Reflecting on 2008

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

That's one of those quotes that's oddly applicable most years given the highs and lows of life, but it definitely hits the nail on the head this year. In some respects, 2008 has been the best year of my life and in others, the worst.

I never thought I'd end the year without a job in the middle of the worst recession this country has seen since the Great Depression! I never thought in a million years I would ever be fired from a job. It doesn't matter that it was for completely arbitrary reasons having very little to do with me. Even if you loathe your boss and the company you work for, it's still a kick in the gut to be told that. And now I have the joy of figuring out how to explain being fired in future interviews without completely bashing my old company because as we all know that's a big interview no-no. But as I remind myself every morning, if that's the worst the year had for me, then I'm a pretty lucky gal!

Enough with the bad! On to the good! I started out the year with all of my friends moving away and in search of a church. I'm ending the year as a member of the most awesome church in all of LA where I have made the most awesome friends in all of LA. They have become my LA family and as a single gal in a big city far away from your own family, I can't stress how important that is. Given my ample time off, I got to spend a month back home visiting friends and family and made my way across the ocean to visit the crew in Germany. Then my parents finally got to come visit me for Thanksgiving. And for all of this, I feel truly blessed.

I thought I'd just end with a quick little list of some of my favorites of 2008.

Favorite Movies
Iron Man
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Favorite TV Shows
Battlestar Galactica
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
How I Met Your Mother
The Office
Lost

Favorite Music - I'm not a big music aficionado like I am with movies and TV, but here are some things I liked
Beyonce, Single Ladies (the one song I can't get out of my head)
Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue
Alicia Keys, As I Am
Katy Perry, One of the Boys
Britney Spears, Circus (because I'm still a teeny-bopper at heart!)
Rihanna, Good Girls Gone Bad

I hope everyone had a great year and if not, here's to a better year ahead! I'll leave you with my favorite picture from my favorite event of 2008 - finally getting to go to Paris like I've always dreamed about...made even better because I got to go with my sister!!


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas Movies

I've seen 4 movies in the last 4 days. That may be a new record for me. But I can't help it that all of the sudden there were a bunch of movies I want to see. Since the fall has been kind of a drought when it comes to good flicks, I indulged a little. I'm just going to attack these mini-reviews in the order I saw them.

The Spirit
Like I said, this was a wierd pick for a Christmas day movie, but it worked. If you're a reader of reviews, then you know this movie has gotten royally panned. Rarely do I disagree completely with the general consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, but this is one such time. Now don't get me wrong, a lot of their criticisms were valid, but it was still a fun movie. I feel like Batman, et al have ruined people's expectations of comic book movies. They don't all have to be super-deep and dark. This film reminded me a lot of Dick Tracy, which I love. The dialogue was hokey, the character's were paper-thin, but it looked cool and I had fun watching it. I felt like someone took the comic book, cut it up, and made a little moving picture of it. Plus, I think the Sin City style of filmmaking is just plain awesome. I hated Sin City. I almost walked out of the movie. I wanted to like it purely because of the visualization, but I just couldn't. It was too graphic and gory and gratuitous. Then 300 came out and I had the same criticisms. I didn't see it, but my thoughts were confirmed by people who did. So I may have overly enjoyed The Spirit because it's a tamer story that let me fully enjoy the awesome visuals.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I don't have much to write about this movie because I was kind of disappointed. I thought how they aged Brad Pitt was really neat, but that was about it. I didn't care about the characters (with the exception of Queenie); I didn't care about the story; and I got bored halfway through. I realize I'm criticizing this movie for what I let slide with The Spirit, but I feel justified because the former is meant to be a serious, Oscar-contending, character piece while the latter is just meant to be a fun popcorn flick.

Doubt
Ah, Doubt! How I love thee, let me count the ways. This is, hands down, the best movie I've seen this year. I can't find anything wrong with it. The topic was so relevant and thought provoking and the performances were amazing! If you want to see great acting, then watch this movie. There's a scene between Meryl Streep and Amy Adams that involves no words, but it so utterly expressive that I was left in awe. Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are two of the best, if not the best, actors working today. Give them anything, and they're gonna knock it out of the park. But the revelation of the movie was Viola Davis. She has got to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, or I'm going to hurt someone! I don't want to spoil anything about her performance, but holy crap it was just about the most amazing thing I have ever seen on screen. If you haven't seen this movie, what are you waiting for?

