Hunger Games

{{Squeal like a little girl}}}

My co-worker wasn't as satisfied as I am with the movie.  I thought they did a great job of putting the book on the big screen.  I think that reading the book first would be optimal, there is so much that is Katniss that I don't think you'd take away from the movie without the book first.  I could be wrong.

My only complaint:

Butter Cup is a freaking black and white cat in the movie. WTF???

and I quote:

"Sitting at Prim's knees guarding her, is the world's ugliest cat.  Mashed-in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the color of rotting squash.  Prim named him Buttercup, insisting , that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower."

I KNOW they could not have a problem finding a cat to match that description.  Okay, leave the poor thing with whole ears, but the rest... at LEAST make it a cat with a squished in nose.... I have a porch kitty who would have loved the part... come on.  A black and white cat????

But other than that I love, love, loved it.
I wanna re-read the book (and probably will) just to envision the people from the  movie playing the parts.
Awesomeness....

A - Z Challenge

The A-Z challenge starts tomorrow and I wondered what I knew enough about to actually have something to talk about A-Z. I've been working on revising (um -- re-writing) my Nano 2011 novel. I discovered at the end of Nano that I really had the making of a trilogy. Nano was then basically, discovery and back story.

As I've been re-writing I realized that I needed to build my fairy world.  The A-Z Challenge will give me the opportunity to search for creatures A-Z.  If I have a character whose name begins with a letter I will write about that character. If not then I will go exploring for denizens that can inhabit my realm.

 
Whispers in the North

For thousands of years the portal between the realms has been guarded by a family of powerful sorceresses. The sacred trust has always passed from mother to daughter, but Fanny's daughter ran off with a young elf and hasn't returned. Fanny's not getting any younger, as her powers wane the evil Tengu that has been trapped in the mortal realm gains strength. Fanny put out a call to both realms for her daughter to come home.

Teylor finds herself compelled to leave the life she's made for herself and head north. Into what she doesn't know. When she arrives at her destination she discovers that her mother's belief in magic was more than superstition, it is a family legacy.

Her grandmother, a powerful sorceress, has called her home to fulfill her familial obligation. Teylor distrusts magic and believes it is what killed her mother. But when Fanny becomes captured by the Tengu, Teylor must learn to use her magic, rescue her grandmother and protect the portal or the entire realm of Faery will be destroyed.

***
I got a picture of our porch bunny -- it is a bunny that was abandoned and I guess the strays have to stick together.  The cat in the picture is Tiger. 

Mushy Moment Alert

A friend was able to score tickets to The Hunger Games and I turned her down because I had a date with DH.  I called him and said, "I love you more than a major motion picture."

He sent me and e-mail

Awe, he loves me too.

Blog on Fire Award

Well, this is nice.  Thanks to Delores at The Feathered Nest for the recognition. 
I especially love this award because there is nothing to be done for it but to pass it on.  Without doubt, my kind of award.

{{Clears Throat}}
And the passing of the award goes to....

Mary Stella at Weighty Matters.  Her willingness to share her struggles and successes with her weight loss is awesome. 

Delia Moran at Delia Moran.  I enjoy the interaction with the every day things in life, sick kids, school raffles, etc to sharing with us her writing goals and thoughts.

Last but not least.

Judy, Judy, Judy at Novel Truths.  I love her book reviews and especially the quotes from the books that she singles out. 

But wait... Shhhhh, don't tell anyone.  I'm adding one more - don't know if it is legal or not, but I'm willing to risk it.

London Mabel over at Mabel Talk.  Cats, writing, music, great quotes.  Don't get no better than that.

John Carter

Okay, so I gushed with so much enthusiasm when I saw they were making John Carter I could hardly stand the wait for it to come out.

I loved the books, I must have read then all 5,976 times. To say the movie didn't stay true to the books would be to suggest that the screen writer had even read the books. When the show ended I told DH, "Well, they got the names right."
Had I just gone in  to watch an action, sci/fi flick.  I would not have been disappointed.  It's a Disney Film and it had all the traits that make a Disney film. 

If you are looking for a fun Disney movie... it is worth the matinee price we paid.

Happy Pi Day

This post is basically for DH who likes the math stuff.
(And to think I almost missed it. ;)

Penny Kids and Gabe

Look who dropped back into our lives for an afternoon.
Gabe loved holding Autumn.  She's the calmest of the Penny Kids and seemed to love loving him too.

We had a sunny day here in frost bitten Utah and the Penny Kids spent some time out of doors.

