sing a million songs without any words

I've been secretly scrapping again (I guess it's not a secret anymore).

Here's a look at some things that got me back on the bicycle again. I still feel a little rusty. I noticed that I hadn't scrapped a single thing from 09.

My goal now is to remedy that...I cannot scrap anything BUT 09 events. Also I am not buying supplies anymore (except adhesive). If (when I run out of supplies) I decide that I will continue this hobby, then I will buy supplies.

title again from Patty Griffin's: Mary, I am so loving this one lately.

you're covered in secrets

This is up for tomorrow's matinee, I LOVE Oscar season. Also it's Keenan's tech weekend for Grey Gardens, which means the 24 hours of rehearsals this weekend and a LOT of alone time for me. Went to dinner at McCoys with Josie last night and took her "on-call" duties for tonight so she can go to Party Arty. Watching the SAG awards tonight and trying to get a little creative. I'm due to post about my birthday, but must locate my camera usb cord first.

Hope your weekend is wonderful! Really looking forward to next weekend already, a little road trip with my bff&birthday girl Bre! Can't wait.

edited to add: Mo'Nique definitely deserving of all the accolades she has gotten recently. Precious was totally worth my time. It was important & tragic, and real.

title courtesy of Patty Griffin: Mary

isn't she lovely...

I finished the book voraciously and am off to see this film later this afternoon. I have heard the critics are not liking it...but I am hopeful. I can't wait to see Peter Jackson's interpretation of Alice Sebold's interpretation of Susie Salmon's heaven.

edited to add...LOVED the film! I thought the acting was well done and the cinematography was beautiful. I loved the changes that were made to adapt this book into a screenplay. I balk at you critics!

title courtesy of Stevie Wonders song by the same name

someone like you...

my bff made me the sweetest birthday post ever. i am now at my office, crying in my cube.

title courtesy of Breann's blog anthem du jour: Use Somebody, Kings of Leon

they give you your very own pair of wings...

The roaring twenties are coming to a screeching halt...actually I am going out of my twenties as gently as I came into them. I thought it would be interesting to look back on the last decade of my life as I brace to begin the next one...

People have been doing these posts on their blogs (like the lovely Kara) about what they are loving/not loving, listening to, reading, etc...I thought I'd take my own spin on that and do a list from my 20's.

A list from my twenties (or "What the heck was I...")

Reading:

I remember feeling like I was on-fire reading this book well into the night and early morning of 2004. It's still one of my top 5: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, read in 2008...I am as in love with Oscar as a narrator as I am with Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird).

I read the Twilight series in 2009 and it catapulted me back into the feverish type of reading for pleasure that I needed post grad school. (Plus they were pure unadulterated fun).

I also read a slew of Women's Studies books in my early twenties while I was struggling to define how I felt personally and politically when it comes to being a gal. My favorite to this day is Sister Outsider, by Audre Lorde, specifically The Transformation of Silence essay.

Listening to:

I am more than a little boring when it comes to music I suppose. This is mainly because I can listen to the same album for an entire decade if I like it. My tastes are rock solid, they don't change. The artists that I've loved throughout my 20's were (are)

The Counting Crows (I saw them in concert twice in my 20s, This Desert Life & Hard Candy tour...in St. Louis both time)

Ani Difranco -- moreso in my earlier 20s, but even now

Patty Griffin (she is going to be like the crows and be a forever-type of love)

I loved listening to K's Choice, when I would take long spring afternoon naps as a college freshman at Cloud County and in my dorm room at KSU as a sophomore, and Dashboard Confessionals spent a lot of time on my car cd player during grad school.

Quirky soundtracks: Clueless, Elizabethtown, Garden State, In Good Company, (500) days of Summer

New things toward the end of the decade are Missy Higgins, Kate Nash, Regina Spektor & Rufus Wainwright & Ryan Adams

Thinking: things that rocked my world (in a loosely time-specific order & completely honest fashion):

my first "heartbreak", that awful 2000 election, a terrible car accident, my 21st b-day, losing my uncle Dave, Annika, Georgia the dog, getting close to my sister, 9/11, co-organizing a peace rally, when Mindy died, my 22nd b-day, my 23rd b-day, getting my bachelors degree, Bre moves to Salina, my 24th b-day, going to the Broncos game in Denver for Monday night FB where the slaughtered the KC Cheifs, my 25th b-day, getting engaged & then married, my 26th b-day, my first niece,starting a blog, writing a play, my divorce, my friends beautiful marriages, the tragic deaths of two of my hs classmates, going brunette going to graduate school, meeting Martha, Jemmie, Lisa & Sarah (among others), producing the play I wrote, my 27th birthday, my friends beautiful babies (Haley, Kaden, Brie, Adam, Greyson, Hannah) getting my masters degree, meeting keenan, the tour, my 28th b-day, Philly, Maxx, Vegas, moving to kansas city, the election of Barack Obama, my 29th b-day, going to NYC, losing my Grammy, earning my RDT, getting close to my dad, my first nephew, my grandpa being dx'd with terminal cancer, cutting bangs, still leaning on Kate, Whit, Em, Nellie & Bran as much as when I was 18...

Desperately Wanting (all that stuff I had to have):

President's Honor Roll, a camera, new running shoes, scrapbook supplies, a computer, Bogey's cheesecake shakes, Chipotle veggie burrito bowls, a cell phone, a new car, a big love, a raincoat, a phone call, a career, time with my family, a 4.0 GPA, Willow Tree angels, things emblazoned with my initial, things emblazoned with Bre's initial, anything with Audrey Hepburn on it, good water pressure, hot boyfriend, girlfriend time, planning the perfect baby shower for friends, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, a vacation, books, empathy, smart boyfriend, a puppy, a laptop, the right words, a new digital camera, Autism Awareness, an IPOD, owls, new running shoes, sweet husband, little baby, beautiful career, being published, time with my family, compassion, a newer car, cupcakes, consideration, as ever, world peace...

