Quiet

IMG_0109, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Not much is happening. We got some more snow last night. Big, fat, fluffy flakes. Then it started raining and it ruined it all.

What I'm watching:

Red I've been wanting to see this movie since I first heard about it and I was somewhat disappointed. I think the problem was the plot was too pedestrian meaning I guessed everything before it happened. The cast looked like they were having fun but I wish they got more to do. I mean if you have Helen Mirren in your movie as a hit man let her whack a bunch of people not just one or two. Also, instead of having the lead's love interest kidnapped so the last third of the movie gets where it's going, why not have her get more involved with the action? Have Helen Mirren teach her how to shoot mooks with a sniper rifle, something like that. And Karl Urban never took off his shirt, not once. What's the fun in that? He got to be the butt monkey somewhat, but again, the script didn't take it far enough. Potential was wasted all over the place in this movie.

Eh, it wasn't that bad I just expected more.

On the other hand, The Expendables was exactly what I thought it would be. It was a violent throwback to old 80's action movies. The best thing about this movie was it was 99.99% serious so it was even more funny than if they tried to be tongue-in-cheek. The cast was wonderfully hyper-macho (Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke plus cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Swarzenegger) and there was plenty of HoYay although it was a little squicky. I mean Stallone is in his mid-60's! He didn't take off his shirt, thank goodness.

Jon and I did talk about this movie after it was over - mainly we were marvelling about how intensely ugly Mickey Rourke is. He fell out of an ugly tree roughly the size of a redwood and he's still falling and hitting branches.

Overkill is Underrated

IMG_4216, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

We may have the planes sold - at least the guy buying them gave us a significant deposit and will pay the rest in a week or so. The holdup is paperwork - Jon just payed off the note which means the bank has to notify the FAA who are notorious for snail-like behavior. Seriously, they make the post office look like it's staffed with cheetahs.

After a long stretch of not really watching anything, we watched 3 movies on 3 successive nights. I've already raved about Inception - we watched Despicable Me on Tuesday and it was a good CGI cartoon about an evil villain who adopts 3 orphans to help with his nefarious plans to steal the moon. Last night I finally got to watch The A-Team, and man it was stupid. This movie is exactly the type of crap William Goldman was railing against. There is no way in heck I can completely dislike any movie with Liam Neeson in it though (Krull being the one exception). I also loved the show way back when so sue me, I liked it.

A new episode of Fringe is on (YAY!) Friday night (the Timeslot of Doom.BOO!).

Inception

Inception, originally uploaded by BestLife Movie.

On Saturday Brenden and I visited a cousin (to be more precise: the daughter of my father's mother's brother. Got that?) who is in town getting a Cracker Barrell restaurant ready for opening at the end of this month. That's her job - she travels around the country and oversees getting these restaurants open. I can't decide if I would like that kind of job or not. Traveling is great, but that's an awful long time to be away from the family. Her children are grown up and have families of their own though.

It was a fun visit - I haven't seen her since I was a little girl and Neoma is as nice as I remember her. Brenden was about to blow a gasket - the store part of the restaurant was partially stocked so that means there were a lot of toys and candy he wasn't allowed to touch.

I finally saw a movie worth remembering last night - Inception. Christopher Nolan, most famous for his Batman movies that don't suck, also did Memento. Like Memento, I highly advise watching Inception when you can give the movie your full attention (and no beer! Trust me on this). I wish they made more summer movies like this; there's car chases, gun battles, explosions all over the place, and you have to *think* about what is going on!

I just finished a book, "The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood?", a series of rants essays by noted screenwriter William Goldman that were written during the 90's. It's a chronicle of the ongoing degeneration of movie quality as he writes about summer movies, Christmas movies, and the Oscars. It's a hilarious and depressing read. It's telling that one of the last things he rants about is a car chase in Micheal Bay's movie The Rock, where Sean Connery escapes from Nicholas Cage. Goldman recalls watching this and being stunned when Cage recaptures Connery, meaning there was no point at all to the car chase. Bay is NOTORIOUS for putting crap in his movies because it looks neat. (That reminds me of Ben Affleck's amusing commentary in the Criterion edition (!!!) of Armageddon - he kept pointing out all the helicopters that keep showing up in shots for no particular reason except they look cool).

So anyway I told you that to tell you this: Christopher Nolan is the anti- Micheal Bay. I'm not saying Nolan's movies are super-sophistimicated, I'm saying they are smart and they get people talking after the movie is over. And Inception made a boatload of dough, so maybe there's hope for Hollywood yet.

I wouldn't bet any money on it though.

