January 2, 2009 | In the News, Life in General

I send my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the John Travolta and his family. How tragic is this? I’d forgotten how old he was because you never see their kids in the limelight. I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose a child. And I never will.

Reason #5,605 why we don’t we have kids.

Technorati Tags: John Travolta

December 31, 2008 | Uncategorized

“You won’t like me when I’m angry.”

What Mr. Maul looks like before he turns in to the Incredible Hulk Darth Maul. Wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley, would you? LOL

December 31, 2008 | Life in General, Movie Queue

One of my hobbies is collecting movie and special event tickets. I have movie tickets from back in the 80’s, when it cost $2.50 to see a movie. Day or night. I’m pretty sure I saw more movies last year, but here are the ones I saw this year.

10,000 B.C.
AUSTRALIA - The Bucket Scene. Crikey!
BABYLON A.D. - Seeing Vin and Paul together again next year will make up for this
BANK JOB - Love me some Jason Statham
BURN AFTER READING - Shockingly funny. Brad Pitt as a personal trainer. ‘Nuff said
DEATH RACE - No, I did not stutter. I love me some Jason Statham
EAGLE EYE - It’s either the government or the military that make us paranoid. In this case, it’s the military
HANCOCK
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL III - Zac Efron is a major hottie.
HOUSE BUNNY
HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE
INCREDIBLE HULK
IRON MAN - Robert Downey Jr looked fabulous
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH - Lame. Brendan Fraser should stick to The Mummy franchise
KUNG FU PANDA - Skadoosh!
MAMMA MIA! -Hated. It. Former James Bond’s DO NOT need to be singing.
MAX PAYNE
MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY - Very cute movie. Loved Amy Fisher
MY BEST FRIEND’S GIRL
NIM’S ISLAND
PENELOPE
QUANTUM OF SOLACE - Daniel Craig is still growing on me
ROCKNROLLA - loved Gerard Butler. His accent is so sexy.
SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2
SPEED RACER - Totally sucked. The only good thing about this movie was the theme song.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN - The dude that played the prince was pretty cute. When’s the next one coming out?
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON - One word: fabulous
THE DARK KNIGHT - I watched this for the second time a couple of weeks ago and didn’t realize how long it was.
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL - Dude, I’m an alien.
THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM - Mr. Maul and I are die hard Jet Li fans. We had to see it
THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR - Now this is what I’m talkin’ ’bout, Brendan. And it had Jet in it, too!
TRANSPORTER 3 - Did I mention that I love me some Jason Statham?
TROPIC THUNDER - I was forced to watch this and thought Robert was funny
TWILIGHT - Liked it enough not to read the book
WANTED - When I go back to college, I want to pledge to THIS society
YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE JOHAN - I can only take Adam Sandler in small doses. This was my dose for the year.

Did you see any of these? What did you see that’s not on the list? Which ones did you like? Hate? See over and over?

Technorati Tags: 10, 000 B.C., AUSTRALIA, BABYLON A.D., BANK JOB, BURN AFTER READING, Brad Pitt, DEATH RACE, EAGLE EYE, HANCOCK, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL III, Zac Efron, HOUSE BUNNY, HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE, INCREDIBLE HULK, IRON MAN, Robert Downey Jr, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, Brendan Fraser, KUNG FU PANDA, MAMMA MIA!, MAX PAYNE, MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY, Amy Fisher, MY BEST FRIEND’S GIRL, NIM’S ISLAND, PENELOPE, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, Daniel Craig, ROCKNROLLA, Gerard Butler, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2, SPEED RACER, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, THE DARK KNIGHT, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, Jet Li, THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR, TRANSPORTER 3, Jason Statham, TROPIC THUNDER, TWILIGHT, WANTED, YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE JOHAN

December 30, 2008 | Book One, Book Stuff, DA Series, Draven Atreides, Life in General, Movie Queue, The 4-1-1 on Me, Weekend Wrap-Up

Just like the title says, my weekend was pretty low key. I had to work the day after Christmas, unfortunately, but I got off at 2. Mr. Maul and I went to see THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON.

Isn’t this a great picture of Brad? One word to describe this movie: FABULOUS. I loved it. It was 3 hrs of absolute fabulousness. Brad has yet to win an Oscar or a Golden Globe for his movies–and this will be no exception–but I have to say that out of all the movies he’s done, this one is phenomenal. And Cate Blanchett is just stunning. He’s born old and–SPOILER AHEAD–dies young. The “young-ing” process–as opposed to the ageing process–was amazing. I was hoping HBO would do one of their “Inside Look” segments (they did for Angie’s movie, THE CHANGELING) to see how they did that, but I don’t think they did. If so, I missed it. Go see this movie. You’ll laff, you’ll cry, but you won’t hurl. I give it 5 shiny bright stars. For serious.

