X-men: More First Class than Harry Potter

There were two movies that I was looking forward to more than anything else that came out this summer: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" and "X-men: First Class".

Overall, Harry Potter was very good. I really enjoyed going with my two best friends to see it at midnight when I was home in California. But I'd be less than honest if I didn't admit that I was a little disappointed. It wasn't because of changes from the book, though there was one change in particular that I think would have made people who paid attention but didn't read the book ask some questions about what happened with "x". They could have dropped nothing and just added 30 seconds or a minute to the film time to solve that. The reason was that there were multiple parts when I thought, "Really? That's the best you could do? I've seen you do better." These were emphasized by the fact that there were multiple other parts in the movie where I was blown away because they did such a good job. Why didn't they do that for the whole movie? I don't know. But it was still generally good.

But X-Men: First Class...that was amazing. I LOVED it. I know there were many things that were changed from the comics and from the cartoons, but still. I was very impressed. Good visuals, interesting plot (just ignore the historical alterations), great dialogue, an excellent villain, and overall a good background story for several of the characters, which I think will shed a different light upon reviewing X-men 1-3. It was my favorite live-action film that has been released in quite a while. If you haven't seen it yet, you should.

Recent Pearls of Wisdom

Recent Pearls of Wisdom:

1. Ladies: You know how sometimes when you sling a purse over your shoulder, it doesn't like to stay there and slips down to to your elbow or your wrist? And then you have to keep pushing it back up to your shoulder, but it slips again? Did you ever notice that this usually happens when you're wearing a thicker jacket or coat, or a smoother material like leather? Yeah, it drives me crazy too. BUT, there's a solution. Simply get a jacket/coat that has one of those snap button random strips of material sewn into the top of the sleeve and snapping by the neck. Do you know what I mean? Here's a picture if you're lost...

Yeah, one of those. See, if you've got a jacket or coat with a strappy thingy on the shoulder, all you have to do is unsnap it, place the shoulder strap of your purse over your shoulder, and then snap it over the top, and voila! Your purse is now snapped into place on your shoulder and it won't fall off. I made this discovery today and I think it's going to change my life. Seriously. And I know you're all super excited about this.

2. Everyone who is not allergic to bread products or cheese: Triscuit sandwich + mozzarella cheese in the middle = absolutely delicious, especially if you get Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits and put a "slice" of mozzarella cheese in the middle. Or you can get one Roasted Garlic Triscuit and one Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuit and put some mozzarella in between them, and then you get a blast of three fabulously Italian, fabulously delectable flavors in one bite. Or even Fire Roasted Tomato Triscuits are heavenly with the mozzarella. You have got to try this.

Triscuits

+

Mozzarella cheese

= 

Life is good.

3. Everyone who grew up with cartoons: Remember how awesome Saturday morning cartoons were back in the day?  Taking the time to go back and check out cartoons you loved as a child is a fabulous idea. It will fill you with joy. Take it from me...I've been Netflixing (yes, it's a verb now) X-Men: The Animated Series, and I am loving every minute of it. While we're at it, who forgot just how awesome Gambit is? Why didn't they put him in the first three X-Men movies? And why didn't they let Rogue fly in the movies? Nineties cartoons were the best.

That's all I've got for the time being, but I'm sure I'll come up with more later. =)

Turning 23: Thoughts and Celebrations

Over the weekend, I did not write any posts, not because I have already given up on my goal of writing at least every weekday but because it was my birthday!  I think that’s a valid excuse, and if you don’t, you probably shouldn’t be reading this anyway.  So today’s post will not be about any particular issue or topic in which I am interested; I’ll just tell you how my birthday weekend (#23) was.  And if you don’t want to read it, maybe my posterity will.  Doesn’t matter to me.  =)

On Friday, I went with T and M out to dinner at La Dolce Vita, a little family-owned Italian food restaurant in town.  I got a spinach calzone with mozzarella, parmesan, and ricotta cheeses, covered in Ragú sauce.  It was divine.  Then we went and Redbox’d “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” (my choice; I had already seen it but was in the mood, and I knew T and M hadn’t seen it).  I figured that even though Molly isn’t into gaming so much (neither am I, but I at least know how it works), she’d enjoy the plotline and at least appreciate a well-done film.  Of course, she absolutely hated it, which made me feel bad for making her watch it—I really thought that she’d at least enjoy it somewhat, but apparently she loathes gaming that much.  At least T liked it and wants to buy it now!  

