…and it has gotten me to thinking about movies I haven’t watched in a long time that need to be revisited.
On the list so far:

The Burbs
Fight Club
The Never Ending Story
The Cube
28 Days Later
Heathers
Ferris Buellers Day Off
A Trip To Bountiful
Reality Bites

Since putting Corn Dogs down I’ve been supplementing with Grimm’s Fairytails. A lot of the stories are familiar ones (Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, etc) but some I had never read or heard of. Most of them were only a few pages long and nowhere near as grim as the title would have you believe. All the tails are odd and seem to just stop mid thought and wrap everything up in a sentence or two. Probably something to do with them being written for kids. It’s been nice just leafing through and reading in bursts, but I’m ready to dive into a novel again.

So I went to the library and grabbed the first thing that looked interesting. I do this a lot at the library. There is a list of books I want to read and authors I enjoy, but somehow when I walk into a library my mind goes blank and all I can think is “books…burble…words…huh”. Sometimes the random grabs work out, sometimes not so much. Either way, I have something to read again!

The random grab: The Plague by Albert Camus. (I blame my recent stomach issues for drawing me to a book about disease.) Here is hoping it works out better than the Corn Dog book.

Also:
Working extra hours and spending vast amounts of time hunched over a production table with an exacto have rendered me nearly brain dead the last few days. My hands, shoulders and feet ache. I will be so freaking happy when this project is wrapped up and I can get back to some sort of normalcy.

This weekend I went out in search of new nail polish and was once again dismayed by the offerings of OPI. They seem a bit obsessed with this shattered nonsense. I bought it a while ago, and generally liked it. But it’s sorta novelty polish and I got tired of it pretty quick. Since that was pretty much all I was finding in the OPI section I moved on.

Essie has a cute new french inspired line, but they all seem like colors I already own or wouldn’t really get much wear out of as I don’t do pastel as a general rule. So on I moved…and found this:

Nothing says summer is coming the way day-glow does! I love this color It made my nails look like they were painted with a highlighter. But I’m kinda glad I picked it after lopping off all my nails. I don’t think this much bright would work with really long nails. Also, it turns out matte finish polish looks weird on toes. What is fun and funky on fingers jut looks busted and old on toes. Nothing a top coat can’t fix.

This is my first bottle of Zoya polish and I have to say I’m pretty impressed. This is part of their new summer line “Mod Matte” called Mitzi. I tried an OPI matte polish a few years ago and hated it. I loved the finish, but it chipped almost instantly. I’ve had this on for almost a full day now and it seems to be holding strong, though the natural oils from my skin and lotion are shining up the matte finish just a bit.

All these great choices of polish. I feel this summer is going to come with a whole lot of polish changes. Which reminds me…I am WAY over due to sort through my polish bin and toss the stuff that’s old. Old polish goes on crappy and chips a lot sooner. But it’s a good thing, I’m going to need the room

PS – my nails are so effing bright and happy now!

It’s hard to explain…I want to do it, but once I start I feel like it’s an obligation I’m fulfilling rather than something I’m doing simply because I want to.  I’ve been trying to figure out why this is happening for a while now. Mainly I think it has to do with my own over analytical self telling me I’m not any good…or it’s a waste of time.  That frankly is just stupid. But the insecurity won and  I’d sort of put my sketchbook away along with the thoughts of why things had taken the turn they had. Until a line in the book I’m reading put it back in front of me.

“At such times I reminded myself that life was not a test and no one was grading me. Except my own superego, of course.”

I think I have a tendency to get in my own way a lot. I need to take a step back. Be a bit nicer to myself and not give so much power and authority over my life to my stupid insecurities.  If I’m doing something simply because I enjoy doing it, who gives a shit if I’m any good at it. The point isn’t to be good or bad, it’s just to be happy.

On that note. I picked up my sketchbook again…and plan on spending some time with it. As much or as little as I want. And only because I want to.

The following are the last entries in it. None of them are new…just seeing where I left off. Hopefully there is a lot more to come.

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Wrong Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?
Correct Answer: The Elephant. The Elephant is in the refrigerator. This tests your memory.

OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You swim across. All the Crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

Many preschoolers got correct answers. Most adults got them all wrong.

**I have ZERO idea where this came from originally. I’m doing a bit of house cleaning on the old wordpress front and found this in a pile of discarded drafts of posts.

Today, it made me laugh.

I have been thinking about the upcoming New Year quite a bit lately, more so than I would like to admit. I have been looking back over the last years (years) and deciphering what it is about my life that needs changing. What issues need resolved. I know this is nothing new, and in fact almost everyone starts to spend a bit more energy pondering the rearview mirror this time of year.

But what is it about that day that gets people all in a tizzy? Why is it so important to so many people? I think that perhaps it all comes down to hope. New Years gives people the opportunity and permission to wipe the slate clean. To go forward hoping that they wont make the same mistakes or give up so easily. Honestly, the whole thing has started to really bug me.

Sure there is plenty of stuff that I would like to change about my life. Plenty of things about myself I would like to improve. But what is it about that day that makes me believe I am going to be able to make these magical over night changes in my life. Like some how turning a page on the calendar is suddenly going to give me the courage and self discipline to make changes that I have wanted to make for years.

