Well, that's the end of 2012 (wipes dust off hands). I'm ready for 2013. So ready that I already forgot I had plans this afternoon. Looks like I had a good idea to do this blog thing earlier in the day as opposed to later.
Crafts:
OK. Now I will post all of the items I made from about July through December that I gave away to friends as gifts. One or two may not have been opened yet...people, get on that! ;) So, no names, but lots of gifts!
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| I totally put a bird on it. |
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| "Nobody ever suspects the butterfly!" |
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| It's not a metal chicken named Beyonce, but it'll do. |
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| Joss Whedon...a genius even in stitches. |
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| Say it with flowers...or one flower...on a dishtowel. |
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| "I only lied about being a thief. I don't do that anymore." |
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| Invasion from space? I'd say ugh to that too. |
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| This monster looks ready to par-tay! |
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| Hoo can it be now? (I totally kept this one for me.) |
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| "Santa?! I know him!" |
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| Those meddling kids... |
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| Tea time! |
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| Every day is Thorsday! |
So that's it for the crafts section. Hurrah!
Movies:
This was a banner movie release month. I saw eight movies...and I'm going to see another one today (which I guess I should save for next month) and another one on Friday. Everything has been so good that I've not minded sitting in the theater for hours on end.
So the least liked film I saw in December was Killing Them Softly. I thought it looked interesting and I guess as a social commentary, it was. Everyone was just so filthy. No true redeeming qualities for them...and Brad Pitt delivering a speech about poverty and survival in bad economic times is a little unsettling since I'm pretty sure he makes more money in a day than most of the people I know.
Anna Karenina was very good. Yes, spoiler, it's a total downer. But, since it was expected, I wasn't as bothered. Jude Law was fantastic. And while it's not a ploy for everyone, I really enjoyed how they changed many of the scenes as if they were in a play (mobile scenery is always a good thing). I didn't quite buy the lack of carnage at the end, but it was still as dismal as expected. Yay Russian literature!
The Hobbit takes us all back to Middle Earth. And it's a fantastic place to be. As I watched, I wasn't as into it as I thought I'd be. I love the scenery and the additional places we'd not been before...and it was nice to see people from the other movies, but I didn't think I was affected by it. Until I found myself sitting on the very edge of my seat, biting my nails (not something I do), and sobbing...with about an hour left in the movie! It was very exciting toward the end and now I'm hooked and will have to sit through the other two parts. Peter Jackson is still a genius...don't think he isn't.
Hitchcock was a surprisingly good film. I love old movies and because this was about a maker of old movies, it had that feel to it. I didn't know much about the man himself...or the making of Psycho in particular, but I definitely want to know more. Watching this brought that love of older movies back and I ended up re-watching lots of films I'd not seen in a long time...mostly Stanley Donen pictures, but a couple of Hitchcock as well. (I prefer the Donen chatter...extremely witty.)
Silver Linings Playbook was another surprise. It kind of reaffirms that whole "there's someone for everyone" theory. Despite having characters with depression (and other issues), the whole thing was pretty uplifting and generally quite funny. I've not read the book, but I think this adaptation was wonderful.
So Les Miserables puts Anna Karenina to shame for being a downer. It's the first time I can remember seeing a musical in the movie theater that was actually a true musical...almost no talking at all...just singing. It's still a beautiful story and I completely loved it...but I kind of wanted to go home and bury myself in the covers and continue crying for days. Everyone was perfect for his or her part...which has got to be hard to cast for looks and actual singing talent. Very well done.
Jack Reacher was very fun. I hate when I end up liking a Tom Cruise movie. He irritates me, but he's a very good actor and always throws himself into the role. I've not read the books so I don't really know how it compares, but if you need a mindless action movie to cleanse your palette of all the depressing films that made you cry, this could be the right one for you. There were also a lot of very funny moments. It's a fairly typical action movie, but still entertaining with a couple of plot twists.
Lastly, I saw Django Unchained. I lump Tarantino in the people who irritate me list and yet I continue to see his movies. Like Cruise, he is amazing at what he does...and clearly willing to make an idiot of himself (Australian accent? Really?). The best part for me is that he usually gets killed off in the storylines including him, so it's kind of like he must know he's irritating on some level. The star cameos were pretty awesome and I laughed uncomfortably through many scenes. Tarantino is still very over the top with the killing scenes, so there's lots of blood...and, well, parts. I know he's getting some flack for making this one, but it's a good movie.
