describe it anymore than that. It really feels like the actors forgot who their characters are...or just don't have the heart for them anymore.
The music was still decent. If I decide to keep watching the show, it will be for that. The one highlight of the episode was that I got to hear Bethany Joy Galeotti (who plays Haley James Scott) sing again.
But still, the music just isn't the same without walking into Peyton's red-walled, record-filled bedroom and whatever song she has playing. (Peyton was the one with a passion for music, leading her to creating her own record label - and leading me to some great artists.)
I realize it's only the first episode, but I just don't see it going anywhere (and I don't see the new characters, who are so dull and unimportant that I won't even mention them besides this, adding anything to the show.)
My opinion (not that I haven't already made that clear)? They should have left last season as the series finale, as planned, instead of signing on for another season - sans the two most important (and my particular favorite) characters of the show.
A review of One Tree Hill sans Lucas and Peyton: can it work?
I was going to watch it last night (since I missed the premiere on Monday), but my laptop is old and cranky and felt like making the sound like that of a skipping CD. I was going to watch it at work today, and then remembered that I already tried that earlier this week but couldn't because I'd have to download whatever it is that let's you watch videos on cwtv.com, and I'm sure I would have gotten in trouble for downloading something onto a school computer.
So hopefully tonight my laptop will be free of technical difficulties.
But until then, here's a video Hilarie Burton (Peyton Sawyer, One Tree Hill) made addressing her fans on her leaving the show.
I'm curious to see how it turns out. I'm expecting it to be awful and completely not worth watching because Peyton is my favorite character on the show. And it's kind of sad that once life was finally going perfectly for Peyton - besides the whole pregnancy that could have gone wrong - she's leaving. (Seriously, the girl lost her adopted mom, her real mom - after meeting her and only getting to know her for a few months - was almost killed by a stalker, got shot in the leg at a school shooting...I'm pretty sure the list goes on.)
Though, after watching that video, I think she was hinting on the fact that the Peyton she loves playing is no more. Perhaps she misses the emotional roller coaster artist Peyton - the Peyton we've all known and loved, up until last season.
I guess a perfect, happy Peyton makes for a boring Peyton (which is probably why they ended her final season with a possibly fatal pregnancy that they alluded to her dying from on the previews to the season finale - luckily, they didn't take her leaving the show as an opportunity to kill her off.) And I suppose a perfect Lucas and Peyton relationship makes for a boring "Leyton." (Isn't the chase always more interesting?) I actually read somewhere recently that you know a show is over, or certain characters roles are over, when the two people you've been rooting for to get together (usually main characters) finally do. (Thankfully, OTH fans got see at least one season of a perfect Leyton, which, at least for me, is probably something they'd like to see.)
And I'm not even going to get into OTH without Lucas...the main character of the show. That voice over you usually hear at the beginning and end of every episode. The character that brought all of these people together in the first place.
I arrived at school this afternoon, sat down outside to do a little reading before my piano lesson (and to take a breather after walking from the Oltorf/Eastside bus stop), and pulled out my phone - a red LG Shine, the best phone I've ever had - to look at the time only to find that the display screen had "cracked," only allowing me to see the lower right hand corner of the display. The rest? Black. With a crack branching out over half the display screen.
Which means it is useless to me except for making calls (well, for the numbers I have memorized, since I can't see my address book) and receiving calls (since I can at least see the second half of the caller's name/number).
(My theory on this incident is that as I was about to sit down on the bus today, it lurched forward, causing my bag to swing and hit the partition between the lower seats and the higher seats; therefore, causing that hideous crack on my phone's dispaly.)
Yes, I realize it is just a phone. But it was a perfect phone. A beautiful phone (just look at it!) A simple phone with not too many features and not too little features, but just the right amount, and with a decent battery life.
I was not concerned about my phone's injury at the time, however. I simply thought, well, I have insurance for it, so I'll just go get the same phone. All was well.
But wait, not too fast there, optimism! It wasn't until I got home this evening and went to the AT&T website (you know, just in case there were any new phones out there I might be interested in) that I was informed that my LG Shine wasn't the only one resting in peace. That's right. The LG Shine is no longer available. I guess I should have seen that coming since I've had it for, I believe, over a year now. (Sidenote: Why does the iPhone get to be around forever, while other phones come with an expiration date?)
So now I must go through the horrible search of finding a new phone. One that is not only pretty, but will give me the same features my last one had (because I've gotten used to them), the same simplicity...and a similar look, if possible.
