Button

My new favorite picture of Button. Surprised I was able to catch her with her ears up like that.

March 30, 2010

So, it was my 37th birthday today. I didn't do much. Went on a quick walk around the neighborhood. Although, I guess it wasn't that quick. When I entered the route into Gmaps Pedometer, it read 2.41 miles. Which surprised me because it didn't feel that long. The route wasn't very scenic, a quick trip over a bridge and past numerous houses, a record store, and a SuperAmerica.

Later, I watched "Julie & Julia", which I really enjoyed. Half of the movie is about a blogger who decides to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" within a year. The other half is a biography of Julia Child's life. Meryl Streep was amazing as Julia Child. When I finished the movie, I looked up Julie Powell's book on Amazon. Her half of the movie is loosely based on this book while the Julia Child part is based on Childs' memoir, "My Life In France". Powell's book gets a lot of bad reviews that basically say 'The movie is charming. The book is not.' So, I think I'm going to pass on it. I may end up disagreeing with those reviews but, in the movie, I was far more interested in the Julia Child bit. Maybe I'll pick up "My Life in France" later.

March 29, 2010 -- Adam's Hill Park

Earlier this month, I came across theshadowlands.net , a website with listings of (supposedly) haunted places across the US. As I scanned Minnesota's list, my eyes landed on their entry for Adam's Hill Park in Richfield, MN. It read, "Use to be farmland, and the farmer hung himself on the tree at the bottom of the hill. Rumors of the ghost still lurking around." (link) After thinking that the website owner needs to be gently smacked with a grammar book*, I decided I must visit this place once the weather started to warm up. So, today, I grabbed my camera, hopped on the bus, and headed to the park. I'm not certain I actually believe in ghosts but I'd die with delight if I saw one. I didn't actually expect to see anything, of course, and I didn't. What I encountered was a pleasant park with a small pond and a playground with a group of little girls playing on it. And a few other residents.
*That example wasn't terrible but, if you read the website further, it's as if it wasn't written by a native English speaker. Also, I'm not being as snarky as it may sound. It's still an interesting website.

March 28, 2010

I never intended to rent Twilight: New Moon. I only got it for my mother who wanted to see it. I sometimes watch The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Months ago, in his opening monologue, he was talking about how he sometimes makes fun of pop culture fads that he's never actually seen. Harry Potter was one of these fads. He had finally seen a Harry Potter movie and was surprised to find he really liked it. (His version of this story was much funnier than mine, of course.) I'm completely guilty of this when it comes to the Twilight series. Before today, I'd never read the books or seen the movies. I'd simply heard about the sparkly high school-attending vampires and cringed. Plus, it was a paranormal romance and I've previously mentioned my hatred of the romance genre. So, I thought of Ferguson's monologue and cringed a little when I decided to watch New Moon. I was afraid I'd actually like it.

Oh. My. God. I had nothing to worry about. Honestly, I'm not trying to insult fans of the series. If it's the sort of thing you like, fine. I liked '2012', which got quite a few bad reviews. (And I agree with some of the criticisms. There were too many ridiculous escapes in 2012.) But I thought New Moon was the most ridiculous movie ever. In an interview or on her Facebook page, Anne Rice said something along the lines of 'I think Stephanie Myers has hit upon many young girls' need to feel protected.' (I'm paraphrasing here. I'm not motivated enough to find the exact quote.) And I think that's why I found the movie annoying (beyond the strange poses and slow pacing). It makes my little feminist soul rage. I HATE Bella. She's portrayed as weak and completely dependent upon Edward and, later, Jacob. The male characters seem to exist only to protect her. About halfway through the movie, I found myself cheering Victoria (the villain) on and desperately hoping she'd kill Bella. I won't be making a pilgrimage to Forks anytime soon.

Completely unrelated photo of a strip mall at 66th & Nicollet

March 27, 2010

I went on a short walk through Veteran's Park today. It wasn't the most cheerful day to be out. Gray clouds covered the sky cutting off the sun. Spring isn't quite here yet and, though the snow has completely melted away, the trees have yet to sprout leaves and the grass is still brown with only hints of green. I wandered down the paved walking trails hoping to catch glimpses of wildlife. And I did. A few geese swam near the cattails in the pond and, occasionally, a squirrel would scurry up a tree. Over the muted sound of traffic coming from Crosstown Highway, you could hear bird calls within the surrounding trees. In the sky, a v-shaped flock of birds flew past the planes going to and from the nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. At one point, I rested at one of the benches that line the path. Sometime between last autumn and now, they had been painted a dark green. A graffiti tag had already found its way onto the one I sat upon.

