Why Kevin Smith is So Rad, Part I

I was going to do a quote post dedicated to the awesomeness that is Kevin Smith, but I have a lot of quotes and some a really long because well, sometimes Kevin lets his characters go on for awhile.  I’ve decided to do numerous Kevin Smith quote posts and this one is just one quote from Chasing Amy, which is most definitely my second favorite Kevin Smith movie.  What’s my favorite, you ask?  You’ll find out another time oh curious friends of mine!

‘Why me, you know?  Why now?’

‘Well, why not you?’

‘Well, I’m a guy.  You’re attracted to girls.’

‘I see you’ve been taking notes.  Historically yes, that’s true.’

‘Then why this?’

‘Well, I’ve given that a lot of thought, you know?  I mean now that I’m being ostracized by my friends I’ve had plenty of time to think about it and what I’ve come up with is really simple.  I came to this on my own terms, you know?  I didn’t just heed what I was taught – men and women should be together, just the natural way – that kind of thing.  I’m not with you because of what family, society, life tried to instill in me from day one.  The way the world is, how seldom it is that you meet that one person who just gets you … it’s so rare.  My parents didn’t really have it.  There were no examples set for me in the world of male/female relationships and to cut one’s self off from finding that person, to immediately half your options by eliminating the possibility of finding that one person within your own gender, that just seemed stupid to me.  So I didn’t.  But then you came along.  You, the one least likely.  I mean you were a guy.’

‘Still am.’

‘And while I was falling for you I put a ceiling on that because you were a guy.  Until I remembered why I opened the door to women in the first place.  To not limit the likelihood of finding the one person who’d compliment me so completely.  So here we are.  I was thorough when I looked for you and I feel justified lying in your arms ‘cause I got here on my own terms and I have no questions there was someplace I didn’t look and for me that makes all the difference.’
-Holden & Alyssa

Project 365, Week 8

Another month almost done!  I must say, I am running out of things to take pictures of!  I’ve got to get out of my comfort zone and try some new things.  This week I went back to my camera as much as I can instead of the iPhone and I didn’t do any editing on these this week either.

2.21.11 – Emma’s new addition to our entourage had an accident on Emma’s kid’s menu!

2.22.11 – I got some great pictures of Emma blowing bubbles.  She’s trying so hard to blow lots of bubbles, can’t you tell?

2.23.11 – New books!  New books!

2.24.11 – Mossy!  I love the moss that grows in our front yard.  It’s probably considered a weed-like nuisance to people who know about these things, but I love it!

2.25.11 – Despite having 147 Barbies Emma feels she must dress up Daddy’s foot.

2.26.11 – Watching the clouds go by.

2.27.11 – This morning when I woke up I saw everything was all frosty outside.  So I ran out there and took some pictures before it all melted away.

Two months done! 

Heaven

Remember this post here?  I told you all about how I love lists.  I love them lots, remember?  So when I came across this:

I died.

Titles to start off a list.  All I have to do is make lists.  LISTS!!

I am dead.  And soon very busy making lists.  You can be busy too.  Go here and buy it!

Therapy??

Awhile back I read this post by one of my favorite bloggers, Busy Bee Lauren.  She writes an extremely entertaining blog that inspires me everyday.  She was gifted a fancy little book called Wreck This Journal.  I looked it up and thought, well that’s just not for me.  See, the purpose of the book is exactly as the title describes.  Keri Smith wants you to wreck this journal.  She has you doing all kinds of crazy stuff to the book and while it sounds fun I am just not that person.

Once, my roommate’s dad mentioned that he read a James Patterson book and liked it.  I told him I had every one of his books if he wanted to borrow some.  He went into my room & took a look at my bookshelf.  He said ‘I can’t borrow these, you haven’t even read them yet!’  I popped my head in and took a look, replied that yes, I’d read them all.  He said ‘But they look brand new!’  When I told him that’s just how I keep my books he said there was no way he was going to borrow any of my books because he’d destroy them.  He may have also muttered something about me not being a normal human bean.

This is what most of my books look like and these ones in particular I’ve read multiple times.

But the other day I was buying a book I really wanted on Amazon and Wreck This Journal popped up as a recommendation for me.  You know, 'cause Amazon knows me so well.  I figured it was someone’s way of telling me I needed to get not so anal about my books.  So I put it in my cart and hoped for the best.

Well it arrived today and no time like the present, right? 

 Look at how shiny and pretty that spine is!  Enjoy it while it lasts.  

