To all you stalkers out there

There are two people in our family who are just so funny that you love to be around them and often the comment is heard, “if we could get Sharon and Carol together one day, we would die from laughter.” 

Sharon lives in Indiana and Carol in Wisconsin, so it has not happened yet, but Sharon has begun blogging.  She was shamed into it really by a couple of bloggers, okay, me  and her friend.  She tried her hand, Just who are you people? « Braindebris’s Weblog, and was (as we suspected) hysterical.  She is one of ‘those’ people, who if she wrote regularly enough would be publishing a book.  She is that funny, just check out the The Immortal Rabbit « Braindebris’s Weblog if you want to split a gut.

She took a long break from blogging, much to our disgust, and is back now on a weekly blog schedule.  You would think she has a life or something!  She also mentioned it takes a good hour to put a blog post together.  Who knew!   

So, this morning, I checked how her weekend was and she brought up the often mysterious workings of the blogosphere and the people who take the time to read your blog but rarely write comments. 

My readership is not huge, it has dropped since I have gotten less regular in posting. However, in the beginning, when my readership would hit 1,000 for the month, I never had commenters, other than one.  There were 999 people out there lurking.   XUP always comments, all the way from Canada.  Aren’t you ashamed fellow Americans?  I have to get comments from Canada.  Pollyanna Rainbow Sunshine and the Needles of Doom often commented, but I have been really remiss commenting on their blog lately.  Don’t you love that name though!

 I have also been blogging a bit less lately myself, as I work on my eternal update to my website.  I feel like one of those people on the commercial, staring wide eyes, pupils dilated from staring at the screen, mind numb … anyway, you get the not pretty picture.  I only have one section left to go on the website and am soooo look forward to it being done.

This morning, here is a copy my monthly stats.  Notice the slow decline.

So, I checked Search terms. 

“no blood for oil Viggo” – as in Viggo Mortensen, no surprise there. Half of my readership is searching for “Viggo” -  Talk about stalkers! 

“Worms …” – EUWWW! especially when in the house. 

“actor with low ears” -  Okay, is this person casting a movie?  I have written about actors, and I have written a post due to the lovely commercial based on the old song “do your ears hang low. ” But, I have NEVER written about an actor with low ears.  I am not even sure why you would want to find an actor with low ears.

 

In an effort to raise my stats, I realize that I have three sure winners:

• Viggo Mortensen
• photography
• Movie reviews

Okay, Viggo Mortensen is hot and I do understand the fascination.  He keeps his private life mysterious and he’s hot and he likes dark chocolate and he’s hot.  What more could you want?  The only thing is, I do not actually know Mr. Mortensen (I love his name by the way— Viggo Mortensen—-it’s lyrical.  This is coming from someone named VanVleck.  Not so lyrical.

So, I shall now vow to make more of an effort to review movies about Viggo Mortensen and you, my kind readers (numbers 13 to 30 and occasionally 1,000) shall occasionally drop me a line to let me know what you like, or do not like, on my blog.

Oh, and I will try not to be a stalker myself.

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Simple vs complicated people

I know you are not going to believe this, but HONEST, I am not writing this blog to get my stats up.  I rarely even check on them anymore.  In fact, I was shocked to realize today, since I rarely get comments, that I have a following.  “You do love me.”  Well, like at any rate.

So, when I mention Viggo Mortensen, please believe me, that I am not mentioning Viggo Mortensen to ratchet up ratings. 

Viggo Mortensen is again in the news with his role in The Road (2009) and was referred to as being “complicated” in an article I read recently, and I apologize that I cannot find it to link here.  It seemed to me that the author had no understanding of the person he is.  Not that I would know what kind of person he is, having only read about a gazillion interviews of his, but never having met him.

But, I am thinking that he is actually a very simple person and not complicated at all.

Perhaps I can relate, as I have multiple artistic interests also  and feel as though we have a lot in common.  We both love the outdoors.  He speaks approximately five languages fluently and I can speak, let’s see, exactly one.  I was learning Amslan at one time and I have taken a Spanish class four times (obviously, not successfully).  But, I think our joint passion for Dark Chocolate counts.

It seems that he is an honorable, honest person.  I feel it is more complicated to be dishonorable and a liar as you have to keep all those lies straight.  Although, the liars I know are not very good at it.  And, you know who you are!!!

I think, as an artistic person, he is also simply entertained.  Getting in his truck and taking off on a discovery road trip, spending hours sketching, photographing, spending your time as someone else, being honest are all, in my mind, simple enjoyable things.

Now, the guys who have to have their heads full of ringing cell phones, and Wall Street numbers, and never sitting still for one minute to be in their own head—those are the guys who are complicated.

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Do Your Ears Hang Low?

