Avatar

Old news, I suppose, but with the release of the DVD, thoughts and comments were reawakened.  These are regarding both the movie, and our experience in the theatre last December, so if you haven't seen the movie, I wouldn't read this.  ;)

1) My first thought when the movie ended was: "Wow. Sam Worthington did not have to prepare much for this character. Jake is basically Marcus from Terminator: Salvation."

2) A running thought throughout the movie was: "Sam Worthington looks just like Marky-Mark." And that's a good thing. Mark Wahlberg is hotness."  And this thought was immediately voiced upon watching it on DVD. 

3) The movie was truly beautiful. Truly, the screen seemed to sparkle with color. I was in awe. When I wasn't nauseous. Which leads me to #4

4) 3D blows. Now this does not reflect on the movie. I think the whole 3D and 3D IMAX is a huge f-ing waste of my money and a complete rip-off. I paid $30 for two tickets at bloody 9:30 in the morning on a Tuesday to gain a headache and feel slightly sea-sick for 2+ hours. No thanks. Until they can figure out how to NOT make things in the background during the 3D experience clear (i.e. not blurry), it's not really 3D. Last time I checked, when I was looking at the tree in my front yard, the one across the street that I can still see was not fuzzy. I felt like I was losing details in not getting to see everyone's faces. Sigh.

5) This whole notion that the movie was unoriginal has really bugged me. Please. What is original anymore? Movies have been being made for the over 100 years. There's bound to be some overlap. Not to mention the fact, that all movies, plays, books, etc., usually have a basic premise of good vs. evil. Hero/heroine (or main character) is usually sure about something, has his or her ideas shaken because of some dramatic event, has an epiphany about his or her beliefs, and then there is resolution. Sure there are variations, but overall, that's it. And as far as the originality goes, almost every movie now is A) based on a book or true story, B) a remake of an old movie, or C) a sequel. So forgive me if I actually thought this was quite original.

6) Another comment I have heard was that it was just a mash-up of other movies. Again, I go back to the fact that thousands upon thousands of movies are out there. Every single person that goes and sees a movie is bound to think, "hey, that part in that scene reminded me of [fill in the blank from another movie already released.]"

7) Finally, I was thrilled that it ended "happily." Another annoying idea that us Earthlings should have just bombed the entire planet, and that would have been a better ending. As if the fact that the Na'vi's life force that was destroyed was a super ending. Or that so many of the Na'vi died. It was comforting to see that "good" can "win." If you want to see reality of what we humans are really like, just turn on the TV or your radio and watch/listen to the news. Don't spoil entertainment for the rest of us!

8) Did anyone else think that someone would have called out Michelle Rodriguez's character for abandoning her post and not firing on the tree?

9) And weren't the link ups from their hair absolutely bloody amazing? I thought that was brilliant! Not to mention those little jellyfish looking things bobbing around. Cool as all hell.

10) Finally, I really don't think that the Colonel should have been able to jump around in that robot thing he was in, in the end. I just don't think that should have been physically possible. But I think that is very minor.

11) I am not sure where James Cameron was going with the mineral deposit that the humans were after, obviously except that humans wanted it. But here is what I think. I think since it was mainly under Hometree, it was part of their link. And with Hometree being destroyed, even if the humans had killed off or enslaved the Na'vi, the mineral would have been inactivated because Hometree was gone. Irony for the humans, if it had gone that way. Just my theory.

All in all, a fabulous movie, and I have to say, I so one-upped Dr. "Yes-I Already-Knew-That-Was-Coming" when I figured out before he did that Jake was going to tame the Toruk!

Bird's Eye View?

This dove has decided that the best place to build a nest and raise babies is in our garage on top of our garage door light.  

I see many carwashes for the top of Cortana, in my future.  

That and leaving the garage door cracked at all times.

Fast, Martha? Not necessarily...

I made raspberry scones yesterday, recipe thanks to Martha Stewart, and I was excited about the "fast" part of the title, only to be initially beaten down when I realized a food processor was involved. After debating it, I elected to just use my hands, as I do when I made homemade biscuits, because as Jason says, "Hands are free."