The first task I attempted was this one:

So here goes …

First attempt … not so good.  Ray told me I sucked at cracking the spine.

So I tried again.

Now that’s a cracked spine my friends.

So that was pretty traumatic.  That means it’ll probably be the last Wreck This Journal post for quite some time.  Don’t hate me.  If you really want some WTJ action in the meantime read BBL’s blog!

Never Finished

I tend to get these bursts of inspiration.  These scenes in my head that I need to get down on paper.  And I do and they’re just that – a scene, nothing more.  So I have hundreds of these snippets of stories I started and never finished.  Here is one:

“I don’t even know what love feels like anymore.  Did I have it with Joe?  With Mark?  I thought I did, but it went away.  Can love really go away?  And it’s never the way it is described in books and it hardly ever looks the way it does in movies.  So how do you recognize it?  Is it that feeling you get when you look at them and you only want to touch them to make sure they’re real and your throat closes up a bit as if you were going to cry when you find out they are real?  Or is it the feeling of comfort when they walk ahead of you in a crowded room and they reach behind with their hand only for you to take it?  Is it the excitement when you hear them say they told someone about you?  Or the flattery when their friends tell you that he is really into you?

“Of is it all of those, always?

“I think about how maybe I should just go with the flow and see where fate takes me, but fate broke me before and if I had only stuck with my fears and inhibitions I wouldn’t have had to spend so much time picking up the pieces.”

I don’t remember when I wrote this, at least 10 years ago.  Not really a poem, I know, but I said I would share my old writing so here you are!  I’ll try to find something more poetic for next week!

Why Joss Whedon is So Rad

Anyone who knows me knows that I ♥ Buffy Summers.  She is my all time favorite ass-kicking heroine.  I have multitudes of Buffy paraphernalia including (but not limited to) The Chosen Collection DVD box set of the complete series, many, many BTVS comic books, the trading cards, and of course, these bad girls:

Aren’t they so fabulous?

So here’s a Quote Day dedicated to Buffy.

'Does looking at guns make you want to have sex?'
'I'm 17.  Looking at linoleum makes me want to have sex.'
-Cordelia & Xander

'I have my pride.  Okay.  I don't have a lot of my pride, but I have enough so that I can't do this.'
-Xander

'You're looking at my neck!'
'What?'
'You were checking out my neck!  I saw that!'
'No, I wasn't.'
'Just keep your distance pal.'
'I wasn't checking out your neck.'
'I told you to eat before we left.'
-Xander & Angel

'Passion.  It lies in all of us.  Sleeping, waiting and though unwanted, unbidden it will stir, open its jaws and howl.'
-Angel

'A vampire in love with a slayer.  It's rather poetic.'
-Giles

'Ooh gang, did you hear that?  A bonus day of class plus Cordelia.  Mix in a little rectal surgery and it's my best day ever!
-Xander

'I've had it!  Spike is going down!  You can attack me, you can send assassins after me, that's fine, but nobody messes with my boyfriend.'
-Buffy

'A black eye heals, but cowardice has an unlimited shelf life.'
-Xander

'There are some things I can just smell.  It's like a sixth sense.'
'No, actually that would be one of the five.'
-Principal Snyder & Giles

'Well, every school has them.  See, you start a new school, you get your desks, some blackboards and some mean kids.'
-Xander

'So are we going Bronzing tonight?  Or, of course, we could take a hammer and pound our enemies into talcum powder, but darn it, we did that last night!'
-Xander

'I don't like vampires.  I'm going to take a stand and say they're not good.'
-Xander

'I think I speak for everyone when I say, huh?'
-Buffy

'We saved the world.  I say we have a party.'
-Buffy

'It's like this dream I had about Xander except that it wasn't about Xander, it was about someone else and it wasn't even me, it was a friend of mine and ... she doesn't remember it!'
-Willow

'It must have been wonderful.  To put on some fantabulous gown and go to a ball like a princess.  And have horses and servants and yet more gowns!'
-Buffy

'We're right behind you, only further back.'
-Xander

'I knew it!  Not in the sense that I had the slightest idea what was going on, but I knew there was something I didn't know!'
-Willow

'What are you doing here?  Five words or less.'
'Out. For. A. Walk. ... Bitch.'
-Buffy & Spike

'Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals on legs.'
-Spike

OK.  That's enough for now.  I guess I'll save the rest for another day!

