HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Okay, I'm a little early, but close enough for most of the world. :) With hours to spare, I managed to watch 101 movies for the year! That would be new movies, for me, of course.
Here are my last 7 movies of the year!
Les Miserables (Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, etc) - I loved it. Seyfried was a little high for me and Crowe was a little low for me, but I really liked it and they really didn't bother me too much. I think the casting (physically) was spot on and the singing was good. Sure, it's not the normal Broadway singing you normally hear for Les Mis, but I liked it. The emotional singing with the acting was really powerful. It is one of those movies you can't just listen to the soundtrack for. I much prefer the Broadway recordings compared to the movie, but I really liked the movie and it might even be one I buy. To say the least, I can now say that I love the book, play, and movie, which is an amazing feat! I do think Anne Hathway could be easily nominated for an Oscar or many of the others too. Grade: A
10 Years (Channing Tatum, Justin Long, etc) - Wasn't sure what to expect from this movie. I thought it'd be a little more on the comedy end, but it was actually more on the drama end. The movie was more about growing up and how people change when they meet each other at their high school reunion. It had that great slight awkwardness of seeing old friends, telling how your life has changed, etc. It wasn't spectacular and at moments rather sad to see how many of them hadn't really grown up; however, at the end, things turn and you can sort of see the moment when they decide it's time to grow up and let high school go. Don't think I'd readily recommend it, but it wasn't a total flop. Grade: C-
ParaNorman (animation - Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, etc) - It was cute. The animation had that fake-realistic feel to it (like Coraline or Corpse Bride). It wasn't a spectacular story, but I liked how things weren't always what you thought and it was sort of a coming-of-age/acceptance animated Sixth Sense. I liked the animation and the story is cute, but it's definitely a Halloween movie and not a post-Christmas movie! Watching zombies and witches and a kid who can see/speak to ghosts is just not what you think of to watch post-Christmas. It's not overly scary, but it's definitely for those that are 10+ since the witch is a little scary and there are zombies and dead people (and a dog that got run over...that was disturbing and funny at the same time - reminded me of the armadillo in Rango). Grade: C+/B-
The Words (Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid) - It's a story-within-a-story-within-a-story movie. It's a little confusing when you try to untangle it and I can see why that's one thing people just didn't like about the movie. The story is the author reading from pieces from his book (Quaid is the author and Cooper is the main character) and then you find out, in the end, because Olivia Wilde's character kept pushing, that the story, believed to be fictional, is actually (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) biographical. Which then made my brain hurt a little because I had to figure out which character he was supposed to be (I was tired, okay?!). Anyway, the acting wasn't bad and I enjoyed Cooper, but the story was just "off" and the 3-deep story situation was not fantastic. I don't think it was as bad as it was made out to be, but it's certainly not fantastic and I'm not surprised it didn't do well. Grade: C-/D+
Trouble with the Curve (Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams) - I can see why the movie didn't get better reviews. The acting was good and the father-daughter relationship was interesting, but it felt a little too gruff and off-putting and you didn't make up enough with the characters at the end to feel truly satisfied with it. With that said, I enjoy Justin Timberlake's acting. I've seen him in a few different things and he's always fun to watch. I liked Amy Adams too and I liked Clint Eastwood's gruff, hard-to-get-close-to attitude. The baseball scouting story semi-interesting. I mean, it wasn't really a surprise in how it was going to end. It was an okay movie, but it does have a lot of cussing in it. Grade: C
Why Stop Now? (Jesse Eisenberg, Melissa Leo, etc) - I like Eisenberg so I tend to watch a lot of his indie films. This one was weird in a silly sense because Eisenberg's character is trying to get into this conservatory internship based on his piano skills, but his mom (Leo) is having troubles with drugs, and he's got a younger sister. He tries to get his mom into rehab, but she can't go because she doesn't have insurance and her urine screen is clean (she sobered up before entering). The doctor tells her that if her urine screen is not clean, they can admit her, but not if it's clean since she has no insurance. Irony? Yeah. So they go off on a hunt to get her some drugs so she can go to rehab. In that process, they confront their issues (family and personal) in a wild and twisted path. It's really rather silly and over the top, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been either. Definitely not one I'd really recommend either. Grade: C-
Looper (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt) - Time travel, it's always the kicker that can confuse you. At the same time, the name says it all: Loops. It was an interesting concept of a movie and had an interesting (if not noticeable from a mile away) solution/answer to the "how." The little boy, though, is CREEPY! Man that kid has a good "creepy" sort of "possessed" look to him. He definitely tripped you out. It was a movie about how far you are willing to protect those you love and the consequences those actions have on others. I liked the movie and thought it was really interesting. There is a lot of blood and some nudity (definitely deserves its rating), but it was intellectually interesting (again, time travel movies tend to mess with your head). It was interesting how old Joe could come back from the future to young Joe to avenge his future wife's death by killing the Rainmaker, but because he's old Joe, he got the jump on young Joe to save his own life. See what I mean?! At any rate, I liked it, but it won't be for everyone because of its rating. Grade: B (maybe C+ because there are some extraneous things in the movie...)
With that...Looper was number 101 and Why Stop Now? 100! YAY! I exceeded my goal by a LOT and also meat my far reaching goal too. Not bad! With that, I'm off to ring in the New Year and to start writing my end of the year favorites/recap. As for nails, I may do a post about my water marble attempt at a later date and a quick book update. I don't work tomorrow so I get to sleep in. Yay!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Can I make it 100 movies?
I hope everyone has a good Christmas and Christmas Eve! I'm flying down south tomorrow. I'm going to be super tired and have to try and sleep tonight, but I suspect a nap might be in order tomorrow since my flight leaves at 6am.
I'm tempted to head to Santa Anita on the 26th, but I won't. It's opening day for the winter meet and it's the day they give their calendar out to everyone who enters! I've had to buy the last 2 year's calendars since I've never managed to make it opening day. People always sell them on-line and it's now become one of my "must" calendars to get every year. I like Santa Anita (have I said that before?). Not sure what 2013's theme will be, though. 2011 was movies; 2012 was retired Thoroughbreds.