Slumdog Millionaire
Another great movie, this will definitely go down as one of my top movies of 2009. Since you may not be aware of this film, let me give you a little summary. This is an Indian film that follows a young man on India's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He is accused of cheating because he is from the slums and there is no way a kid from the streets could know all of these answers. The movie cuts back and forth between him answering the question on the game show and flashbacks that reveal how he grew up and why he knows the answer to that particular question. The story is just so original and so well directed, and you will walk out of the theater feeling good. If this is playing in your neck of the woods, then please go out and see it.

So there you have it. My Christmas-time movie reviews. Did you see anything you would recommend?

Christmas Day Fun

Despite being away from home, Christmas day was a busy one. First up, opening presents! I had Jolee send gifts to LA, so that I would have something to open up on Christmas day. I got the magnet I asked for (though I don't know what the heck it says!), plus I got the Eiffel Tower figurine I had been eyeing in Paris. Sneaky Jolee! How'd you get that without me knowing? Must've been when I would get claustrophobic and have to get out of those tight little shops. Plus, I got a kickin' Hard Rock pin to add to my collection, a cute candle, and some good ol' Belgian chocolate!

Then it was time for what turned out to be the first movie of the day, The Spirit. I quite enjoyed it and it made for a weird Christmas day pick, but that was part of the fun (I'll have more to say about that and some other movies later). Then I headed home to clean up because I had people (a whole heckuva lot of people) coming over for a late lunch/early dinner.

After I cleaned, I popped in the lasagnas that my friend Michelle had pre-made and waited for my company to arrive. We played a game of how many people can actually fit into Terri's apartment. Turns out at least 16, and I think there was room for more. We played Catch Phrase, conversed, and enjoyed a lovely Italian Christmas dinner with lots of yummy desserts. Then we all decided to get up and go see Benjamin Button.

After the movie, I headed home, cleaned up a little, and called it a day. It was a fun Christmas, and I'm thankful I have great friends to celebrate with. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, too!

Christmas Travels

I've been an absentee blogger due to Christmas activities, but now I'm back and I've brought you a nice little (ok, probably massively long!) summary of my Arkansas visit.

I flew through Chicago where it had just started snowing. It kept snowing and snowing and snowing some more. I had a 2 hour layover and was beginning to fear I might get stuck there. But thankfully, I got out of there after about a two hour delay. I arrived in LR where it was freezing. And the freezing continued the entire time I was there!

I got to hang out with the fam, including a visit with my grandparents, going on a shopping date with my mom and aunt, and spending time playing with the kiddos. Plus, I got to hang out with two of my best friends. It was a busy week, but a fun one. We topped it off by exchanging gifts and a good time was had by all. I got kitchen utensils!! Woohoo, it's exactly what I asked for!! How boring do we get when we become adults that we ask for whisks and serving spoons and decorative pillows?! Next year, I'm asking for a Wii!

The day I was to fly back to LA, we awoke to freezing rain. We made our way to the airport without too much trouble. I got myself and my baggage all checked in and then waited til the last minute to go through security. As we said our goodbyes, mom started to cry (as usual), which then made me start to cry (also as usual). Then I scurried off while removing my shoes and my belt to expedite the process.

I got to my gate and everything was looking good, until it came time to board. Our plane wasn't there for us to board, so we waited. It finally arrived and we got on our way an hour late. Did I mention that I only had a 55 minute layover?! We arrived at DFW, and I immediately forgot how much I hate that airport as the pilot informed us that we had to taxi to the complete opposite side. Of course, this only takes about 15 or 20 minutes. Argh! At that point, I wasn't in much of a hurry because I was pretty confident that I'd missed my flight. I got off the plane pretty quickly though and soon realized that my connecting flight was also delayed. Yay! I ran through the airport (which is not something I've ever done!) and made it to my gate in time to board my flight.

I arrived in LA about and hour or so after I was scheduled to land, so it didn't turn out too bad. Or so I thought. I waited for my luggage and waited and waited and waited. Evidently, it wasn't as fortunate as I was in making that connecting flight. After about an hour ordeal where I waited for the next plane in from DFW only to find my luggage didn't arrive on it either, I was finally able to file my claim and go home. Only now it was 5 pm....in LA...which means TRAFFIC!!! Argh again! I always time my flights early in the afternoon or late in the evening to avoid traffic. But given the setbacks, I was right smack in the middle of rush hour. Now I live 13.8 miles from the airport. Any guesses on how long it took to get there? A whopping hour and a half!!

