Hello everyone~
Hope all of you are enjoying your weekends. Hubs went with my daughter to her basketball tournament in east Tennessee this weekend, and I stayed here with my son because he had a baseball game today....which was cancelled due to rain, of course.

Figures. Anyway, my son and I rented Kung Fu Panda 2 last night (which was a cute animated movie). All he wanted to eat was Pizza Hut, so we carb overloaded on pizza and breadsticks.
I rented
The Descendants for myself and watched it very late last night (and into this morning). It was a wonderful movie, superbly acted and well written. I think it won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and deservedly so. I realized that I tend to take George Clooney's acting skills for granted, and it's easy to forget that he's so much more than just a pretty face (sound like
another handsome actor we know?

) I don't know that I've ever seen George in a movie where he purposely looked so broken, and so careworn, and expressed so many emotions with his facial expressions, alone.
The supporting actors also gave great performances, especially the young actresses who played George Clooney's daughters. The main cast was surrounded by actors who were mostly unfamiliar to me, but gave noteworthy and subtle performances that enhanced the movie in every way, particularly the roles of George's father-in-law, and his daughter's best friend. I laughed, I cried, and felt nearly every emotion in between. The movie was heartbreaking, poignant, and almost difficult to watch at times, but amazing in the way it focused primarily on the relationships between these intriguing characters. It reminded me of great movies like Sideways and Juno....those movies that are funny, sweet, heartwarming, and a little sad, all at the same time.
Sean~ I hope your ankle and shoulder feel better soon.
Lynne~ I hope you enjoyed the visit to the bookstore with your author. I also hope you're right about action sequences filmed during BD Part 2--that any big fight scenes will actually be part of Alice's vision so the film stays true to the book. I'm sorry your publisher is unable to pay you right now and hope that things turn around for her soon. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the movie THG. I honestly thought it was one of the better book-to-movie adaptations I've seen in recent memory. Woody Harrelson was great as Haymitch, and he probably was a little difficult to recognize with the wig.
Ashley~ Congrats on receiving your train tickets in the mail. Happy early Birthday! Your birthday cake sounds very intriguing and I hope you can post pictures of it for us to see. I've watched Supernatural a couple of times and enjoyed it, but haven't seen enough episodes to understand the mythology and background of the show.
Grayce~ Thanks for giving such a thorough explanation of the Nook and its general uses. I think I'm one of the few people who don't have an e-reader, and I may cut, paste, and save that part of your post for reference in case I hopefully invest in one in the future.

I hope you're feeling better. Did the boys have a good trip to D.C.?
Desiree~ It's good to see you, but please don't feel the pressure to post frequently with your busy schedule....just check in with us when you can. How was the latest Mission Impossible movie? I'm gradually warming up to Tom Cruise again after he sort of weirded out a few years ago, and you can't really go wrong with those movies if you're in the mood for a good action and suspense flick. Hubs and I need to put it in our Netflix queue.
Marielle~ Good point about it being difficult to make Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Stewart look malnourished in THG and New Moon because they're both so naturally beautiful. I think KStew is appearing at Cannes to promote On the Road. I hope we get to see at least a couple of pictures of Kris and Rob together in Cannes, but not at the expense of their privacy. I'm not thrilled at all about Rob wearing a wig for the BD reshoots.

Let's just keep fingers crossed that the scenes are shot from far enough away that we can't tell the difference. I hope you're enjoying writing your fanfic and it's a relaxing and therapeutic hobby for you. It sounds like you're having a fun weekend with your BIL and his girl; enjoy the rest of it.
Missp~ Have a wonderful and relaxing trip to Hot Springs--you deserve it! I'm sure you're glad to have the mandated state testing out of the way for your 5th graders. Our kids start TCAP testing next week; would you believe those stupid tests will now count 15% of their final grade on their report card?!
Brenda~ Congrats on getting the new van and I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for posting the link to the 2009 VF photoshoot. Now I remember....
that photoshoot with so much gorgeous Robcrack.

I agree that Woody Harrelson was pretty inspired casting as Haymitch. He gave a great performance and I look forward to seeing him in the other two films. Unlike many fans....I wasn't bothered by his wig and actually liked his hair that way as Haymitch.
Songbird wrote: So are you saying you sound like Scuttle doing background vocals on “Kiss the girl” when you get out of your comfortable range??I’d like to hear that. LOL

I'd say that's about right,
Songbird. I love that song,
and that movie. Those Disney animated movies have the best soundtracks. To totally change gears....I've read
Fifty Shades, and there are some extremely lemony and citrusy scenes in the book, although not more so than what's available in Twilight fanfiction I've read. There is some aspect of the BDSM element to the book as well, and part of the story involves the two main characters trying to resolve their differences as to how they feel about these elements. The story introduces the idea that Christian's character has emotional baggage from his childhood that contributes to his need to "control" others in every way, and I think the other two books will help Christian and Bella come to terms with these issues and help Christian heal, so they can grow together as a couple. I love the idea of commemorating your Mom's memory with yellow and purple flowers....that's beautiful. That's wonderful that you both shared your love for music and singing, and that you'll always have her piano to help you relive those good memories. My Dad died when I was a little girl and my Mom still has his piano. I know we'll end up with it in our house at some point, because I'm the only one who took lessons for several years and still enjoys playing, and I'll treasure it, too. Enjoy your relaxing weekend.
Hello to
Karena, Ginnie, Susie, Jenn Jenn, and anyone else I've missed.
