[lorna doone]

Sam and I have been pining to watch a chick flick together lately. So when she came over randomly this evening, we thought, "Why not?" We dug up something we hadn't seen yet, which happened to be Lorna Doone. (made in 2000)  I have mixed feelings on it, haha. While it was a really good story, and had some really good looking actors in it, the acting could have used some help. But it interested me and I'd like to read the book now. And it had some really great scenes. :) The main actor I totally thought was the actor that played Eomer in Lord of the Rings... but nooo, he's not. Hahah recognition fail.

~Shaina

I just watched A Beautiful Mind. True story. 

HA, it's a pun.

[what i've been reading/watching]

                                             Reading:

-Taking Flight by Elisabeth Elliot. Got it from our home church host in a box of books. Read the first entry and decided to add it to my daily devotions. Read the second and decided to write a blog post about it. It's comprised of short words of wisdom from Mrs. Elliot, put together for graduates. I've only read the first two entries but it's very good so far.  
-The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. A fantasy series. My dad read them when he was my age and then my brother recently started reading them. I started the first book and really enjoyed it. It's very much un-cliched, though many of the fantasy books can be. 
-The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I figured I should find out what all the fuss was about. I liked it ok, but I'm not caught up in the rage over it. I will say that it was very suspenseful, haha and hard to put down. I'll probably read the next ones if I have nothing else on my list. And I might watch the movie after it comes out on dvd. We shall see :) 


                                           Watching:
-North and South. Grandma snagged this and watched it with Papa John. While working on the project, I watched it and she rewatched it, haha. It was quite good, not a favorite of mine but I did enjoy it. I think I'd probably enjoy watching it a second time, as I know the characters better now. It starts out a little slow, but Mr. Thornton's accent is wonderful. :) Oh yes, and Esther from Bleak House has a small part in it! I love her so much, her character (and her portrayal of that character)  in Bleak House is one of my favorites ever.
-Horatio Hornblower. I must confess, I'm a huge fan of the British Miniseries. And this one particularly. Rewatching this (also while working on the project.... YES there will be a post about it soon) I noticed how young Horatio was when he started out! Also Horatio is brilliant, but like many of them, would be terrible to be married to. He was married to his ship. He is still a tremendously loveable character, not to mention Archie, Mr. Bush, and many others. I really really love this series, and I highly recommend it. Though definitely not  a chick flick, I still enjoy it immensely. Normally I don't like war movies, but this one has more to do with the people than the fighting, so I really enjoyed it.
-Sherlock. Also rewatched this series recently... It's great. The cinematography is wonderful, and the writers did a tremendous job with it. I normally am quite a purist, but they definitely made the modern day setting work. I can't wait for the next season of it! Also, the actor that plays Watson is playing Bilbo in The Hobbit, and that gives me great hope for the movie. I think he'll be perfect for it. 




                                     Also on my list:
-The Bourne Identity. Snagged this one from our host as well. I've watched the movies, and enjoyed it but am not a huge fan. But I hear that the books are very very different? Maybe I'll enjoy it. Dad said the first book is the only one worth reading. 
-Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. I've read this before. But it was before GB and I have a feeling it will mean more to me now. It's definitely intriguing. 
-The New Jane Eyre movie :) Sam and I are gonna watch it tonight. I love the actor that plays St. John, so I'm excited. Well, and I love the story. But from the trailer I've seen it almost looks like a carbon copy of the 2006 version (my favorite so far)

[the merits of Dickens]