But it gets better. I have no luggage and I need some essentials (e.g. contact solution, toothpaste, hairbrush, deodorant, etc.). So after that ordeal I get the pleasure of going to Target on the evening of December 23rd. It was chaos and it was all I could do but laugh at the situation. Here I am, completely done with my Christmas, fighting the last minute shoppers to stock up on things that were in my suitcase, which was who knows where!

Then I headed over to help set-up for our Christmas eve service and had a marvelous evening and realized how trivial my day had really been. So what if my bag was gone, I could replace it. No big deal. I made it back safely and that was most important. After a late night helping out, I awoke the next morning to a phone call at 7:45 saying they found my luggage and it would be delivered between 10 and 12. Woohoo!! I got a happy ending!

I'll be back a little later with a posting about Christmas day. This was getting kinda long, so I figured I should break it up.

Twilight - The Movie Edition

If you haven't seen the movie or read the book (and plan to), then read at your own risk.


I finally got around to seeing Twilight, and I'm full of thoughts. First off, I was underwhelmed. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, because I did. But I just expected so much more from it.

I thought the casting was pretty spot-on. Most everyone was exactly how I pictured him/her with the exception of Jasper. And I liked that they were faithful to the story and used dialogue plucked straight from the book. Plus, I liked the look (i.e. colors, settings, etc.) of the film.

What I didn't like was the lack of character development, the rushed feeling of Edward and Bella's relationship, and the overall cheesiness of some of it.

I realize it's hard to condense a 500+ page book into a 2 hour movie, but I was disappointed. The book was so great at developing all of the peripheral characters, and I especially liked the backstories of all the members of the vampire "family." But these weren't even addressed in the movie. And I felt like Edward and Bella just magically fell for each other in the movie very quickly, and I don't recall this being the case in the book. It's a much longer mutual fascination with each other that slowly develops into a relationship.

And the effects were just cheesy. I chalk this up to a director who had no previous experience with CG, so I'll let it slide. I thought some of the direction in the vampire confrontation was too campy. I get that they're vampires and there's some hissing and grandstanding, but I'm not supposed to suppress a laugh at that moment. It's intended to be very serious, and I don't think it came across that way. Plus, there was some careless editing that created too many noticeable continuity issues. Sooo.....

That being said, I'm really looking forward to the future installments since they're getting a new director. I think the new guy will better weave the teenage love story/character development/CG given his background and not make it so darn cheesy.

By the way, I've only read the first book, so if you want to leave comments please keep that in mind. I don't want any spoilers!

Australia

I have all the time in the world to post blogs, yet somehow manage not to. Though it's mainly because I haven't had much to say lately, which I know is shocking. Maybe ideas/words will come back to me over the next couple of weeks.

I don't really have much to say right now, but I thought I would see if anyone has seen Australia. I went with a group of friends to a 9:45 showing and none of them really liked it. Granted, I found out afterwards that none of them new it was almost 3 hours long and they'd been at work all day, so I really think this is what caused their dislike. I, on the other hand, loved it! And, more importantly, knew it was a long flick, so I was prepared.

I love epics and romance and Baz Luhrmann movies so it was pretty much a given that I was going to like it. But I liked it even more than I thought. It reminded me of a beautiful old school film circa the 40's or 50's. And the little boy in the film was just too adorable! That being said, it was a bit too long.

If you haven't seen it yet, I would recommend it. Just make sure you're prepared to stay seated for 3 hours!

An American Turner Thanksgiving (not to be confused with the German one)

My parents just left to head back to Arkansas after a nice 10 day visit to the left coast for the Thanksgiving holiday. The other siblings hooked up in Germany, so my parents came to visit me. I've been trying to get them to visit for awhile, so I was happy that they finally came! We had a lot of fun and did a lot of stuff. We even managed to do some stuff none of us had ever done. There are always new and exciting things to do in the big city!

We tooled around downtown and went to a Clippers game...



Mom and Dad had their first ever subway excursion...



We had Thanksgiving dinner with some of my friends...



We went to the Reagan library (so much better than Clinton's!)...



Then we went to the Nixon library (which I don't have good pics of because my battery died)...



And we topped it off with some window shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills...



We sprinkled in a trip to Hollywood to see the stars on the Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a brief hike at Runyon Canyon (where we just missed Justin Timberlake by a day!), a tour of the media capital of the world aka Burbank, a trip to the Grove (where we just missed Gwen Stefani by a mere couple of hours!), a taping of Craig Ferguson where we saw Betty White, a visit to Saddleback Church, a trip to the beach where it was super foggy, and a breakfast at IHOP where we saw David Spade!

A good time was had by all...at least, I think! Thanks for coming to visit, Mom and Dad. Come back soon!