Dawn on Monday

IMG_0107, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I took this photo shortly after dawn on Monday morning. We received about 6 inches of snow, which isn't a record but it's definitely the largest snowfall we've seen since moving to Alabama. The last time I can recall a significant snow was New Year's Eve 2001 and that was at maximum 3 inches.

We had a home inspector come out and look at both our house and the one we are looking to buy. For our house everything looked ok except the roof shingles need replacing - apparently because of hail damage. Fun!

The other house looked pretty solid except some of the wiring was done by someone with a pocket knife and electrical tape, especially in the kitchen. I don't know who remodeled the kitchen but it wasn't someone who liked to cook. There is tons of counter space, which is wonderful, and the kitchen is open, which is terrific, but the stovetop is jammed up caddycorner to a column of cabinets plus the oven. I need to post a picture. That might not sound like a big deal, but the microwave is just below the stovetop and there's less than 11 inches of clearance between the stovetop and the bottom of the microwave(1). Seriously, how the hell can you cook on that thing?

Needless to say, the first thing we're doing to that house is moving or replacing the cooktop (ok second. Repairing the wiring and putting in proper junction boxes comes first).

We made an offer, the owner counter offered, and after a little bit more we settled on a price. Jon and I have been collecting all the paperwork for the mortgage which mysteriously requires a lot more paperwork than when we got a mortgage in 2003 and 1998.

Brenden has had 3 snow days in a row. At this rate his school will stay in session well after Memorial Day. That's annoying because we have vacation plans for around that time. Teach us to make plans.

Rest in Peace, Sir

Dick Winters November 1944, originally uploaded by carljay725.

So I am up and was surfing when I read a news article that Major Richard Winters has passed away. He died January 2nd after a long illness. Here's a wikipedia article on the man or you could rent Band of Brothers to get an idea of what an amazing soldier he was.

Wish I was here

Soper's Hole, Tortola, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

So Jon has the dz sold, and apparently he misses all the stress, because he wants to buy a new house. It's about the same size as our old one, except it's on 5 acres, there's no pool (Yay! No - Boo! Crap, I don't know), and there's a huge storage building / garage, hopefully big enough to store all of Jon's stuff.

It's also a couple of miles from our old house and in the same school district so Brenden won't have to switch schools.

I just got my VA guaranteed loan certificate of eligibility renewed (and I must say it was effortless and took just a day and boy is that a humongous improvement in the system!) and we're making an offer. Yeesh! Stay tuned...!

And in other news the weather people are predicting more white stuff for Alabama Sunday night through Monday. Since I'm not planning to go any where I doubt it will happen.

2010: Not so eventful but not too bad

IMG_1145, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

January: Not a damn thing. Brenden made a joke.
February: Not a damn thing. I do remember it was so freaking cold we had a fire in the fireplace almost every day.
March: Not a damn thing. Katheryn Bigelow won Best Director, I guess that's something.
April: Brenden plays Tee ball. He enjoyed it and so did we.
May: St. John! The highlight of the year, especially since the family we went with "got" St. John and loved it.
June: Brenden's 5th birthday, culminating in a trip to the Tennessee aquarium.
July: I saw one and only one movie in the theater this year but it was a great one: Toy Story III.
August: Brenden started Kindergarten.
September: Impromptu trip to Gatlinburg. Fun! The traffic still sucks though.
October: Brenden played soccer. He likes Tee ball better though.
November: Not a damn thing. Fringe got good - that's about it.
December: SNOW ON CHRISTMAS IN ALABAMA! Naturally we were elsewhere.

The one thing I really liked about 2010: I made no trips to the hospital. Yay! Also: we sold the drop zone. Double yay!

So what are my new year's resolutions? Same old - lose some weight, exercise more, finish paying off the HELOC.

A Festivus for the Rest of Us

Festivus Pole, originally uploaded by freshfiction.

Yeah I know I stink.

So North Alabama gets a white Christmas and we're out of town. That figures. We were in Tampa, and I was in a tee-shirt for Christmas Day so there's that. We spent Christmas at my dad's house. I got to see both (brother) Jonathan and Andrew, which was a great bonus. I'm sorry that I get to see them so rarely. We met Jon's new girlfriend Niko, who stole Brenden's heart because she was totally game with playing with paper airplanes and pretend guns with him. Brenden wants her to know that she's invited to our house any time to play Wii.

We didn't do much except a trip to Busch Gardens which was fun. Brenden loved it, loved the train and the animals, the log ride, all the mega-jungle gyms they have all over the place. I'm definitely going to take him to 6 Flags over Georgia sometime next season for a weekend romp.