Project 365, Week 7

It’s been a lovely, rainy week this week.  We’ve seen wind, rain and a little bit of hail and even a tiny bit of sunshine.  I don’t really like taking the camera out in the rain, but I’ll take pictures with my phone.  I love using Hipstamatic and using it on these rainy days has renewed my love of the app and I’m thinking about doing a separate 365 for just my Hipstamatic photos, but we’ll see!

2.14.11 – Happy Valentine’s Day

2.15.11 – The first dandelion of the season!

2.16.11 – Finally got my rings cleaned!  So sparkly!

2.17.11 – Love the rainy weather and I love an excuse to wear my rain boots!

2.18.11 – I don’t know what kind of flowers these are, but they were getting hammered by the rain.  I stood out there for about 5 minutes just snapping pictures of them.

2.19.11 – Driving home in the rain.

2.20.11 – Driving out to Placerville to see Grandma who’s been a little sick.  It was so beautiful outside and it just didn’t match the way I felt inside.

Another week bites the dust & I’m still taking pictures!  So proud of myself.  My little cousin Paris has started her own Project 365.  I’m so excited to see what she finds photo-worthy!

Dinner with Friends

If you are ever in Morgan Hill and feel like having some awesome food you need to check out Big Grill BBQ & Teriyaki on Monterey.  It is the best!  It’s a teeny Korean BBQ place that seats 24 people, barely and it’s run by pretty much one woman who cooks all the food and another who serves.  They have my favorite ramen dish, lemon ramen.  IT’S SOOOO GOOD!

Today we took some friends with us.  Emma loves them.

This is Bookworm.

And Bugsy.

Shy Guy.  He’s saying hi.

This is Diny (like Tiny).  Emma named her.  She’s very creative.

Ray ordered the pork belly.  He cooked it for us.  It was a lot, but once we told Emma it was bacon it was all over.

Diny liked the sides.  Can you see her, she’s kind of camouflaged.

Afterwards we stopped to get some gas.  Everyone waited patiently.

A good night was had by all.

Books, Books, Books

I get a lot of friends who ask me for book recommendations.  And why not, I’ve read A LOT of books in my time.  Now, I’m not going to be one of those people who tells you that you must read the classics or socially aware books ‘cause those aren’t really my favorites so feel free to look down your nose at my selections!

What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg

During the plane ride across country that will take Ginny Young to see the mother she has not seen in 35 years Ginny thinks back to the last summer she spent with her mother.  Elizabeth Berg writes a story that is quietly powerful and amazingly lyrical.

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

When Bella Swan leaves sunny Phoenix for the ever cloudy Forks, Washington she never thinks that the place she dreads to go will be the place that forever changes her life … and death.  Of course, I must include this series, mainly the first.  There’s something about the first book in a series that is unforgettable.  Despite loving the rest of the series Twilight will always be my favorite.

Intensity by Dean Koontz

Unable to sleep in the home of her best friend’s family Chyna becomes the only witness to the brutal murder of her friend’s family and the kidnapping of Laura.  Knowing she must do whatever she can to save her best friend she sneaks onto the killer’s RV until she can figure out how to save them both.  And then she discovers the name of the sociopath’s next victim and she knows she must save this stranger and destroy her enemy.  The book takes place in maybe a 24-36 hour time period and the title says it all.  One of the most intense novels I’ve ever read.

The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyama

The Language of Threads is actually the sequel to the Women of the Silk which I didn’t read.  This story follows a young woman, Pei and her young charge Ji Shen in Hong Kong in the 1930s.  It’s a story of determination and survival and the lengths one woman will go through to help those who have helped her.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

A love that literally stands the test of time.  A beautiful story about a time traveler and the woman who falls madly and deeply in love with him.  I was hesitant to read this one at first.  I thought time traveling wasn’t really my thing and the back and forth telling of time took a little getting used to, but once I was in I was invested.  It was a brilliant blend of science fiction and romance.  Just be prepared with a box or two of tissues nearby.

My Best Friend’s Girl by Dorothy Koomson

Another tearjerker.  And when I say tearjerker I mean more like tsunami of tears and snot.  This book broke my heart, but it was so beautiful.  Kamryn agrees to meet her former best friend, Adele who years ago did something that Kamryn could never forgive.  What Adele has to ask Kamryn will once again change her life.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Okay.  If you don’t know anything about this series I would ask that you please crawl out from under the rock you’ve been under.  If you haven’t read them I ask you, why?  If you’ve started to read them and ‘just couldn’t get into it’ I question whether or not you are actually human.  And that is really all I need to say about that.