So this year (actually just this moment) I have decided not to make any resolutions (well, more over to take back those things I decided to resolve to do). Not entirely though. I am not going to give up on improving my self, or striving to make my life better. I am just not going to rely on a calendar to give me the will to make the changes. There is no magic in that moment when the glowing ball of lights finally hits the bottom of the tower. No magic in the cheering and well wishes for a new year. Nothing really changes in those few moments. If the changes are going to come, they are going to come from me, from a place that has always been here. And to be frank, the changes come anyway. Good or bad, fast or slow, if life is defined by one thing it is change.

A good friend of mine recently said that they are resolving to “keep on keeping on” (or something to that effect). To that, I say rock on. Making changes is hard, and takes lots of effort and time. Who needs the pressure of trying to make it all happen overnight?

I scoped out the passersby looking for the least menacing character I could find. I spotted an older, nice looking gentleman with a dog (people with dogs always seem more trustworty). I asked him if he could point me in the direction I need to be.  He didn’t look up or make eye contact of any kind, or even make any gesture as to what direction I should head. He just calmly started giving me highly detailed directions. It seemed off, but whatever he was going to get me where I needed to be.  It wasn’t till about half way through his directions I realized he was blind….yup…I had to get directions from a blind man…

Check them, and all the Ready Booklets out at Shinebox Print

By this point we all know I have a kind of fetish when it comes to OPI nail polish. What you might not know is that I am almost equally obsessed with checking out fashion shows. Unlike OPI, you aren’t going to find any Anna Sui in my closet but it isn’t for lack of want. So when I heard that the new OPI line was an homage to the French Couture lines I couldn’t get to the store fast enough. So fast in fact that I bought before I blogged.

Once at the store I was faced with the dilemma of choosing a color. I knew what my favorite was right off the bat, but I was enamored with all the new colors. My first choice was a no brainer:

aptly named You Don’t Know Jacques. I am already wearing it and loving it. But I think I might have to go back and pick up the little sampler pack of these colors:

Names (from left to right) WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS – PARLEZ-VOUS OPI? – LOUVRE ME LOUVRE ME NOT

I love all of these colors, but I don’t think they are colors that would become staples for me, where You Don’t Know Jacques may just replace Lincoln Park After Dark as my go-to  color. The nice thing about the sampler pack is that you get three colors (as well as a top coat) for the price of one. Granted each bottle is only big enough for maybe three applications. But I think that would be enough to get me through till the next new line.

The only part that is really hard for me is the timing. It is still summer and I was just gifted a new bottle from one of the summer lines. Looks like I will just have to start changing my nail color a lot more often to keep up with my growing collection.

If you want to learn more about OPI visit the website. It is super fun, they even have a new video to promote the new France line.

So, thank you for being a friend.

Fron the Associated Press

“Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV’s “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 84.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

“She was loved throughout the world in six continents, and if they loved sitcoms in Antarctica she would have been loved on seven continents,” her son said. “She was one of the most talented comedic actresses who ever lived.” read more

First and foremost, the new jugs save space. The square design enables the milk to be stacked one on top of the other, eliminating the need for milk crates. This means that more milk can fit on a truck and in the cooler. Another plus in eliminating the milk crates is the need to deliver them back to the dairy plant once empty. With gas rates soaring higher everyday, being able to deliver twice as much at a time is huge, add on the elimination of return trips for empty milk crates and the price of milk goes down almost 50 cents a gallon.

It isn’t going over all that well with the people though. While they love the lower cost, the new shape has give some cause for concern. Complaints are pouring in about the usability of the new containers. People are complaining that the new shape makes it impossible to pour without spilling. So many complaints have rolled in that retailers are giving “courses” in the isles demonstrating how to pour to avoid spills.

People, get over it. The fully recycled containers save fuel and water. They make milk more affordable. It is a win-win. I am the clumsiest person around and I am sure the first few times I use the new containers I will spill. But really, are we seriously crying over spilled milk?

In the 1400′s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have “the rule of thumb”

Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled “Gentlemen Only…Ladies Forbidden”…and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury.

Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better than men.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:
Alaska

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%
The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $ 16,400

The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. (I’m not sure but I think this might be a well disguised blond joke)

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades – King David
Hearts – Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds – Julius Caesar

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn’t added until 5 years later.

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts… So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them “Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.” It’s where we get the phrase “mind your P’s and Q’s”

Gandhi said “the world has enough for everyone’s need, but not for
everyone¹s greed”

What, you thought I was going to make some kind of joke or something?

It’s that time again! Summer is finally kicking Spring out of the way. With summer’s entrance comes a new line of fun finger hues from OPI. Just what I needed to shake the dust off another work week.

“This season, OPI goes mod-ern with Mod About Brights, the newest selection of shades in the Brights by OPI line.

Mod About Brights captures the fun and edginess of the mod “invasion” of the Sixties, but with a bright twist that makes these colors exciting and current for 2008. And with fashion right now being all about strong color and vivid, graphic prints, these are the shades that look up-to-the-minute on fingertips and toes.

If you love color, you’ll be Mod About Brights”

I am torn once again as to which is my favorite. I am really liking the orange and green, but I think the pink will be more functional. I have a little time to decide, the new line isn’t due in stores until June.

To see the entire line visit OPI.com

(my picks up to now, I will have to see them in person to make my final choice)