It's been a crazy movie watching week! I've managed to watch 7, which puts me at 94 movies. There is a good chance I'll make it to 100 or 101! Crazy...I should say that this would be all new movies I've seen this year. I've rewatched at least a dozen films this year (if not more) and, let's be honest, the extended version of LotR should be counted as watching 6 movies, not 3. :)
The Hobbit (High frame rate, 3D) - Not counting this in my count since I already watched it, but I wanted to do a review of the HFR 3D compared to the normal 2D. There were a few moments (especially in the beginning) that felt like they were on fast forward and they were sporadically here-and-there, but it wasn't enough to really bother me. The really interesting difference between HFR and the normal rate, was the clarity of the picture. It felt sharper and less "movie looking." Typically, when the movies go through editing, they throw a patina over the entire movie to equalize the colors/lighting of the film and so forth. The HFR made it look crisper and sort of removed that patina that movies tend to have. It made it look more realistic in the filming (like a low budget film or one that's made to look like it's raw). It was kind of weird to watch because my brain would sometimes be awed by the HFR and how it made the movie look. Most impressively, despite the "look," the CG still looked amazing. In some ways, I think it made the CG look more real. I did find the movie a little longer the 2nd time and the preface (of the preface) was a little weirder the 2nd time, but I still would see it again. I did enjoy the CG more the 2nd time than the first (i.e., the Gollum riddles scene). I don't think I'd see it in 3D again, though. The 3D was good, but it wasn't a type of movie that had "extreme" 3D so you sort of forgot the movie was in 3D even though there was depth to where people were standing in relation to each other. The most times you noticed the 3D were during the captions. If they did HFR in 2D, I'd be all over that.
Savages (Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson) - What a boring movie. The actual plot of the movie happens about 40 minutes into the movie! I guess the point was to set up the scenario and their drug making? I don't know, but it wasn't that great. I liked Salma Hayek's character the best. She had the most interesting role. The acting wasn't bad, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Grade: D
The Watch (Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade) - I wasn't sure what to expect considering I knew it was an alien movie. It was definitely silly, but it wasn't too bad. It was funny and over-the-top, but I liked the family message. Vaughn's character might not be the greatest dad, but, when it came down to it, he loved his daughter and was more concerned about her than aliens taking over their neighborhood. He basically rescued her from being raped when she went to a party against his wishes. His character also told Stiller's to be honest with his wife about his fertility issues. It was silly and crud at times, but it was an okay rental when you knew it was going to be silly. Grade: C
Silver Linings Playbook (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence) - I liked this. There's a fair amount of cussing, but I liked it. It's humorous and everyone does a great acting job. I really liked Cooper in his role and Lawrence was also good. De Niro as Cooper's football obsessed father was also good. It was a cute film about family, moving on, and finding the "silver lining" in things. The dancing was definitely NOT what I expected, but it definitely worked for them (even the awkward part, which was funny). I'd watch it again if it came out on DVD, but I don't know if I'd want to own it. I can see the Oscar buzz, though. Grade: B+
Resident Evil: Retribution (Mila Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, etc) - I've always wanted to see the Resident Evil movies, but have never managed to do it (the last movie wouldn't play on my computer, weird). I FINALLY got to watch one (this one) and I was warned that the story is pretty bad and it's mostly all action. Yeah, it pretty much lived up to the warning. I like over-the-top action films (fluff action films!) so I enjoyed watching things blow up and the special effects, but the story was definitely lame. I was 3/4 paying attention to it and I had to have someone explain to me what was going on (didn't help that I missed the other movies prior). Basically, she was escaping the facility that was below ground. That was the entire story, mostly. At any rate, the special effects during the fighting was good, but not much else was there. Grade: C (C- for the lack of story)
Arbitrage (Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon) - I had to watch this on closed captions the entire movie (long story why) so I got to watch a movie as if I was deaf. It was kind of a new experience. Silent films and this were two different things since I had to pay attention to the closed captions while a silent film is mostly you just watching and no dialogue. I'm not sure if I missed something or not, but I got the feeling the end was just like, "That's it?! He doesn't get in trouble?" At any rate, the acting is good, but Gere's character just digs himself into a bigger and bigger hole from the very start. He sort of get's partially out of it at the end, but goodness...You feel really bad for his family! Maybe the point was it'll all come back to haunt him or something. I don't know, but I wasn't satisfied with the ending. Grade: D
Premium Rush (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, etc) - This wasn't too bad. I like the whole bike messenger angle and those poor actors REALLY had to learn to bike! Wow! The story wasn't too bad and I was glad there was a better reason for him being tracked down then an illicit drug deal or something. It was a better reason than that. Everyone got his/her due in the end too. It was an okay movie. It wasn't fantastic, but it passed the time and I like Gordon-Levitt. Grade: C
Now to nails...This won't be all of the ones I've done, but my two favorites since my last post.
I'm tempted to head to Santa Anita on the 26th, but I won't. It's opening day for the winter meet and it's the day they give their calendar out to everyone who enters! I've had to buy the last 2 year's calendars since I've never managed to make it opening day. People always sell them on-line and it's now become one of my "must" calendars to get every year. I like Santa Anita (have I said that before?). Not sure what 2013's theme will be, though. 2011 was movies; 2012 was retired Thoroughbreds.
It's been a crazy movie watching week! I've managed to watch 7, which puts me at 94 movies. There is a good chance I'll make it to 100 or 101! Crazy...I should say that this would be all new movies I've seen this year. I've rewatched at least a dozen films this year (if not more) and, let's be honest, the extended version of LotR should be counted as watching 6 movies, not 3. :)
The Hobbit (High frame rate, 3D) - Not counting this in my count since I already watched it, but I wanted to do a review of the HFR 3D compared to the normal 2D. There were a few moments (especially in the beginning) that felt like they were on fast forward and they were sporadically here-and-there, but it wasn't enough to really bother me. The really interesting difference between HFR and the normal rate, was the clarity of the picture. It felt sharper and less "movie looking." Typically, when the movies go through editing, they throw a patina over the entire movie to equalize the colors/lighting of the film and so forth. The HFR made it look crisper and sort of removed that patina that movies tend to have. It made it look more realistic in the filming (like a low budget film or one that's made to look like it's raw). It was kind of weird to watch because my brain would sometimes be awed by the HFR and how it made the movie look. Most impressively, despite the "look," the CG still looked amazing. In some ways, I think it made the CG look more real. I did find the movie a little longer the 2nd time and the preface (of the preface) was a little weirder the 2nd time, but I still would see it again. I did enjoy the CG more the 2nd time than the first (i.e., the Gollum riddles scene). I don't think I'd see it in 3D again, though. The 3D was good, but it wasn't a type of movie that had "extreme" 3D so you sort of forgot the movie was in 3D even though there was depth to where people were standing in relation to each other. The most times you noticed the 3D were during the captions. If they did HFR in 2D, I'd be all over that.