Go forth and read people!

The Downfall of the Printed Word?

Reading has been on my mind a lot this last week or so.  Really, reading is always on my mind because I am always reading, but what I mean is the state of reading is on my mind.

It basically started with the rumors that Borders was going to file for bankruptcy and close down a la Circuit City.  I realized that this left only Barnes and Nobles and the handful of independent book sellers who have survived the big box retailers reign.  Barnes and Noble would purchase the remaining stock Borders had and a few choice locations … basically, Barnes & Noble would take over the book world.

I know that a lot of purists believe that retailers like B&N and Borders are the ruination of the book world and they’re right.  We should buy from Indie book sellers and support our local community, but it doesn’t come cheap.  Books are a want, not a need so it’s hard to justify spending the extra dollars, oftentimes almost twice the price of B&N, on a book.  Sure, reading is a necessity for me.  I live and breathe books, but really it is a pleasure purchase and I would say I get 50% of my books from the library.  When I buy a book I make sure it’s a book I know I’ll love and I get it from B&N.  I suck.  But I buy A LOT of books and I have to make sure that I get the best price, right?

And then there is the world of YA books.  I love them.  I eat them up like candy.  Some are really good, beyond good.  They’re the kind of books that although they are classified as YA books they should be read by adults as well.  Off the top of my head these would include Speak and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver and After by Amy Efaw.  Powerful, memorable books that speak to you in a voice that resonates with who you were or are now or who you could have been.

However, thanks to Harry Potter & Twilight (both I LOVE – bordering on obsess) the movie industry has turned everything they think might possibly repeat the success of the two powerhouses into a movie.  That in turn has brought everyone out of the woodwork.  Authors like James Patterson and Kathy Reichs are putting books out into the YA world.  Now, I know James Patterson has been ‘writing’ YA fiction for awhile with the Maximum Ride series which is kind of a spin off of When the Wind Blows and The Lake House.  His most recent YA series, Witch and Wizard was one of worst pieces of crap I have ever read.  Seriously, that was so bad I cannot bring myself to even consider reading the sequel even though the first book left you on a major cliffhanger.  Ugh.  It makes me angry all over again just to think about it.

Suzanne Collins’s electrifying success with The Hunger Games trilogy has of course granted her movie immortality.  Those movies are slated to begin in 2013.  Others?  Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series, Carrie Ryan’s Forest of Hands & Teeth, Amanda Hocking’s Trylle series and of course, Maximum Ride will soon be coming to a theatre near you to name a few.  And that’s great for them.

And it’s not just YA.  They just announced that they would be making a film adaptation of my favorite Dean Koontz’s series, Odd Thomas.  Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants will be coming out this year as well as the American version of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series and Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.

But what really has driven me insane is I Am Number Four.  Written by a poor ghost writer who was whipped until finishing by the devil in disguise James Frey.  Yes, that James Frey.  Why wouldn’t he jump on the YA bandwagon?  Well, Mr. Frey takes it one step further.  He started a company called Full Fathom Five and all he is doing is peddling YA books he hires college students to ghost write for him.  He then keeps 60%-70% of the proceeds while the actual author gets next to nothing.  Before the book was even finished the movie was in the making.  And another series has been sold to Will Smith’s company for his daughter.

It literally disgusts me.  I get that people want to make money.  I get it.  But I want there to be some sort of integrity left in literature.  It pains me that I know people who thought that I Am Number Four is a wonderful book when really, it was just okay and will probably be a better movie than it was a book.  But even worse, because he can’t write worth shit he grabs these kids and has them write for him while he makes all the money.  Apparently, his berating by Oprah has not changed him for the better.

The War of the Onlys

Today I read this blog post about Katie Holmes.  I’m not a big fan, never really have been and I’ve definitely never been a fan of Tom Cruise.  I like some of his movies, but he’s too crazy Scientology for me.  Plus he lost Nicole Kidman and she is perfect so you do the math there.

The author is saying that Katie Holmes was overhead discussing her ‘reason’ for having another baby being that Suri would like a brother or sister to play with and it’s hard to say no to Suri.  The author said she got a good laugh out of that one because it was such a silly reason to have a baby.

Not knowing Katie Holmes personally or having been part of that conversation I can’t say for sure, but I’m pretty certain this is not the only reason she would like to have another child.  And if it is a silly reason, than I too am silly.