Brenden racked up the presents as usual for a kid: my brother Ed wins Best Present for Brenden again this year with a remote-controlled robot dinosaur that stomps around, roars, and bites things. Brenden loves it and the cats hate it.

I totally racked up the loot: my beloved iTouch was murdered by a heartless humidifier (I don't want to talk about it) so Jon gave me one of my presents a little early: an iPad! I love it. And I'm totally addicted to Angry Birds.

Dad and Ilu gave me several nice heavy-bottomed pots and a saute pan that I love - I threw out some of my cheapo scratched crap and I keep searching for different recipes so I can use them. The right tools/equipment for the job are always important. I also got a set of Japanese ceramic knives. I've wanted them ever since I saw one of those How It's Made episodes about them on the Discovery channel.

Jon also got me the entirety of Battlestar Galactica on Blu - Ray! Now all I need is some time....

Loading the Magic

Loading the Magic, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

The drop zone has been sold. Jon spent the last weekend there and worked as a pilot - he seemed to enjoy the fact that every problem was Not His Problem.

Now if we could just sell the King Airs.

Brenden is doing fine - I'm glad school's out for Christmas break. He seems to be getting bored with the whole school thing. The next 12 years are going to be fun.

For Brenden's spring break, we're doing another Disney cruise. I really enjoyed the one we did last year.

I really don't have much to write about, and I'm sorry for the dearth of updates.

I will say this about What I'm Watching: I finally got through all the episodes of The Walking Dead. It's pretty bleak, that's all I'm saying. I like the old guy the best. Hope he doesn't become dinner any time soon.

Also, I was talking with my brother and he agrees with me: Fringe has rapidly gone from a "hey it's on, might as well watch" show to the best thing on TV since X-Files / Buffy / Battlestar Galactica / Lost was cancelled. Really, the third season so far has been a wonderful payoff for sticking with the series. So naturally Fox has moved it to Friday Night, the slot where TV shows go to die. Thanks a pantload, Fox! By the way, when Fringe comes back at the end of January, the first episode is appropriately named "Firefly".

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Even the Elder Gods were adorable babies.

My "big news" is we are in the process of selling the drop zone. Jon has officially HAD ENOUGH. He also wants to spend more time with his son.

Next weekend should be our last weekend. All I can say is HOORAY!!!!!

Bored Much (not the movie, the blog)

HTTYD feature, originally uploaded by HP PC.

My how the time flies. The deep-fried turkey was a semi-success. I fried it too long so it was a little tough. I did manage to not set the house on fire so I can't complain.

I also made a stuffing that was predominantly vegetables and it was NUMMY. So there was that. Both Jon and Brenden seemed far more interested in the Moose Tracks Ice cream I bought than the Thanksgiving meal.

We watched a movie later, How to Train your Dragon and it was really good! What a nice surprise - I was expecting another crappy Dreamworks animation bore but I ended up enjoying it an awful lot. I wouldn't be surprised if it competed with Toy Story 3 for Best Animated Movie for the Oscars for this year.

Speaking of animation, I don't think I mentioned I finally saw The Princess and the Frog. It was OK, except Disney (not Pixar, mind you) tried to cram every single damn Disney animated princess movie trope into the story. Some day I'll make a list but that might take me a long time. Which I don't have right now.

A tiny update

Magic at Castaway Cay, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

I have 3 whole days off next week. The shocking thing is one day is a vacation day - I actually made it this far into the year with one vacation day intact!

I am deep-frying a turkey this year. Man they're tasty but kind of expensive. Especially since my deep fry thermometer is broken plus my frying kettle was used as an ash bin last year. Replacement stuff ran about $50. Then 3 gallons of peanut oil costs 50 - 80 bucks and I refuse to deep-fry with any other oil. So far my turkey has cost $120 and I haven't bought the turkey yet.

I really do have some interesting news to talk about, it's just not time yet.

I watched The Walking Dead again and got more zombie nightmares. I really, really hate my subconcious, the evil bastard.

Obligatory non-Update Update

Waiting for the Elevator, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

What I'm watching / reading / playing:

I finally got into Caprica so naturally Syfy cancelled it. Dammit.

I love Fringe's bifurcated nature lately - if the opening graphics are red we get an alternate universe ep and if it's blue we get an ep set in our universe. I picked on Anna Torv last time I wrote about Fringe and I decided that was undeserved, because she is doing a good job of letting us know the difference between the two Olivias. They are two totally different people. Oh, yeah: hooray, Charlie! Even if it's alternacharlie. Don't kill this one, ok?

I am watching AMC's The Walking Dead and it gave me zombie nightmares. Meh. I may not watch any more.