Savages (Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson) - What a boring movie. The actual plot of the movie happens about 40 minutes into the movie! I guess the point was to set up the scenario and their drug making? I don't know, but it wasn't that great. I liked Salma Hayek's character the best. She had the most interesting role. The acting wasn't bad, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Grade: D
The Watch (Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade) - I wasn't sure what to expect considering I knew it was an alien movie. It was definitely silly, but it wasn't too bad. It was funny and over-the-top, but I liked the family message. Vaughn's character might not be the greatest dad, but, when it came down to it, he loved his daughter and was more concerned about her than aliens taking over their neighborhood. He basically rescued her from being raped when she went to a party against his wishes. His character also told Stiller's to be honest with his wife about his fertility issues. It was silly and crud at times, but it was an okay rental when you knew it was going to be silly. Grade: C
Silver Linings Playbook (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence) - I liked this. There's a fair amount of cussing, but I liked it. It's humorous and everyone does a great acting job. I really liked Cooper in his role and Lawrence was also good. De Niro as Cooper's football obsessed father was also good. It was a cute film about family, moving on, and finding the "silver lining" in things. The dancing was definitely NOT what I expected, but it definitely worked for them (even the awkward part, which was funny). I'd watch it again if it came out on DVD, but I don't know if I'd want to own it. I can see the Oscar buzz, though. Grade: B+
Resident Evil: Retribution (Mila Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, etc) - I've always wanted to see the Resident Evil movies, but have never managed to do it (the last movie wouldn't play on my computer, weird). I FINALLY got to watch one (this one) and I was warned that the story is pretty bad and it's mostly all action. Yeah, it pretty much lived up to the warning. I like over-the-top action films (fluff action films!) so I enjoyed watching things blow up and the special effects, but the story was definitely lame. I was 3/4 paying attention to it and I had to have someone explain to me what was going on (didn't help that I missed the other movies prior). Basically, she was escaping the facility that was below ground. That was the entire story, mostly. At any rate, the special effects during the fighting was good, but not much else was there. Grade: C (C- for the lack of story)
Arbitrage (Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon) - I had to watch this on closed captions the entire movie (long story why) so I got to watch a movie as if I was deaf. It was kind of a new experience. Silent films and this were two different things since I had to pay attention to the closed captions while a silent film is mostly you just watching and no dialogue. I'm not sure if I missed something or not, but I got the feeling the end was just like, "That's it?! He doesn't get in trouble?" At any rate, the acting is good, but Gere's character just digs himself into a bigger and bigger hole from the very start. He sort of get's partially out of it at the end, but goodness...You feel really bad for his family! Maybe the point was it'll all come back to haunt him or something. I don't know, but I wasn't satisfied with the ending. Grade: D
Premium Rush (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, etc) - This wasn't too bad. I like the whole bike messenger angle and those poor actors REALLY had to learn to bike! Wow! The story wasn't too bad and I was glad there was a better reason for him being tracked down then an illicit drug deal or something. It was a better reason than that. Everyone got his/her due in the end too. It was an okay movie. It wasn't fantastic, but it passed the time and I like Gordon-Levitt. Grade: C
Now to nails...This won't be all of the ones I've done, but my two favorites since my last post.
The left one is Smitten Polish Frost Fairies (base) with KBShimmer Peppermint Crush on the top. Peppermint Crush was scented to smell like vanilla peppermint. It smelled so good I could have eaten my nails. Oh man, it smelled good. It lasted about 2 days. The 2nd day it was less strong, but I could barely smell it. The first 24 hours it was really strong.
The right one is Contrary Polish Frozen (base) with DollishPolish You'll Shoot Yer Eye Out, Kid on top. It looked really cool in person. Frozen had a blue micro glitter in it (not a lot) and these iridescent micro-flakes. Then with the Dollish on top, it had irridescent and white hexs and the snowflake glitter. It looked like a snowy scene! It was really pretty and impossible to capture with my camera.
With that, I need to finish packing, redo my nails, and get ready for bed! I got an early flight!
The right one is Contrary Polish Frozen (base) with DollishPolish You'll Shoot Yer Eye Out, Kid on top. It looked really cool in person. Frozen had a blue micro glitter in it (not a lot) and these iridescent micro-flakes. Then with the Dollish on top, it had irridescent and white hexs and the snowflake glitter. It looked like a snowy scene! It was really pretty and impossible to capture with my camera.
With that, I need to finish packing, redo my nails, and get ready for bed! I got an early flight!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Restored Faith in Humanity...?
Working at Goodwill means I see a lot of "stuff" from others come through. Some of it is really nice and you can't believe someone gave it up. Other stuff is so unique you're not even sure how they found it, what it does, or why someone even bought it in the first place. And there's the last of it where it's complete junk and you're not sure why someone would even think someone else would want it. I can probably categorize something in each of those three. Over the past year I've taken photos of various "oddities" that have come through.
However, every once in a while you get something that's touching. A handmade baby blanket (can't tell you how many of those we get) or, in this story's case, handwritten notes from your mom.
We get a lot of boxes in and we've learned to always open them in case there's something valuable in them (always check the wallets and purses too!). The other day, I was putting this flower shaped box out and shook it. It rattled. I opened it and saw all these little notes in it. I took them out and put them aside to look at later. I put the box on the sales shelf. Several hours later, I refound the notes (forgot about them) and started looking at them. Turns out they're notes from this girl's mom. There were 29 of them and then 1 from her dad. Based on the notes, she was in either the 2nd or 3rd grade. They were mostly decorated notes just saying she's pretty, nice, her mom loved her, or some other small thing (little stories, songs, talking about the day, etc). They were touching to see that this girl's mom (and dad) took the time to make those little notes for her to find while at school. Obviously, the girl liked them enough to keep them, but, for whatever reason, they were donated. You can't keep everything, I know that, but I was glad I got to read them.
Seeing things like that or 26 Moments that Restored Our Faith in Humanity This Year are things that we all need to see to remember the good that exists in this world. After last Fridays horrific shooting and all the other violence and horrors we hear on the news and see in person, things like those notes help remind us of the good we can have too.
The notes also got me thinking about my own childhood. I remember when my parents would go to back-to-school nights (when I had an assigned desk) and they would sit at it that night. The next day I would always sit down and immediately try to find the business card my dad would leave me to find somewhere. It was always a fun little hunt to do, but also reminded me that my parents loved me and took the time to leave a reminder that they had gone and had seen my desk and work. I remember watching John Wayne movies and Columbo episodes with my dad. I remember my mom and I driving around town talking about our days and discussing various things like Harry Potter.
Those were definitely times when I had less to worry about and was more carefree. Not to say I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders or live a harsh life, but, man, life just isn't as easy as it used to be when food somehow stayed stocked in your cupboards and refrigerator and you didn't have to worry about loans and bills. Sometimes I get caught up in the "bad" and the lack of humanity in the world (let's not discuss the seemingly idiotic people too...) and it brings me down. The small things is what keeps you going and random acts of kindness (RAOKs) are important.
