halloween was okay… the fireworks were pretty awesome, but i think i’m just tired/groggy today. didn’t get much sleep last night! we stayed up until 4am and i got up at 7am so, naturally, i would be exhausted. but besides that, is it just me, or is halloween getting quieter and quieter every year?

i’m watching over the hedge right now. i think my favourite line in the entire movie is when vincent says “RJ?” and then RJ says “…No?”. jeeeez, i’m a geek!

What’s in a name?
Keira Knightley’sFree Professional first name may mean “dark one” in Gaelic, butBonusThemes it’s no excuse for these heavily lined eyes a la Captain Jack Sparrow.
OverdoneDesign homage
Avril Lavigne played a possum in Over the Hedge—unfortunately when it comes to makeup she gets her style cues from other animals.
Attention-getters
Kim Kardashian is famous for her amazing body, and these overly lined eyes are also going to get her noticed — but for all the wrong reasons.
How is it possible that a look so unappealing could come from nature’s cutest critter?Rihanna nails this tough-to-tame effect. Maureen
Kelly, founder of Tarte makeup, explains how to get the perfect lids.
“The key to the smoky eye is to blend, blend, blend,” she says. Start with a primer, then apply the liner in a
dark color and sweep a light base shadow
over just the lids. And as a final touch, keep your
lips nude because it will

De la o vreme incoace am observat ca:

• cu cat ma apropii mai mult de sesiune, cu atat imi scade drastic interesul pentru faculta, invatat, citit si cam tot ce tine de chestiile astea
• sunt extrem de aiurita, insa ma simt excelent
• cand sunt cu o anumita persoana, timpul trece cam prea repede si ne intrebam constant cum pisica ma-sii se poate asa ceva?
• pisica mea e nebuna cu acte in regula, mi-a dovedit-o aseara alergand dupa un punct rosu
• visez noaptea ca bat tot felul de oameni sau ca ma cert cu ei
• rad ca o nebuna din orice. De obicei ma tine (rasul:P) intre o juma’ de ora si o ora.
• e foarte cald afara si eu cam am chef sa ies la iarba verde, rosie, albastra, gratare, munte si chestii din astea

Ok, I will go now ca am de invatat. Nu ca as avea chef. Revin cu amanunte cand o da Domnu’..

PS. Titlul e inspirat din Over the hedge. I like Steve. Steve is good

Um, I have not much more to add to this.  The pictures say it all.  If a photo is worth a thousand words, these doodles have to be at least worth, what… 1672 words?  But no matter what, they sum up my feelings about Pixar and Subpar Dreamworks perfectly.  (Hey, there’s no mention of Finding Nemo?  Oh well.  And I will admit that I did enjoy Over the Hedge, though it bears minimal resemblance to the cartoon strip is was based on.)

(via Filmdrunk and Twitterer Cerebus19)

For me, The Best Movie Soundtrack Ever (I Used Perfect Caps For Emphasis) is probably the soundtrack to Juno. It’s so silly and fun and nonsensical. I think it’s terribly clever, though.

The best songs on this soundtrack are “Loose Lips,” “Tire Swing,” and “Vampire,” although “Loose Lips” has explicit language. You should definitely get those three if not the whole album.

My runner ups are Over the Hedge (but only the Ben Folds songs) and Madagascar (but only “I Like to Move It Move It”)

So, what are your favorites/runner ups? Why (this is important as well)?

Misty and Hammy

The picture is of our dog, Misty, with her favorite stuffed animal, Hammy – the squirrel in the Dreamworks animated film, Over The Hedge. In a previous post, I talked about Misty’s love/hate relationship with squirrels. Either it is that type of relationship or she merely gets tired of messing with the squirrels or just does not want to bother barking and chasing them. Generally she barks, chasing them if barking alone does not work, and keeps them out of the yard.

Oftentimes Misty will be laying in the sun, just “hanging out.” When Cyndy or I open the back door she jumps up, runs full tilt toward one of the two trees, and starts barking like mad – whether there are squirrels in the tree or not. As if she is trying to tell us she is on the job. As if she would be in trouble if she was caught not chasing squirrels. Misty follows us back into the house where she wanders around making note of the location of family members up – and downstairs.

After mapping out the lay of the land in her mind, Misty wanders into the den/office. She tests a couple of spots to lay down – depending on where people are located. Eventually she settles onto her bed, curling up with Hammy. Therein lies the conundrum. Why would Misty spend the majority of her time chasing, and barking at, squirrels, then settle down by curling up with a facsimile of a squirrel?

We humans may be more intelligent than animals, but we still have animal instincts. Like Misty, we curl up at night with the same demons we chase all day. The motivation, however, is multi-faceted. On the one hand we are attempting to control the demons – whatever they may be. If we deal with our demons while we sleep, we can then dismiss them. By demons I mean any problems with which we wrestle on a day to day basis.