Well, the pickings are slim. But I think I found a few that have some possibilites
Option 1: Samsung a777
Looks pretty much the same as the LG Shine. It's definitely got that going for it. It has all the same features, maybe even a few extra ones that I don't really care about. Customer reviews are kind of disappointing (3.8 out of 5 stars, ovearll). Apparently it has a horrible battery life. This seems to be the biggest con, as many reviews noted that even after charging the phone all night, by mid-afternoon it already needed charging again. Hmmm... Also, I'm not sure about the Samies. I've only had one, and that was back in high school. I think it lasted me awhile, but I've always gotten LG ever since and love them (I've only had two phones in the last 4-ish years, and they were both LG.)
Option 2: LG CF360
Same look, just not fully red. Customer reviews (4.3 out of 5) were much better for this one - no problems with battery life. However, the phone details said nothing about picture sending capabilities. I'm sure it can send pictures, since it is a camera phone and everything. But it was the only phone I've looked at that didn't say directly say that it can send pictues. (I realize not being able to send pictures is not a good reason not to get a phone. I have never cared about having a camera phone or being able to send pictures...until I had a camera phone. And since my digital camera died around New Years - yes, electronic items hate me and tend to die often in my care - it's been nice to have a camera phone around.) I think if I had to choose between this one and the Sammie, I'd go with this one. I have more trust in LG, and it seems to be the better phone out of the two.
Option 3: LG Invision
Ok, I'm not a fan of bar phones. My first phone was a bar phone, and it was my least favorite phone. I think I'd worry too much about it accidentally calling someone while being knocked around in my bag. Though, apparently, like my crippled phone and the two above, it has a lock to prevent this (one customer noted that it locks after 15 seconds, so he or she has never had a problem with accidental dialing). Also, this one has the best customer reviews out of all three phones (4.5 out of 5, overall). I did not see one complaint about this phone. And apparently the battery life is excellent (one customer said it has lasted up to four days without having to be charged.) It also has all the features of my other phone, and a few more. While the bar phone style makes me hesitant, I really like the look of this phone, and more importantly, the features/battery life/etc.
However, I'm not being quick to make a decision. For starters, I won't know what the particular store I go to has in stock until I go. Second, I'm not sure how the whole phone insurance thing works, so I don't know if my choice of phones will be limited or not. So wish me luck on my Saturday phone search.
And on a final note, RIP red LG Shine. You were the best phone a girl could have. But at least you didn't have to experience death by liquid like your predecessors. (Two phones ago, I left my phone next to a cup of coffee while I left my room for a minute. When I came back, my niece had left a present in my cup of coffee: the phone. The phone before the Shine? Oh, you know, I just set it on the rim of the bath tub, while it was full of water because that's a smart place to set a phone...and my cat knocked it into the bathtub. See? Electronics and me don't mix well.)
I love muffins. Blueberry, in particular. With some coffee on the side. Though packed with too many for their size, I just can't resist.
For years, I've been trying out blueberry muffin recipes, searching for a homemade muffin as good as those rich, calorie-packed muffins you find at a bakery or coffee shop.
Well, this rainy Saturday morning, I have done it. I found the perfect muffin recipe. I simply googled "blueberry muffins" and came across a recipe at elise.com. What made me try this one out of all the recipes I found were two of its ingredients: yogurt, instead of milk, and grated lemon peel - two things I had never tried in a muffin recipe.
I wondered if those two ingredients would make all the difference. They did. (I didn't have plain yogurt like the recipe calls for, so I used the vanilla Yoplait yogurt that I did have.)
They turned out deliciously. (Just look at those beauties!) So it looks like the search for the perfect homemade blueberry muffin is over. And if you love muffins as much as I do, this is definitely the recipe to try.
Now let's just hope I don't scarf these babies down...
Tonight was the first fall season premiere of "So You Think You Can Dance". (While usually a summer show, host Cat Deeley announced during this past summer's season five that fans wouldn't have to wait till next year for season six because SYTYCD is moving to the fall season.)
In case you've never seen the show, it's basically "American Idol", but dancing...and it's better. (Sorry, "Idol" fans, but I prefer to watch people dance than watch people sing.)
The only downside to "Dance" is Mary Murphy (Owner/Director of Champion Ballroom Academy and a once-upon-a-time ballroom competitor) and her "hot tamale train"...And her increasingly obnoxious screaming. I was kind of hoping that they would announce that Murphy would be unable to judge this season, you know, because of a botox procedure that went wrong or because she lost her voice. But Murphy and her vocal chords were present during this first episode (though filmed earlier this summer, while the Top Twenty portion of the show was airing.)
