Graceland: July 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Zane's Birthday

It's official, we have a teenager in the house! Zane turned 13 last Sunday. Here are a few pics.

My favorite. Zane wanted ribs for dinner. He was wearing white pants and didn't want to get BBQ sauce on them so he put on my apron. This pic is showcasing sticky fingers and food in his mouth. (this is not typical for my family)

Rick made his famous carrot cake and mom and dad and some friends came over to help eat it.

Opening presents! Isaac gave him a body pillow (now they don't have to share mine). Rick and I gave him some camping clothes/gear as he left on Monday for Scout Camp. We also got him a Halo bookbag, which STILL hasn't come in the mail. We wrapped up a photo of it for him to open.

Zane's birthday also marks one year since I met them. Rick brought me to birthday festivities last year to meet his kids and some other family members. Wow, a lot has happened since then.

It was a fun day.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

My Bike

Have you all missed the "I love my bike" posts this summer? Me too! Unfortunately, this isn't one of those posts. Rick and I rode up Emigration Canyon last week. It was not fun. I could blame that I didn't eat first, it was hot, my calves kept cramping up so I had to flex my feet hard the whole ride, my tires were a little low on air.... the truth of it is... I'm out of shape! I used to ride up that canyon on mountain bike and, this time, I barely made it on the road bike. I'm a total wimp!

I've been riding about four times this year. Each time had 3-4 weeks in between. Funny how that doesn't seem to work towards conditioning. It did make me determined to get out more. Our new house is on a hill... a big hill, which will mean any biking from home will be killer. This is a good thing.

The one redeeming part of the ride was going down. Ahhhh. Such a great reward. I actually froze at the top. The canyon was shaded and I was wet with sweat. I loved feeling the air temperature change as we sped down. I'd almost say it was worth the climb up. I hope before too long I can enjoy going both directions.

Side note- I also played tennis this week for the first time this season. Tennis does not disappoint. So much fun! (Thank you Rick for playing to my level.) Good times!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Is one of us a dog in this scenario?

I have been experiencing a really strange phenomenon. As you may know, I have quite a long commute to work in the morning. I like to stay updated on traffic reports- not that it helps me get home faster but at least I can mentally gear up for what's ahead. Luckily there is KSL with its "Traffic and weather on the nines" to keep me informed, theoretically.

For the past several months, maybe longer, when I switch to KSL to hear the traffic, my brain turns off and I come back to reality just as they are finishing the report. I could blame the fact that they always commercial first and I tune those out and just stay in la-la land too long, but I think it goes beyond that. Sometimes, I sit there determined not to space out, I hear the car soundtrack they play to start the report and think, "OK I'm listening". Then, next thing I know my brain went elsewhere for 20 seconds and I missed it. It's so bizarre that it makes me laugh... and curse.

I think I have figured out why this happens. I am victim of a Pavlovian effect. When I started getting up early for the commute I would set my alarm radio to KSL. I had the rule that as soon as I heard the traffic and weather in the morning I would have to get up. One morning, in my half-slumbered state, I missed the report which, of course, meant that I had to stay in bed another 10 minutes until the next update. This soon became more and more common. I believe I have now been conditioned to tune out the traffic and weather report, even when I'm not in bed.

I have been trying to deprogram myself. On the way home yesterday, I only tuned out the Southbound traffic out of SLC (which is what I needed and broadcast first), but came in to hear I-80. Maybe one day- just in time for my long commute to stop as we are moving in a month- I will be able to get the full report. Curse those drooling dogs!

p.s. bonus points to anyone who knows the movie reference in the post title.