In fact, I had a small funny moment today with an older lady at the post office. I was there to pick up a package, which takes maybe 3 minutes to do. There was a long line of people waiting to ship things. The lady in front of me had about a half dozen packages and told me I could go ahead of her. I said, "Oh. Really? Thanks!" Her response, which was rather loud as she glared at the people in front of us, was, "Of course. Why wouldn't I? You just have a pick-up and I'm mailing several packages. It's simple logic." The people in front either shifted uncomfortably on their feet or turned to look at her. It was amusing. Sure, it wasn't in the same vein as the notes or the 26 moments, but it still was an act of kindness that went beyond her thinking of herself and her waiting in line. Plus, it made me smile and brightened my somewhat-not-fun day (never a good day when a customer wants a phone number to talk to your superior...).
So, yes, in the past few days, my faith in humanity has been somewhat restored. Then again, I'm a general sap, but you get the point. ;)
I also seemingly got into the spirit of the season this past Sunday. All with the thanks to my co-workers. We were playing Christmas music (we didn't do Christmas music this year, except when I've wanted it) and I decided we needed a tree in our break room for our Secret Santa gifts. My fellow co-worker decorated the tree and table and I got the idea to print out paper stockings for us all to decorate however we wanted. We hung them on the wall behind the tree. It looks festive and it was a fun bonding moment with my co-workers. That night was also our "work party" so it was a really festive day.
I am getting socialized out, though. Friday afternoon was seeing The Hobbit with some former Borders co-workers and then Friday night was going out to have drinks (or, well, they drank) and some snacks with other former Borders co-workers. Sunday was my work Christmas party (right after work) and we did ours with another store (also did a White Elephant). Then today we had a LP (loss prevention) county-wide meeting and then went to work. Friday is my birthday (not doing anything really special - just seeing Hobbit in HFR 3D and maybe Silver Linings Playbook) and then Saturday is my store's potluck (making meatballs!) that is also an auction day and inventory has to be conducted (that is going to be a CRAZY day). Course, Monday is Christmas Eve and Tuesday is Christmas day. Phew. I am NOT doing ANYTHING for New Year's! I will enjoy my day off and that is all! Then again, maybe I'm so tired because I've felt understaffed 4/5 days I worked...At any rate, I'm hitting my people quota soon. :P
With that...Nail photos and movies updated tomorrow or later this week. I am definitely doing shimmers for a good long while once December is over...I'm not over the Christmas stuff, but I am definitely over GLITTER in general. It's such a pain to remove and a lot of these glitters are mega-chunky so they're hard to remove even WITH the foil-method. Cremes and shimmers for a few times after the New Year...Or at least a less rigorous schedule...
How many times have you seen an Oscar "For Your Consideration" DVD (the DVD was actually in there too)? I was pretty excited when this came in. I knew they had Oscar viewing screens, but didn't know they did DVDs too! I forget what the big bat was from, but that sucker was heavy and completely random to come through.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...? For that matter, RRR for both pictures? Both are kind of clever, but definitely make you go, "Why...?"
However, every once in a while you get something that's touching. A handmade baby blanket (can't tell you how many of those we get) or, in this story's case, handwritten notes from your mom.
We get a lot of boxes in and we've learned to always open them in case there's something valuable in them (always check the wallets and purses too!). The other day, I was putting this flower shaped box out and shook it. It rattled. I opened it and saw all these little notes in it. I took them out and put them aside to look at later. I put the box on the sales shelf. Several hours later, I refound the notes (forgot about them) and started looking at them. Turns out they're notes from this girl's mom. There were 29 of them and then 1 from her dad. Based on the notes, she was in either the 2nd or 3rd grade. They were mostly decorated notes just saying she's pretty, nice, her mom loved her, or some other small thing (little stories, songs, talking about the day, etc). They were touching to see that this girl's mom (and dad) took the time to make those little notes for her to find while at school. Obviously, the girl liked them enough to keep them, but, for whatever reason, they were donated. You can't keep everything, I know that, but I was glad I got to read them.
Photo of all the notes. Look how cute some of them are! She clearly was an only child, but they had two cats who she must have adored as the mom mentions them several times.
Seeing things like that or 26 Moments that Restored Our Faith in Humanity This Year are things that we all need to see to remember the good that exists in this world. After last Fridays horrific shooting and all the other violence and horrors we hear on the news and see in person, things like those notes help remind us of the good we can have too.
The notes also got me thinking about my own childhood. I remember when my parents would go to back-to-school nights (when I had an assigned desk) and they would sit at it that night. The next day I would always sit down and immediately try to find the business card my dad would leave me to find somewhere. It was always a fun little hunt to do, but also reminded me that my parents loved me and took the time to leave a reminder that they had gone and had seen my desk and work. I remember watching John Wayne movies and Columbo episodes with my dad. I remember my mom and I driving around town talking about our days and discussing various things like Harry Potter.
Those were definitely times when I had less to worry about and was more carefree. Not to say I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders or live a harsh life, but, man, life just isn't as easy as it used to be when food somehow stayed stocked in your cupboards and refrigerator and you didn't have to worry about loans and bills. Sometimes I get caught up in the "bad" and the lack of humanity in the world (let's not discuss the seemingly idiotic people too...) and it brings me down. The small things is what keeps you going and random acts of kindness (RAOKs) are important.
In fact, I had a small funny moment today with an older lady at the post office. I was there to pick up a package, which takes maybe 3 minutes to do. There was a long line of people waiting to ship things. The lady in front of me had about a half dozen packages and told me I could go ahead of her. I said, "Oh. Really? Thanks!" Her response, which was rather loud as she glared at the people in front of us, was, "Of course. Why wouldn't I? You just have a pick-up and I'm mailing several packages. It's simple logic." The people in front either shifted uncomfortably on their feet or turned to look at her. It was amusing. Sure, it wasn't in the same vein as the notes or the 26 moments, but it still was an act of kindness that went beyond her thinking of herself and her waiting in line. Plus, it made me smile and brightened my somewhat-not-fun day (never a good day when a customer wants a phone number to talk to your superior...).
So, yes, in the past few days, my faith in humanity has been somewhat restored. Then again, I'm a general sap, but you get the point. ;)
I also seemingly got into the spirit of the season this past Sunday. All with the thanks to my co-workers. We were playing Christmas music (we didn't do Christmas music this year, except when I've wanted it) and I decided we needed a tree in our break room for our Secret Santa gifts. My fellow co-worker decorated the tree and table and I got the idea to print out paper stockings for us all to decorate however we wanted. We hung them on the wall behind the tree. It looks festive and it was a fun bonding moment with my co-workers. That night was also our "work party" so it was a really festive day.