I love the new advertisement for ?? is it WalMart?  It may not be the most successful ad, since I cannot remember what it is for, but I love it anyway.

We are all raised with an idea of what beauty is.  My mother tends to use the word pretty for all kinds of things.  “Doesn’t she have a pretty face?”  “That shirt is pretty.”  “There’s a pretty rock.”

Conversely, anything she does not like is ugly.  “That sausage tastes ugly.”  “That yard is ugly.”  Etc.

My idea of pretty is a bit off from my mothers.  I think that Whoppi Goldberg is one of the prettiest actors (I guess using actress is not PC.) around.  But, somehow judging say, Nicholas Cage, on a pretty scale is just wrong.  Now, if you want to talk Viggo Mortensen——.

I have painted portraits professionally for over twenty years now, and I think all faces are beautiful.  I love Whoppi’s smile.  It makes her beautiful.  Some people have beautiful eyes.  Some have beautiful wrinkles.  Honest! 

And, I love to watch that commercial because every one of those people is beautiful, and so are you!

P.S.  Right now, I’m looking in the mirror and reminding myself that I have always thought wrinkles were pretty.

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Incredibly Biased Film Review – Julie – Julia

I do not remember watching Julia Child.  I think I presumed I would not like her, and that she was rather ‘stuck-up.’   Never presume!

The Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep, that I saw on the screen is the most delightful woman who finds joy in everything.  For this Julia, eating fish is an orgasmic experience.  No, make that, everyday living is an orgasmic experience.  She is delightful, radiant and someone anyone should love to be around.

Stanley Tucci is fantastic as Paul Child, Julia’s husband and we should all find the love that is depicted in this film, in our lives.

Amy Adams is Julie Powell, the blogger who decides she needs direction and discipline in her life and that her committment to cooking all the recipes in Julia Child’s book will be just what she needs.

I had only seen one review on this movie on Reelz channel, but one of the two reviewers found Amy Adams, as Julie Powell, to be whiny and irritating.  Frankly, I think he needs to get a life.  There are just times in life when the best thing you can do is fall on the floor and cry.  It is certainly better than breaking or shooting something.  The movie depicted the growth of this character and, at the end, she seemed as delightful as Meryl Streep portrayed Julia to be. 

The most wonderful thing about this movie, however, is you could not help but leave the theater feeling a lot happier about the world.  We need more of that in life.  We need more people like Julia in our lives.

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Harry Potter in a tent in Chicago

 

When we visited the Museum that was—   What happened to the “Wow” factor??? « Savanvleck’s Weblog  about the Musuem of Science and Industry and, okay, so maybe you just cannot go back.  But, we were surprised to see the Harry Potter tent.  Do not totally misunderstand me; there are some very great things to see at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.  But, Harry Potter, in a tent?

Yes, the Harry Potter was is in the tent and it is the most wonderful of adventures.  I was really hoping the four year old, who was walking around the museum in his wizard’s hat and robe, all a bit big for him, would be there at the time we were allotted.  Alas, no little wizard in sight.  I can see that this exhibit is for the big kids. 

Even it’s interactive features were for older kids.  First, you needed some truly big muscles to pull the Madrack Roots out of their pots.  The fact that I only made one Quaffle through the goal, is probably my own lack of sporting ability and not theirs.  But, The splendor of Dumbledore’s robe will definitely be lost on most eight year olds.  Us big kids got to experience the joy and wonder of the Hogwarts world.   I surprised myself with the amount of time I stared at the Grim in Harry’s teacup.

Bad news, no cameras.  The only thing we could take a picture of was the Ford Anglia that sat in a lobby in the museum.  The strip mall aspect, just left me cold and I had not brought my “good” camera, so I blotted out the mall with this very bad sky. 

Of course, had they allowed cameras, everyone would have been so busy taking pictures that we all would have ended up flash blind, so I do understand.  I was a bit surprised that they did not have someone set up in front of Hagrid’s chair though to take souvenir pictures.  It would have been cheesy, but a compromise.

Master’s Daughter and I sat in Hagrid’s chair and we agreed it is the same size as Master Daughter’s husbands chair.  We often say that “he is too big to be allowed” also,  but it is usually in relation to his behavior (love ya, son-in-law).  Anyway, we thought it should have been a LOT bigger.  I suppose this would not have worked well for Robbie Coltrain.

Master’s Daughter rented us the “tour” speakers and they added a lot of great information.  I love all the details of a movie I enjoy.  I watch those second discs that have information on how it was all done.  It was fun hearing the French fashion designer who designed the clothing tell about how she made Doloris Jane Umbrage’s clothing a progressively darker pink throughout the movie to indicate her increasingly bad ways.  Note: She said it more eloquently than that, but you get the point.