Brandon Sanderson's continuation of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series finally came out on the Kindle and I ripped through it pretty fast. It's enjoyable because some things actually happened.

Stephen Donaldson's Against All Things Ending (3rd book in the Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) came out and I'm almost finished with it. Of all things it reminded me of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof everyone was yak yak yak for a quarter of the book just yak yak yak! It was driving me insane. But finally something happened and it as ZOMG HOLY POOP so I can't complain.

Ok, Mr. R.R. Martin: it's your turn. Where the HELL is A Dance with Dragons?

Fallout:New Vegas Much fun, and just different enough from Fallout 3 to keep me interested. I'm amused that the Mojave desert is much prettier than Washington D.C. Well I guess that's true in reality anyway. I tailored my character to be a sniper type. It's FUN gratifying to knock off your opponents before they get close enough to hit you.

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Have I ever mentioned that if you're in Huntsville, you can't swing a cat without hitting an engineer or a rocket scientist? And this yahoo becomes an internet meme. Sigh.

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Now *that's* a princess party!!!

Action!Brenden

IMG_0064, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Whoa, no updates for a while. Sorry you had to keep looking at creepy fish photo so here's one of my kid. Now a quick summary since I last updated:

1) Brenden's first report card was good - only one 'needs improvement' and that was counting to 20. Sometimes he forgets '14'.
2) Jon jumped off a bridge again this year.
3) I have new glasses. 2 pair - one for driving and one for reading. I'm not willing to wear bifocals yet.
4) I'm not enjoying Civilization V which is a shame, but I love Fallout:New Vegas
5) That reminds me: I bought a new computer! Someone else built it.
6) Brenden is going as a ninja for Halloween.

Well that was interesting. Here's something I lifted from Nancy:

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? "Holy crap, that belly is squishy."

2. How much cash do you have in your wallet right now? Zip.

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? ROAR

4. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? Jon. I don't even have to look.

5. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? Silent mode.

6. What are you wearing right now?
Blue jeans, tan tee shirt.

7. Do you label yourself? I don't have a label maker.

8. Name the brand of the shoes you currently own? New Balance

9. Bright or Dark Room? Dark, unless I'm reading.

10. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? Smart, funny, caring - where's that label maker?

11. What does your watch look like? Black digital sportswatch.

12. What were you doing at midnight last night? Trying to sleep.

13. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? "Sweet..." from Jon, in response to my message that our voter reg cards had come in the mail. We're voting next Tuesday on the most important issue ever: whether or not to allow alcohol sales within our city limits. We're voting "HELL YES" (like you had to ask)

14. What's a word that you say a lot? "Shit"

15. Who told you he/she loved you last?(please exclude spouse , family, children) My cat. He may have been saying "pet me or die" but everyone knows that means the same thing.

16. Last furry thing you touched? Well of course I petted my cat!

17. Favourite age you have been so far? 32. That's when I started skydiving.

18. What was the last thing you said to someone? "Hey, Richard".

19.The last song you listened to? "Maggie... and the ferocious beast!" Nick Jr is my life.

20. Where did you live in 1987? Statesboro, Georgia. I didn't even have to change the answer.

21. Are you jealous of anyone? Not that I can think of.

22. Is anyone jealous of you? Lol, I don't think so!

23. Name three things that you have on you at all times? My wallet, my watch, my cell phone.

24. What’s your favourite town/city? Cruz Bay, St. John.

25. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? I helped Brenden write something to his abuela a year or so ago.

26. Can you change the oil on a car? Yes, but haven't done so since my Pinto died a noble death.

27. Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her? He died of Alzheimer's. Let's just leave it at that.

28. Does anything hurt on your body right now? Thanks to modern medication, that migraine that was developing has dissipated so no.

29.What is your current desktop picture? Cruz Bay, St. John.

30. Have you been burnt by love? Yes, but in retrospect it was no big deal. I mean I learned a lot from the experience and harbor no ill will towards anyone.

