Movie Splurge.

Due to a coupon received in the mail that allowed us to rent all the movies we wanted in January for $1.99 at Blockbuster, my hubby and I have gone on a movie splurge. Thought I'd share a little taste with you all if you feel like making a couch potato out of yourself.

District 9 - A documentary style SyFy movie in which a group of aliens, stranded on Earth, are forced to live in a refugee camp on Earth. The camp is filled with trash and is a breeding ground for illegal activity, often involving taking advantage of the aliens. After twenty plus years, the population's interest and welcome of the aliens has deteriorated and they decide to ship them to a different camp with worse conditions, when things, of course, start to go wrong. With an interesting story line, the movie held my interest but didn't necessarily suck me in. The documentary style was a bit distracting and the personality of the aliens could have been better developed, especially in a movie trying to show how exploited the aliens are, I felt like their characters were very poorly developed. The main human character, Wilkus Van De Merwe, was extremely annoying for most of the movie. He was very much the anti-hero for much of it, only to come through at the very end, but by that time you're not even sure if you like him anymore. It's worth the time if it sounds interesting to you, but definitely not a must watch.

Star Trek -I'd never watched the original Star Trek, but I was a Next Generation fan. My hubby was not a Trekkie of any degree and was reluctant to watch this movie with me but he was the first to admit that this movie was awesome! With a great and complex plot, interesting characters, great scenes, this movie was the complete package whether or not you ever watched an episode of Star Trek in your life. Definitely worth a watch, you won't be disappointed.

The Hurt Locker - How can you go wrong with a war movie with a female Director? In a blunt and ballsy movie about the Iraq war, The Hurt Locker takes you to war disarming IEDs with a wild team leader who doesn't seem to care if he dies during the job, a strong-willed Sargent who likes to do things by the book and a soldier who's just a kid and terrified to fire his first shot in war. In a tense life and death game in the middle of a violent war, you get a terrifying look at the different type of soldiers in the war and how the death and cruelty of war affect each one of them in different and yet profound ways. This movie had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and was well shot with compelling characters. Definitely check it out!

Terminator Salvation - I've been a fan of the Terminator movies since I was a kid, except for the last Terminator movie. This movie redeemed the Terminator series. I'm also a big Christian Bale fan, so that was an added bonus. It was fun to finally go into the future of this series after meeting so many of its occupants. The plot was interesting and the scenes were cool and action packed. Can't wait for the next Terminator movie! Hopefully Christian Bale will be in it again... hmm, yummy!

(500) Days of Summer - A fun and quirky Indie un-love story told in an nonlinear timeline with interesting actors. Its fun, quirky and shot in that artistic way that Indie films tend to be shot in.

The Wrestler - Though extremely bloody at times, a moving movie about the the physical abuse one will inflict upon himself for fame and a sport that he loves. This movie takes you behind the wrestling world. Whether you blame "The Ram" for his life circumstances or not, you do like him and root for him in the end.

Food, Inc. - Wow, I could say a whole lot about this documentary. It was both disturbing and disgusting. I was already leaning towards organic food as it was, but this just put me over the edge. Of course, big corporations once again monopolize the industry and tries to keep its consumers from knowing what's really going on, but when it comes to our food, its more than personal. What could be more personal then what you put into your body? This has led me to research Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) in order to buy local and organic. Definitely changed the way I live my life.

Up - I cried within thirty minutes of watching this movie. A sweet and adventuress story, though I wouldn't say its a kids movie, at least not young children. It has more serious tones to it and it was a little slow at times to hold a young child's attention. It was a very sweet movie.

Let the Right One In - For those who want a different sort of vampire story than the popular Twilight movies (though, this isn't dissing the Twilight series since I'm an addict to them as well, vampire movies in general are kind of my thing). This movie has a romance, but between twelve-year-olds (sort of, one had been twelve for a very long time) and has subtitles. It's a much more grotesque and dark vampire movie, but at the same time artistic and beautiful. The more you think about the movie the more you like it.

Busy Bee.

I'm feeling extremely stressed right now, for a variety of reasons, but the pressing reason is that I'm cheering on my Vikings in a close and extremely painful game to watch (fumbles, Favre getting murdered every other play...) Speaking of, another fumble, grr... I'm tearing my hair out here!

This week has been especially crazy, work was demanding and on top of that, I was a bit under the weather, making for a foggy and stressful week.

Some updates, my friend and I decided to start our own book club so we can keep in touch since we live far from each other. We're going to alternate who picks the book every month and then by the end of the month both write a review of the book that I will post on my blog. This month I picked Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout since I was already reading it and also because I knew my friend would love it as I was loving it. I finished it last night and can't Wait to write my review. I might actually write it now as its fresh on my mind but wait to post it when my friend has written hers. I'm excited to read what she thought about it... I think this will be a fun thing for us and also for my loyal blog readers to get different perspectives on the same book, perhaps after following our reviews for a while you'll start finding yourself associating your reading tastes with one of us over the other!

My writing has been slow, but I have faith that it'll pick up. I'm excited to be getting back into writing an dam slowly feeling like more of myself as I get more into it.

Two minute warning, must focus on the game now. Sending all my positive energy to my Vikings.

The Write Stuff.

I was able to get some writing done today, not exactly the sort of writing I wanted to - it was for school - but it was writing nonetheless and made me feel like I was getting back into the "writing chair." It's a slow process for me to get back into writing. I'm a shy writer, and it takes me a while to warm up. But once I'm warmed up I'm a full-time writer as in no matter where I'm at, who I'm talking to or what I'm doing my mind is on my writing. I suppose that mirrors my personality pretty well, all or nothing.