I am getting socialized out, though. Friday afternoon was seeing The Hobbit with some former Borders co-workers and then Friday night was going out to have drinks (or, well, they drank) and some snacks with other former Borders co-workers. Sunday was my work Christmas party (right after work) and we did ours with another store (also did a White Elephant). Then today we had a LP (loss prevention) county-wide meeting and then went to work. Friday is my birthday (not doing anything really special - just seeing Hobbit in HFR 3D and maybe Silver Linings Playbook) and then Saturday is my store's potluck (making meatballs!) that is also an auction day and inventory has to be conducted (that is going to be a CRAZY day). Course, Monday is Christmas Eve and Tuesday is Christmas day. Phew. I am NOT doing ANYTHING for New Year's! I will enjoy my day off and that is all! Then again, maybe I'm so tired because I've felt understaffed 4/5 days I worked...At any rate, I'm hitting my people quota soon. :P
With that...Nail photos and movies updated tomorrow or later this week. I am definitely doing shimmers for a good long while once December is over...I'm not over the Christmas stuff, but I am definitely over GLITTER in general. It's such a pain to remove and a lot of these glitters are mega-chunky so they're hard to remove even WITH the foil-method. Cremes and shimmers for a few times after the New Year...Or at least a less rigorous schedule...
Friday, December 14, 2012
The Hobbit - It deserved its own post!
(No spoilers!) Holy moly...I just got finished watching The Hobbit and it was fantastic! I immediately wanted to go rewatch it.
I'm going to be honest and say that when Jackson decided to extend The Hobbit to 3 films, I was worried. Not so much turning one small book into three films with all the extras, but more the length of each film (he's said that this one is the SHORTEST of the 3 and it's 2 hours and 49 minutes). He did a fantastic job with LotR and I wasn't worried about returning to Middle Earth or how it would look. I was worried he'd fall into the King Kong trap or the "they're so successful, they get free reign to do whatever they want and they make things overly long because of it" scenario (was not going to put dashes in between all those words!). I'm talking of the overly long King Kong. Sure, King Kong was a good film and well done, but Jackson was obviously given free reign to do whatever he wanted and didn't edit himself well enough. Stephenie Meyer was given similar reign during the later books in Twilight and you can tell the editing wasn't as tight. You can even make an argument for Harry Potter (what saved it is Rowling's writing gets better, whereas Meyer's kind of falls apart - personal opinion of course). I was worried The Hobbit would fall into the same thing...Good movie + poor editing = disappointment.
Well, I guess I shouldn't have doubted because I think the film was fantastic. It was so good, in fact, the last 15 minutes I kept worrying that the film was almost over. I could NOT tell at all that I had already been sitting there for 2.5 hours and the film was almost finished. I kept mentally trying to figure out if we were close to the end and every extra minute that went by I kept hoping I still had another hour. It was so good, I could have sat there for another 1-2 hours without worrying I had been there too long.
You fell back into Middle Earth like it was your favorite pair of jeans. It was comforting how they started the film (they tied it back to LotR really well) and it was really nice to see the old actors from LotR reprise their roles in The Hobbit. After rewatching the extended version of LotR the past 3 days, I thought I was being silly given the fact The Hobbit is sort of the prequel to LotR and why would you start with the end first? Turns out, it was a fantastic idea because of the way they started the film and it also got you back into the world. Things changed, but they kept the continuity really well considering it's been 11 years since Fellowship came out.
I adored the dwarves; I enjoyed the scenery; I enjoyed the soundtrack (that dwarf theme is amazing and I love it - good thing since it's reprised an awful lot through the film); I enjoyed the acting; I loved the make-up; etc, etc. The CG had its better moments than others. Rewatching LotR, you can see how CG has come along in 11 years. It still holds up well, but it wasn't *as* revolutionary as it was back then. With that said, the CG didn't really bother me at any point in The Hobbit, but I'm definitely more aware of it than when Fellowship came out so you notice it a little more. It was still excellent and many moments where you just can't tell. Gollum was, once again, phenomenal. Andy Serkis does a great job as him and the CG for him is great too.
This film, I will say, doesn't really have a "conclusion" to it. Sometimes (like in Harry Potter being split) you can get some sort of mini-story arch going through the various parts of a film when they're split up, but this one did not do that at all. It pretty much left you hanging. Left you hanging in a moment where you can catch your breath, but there really was no mini-story arch. Makes sense given it's just one book, but you do wonder sometimes if they'll force an arch and I don't think they did. Maybe it's part of the reason I wanted to sit longer, but I've sat through enough films where I wanted the pain to stop so I'm doubting it had anything to do with the lack of conclusion.
I did watch it in 2D. It was a conscious decision given the 3D is in high frame rate (HFR) and I'm hearing iffy things about the HFR. Sure, it's more frames per second, but that also means your eyes are processing more. My friend saw it in 3D and thought the 3D was amazing, but the HFR did make it feel like the movie was, at times, in fast forward mode and he never quite adjusted to the HFR. I'm sometimes prone to motion sickness in first person shooter (FPS) games so I wanted to watch The Hobbit, at least once, in 2D. I'd like to try and see it in 3D because I think it's a worthy film to watch in 3D (my last 3D film was 1.5-2 years ago?), but the HFR does concern me a little. I want to enjoy the film and not feel sick through it! At this rate, I'm not sure if I'll ever see it in 3D, but maybe. We'll see. I thought the 2D was just enjoyable as it was. I didn't feel the need to have to see it in 3D, but I also didn't see it in 3D. So...who knows.
I really have little to criticize the film about. Perhaps when I see it a second time I'll see some things that bother me, but my first impression of it was great and I want to see it again. I paid matinee for this first time and I'd be willing to pay evening price for it to see it again. It was truly that spectacular in my mind. I was gripped from the beginning to the end and now I need to hunt down the soundtrack (I own all 3 LotR soundtracks). It's going to be a very long year to wait for part 2 and an even longer 2 years before part 3. I'm now going to have to figure out which I liked better this year: The Avengers or The Hobbit. After today, Hobbit might be winning, but we'll see how I feel after another rewatch and I guarantee there WILL be another theater rewatch!
I'm going to be honest and say that when Jackson decided to extend The Hobbit to 3 films, I was worried. Not so much turning one small book into three films with all the extras, but more the length of each film (he's said that this one is the SHORTEST of the 3 and it's 2 hours and 49 minutes). He did a fantastic job with LotR and I wasn't worried about returning to Middle Earth or how it would look. I was worried he'd fall into the King Kong trap or the "they're so successful, they get free reign to do whatever they want and they make things overly long because of it" scenario (was not going to put dashes in between all those words!). I'm talking of the overly long King Kong. Sure, King Kong was a good film and well done, but Jackson was obviously given free reign to do whatever he wanted and didn't edit himself well enough. Stephenie Meyer was given similar reign during the later books in Twilight and you can tell the editing wasn't as tight. You can even make an argument for Harry Potter (what saved it is Rowling's writing gets better, whereas Meyer's kind of falls apart - personal opinion of course). I was worried The Hobbit would fall into the same thing...Good movie + poor editing = disappointment.