I hung out with my BF on Saturday. She’s house–and dog-sitting–near my parents, so I went to go see her. We talked business and school. And we watched a real feel good movie called PURPLE VIOLETS (Edward Burns, Debra Messing, Selma Blair). It had to do with struggling writers and I can SO relate. As can all struggling writers.

Sunday, I came down with a stuffy nose and a sore throat, so I stayed in bed all day. Literally. I only got up to eat and pee. Other than that, I stayed in bed and read all day. Did the same thing yesterday because I didn’t feel well enough to go to work. Feeling a little better today. No more sore throat, just the losing-my-voice hoarseness that happens when it’s on its way out. Still have the stopped up nose, though. And it’s totally annoying because it’s only one nostril. Gawd, I hate that!

JUST A REMINDER - If you’re a subscriber to my quarterly newsletter, you have until tomorrow to pre-order a copy of A Royale Pain: Draven Atreides, Teenage FBI Book One. Every week, I sent out a reminder with the special password. If you’re not a subscriber, too bad so sad. I was told it was going to be made avail to the public for pre-order next month, but I think they’re going to push it back to April. The first 100 buyers will receive the short story prequel, Informer.

Well, that’s it for now. Hope you all have a fantabulous and safe New Year’s. Mr. Maul and I will be attending a party and I’ll be sure to post the details sometime this weekend.

Technorati Tags: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON., Cate Blanchett, HBO, THE CHANGELING, PURPLE VIOLETS, Edward Burns, Debra Messing, Selma Blair

December 26, 2008 | Family Portrait, Life in General, The 4-1-1 on Me

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday. Our family didn’t do Christmas this year because we’re doing Hawaii at the end of January (my parents paid for everything). We needed to save up for “play” money so we told family and friends we’ll get them something while we’re there. The bulk of the goodies you’re about to see are from Mr. Maul’s BF and his wife.

Icing Travel Note Set (purple) - for the notes I’ll take when we go to Hawaii (Kauai)
Betty Boop Procelain Collectible Clock - from my co-worker
Betty Boop Nite Lite - because I’m scared of the dark. Just kidding.
Darth Maul Lego Pen - from Mr. Maul’s BF
White Chocolate Bath Set (shower gel, body lotion and bath fizz balls) and Holiday Gingersnap Body Mist
Blue crochet purse - which the above came in. How cute is that?
Magnetic Writing Board set (incl pen, memo pad and 3 pc magnet)
Metal Bookmark - which I’ll probably use for decoration on the desk in my office because, for real, I’d only end up losing it or breaking it if I actually used it.
Book of Hawaii postcards
Green Tabasco Sauce - LOL. Because Mr. Maul loves the stuff
Sweet Pea picture frame - which she bought because our cat’s name is Sweet Pea
Betty Boop sticker album and 16 Betty Boop stickers to put in it - I haven’t had a sticker book since I don’t know when…
Pad of paper with “C” monogram on it - for more note-taking
Panty Candy - no, they’re not edible. But it’s a thong. Gah!
Candy - mini bags of Jelly Bellies and a couple of snowflake suckers
$10 GC to Borders - I prefer Bookstar/Barnes and Noble, but I’ll take it.
Brett Hart, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling - Mr. Maul and his BF are wrestling fans. Well, Mr. Maul not so much anymore but they still watch old matches when they hang out.
Cat toys (not pictured)
$10 Starbucks card (not pictured) - for Mr. Maul
Magnetic picture frame with a picture of us in it (not pictured) - Mr. Maul had already put it up on the fridge.

All in all, it was a great Christmas. We had dinner and Mr. Maul’s BF’s house, then we went over to my BIL’s father’s house for Christmas dinner. I even got a chance to see my niece and nephew, which I didn’t think I would.

So, how was your holiday? What did you get? What did you give?

Technorati Tags: Hawaii, Kauai, Betty Boop Procelain Collectible Clock, Betty Boop Nite Lite, Darth Maul Lego Pen, White Chocolate Bath Set, Holiday Gingersnap Body Mist, Betty Boop, Jelly Bellies, Borders, Bookstar, Barnes and Noble, Brett Hart, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling, Starbucks