Now, although the prep time was longer than stated, they turned out lovely, and Mr. I-Don't-Eat-Things-With-Fruit-In-Them declared they would be "good with coffee."

Two truths that were reinforced:
One, our hands are our best tools. And two, scones are best warm, with clotted cream and oolong.

Project "BackDate": #3

Truthfully, I was busy this week, and did not really plan our date as I should have.  Jason threw out the idea of making pasta, and then promptly tossed it out, seeing as it may be alot of "work."

So, while at the grocery store Saturday afternoon, for a blissfully child-free shopping experience, I picked up a Napa Valley Zin and a Sonoma Zin, and thought we could spend our date night planning our upcoming Sonoma trip in June.

Ok, I know there are those of you rolling your eyes, and maybe Jay did too, but organization is my thing, and I actually like doing it quite a bit, so this was exciting to me!  And to show that we did more than just drink 2 bottles of wine, here's our itinerary for Friday, June 18th:


1) Schramsberg for the cave tours.  I so excited for this is my favorite champagne!
2) Rombauer. I am so excited for this is my favorite Zinfindeal, EVER!
3) Chateau Montelena.  I am so excited for this because "Bottle Shock" is one of my favorite movies!

Then...we head over to Sonoma for the afternoon.  Afternoon consists of some of our favorites over there:

Dry Creek, Lambert Bridge, Passalacqua, and Quivera.

Although we wine taste frequently around here with the kids, we are looking forward to a child-free full day date.  Thanks in advance Momma!

THE iPad...That's Mr. iPad to you

I will admit it.  I was totally against the idea of an iPad when I first heard about it.  Just something else for people to spend money on that have too much money to spend. 

However, when introduced to it by our iDork friend, Damon, AND realizing the "low-end" model was only $500, I was intrigued.  After all, I had been saving up for a Kindle, and so I could spend a couple extra hundred dollars, and get something that could access the Internet, check my email, read books, and play games on. 

Now, if I was working, I would not have even considered the iPad.  I spend way too much time "word processing" as a professional.  I would need a keyboard, without a doubt.  Not a screen with a keyboard on it, that you can't feel where the letters are.  But, since I am not working, having something that was extremely portable around the house, AND while traveling (you try going through security at the airport with 2 kids, 2 adults, a stroller, a carseat, a diaper bag, a bookbag, and 2 laptops...and taking your shoes off!) was a super perk.

So, after a run to the Apple Store, where I played with one of about 40 different samples on the floor, I thought, wow, this is pretty awesome.  And my extremely generous husband (at least this time), allowed the purchase.

It came in the mail about a week and half ago, so I think at this point, Mr. iPad (name undetermined at this point), needs a review.

Top 10 Things I Love About My iPad:

