Wow. I feel like I just wrote the post for April! The weather has continued its unpredictability...although, no more snow...which is good since we're close to the mid-way point of 2013. I mean, I'd be fine with cold all year, but I also like vegetables and fruit and I realize my eating habits would be radically messed with if the weather never changed. OK. Enough babbling.
So, not a lot of movies, crafts, or books this time around. But, I did catch up on some TV via Netflix and I helped with two garage sales! I also had to give up a larger-than-rent-sized chunk of money to fix my car (shattered and brakes are not words that go together), so not buying lots of books or going to the movies was fine by me...and my bank account.
Crafts:
I am still working on the same project I started back in March. It's ending up as a Christmas present, but I'm almost done with it and I'll be very happy to post the picture later this year. It's turning out really, really pretty. Knowing how close I am to being done also motivated me to start looking for my next projects...now my head is spinning thinking of all the things I could do!
Movies:
What? Of course! I totally saw that!
First up was Iron Man 3. I thought it was lots of fun. It's never going to be Oscar-winning material, but I was very happy with it. I felt like this was the first of the Iron Man franchise that really had a coherent storyline that didn't falter. Sure, physics would be a problem with a lot of that, but that doesn't mean I don't like to watch the craziness of robots flyin' and fightin'.
The week after, I saw The Great Gatsby. First, let me tell you, I do not like the book. I don't hate the book; it's just not one that I want to read again and again. To tell you the truth, I don't like many of the "classic" American writers. I mean, this book is a decent thing to read, but I only needed the one read. Enough time had passed since I read it...and since I saw the Robert Redford movie version...that I was ok seeing this on a book-to-movie level. Now I need to tell you something else. Baz Luhrmann could film himself reading the phone book and I would pay cash money to see it in the theater because he would Luhrmann-ize it. The phone book would spin into view as massive collage of photos of all the people in the book. People would dance around the frame of the film as their names were called. Glitter and champagne would flow freely from statues and fountains and random spots in fabulously decorated rooms housing the people. And possibly the word "Fabulous!" would be plastered on the screen in different fonts, to make sure you understand. So the end result was that I fell asleep for a few minutes near the beginning, but loved looking at the movie...except for that one part...you know, the part they showed twice, up close, that no one would ever want to see that close. Anyway, I really liked it. Seing it on a big screen as opposed to a TV screen is a good idea because Luhrmann's take of over-the-top opulence is crazy amazing.
Enough Luhrmann-love. The other movie I saw in the theater was Star Trek: Into Darkness. This was just as much fun to me as the first Abrams' Star Trek film. It was fun; it was funny; it was exciting; it referenced. It was all of the things I wanted. Well played, J. J. Abrams. Well played. No spoilers, but you know what happened, right? I mean, come on. Yeah it was different, but in a good way.
Books:
I said I was going to stop talking about what I bought right? Well, I didn't lie. But I do need to say that I pre-ordered Jen Lancaster's Tao of Martha and it shipped out today! SQUEE! Which sucks for my continued reading of the excellent Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie, but it's nice to read hilarious books in between a heavy history tome (currently reading Laurie Notaro's new one along side it right now).
This month I (completely) read: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc. by David Sedaris, Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris, and The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan. (Catherine the Great will be a work in progress for a while more...according to the Kindle, 45% is left.)
David Sedaris never disappoints me. The best thing about him is that I've had a couple of books on tape/CD, heard him on NPR a lot, and I've seen him do readings in person. That means when I read a David Sedaris book, I get to hear his voice in my head, reading it to me. And that makes it about fifty million times more hilarious. If you like laughter and essays about the little things that make everyone both different and the same, do yourself a favor and pick up one of his books. I've given away his Holidays on Ice as a gift before (more than once) and it makes an excellent gateway book...you read it and you want more. The funny is almost too much...don't take big sips of drinks or big bites of snacks while reading...there will be spit takes and/or choking from laughter.
Dead Ever After is the last Sookie Stackhouse book. Yep. That Soo-keeeh. I know these books are silly and I don't care. Once you can see those characters from the show in your head while you read the books, well, the one where Eric loses his memory will never leave you...in a very, very good way. So, we've know since book 11 that the 13th was the last. I've had time to process and I was ok with that. I also am completely fine with her ending...as a matter of fact, it ended well and appropriately given where she led us. I am in way disappointed that (a) it ended like that (no spoilers) and (b) that it's over. I can read my favorites (see above: Eric, memory loss...I believe that's book 4?) whenever I want and the TV show is still on, following no plot I've read before, so it's a win-win. Haters gonna hate, but that's a waste of time because of Eric...and Sam...and maybe Bill and Jason, but not as much as Eric and Sam.
The other book that got completely read this month was the third of Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles series. The fight with Chaos continues...the Kane kids (Carter and Sadie) get help from some very unexpected corners of the Egyptian mythology realm. Always a fun read, but you need to like Egyptian mythology...and maybe be able to get past how they channel their powers...when you read the descriptions of that, it has a 70s cartoon feel to it (remember Shazaam and Isis?), but it's still good. Definitely need to read the first two though.
OK, well, I gotta get back to watching The Voice. Peace out for now.