Of course, I want another child because we always thought of having a few kids.  Ray and I both have siblings and couldn’t imagine Emma being an only child.  But a big reason, in my heart is that I want Emma to have a companion.  Growing up I always knew that my sister or brother were there.  If the world fell apart under my feet I would be able to hold onto them.  I know that no matter what I will never be alone.  I will never have to face something scary or uncertain by myself because I have them.

How is that silly?  I don’t know.  You’ll have to ask Jeanne Sager who apparently knows the answer.  And for the record I have nothing against Jeanne or her writing, just this subject.  She wrote a great commentary standing up for Lara Logan that I wished I had written.

Now, don’t get me wrong I love poking fun at celebrities.  I had many a chuckle over Katie Holmes’ whackjob of a husband over the years.  I just feel like this woman was using a conversation out of context and in turn telling millions of couples that they too were dummies for wanting multiple children.  And I’m not the only one.  Going through the comment section many people disagreed with her.

It got me thinking about the way people judge others and their ideas on procreation.  There’s the Duggars who have a bajillion children.  I don’t have any problem with that.  I know there’s the whole argument that the kids never really get to be kids because they’re always helping to take care of their siblings or that they don’t get enough attention because there’s a bajillion children in the house at all times, but you know, I thought it was kind of cool to have grown up with all those brothers and sisters.  Until they had this last baby who was born premature and with complications.  Then I thought, well that sucks.  Then afterwards when the couple said they would most likely have more children if God blessed them with more.  Then I was thought, whoa people, it’s time to knock that crap off.  Maybe this is God’s way of saying it’s time to stop.  I don’t know how God works, but that’s just my opinion.

Then there’s the Jon & Kates of the world.  I refuse to watch anything on TLC now because they’re the ones who inflicted those people on me.  What a nightmare.  I watched the first season because let’s face it, those kids were freaking adorable.  I was always amazed at how they were only a quarter Korean but looked full.  But then Kate started to get on my nerves and I just stopped watching it.  And then the shit hit the fan a couple of years later and I felt both sorry and irritated with them.  I just wanted them to get off the TV and the internet and the magazines.

Wow, so that was off the subject.  What I wanted to say about them was how people think they’re nuts for not reducing the number of embryos once they found out how many they were having.  I’m not religious, but I get it.  Those are your babies.  You wanted those babies.  You went to great lengths to be able to conceive those babies.  How do you take any away?  I hope that’s something I don’t ever have to think about.

I don’t even know why I felt the need to blog about this!  It just really irritated me and when things irritate me I must blab about them.  Sorry guys.

Happiness Stumps Me

The other day I was talking to one of my besties, Kiersten.  She recently got married and knocked up and is currently residing in Deliriously Happytown.  We talked about how happy we are with our lives and who woulda thunk it and all that jazz.  How nothing about our lives now would our 10 year younger selves recognize as being theirs.  The one drawback we both agreed on was the disappearance of our creativity.

I’ve been a writer my whole life.  I started writing short (dumb) stories really young and then in middle school started writing poetry.  When a friend I’d known since kindergarten passed away in 8th grade my poetry became an obsession.  It was surely my way of communicating all the things I could never say out loud.  So I stuck with it and I wrote and I wrote and I wrote and filled up those black and white composition books, pouring out all my angst and heartbreak and later my depression.  My deepest, darkest thoughts about myself are in those books.

But now, happiness and contentedness has sucked away all the darkness in my soul so I have nothing left to write about.  Sure, I could write about the sunshiney-ness of this life, but to me writing poetry was always an outlet, a way to get the hurt out.  I always felt better after getting those words out of my head and onto paper.  And I don’t need to do it anymore.

About a week after talking to Kiersten about our loss of our muse (Depression) I thought I would pick up my old composition books and see how ridiculous my poetry reads to my older self.  And you know, I was pretty good sometimes.  But that’s not the point I’m getting at here.  Looking through the first book I found on the last page a note I had written to myself, or rather a contract.  On the inside of the back cover I had written ‘I promise if I ever fill up this book with my poetry I will try to get it published.’  I filled the book on February 22, 1999, almost exactly 12 years ago and I have never once tried to publish anything.

So maybe I’ll start ‘publishing’ them here, my new writing journey.  Some will be the silly thoughts of a teenage girl and others will be the words of a soul who had yet been found.  Not everything was about me and how I was feeling.  Sometimes I would write for friends or sometimes something else would inspire me.

