Summer Movies

Just a quick little movie weekend update!

Went and saw Eclipse today! I hadn't decided if I actually wanted to go or not. I saw Twilight at the midnight showing but held off on New Moon since the Twilight theatre viewing experience was so awful. Too many crying, laughing at inappropriate times, chatty girls! I ended up Netflixing New Moon and it was just as bad as Twilight. I am a sucker though and liked it just the same.

At our AMC Theatres they have $6 (used to be $5!) showings before noon on weekends. My friend Mimi (she loves that nickname ;)) and I braced ourselves for abs and overacting! I must say that I was pleasantly surprised! Someone finally told Pattinson to take it down about 5 notches and Kristin Stewart seemed to have a little more personality this go round. Speaking of abs...one thing I don't get is how Lautner is SO ripped and all the other werewolves look kinda puny. If it was me, I'd be hitting the gym everyday trying to keep up with Abs McGee!

One thing I really enjoyed was the backstories for Jasper and Rosalie. One aspect of the books that was always my favorite was the interaction of the Cullen family and getting to find out more about them. That seemed to be missing from the first two movies but played a much larger role in Eclipse.

The scenery was amazing but that is something that has stayed consistent throughout all the movies. All in all I'm glad I went to see it on the big screen. I'm also glad I only paid $6! I think I'll stick to the same formula for Breaking Dawn. I wish they'd keep the same director. Bill Condon will be directing both parts of Breaking Dawn. He directed Dreamgirls and a couple other smaller, well received movies so it should be interesting to see what he does. Maybe when Bella is having her daughter ripped from her womb someone will break into "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going".

Pants and I also saw Toy Story 3 a couple weeks ago. He was not excited to see it at all, (he doesn't like that Pixar does sequels and wishes they would just keep making new material), but I was very happy with it! Almost all the same faces are back and the plot felt fresh. It made sense in the timeline of the story. I will say that it didn't always strike me as a movie best for small children. I'm sure a lot of the material would go over their heads but the scene at the end at the dump...whoa! I won't give too much away but they were all so resigned to their fate and it was just.....heavy. The final scenes with Andy and Bonnie had me in tears! I swear Pixar is like Tears Crack for me. They ALWAYS get me. I literally can't watch Up without crying for the first 20 minutes. I've tried. Four times. Not possible.

As far as summer movies go the only things that we are looking forward to are Inception and Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World.

I seriously love this poster!

Sometimes I with there was a movie version of book club. It would be movie club and everyone would get together to watch a movie and then talk about it. I think it's a good idea! Plus you'd only be committing two hours, maybe three, of your time instead of the amount of time it takes you to read the book PLUS the two hours where you get together to talk about it. Movie Club! Who's with me!?

War Wounds

Last week I flaked out a little bit. I wrote my big, LONG, post about needles and giving blood and then never followed through with how it went! Bad Megan!

Honestly, I was so worn out that I took a few days off blogging. Luckily I had a couple scheduled posts (LOVE those) to get me through the weekend and I'm back to feeling like my old self again! However it is that she normally feels :)

All in all the blood donating was not a bad experience! I made sure to drink 3-4 bottles of water and eat breakfast AND lunch before I went down. The only problem here was that I was scheduled to go down at 1:30 and thought I'd have more time for my lunch to digest. Turns out I was needed to cover the front desk during that time! Would've been nice if someone had told me that but such is life.

I gave the phlebotomist full warning that I had bad veins. He kinda laughed it off and said he'd make sure I didn't get stuck with one of the trainees. Reeeeeal funny Dude (we'll call him Dude) but I'm serious here! If you've ever given blood you know about the chairs they make you sit in. They are really tall versions of those cheapo lawn chairs. The ones that can clickety clack up or down at either end depending on how you want to sit? Well I climb up into one and I swear I thought it was about to collapse! Luckily I didn't have a needle in my arm! I felt such vindication as Dude starts trying to find a vein and sees the error of his ways in mocking me. I was squeezing away on that stress ball they make you use to get your blood pumping, (I guess that's what it's for) and he couldn't find a vein in EITHER arm. Dude was pretty convinced I was dead. Mwhahahaha! At this point he called in the big guns. Dude #2 was able to find a vein in my arm fairly quickly. I guess my veins go in different directions then most veins? Finding a vein created a new problem since it was in my RIGHT arm and I was set up in a chair for my LEFT arm. Now I had to wait for the only right arm chair! Blergh!