It was a series of exhibits, but they made it special, with entertainment and trivia quizzes as you waited in line.  I did not realize you should yell back that Harry was your favorite character, but I have a warm spot for Lupin’s character.  He is a good person, who faces a vast adversity yet maintains his gentleness, intelligence and humor.  I do believe I was a minority of one. 

When your ticket time arrives, you enter the door and they have a young lady with the sorting hat.  I have a feeling that the number of people who actually try on the hat is directly proportional to the number of people still backed up from the earlier tour.  But, it is fun as she banters with the audience.   And, I would like to complain that our on-line tickets were not designed, when printed as a ticket to catch the Hogwart’s Express at stop 3 3/4.  For the price, $20, it would have been a cheap and nice touch to do .

When it is time to enter the exhibit and you are in a room with a faux Hogwart’s Express.  The “tube” front end of the train itself was positively the worse exhibit in the whole thing.  But when it is time to leave and the light shines from the train, the attendant is holding up the lantern and the curtain rises and you are there, it is magical.  Okay, I have a very vivid imagination, but I loved it.

Exhibits had numbers to use with your tour speakers and we “ooohd!” and “ahhhd!” and “Did you see that?” our way through the exhibit.  There was plenty of room and if four people were in front of one display, we just went across the little hall to the other side and back again.  We were never rushed and poured over every item. 

Before the end, two young men approached us to ask how we liked the exhibit and listen to our own stories of Harry Potter.  I, having much to thank J.K. Rowling for in getting JRock into books, reading and education and also helping him to know that there are others who have come from a Dursley family and he can overcome that too. He said that was a great story and they do pass the book around at night and read it and he wanted me to put that story in the guest book.  Since, I would be there writing still and we had a train to catch back and there were two people ahead of us, I did not.

We hit the store at the end, to find that it was basically things you could find online, although I had been wanting a snitch.  Okay, do not even ask.  I have no idea why, but I wanted a smaller size snitch for my trunk. “I got a wand and you didn’t!” « Savanvleck’s Weblog  And I did get my Snitch.  Since last Christmas, when I received my trunk to take to Hogwarts, I have added a version of the Maurader’s map, a straw owl, an ornament for astronomy and now my snitch. 

Master’s Daughter is a bit puzzled because she was filing my trunk as if I were Hermoine and now I have a Maurauder’s Map and a Snitch.  But, I am filing it as if I were the one going to Hogwarts and I want that dang Maurader’s Map to sneak around.

Yes, I am a Harry Potter nut!  And,  I had a great time.  But, then I always do when I am with Master’s Daughter.

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What I never intend to do.

 In trolling my favorite blogs last night and then watching The Jane Austen Book Club, I noticed there is a dearth of “my favorite things” lists but I am thinking that it just might be time for a  “What I never intend on doing”  list. 

Not everyone shares my “never do’s” .  George Harrison just never wants to say, goodbye.”  GEORGE HARRISON – I DON’T WANT TO DO IT LYRICS

But, as far as I am concerned:

1. I do not want to jump out of an airplane.  I don’t care if I have a parachute on or not, it is going to take a lot to ever get me to jump.  (That was from a scene in The Jane Austen Book Club.)
2.  I do not want to ever eat a living thing; especially if it hangs wiggling out of my mouth.
3. I do not ever want to rehab a house again.  I know this is probably unrealistic and just because I do not want to does not mean I will not do it.  But, I don’t wanna!!!  I really, really, really, do not want to.
4. And, with that goes, any reason that I might have to listen to a table saw for four hours a day.  I do not want to ever do that either.
5. I do not want to sit up in an Emergency Room all night, or be the patient in one, for that matter.  I know, I do not have a choice on this one, but I do not want to do either one.
6. Bungee Jumping.  Although, it does look a bit like fun, there are things about relying on a rubber band for survival that I do not find appealing.
7. Extreme Skiing also looks fun but I will stick with the “path well traveled” thankyouverymuch.

I am having a hard time finding things for this list.  Guess, that is why I do not see them much.

P.S.  This is getting easier.  Beside the great lists that XUP has added, I never,  ever, ever want to go out for my daily walk and find a tree hanging with nests (4 of them) of wriggling worms again.  ICK!!!ICK!!!ICK!!!  It brings new meaning to bugs in a bag.  Not that I had a meaning for Bugs in a Bag but it is full of the wiggling icky things and some have opted to go for a mid-morning snack.  They are Eastern tent caterpillars  Eastern tent caterpillar – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 

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WE HAVE TICKETS!!!!