When I was in high school my friend’s mom knew I was into poetry and gave me a book called The Best Loved Poems of the American People.  I still have it and I still love it.  Thank you Mrs. Katai. 

This poem from that book is by an unknown author and I read it countless times and wished I knew who was behind this story.  I start off my poetry publishing party with the one that inspired me to do better.

If You But Knew 

If you but knew

How all my days seemed filled with dreams of you

How sometimes in the silent night

Your eyes thrill me with their tender light,

How often I hear your voice when others speak,

How you 'mid other forms I seek - 

Oh, love more real than though such dreams were true

If you but knew!

Could you but guess

How you alone make my happiness

How I am more than willing for your sake

To stand alone, give all and nothing take,

Nor chafe to think you bound while I am free

Quite free, 'til death, to love you silently

Could you but guess?

Could you but learn

How when you doubt my truth I sadly yearn

To tell you all, to stand for one brief space

Unfetted, soul to soul, as face to face,

To crown you King, my King, 'til life shall end,

My lover and likewise, my truest friend,

Would you love me, dearest, as fondly in return,

Could you but learn?

This is What it Takes to Make a Yosemite Reservation

Apparently, you need to have your sister on IM so that you can communicate with her about what the hell you’re doing.
You must also have in your possession and turned on:

1. Laptop with Government Parks account already set up and on the page where you make the reservation preferably already on the campsite you want.
2. An iPad in the same state as the above laptop except signed onto a different account (i.e. my husband’s that I made up for him at 6:55 a.m.)
3. A Phone already dialed to the reservation number so all you have to do is hit ‘call.’
4. A litany of curse words handy for doling out to yourself in a whispered tone as to not awake anyone in your house.

Soooo that’s what Amy and I did this morning.  My mom is turning 60 this year and we wanted to do something fun for her that she would like.  Now, if any of you know my mother you know these things.  She cannot handle sitting around at a  party for anyone (herself included) and NOT do anything.  She must help cook or clean or arrange or something.  And she will always say she doesn’t want us to do anything for Mother’s Day, her birthday, my parents’ anniversary, whatever occasion we might celebrate.

But, my mom loves camping.  When we were kids Amy and I were in Girl Scouts and we went camping all the time.  She most always came along either as our leader or a chaperone.  Even without Girl Scouts we went camping plenty.  I’m grateful to my parents for loving and taking us camping so often because I think it’s one of the greatest, cheapest vacations.  I can’t wait to take Emma.

We thought she’d love to go to Yosemite for her birthday and just do a camping trip with our family, her brothers and sisters and their families.  My aunts & uncles that don’t like roughing it will stay at the hotel there, but the rest of us had to get a reservation.  My mom had the unfortunate luck to be born the day after 4th of July which means no way in heck were we getting a reservation anywhere for that weekend, but we decided to try for the weekend after.

Having all of my devices ready to go at 7 a.m. on the dot I began hitting ‘book now’ and ‘call’.  All I got was a busy signal and a ‘campsite is not available’.  Going back to the campsite map, literally every site was booked.  It took less than 2 minutes.  Frantically, my sister and I are IM-ing back and forth and I found another campground in Yosemite that still had sites available and we grabbed them. 

We have no idea if we’re anywhere near anything, but at least we know we’ll be in Yosemite with our family celebrating my Mom!  Good job Amy & me!

Happy Love Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!  Here’s some quotes on love and kisses to get you through the day!

‘People who throw kisses are mighty, hopelessly lazy.’ – Bob Hope

‘Her lips on his could tell him better than all her stumbling words.’ – Margaret Mitchell

‘You are always new.  The last of your kisses was ever the sweetest …’ – John Keats

'Love is an illusion.'
'It's the only illusion that counts, my friend.'
'Says who?'
'Anyone who's ever been in love.'
'Love sucks.'
'So does your attitude.'
-Kirbo & Kevin, St. Elmo's Fire

‘A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.’ – Ingrid Bergman

‘… the kisses, which bring me back to life.’ – George Sand

‘Love Never Dies.’ – Tagline from Dracula

‘When kissing a cowboy in the rain, make sure you both fit under his hat.’ – A Cowgirls’ Guide to Life

‘I know my love is not worthy of you.  It’s just like reaching for a star.  You know you’ll never touch it, but you’ll always keep trying.  That’s why I wanted you to have this.  No strings attached.  Just the one attached to my heart.’ – Steve Urkel, Family Matters