Books:
I bought a lot of things on the Kindle...hurrah for gift cards! Awakened (Vampire Awakenings) by Brenda K. Davies, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E. M. Berens, Loki by Mike Vasich, All the Lonely People by Jess Riley, City of Dark Magic: A Novel by Magnus Flyte, In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food by Stewart Lee Allen, Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman and Robert Chandler, Letters to Sartre by Simone de Beauvoir and Quintin Hoare, Everyone's Reading Bastard by Nick Hornby, Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie, and Joseph Anton: A Memoir by Salman Rushdie. I have a LOT to read...
The books I read in December were all on the Kindle except for the first one: Eight Women Taking Pictures by Whitney Otto, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, All the Lonely People by Jess Riley, Everyone's Reading Bastard (short story) by Nick Hornby, The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry, and Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte.
I hadn't read a Whitney Otto book in a very long time, so I was looking forward to this one. Eight Women Taking Pictures is about eight women who were photographers going back to the first world war up through the late 20th century. Each woman takes different kinds of pictures and each type of work has different effects on the later photographers. Each story is somehow intertwined with the others...like Otto did with How to Make an American Quilt. This book manages to tell those stories while also covering history, politics, and women's rights. I really, really enjoyed it. The book also managed to cut my arm as I read quietly on the couch as well as hit me in the face as I was reading in bed. Thus my move to the Kindle for a while...it felt safer.
When I was in my early twenties in college, I read Wuthering Heights for the first time. I had great memories of loving this book. Add another twenty years to my brain and it was a 180 degree reaction. I really did not like the book this time around. I guess I grew out of my angsty phase where things like this sounded so terribly romantic. It was just a chore to read through all of the petty outbursts and true and perceived injustices. This time I found that I didn't care about any of the characters at all and didn't really need them to have a happy ending, so that part was ok. Ugh. I'm going to try and reread more classics, but I'll be steering clear of Miss Emily for a long time. I do remember that I liked one of the sisters better...possibly Anne? Yes, it was Anne. Maybe I'll retry one of hers.
All the Lonely People was a cheap buy on the Kindle...the day it dropped another dollar, I grabbed it off my wish list (put there because somewhere - Twitter, blog, Facebook? - another author recommended it). This was pretty entertaining and had me laughing out loud. Basically, the main character feels her family is crap after a huge, food-flinging blow up at Thanksgiving. So she places an ad on Craigslist to find a new family for Christmas. The wacky crew she assembles become good friends and she grows up enough to get that she misses and needs her actual family too. A nice read during the holiday season.
The Nick Hornby short story was about a couple who split and the woman wrote about all of it in her weekly newspaper article. The husband became known simply as Bastard to the paper's reading base. It's from the man's point of view and it's kind of funny. Typical Hornby fare. Read it if you like him.
I got The Columbus Affair thinking it was the next Cotton Malone book. Turns out, the next Cotton Malone book comes out this May. This was another stand-alone. It did mention people and operations from the other books. I ended up liking this one as well as the others. The main character here is a washed up reporter who was stripped of his awards and reputation by a false story...that was actually fabricated by others to bring his ruin. That's the "b" story in this. The main story is about the fabled lost mine of Christopher Columbus...only it's much more complicated...was Columbus a Jew? Was he really searching for a place for Jews to live freely? Did he carry with him the fabled treasures of Judaism? One of the books he read and cited in this book is now on my wish list. The book takes place in Florida, Austria, Prague, and Jamaica. I enjoyed reading it and didn't really want to put it down...although, I did really want to reach into the book and slap the main character's daughter a few times. She was an extremely naive character who did all the wrong things and wouldn't listen to anyone who told her she was wrong. It takes nearly the entire book for her to admit to her mistakes. Her storyline isn't necessary worthwhile, but it ties in and compels much of the action, so I guess she's needed. Overall, Steve Berry continues to write books that I really enjoy reading...whether he includes the main character I know or not.
Enslaved by Ducks is a cute read. Bob Tarte writes about a few different things here and there. This book is about him, his wife, and their pet menagerie. They have bunnies, parrots, doves, starlings, geese, ducks, turkeys, cats, and various other birds in and around their house. He has absolutely no power against the animals and while he occasionally says no to his wife, they generally end up with whatever animal she feels they need. I didn't really come away wanting a pet, but I am slightly interested in a duck. For more than eating. They seem kind of like fun pets...except when they get sick. Normally animal stories end up making me cry because it's generally the end of the lives of the pets. In this book, they did lose a few pets, but they always had more, so it wasn't as upsetting. If you've ever thought you need to own a flying or non-traditional, non-flying pet, you should probably read this book first. It's fun, somewhat educational, and definitely cautionary in its own way.
Well, that's it for the year. I ended the year watching Gone with the Wind...possibly my all-time favorite despite it's flaws. You can take the girl out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the girl. Happy New Year 2013!
Love all the gifts! You've been busy!!
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