Sawfish Face

Saw Fish Face, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Is this photo creepy or what? This is what you get when I'm bored, have absolutely nothing to write about, and have an Adam Sandler song stuck in my head. I shall share the pain:

Woke up in the morning
Put on my new plastic glove
Served some reheated salisbury steak
With a little slice of love
Got no clue what the chicken pot pie is made of
Just know everything's doing fine
Down here in Lunchlady Land

Well I wear this net on my head
'Cause my red hair is fallin' out
I wear these brown orthopedic shoes
'Cause I got a bad case of the gout
I know you want seconds on the corndogs
But there's no reason to shout
Everybody gets enough food
Down here in Lunchlady Land

Well yesterday's meatloaf is today's sloppy joes
And my breath reeks of tuna
And there's lots of black hairs coming out of my nose
In Lunchlady Land your dreams come true
Clouds made of carrots and peas
Mountains built of shepherds pie
And rivers made of macaroni and cheese
But don't forget to return your trays
And try to ignore my gum disease
No student can escape the magic of Lunchlady Land

Hoagies & grinders, hoagies & grinders
Hoagies & grinders, hoagies & grinders
Navy beans, navy beans, navy beans
Hoagies & grinders, hoagies & grinders
Navy beans, navy beans
Meatloaf sandwich
sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe
sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe
sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe
sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe

Well I dreamt one morning
That I woke up to see
All the pepperoni pizza
Was a-looking at me
It screamed, why do you burn me
And serve me up cold
I said I got the spatula
Just do what you're told
Then the liver & onions
Started joining the fight
And the chocolate pudding
Pushed me with all its might
And the chop suey slapped me
And it kicked me in the head
It's called revenge Lunchlady
Said the garlic bread
I said what did I do
To make you all so mad
They said you got flabby arms
And your breath is bad
Then the green beans said
You better run and hide
But then my friend sloppy joe came
And joined my side
He said if it wasn't for the Lunchlady
The kids wouldn't eatcha
You should be shakin' her hand
And sayin' please to meet ya
She gives you a purpose
And she gives you a goal
You should be kissin' her feet
And kissin' her mole
Now all the angry foods
Just leave me alone
And we all live together
In a happy home

Thanks to
sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe
sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe
sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe
sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe


Well me & sloppy joe got married
We got six kids and we're doing' just fine
Down in Lunchlady Land

Fiji Mermaid

Fiji Mermaid, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Hooray! Warehouse 13 just got another season. I'm worried about Fringe, though, which just got REALLY INTERESTING. The ratings are not good.

Jon and I had skipped the last 4 episodes from season 2 but caught up just before this season started. I love the alternate universe - it is so much fun to see what is the same and what is changed. The zeppelins are funny because they're a trope (maybe even a cliche) in many alternate history / alternate universe stories. But there are other fun things, like Eric Stoltz being in the lead in Back to the Future, Red Lantern / Red Arrow, President Obama appointing ex-president Kennedy to some post, the bronze Statue of Liberty, etc. They apparenty have Patsy Kline over there but no Bono. Oh, they have Star Wars, too!

Anna Torv, who plays the lead, must be enjoying playing someone who isn't such a pill - the Alternate Olivia (or Fauxlivia) is more impulsive and extroverted (and homicidal, I'll admit, but she thinks she's a soldier in a war and our world is the enemy). Yeah, I don't now why anyone in our universe doesn't realize Fauxlivia isn't Olivia but I think it's because they're enjoying having someone around who isn't such a drag.

Oh, pop quiz hotshot: Can you name the movies / tv shows these companies / corporations come from? Hints: James Cameron is well - represented:

1: Tyrell
2: Weyland-Yutani
3: Cyberdyne
4: Hyperdyne Systems
5: Yoyodyne (where the Future begins Tomorrow!)
6: Massive Dynamics
7: Biocarbon Amalgamate
8: Benthic Petroleum
9: Dunder Mifflin
10: Omni Consumer Products

Coach Jon is coaching

Coach Jon is coaching, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

As you can see, Brenden is playing soccer this year. He enjoys it but gets upset when he doesn't get to score much. Last Saturday's game his teammate Emily scored 5 out of their 7 goals. Brenden scored 1 and a yellow team member accidentaly gave us the other goal.

Jon is the team coach, and he loves doing it.

My new computer is supposed to come in today! Yay!

Bits and pieces:

IMG_6081, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Brenden's new favorite movie is Spaceballs. He watched it several times on the way to / from Gatlinburg. Will he ever know what dot matrix means?

Brenden gave me Pink Eye. Don't worry, I'm staying away from the Worcestershire sauce.

Jon and I watched Kick-Ass and it is cute, in a psychotic way. That movie should have either been about a teenager who tries to be a superhero and fails miserably, or it should have been only about Hit Girl and her psycho dad. Any scene with Hit Girl in it is worth the price of renting this movie - she is awesome. Chloe Moretz stole every scene and she'll be an actor worth watching (though I don't know if I'll be able to watch Let Me In). Can I actually be recommending a movie with Nicolas Cage in it? Warning (or recommendation, depending on who you are), much cursing and much bloodshed.

New computer soon come! Then I will spend many hours with Civilization V and Fallout:New Vegas! Hooray!