Eventually, I found my way out of the park. I wanted to stop by a convenience store on the park's southern border. I hadn't been there for months and was surprised to find it had closed down. Empty shelves could be seen through the darkened windows. It probably was in a terrible location. Though the street it was on is busy, it was located in the middle of the block and it wasn't convenient for cars to enter their parking lot. Plus, it was independently owned. Super America, Holiday, and BP dominate the convenience store industry around here and I'm sure it's difficult to compete.

A boardwalk that cuts through the center of the pond

If you look at this picture and expect zombies to appear from the other side of the hill, you've watched one too many horror movies. ...What? It's just me?

The Cat Whose Name Shall Not Be Spoken

She's not very enthusiastic, is she?

March 25, 2010

Never change your blog template if you have no idea what you're doing. I made the mistake of doing just that a couple days ago. Since I'm cheap but don't want to use Blogger's default templates, I did a search online for "Free blogger xml templates" and came up with a few sites. I had a few requirements in mind. I wanted one of the more colorful templates since many of the black text on white layouts tend to blend together and all look the same. I also wanted a three-column template. So, my choices were limited.

When I went to install the first template (and second. And third.), the widgets or, as blogger likes to call them, page elements would go flying all over the screen. My twitter gadget would be up in the upper left-hand corner of the page while other gadgets were nowhere to be seen. I finally found one that seems sort of okay but it isn't perfect. Where the date is supposed to be, it's reading "undefined" so my search for a new blog template will continue. I just don't want to deal with that frustration right now.

Updated: *cheer* I found a new one that will do. It needs some editing but even I can do it. :D

Music "Monday" - "Hoodie" by Lady Sovereign

I finally figured out how to embed a YouTube video. Which took much longer than it should have.

March 21 and the Singing Trash Can

I have a singing trash can. You see, about mid-February, my mother got a singing balloon for her birthday. When you tap or hit it, it activates a motion detector inside the balloon and it emits a tinny version of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You". Which actually gives me the creeps. Because, to me, it sounds like it would do really well as the opening track of a horror movie. It's not the song. It's the metallic way it sounds when it plays. But, I'm rambling. Anyway, she just got to throwing it away today. Now, every time you throw something into the trash can, it jiggles the device and the garbage can bursts into song.

March 20, 2010

I had to do a few errands yesterday. Nothing particularly exciting. They wouldn't be called errands if they were spectacularly fun tasks. I groaned at the thought of the walk. Now, I don't particularly mind walking and it was a relatively short distance, about 0.75 mile round trip. What I do hate is walking the same path over and over again. And, for the past few months, that path has been (mostly) all I've seen. So, all morning, I muttered and put it off with promises to myself that 'I'll do it right after I do this.' Eventually, I mentally smacked myself upside the head and said, 'Oh, just get it over with.'

The past few days have been relatively warm, hovering in the 50's and 60's. So, I threw on a light jacket and headed out the door. A couple blocks away, the wind gusted and I realized the light jacket was a really bad idea. I was, however, too lazy* to turn back and get the heavier one. At one corner, there's a large sign that displays the time and temperature. 29 degrees, it read. Oops, I should check the weather before I go on these errands. Unfortunately, I was right. A trip to the library and video store does not make for an exciting blog post.

I really need to go somewhere interesting (A museum? Or a zoo?) and kill this cabin fever. Bored, bored, bored.

*I had also been awake for 16 hours and wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible so that I could go to sleep.

But, on the bright side, the blogger I wrote about a couple posts ago returned to posting so I'm glad he's all right.

This was supposed to be the first picture of a photo journey but my camera's batteries chose the next picture to die.

March 19, 2010

Oh, no. What have I gotten myself into? What could I possibly write about today for what seems an impossibly large 500 words? I really haven't done anything today beyond watch a movie and play Sims 3. I haven't watched anybody else do anything particularly interesting. I did intend to go to the library this morning but my strange sleep schedule threw me off and I slept through their open times. I doubt a trip to the library would give me much to write about anyway. Pretty soon, the weather will be warm enough to start bicycling again and I should have something new to write about. It's probably warm enough right now but I'm a giant wuss about the cold so I'm putting it off. Also, I hate filling my tires with air, which desperately needs to be done after sitting in the garage all winter.