Saturday was also fantastic.  P and I got French toast at Kneader’s for breakfast.  If you’ve never had French toast from Kneader’s for breakfast, you are missing out.  I LOVE French toast and it is the best French toast I have ever had.  Yes, it’s that good.  We then went and got manicures, which were sorely needed – I hate how dry Utah is, because my hands get so cracked and dry.  Hooray for aesthetics schools in the area that will service you for cheap.  She dropped me off at my sister K’s, where I hung out with her, her husband R, my sister C, her husband C, and their son J.  It was a good day: we played Bohnanza, Mario Kart wii (for J; he threw a fit every time we turned it off), and Imaginiff. Highlight of that game: “If K (my sister) and Santa Claus had a baby…” Fitting, because K is almost 7 months pregnant; sad that R had to find out this way who the real father is. =P  We also had celebratory cake and ice cream (chocolate chip cookie dough).  For the cake, we attempted something new: we made spice cake for a two-layered cake, then for the “glue” we used apple pie filling instead of a layer of frosting.  The frosting ended up being Funfetti vanilla frosting (leftover’s from J’s third birthday last month).  It turned out quite delectable.

The next day, Sunday, was my actual birthday.  Unfortunately I didn’t get enough sleep on Saturday night, which meant I was falling asleep in 8:30 Church.  I didn’t want to do that, because one, I hate falling asleep in church, and two, the lessons and talks were fantastic.  Our high councilman and one future sister missionary in our ward (she had her call to Canada) spoke on reverence: what it means and how to develop it in our lives.  Sunday school was about the reactions to Christ’s birth (Mary, the angels, Simeon, etc.).  Relief Society was about the Sabbath day and fasting, and I was somehow able to stay awake for that third hour of church.  After church I had to get set apart in my new calling.  I am now a member of the temple committee!  I will miss my calling as Relief Society teacher very much, but of course the moment you get really good at or really attached to a calling is the moment you are pulled away from it.  But I’m excited to be on the temple committee.  I have a strong testimony of the importance of the temple and regular temple attendance.  In fact, I’ll admit that multiple times in the past I have been jealous of friends getting married almost more for the fact that they were able to make their temple covenants than that they were now married.  Of course I want to get married, but I want to make those covenants, too.  Anyway, I hope this calling will be good for me and that I will be able to contribute to the good of our ward in encouraging people to attend the temple regularly.  The blessings in one’s life from regular temple attendance are immeasurable.  Anyhow, I was set apart in my calling by the first counselor in our bishopric.  It always amazes me how strong the power of the Spirit becomes when a Priesthood holder exercises his Priesthood authority and gives a blessing.  The whole room filled with the Spirit of the Lord.  It was wonderful.  When I got home from that, I took a glorious hour and a half long nap, and then went to my sister K’s sister-in-law’s house for dinner.  They do dinner regularly with her in-law siblings, but this is the first time I took her up on her invitation for me to join.  I got to see B’s new baby—always fun.  After dinner we played Catan Histories: The Struggle for Rome, which I got for K and R for Christmas.  It was an adventure as we all tried to learn this new game, then play it.  Luckily we are all game people and caught on quickly, and I think we all liked the game very much.  

As it was late when I got home Sunday night, I slept in Monday.  Always good.  For lunch, a bunch of friends and I went to Tucanos!  It was a party of 30 and it was fabulous.  Several had never been to Tucanos, so I was pleased to introduce them to the amazingness that it is.  Most of my friends from sociology came – my cohort, some of the 2^nd year cohort, as well as my professor M – plus some people from my ward, old roommates, and other friends.  It was great.  I felt very loved =) The rest of the day was really relaxed…my roommate A and our friend M watched She’s The Man, which I kind of watched…I’m not a huge Amanda Bynes fan, nor am I really into movies like that, but it was all right.  A and I decided not to do anything else the rest of the day and just watched another movie, How To Train Your Dragon.  She hadn’t seen it because she was in Jerusalem last semester, and she loved it.  That movie really is fantastic, and it’s so quotable.  You know I love quotable movies!  I also spent some time perusing the Netflix list, because my mom and dad got me a 3 month subscription to Netflix for my birthday!  What is first on my DVD list, coming to me tomorrow?  X-men the Animated Series: Volume 1.  Of course.  I haven’t seen those since I was a kid, and I am totally stoked to watch them again.  If you are still reading this ridiculously long post and have any suggestions of movies or T.V. shows I should check out, let me know! 

