Just One More Thing....

This is in addition to the post below this one which I do hope you will read as well...

Have a lovely, rest filled weekend

Disney's "Prom"

 
Tonight I attended the private showing  premiere of Disney's new movie "Prom". After inspecting the contents of my purse, asking to see me turn off my cell phone and wanding me, we went in to see the movie. Security was tight even inside the theater as there were men with night vision goggles. It seems pirating premieres is quite a business and totally ugly.  It results in tight security for premieres. Can't blame them.

Thomas McDonell and Aimee Teegarden in "Prom"

Your teens and preteens will enjoy  it because they can identify with the characters. You just might like it yourself as it is a feel good movie and frankly, sometimes its nice to just relax and enjoy something light for a change.

No profanity, no sex or inuendo., an occasional kiss but, that's about it and not much of that either  and what's more the audience  of Moms and young teens loved it.

I rate it 5 stars for  those reasons.

Though the plot isn't new, the movie is never boring. The audience found some good lines to laugh about , some fun situations and the movie kept our attention from start to finish.

The story focuses on being honest with your friends , making good choices and looking at the heart rather than the outside. Good message there all around and using oldies music to set the tone for the scenes, it does a good job I think.

As the movie opens we are shown photos of the various cliques that develop in high school.Then, voiced over we hear, "High school ... it happens to everyone. And for four years, it has a way of dividing us." Yes, it really can do just that. This clique, that clique.Division.

Nova, played by Aimee Teegarden, ispresident of the senior class, pretty, bright and off to Georgetown next  year. Nova's wish is that  the Prom be a night everyone will remember. One last good time for everyone, all together, no cliques, nothing dividing them, just a night to remember for them all. A grand smash climax!  Her dreams are shattered though when the shed containing the decorations for 'Starry Night' burns down and she find she has no date for the Prom herself. The school bad boy, misunderstood really, is forced to help with the redecoration plans and everyone learns a lot about themselves and others in the process of preparing for "Prom".

Take a kid to see it,  you will be happy you did.

Movie and Bad Weather

alternating with sunshine 97% and  humidity.typical  jersey  south subtropical  weather.

The Famous Anonymous kid's dad won tickets to the premiere of Disney's "Prom" for this evening and so the kid , her friend and I are going.
Despite the windy, rainy day we are going to venture out for the sake of a premiere of a movie that the older elementary school set are wild over. We will see if the movie is as good as the kids are hoping it will be. I will let you know.
Meanwhile the weather climbed into the 80s and brought with it wind and rain. Hopefull we will not see the tornados that the rest of the nation has seen.
Awful destruction. My heart goes out to them.
Apple trees are blooming now, ponds springing to life. The bay is seeing more activity from animals, plants and people as the weather gets warmer.
Let you know how the movie goes....

On another note, I went to a site Darylynn posted about that gives you a royal name.
Being a good girl she used her real name and town. Being the class clown I did not and came up with :
“Your royal name is:
Countess Stupidhead Arabella Margarinebottom of Poopham”

Pink Confection

 I saw an article online tonight about Prom dresses, their cost and the new sexy sophisticated look that is popular today.
What is wrong with the old fashioned kind of pastel confection  dresses of the past?
Why have girls opted to look past 40 years old in gets up that are awfully immodest, black and dowdy, too overly blinged out and far, far too expensive and where are the parents values for allowing it?
I don't mean to be a fuddy duddy but......
Mesh dresses? Necklines and backs plunging down way too far , heels way too high and make up that is way over the top.
One girl on the news  blamed the Kardashians as she readily slipped into her $3,000 dollar prom dress that was more appropriate for Gypsy Rose Lee than a high school ingenue.

If this is the new times, I opt out of them.
I like this little pink dress
I added to the photo making neckline more modest and adding 'spaghetti' straps.
  I redid her hair (the cascade of curls are drawn on)  and makeup and put a bit of bling on the dress in the form of pearls on the bodice and cascading down the side.
I also took a sexy look off her face changing her jaw line and eye color and made her more open and young looking, but the basic 'bones' of the dress are wonderful I think.
What do you think about the new trend in uber 'sexy' dresses for young girls?
Am I just out of touch?
Kids should be kids and young ladies should be ladies.

Sleep Over and a Movie

Morning on the Bay

Our movie sleep over went nicely last night and the Famous Anonymous kid just left to go play with a friend.
We had dinner and then watched a movie called One Week starring Joshua Jackson. He was Pacey on Dawson's Creek.
It was a nice movie about a young man who finds out he only has a year or two to live and how he handles it. The debate among viewers is, was he selfish or was it okay for him to leave his family and fiance to go ride a motorcycle across Canada and figure out his life? Was he right to delay treatment and leave family and friends to miss what time they had left with him?
We had a good discussion on that , she and I.
If you get a chance , the movie is on netflix for immediate viewing.
Garfield was so thrilled to have her stay over for the night again. He loves company. I think he believes that everyone comes to see him.
Have a lovely weekend.