[two thirteen]
4.19.11

If you don't want to hear me sing the praises of Dickens, you'd better leave right now. Because the singing is going to start in about a second.
Still here? First let me say that Sam, mom and I are watching Masterpiece Theater's "Little Dorrit." But it was Dicken's first :D I haven't read the book (and yes I am ashamed of myself) but I can see little Dickens touches all over the place. Affery and her flightiness, Mr Dorrit and his pride in being the Father of the Marshalsea, Amy and her gentleness and quiet devotion, Tattycoram with her spazzes and her seemingly random placement in the story, John Chivery and his blighted heart, Panck and his um.. just him. Flora too, is quintessentially Dickensish. But possibly my very favorite thing so far is Aurthur. He is without a doubt (so far; we're only halfway through) my favorite hero of Dickens. Let me make sure you understand what I mean by 'hero.' He must be classified as 'the one who gets the girl.' So, much as I love Jarndyce, Mark Tap, (though he does get his girl, it's not *the* girl) Tom Pinch, and all the other 'secondary' heroes, they are not really 'the' heroes. One thing that I do have to say against Dickens is that he has a small tendency to leave his hero's characters undeveloped. Take Bleak House for instance. Esther (who is my favorite heroine of his, unless it would be Florence from Dombey and Son) marries a doctor who shows up midway through the story and spends most of the remaining time at sea and they aren't even acquainted well enough to write to each other yet. So then he comes back at the end and they get married. He *seems* nice enough, but we know Guppy so much better than him! Although Dickens doesn't do that all the time. David Copperfield, Nicolas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewhit, and Our Mutual Friend all have heroes who's characters are very well developed. However, I don't remember David Copperfield well enough to judge him, Nicolas seemed a bit of a girly man to my, Martin was a complete *brat* for most of the book, and John.. well John is very good. He still comes second to Arthur for me though :) Speaking of our Mutual Friend, I thought Bella was rather undeveloped in the book. The movie improved upon her immensely in my opinion. And she was one of two heroines.
Dickens was brilliant for secondary characters. And for main characters as well, but sometimes it just seems like he overlooked one of them. And his secondaries are really what makes his books great (besides the plots) They add that touch of reality to the books, because they all have their special little quirks. How I miss the Cheerful Grinder, Mark Tap, Joey B, Guppy, (Guppy's mother..heh) Jenny Wren, Smike, Fanny Squeers, Mercy Pecksniff, and all of them! 
Back to Little Dorrit; halfway through it I'm utterly confused as to what the watch means, who Miss Wade is, why she wants Harriet, and many other things. I have no doubt however, that things will straighten themselves out in the end.
And Andy Serkis pwns creep of the year award. If this has inspired you to watch Little Dorrit.. be forewarned that he plays the creepiest man *ever.* Yes, Headstone is creepy. But at least you know what drove him to be like that. Rigaud is creepy right from the start and well.. you love to hate him.

Shaina

[two ten]

[two ten]
4.16.11

Today I gardened! It was lots of fun :) I like to garden. Made a bed around our redbud tree for flowers. And planted some bulbs in it. Plus Aunt Cindy and Uncle David are picking up Breanna's graduation present, a new flash drive (I filled my 16 gig up with photos) and a new battery for the remote that Rachael gave me.. I'm very excited for all.. ok, two of those things :) A new flash drive isn't something to be too excited about, right? Scratch that. I'm excited.

Shaina


Almost forgot! Sam and I finished Les Mis last night; it's three hours long! Conclusion: (1) You have to know the story to follow the play well, (2) there's NO speaking. In other words, they sing EVERYTHING. (3) The last half is better than the first half by FAR. If you watch it, persevere. It does get better. (4) The singing was good (some of it, great) . The play was good. The story is CLASSIC. And (5) After further investigation, it turned out to be Nick Jonas, not Joe. Silly me. He had a good voice, though his acting wasn't much to write home about. Although.. considering as he was playing a love struck 17 year old... I guess he's supposed to be kind of... sappy. Or something. So I'd have to see him act something else to judge well. Overall it was a blast! Although the people that played the Thenadeirs made me sick.

[one sixty five]

An outtake from the day of Sami levitating :)

 So.. Samantha and I watched the new Alice In Wonderland tonight. I really liked it, actually. I haven't seen any of the other productions of it, or read the book, but it was superb acting and I really enjoyed the story line. Of course Johnny Depp is a.m.a.z.i.n.g. *hehe* Anyway, I would recommend it highly, although I would caution if you have younger children, as there are some scary/gory parts.