Well, I guess I shouldn't have doubted because I think the film was fantastic. It was so good, in fact, the last 15 minutes I kept worrying that the film was almost over. I could NOT tell at all that I had already been sitting there for 2.5 hours and the film was almost finished. I kept mentally trying to figure out if we were close to the end and every extra minute that went by I kept hoping I still had another hour. It was so good, I could have sat there for another 1-2 hours without worrying I had been there too long.
You fell back into Middle Earth like it was your favorite pair of jeans. It was comforting how they started the film (they tied it back to LotR really well) and it was really nice to see the old actors from LotR reprise their roles in The Hobbit. After rewatching the extended version of LotR the past 3 days, I thought I was being silly given the fact The Hobbit is sort of the prequel to LotR and why would you start with the end first? Turns out, it was a fantastic idea because of the way they started the film and it also got you back into the world. Things changed, but they kept the continuity really well considering it's been 11 years since Fellowship came out.
I adored the dwarves; I enjoyed the scenery; I enjoyed the soundtrack (that dwarf theme is amazing and I love it - good thing since it's reprised an awful lot through the film); I enjoyed the acting; I loved the make-up; etc, etc. The CG had its better moments than others. Rewatching LotR, you can see how CG has come along in 11 years. It still holds up well, but it wasn't *as* revolutionary as it was back then. With that said, the CG didn't really bother me at any point in The Hobbit, but I'm definitely more aware of it than when Fellowship came out so you notice it a little more. It was still excellent and many moments where you just can't tell. Gollum was, once again, phenomenal. Andy Serkis does a great job as him and the CG for him is great too.
This film, I will say, doesn't really have a "conclusion" to it. Sometimes (like in Harry Potter being split) you can get some sort of mini-story arch going through the various parts of a film when they're split up, but this one did not do that at all. It pretty much left you hanging. Left you hanging in a moment where you can catch your breath, but there really was no mini-story arch. Makes sense given it's just one book, but you do wonder sometimes if they'll force an arch and I don't think they did. Maybe it's part of the reason I wanted to sit longer, but I've sat through enough films where I wanted the pain to stop so I'm doubting it had anything to do with the lack of conclusion.
I did watch it in 2D. It was a conscious decision given the 3D is in high frame rate (HFR) and I'm hearing iffy things about the HFR. Sure, it's more frames per second, but that also means your eyes are processing more. My friend saw it in 3D and thought the 3D was amazing, but the HFR did make it feel like the movie was, at times, in fast forward mode and he never quite adjusted to the HFR. I'm sometimes prone to motion sickness in first person shooter (FPS) games so I wanted to watch The Hobbit, at least once, in 2D. I'd like to try and see it in 3D because I think it's a worthy film to watch in 3D (my last 3D film was 1.5-2 years ago?), but the HFR does concern me a little. I want to enjoy the film and not feel sick through it! At this rate, I'm not sure if I'll ever see it in 3D, but maybe. We'll see. I thought the 2D was just enjoyable as it was. I didn't feel the need to have to see it in 3D, but I also didn't see it in 3D. So...who knows.
I really have little to criticize the film about. Perhaps when I see it a second time I'll see some things that bother me, but my first impression of it was great and I want to see it again. I paid matinee for this first time and I'd be willing to pay evening price for it to see it again. It was truly that spectacular in my mind. I was gripped from the beginning to the end and now I need to hunt down the soundtrack (I own all 3 LotR soundtracks). It's going to be a very long year to wait for part 2 and an even longer 2 years before part 3. I'm now going to have to figure out which I liked better this year: The Avengers or The Hobbit. After today, Hobbit might be winning, but we'll see how I feel after another rewatch and I guarantee there WILL be another theater rewatch!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Of Movies and Polish...
So, quick public service announcement: Be careful when you rip the tags off clothes, especially when it comes to those long plastic attachments...Today, I went to go pull one off and instead of breaking, I actually tried to garrote my finger! It actually cut into my skin from the quick pulling I did to get the tag off. Even with that amount of force, the tag didn't break off. So...Be careful! The cut isn't deep or anything, but it hurts and stings when stuff gets into it (i.e., nail polish remover). It was one of those "special moments" or one of those "impressive moments"...Jury is still out on which. :)
My dumb cat has a swollen bottom lip again (I've been calling her Bubba). Ugh. It'll go away (it did before), but we're not sure what triggers it. This is the 2nd time this has happened and I thought we fixed it, but apparently not. We've stopped her dry food in the hopes it'll go back down again (we *think* it might be her dry food - not sure), but why it flared up now (she's been on this dry food for months now), who knows.
Movies first and then nails...
Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, etc) - Well...Considering I didn't read this part of the book word-for-word (I stopped right when they knew the Volturi were coming and then skimmed the rest so I read a few chapters in), I thought two things: 1) I definitely didn't miss anything by not reading all of that word-for-word and 2) I thought the movie was better than the book. Granted, they are two different medias and they were appealing to two different things (imagination vs seeing). The book has more inter-personal relationships in that regard, which is why the first half of the movie is kind of boring. There is a lot of talking and a lot of convincing of people. There's just not a lot of action. The last part of the book (or the last quarter of the book) is the big confrontation, but you mostly bypass all of that. In the movie, they do a big scene at the end and then do a twist. That twist was an amazing idea. The big scene is not in the book in the movie sense of creation; however, you can't read someone's mind on the movie screen and the twist was executed in a way that allowed you to do that and surprise the viewer. It was clever and I enjoyed that. With all that said, I still don't like KStew or RobPat. I like Lautner (not necessarily for his acting, but I like him as Jacob for whatever reason), Greene (she is an amazing Alice), and Facinelli (he mostly embodies what I always imagine Carlisle to be like). The end credits were interesting where they did a nice montage of all the actors through all 5 movies. That was a kind of nice send off for the series and made me wonder what they did for Potter (I can't remember...it's been a while!). With that, it wasn't too bad, but it's by no means a great film or story. Breaking Dawn still ruins the entire series for me. Grade: C
How weird, went to go find my BD, Part 1 review and I apparently totally forgot to write it? Weird! It at least was in my record list so my count was accurate. I will say, I ALMOST didn't want to see Twilight in theater (really want to see Silver Linings Playbook) because I didn't want it to get anywhere near Harry Potter's records. :P
Hope Springs (Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell) - Interesting movie. It was cute. The acting, of course, is excellent. You could totally see both sides and the issues, not to mention the emotion. I mean, they're in therapy and Carell has this calm demeanor trying to figure out what is wrong between them and what they each want. They have to get into character acting and it was good. It was also nice seeing the progression they both took to get their marriage back on track. You could also see how much they both did care for each other, but they just got into a rut and couldn't figure out how to get back into showing their adoration and love for each other. I liked the end credit scene too. It was cute. Wasn't fantastic, but wasn't a bad movie rental. Grade: B-
With those 2, I am up to 88 movies! I'll break 90 for sure and won't do my end-of-the-year recap till probably around the 31st or 1st of the new year. I will be watching probably up to the last day of the year (Looper comes out the 31st). Wonder if I could push it and make 100...It's feasible, but I don't know.
