A Few Thoughts

First things first, a few of you have changed your blog to private and have not sent me an invite at stacykent12atgmaildotcom. Now, I know you enjoy my witty and intelligent comments so send me an invite or you may never see or hear from me again!
So my computer is still not working uploading or attaching pictures. I've gotten really annoyed/depressed about it that I've been avoiding my blog altogether. What fun is blogging without adding all the visual elements? I've also been sad thinking of all the cute posts whose time has clearly passed. I mean who wants to see pumpkin patch trips when we are in the throws of the Christmas season?
David and I are kind of on strike about it because we swear technology is only made to last one year and then it breaks and you have to buy a new one. We bought this computer a little over a year ago along with a higher end printer/copier etc. and both of them are malfunctioning now. Of course, right after our 1 year warranty with "The Geek Squad" expires.
I fear I have lost all my readership in the meantime, but the problem is still not fixed :( So I decided to update with a Christmas theme and lament a little and share some of my random thoughts over the past little while.
1. Christmas Music-So there are just a few stations on the radio that play Christmas music exclusively, but I swear they only own a few CDs that they play over and over again. How many times do I have to listen to Mariah Carey bellow about All She Wants for Christmas, seriously. It's either that or another "soulful" version of "Do you Hear What I Hear" by Whitney, Patti, Natalie, etc. etc. and if one more person covers "Grown Up Christmas List"...I think you catch my drift.
But the worst offense of all is (wait for it) "Christmas Shoes". I know everyone has heard this hapless, schmaltzy mess of a Christmas carol. There is no need to explain, its shameful attempt to tug at our seasonally sensitive heartstrings with poverty, children, death, all of it. It's criminal. So I have included a playlist of some of my holiday favorites. Some are newer songs that I enjoy and some are classics that I grew up with. Over decades we wore out our Ray Conniff Singers albums along with The Carpenters and Andy Williams. There were so many songs I couldn't find (I guess no one else enjoys The Forgotten Carols) but I was happy to compile what I could of songs that really stir up my Christmas Spirit.
2. I am losing my hair: I'm sure everyone's immediate thought is that if anyone can afford to lose some hair and not have a problem, it's me. I know, I know and that is what I initially thought. But now, I swear I have lost like half my hair and I'm starting to freak out. Apparently, if you lose a lot of weight quickly and the diet is protein-rich, hair loss can be a side affect. Well, I am experiencing it big time, but strangely like two months after I went off the diet. I'm starting to take some supplements that are supposed to help but what's gone is gone, at least for now. I am going to have to grow it back eventually which could take forever considering how long it takes my hair to grow. Sigh...now I know what Nicole Kidman feels like (I know you know what I am talking about...what happened to that woman's huge curly mane?)
3. Last week two of my close high school friends and I crashed our old stomping ground and went and saw their current musical "The Sound of Music", which we actually did when I was a sophomore. Surprisingly enough, the cast was pretty decent for a high school crowd, but knowing what we do about the play, we knew it was time to leave after sparks start to fly between the Captain and Maria because all the good songs are played out by then. Because we didn't want to run into our old drama teacher whose creepiness has scarred us all for life, we found ourselves running stealth-like around the auditorium trying to find a way out. After, bungling a few attempts I realized it was freaky how little things had changed as here we were in our thirties running around Mt. View in a ridiculous manner trying to avoid the ominous Mr. Crimon. (Adam wasn't so lucky, a fateful bathroom trip found him in an unavoidable and terribly awkward ten minute conversation with the man).
4. I have been able to see several movies recently and since my secret life's ambition is to be a film/play/music critic (I actually got to live out my dream for awhile when I was editor of UVSC's newspaper because I just always assigned myself to all the reviews I wanted to do, it was great). I am going to share my thoughts with you now, like it or not.
Bolt: I loved this movie. I am not an animal person but I am just fine getting all sentimental over digitally produced ones with Hollywood stars supplying their personalities. It was funny (the pigeons are the best), touching (I even felt sorry for the stupid cat) and entertaining. Go see it, it's worth it.
Twilight: Even bringing up this movie might be a mistake. I am a fan of the books because the story is interesting, but there were a lot of things that really annoyed me about them. I ended up expecting a lot from the movie because I was excited to take the story and trim all the annoying parts that the author endlessly dwells on and bring the romance to life. Well, this movie suffers from a bad case of budget deprivation. Post production didn't seem to be part of the movie-making process here because our gorgeous vampires were laden with visible white pancake make-up that could have easily been touched up to make them seem more like the ethereal creatures described in the novel. (Except Rosalie, who was charity casting by the director who knew her because she is in no way the Rosalie from the novels).
Bella was perfect I guess because she annoyed me which was the case in the books as well. If I hadn't read the books prior, perhaps I would have been okay with the guy playing Edward, but since I have, I couldn't help but be disappointed. I suppose he is good-looking, but not gorgeous and he was definitely too hairy for a character who is always described as having skin as smooth as marble. Plus, he played many scenes awkwardly which for a 100 year old vampire who has had years to polish and refine his charm, it just didn't fit.
It was rushed in some areas where too much content was mushed together and dragged in others when the director got caught up in just letting the camera roll without end while the actors playing Bella and Edward stumbled incessantly over their lines trying to drive the "teenage angst and awkwardness" quotient to a new level.
I suppose I will see it again at some point and may like it better the second time around, because it did have its moments, but for now I guess I am in the minority with saying I didn't like it.
Four Christmases: We have a tradition of seeing Christmas movies on Thanksgiving as a family and last year we had to sit through a much worse Vince Vaughn film "Fred Claus", this one was actually kind of funny. It does have a little bit of crude humor sometimes if your grandma is sitting a few seats away, but overall I ended up liking it. Vince Vaughn plays the same character he does in every movie where you wonder how on earth Reese Witherspoon or Jennifer Aniston or (insert beautiful actress name here) would ever want to be with him, but I laughed at it this time around. Maybe not worth a full price movie ticket, but definitely a good dollar theatre or rental choice.
So, these are my random thoughts for now. Hopefully, we will get around to fixing whatever is wrong with the computer so I can finish off my first year of blogging with a bang. Maybe I will have to resort to some giveaway drawing to win you all back. Stay Tuned.