Movie Review Monday - Let the Right One In and Date Night

My son gave me the book to read. I read about 30-50 pages and got bored with it. I still haven't finished it. But then my son brought home the movie and said his friends said it was "Great!" So, I thought, I'll give it another chance. My husband and I popped some popcorn and sat down to watch it on Saturday night. He liked the idea of watching a Scandinavian film and I am a die-hard fanpire, so what the heck.

But "Great" is giving it way too much credit-at least in my opinion. It was slow and uneventful for a horror film. It was labeled a thriller - but I was less than thrilled. The acting may have been okay but definitely not stellar. All-in-all this would not be one I'd recommend.

However, my husband and I then popped in Date Night with Steve Carell and Tina Fey. It was super cute and made me laugh out loud.

I have so been there with this couple, when the kids were growing up. Only my husband and I never did "Date Night(s)". I wish we would have known about these special occasions for parents. But back then we were just struggling to make ends meet and after seeing this film, maybe that was a good thing. I'm sure we would have taken the Triplehorns' reservation too, if we'd had the chance and then where would we be today? Not driving a lamborghini - I'm sure, we would never have been so lucky.

But this is one funtastic film that I would recommend to any young couple with kids - no, wait, I'd recommend this one to anyone :)

Halloween Happenings

I love Halloween - there's only one holiday I go more GAGA for-yep, Christmas.

Check out Mackenzie's Lady Gaga impersonation and Luke's always just Joker...ing around




I'm a little more tame in my costuming..

We dressed up and went to a 3-D, glow-in-the-dark putt-putt golf course. It was a lot of fun but I don't know if the 3-D glasses helped or hurt my game.


If you want to know more about Putt-Putt in Portland, check out the Glowing Greens link but be WARNED, it makes a lot of noise (this is a sound enhanced site), click here.

Interview with a Vampire - Book Talk

I know it's an old book that was even made into a movie in 1994 but I didn't like the movie. I know, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, what's not to like? Right? Well, for me, it was just too slow for a vampire story.

But the book is an entirely different thing. Interview with a Vampire written in 1973 by Anne Rice is a well-written story.

I picked it up at a bookstore in Seattle, when I was waiting for my husband to get out of a meeting. And, after a few pages, I couldn't put it down.

I was curious what so many people found interesting, especially since I didn't enjoy the movie. Well, I found out why it was such a phenomena. It is an interesting story.

So, if you're a fanpire like me, and you haven't already read this novel, you might want to pick it up and give it another chance.

If you do read the story, let me know what you think.

Four Days In - And I'm Hopelessly BEHIND

HELP...

I don't want to get caught with my pants down on November 30th. I've got a goal to reach. And it's an ugly fact to face.

NaNoWriMo has only just begun and I'm already falling hopelessly behind. My word count today is only 1455, not bad for a couple days of writing butt, as you can see, I'm having trouble staying on-target.

This 1500-or so--words per day thing isn't as easy as you might think. What was I thinking...? I can't keep up. Between working all day, coming home, cleaning, cooking...butt wait...

I can't give up.

Not yet. I'm no quitter.

Besides the weekend is coming. I can always catch up then. It's the hare, after all, that actually wins the race...write...?

And, I have some time-off coming up. I can use those days to reach my word count. All I have to do is re-double my efforts.

I'm hoping, with that little extra work, I'll be able to get back on track. The only problem is this race is steeper than any 5 or 10K I've ever run.

In truth, maybe I knew what I was in for. "FOF"--That's probably the real reason I didn't register (officially) for this challenge: Fear Of Failure. I still want to see what I can do.

All I need to remember are those famous Nike words, "Just Do It".

After all, I want to be a writer: A Word Warrior.

I've just got to get my BIC ("Butt In Chair") and get busy.

I can do better - I'll just use the weekend to catch-up, at least a little.

Anyone else out there trying to keep up...?

Throw me a couple tidbits of advice. Any hints, tips or tricks you're using to stay on task, to run this course and win this race?

And, if you have any helpful words, put them in the comments section, if you can spare 'em. After all, I can use all the extra words you're willing to throw my way. Maybe I can even think of a way to work them into my daily word-count ;)

The Season of Giving is Upon Us

The holidays are always a happy time in our home. The "kids" are home from college and we all gather around to eat some festive foods and celebrate together. But there are a lot of families that won't be having such a wonderful holiday season this year.

Unemployment levels are high this year and many families are struggling just to keep food on the table.

One thing we can all do is think about giving to others this year. And it doesn't have to be money. We can give the gift of volunteering.

Choose your favorite charity and give them a call. You might like to get involved with a local Thanksgiving Day food drive, or deliver food to homebound seniors. You could also donate a couple of hours one day to a Toy-n-Joy drive. There are plenty of ideas to choose from.

If you can't donate time, what about going through your closets and donating old clothing?

You could also donate some canned food to a local homeless shelter or even think about donating some blood to your local blood bank.

If you have some ideas, please include them in the "comments" section. I'd love to see a few more volunteer ideas to choose from.

NaNoWriMo - One Day In

So what is NaNoWriMo? It's National Novel Writing Month. This event/activity/group brings together writers from all over the world with a common goal: to sit down and write a book in one month.

The writers plan to write a 50,000 word book from start to finish in one month's time. Beginning on November 1st and ending on the last day of the month, writers everywhere will have written novels.

It's a fantastic goal that moves at a feverish pace. So check out the pages of Nanowrimo.org and see what it's all about. Maybe you can finish a book this month too. Just get writing.

Movie Review Monday - The Social Network

I hated this movie. I know it's a strong word to use and one that Mom said we shouldn't throw around lightly because "Swords might kill the body but words can kill the spirit". So, believe me, when I say I hated The Social Network, it's true.

This was a true downer movie for me. Okay, so it's a story about a lot of super bright young men who ended up becoming Accidental Billionaires but, like another old adage Mom used to use, "Money is the Root of All Evil". At least this movie proved that point and brought it home with the finesse of a sledge hammer.

I walked out of the theater feeling depressed and disappointed with humanity. Not a good way to start a holiday weekend--or, on the other hand, maybe it was the perfect horror movie to see on Halloween.

The only redeeming factor I could glean from this film was the fact that it was brought to the Silver (or maybe that's "the digital") screen. After all, I'm sure Mr. Zuckerberg has the money to have held the film up and maybe to even close it down, if he'd wanted. So perhaps he and Eduardo Saverin have rebuilt bridges. I, for one, certainly hope so. Because like Mom used to say, "Things are just things" and, "in the end, relationships are all that really matter". So, in the spirit of Facebook and my favorite movie (It's a Wonderful Life), I'd like to think that the richest man in the graveyard will be the one who died with the most friends.