Month: November 2010

Monday Movie Meme – The Great Beyond

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Feature Presentation…MONDAY MOVIE MEME

This week’s movie topic is all about The Afterlife…

There are movies about Heaven and Hell and demons and angels and some of them I actually like!  Here are a few favorite movies about what happens after life. 

 

1. Dogma (1999).  Lots of angels and other Biblical characters in this irreverent take on the last descendent of Jesus.  Smart & Funny.

2. Heart & Souls (1993) Wouldn’t it be great if you could stick around until you fixed things that you left unfinished?  Hopeful.  Field of Dreams (1989) also falls into this category.

3. The Others (2001) A more stark view of what can happen after you die.  Depressing with  great ending.

Sundays With Gage and On Becoming Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam MD

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This is the perfect picture of what a sleeping newborn should look like – and yes, I do see the resemblance to a frog.  Sleeper, check.  Baby on back, check.  Absolutely nothing else in crib, check.  As you can see Gage knows the correct procedure.  At least every time but nighttime.  I consider it a little funny that this night owl has a son who seems to think daytimes are for napping and when the sun goes down it is time to party.  I won’t go into the sleeping woes of this new mama because my parents came for the weekend and I got two nights of extra sleep.  I’m feeling good and ready for the mostly sleepless nights of the upcoming week. 

The following book was given to me for a pregnancy gift, but I only read it after Gage arrived.  My loss.  It has proved invaluable.

This photo was taken when Gage was 2 weeks old.  He’s pushing 4 weeks now 😉

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On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo: Book CoverFinished 11-6-10, rating 4.5/5, parenting, revised & updated 2006

I am not a huge fan of schedules but I think that babies and children can benefit from them so I was happy to read this book on how to give my baby some structure.  The book recommends forming and maintaining a routine for your infant that is based on sleeping, feeding, and waketime.  There are tips on how to establishing a schedule for your child and I have found it useful.  I have not been able to follow it to the letter (Gage is only a newborn, after all!), but by using the guidelines loosely I have found my day to have a little more certainty. 

I think there may be a danger if you try to follow it too closely.  I’ve tried that and there are some things that I think will not work for Gage.  Making him nap when he wants to play for a few hours seems counterproductive to getting him to sleep at night.  But keeping in mind the three blocks of time and shaping them to suit your needs I think will help many first time parents feel more in control and knowledgeable.  Having a plan, whether you follow it to the letter or not, goes a long way in making you feel prepared.

While I think the first chapter called Your Baby Needs a Family was well intended it did seem to lack empathy for most mothers and fathers out there that for whatever reason do not have the ideal nuclear family.  If you are one of them, as are most families these days, I might just skip that chapter altogether.

This book was a gift from my friend, Kate.

Movie Title Meme

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I used this title meme for books last year and thought I try it using movie titles this year.  I used only the movies that I’ve seen for the first time this year.  Go ahead and try it yourself.

Describe Yourself…Baby Mama

How Do You Feel…State of Play

Describe Where You Currently Live…State of the Union

If You Could Go Anywhere…When in Rome

Your Favorite Transportation…Up in the Air

Your Best Friend Is…The Answer Man

You & Your Friends Are…The A-Team

What’s The Weather Like…Summertime

Favorite Time Of Time…Twilight

What Is Life To You…Precious

Your Fear…The Ugly Truth

What Is The Best Advice You Have To Give…Because I Said So

Thought For The Day…Everybody’s Fine

How Would You Like To Die…The Chocolate War

My Soul’s Present Condition…The Soloist

The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel by Diana Gabaldon and Illustrated by Hoang Nguyen

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The Exile by Diana Gabaldon: Book CoverFinished 11-6-10, rating 2.5/5, graphic novel, pub. 2010

I am a huge fan of the Outlander series so when I saw this was being published I was excited.  The series is so exciting and the settings are so colorful that it had to be good.  And I’d finally get to see how Gabaldon envisioned Jamie and Claire.  Well, I was disappointed in all aspects. 

The story jumped around a lot and if you aren’t already familiar with the book I think it would be confusing and to add to the confusion many of Jamie’s clan members look way too much alike.  I had to go back and check who was who more than once. 

As for Jamie and Claire, well, I have a few gripes about them too.  I would have been okay with Claire except her cleavage was just too ridiculous.  There was no reason for it and it was distracting.  And Jamie is more rugged and manly in my mind (think Aragorn minus all the dirt and with red hair).  The body seemed right, but the face didn’t do it for me.  These are the same things that make it hard for a movie to stand up to the book in the minds of fans.  It was still interesting to see what Gabaldon had in mind as she wrote it.

With those complaints I did still find it a fairly fun experience.  It was quick and the illustrations were good.  This is my first graphic novel and I’m not sure the genre is for me.  I have one more sitting on the shelf so I’ll have to see what I think of that one before I write off the whole genre.  I would recommend this one to Outlander fans only and then I would tell you just to find it at the library or borrow it from a friend.

This was from my personal library.

Thankful Quiz

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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I love that it’s all about appreciating what you have and spending time with those you love.  Of course, the day long eating doesn’t hurt either!  Thanksgiving is a few weeks away, but there is never a bad time to be thankful. 

The covers all have something I’m thankful for pictured.  Tell me what I’m thankful for (5 pts.), the title (4 pts.), the author (1 pt.).  You have until Thursday night to submit your answers. I hide your answers until then.

Here are the rules… 1. Open to everyone.  Play once or every week, that’s okay.  I’m happy to have you here today.

