Graceland: March 2012

Monday, March 19, 2012

Girls Weekend

A lovely weekend in St. George with my mom and sisters. Here's what went down:

Glitter toes all around

Breakfast at the Bear Paw

Mom's breakfast "Alpine Tea" (spiced hot cider with a splash of OJ -yum)

Airshow with the Blue Angels. Awesome! We didn't even know about the show when we planned the trip. My friend, Riikka, scored us free tickets. Thanks Riikka!!

You can't really tell, but there is a wing-walker on the top of the plane. It was scary.

More Blue Angels

We all bought new sunglasses at Christensen's.

I think this is a fun pic of Heidi and me. I took it to show Rick my glasses.

There was lots of shopping, some movie watching, catching up with friends (Chardell and Riikka), and basic girly-ness. Good times. Thanks my sisters and mom. I love you!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Have You Seen This Show?

If you haven't watched the first two seasons of Downton Abbey STOP - GO WATCH THEM. Then we can discuss properly.

Let's go by character:

Dowager Countess, Violet Crawley. (Interpretation for Americans -A dowager is a widow who holds a title or property, or dower, derived from her deceased husband. As an adjective, "dowager" usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles. In loose popular usage, dowager as a stand-alone noun may refer to any elderly widow, especially one who is wealthy or behaves with dignity.)

By far the best character in show. We wouldn't expect any less from Maggie Smith. Catch some classic moments here.

Lord Grantham, Robert Crawley. OK, confused American here. For the first few episodes I couldn't figure out if his last name was Grantham or Crawley. The daughters are Lady Mary, etc so why isn't he Lord Crawley?

Speaking of dumming it down for Americans- apparently they cut out about 2 hours from season 1 for the American broadcast. It seems we need things a little faster paced over here and they edited a lot of detail in the first episode about rights of inheritance that would have been over our heads. I'm not sure if I'm offended or relieved. I will have to get my hands on the DVD's though and rewatch season 1 to see what I missed.

Lady Grantham, Cora Crawley. Love her. (Remember how cute she was in the 80s flick, She's Having a Baby.) Loving wife and mother, with a bit snobby rich American. Apparently, it was not uncommon at that time for broke Englishmen with titles to marry rich American's to save their estates.

The Sisters Crawley- Lady Mary is stinker. I think she deserved to marry the evil newspaper guy. While Edith has her evil moments (writing the Turkish embassy), I like her. Her family brushes her aside, but she has a big heart. I hope things work out for her and that older dude. Sybil is my favorite of the Ladys Crawley. One of the only characters who has stayed true to her morals. She knows herself and does what she thinks is right. Love her.

But most importantly - may I please play dress up in their closets!

Matthew Crawley - Our hero. I wanted him to be with Levinia as I think she better matched his moral character. I was mad at the writers for making him have that moment when he kissed Mary and admitted he'd rather be with her. I think it didn't match the individual they created. Although, I admit that it was a satisfying ending to Season 2 to have him propose to Mary.

Mrs. Crowley. Another of my favorite characters. (OK, I guess they are all my fav.) She's a bit of busybody, but driven by pure motives. My heart goes out to her. It would be difficult to be thrown into that world and snubbed by everyone.

OK- these are my REAL favorite characters. Aren't they everyone's? Bates and Anna. What a pair. I love how he never compromises his integrity. I think it's because he has a troubled past and knows how important it is to have honor. (Yes, I know he's not a real person). And our cute hardworking Anna. She deserves some happiness- and better wardrobe. (I read how they joke on the set when the Crawley sisters get all the pretty dresses and she is in the same uniform almost all of the time.)

And the two we all love to hate. I think it is silly they let Thomas back in the house when he stole from them. Not realistic, but the writers had to get him back there somehow, because every show needs a villian. I'm back and forth on O'Brien. She has her moments of compassion- or is that just guilt for the soap debacle.

Looking forward to Shirley making her debut next season as Lady Crawley's mother from America. Who wouldn't enjoy watching her go the rounds with Maggie Smith. Good times ahead.

Alright - let's discuss!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Weekend Report

It was a relaxing weekend. I was feeling sort of guilty for being lazy, but looking back, I think my body and mind needed a break from running around so much. Some re-group time was beneficial.

Friday evening we went to a friend’s wedding. Saturday morning Rick refereed a few basketball games and I cleaned the house. When he came home, we decided to bag skiing and our afternoons plans, and have a lazy Saturday. It was much needed.

Sunday was Fast Sunday. We didn’t have much planned and it was nice to spend the day at church and home. I felt very calm and self-reflective all day. I had some nice realizations about life. I have been stressed lately. We’ve had some pretty major trials and life has been hard that past few months. Through it all, I feel very secure. It’s so comforting.

I have spent a lot of my life studying happiness. I always think that if what I’m doing isn’t bringing me happiness then something needs to change. Often, what needs to change is my view of what will make me happy. I’ve had the belief that I can be happy regardless of my life circumstances. I have worked really hard to achieve this, and I think it’s much easier said than done. I felt profoundly happy on Sunday. While there are things going on in my life that are difficult, those things are not me. They are outside of myself and do not affect the security I feel with my sense of self and what is important to me.

I feel very happy knowing who I am and that I am working to handle everything in my life with integrity. This isn’t always easy. It is a process, but I am learning. Rick definitely enhances my happiness. I know whatever comes along we will support each other and work through it together. I never thought I could have such trust in someone and feel so supported. Rick enhances my happiness, but he does not make me happy. We have discussed how our relationship is so satisfying because we were both happy within ourselves before we met. We both have a strong sense of self so we aren’t looking for the other to provide us with something you have to find within yourself.

I didn’t intend to ramble on. I just wanted to write a short post sharing what a nice weekend it was and how good it was to realize my happiness in spite of what may be going on in my life. I love that I get to share my life with someone who has the same understanding. I hope we can help Zane and Isaac find the same stability in their lives. I don’t think happiness is something you can give to someone, but I hope we can point them in the right direction and give them a desire to find it within themselves.

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.