Sheryl here:  jumping up and down, clapping my hands in glee, Master’s Daughter and I have tickets for the Harry Potter show at the Museum of Science and Industry | What’s Here | Exhibits | Harry Potter: The Exhibition | Exhibit Guide | Introduction.

 

I really love Chicago and all of the museums.  I used to spend hours just roaming around with my sketchbook; both in the city and in the museums.  And, now, I get to go and sit in Hagrid’s chair and repot Mandrake’s, Museum of Science and Industry | What’s Here | Exhibits | Harry Potter: The Exhibition | Exhibit Guide | Hands-On  and enter through the “frame of the fat lady’s portrait.”  And, yes, I am sixty-one, but what fun is there in life if you cannot get excited over a bit of magic?

 

And, the really neat part of it is that I get to spend several days with my daughter.  That means South Bend Chocolate cafe for Aztec hot chocolate and a chinese restaurant and a yummy yarn shop and about a gazbillion laughs. 

 

Whoppeeeee!!!

 

It’s a whole month away.  Are we there yet?

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Guilty Pleasures

Guilty Pleasures on Allison’s Blog. Guilty Pleasures « That’s What She Blogged

 

Here’s a quick list of mine :

 

1.     Yes, People magazine.  You don’t look so guilty reading it in the doctor’s office though, you know.

2.     My third watching of Tortilla Soup this month.

3.     South Bend Chocolate Company, Dark Chocolate

4.     Watching CBS Sunday Morning in my pajamas.

5.     Taking down my Harry Potter gift trunk to be a kid again.

6.     Having the house all to myself

7.     Singing to myself when I have the house all to myself

8.     Practicing the violin

9.     A mechanical pencil and a sketch book

10.          Reading a good book   

 

Okay, they are mostly not such “guilty pleasures.”  But, they sure are pleasures.

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Controlling the man in my dreams

Recently, okay, not that long ago but in my mind it is well ‘lucid’ (which my relatives often say I am not.).   I bet the punctuation is way off in that sentence.  Please excuse me, my unknown future and wonderful agent.  Anyway, I remembered this post from Lucid Dreaming for Slackers ? Cranky Fitness.

 

 

I have very vibrant dreams, and occasionally hallucinations.  Last night Irritating little Chihuahua woke me up and, instead of her, I saw a black “other animal” (I said the dreams were vivid not the memory) sitting up and begging against the back of the couch.  He was a lot larger than the Chihuahua, who was by this time on the floor.  I gotta lay off the Melatonin.

 

 

We were having dinner with JRock’s girlfriend’s parents Saturday night and she had the DVD of Twilight. I’ll get to the point, in a minute.  You know that scene where she wakes up and the vampire guy is in her room and she blinks and he isn’t.  Like he wasn’t ever in her room, but he really was there all along?  Well, that is my life. 

 

 

It is my night actually.  Sometimes, a swift image of a person is there. At times, I wake up and see clumps of black things dancing around near the ceiling.   I am sure it is some medicine I am on, perhaps combined with Melatonin.  It really doesn’t scare me any, so I haven’t bothered reading the inserts to see what is doing it.  Remember, this is the woman who found a rare earthquake great fun. 

 

 

I did try the Lucid dreaming note taking for a few days but it takes time and I have enough to do right now.  My former violin teacher had dream diaries that covered years.  He swore by the method.  He said he had great control of his dreams and could direct them.  My goal would have been to be able to control some dreams, like to be able to fly more often in dreams.  That is cool when it happens! 

 

It would also be neat to control who is in my dreams.

 

So, what I want to know—my burning question is: 

 

Why do I keep dreaming about Nicholas Cage rather than Viggo Mortensen.  If I have to have a vivid dream guy dream, I want it to be Viggo.

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Extremely Biased Film Reviews – Bedtime Stories

We try to go to the movies at least once, with the boys, over the Christmas break, while Gaffer is home to join us.  This year we did not have a lot of choice, when we decided it was time to go before school starts on Tuesday.  So, we picked one everyone could agree on and went to see Bedtime Stories.

 

I have to tell you, it looked cute but I did not think I would enjoy it near as much as I did.  I’m such a visual person and the CGI in this is outstanding.  It is a family movie. I would not mind taking younger children to it, but ours are 16, 19 and 22 and we joined the whole audience in laughing most of the way through the show.

 

Adam Sandler has not been my favorite actor.  I’ve seen too many rolls for him that just fell flat or made him look stupid, but recently he has been on a role of wise choices.  He was a natural for this story of a ditzy acting brother who has to care for his sisters children for a few days.  He plays it with love and tenderness and just the right touch of humor.

 

You are never sure just how dumb or smart he is until the very end. 

 

The movie falls into CGI moments at the drop of a hat but they fit.  They are very well done and really added to the story. 

 

My whole family highly recommends it.

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