There's not too much else to say about the process. Dude didn't want to stick me because he was nervous he'd miss and he had one of the other techs do it. She got the needle in in one try but did have to fiddle with it a little. I won't lie and say it was all sunshine and roses because it was extremely uncomfortable. I learned a trick when I got my tattoos...just pretend it's not happening and it makes me less awful. I kept talking to Dude and not looking as the tech fiddled with the needle. I grabbed handfuls of the blanket they gave me to keep warm. It worked. For the most part. Once the needle was in the pressure lessened and I just tried to lay back and relax. Smooth sailing commenced! Dude had to tighten the tourniquet a few times to up the flow but that was it. Overall it was a long but not entirely painful experience.

My pink arm wrap after I was all done.

Lest you think I gave blood like a champ I will tell you of my wimpyness after! A few important facts:

-I had a migraine the day before and woke up with a headache

-I'd been having varying degrees of headaches for a week

-I thought maybe it was allergies so the morning of the the donation I took 2 ibuprofen and 1 generic brand Benedryl (I knew aspirin was a no no since it thins your blood)

-I'd had a hard time sleeping all week and was already tired

By the time I got to work my head still hurt a bit and I was tired.

By the time I gave blood my head was fine but I was still very tired.

Two hours after I gave blood I almost fell asleep on the toilet and thought I might throw up at my desk!

I left work an hour early, went home and fell asleep for two hours. I woke up and ate, went back to sleep at my usual time and proceeded to sleep another 10 hours. Did I mention I took the next day off work? I figured when I woke up after my initial two hour nap and Mom commented on how bad I looked and I still felt exhausted that maybe calling in would be a good idea.

I'm happy to report that 12 hours of sleep was all I needed!

What did I get out of donating you ask?

My 'vampire bite'. This is only the beginning of the bruise!

-I found out I'm AB+! (This is exciting, trust me! I've wanted to know my blood type forever!) Turns out that with type AB blood I can receive ANY blood type! Type O is a universal donor but Type AB is a universal recipient! Also my blood can only be used for other Type AB people unlike A or B which can used on a wider variety of blood types.

-I got a sweet bruise that just kept getting bigger and bigger! I think it turned about 6 different colors and still hasn't gone away entirely. A co-worker referred to it as my war wound! People often make disgusted faces when they see it but Pants and I like it :)

-I know that I helped someone, somewhere.

I would love to give blood on a regular basis. I just feel like I might not get so lucky next time when it comes to a tech that can find a vein easily and fairly painlessly. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm proud that I sucked it up and did it. Everyone should do it at least once in your life.

Netflix Challenge #4- The Remains of the Day

"A butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years post World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty has been." ( from imdb.com)

My fourth pick for my Netflix Challenge is another one available on instant. The Remains of the Day came out in theatres in 1993 and is based on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was nominated for a number of Oscars including Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actor/Actress for Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. I've seen bits and pieces of this movie over the years but never enough to fully understand the plot. I decided now would be a good time to finally see it all the way through!

I'll start by saying the movie is gorgeous! I'd recommend it for the visual aspect alone. The scenes of the English countryside are breathtaking and the interior shots of Darlington Manor are a sight to behold. Especially for an American like me not used to houses of that size and stature.

So much of the story is about restraint and coming to terms with your place in your little corner of the world. The main character played by Hopkins, is Stevens. He's been the butler at Darlington Manor for seemingly his whole adult life and it has completely shaped him and his worldview. He is so wrapped up in his duties and dignity that he doesn't see a lot of what's going on in front of him. Correction: he sees it but basically looks beyond it or pretends he doesn't understand. It was frustrating for me as a viewer because I genuinely thought he would change his ways at many points throughout the movie but he just kept soldiering on. The epitome of the stiff upper lip English people are always accused of having.