Spring Carol

The wild water lilies in the back bay areas are beginning to pop up to the surface.
This photo is right by where I live.
Tonight is movie and snack night for the Famous Anonymous Kid and me.

Spring Carol
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Lilies in Pine Barren Stream

When loud by landside streamlets gush,
And clear in the greenwood quires the thrush,
With sun on the meadows
And songs in the shadows
Comes again to me
The gift of the tongues of the lea,
The gift of the tongues of meadows.

Straightway my olden heart returns
And dances with the dancing burns;
It sings with the sparrows;
To the rain and the (grimy) barrows
Sings my heart aloud -
To the silver-bellied cloud,
To the silver rainy arrows.

It bears the song of the skylark down,
And it hears the singing of the town;
And youth on the highways
And lovers in byways
Follows and sees:
And hearkens the song of the leas
And sings the songs of the highways.

So when the earth is alive with gods,
And the lusty ploughman breaks the sod,
And the grass sings in the meadows,
And the flowers smile in the shadows,
Sits my heart at ease,
Hearing the song of the leas,
Singing the songs of the meadows.

Sunday Meme (Stolen from Toni!)

Surf, Avalon NJ

Big rain storms Saturday night.
Tonight, a big moon shining down on the water making a moon path to someplace magical.

I  spend time sneaking into Toni's site and I stole her Sunday Meme!

I quickly ran back here to post it before she knows what has happened.
Shhhh!




Here are my answers..


1. Who are you?
I am the person who writes this journal.I am, however, extremely private and reserved at times.

I am who I am, and I am many things to many people.

2. What are the 3 most important things everyone should know about you?

I am not sure there is anything 'important' to know about me at all.

3. When you aren't doing memes like this one what are you doing?
Housekeeping, learning, painting, reading, blogging, visiting , babysitting :)

4. Where do you want to be in 5 years?
Wherever God puts me since I know its the right place to be.

5. What stage of life are you in right now?
The stage where I can finally make some sense of what came before and recognize a bit of wisdom gained here and there.


6. What is the last thing you said out loud?

"Oh no!There's a hole in your food Gafield!"

(He will not eat from his bowl if the food is not dispersed evenly. And after he eats from one place and a "hole" is left, I am recruited to come and stir the kibbles up to cover the hole.)

7. Does your life tend to get better or worse or does it just stay the same?

Well, we all have ups and downs and trials and tribulations in life. While things have been going  a bit badly for me, I trust that God knows what he is doing and that in the end all will be well.

8. Does time really heal all wounds?
No. They are healed by  hard work, learning to let go of things and faith.
But, real emotional pain never really goes away completely.

9. How do you handle a rainy day?

Well I get achy all over usually, but I do enjoy watching the rain fall. I like to cozy up inside on thundery evenings.

10. Do you tend to be aware of what is going on around you?
Sometimes but I mainly mind my own business to the extent that I don't see what others see.

11. What is the truest thing that you know?
God .

12. What did you want to be when you grew up?
As a child I never really thought about it.  I sort of assumed you grew up and did what your parents did.
 
13. Have you ever been given a second chance?

Absolutely!

14. Are you more of a giver or a taker?  I am both. I give to many , I also accept if others give.
There are lessons to be learned from both: Generosity and love from giving, humility from taking in the right way.

15. Do you make your decisions with an open heart/mind?

It depends on what is meant by an open heart and mind. Usually that means accepting everything equally and no, I do not do that.  I recognize that there is good and evil, right and wrong and they are not equal at all.

I accept people with an open heart and mind though.

16. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you?

A "version" in which one twin was transverse(laying side to side) in my womb and had to be physically turned around inside without anesthesia. It was horrible and my heart stopped because of it.

17. What is the most emotionally painful thing that has ever happened to you?
The death of 2 children. 

18. Who have you hugged today?
Cuddly Garfield the Ginger Cat!

19. What are you thinking right now? 
Well I am thinking about this question.
Oh, and the unified  field theory which is rarely off my mind these days, of course.
Now I am thinking of making myself a cup of Twinning's Orange Pekoe tea.

Have a Lovely Weekend

From my place to yours.. wishes for a lovely weekend.

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I Am the Girl Nextdoor.