‘I have found men who didn’t know how to kiss.  I’ve always found time to teach them.’ – Mae West
‘may you live for a thousand years and I be there to count them.’ – Robert Smith Surtees

‘Women still remember the first kiss after men have forgotten the last.’ – Remy de Gourmont

‘Soul meets soul on lovers’ lips.’ – Percy Bysshe Shelley

‘A kiss is something you cannot give without taking and cannot take without giving.’ – Anonymous

‘We kiss.  And it feels like we have just shrugged off the world.’ – Jim Shahin

‘Kissing power is stonger than willpower.’ – Abigail van Buren

‘Sky and sea keep harm from me.  Earth and fire bring my desire.’ – L.J. Smith

‘I want to live and breathe you.  I want to hold you for hours and talk about nothing.  I want to lie next to you for days and forget where I am and I want to not know where I end and you begin.’ – Isabel, Relativity

That's it for today people.  Go out and kiss someone!

Project 365, Week 6

I notice that I take a lot of pictures of flowers.  I can’t help myself.  I just love it!  This week I told myself that I would try not to, but with spring just around the corner there are so many flowers popping up!  I’m also trying not to manipulate the pictures so much with effects aside from black and white.  I’d like to see how my photos come across naturally.

2.7.11 – I love any color of cherry blossoms.  I really have to force myself to not take pictures of every blossoming tree I come across!

2.8.11 – At the Morgan Hill library there are a couple of statues in the front.  This one is of a woman with a little boy in her lap and they’re reading a story together.  The starues are sort of greenish-gold in color, but I liked the way the black and white looked.

2.9.11 – Emma and Autumn were checking out some stuff and Chloe came over to see what was going on.  After I took the first picture she had to turn around and say ‘cheese!’

2.10.11 – Back at the hospital again since Emma can’t seem to beat this infection.  I think we got it this time!  While we were walking to the car we came across one of these trees.  I’m not sure what they’re called but I love them.  Since I didn’t have my camera with me I snapped this picture from underneath with my iPhone.  I used the Hipstamatic app.  Came out really nice and I really had no idea because it was so bright outside I just aimed and snapped!

2.11.11 – This caught by eye when Emma was watching Sesame Street.  This is a Sookie Stackhouse muppet doing a parody of True Blood.  Vampire Bill is behind her there and he wants ‘True Mud’.  Everyone around him is whispering that since he wants True Mud he must be ‘one of those grouches’.  I couldn’t believe I was seeing True Blood characters on Sesame Street!

2.12.11 – Emma’s making Valentine cards for her class and I’m taking pictures of the glittery hearts!

2.13.11 – The daffodils outside my aunt’s house are all blooming.  I love the cherry yellow color!

Have a week! 

Miki Falls

 

Miki Yoshida is starting her senior year of school dedicated to being a different Miki.  A more adventurous, daring Miki.  So when newcomer Hiro Sakurai moves to Fukuyama Miki is determined to learn more about this handsome stranger.  Hiro guards his secrets well, but Miki is persistent and it’s only a matter of time before she learns more than she wanted to know. 

Mark Crilley does an amazing job at not only bringing Miki and Hiro to life on the pages of the books, but bringing Japan to life as well.  The story is so unexpected, yet so Japanese it’s hard to believe that Crilley isn’t.  His artistry is clean and unencumbered and his storytelling is genius.  I tore my way through the four books and now I’m a true fan!

Sorry, You Suck

Today I was listening to some Glee, mainly Rachel because I love her so much.  Her version of Firework by Katy Perry is the ult.  That got me thinking...

If I were any artist (except for maybe Barbra Streisand) this is how the conversation between Ryan Murphy and I would go if he were to ask to use one of my songs:

Ryan:  Hello superstar Kari.  I was wondering if we could use your song I Probably Hate You in an episode of Glee.

Me:  Wow, Ryan that is so flattering!  Who would be singing the song?

Ryan:  Well, Lea Michele of course.

Me:  Oooh, sorrrrry ... no.

Ryan:  Really, may I ask why?

Me:  Because I'd rather not be known as The-Singer-Who-Sings-the-Sucky-Version-of-I-Probably-Hate-You. Mmkay?

Have a great weekend everyone!

I Probably Don’t Hate You. Probably.

The Meanest Mom blog is one of my favorites.  She makes me laugh and I quite admire her creative attitude with her kids.  I read this blog post awhile ago and I thought, wow that is me too!  I really abhor social functions if the people attending are not my family members.  I hate talking to people on the phone.  I hate asking salespeople for help.  I pretty much don’t like making friends.