1) Portability.  I read on it while I nurse Lily at 2am, I carry it to the park, it sits in the kitchen while I cook.
2) Ease to set-up.  A no brainer cause it's an Apple product, but seriously, it came with a index card sized piece of paper that had about 5 lines on how to set it up, and a link to the manual online.  Sweet.
3) Gorgeous.  Books are beautiful, movies are stunning, photos are life-like.  Netflix app is a necessity, so you can watch plenty of "instant" movies on your iPad.
4) Books.  Having a Kindle app makes reading the books that are available through Amazon (and there are more), just as easy as reading through the iBook app.  iBook is in color, much prettier, and the option to read landscape, with 2 pages open, is awesome, but the Kindle still works great too.  And both apps are free.
5) Syncing abilities.  At first, I was afraid that I would have to re-install all my contacts and calendar appointments, but there is a lovely feature that allows to Sync between Outlook and the calendar and contact features on the iPad.  Nothing lost, everything gained!
6) Mail.  So, the "gmail" set up didn't work for me, so I just created an "other" account, and set it up as directed through forums and the such.  Everything works great, all my folders are available.  However, there is no "archive" feature, so you have to dump your mail into the "all mail" folder, which all in all, isn't a huge deal.
7) Money.  Since this iPad is basically replacing my 4-year old Acer, and I am traveling with it instead of my 4-year old Acer, I needed access to my accounts, so I bought the PocketMoney app, and really like it.  Luckily my two main accounts, just ended their statement cycle, so there was little to input, besides the opening balance, and a couple of transactions.
8) Pages and Numbers.  Ok, so I write a bit, and having a "word" option was intergral.  Pages is it.  Obviously, it would a ton easier to type with a keyboard, but in a pinch, when I want to get something down, Pages gets it done.  I would like some folder options within Pages, to organize my work, but so far, I have not found this.  But again, it's a nice word-processing option.
9) Touch screen.  This is a pro and con.  For the touch screen is fabulous, and responds to the lightest touch, it also responds to the lightest touch, which means that Lily sometimes goes to random websites while I am holding her and using Mr. iPad.  But the "finger" scrolling is awesome, and the shortcuts to things like capitalization, are awesome.
10) Food.  Here's a HUGE reason I love my iPad.  I have been wanting a digital cookbook for awhile now, without knowing HOW to do it.  The iPad is perfect.  Everyone loves the Epicurious app, which I think is ok.  I don't want new recipes; I want MY collection of recipes, in digital format.  So, I used the ReLiSimple Recipes app, and spent about 4 evenings (and naptimes) inputting all my recipes.  And there is a program for your desktop/laptop, so you can enter things on the computer, sync it, and then sync your iPad, and voila!, there are your recipes!  There's a shopping cart feature as part of the app, so Sunday, when Jay and I decided on our meals for the week, I added all the recipes to my shopping cart, deleted, added, and edited a bit, and took Mr. iPad to the Safeway, and put it to the test.  Jason drove the buggy (and children) and managed the "shopping list" and I found items.  We forgot nothing!  Sounds like a winner to me.  And when I cook, I prop it up in the kitchen (I need to move the dock in there to make it more stable), and have my recipe up, while I cook.  It's perfect!

A new haircut, a new necklace, now I need...

I have always firmly believed that three things will lift the spirits of a woman.  A new haircut, a new piece of jewelry, and new lipstick.

For Mother's Day weekend, I received two of the three, and though my spirits needed no lifting, I am thoroughly enjoying each.

 Now off to Bobbi Brown for the lipstick. 

A taste of home...

This week, I have had two favorite foods from home, both easy, but one requiring absolutely no prep work besides a knife.  I adore this peanut butter, and can typically only find it when I go back to South Carolina.  Buying jelly for Jay this week, I happened to glance at the peanut butter, and low and behold, there was Peter Pan on the shelves at Safeway.  And so today I enjoyed a crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat bread.  The only way to eat a PB&J in my opinion.

And now, with fresh corn now available, I have been itching for some Beaufort Stew.  So one boiling pot of water, a lot of Old Bay seasoning, and an hour later, this was the carnage left on our table from supper.  All that was missing was homemade ice cream.

Wednesday Weekly Reader

We've been a bit slow about reading the past week, possibly because of the potty training...but we're trudging along.

EP: William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury

Jason: Current Wired edition

Charlie: Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go

Project "BackDate": #2

Saturday night Jason was up to bat for our date night, and it consisted of a very simple (and favorite for me!) concept.  A puzzle.

 I fully admit to being a jigsaw puzzle addict, and won't even bother if it's under 1000 pieces.  So we had a couple in the closet that I had not done, and Jason let me pick the puzzle (I Spy puzzle, after the famous kid's books), he picked the wine (Palumbo Merlot), and we spent  four solid hours laboring on it, while listening to music.  (Jason was amazed by iTunes love of country that night.)

We continued our "date" on Sunday, spending another three hours getting everything but the "unfun" (i.e. boring red and black background) spots done.  Tonight we should be done :)

I think we learned that we each have different styles of tackling a project, and even when he won't admit it, everything is a competition with Jason (or maybe just men!) 

After Saturday night...

After Sunday night...