Simply Me

Random Stuff Saturday

After taking off two full weeks from work, going back can be tough! I was relieved to find there were no major problems waiting for me when I logged in on Monday. The good news is that I made it through the week and can now breathe deep and enjoy the weekend.

What else has been going on? I've been reading, editing photos, ordering photos, stepping through the Library of Memories (LOM) materials that I've been working through for 3 years (!), watching some favorite movies and trying to sleep. Not sleeping soundly with some regularity is starting to be bothersome!

With regard to the photos, I found this awesome image of Izzy from last summer that I had previously passed by: 

I love how it really highlights what a strong and beautiful head she has. It's not the "dishy" style that is currently popular in the miniature horse world (click here to see some wonderful examples of what I mean: CLICK HERE). Still, I like it.

On Wednesday night, I stumbled across one of my all time favorite movies:  Mr. Holland's Opus.  I discovered this movie in the 90's when I joined Columbia Record's VCR club. It was was one of my "12 FREE!" movies for joining. LOL! If you've never seen it, you owe it to yourself to find it. If you've ever had a teacher in your life who was something beyond a little special, this one is for you. If you love music, this one is for you. Find the soundtrack, you'll love it too!  CLICK HERE to read a good synopsis of the movie.  Here's the original trailer from 1995:

 

Last night, we watched one of my favorite movies from 2010:  How to Train Your Dragon. Again, if you didn't see this last year, get yourself to the Red Box or Blockbuster kiosk, put it in your Netflix Queue or find it on your cable's on demand listing. I took Casey to see this expecting to not like it one bit. Expecting to take a nap during most  of it. And like Transformers and Iron Man before it, I *loved* it from the start. With it's wonderful story, great comedic moments, adorable dragons (!) and heart warming characters, you can't help but enjoy it. And if anyone knows where I can find a plush Toothless, please let me know!

 

I enjoyed this again so much last night that I'm going to actually buy a copy to keep.

That's it for today. I think!

 

What's your favorite one?

It's a no brainer for me:

I'm a Disney fan. I not overboard about it, but I do so love the movies. My top 10:

10. The Fox and the Hound 

9. Mulan

8. Hercules

7. Dinosaur

6. Tarzan

5. Lady & the Tramp

4. Lion King

3. The Toy Story Trilogy

2. Up!

1. Beauty and the Beast

I fell in love with this the year it came out. We went to a drive-in movie and it was the early show. My poor husband! We didn't even have kids yet. I have *no* idea what the second feature was...I was totally entranced by the kiddy show! 

I then saw the Broadway version at the Kennedy Center in D.C. At that time, Sarah was 2 and B&B was her favorite video. Actually, it was the first video she found that intense interested in. I bet that in 1996, I could have spoken the dialogue for the whole movie after having seen/heard it over and over.

I think that the music is what captured my heart the most. I so, so, love every song in this movie. And the additional ones from the Broadway play are equally amazing. 

Last night I saw the commercial for the upcoming "limited release" on October 5th.  I *will* be at Walmart or Target that day picking up my BluRay/DVD combo pack. 

I'd love to hear what your top 10? 5? Disney movies are!

Review time: Water for Elephants & The Proposal

I just finished listening to this audio book:

 

Published in 2007, I've heard many people give this book great reviews. I had a misconception regarding the subject matter, so I avoided it. I finally broke down a couple months ago and used a credit on Audible.com to put it in my library. It still took a while before I put it on my MP3 player and then yet a little longer to actually start listening to it. I'm here to say I was an idiot for not listening/reading sooner. 

The book is told by the same character, Jacob, from two different points in his life. Both as a 24 yr old and a 93 yr old. The audio book brilliantly used different narrators for the different times. Not to give too much away, but the story centers around a small traveling circus during the depression. Some of the harsh realities of such an environment are exposed and no punches are pulled. Some of the details are graphic and gruesome. At the same time, these details are done with a light touch that serves to enhance the story and not to just be gruesome from greusome's sake.

If you haven't read this yet, I urge you to grab a copy or download an audio file. You will quickly be entranced by this tale. Guaranteed!

Now, on to my movie review:

As with books, sometimes it takes me a while to get around to watching popular movies. As I waited for my daughter to return from a late night out (side bar:  I learned that I can't go to sleep knowing one of my children is not home yet!), I used our Wii to connect to Netflix and started browsing instant view movies. 

I first watched the latest episode of Pillars of the Earth from STARZ (and if you haven't watched this series yet (it's a miniseries), you really are missing something special). I still had time to kill, so I picked "The Proposal". I *love* Sandra Bullock. I love her in romantic comedies. Ryan Reynolds is cute and funny too, so I wasn't surprised when I found myself thoroughly enjoying this very predictable movie. Following the classic romantic comedy equation of:  ENEMIES in an AWKWARD situation DISCOVER that they actually find each other ATTRACTIVE and ultimately FALL IN LOVE. 

What is it about "....living happily ever after" that gets to us on such an emotional level that we're willing to ignore obviously ridiculous plot lines and enjoy such movies to the point of crying tears of happiness for the ending that we all knew as going to happen the minute the first credits appeared on the screen? I don't know what it is, but I know I enjoyed this movie and I cried at the end. And I would recommend you watch it too. You don't have to cry if you don't to :)

I don't support him...but I do support her!

My daughter had to create a campaign ad for either Senator Obama or Senator McCain.  Because of a test she took during her gov't test, she had to create the ad for Senator Obama.  I am not a supporter, but I do have to say that she did a great job on this.  And because I like to brag about my kids and their accomplishments whenever I can...I'm going to display it here.

That is...if I can figure out how to add a video!

Figured it out....the quality is poor....not sure what happened when I uploaded it to Google.  It doesn't look like this when you play the file straight in the movie maker program.  But you'll get the idea.