Seriously, though, I'll be watching for the day when she has to talk in almost a whisper. With two seasons so close together, all that screaming might get to be too much.
Since the first few weeks will just be auditions, I probably won't blog about the show much until the episode where the judges pick the Top Twenty. But one highlight of tonight's show: one "Dance" hopeful was so good, Murphy went farther than a scream...to quiet, speechless.
"When you get Mary talking about the quietness of something...you've done something quite remarkable," Nigel Lythgoe (co-creator and executive-producer of the show) said before the three judges (the third judge was movie director Adam Shankman) whispered in unision, "You're going to Vegas!"
So begins the sixth season of "Dance." As I heard on a radio commercial for "Dance" this morning, "New season, new dancers...same Mary [insert Mary screaming about hot tamale trains here.]"
October 30, 2009: The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
"The Boondock Saints" being probably my all-time favorite movie, I have been anticipating seeing the sequel since I found out two years ago that it was in the works. Well, my friends, that day is soon upon us (see the date above.) And I'm very excited to see that Sean Patrick Flanery is in the sequel (two years ago when I had read about the sequel, they weren't sure he was going to be in it.) A friend of mine told me, "Don't worry! He's in it, and you'll love it," a couple weeks ago, but it was nice to see him in the trailer as confirmation.
So basically, I'm pretty excited about "All Saints Day" (so excited, I'm listening to the "Saints" opening instrumental music by Mychael Danna. Yes, I listen to it frequently because it makes me happy, and yes, I know at least one other person who has it on their iPod and loves it as much as I do...I'm not alone!)
Go see it (after you see the first one, of course)!
About a month ago, my sister mentioned something about a sequel to the "Sex and the City" movie. I didn't believe it. I didn't want to.
Well, I was looking through the "Star Tracks" on People.com when I came across a picture of Sarah Jessica Parker standing in front of a very familiar looking "Sex and the City" New York background, in a very Carrie Bradshaw outfit. I didn't even have to read the caption to know that this picture had been taking while filming the "Sex and the City" sequel.
Still, I didn't want to believe it.
So, I turned to Google and sure enough, SATC 2 filming has begun. And apparently I've been out of the loop, as I also found out that writer-director Micheal Patrick King, the four SATC women - Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall, and Kristin Davis - and of course, Mr. Big himself, Chris Noth, signed their contracts for the sequel back in February. (Where have I been?!)
Now, I'm a big SATC fan. I watch the re-runs on TV when I can, I own a couple seasons on DVD, yesterday I even added the seasons I don't have to my Netflix queue. I was also completely for the first SATC movie because, like any SATC fan, I wanted to know if on again-off again Carrie and Big were really on again, for good.
All questions were answered in the movie, just the way fans wanted them to be, I'm sure: Carrie married Big, Charlotte got pregnant, Samantha became her single self again in the end, and Miranda showed us that man-haters can get married and stay happily married (despite some rough patches.)
So, a second movie? Really? What more could there possibly be that deserves another movie?!
Of course there is more to the girls' stories (like Carrie getting pregnant...possibly part of the new movie's plotline?) but can't we just imagine it? When the series ended, I liked imagining that Carrie and Big lived happily ever after like I always wanted them to. While, at the time, I would have liked to have seen more, just to be sure, I was happy knowing that he realized she's the one, and the rest was up to my imagination (which couldn't be wrong since it was pretty much up to the show's audience to think whatever they wanted.)
This isn't to say that I didn't like the movie. I actually loved it because of everything I mentioned before. And it was nice to see that what I imagined would happen did.
But I thought the purpose of the SATC movie was to complete the story, not be the start of a continuation of the story.
Despite my opposition to the second movie, I will, of course, see it like a loyal fan should. I'm just hoping the happy ending the first movie left us with doesn't go sour.
On a final note, some production photos I came across seem promising: a 20-something Carrie with big hair, 80s attire, and lot of luggage - clearly a flashback to Carrie's move to New York. If the second movie takes a frequent flashback approach, that might be interesting, since we've only ever known 30-something/40-something Carrie. What was 20-something Carrie like?...Maybe we'll find out.