Blockbuster may end up hating having me as a customer. I'm flipping through so many DVDs. One of their distribution centers is located in Minneapolis so the movies that are mailed here get here the next day. So, basically, I'm watching two movies every two or three days. Granted, I don't watch all of them. I rented "Ice Age 3" for my mother and have no desire to see it. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was the last one I saw. I didn't realize it was a romance when I rented it. If I had known, I probably wouldn't have bothered with it. But, I'm glad I did. It's the first movie since I started the whole Blockbuster thing that I would rate 5 stars (out of 5). I am so NOT a romance fan. Make even the slightest mistake in a romance movie and I'll taunt it forever. Then again, like Titanic (which I also like), it's as much a historical drama as it is a romance.

Many months ago, I started having these odd episodes of vertigo. Every time I'd lean my head forward or back, the room would begin to spin violently around me and, if I didn't right myself immediately, I'd get dizzy, lose balance, and have to sit down. Luckily, it went away within a week or two. It seems to have returned slightly. This morning, as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, I watched the ceiling swing from side to side. It isn't unbearable like it was the first time, though, so I'm not too worried about it.

That isn't quite 500 words but it's good enough.

March 17, 2010

I'm on a new kick. I'm attempting to write 500-750 words per day. Expect long, rambling entries about the squirrel that ran into the deck wall and how my dog looked up at me and burped. I totally apologize in advance. :-D

My sleeping schedule has gone all strange again. But a strange sleeping schedule is, for me, the norm. I don't even complain about it anymore or make any real efforts to change it. I've simply accepted the fact that my body likes to be awake for twenty hours and asleep for ten. I'm not entirely sure what time I fell asleep today. 6am? 7am? It couldn't have been as late as 8am because the sunlight trying to stream through my blinds wasn't strong enough for the bright full light of 8am. I finally woke up around 4pm. For the past two days, I've been fighting off a tired feeling as though I'm not getting enough rest. After I complete this journal entry, I'll lay down for a half-hour. Hopefully, I simply need some rest.

There are a few blogs I regularly read. One has me particularly concerned. It's written by a man who has struggled with alcoholism and schizophrenia. He went from posting a few times a day to nothing for the past few days. His last posts gave hints of mental illness symptoms that were cropping up and also detailed how he relapsed back into the alcoholism. Hopefully, he's okay. Realistically, he probably is. I've seen him do it a few times and, so far, he has always returned to blogging within a couple weeks or a month. There are a few possibilities on what happened to him. The most likely occurrence is that he's in the psych ward. Another possibility is that the schizophrenia is making him paranoid about blogging. I completely understand this worry. I've had similar feelings earlier in my life. The possibility that most worries me is that he ran off to 'be homeless', a fantasy he's written about many times before. That, in itself, isn't a terrible thing. The problem is the huge cocktail of psych meds that he's on. Anybody who's ever tried to withdraw from these things after a long time of taking them will tell you how horrible withdrawal is.

One of the other blogs I read on a regular basis just restarted again after being silent for months. It's written by a woman who is recovering from drug addiction. During the time that she didn't post, she relapsed and was taking heroin and meth. Thankfully, she's fine and is back in recovery. But, I wouldn't worry so much about the first blogger if it weren't for the warning of the second blogger.

It may sound as though I only read the blogs of those who have desperate problems but it's completely untrue. The first blogger (in my opinion) seems to do his best writing when he talks about the other people in his life and the second is perky and upbeat most of the time and writes about other subjects besides the drug addiction. In both cases, I read their blogs because they're both good, interesting writers. I'm not linking them on purpose because I don't know whether or not they would disapprove.

On to cheerier subjects...Well, kinda. I watched The Final Destination (Part 4) yesterday. Ugh. I should have listened to the negative reviews on Amazon and the Blockbuster website. They're absolutely right. The characters are generic, pretty people and they pretty much rehashed the same old storyline from parts 1-3. At least the Saw series has added in new plot twists in their endless series that goes on forever and forever. Also, I couldn't figure out why some of it seemed so... off. And then I read that it was meant to be viewed in 3d. So that completely explains why there are nails and other debris flying at the camera. In the theater (or on a 3d tv), you'd see them flying at your head. In my opinion, that's a cheap scare and is just as bad as the mad killer popping up behind the driver and startling you. I foresee a lot more horror movies using the 3d tactic. I'm sure 3d isn't all bad. Supposedly, James Cameron used it well in Avatar.

Enough rambling for today.