2. No cheating.  No googling, other internet searches or looking at other commenter answers.  Yes, we’re going by the honor system

3. Your first answers will be the only ones accepted.

  

  

  

  

  

 

 1. Baby, Gage-Baby,Baby,Baby by Marily Janovich

2. Husband, Jason, Marriage- The Husband by Dean Koontz

3. Dogs, Max- Fool Me Once by Fern Michaels

4. Bed, Sleep- Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons

5. Reading, Books- Silent in the Grave by Deanne Raybourn

6. Home- The Quilter’s Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini 

7. Computer, Internet- Holly’s Inbox by Holly Denham

8. Money- Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler

9. Italy, Travel, Vacation- Playing for Pizza

10. Romance- Lake Magic by Kimberly Fisk

Monday Movie Meme- Hated It

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Feature Presentation…MONDAY MOVIE MEME
This week’s movie topic is all about The Worst Movie You’ve Ever Seen…
Visit the Bumbles for more bed movie selections.
 
These three movies are generally considered classics by most, but I could not stand them.  I spent at least half of each movie complaining about how terrible it was.  I saw all of these many years ago, so I don’t know if I’d feel differently now, but I don’t plan on finding out!  Please don’t hate me if I’m disparaging a favorite of yours.
 
1. The English Patient (1996)  This was far too long.  I felt like Elaine in Seinfeld when she was fired because she confessed to Mr. Peterman that she hated the movie. 
 
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Actually thought I was going to like this one, but somehow missed the point of it and why it is considered so great.  I’m sure one of you will tell me.  Please, tell me!
 
3. Amadeus (1984) This is another one I thought was too long.  Don’t remember anything else about it.  This is the one that I might possibly see again because, while I remember hating it, I don’t really remember why.

So, what about you?  Is there a movie that you hated and everyone else loved?  Care to confess?

Sundays with Gage

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Motherhood, c-sections, weight gain and loss, sleeping, and gassy babies are all things I might talk about on a given Sunday, but today all you get are a few Gage pics.

This week Gage was able to dress up and visit a few neighbors on Halloween

And he received visitors.  He met Jason’s dad,

my Grandmother, a great aunt and uncle, Aunt Amy,  Uncle Doug and cousin Lucy, and his new friend Anne.  He’s not even three weeks old yet and he’s already surrounded by love 🙂

Free Books for November

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In my ongoing quest to keep books moving out and not just in I give away a few books each month.  Leave a comment, tell me which book you want and I’ll get the book to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon.  The first one to request each book wins.  Once you’ve ‘won’ the book I can get your shipping address if I need it.  Also, you can come back and get a free book every month if you want.  These have all been read a time or two.

1. Confessions of a Shopaholic  by Sophie Kinsella.  mass market fiction. B&N review. for Misha

2. Weep No More, My Lady by Mary Higgins Clark.  mass market mystery.  B&N review.  for Mariska

3. The Parsifal Mosaic by Robert Ludlum. mass market fiction.  B&N review. for Linda B

4. Miracles Happen by Mary Kay Ash. trade paperback non-fiction.  B&N review.  for Carol M

Happy Reading!

The Shop on Blossom Street, by Debbie Macomber

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Cover ImageFinished 10-26-10, rating 3/5, fiction, pub. 2004

You see, I’d always assumed I would die before my father.

Most people find talk of death unsettling, but I’ve lived with the threat of it for so long, it doesn’t have that effect on me.  The possibility of death has been my reality for the last fourteen years, an d I’m as comfortable talking about it as I am the weather.

Chapter 1

Lydia has opened up a yarn shop in Seattle.  After two bouts of cancer she has decided to make her dream job come true.  She begins a knitting class to bring people to the store and suddenly has three new friends to knit with every Friday.  Jacqueline is a society gal who is hard to like, Carol and her husband are on their last in vitro treatment and she is desperate to have a child and  Alix is a troubled girl looking for an easy way to fulfill her court appointed community service.  The four women become fast friends and are able to provide support through their troubles.

This was a sweet, easy read, like most of Macomber’s books.  The chapters jump between the women and this diluted the stories for me.  I got a little taste of each, but wasn’t really invested in any of them.  The women were relatable and their stories made them feel like familiar friends, or maybe just acquaintances.  I liked it but won’t be reading any of the other books of this series.  It was just a little too easily wrapped up for me.

This is from my personal library and was chosen by ‘Nise, Mom, and Bonnie.  Here’s what they had to say…

“You have to read Debbie Macomber and this is a great series about a knit shop and women’s friendships.”  Bonnie

“It’s great when you need a light read.” ‘Nise

Writers in Film Quiz

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There are many movies that have writers as main characters.  Let’s see if you can figure them out.  Each movie title is worth 10 points and you have until Thursday night to submit your answers. I hide your answers until then.

Here are the rules… 1. Open to everyone.  Play once or every week, that’s okay.  I’m happy to have you here today.

2. No cheating.  No googling, other internet searches or looking at other commenter answers.  Yes, we’re going by the honor system

3. Your first answers will be the only ones accepted.

Last week’s Gage Quiz here.  Leaderboard here.

1. I mentioned this one in the movie meme yesterday.  The character CK Dexter Haven was writing a story about his ex-wife for a tabloid.  The Philadelphia Story (1940)

2. Diane Lane played a writer who moved to Italy and restored an old house in this movie based on a travel memoir.  Under the Tuscan Sun

3. The Secret Window (2004)

4. This movie about Harper Lee’s famous friend is the story of shocking Kansas murders.  Capote (2005)

5. Gwyneth Paltrow won an Oscar for her role in this film about the Bard.  Shakespeare in Love (1998)

6. Wonder Boys (2000)

7. REDRUM  The Shining (1980)

8. Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor both play writers in this romantic comedy.  Down With Love (2003)

9.  The Hours (2002)

10. In this romantic comedy Luke Wilson’ character hires Kate Hudson’s character to type his manuscript.  Alex & Emma (2003)