Thursday, January 31, 2008

January 2008 Books and Movies

Cloverfield

Very weird. The hand held camera gave me vertigo and made me nauseous at first, but then it went away. I want to say it was clever, but in the end, it just tried too hard. The decapitated Statue of Liberty was cool, as was her big head in the middle of the street. The actors were relative nobodies, in an attempt to make it more "real", but who could be fooled when the plot involves CGI aliens and a destroyed Manhattan? I don't know why they tried to make it so believable. I'll give it a good jumpy factor, I definitely squirmed in my seat and elbowed my movie companion.

Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm
Kim Cattrall, Mark Levinson and Fritz Drury

This is Kim Cattrall's first book. I had heard that her books were quite good, so I decided to get them out of the library. This one is very well written, is illustrated (information line drawings, not photos) and is a straightforward, easy read. The book was written with her ex-husband, so one would presume she has had many more experiences since then. You need to take the introduction with a big grain of salt. The book also has a very 70's feel to it, which was a bit strange.

Being a Girl: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Teenage Life
Kim Cattrall, Amy Briamonte and Marf

Excellent! Must have for all young women. Touches on all the issues without being condescending and above all sending a positive message of good self esteem, respect and personal growth. Lots of pictures, cute cartoons and inspirational quotes round out the text. If you have a young girl or woman who is in need of either a complete directional shift or perhaps just needs a friendly reassurance that she is on the right path, you can't go wrong with this book.

The Bucket List

Wow! What a movie. Rob Reiner film, Morgan Freeman, laughter, tears, even Jack Nicholson was good, and I don't always like him. You need to be pretty comfortable with your own mortality to really enjoy this film, but once there, it's a great ride.

27 Dresses

Cute but not overly clever. I love Katherine Heigl on Grey's Anatomy and thought she was hilarious in Knocked Up. She was equally good here but unfortunately, not supported in any way, shape or form by her cast members. Awful actors in place as her sister, best friend and boss. Even her love interest was passable, although I have liked James Marsden in other things. The bridesmaid dresses montage was really fun. You'll definitely be in for a few laughs if you go see it.

Stardust
Neil Gaiman

As it happens most of the time, this book was way better than the movie. I was really disappointed with some of the changes they made, both with what the script writers left out and what they made much bigger than what it was. Robert DeNiro did not need that much screen time to portray such a minimal character. I'm glad I saw the movie first so I wasn't disappointed because I remember really enjoying the film. I couldn't put this book down, it was an great read from start to finish. Excellent!

Booky and the Secret Santa
(Made for TV)

I loved the Booky series when I was a child. It gave me all sorts of insight into what it must have been like to grow up in the dirty 30's. I felt sad for Booky and her family but admired her tenacious spirit and her family's love for each other even when times were tough. Unfortunately this made for TV movie didn't really do the books justice. The sets and costumes were amazing, and really gave you a sense of what Toronto was like back then. Megan Follows was great, but the rest of the cast were weak (especially the children), and the script poorly written. It seemed like a lot of story jammed into a two hour time slot. The producers would have been better off making a trilogy of the books, sticking closely to the original story. As it was, they attributed the charitable gift packages to Eaton's when it has always been the Star Santa Claus Fund that distributes those to the needy. It's unfortunately just another example of how books are often better than cinematic adaptations.

Little Family, Big Values
The Roloff Family with Tracy Sumner

I really like this television show, so I was expecting a bit more. The message is great, believe in yourself, follow your dreams, work hard, live with integrity, have faith and love your family. The medium, not so great. The writing is terrible. I don't know if they hired a hack ghost writer, or the family itself had so much control over the project, that they didn't allow any editorial input. I wonder if it is the latter, as Matt Roloff comes across on TV as pretty stubborn. It was a quick read, I'll give it that. Watch the show, it's much better.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

2 months

If you'd have asked me two months ago if I would feel even marginally ok at this point, I would have laughed in your face. It really is true that every day brings a smidge more healing.

When I think about how I handled my last "break up", (in quotations because there wasn't really something there to break up from) I shake my head ruefully. I should say how I didn't handle it. I did everything wrong and paid for it dearly. I learned some good lessons from it, but it doesn't make doing the right things any easier on the heart.

Tonight, by chance, I ran into my first true love (who, of course, broke my heart into a million and one pieces), and in the midst of my current situation, it was very strange, like all my feelings were merged together. I didn't handle that break up very well either...hmm, sensing a pattern here. I shouldn't be too hard on myself though, I was very young at the time.

As for how I'm feeling right now, I've come to a few realisations that have really helped, made a few decisions about how to proceed and made renewed efforts to take things one day at a time.

Monday, January 28, 2008

I've missed Yoga!

Today I took my first Yoga class in a long while. Between busting my ankle and being diagnosed with RA, I simply haven't been able to do any. It was very nice. I went to a Yoga studio a couple of blocks from my place. Lovely, calm, serene environment. It was a gentle Hatha session, best to start off slow. I found I was able to do most of it, although my wrists hurt after a while. I found it really cleared my head. Although what it cleared is suddenly even more complicated than what I have already been processing. I am so confused! I just don't know what to do or what will happen in the future. I feel like I am being pulled in two directions, by my past and by my future. I can only be present, be aware and take the days one at a time.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Taking stock

This would be the time when, if I had made any resolutions in January of 2007, I would check to see if I had stuck to any of them. Since I didn't make any, I'll just take stock of my life as it is today, January 12th, 2008.

Health

Pretty good. The Humira is working wonders, I can do things I haven't been able to do in a year, such as lifting weights and wrist supporting yoga stances. Youpppie! I still have slight tenderness in my wrists, especially when I do an out of the ordinary repetitive hand movement like playing the same musical line over and over again on the piano for my students.

Job

Ummmm, better now that I've decided to not sweat the small stuff. I'm frustrated that I am not able to effect more change, but I have to let it go, or else I'm going to drive myself bonkers. Pretty dissatisfied and looking forward to the postings in April.

Relationships

I'm developing a better one with myself, which is very positive. In the nearly six weeks since the break up, I am amazed with the difference I see in myself. It's like it was a bonk on the head kind of wake up call that I needed to really address the things within myself that I want to improve.

I'm very grateful for the support I've received from friends and family. I don't know how I would get through this tough time without them.

Home

Still need to paint and do the floors, but that's just not a financial priority at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to do it soon.

So there you have it. New year, new start, new lilies on the plant that was one of my teacher xmas gifts. Hopefully it's a good sign.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

The eve before school starts again...

I welcome the change from being on my own dealing with the break up and all that entails, but I still don't want to go back. The school is just not a good place to be and is absolutely stunting my personal growth. I've decided to deal with it by doing my job, interacting as little as possible with the toxic elements and concentrating on my self improvement. Hopefully that will help to get me through the rest of this year.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

First day of 2008

I'm not usually one for resolutions, as I don't believe in setting oneself up for failure, but I thought it couldn't hurt considering all that is going on in my life.

1. Live for today and tomorrow, not in the past

2. Think positively and you will attract positive things

3. Find your centre everyday

It is my sincere hope that I can believe absolutely that better things are yet to come, without self pity, self doubt or false hope.

This is my dearest wish for the New Year. Here's to 2008!