Book finished: "When God Writes Your Love Story" by Eric and Leslie Ludy. ABOVE highly recommended. It's amazing. Very good for those who are older and still single, or for the younger generation to get a head start! Basically it's about giving God the pen for your love story. AND it uses illustrations from The Odyssey... which makes it ten times better. So it's a no brainer =) Off to bed.. it's been a long day :)

~Shaina

[one sixty five]
3.1.11

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.."

Or, as my mom said about the house this morning, "It's beginning to look a lot like a pig sty.."
[eighty nine]
A girly day out for "Foosa's" birthday!! 

Song: Real by James Wesley.   
"Where I live, housewives don't act like that
And the survivors are farmers in John Deere hats
Our amazin' race is beatin' the check
Prayin' that the bank ain't ran it through yet

Real, like too much rain fallin' from the sky
Real, like the drought that came around here last July
It's the [darn] boll weevils and the market and the weeds, the prayer they're sayin' when they plant the seeds
And the chance they take to bring us our next meal

I call that real

Real, like a job you lose 'cause it moves to Mexico
Like a mama and a baby with no safe place to go
Like a little dream-house with a big old foreclosed sign
Like a flag-draped coffin and a twenty-one gun goodbye."


Movies: Tangled and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. 
The latter of which I have been planning to watch with my Aunt, Uncle and siblings for like THREE YEARS!!! I am SO STINKING excited!!!! And the former of which looks pretty darn cute. 
[I bought a pair of size 7 shoes that fit me today. yay] =D It feels nice to have small feet sometimes. And don't burst my bubble by saying it doesn't change the size of my feet. You know it's really the size on the tag that matters. In addition to that I got a nice coat at Wet Seal. If you've never been there, just be forwarned: their music just might give you a heart attack. A lady actually fainted while we were there! I'm convinced it was the music. It's SO loud. Love their clothes, not so crazy about the music. At Sonic we were grumpily "You're welcome"-ed, while the father of two adorable twin Asian girls not-so kindly told me no when I asked if I could take a picture. The Christmas spirit is just rife these days!

[seventy seven] Speaking of drawing... :) Samantha and I did a little this morning and last night. I drew Astrid and Hiccup from "How to Train Your Dragon." It was SO much fun! And it went well, so I was happy when I finished. I really couldn't care too much less now, however. All of you Scholites, in the spirit of Thanksgiving should be very thankful today that we're only virtual friends. Because since I love to share so much,* if we knew each other in person,  you would be getting a share of my sickness! *collapses on bed* I've actually been sleeping most of the day.

*Very Short Story* The Dethroning of Hulk.

I walk into my bathroom to wet my hair down for the night; it's a little dirty, but not bad, definitely not the worst it's ever been. My eyes peruse the shower curtain and bathrug, both decorated with large, pink and orange flowers. Sitting quietly on the sink is a petite container of flower-scented soap. So far, so good. But wait! What travesty is this hanging very obtrusively on the back of the door? I cannot believe my eyes. A HULK bath towel?!?! Stunned, I slowly regain my composure. My path is clear. The monstrosity must be banished after a fair trial. He has no defense, and we don't have lawyers out here in the sticks. Properly shamed, he makes his way to "Australia," the boy's bathroom. A very proper place for a criminal such as he! Assured of a job well done, I return to the bathroom where the queen of towels is being crowned after being found in the dungeon. It can now be said that "all's well."

Book completed: The Salmon of Doubt, by Douglas Adams. I know one of you Scholites had read some of his stuff or listened to the radio program, I just can't remember who. Anyway, this is a compilation of little articles and stuff he wrote. Funny as always. Although, when I say 'completed,' I'm cheating a bit, as I didn't read cover to cover. Some of his stuff I just skip over, like when he's talking on and on about why he's an atheist or something. Over all it was very good, though.
Wishing I had one of these,
 
Shaina