Watching on the small screen:

Six Feet Under * House, MD * LOST * Grey's Anatomy (the first season) * Desperate Housewives (the first season) * Guiding Light * Survivor * Big Brother * Medium * The Office *

Loving on the big screen:

Almost Famous * The Contender * A Beautiful Mind * Chicago * Mystic River * Pieces of April * The Aviator * Hotel Rwanda * Million Dollar Baby * Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind * The Life of David Gale * Finding Neverland * Capote * Junebug * Walk the Line * Elizabethtown * Notes on a Scandal * 21 Grams * Babel * Little Miss Sunshine * Gone Baby Gone * Little Children* Juno * Milk * Slumdog Millionaire * The Dark Knight * (500) Days of Summer * Julie & Julia * Brothers * A Single Man

title courtesy of Counting Crows: August & Everything After

You can feel it in the air, feeling right this time of year

2010...the year of 30.

I'm a little slow on this post, but I feel I should do the obligatory declaration of a new year of goals. After all, I can only celebrate last years goals so long...speaking of, here is my last celebration of them...

1. I quit caffeine. It started with soda and ended with coffee. I actually crave water now, and drink a ton of it. This incidentally helped me reach my size 6 goal too...I am not hung up on weight, in fact I don't know what I weigh for sure, but I know I felt off as a size 8. So its back to the size 6s again and I am feeling great (although I'm still working on Jillian Michaelsesque arms).

2. I am an RDT (registered drama therapist). This is a goal that I've had since 2001, so its really huge to see that to fruition.

3. My other goal was to pay off my debt. I've made a significant dent in my student loans and have that pesky credit card manageable as well. I paid one loan completely off, and paid an old card off as well.

4. We went on a vacation (we try to do this at least once a year) to NYC.

5. Completely whole-wheat (pasta, bread, rice) -- no bleached flour, at least for home, at restuarants and others homes I am happy to consume a little, I am not fanatic, just trying for a healthy body. Also still sticking to "No Red Meat", this is a migraine prevention trick and year 2 of it is going well, I can now not notice a difference between ground turkey and ground beef. I haven't bought red meat in two years now, I probably end up eating it about twice a year at others' homes (again, I am in no way against the consumption of meat).

So...onto the new year...

1. Read every night. I used to do this and would like to get back to this old habit. I can accomplish this by only watching TV using the DVR (you didn't think I'd cut back on TV?!!).

2. Continue to work on student loans/debt.

3. Go on a beach vacation (we've been to Chicago, Philly, Vegas & NYC...we need a beach to round this out, Long Beach doesn't count) --In 2011 I will talk Keenan into a mountain vacation...but for now I've got to concede.

4. Look for opportunities for freelance work. I did this a few times last year, but need to keep expanding.

5. Keep up the good habits I worked so hard to develop last year.

with that I am off to drink my water...happy new year!

title courtesy of Better Than Ezra: This Time of Year

and the seasons of last year like reasons have floated away

I saw a bevy of films over the holidays and thought I'd record my thoughts on them before heading back to reality and the office tomorrow. These thoughts DO NOT contain spoilers, I am not a spoiler.

Nine...eh more like a "Five"...it was dreadfully boring, even with the gloss of tons of Oscar winners (Marion Cotillard, Dame Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren & Daniel Day Lewis) it didn't matter. Fergie (the only "name" in the movie who hasn't won an Academy Award) actually upstaged them all...her performance and song were the best parts of the movie. That's how you know it was dreadful.

Up in the Air...aka The George Clooney film...Keenan LOVED it...I did not. However, I am not a Clooney fan (I always feel like he is trying poorly to channel Cary Grant, this maybe unfair, but it's just one woman's opinion). Clooney's performance is solid but there is no way I think he can best Colin Firth (A Single Man). And although I doubt Brothers will be an academy-darling Toby Maguire was better too this year. The script is decent (again Brothers is better) and save one completely silly crying scene Anna Kendrick was spot-on.

The Hangover... I bought it for Keenan for Christmas, he saw it at the theatre with his friends and has been raving over it ever since. I loved Zack Galifianakis. It's basically what it is supposed to be, the everyday-guy's pipedream, including completely stereotypical roles for females. The Hangover left me minimally charmed and feeling a little nauseous myself. (To atone for making me watch this he watched my gifted DVD Julie & Julia)

Two Lovers...A redbox rental (since our Netflix is devoted to Mad Men at the present time). It's a small indie flick with Gwyneth and Joaquin. They are both great in this film, which starts a little slowly but satisfies eventually. The performances are definitely better than the script. But it's a good rental.

Adventureland...Another redbox, we hadn't seen it. And to be honest we didn't see the end. However, we were pretty sure there wasn't a big twist ending. I really only want to see Micheal Cera as the lovable-smart guy...sorry Jesse Eisenberg...Micheal does it better.

A Few Good Men...I watched it on TV, all the way through, for probably the thousandth time...Keenan saw it for the first time when we were first together. It was really difficult to not recite the lines that first time he watched it, I don't abide by that restriction anymore, therefore he doesn't watch it with me anymore. I can't help it, every time Lt. Caffey demands "Col. Jessup did you order the code red?" And the Col. screams "You're damn right I did!" I get chills. Solid story, great performances (Keifer Sutherland makes me squirm), and great dialogue...I love this film.

I am looking forward to seeing...Sherlock Holmes, The Lovely Bones, Me & Orson Wells and The Fantastic Mr. Fox.


title courtesy of Something Corporate: Me and the Moon