The Space.

Okay, so in the spirit of honesty, I went out with a friend tonight instead of writing. I know, I know. If I'm going to take writing seriously then I need to make some sacrifices for it, but in all honesty, I'd been trying to get together with this friend for a long time and it was the only day we could both do it, also she had just found out some really good news so it felt like a good time to celebrate.

But, despite that, I still feel crappy for missing my writing night and now am too tired to do much but go to bed. My plan is to take the time I was going to write tonight and create my writing space tomorrow. Right now my desk is covered with odds and ends that I didn't feel like dealing with at the time and so just threw onto my desk. Guess I'll have to deal with them now if I want a place to write. I think creating a neat and clean space is important for me to focus on my writing. I like things organized and it would be distracting to have a mess out of my peripheral while trying to focus. Anyways, I'm going to count that as my writing session for the week because creating the space is an important part of the process for me and will help me get into the right frame of mind.

I'm both excited and terrified to get back into writing. What if I suck? What if I've lost what little talent I had? What if, what if, what if? The possibility of failing, of losing the hope of my dream is very scary, but scarier is the idea of never having tried. Cliché, but true. So next Wednesday, in my clean and organized zen-like space facing my beautiful back yard, I will face that blank page and while I may tremble, I Will type and spew out whatever I've been holding inside of me all these silent months and I won't look back. Honestly, I might not even read what I write that day, it might truly make me lose all hope.

Hmm, Lemonade.

Thanks bunches to Suburban Rebel Mom for giving me the Lemonade Stand Award! I've only been back blogging for a couple of weeks and I've already got an award! I'll take this as a positive sign to keep blogging.

This award is given to bloggers who show great attitude and gratitude. The rules for accepting this award:

• Put the Lemonade Stand logo on your blog or within your post.
• Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
• Link the nominees within your post.
• Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

Sooo, without further ado, here are my nominees for the Lemonade Stand Award. Hope you check them out and enjoy!

• amra pajalic
• a writer's sphere
• jackfruity
• louder than swahili
• mondesi's house
• one mango tree
• on life and other inconveniences
• pink cleats
• simply wait
• syntax of things

Let me know if you become devotees to any of those blogs so I can take credit for your readership!

I Resolve.

So if I put my New Year's resolutions on my blog, then I have to do it, right? I expect you all to hold me accountable.

So here we go:

I resolve to write fiction at least once a week. I know, that's low-balling it, but as a perfectionist I have to keep my goals small, otherwise if they're too big then I get stressed out about accomplishing it and then I feel like I won't and if you know anything about a perfectionist, its that its all or nothing so if you don't think you can do something perfectly then you don't do it at all. So I'm starting with one day a week (Wednesdays I believe will be my chosen day) and give myself permission to write complete crap for a while until I get back into the swing of things. After so many months without writing, I think I'll have a lot of crap to get out. I'll end each writing session with a blog on how it went, unless those posts end up being really boring, then I might stop blogging about my writing.

I resolve to read at least two books a month. Again, I'm low-balling it, but my life is pretty dang busy and I'm spread in so many different directions that I need to keep everything pretty simple in order to fit all the different parts of my life together. Reading is one of those things that I've let slip a little and I miss it, so two books a month at the very least. You can look for those book reviews.

So other than trying to cut down on my cussing and working out more (which I figured you all really couldn't help me out with either of those much), that's about it. Of course, its mostly about taking care of myself better. What social worker is good at taking care of him or herself? I haven't really met one yet. Ah, the nature of the job!

What are your resolutions, if any?

Never Let Me Go: A Review

Much like his previous novel, The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is a slow moving creature that drags you in bit by bit until you feel trapped in the novel but not sure how you got there. It's a novel about a group of "special" students, who are looked upon in fear even though their innocence cannot be doubted as the story is told to us by one of these students, Kathy.

*Spoilers Full Speed Ahead*

Although the plot couldn't be any more different from The Remains of the Day (what an awkward title!), from the minute you start Never Let Me Go there is no doubt that it was written by the same author. The restraint and reserve in Kathy's voice match's Stevens and of course there is the unrequited love that both miss just by the tips of their fingers due to their reserved character (although Kathy gets at least a little bit of it at the end). Both novels also discuss man's humanity in ways that make you feel that although as a whole our society can be monstrous, that amongst this horror there are shining stars of humanity, especially if you look for it exactly where you don't expect it.

Never Let Me Go takes you on some twists and turns at a sometimes exhaustingly slow pace, but if you stick through it, by the end your more invested in the characters and their fate then you realize. And although perhaps it couldn't end any other way, the ending leaves you feeling slightly depressed and unsatisfied. Why hadn't Kathy and Tommy run away to spend whatever time they could together? Perhaps it wasn't in their nature, but you wish that they had and that even if there were to be a bloody ending to that path, they would have at least gotten to spend whatever time they had left on their terms and with each other. I think they would have been happy with that.

I won't give the big spoiler away, but I will say that I was unaware of it for most of the first part of the novel, which obviously was Ishiguro's intent, and that it made the novel's message more powerful for me, so I'll leave that for you to discover on your own. If you have the time and patience for this novel, it is well worth the read. It gets in deep with you and forces you to view humanity with a much more cautious eye.

4*