A Cruel Sim

A couple of my sims playing football in the middle of the night. Think she might be a little rough on the kid?

101 Goals and The Arrival of Spring

I'm revamping my '101 Goals in 1001 Days' list. When I made it, I didn't realize how tedious the record-keeping on some of my goals would be. Writing down how many vegetables I eat, how much water I drink, and how many miles I walk gets annoying after a couple of weeks. Maybe I'm doing it wrong by doing it all on the computer. Maybe printing it out and keeping the records in a binder would work better. But I doubt it. The goals I'll be deleting are still worthwhile and I'll still attempt them but I've lost all desire to go through all that paperwork.

In other news, the weather has been gorgeous the past two days. On Sunday, when I heard the temperature was 57 degrees, I perked up, quickly brushed my hair, and ran out the door with the dog in tow. Since my dog is an out-of-shape wuss about walking*, we didn't go far. After a couple blocks, we turned left, went another block, and headed back home two more blocks. It's so nice to be able to leave the house with only a light jacket or sweater.

*After about a half-mile, she slows down and will occasionally sit down and refuse to go further without a rest. My (otherwise lovable) dog is a wimp.

March In the Front Yard

Turning into a Movie Buff

I have a feeling I'm going to be on a serious movie kick for awhile. In recent years, I haven't seen a lot of movies. Blockbuster's rental prices slowly crept up and paying $4.99 just to watch a movie seemed ridiculous. Redbox seemed a little better at $1/day but they have a tiny selection. So, finally, after years of resisting (and I honestly don't know why), I joined Blockbuster's Total Access program. It's similar to Netflix. You order a DVD to rent online. They mail it to you. When you're done watching it, you mail it back in the postpaid mailer and they send you the next DVD you've ordered. There's a few differences between the two companies. Netflix allows you to watch a selection of older movies and television shows on your pc or (if you have a compatible device) on your tv at any time for no extra charge. I decided to go for Blockbuster's program because they allow you to do five in-store exchanges per month and you can drop the DVDs off at the store. Since my nearest mailbox is about 300 feet away from a Blockbuster, the DVDs get checked in faster than if I mail them in.

I've already watched 2012, Up, and The Innocents. "2012" was kinda ridiculous with too many near-death escapes and shallow characters but it's a fun movie with great special effects. Sometimes I just like to watch things go BOOM! in a movie. "Up" was my mother's choice, not mine. I don't usually go for children's movies. ("Coraline" and "9" look great though.) I really did like "Up" though. "The Innocents" was a psychological thriller/ghost story from 1961. Now you have to understand something about my mother. She's into the latest special effects and despises the idea of watching a film in black and white. So, when she heard that I actually rented a movie from 1961, she wrinkled her nose and asked, "Ewww. Why?". Well, because modern horror often SUCKS. Seriously, the only (somewhat) recent horror movies that I've liked are Blair Witch Project, The Others, The Ring, Sixth Sense, and a few others I can't remember the names for. Modern horror often relies too much on gore and I actually busted out in laughter the first time I ever saw a CGI ghost. There's a reason Vincent Price is my favorite actor and not somebody more recent. "The Innocents" was great though it did leave too many unanswered questions at the end.

I've known for years that me, my mother, and my father have completely different tastes in movies. I'm into paranormal horror and historical dramas. My mother prefers modern dramas, animated children's films, and action films and my father's into wilderness movies. So, our Blockbuster queue is getting split up between the three different tastes. (Well, actually two. My father hasn't thought of any movies he wants to see.)

Next up is The Final Destination, the fourth movie in the Final Destination series. I don't think I've seen Part 3 though I doubt that matters.

Ghosts and History at the Academy of Holy Angels

So, today, I decided to look around for more information on the building in my previous post, Academy of Holy Angels. I began to enter the search term "Academy of Holy Angels history" into Google's search box but up popped the suggested terms. One read "Academy of Holy Angels haunted". Curiousity gripped me and I changed my search term to the new one. This led me to the Shadowlands website and its listing of "Haunted Locations in Minnesota". The building has two listings:

The first reads: "It is said that on the third floor in room 394 there is a ghost janitor that hung himself there years ago. He still lurks in the room at night and, once in a while, during school hours. September 2004 Correction: A former student has informed us the above information is incorrect. In the late '70s, there was a studen that hung himself in the janitor room... next to the bell tower. To this day, there are still apparitions appearing. And haunting footsteps."