Well, that’s not so true.  I enjoy having new friends, it’s the making them part I can’t get behind so much.  I feel like I am awful at starting conversations, that I have very little in common with other people.  And then, when I start talking I can’t stop and inevitably I say something really stupid.  I’m quirky and weird and I’ve always wondered how I would handle finding a dead body.  Would I scream?  Throw up?  Be fascinated?

I have never told anyone that.  And this is why I love the internet.  Not so much the anonymity of it because pretty much everyone who reads this knows who I am so I’m not hiding behind anything, but it’s just always been easier for me to write.  Facebook is awesome for exactly this reason.  I know a lot of people complain about how social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace (yes, I hear that one’s still around) are ruining personal relationships.  That people have all these ‘friends’, but hardly any that they interact with off the computer.

I’m fine with that.  Facebook has brought me back into contact with wonderful people that I was close with once in high school or an old job that I just lost touch with as you do when you move on.  Sometimes I get together with some of them, but more often I don’t.  We exist as friends in cyberspace and that is all.

I wish I was more of a social butterfly, but that’s just not me.  However, in the last couple of years I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and met some new people that I couldn’t imagine my life without.  My friend Gina asked me to join her Bunco group a couple of years ago and against my better judgment I said yes.  Mainly because it would mean that I would get to spend some time with Gina and her cousin Kimiyo, both of whom are known to Emma as ‘Auntie’.  Gina’s very involved with her church and she told me beforehand (knowing I am not religious in any way, shape or form) that most of the people in the group were from her church.

So the first year I’d say I censored myself pretty harshly.  I say shit most times that would be offensive to people who drive trucks for a living.  I own a shirt that says ‘I wish I could hate you to death’ and another that just says ‘I probably hate you.’  I wear these shirts a lot.

But as I got to know these women I became more comfortable and started to be myself and they all still talk to me!  And every month that we get together is one of my favorite times.  Even though we only see each other once a month they are the most supportive and joyous group of women I have known.

It makes me think of my other girlfriends and how important they’ve been in my life.  Erin, Kimiyo and Diane have seen me through some seriously dark shit.  If it weren’t for Kiersten and Ashley I probably wouldn’t be here today.  And when I need someone to remind me of the person I’ve always been there’s Valerie, who has known me for 30 years and she still loves me.  My sisters-in-law who are each so very different so I can always find someone who will adventure with me.  My sister’s friends Taniya & Karen, who over the years have become my friends too.  The preschool mom’s JeNae & Julie who listen to my bad parenting fears and share their own or just laugh about it with me.

Then there’s my bloggie friends Natalie and Lauren.  Natalie, who is my alter ego on the other end of the country and Lauren who is the most inspiring, creative woman I have known.  I am jealous of her awesomeness.  Go read their blogs now.  You won’t be sorry.

But the most important women in my life?  My mom, my sister and my Auntie Marilyn.  They have always loved me, always encouraged me, always believed in me even when I don’t deserve it.  Even when I act like a raging bitch and drive them insane with my strangeness.  They are still there.

I’m a lucky girl.

Misfire

If you haven’t read any Alex Cross novels by James Patterson, but would like to don’t read this review!  It will contain spoilers for the series, but not for this book in particular.  Now go read the books!!

Can you believe it?  Alex Cross has been around for 17 novels.  Well, 16 because Alex Cross as we know him wasn’t really in I, Alex Cross.

So in Cross Fire Alex and Bree are finally going to tie the knot, but of course, bad things start happening around D.C. and the only man for the job is Alex.  Throw in a little Kyle Craig and we have a James Patterson book.

Of course, the Kyle Craig must return to finish what he began way back in pretty much the first novel, Kiss the Girls.  A former FBI agent, the Kyle Craig/Mastermind story line ran through several novels with the Mastermind making his appearance in Roses are Red.  It is by far one of my favorite twists in fiction.  Who knew this man who Alex thought was his friend would be the one who would make his life miserable through the next 15 novels.

Normally, Alex Cross is supremely intelligent, but there is something about Craig that makes him dumb.  He overlooks details even when they are literally staring him right in the face.

In the end, Cross Fire is a decent read, but like every James Patterson novel in the past 5 years it feels very rushed.  The short chapters leave you on a cliff every few pages, but then suddenly you’re at the conclusion and everything seems like it was just too easy.

Eh.  I give it three out of five stars.