...not just the words you're struggling to decipher." - Britt Daniel, Spoon
There were a lot of aspects of the Freshman Studies Literature & Philosophy lecture I took four years ago that I took away with me. The music the professor played to open the class with, the quotes he gave us, a new love for Camus, and falling in love with Herman Hesse all over again.
But there was one lecture in particular that has always stuck with me. During that lecture, the professor played a scene from The Shawshank Redemption that completely moved me; that expressed my passion for music, without words.
I had never seen the movie before at the time, but all I could think about the rest of the day was that scene and the desire to see the whole movie. Luckily, my roommate at the time had it, so when I got back to my dorm later that day, I told her, "I have to watch this movie!"
I did. And since then, it's been one of my favorites.
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am now a Freshman studies intern, which means attending one of the lecture classes as well as TA-ing for a freshman writing class. Of course, I chose Literature & Philosophy because I remembered so many great things about the class.
I knew the professor would be showing this scene again at some point during the semester, and I've been anxiously waiting for it.
Well, today was that day. And I was moved by it all over again.
I am by no means a chef...not even close. But I do enjoy looking for new recipes to try out.
I get most of these recipes from Oxygen, the female fitness magazine I read religiously, because I'm a healthy eater - something friends either tell me their jealous of or think is just plain weird - and I can always find something healthy AND tasty in the magazine.
So I tried out a new one tonight: Salmon and Asparagus [Penne] Pasta.
Ingredients? Obviously, what's in the dish's title, plus low-fat ricotta, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Why did I find this recipe so intriguing?
Now, I know there aren't many people out there who like asparagus, but I do. I just never cook it. So, I thought, here's my chance.
I also love salmon, but I get bored with it easily because I eat it so much, so I'm always looking for new salmon recipes.
Ricotta? I don't think I've ever had ricotta in anything besides lasagna. While I hesitated when I saw that ingredient, I was also curious.
Pasta pasta pasta!
How did it go? Eh. It was ok. It had potential. But I'm not giving up on it yet. I rarely get a recipe right the first time around, so I always think of it as a test run. Then, after eating it, I figure out what changes I'll make for next time. Usually, its a quantity of ingredients problem. The typical amount of servings in Oxygen recipes is four, so I base the other ingredients around how much of the main ingredient I'm going to use. And sometimes, like tonight, I tend to think that the recipe's amount for the other ingredients sound like they won't be too much, even though my main ingredients are about 1-2 servings. Sometimes, it doesn't matter...sometimes it does.
Notes for next time? I think I'll halve the amount of the ingredients for the sauce. I know. I should have done that in the first place. But I'll never learn...
Also, new recipe alert (and it's a heavenly one)! I just found a recipe on Oxygen's website that I'm absolutely dying to make: Cinnamon Ginger Sweet Potatoes. Is your mouth watering as much as mine at the sound of that? Of course, I happen to have all the ingredients, except ginger. But I will be trying it out soon, and I have a feeling it will become a new side-dish fave.
He may not have found a couch yet (after his six-week search), but for the third year in a row 101X morning show DJ Jason Dick won the Best DJ award in The Austin Chronicle's 2009 Best of Austin Poll. And the award for Best Talk/News Host went to his, as described in the Austin Chronicle, "whip-wackin', talk-smackin', Jason-crackin'" co-host Deb O'Keefe.
I'm a huge fan of the Morning X - seriously, it's my morning alarm - so I was excited to read the news on their blog (slept through the show this morning, so didn't hear about it till I read the blog later.) Jason's you-know-you-were-thinking-it remarks and Deb's smarts, wits, and direct honesty - no, she's not afraid to share her hatred of gingers with Jason (a ginger, if you didn't know) - make waking up at 6:30 a.m. worth it.
The DJ's banter isn't the only thing I like about the show. Like most morning shows - I'm not really sure, actually, because the only radio stations I listen to are 101X, or 94.5 The Buzz if I'm in Houston - they also entertain their listeners with little games and bits: "Quien es Mas Macho?" (who had a more manly weekend: Jason or a listener), "Whose Tweet is it Anyway?" (what celebrity tweeted what), Deb's Diary, and my personal favorite, the "I Love You Call" (Deb calls a business with a question - like calling a gas station to see if they have the Michael Jordan cologne Jason misses from his youth, or calling a dentist's office to tell the receptionist about her fear of the dentist - and ends the conversation with "I love you" to see if they'll return the love. They rarely do. But from time-to-time, they love her, too.)
So congratulations to the Morning X DJs! I love a side of Jason & Deb with my morning coffee.