Thoughts about turning 23: One, I feel old.  I feel like 23 is the first year of the mid-20s (early 20s = ages 20-22, mid 20s = ages 23-26, late 20s = 27-29), and that makes me feel a little old.  It doesn’t help that I can count on one hand the number of girls in my ward that are older than me; most are a good two years younger.  I’m even older than a lot of the guys, almost of all of which seem to have gotten back from their missions in the last six months or so.  So, I feel old.  My friend MW in Missouri told me I should get a bunch of cats, or feed birds in the park.  =P  My second thought is, I only feel old because I’m single, not dating anyone, and living in a city where a large percentage of women my age are married and already have a child or two.  One of my sisters and one of my brothers were both married by the time they were 23.  By the time my Mom was 23, she had a son.  If I were to get out of this area—which I intend to do as soon as I get my Master’s Degree—then it will be perfectly normal if I am still single by that time.  Thought number three, unrelated to the first two but the most important of the three: I have now officially been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for fifteen years!  I’m looking forward to another fifteen, then another fifteen, then another, so on for forever, and I’m excited for every minute of it.

Bucket List

Here is my bucket list, started last November and continued today. Some of the things I wrote down are not necessarily practical or things that are likely to happen, but all of them are things that I would like to do (and have not yet done) before I die.

1. Get married in the temple
2. Go on a real honeymoon, stress free, away from everything
3. Have close, strong relationships with my kids
4. Adopt (I may not do this if I get married and have kids of my own, but it has been something I would like to do)
5. Have twins…I’d like to have a boy and girl
6. Have a son grow up to be taller than I am…I know that’s kind of random, but I would love for my son (when he comes home to visit or something) to pick me up and swing me around…yeah, it’s silly
7. Serve a mission with my husband when we’re older and our kids have all grown up
8. Go to all the countries in Europe (okay, well, at least most of them, like all the UK, Scandinavia, go back to France and Italy, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany…)
9. Cruise major European cities (particularly Paris) by night
10. Climb the Eiffel Tower. Up the stairs. It may take several hours to do it, but I want to do it someday.
11. Kiss my man, out in the rain, in Paris, preferably in front of the Eiffel Tower
12. Become comfortably fluent in French and Italian
13. See Raphael’s exhibit, especially School of Athens, which was closed when I went last time to the Vatican Museum.
14. Visit Jerusalem, the Galilee, Gethsemane, follow Christ’s ministry
15. Go somewhere on a trip without planning it—spontaneous departure, spontaneous experience, maybe even not bring anything and just buy stuff there
16. Visit the Seven Wonders of the World
17. Go to Australia/New Zealand
18. Go to Hawaii
19. Stay in a Vegas hotel for at least one night
20. Live abroad, probably in Italy, France, or somewhere in the UK
21. Read read read lots and lots of amazing books that I’ve started reading and want to read
22. Find joy in a career that I really love
23. Go hang gliding!
24. Go parasailing or paragliding
25. Become competent in at least one sport…but I’d have to be taught by a VERY patient person that I wasn’t at all embarrassed to play sports around, because I am really that terrible. And he/she would have to force me to do it.
26. Become a good runner
27. Learn to ski/water ski
28. Learn how to ice skate
29. Learn how to dance. I took beginning ballroom at BYU, but I’d like to learn more.
30. Go on a cruise
31. Go to an Olympic (summer or winter) event
32. Go to a concert of one of my favorite bands/artists
33. Go to a concert at Carnegie Hall
34. Study music at the professional level
35. Perform in a musical
36. Perform as a major role in a musical
37. Perform in a real concert (anything from community level to London Philharmonic)
38. Conduct a real orchestra or band
39. See all the musicals in the world, at least the good ones…and the ones that aren’t ridiculously scandalous…haha
40. See a musical on Broadway and in London, preferably Phantom of the Opera or Les Mis or another really amazing one
41. Own a house with a wraparound porch and a turret, and a weeping willow tree in the backyard
42. Have the rooms in my house be professionally designed, or at least designed well
43. Have a “library room”, for all the books
44. Have my master bed be a four-poster with canopy for extra privacy
45. Own a really nice grand piano (preferably Steinway or Mason&Hamlin) and have time every day to play it
46. Own a boat, or have a rich friend or relative to take me and my family out on their boat regularly
47. Own, or just be able to wear once, a really expensive but beautiful evening gown and the accessories to match (shoes, jewelry, purse)
48. Own a pair of Christian Louboutin or other amazing designer shoes
49. Own the X-men comic books
50. Own the complete Calvin and Hobbes comics
51. Streak my hair with purple or blue or something, just for fun
52. Learn to cook from scratch
53. Have enough money to eat healthy, natural foods and to have a balanced diet every day
54. Be healthy and fit, and truly comfortable with my body
55. Publish academic articles that I’ve written or contributed to in academic magazines, get my name out there
56. Publish a book that I’ve written, or enough poetry to compile into a book
57. Publish a musical piece I’ve composed
58. Knit and crochet clothing items to wear or items to display
59. Find the names of some of my unknown ancestors and get their temple work done
60. Write my autobiography to pass to my descendents (whether they want to read it or not is their choice).

"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." -- from the trailer for 'The Bucket List'