On the other hand, we revel in our demons. As if we would not be as important if we did not have demons. More often than not though I suspect it is more of a pity party situation. Our reasons for not accomplishing more than we do are actually excuses bemoaning our vast number of supposed demons. Why do we not stop to wonder how many of our demons are of our own making? They only grow larger when we feed them. Should we not stop?

The possibility exists that Misty never actually equates the stuffed squirrel with the squirrels she chases in the backyard. Fantasy versus reality. Likewise, are our demons – in reality – as detrimental as they appear? Are the demons driving us or are we voluntarily – even willingly – giving the demons more power than they actually possess? Does not our reveling in misery distract us from our love for, and faith in, God and his son Jesus Christ? Making our prayers more like pitiful pleas than meaningful communication of our love for God and our earnestness in attempting to become more Christ-like. The following passage can strengthen us for conflicts with future demons and aggressors.

 Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NIV)

First of all, I really loved this movie. Bolt isn’t a Pixar movie, but the animation is impeccable and it was actually hilarious. The biggest surprise, however, was hearing Jenny Lewis‘ voice halfway through the movie. She sings this beautiful, yet quite kid friendly, little song during a rather touching segment of the movie. I was so happy to hear her voice. When I heard the beginnings of a song I thought for sure it was going to be some Miley Cyrus song, but no, it was indeed the lovely and talented Jenny Lewis. I think it’s great when artists I love do songs for movies. Ben Folds in Over the Hedge, Regina Spektor in Narnia. It just makes the movies that much more enjoyable to watch. That’s just my opinion anyways…oh yeah, here’s the song Jenny sings in the movie. It’s called “Barking at the Moon”:

Over the Hedge

A cartoon that captures it perfectly …

It’s raining today. I love the rain. Even when it gets me wet. But it give me such a comfortable feeling. Like snow. Snow itself is wet and sometimes icky, especially when you land in a whole pile of it, but when it lands in perfect, unique flakes upon your cheek, or piles up outside your window, it gives such a wonderful cozy feeling. And that’s how I’m feeling right now.

I’ve been feeling kind of restless lately, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I have so many things to do. Research paper outline, a speech, various scattered tests–it’s like the hedge in “Over the Hedge.” “It never ends!…It never ends that way too!” There is literally no end in sight. The semester will be over in a month, though, and I guess that’s an end of sorts. And in three weeks I will be HOME! I’ll get to see the parental units again, and the sibling-creature, and the dog of many colors, but best of all, I’ll get to see Strawberry Shortcake and Sibyl and Trillby. This is the longest I’ve gone without seeing any of them, and it makes me so happy to know that in three weeks I’ll be able to talk to them, live and in person!

But still the mood remains. It’s sort of a mix of Holly Golightly’s mean reds and the blues. It’s the purples. In fact, I’ve been thinking a lot about Holly Golightly lately. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because “Moon River” has been stuck in my head for the past week. But seriously, Holly Golightly, for all her flaws, really did have a lot figured out: Nothing very bad could ever happen in Tiffany’s. It’s true. I couldn’t imagine it. It would mean the end of the world if something did. I don’t know if I have my own version of Tiffany’s yet. Maybe the library. The very best library in the whole world, the library I visit practically every day of summer. Nothing very bad could ever happen to you there. Although I do seem to recall someone being arrested there a couple summers ago…hmm…

But anyway, the mean reds. What are the mean reds, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you, but you really should watch “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. I didn’t see it until this summer and it is lovely. From Holly herself:

Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you’re getting fat and maybe it’s been raining too long, you’re just sad that’s all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you’re afraid and you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?
Paul Varjak: Sure.
Holly Golightly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that’d make me feel like Tiffany’s, then – then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name!

I’m not just stressed–my lips aren’t peeling enough for that. I feel like something is just behind me, looming over my shoulder, only I’m not quite sure what it is, or how I’m going to deal with it when it finally decides to reveal itself. Right now, it just feels like I’m fighting the monster in the dark, trying to keep it at bay until I can find the light switch and see what it looks like. This is where patience and trust comes into play. I’m just going to have to go with it. And while I go with it, here is one of the best things about “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.

Following Moon River,

S.

“Goethe’s final words: “More light.” Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, that’s been our unifying cry: “More light.” Sunlight. Torchlight. Candlight. Neon. Incandescent. Lights that banish the darkness from our caves, to illuminate our roads, the insides of our refrigerators. Big floods for the night games at Soldier’s field. Little tiny flashlight for those books we read under the covers when we’re supposed to be asleep. Light is more than watts and footcandles. Light is metaphor. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home- Lead Thou me on! Arise, shine, for thy light has come. Light is knowledge. Light is life. Light is light.” –Chris Stevens, “Northern Exposure

For more than 40 years, my greatest vice has been SweetTarts. No kidding. I liked SweetTarts more than ice cream, more than chocolate cream pie, more than double-stuffed Oreos, more than barbecue, more than Nacho Cheese Doritos, more than beer itself.

No more.