The quiz says so and  here is the result:

I come from a home where gravy is a beverage.
-- Erma Bombeck

The Girl Next Door is from a small town, a large family, or both. She still has a healthy dose of what people 'round these parts call "family values." She calls her grandparents every Sunday and she's got her mom on speed dial. The Girl Next Door likes an uncomplicated life filled with the simple pleasures of family, home, kids, and food. She may not actually live on a farm, but she tends to keep a menagerie. Asked to choose between a dog and a cat, she generally won't. What's a good guard dog without a mouser to keep it company? She is caring and warm, welcoming and friendly. Anybody in your office ever bring in chocolate chip cookies? You got yourself a Girl Next Door.
The defining characteristics of the Girl Next Door are simplicity and tradition. Simplicity means that, unlike the Academic Girl, she's really not that interested in the great questions that keep philosophers up at night. When she can sit in the kitchen, drinking coffee, eating shortbread cookies with a friend, and listening to the cat purr on top of the radiator, what else is there to life? What else, indeed.
She Might Be a Girl Next Door if:

1. She drives: a good, solid American car -- a Ford Taurus, Chevy Cavalier, or Dodge Stratus.
2. She can talk for more than ten minutes about: her family's holiday traditions.
3. She begins her sentences with: "my mother says..."
4. She'd never: go to a rave.
5. She owns any of the following: scrapbooks, heirloom quilts, a Bible, family recipes, her grandmother's engagement ring.

Well I do indeed have my grandmothers engagement ring, a fiery Opal surrounded by itty bitty seed pearls set in 18K gold old fashioned ring.
I do have quilts, I own more than just "a" bible.   I have   library full of religious/ theological books.
I did love my grandmothers very much and lived with them.
No on the cars too... I drove an AMX ,and a Dodge quarter ton pickup truck.  I really like Mustangs.
Yes, I can ramble on about tradition and the scene at the kitchen table would be better if it was Cinnamon buns.
However, we part company when it says i am not into the great questions that keep philosophers up nights. I most assuredly am and the main focus of my discussions in life are religion and /or science, history and philosophy.
But, boy do I ever love an uncomplicated life.

You can try the quiz yourself which is really just plugging a book, but when I tried to access it again it was offline.

Garfield the Ginger Cat

Flowers in the house need to be watched.
As long as someone is around to see them, it is fine, but when the room is unoccupied a small Ginger colored cat comes to see what is new.
He loves nature. He adores flowers.He shows appreciation for the simple things of life.
If the flowers are roses, he is beyond happy. Roses taste as good as they smell and he cannot help but have a few nibbles of the tender petals.
I find him with his eyes closed and his nose buried deep in a bouquet quietly inhaling the fragrance of the flowers. He looks transported.   He has gone off to his own private heaven where nothing can disturb him.
Hearing his name called quietly, he opens his eyes slightly to see who might be pulling him back into the present world, then closes them gently again to shut the world out and once again breathe in the sweetness.
"Garfield, Garfield...."
"No, not yet" he seems to be thinking. Let me stay a while longer.

I have seen that serene and gentle look on his dear ginger face often.
Like the times he sticks his head out the door and closing his eyes in that  gentle manner, snuffling up the breeze and everything that rides on it.
What does he smell on those gentle breezes that pleases him so? Flowery scents, grasses, trees, the scent of the bay?
 He lounges quietly looking out at the world , doing what cats do when they are at peace, closing the eyes slowly and then reopening them slowly again. "Ahh, peace" he seems to say.

Peepers

The Spring Peepers Orchestra and Chorale  are back  in town for their annual Springtime performance.
Their wonderful chorale  fills the day and night with  sweet peeping songs. There are millions of them and the sound can be heard all over  in the creeks and marshes and by the bay as nature wakes up once again from its deep sleep.
Peepers are tiny little things , harmless and cute and range in color from deep green to greenish browns.
The ponds will fill with frog tadpoles , the fish will begin to spawn and egrets will return in droves to stalk the ponds and marshes all around.
It is the true sign that Spring has finally arrived.
Next will be the lightning bugs in late June and July.
It s sweet to hear the wonderful sound  of peepers , crickets and even cicada in the evening and while falling asleep.
It is the sounds of Spring and Summer that I love, just as I love the deep quiet of winter.
Someone caught their sound and posted it for all to hear:
To hear the peepers you can simply shut off the background sound on the side bar. 







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Letters

The mail came today amidst a downpour.
I got a letter from my local nuclear plant owners today telling me not to fret, the plants they built are completely earthquake proof!
Umm, yeah, ok.
What else are they going to say? Are they going to tell you the plant is in dire disrepair and ready to fall down at the first tiny tremor? No, of course not. 
Each year we also get a notice telling us to always keep iodine pills on hand in case of an emergency and tracing a few routes of evacuation in case  of an "event".
Yes, we feel really safe.Sigh.
The 3 eyed fish that swim in the warm river waters that empty into the ocean are happy about it all too and no one in my neighborhood owns a night light either since we all glow in the dark.

I 'm making light of a serious subject, but the letter is real and if you don't joke about things it can get too worrisome.
There is  much to be thankful for in light of what Japan is suffering right now.
They are very much on my mind.





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