You can just see Nutmeg behind Pumpkin.

Look who else had an eye on the plump, delicious Penny Kids....

This isn't the best photo.  The first one I got, which was blurry, really looked like:
"Wants me some pig.... nom, nom". 
She got canned cat food and all was well.

Patient Watcher

My feelings are hurt, and it is all so stupid really. I had an ah ha moment when I was catching up on my blog rounds and reading two of Julie’s blogs back to back really threw light on what was happening for me.

• “I may not have the power to change the world, but I have the power to change my perception of it.”
• When something finishes its run, we just need to let it go. There is no point in fighting it, it’s over. Release.

Cybil and I had another ‘run in’, you might call it. I expected thoughtfulness out of her and instead I was called horrible names at the top of her lungs. Yep, this was a t work. She stormed into the boss’s office and had her melt down. I was then called in tried to explain my side of the insanity that had just happened. I used to know when Cybil was gonna go off the deep end. There are signs, but this was a total blind-side for me…life just blew up in my face and it was totally shocking.

Last November when I saw Cybil for the truly horrible person she is, I vowed to never bring her back from the edge. She goes through these times where she just freaks out and in the past I’ve always made life better. In November I did what I do… I believe they call it enabling… at the time I considered it self-preservation.

After I’d saved her from herself and because someone in the office had to keep stirring the pot I came to realize that while I thought all was right with the world Cybil, was talking behind my back, saying horrible things and suddenly I was the bad guy. I worked through that process and had a few ah ha moments that were good so it wasn’t all for naught. The biggest thing to come out of it was the fact that all along I had believed Cybil’s façade. That of a caring, wonderful person and in reality that’s not what she is at all, scratch that plump grandmotherly looking exterior and you’ll find a rotting soul beneath.

But I wanted the old Cybil back. I was a patient watcher (yep, just like the cats at the door) and I kept waiting for a sign that she’d return, things could go back to the way they were. At one time we were actually friends.

This week when Cybil popped off again, I stood up to her and didn’t pat her head and try to make life better. Yes, this standing up to her involved me shouting back at her. I was angry at her thoughtlessness and pissed that she was calling me names.

Yesterday my ah ha moment came when it dawned on me that I was patiently waiting for Cybil to go back to being the person I had perceived her to be. That’s not who she is at all. She can’t go back to being something she never was. My bad. That hurt my feelings. Not only for being stupid and believing in her façade all those years, but also for having my eyes opened months ago and still I wanted that which did not exist.

So when something has run its course, let it go. What did I learn from all this? In all honesty I’m not really sure. I know I tend to measure everyone by my yard stick. I say what I think; my social filter has large gaps in it. But you know where you stand with me. It may be simple minded but I kind of like the world I live in, the world where I accept people at face value.

I’m sure there will be other Cybil’s in my life. Perhaps next time I will be quicker to see that the wonderful person façade is hiding a hideous monster and I won’t waste years of my life. I don’t know, but when I find out you know I will share.

Random

Saw this guy  when I was delivering a check.  Rough day in the classroom

She said two minutes. (the fact that they are getting along... a dream of mine)

Yep.  This will hide this big box.  >.<

New space.

Spirit Of The Storm by Kenny Chesney

So I've been in a funk.  I decided that totally rearranging my space would help make life better.  After I moved everything I plugged the computer back in and put on some music to make sure all systems were go and this is the song that came on.  ahahaha  So very true to my mood right now.  So I shared.

That's my man!

Doug has been fighting an uphill battle but it was a war that had to be waged for the sake of his students.  There is a scholarship offered here in Utah to encourage the kids to take hard classes. However there is a glitch in the system and at Doug's school (Academy of Math, Engineering and Science) the students are not eligible for the scholarship if they take the University of Utah physics course. Once the kids realized they couldn't get the scholarship by taking the U of U course they opted for the easier physics class and who can blame them, $5,000.00 is $5,000.00.

Doug has spent many hours and sent lots and lots of e-mails working his way up the "chain of comand" to try and remedy this situation.  They basically kept telling him to "Suck it up you wha baby.  It is what it is and if I see one more e-mail from you...."

Doug wasn't satified with this answer and went to the top dog Dave Buhler. When he said the same thing it seemed as if the battle was finally over.

ahahahaha 
Not when Doug goes to battle....
Doug got the opportunity to go before a committee and address the issue. 
He made them take notice AND it was in the paper.

SL Tribune

This is totally awesome.