I did read over 50 books for the year! Yay! I've been a reading fiend the last few days, but it helped that I found a good new YA series to read.
With that...On to nails.
Left-Right: Darling Diva Polish A Christmas Story over Rescue Beauty Lounge Moulin Rouge, KBShimmer All Decked Out, Smitten Polish The Holly and the Ivy
I always miss my long nails, but like having the shorter nails for my touch screens...At any rate, Christmas polishes! Woohoo! The Darling Diva Polish is AMAZING. It is soooo sparkly! It's just red and green, but since they reflect, the photo makes it look like there are more shades when there are not. It's a really nice polish. I like the KBShimmer one, but wish the green was just a little lighter. In some darker lighting, the green is almost black. With that said, I really like the polish. The stars are purposefully meant to be fewer in the bottle because there's only one star at the top of the tree (as a topper), but I was still able to find them pretty easily. The Smitten Polish one has a matte top coat on to give it that, well, non-shiny look. I like it. It looks like frosting. I'm going to put a shiny top coat on top tomorrow to change it up.
With that, time to head to bed to read! Gotta work tomorrow.
My dumb cat has a swollen bottom lip again (I've been calling her Bubba). Ugh. It'll go away (it did before), but we're not sure what triggers it. This is the 2nd time this has happened and I thought we fixed it, but apparently not. We've stopped her dry food in the hopes it'll go back down again (we *think* it might be her dry food - not sure), but why it flared up now (she's been on this dry food for months now), who knows.
Movies first and then nails...
Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, etc) - Well...Considering I didn't read this part of the book word-for-word (I stopped right when they knew the Volturi were coming and then skimmed the rest so I read a few chapters in), I thought two things: 1) I definitely didn't miss anything by not reading all of that word-for-word and 2) I thought the movie was better than the book. Granted, they are two different medias and they were appealing to two different things (imagination vs seeing). The book has more inter-personal relationships in that regard, which is why the first half of the movie is kind of boring. There is a lot of talking and a lot of convincing of people. There's just not a lot of action. The last part of the book (or the last quarter of the book) is the big confrontation, but you mostly bypass all of that. In the movie, they do a big scene at the end and then do a twist. That twist was an amazing idea. The big scene is not in the book in the movie sense of creation; however, you can't read someone's mind on the movie screen and the twist was executed in a way that allowed you to do that and surprise the viewer. It was clever and I enjoyed that. With all that said, I still don't like KStew or RobPat. I like Lautner (not necessarily for his acting, but I like him as Jacob for whatever reason), Greene (she is an amazing Alice), and Facinelli (he mostly embodies what I always imagine Carlisle to be like). The end credits were interesting where they did a nice montage of all the actors through all 5 movies. That was a kind of nice send off for the series and made me wonder what they did for Potter (I can't remember...it's been a while!). With that, it wasn't too bad, but it's by no means a great film or story. Breaking Dawn still ruins the entire series for me. Grade: C
How weird, went to go find my BD, Part 1 review and I apparently totally forgot to write it? Weird! It at least was in my record list so my count was accurate. I will say, I ALMOST didn't want to see Twilight in theater (really want to see Silver Linings Playbook) because I didn't want it to get anywhere near Harry Potter's records. :P
Hope Springs (Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell) - Interesting movie. It was cute. The acting, of course, is excellent. You could totally see both sides and the issues, not to mention the emotion. I mean, they're in therapy and Carell has this calm demeanor trying to figure out what is wrong between them and what they each want. They have to get into character acting and it was good. It was also nice seeing the progression they both took to get their marriage back on track. You could also see how much they both did care for each other, but they just got into a rut and couldn't figure out how to get back into showing their adoration and love for each other. I liked the end credit scene too. It was cute. Wasn't fantastic, but wasn't a bad movie rental. Grade: B-
With those 2, I am up to 88 movies! I'll break 90 for sure and won't do my end-of-the-year recap till probably around the 31st or 1st of the new year. I will be watching probably up to the last day of the year (Looper comes out the 31st). Wonder if I could push it and make 100...It's feasible, but I don't know.
I did read over 50 books for the year! Yay! I've been a reading fiend the last few days, but it helped that I found a good new YA series to read.
With that...On to nails.
Left-Right: Darling Diva Polish A Christmas Story over Rescue Beauty Lounge Moulin Rouge, KBShimmer All Decked Out, Smitten Polish The Holly and the Ivy
I always miss my long nails, but like having the shorter nails for my touch screens...At any rate, Christmas polishes! Woohoo! The Darling Diva Polish is AMAZING. It is soooo sparkly! It's just red and green, but since they reflect, the photo makes it look like there are more shades when there are not. It's a really nice polish. I like the KBShimmer one, but wish the green was just a little lighter. In some darker lighting, the green is almost black. With that said, I really like the polish. The stars are purposefully meant to be fewer in the bottle because there's only one star at the top of the tree (as a topper), but I was still able to find them pretty easily. The Smitten Polish one has a matte top coat on to give it that, well, non-shiny look. I like it. It looks like frosting. I'm going to put a shiny top coat on top tomorrow to change it up.
With that, time to head to bed to read! Gotta work tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
"Happy Holidays!"
Perhaps it's me and the fact I like Christmas and call it "Christmas," but it always bothers me when people say "Happy Holidays" to me. I don't mind it when the corporation or educational institutions require you to say it (Goodwill requires us to say "Happy Holidays," as did Borders) because I can see a small logic to it, but it bothers me when on a one-to-one interaction people say "Happy Holidays." If you truly mean ALL the holidays or don't celebrate Christmas, I'm completely fine with it, but most times people are not saying that because they truly mean it in the context I gave, but because you are being "sensitive" to the fact I may not celebrate the same holiday as you.