Ha! So, I was right. There IS a bell tower in that building.

The second entry reads: "There have been sightings of spirits in the theatre. The upper balcony is where there has been spiritual activity spotted. It is said that whomever it is sits there and watches the plays and has been spotted on many occasions."

Which isn't very descriptive at all. What kind of spiritual activity? Is it a man or a woman? Or just a presence that flips down one of the seats and boos at the unknowing actors?

Of course, this all has to be taken with a grain of salt. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, this IS an internet source and bored people love to pass on urban legends. I'm sure the website owner isn't one but his or her sources may be questionable. I can already see incomplete information in the Guthrie Theatre (Minneapolis) entry. They fail to mention that the ghostly usher supposedly hasn't been seen since a seance or a cleansing or something of that nature was performed to contact the ghost.

Visit the full list at http://theshadowlands.net/places/minnesota.htm

Eventually, I went back to looking up the history of the building and found a small section on the school's own web page. The Academy of Holy Angels has existed in various forms since 1851 when four Catholic nuns from Missouri taught in a log chapel. The current building, however, wasn't opened unti 1931 and was "surrounded by cornfields". It's definitely not surrounded by cornfields anymore. The corner of 66th and Nicollet is one of the busiest in the metro area. To the school's north, east, and northeast are three different strip malls which usually have fairly full parking lots. About a half-mile to the west, high-rise apartment buildings can be seen jutting in the sky.

Anyway, a more complete history of the Academy of Holy Angels can be found at: http://www.academyofholyangels.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=220

Academy of Holy Angels

At the corner of 66th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Richfield, MN sits the Academy of Holy Angels, a Catholic high school. I love how it's a little bit creepy and imposing. Occasionally, early in the morning around 7 or 8am, you'll hear bells ringing out over the neighborhood and I can only assume they come from here or the nearby Catholic church. I'll try to take pictures from a better vantage point in the spring or summer.

La Roux

New bands hardly ever make it into my Top 10 favorite bands anymore. But, a couple nights ago, I was watching late-night VH1 and "Bulletproof" by La Roux popped up. They easily edged their way into the top 10. If you're a fan of 80's synthpop like Erasure, Yazoo, or Depeche Mode, they sound very similar. I would link to a youtube video but the option for sharing to Blogger has mysteriously disappeared. So, screw YouTube. Here's a link to their Myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/larouxuk

Eating Out & Casinos

The show last night was great! Aluminum was basically an hour and a half dance performance. The name of the show was related to the costumes and set design which were all metallic grey (like Aluminum, obviously). I'm not typically a big fan of dance but I enjoyed it.

Again, the show was at Mystic Lake. My parents and I got there around 5:30 or 6:00. We were planning on eating at Ribbons Steakhouse since they were having a special, 2 lobster dinners for $20. I was going to stick to sides like garlic mashed potatoes and a Caesar Salad. Even when I ate meat, I've never cared for seafood. But, then we saw the line. It was at LEAST 100 people deep and wound haphazardly in between the slot machines. We shuddered. My mother ran off to her slot machines while me and my father went in search of a different restaurant. There's a number of different restaurants in that casino. Minnehaha Cafe also had a long line and I wasn't really excited about eating at The Buffet again. (There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just bored with it after having been there many times.) In the end, I ended up getting a (very good) Pad Thai from the Fusion Noodle Bar. I killed time before the show by letting video poker and video keno suck far too much of my money away.

A mostly good night. :)

Aluminum and Over-Exercise

I've been totally unmotivated when it comes to writing lately. Partly, there's a lack of things to write about. But another part of it is an apathy about the hobby. So, once again, I'm going to try a 30-day challenge of daily journalling or blogging. Failure is totally an option. :D

Tonight, I'll be going to see a show called "Aluminum". I'm not entirely sure what the show is all about. I imagine it's something like the Blue Man Group (which I've never actually seen). I'm not that excited about it but, once I'm there, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Is it obvious yet that I didn't pay for the ticket?

For some reason, I'm weirdly fascinated with watching late-night infomercials for fitness programs like P90X or Insanity. Two nights ago, I watched one just before doing a 60-minute session with "My Fitness Coach" for the Wii. Normally, I won't push myself beyond my limits but the infomercial made me all motivated.

'I can doooo it!' I thought as I grunted my through the pushups and crunches that I'm terrible at. 'I wanna be all ripped!'

Oops, I probably shouldn't do that. All day yesterday was spent limping around the house and I'm still a little sore today.