Many sites list this movie as a romance but to me isn't a romance in the strictest sense of the word. There is not a happy ending necessarily. I go back to the word restraint here because THAT is what you see. Hopkins and Thompson embody that word so well. The heat in the looks he gives her character of Miss Kenton! The way he stares at her whenever he gets the chance! Unfortunately I kept imagining Hannibal Lector but that was totally my brain and nothing at all in the movie. :)

The Remains of the Day was an extremely well made, well acted, and beautiful movie. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys period pieces, movies set in England or is just a fan of that Merchant/Ivory style of movie. (They did in fact make this one :))

On a side note: I was interested in the author of the book the movie was made from. His name is Kazuo Ishiguro and his two most well known books,(The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go) are both set in England. After perusing his Wikipedia page I learned his family moved to England when he was 6 so that explains the settings. There was one line on the page that I felt described this movie very well.

"Ishiguro's novels often end without any sense of resolution. The issues his characters confront are buried in the past and remain unresolved. Thus Ishiguro ends many of his novels on a note of melancholic resignation. His characters accept their past and who they have become, typically discovering that this realization brings comfort and an ending to mental anguish."

I'm curious to read Never Let Me Go. I've had it on my bookshelves for awhile. I'd heard many good things and when I heard it was being made into a movie, I decided to pick it up. I think I might pick up The Remains of the Day as well.

Challenge 1 Challenge 2 Challenge 3

Guest Post

Today I am guest posting over at Becky's blog Love Everyday Life!

I volunteered to guest post AGES and AGES ago but she didn't need my blog until today! I started the post before I officially began my blog. It was a way for me to talk out whether or not I wanted to even go down this road.

I think my choice was obvious ;)

I hope you enjoy it!

Odds and Ends

We'll start out the week with a little update from the weekend, yes? Here goes!

-I set some goals for myself last week and I'm happy to report I accomplished all of them! Stay tuned for a post about my foray into DIY!

-I dropped off 2 trash bags of clothes and a box full of other knickknacks at the Salvation Army before the weekend even started! I also bought some more Huggable Hangers and made Pants clean out his clothes trunk a little...which means we now have two MORE trash bags for the thrift! Ugh, but good :)

-While I wasn't able to get ALL the bags of books out of the house and to the UBS, I managed to haul two of those blue IKEA bags full of books! I think I will take another trip some night this week.

-I also installed SnowLeopard on my computer and am happy to report that everything went off without a hitch! My Magic Mouse now has all the bells and whistles and my computer is as up to date as it can be. Here's hoping it can hold on a few more years for me. We've had a good run so far!

I was very proud of myself for setting goals and then being able to cross each one off the list. In some cases the 'big picture' doesn't need to be quite so BIG. Sometimes cleaning out your closet should be enough.

Also a little update on the second part of my finales post. I finished Castle, Chuck, and Modern Family so all that leaves is the season finale of Glee tomorrow night and I can post! Remember those excited pants I mentioned? They better be washed and ready!

As you can see I had QUITE a full weekend! I even vacuumed and did laundry! Anyone else have such a full weekend?

Update

Just a little update before the start of the weekend! I've already accomplished one of my projects for the week!

-On Wednesday night I took a load to the local Salvation Army store!

-This might be a cheat but Pants took part of the load of books in for trade last night. My plan is to take as much as I can tonight and see if another trip will be needed or not.

-Also I invested in the Mac Box Set in an attempt to update my current OS from Tiger to Snow Leopard. I'll try installing it tonight and see how things go! Hopefully my Magic Mouse will be all that I hope and more!

That means one and a half things can be crossed off the list! Hooray!

I plan on doing my DIY project on Sunday. My friend B is stopping by so that I can lend her the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris that the TV show True Blood is based on. I highly, highly recommend both! The show is MUCH more graphic and takes the story to a different level. I'd say to only watch if you think you have the stomach for it. It's HBO in every sense of the channel.

Also, I bought this ring last night at Forever21...$5.80! I love it! It's almost as big as my finger :)

It's much sparklier in person :)