We as a "tolerable" country have gone completely the opposite direction of tolerance and gone for boring. How boring is it that we completely remove the individuality of each person by requiring us all to say, "Happy Holidays." I feel like we remove a fundamental part of who we are when the holidays roll around. I like it when people wish me a Happy Hanukkah. I've never been wished a joyous Kwanzaa, but it'd be great if someone did! I have been told a Happy Festivus. With that said, sure, there is individuality, but aren't we being "insensitive" (or presumptuous) to those who don't celebrate the holiday we have wished them? Honestly, that's where our tolerance comes in play. I should be able to accept someone's wishes for a happy whatever without being offended they do not celebrate the same holiday as me. To me...THAT is tolerance and understanding, not this removing of individuality to create a "level playing field." As I said, if you say what you mean, then I'm cool with a "Happy Holidays," but don't skip the Christmas or Hanukkah because you're "protecting my feelings."
This all comes up because I found this thing on Facebook that pretty much is my sentiment about the whole thing:
How amazing is that? Can I post this everywhere in the world? Because, honestly, this needs to be read by a LOT of people...
On that note, might be seeing Twilight this week. I was going to rent a movie tonight, but thought I'd be too tired to watch it. Turns out I'm not *that* tired, but oh well. It's my Friday! Happy, happy, joy, joy!
Here's my fun customer story of the week (it truly boggled my mind): My co-worker picks up the phone and after a while asks me to take the call. I take the call and this customer explains to me that he doesn't want the piece of furniture he bought earlier today because it won't fit. It was hard to hear, but it was either it wouldn't fit in the truck he was going to haul it in or it wouldn't fit where he wanted to put it (it was a 2 piece dresser). Then he goes on to tell me that he cancelled the credit card transaction and is NOW calling us to let us know he did this and does not want it. Cue me being flabbergasted by this. He then proceeds to tell me that he's 79-years-old and he's gotten in enough arguments that this is his normal procedure: cancel and then call. I explained to him that I would have accepted the return and resold the piece of furniture if he had called or even stopped in at the store before he did this. He explained to me that he knew our store policy (no returns) and figured he'd just cancel and then call, but since we're "so nice" he'll, in the future, call first about it. I explained to him that there was really nothing else we needed to talk about, but I made sure I had his name and number just in case I had to do something else on my end. Turns out, our regional boss hasn't had this happen before and he didn't know what to do either. Yeah, how often do you get a situation like this?! I can also see this man being a problem down the road and doing the same thing, but we'll see. It still boggles my mind. Who takes the time to cancel a credit card transaction to get around store policies?!
Well, with that, I'm going to exercise or read while it's raining out...Well, obviously I won't be IN the rain (I'll be inside LISTENING to the rain), but you get the point. :) I am really enjoying the rain...Living in Santa Barbara meant I didn't get a lot of rain for 2 years and then last winter was a SUPER dry winter that I find I'm liking the rainy days more than the non-rainy days lately. Course, work is a little more hazardous and annoying, but oh well. Will post my latest Christmas mani later this week (after I change to Christmas mani #3).
We as a "tolerable" country have gone completely the opposite direction of tolerance and gone for boring. How boring is it that we completely remove the individuality of each person by requiring us all to say, "Happy Holidays." I feel like we remove a fundamental part of who we are when the holidays roll around. I like it when people wish me a Happy Hanukkah. I've never been wished a joyous Kwanzaa, but it'd be great if someone did! I have been told a Happy Festivus. With that said, sure, there is individuality, but aren't we being "insensitive" (or presumptuous) to those who don't celebrate the holiday we have wished them? Honestly, that's where our tolerance comes in play. I should be able to accept someone's wishes for a happy whatever without being offended they do not celebrate the same holiday as me. To me...THAT is tolerance and understanding, not this removing of individuality to create a "level playing field." As I said, if you say what you mean, then I'm cool with a "Happy Holidays," but don't skip the Christmas or Hanukkah because you're "protecting my feelings."
This all comes up because I found this thing on Facebook that pretty much is my sentiment about the whole thing:
If you are Jewish, feel free to wish me a "Happy Hanukkah"
If you are Christian, you can wish me a "Merry Christmas"
If you are African American/Canadian, wish me a "Joyous Kwanzaa"
If you have no affiliation, you can still wish me "Happy Holidays"
I promise not to be offended!
I will be thankful that you care enough to wish me well.
If you are Christian, you can wish me a "Merry Christmas"
If you are African American/Canadian, wish me a "Joyous Kwanzaa"
If you have no affiliation, you can still wish me "Happy Holidays"
I promise not to be offended!
I will be thankful that you care enough to wish me well.
How amazing is that? Can I post this everywhere in the world? Because, honestly, this needs to be read by a LOT of people...
On that note, might be seeing Twilight this week. I was going to rent a movie tonight, but thought I'd be too tired to watch it. Turns out I'm not *that* tired, but oh well. It's my Friday! Happy, happy, joy, joy!
Here's my fun customer story of the week (it truly boggled my mind): My co-worker picks up the phone and after a while asks me to take the call. I take the call and this customer explains to me that he doesn't want the piece of furniture he bought earlier today because it won't fit. It was hard to hear, but it was either it wouldn't fit in the truck he was going to haul it in or it wouldn't fit where he wanted to put it (it was a 2 piece dresser). Then he goes on to tell me that he cancelled the credit card transaction and is NOW calling us to let us know he did this and does not want it. Cue me being flabbergasted by this. He then proceeds to tell me that he's 79-years-old and he's gotten in enough arguments that this is his normal procedure: cancel and then call. I explained to him that I would have accepted the return and resold the piece of furniture if he had called or even stopped in at the store before he did this. He explained to me that he knew our store policy (no returns) and figured he'd just cancel and then call, but since we're "so nice" he'll, in the future, call first about it. I explained to him that there was really nothing else we needed to talk about, but I made sure I had his name and number just in case I had to do something else on my end. Turns out, our regional boss hasn't had this happen before and he didn't know what to do either. Yeah, how often do you get a situation like this?! I can also see this man being a problem down the road and doing the same thing, but we'll see. It still boggles my mind. Who takes the time to cancel a credit card transaction to get around store policies?!
Well, with that, I'm going to exercise or read while it's raining out...Well, obviously I won't be IN the rain (I'll be inside LISTENING to the rain), but you get the point. :) I am really enjoying the rain...Living in Santa Barbara meant I didn't get a lot of rain for 2 years and then last winter was a SUPER dry winter that I find I'm liking the rainy days more than the non-rainy days lately. Course, work is a little more hazardous and annoying, but oh well. Will post my latest Christmas mani later this week (after I change to Christmas mani #3).
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