My Movie Reviews

Quiet Earth. B-. Another SciFi recommended by Netflix, although this one was actually interesting and enjoyable. A guy wakes up and everyone is gone. Made in New Zealand, it claims to be one of the top ten movies in the US in the year it came out (sometime in the 1970s). After it was over, we agreed that it was good, but the ending was a little confusing, so we watched the ending again with the directors comments. Lame. Apparently the whole movie was supposed to have an anti-nuclear message and the director takes credit for his movie making New Zealand nuclear free. So.... pretend you don't know that and enjoy the movie.
Sunshine. C-. Netflix. That's it. We are not trusting Netflix's rating of sci-fi movies again. The sun is dying so a crew is going with a nuclear missle to "re-start" it. I kept hoping aliens would show up or at least something would happen to draw me in. A lot of things almost happened, but when they did, it did not make much sense.
Warm Bodies. B. Red Box. I was surprised by this movie. I'm a fan of a good zombie flick, but when I heard about the plot, it seemed a bit too much. It turned out to be very entertaining. I'd rate it pretty high on the must see zombie film list and very high on the cheesy teenage romance film list.
Wolverine. B. I'm a fan of the X-Men movies. I'm also a fan of Hugh Jackman. It was hard to go wrong going in with those two biases. The fighting sequences were too long, but that was expected. If you've like the X-Men movies, you should like this one too.
The East. B. I forget how much I love the indie flicks at the Broadway. This also had an environmentalist-based plot, but was written well and I liked how it ended. A women goes under cover in an environmental terrorist group. It goes with the obvious plot of her having sympathies for members of the group and trying to balance that with her personal beliefs. Worth seeing.
World War Z. B. I was in the middle of the book and didn't want to see the movie until I finish, but I couldn't help it and saw it opening weekend. Not a big deal as they are very different. This is a different kind of zombie movie. While most are horror flicks, this was more of a suspense movie. They cut out the gratutious gore associated with most zombie movies and gave it more of a plot. Fun for zombie fans and non-zombie fans.
Silent Running. D. Netflix. I have no idea why this is rated so well on Netflix. Sci-fi movie made in the sixties with blatant environmental message. Forests have died on the earth so they are growing them in a space station orbiting Saturn. Earth decides to abandon the project and for some reason that means they have to blow up the forests. One man understands the impact of losing all our forests so he kills everyone. My description made it seem way better than it is. At one point, he programs his robot helpers to play cards and you watch them play cards for about 10 minutes. Skip this one!

My Book Reviews

The Rent Collector. B. I loved this book while I was reading it. Then the author's comments on the back disappointed me. It was fiction! I was so inspired by the "true" story of this woman living at the dump in Cambodia and learning to read. The whole way through I thought it was true. I was mad when it wasn't. Although toward the end, it started getitng a little unbelievable. It was based on real people which bothers me wondering how much is true and how much is fiction. I still recommend the book, but know what you're getting into.
Divergent. B+. Fun, quick read. YA fiction. Your basic strong female in post-apocolypic world fighting to make change. Even though the story's been told over and over, this one was very engaging. I can't wait to read the next in the series!
World War Z. B+. For staters, this is very different from the movie. It's 10 years after we won the zombie war. The book is a series of interviews with survivors. I was hesitant about the way it was written and that I wouldn't stay involved without a central character. However, the book created a very real world. So much so that when I was getting off the freeway one morning and saw some homeless people waking up under a bridge, for just second, I thought they were zombies. I also wanted to bring it up in conversation. Like when someone was talking about North Korea, I wanted to say, "Did you hear how they handled the Zombie Apocalypse?' It was a fun book. I've never read a zombie book before and I may never again, but I'm glad I read this one. It also was welcome to read a book that isn't a strong female character overcoming incredible odds. I'm seriously weary of that plot line.
Waiting to be Heard. B+. I've followed the Amanda Knox case for several years. I thought, since I knew most details of the case, this might be boring. I was surprised at how engaging and well written it was. She is a quirky girl and, while the complete lack of physical evidence makes me sure she is innocent, I can see why people think she is hiding something. The book was haunting to think the someone who doesn't understand a culture coupled with a corrupt prosecutor could put an innocent person in jail for years.
Girl Gone. C-. Maybe it was called Gone Girl. I don't remember. Book club book. I've never gotten into mysteries. This one took a while to get into, then I couldn't put it down, then it ended and I wished I never picked it up. Ridiculous ending.
The Kitchen House. B-. I have no idea how to rate this book. It was slow to start. Once things started to happen (murder), I found myself sucked in and not wanting to put it down; however, once I did put it down, I didn't look forward to picking it up again. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's similar to a bunch of other books I've read. I'm just getting weary of the genre and need to mix it up a little. Overall, an interesting read. The story of a young white girl who is indentured when her family dies on the boat from Ireland to America. Her relationship with her new family (the slaves whom she is sent to live and work with) and how her life is different from them because of the color of her skin.
The Happiness Project. D. I'm reviewing the book, but I'm not going to finish it. I knew this wasn't my favorite genre, but it was the book club pick this month so I thought I'd give it a chance. I didn't see the point of reading someone's goals. I sometimes feel like these "self-help" books are an excuse for people to feel like they are doing something to be happier, when really they are an excuse to avoid working on yourself by living through someone else's experience. Instead of reading the book, how about spend that time working on your own "happiness project". As I read, I kept thinking it should have been a workbook for readers to complete their own project while reading hers. I'll be interested to hear how others in book club liked it.