strawberry fields forever

I cut up and froze 2 flats of strawberries this weekend. AND we did tons of weeding and filled in the remaining flower beds with barkdust. No flowers or plants in them yet, though, as barkdust is infinitely easier to take care of. You don't even have to water it!

shelob's lair

there is a giant angry spider in my office. I hit him with a broom and knocked off one of his legs, and he fell behind my desk. it was an epic battle. and now he will heal, regather his strength, and attack from the shadowy recesses of UNDER MY DESK!



here is a blurry picture of his curled up leg.



< that's 16 point font, people!

strange magic

I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series. (yes, I am eight. leave me alone...)

Anyways, this is a picture of the set I own. See how books 1-3 are markedly smaller than 4-6? I had forgotten about that fact, and when I got through with 3 and went to get 4...

Katie: "All RIGHT!"

Mitch: "What?!"

Katie: "The next book is TWICE as big as the last one!!!"

Mitch: "?"

Katie: "What?"

Mitch: "..."

---

Aren't people who don't like to read weird?

Chris Martin stormed out of a radio interview with the BBC Thursday -

After some shifting at the microphone, Martin said he was "not really enjoying this" and asked if he could take two minutes before getting up and walking out of the studio.

"I just don't really like having to talk about things," he said.

---

so, you'll text me then?

the dad

my dad is one of my favorite people in the world. he ranks a close second just after Mitch. and that's saying something, 'cuz Mitch is AWESOME!

you always gotta have a plan

So, I did go see SatC last night. It was entertaining. Great clothes, good shoes.

(and no, I couldn’t get Mitch to go with me – shock.)

I actually LIKE watching movies in the theater by myself, but other people seem to take joy in making it an awkward experience. So, over the years I’ve formulated a plan to compensate for the presence of other people in the theater---

• 1. Time your arrival carefully so that you arrive exactly as the previews begin. Everyone else has found their seats at that point and you can pick who you will sit by…


• 2. Sit about 10 rows closer to the front than you normally do. You’ll be sitting in the middle school section, and they will consider you much too old to talk to. However, they are LOUD WHISPERERS, so you need to sit far enough away that you can’t reach over and smack them when the whispering gets to you.


• 3. If possible, sit 4-5 seats away from a couple. Their presence will often protect you from the next two groups:


• 4. Stay AWAY from the duo of middle-aged fat women. They will try their darndest to include you in their ‘group’ if they notice you sitting alone.


• 5. Stay even further away from the crazy-haired old man. He is there solely for the sexual content, and his comments are neither clever nor charming. (Do not, under any circumstances, engage in conversation with him – it will inevitably turn into a rant about Jim Morrisson and The Doors, and you will end the conversation wondering if he is going to follow you into the parking lot and murder you.)


• 6. Haul ass outta there as soon as those credits start rolling.


• 7. Don’t order the large bucket of popcorn. It’s giant-ness will only emphasize your solitary-ness…

thanks for voting...

so...on the one hand On the Waterfront and Raging Bull won my 'famous and critically acclaimed movies I've never seen' poll. I'll rent them soon (along with Lawrence of Arabia, per Richard's suggestion), and I'm sure they'll be awesome.

however...I really just want to see a chick flick.

(don't worry, I won't review this one...I'm pretty sure it will be fluffy and worthless!)

thanks A.P.

"After Obama, fist bump catching on as new trend in U.S..."

a new trend? but is it really? a NEW trend?

ooookay...

song of the day

I love Muse...

just say no

These are just a few of the movies I will NOT be seeing in this summer, thank you very much, despite the studio's frantic advertising tactics.

I am normally highly susceptible the persuasive power of summer movie trailers, but these ones just don't do it for me:

Love Guru

Don't Mess with the Zohan

The Strangers

Speed Racer

Get Smart

the new green thing

Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance. ~Ambrose Bierce

yeah, I don't know how I became a secretary - I HATE talking on the phone!

...but my new one is green (my favorite color!) AND it plays mp3's! fun! also, it has a pedometer on it, so I have discovered that I take an average of 800 steps per day. sedentary lifestyle, much?

the flix

I watched Death at a Funeral and The Kite Runner earlier this week.

I thought it was entertaining (Four Weddings and a Funeral-type British humor), and while I probably won't buy it, I did laugh really, really hard in a few scenes. Alan Tudyk is always funny, and Matthew MacFadyen is always yummy!

and...it was directed by Frank Oz. Muppet Show/Dark Crystal Frank Oz! who knew he was still alive?

Kite Runner is based on a great novel. Most of the tale is set in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which automatically created a visually stunning backdrop for the story. They perfectly cast a few of the main characters (the little boy Hassan looked EXACTLY as I imagined!) and Shaun Toub (Ironman, Crash) was an excellent choice for Rahim Khan. Still, the impact of the movie was not as strong as the novel... therefore I recommend sitting down with the book first.

brothers gotta HUG! (or do they?)

aww, man, I had to go to my cousin's wedding tonight. cool, a fun-filled family event, right?

nay. weddings have reception lines. which means I had to face the horrifying moment of truth: handshake or hug?

my own sense of personal space steers me towards the handshake every time, but sometimes you just know the situation calls for a hug...but in case you have not experienced the full Katie weirdness, hugs with me are awk.ward! I can't help it! Hugs mostly turn into this weird a-frame side-hug thing, and I can't help but pat the other person's back when I feel that the hug has invaded my personal space for long enough, all "back pat means let go, back pat means let go, BACK PAT MEANS LET GO!" Plus I'm short, so there's this weird height factor that I haven't figured out how to compensate for yet...

the worst part of this particulary reception line was my uncle(?), whom I haven't seen in 10 years. he used to be my favorite uncle, but in the past 10 years has divorced my aunt and been revealed as a total abusive asshole. but...he was my favorite uncle, and he wasn't an asshole to me. so... handshake or hug? do I still call him uncle, or has he been stripped of the title? in the end we did both the handshake and the quick hug, which I think covered all stages of our relationship, from favorite uncle to I-will-probably-never-see-you-again-in-this-life-but-thanks-for-that-Christmas-present-when-I-was-six person.


they should teach hugging ettiquette along with driver's ed in school. so complex, yet so useful.

Mr. Jones and me

so?

how was it?

(due to weddings and graduations and circumstances beyond my control, I can't go see it for a few more days.)

hee.

Two pilots in New Zealand ran out of fuel during a flight, and prayed for help. They landed their plane safely ... right next to a billboard reading, "Jesus is Lord" ...

Sob, heavy world. Sob as you spin. Mantled in mist - remote from the happy.

dear God, and I mean DEAR GOD! I'm really bad at watching scary movies (I only got 30 minutes into '1408' before turning it off and promptly returning it - and I LOVE John Cusack). But I just finished watching the entire movie 'Stephen King's The Mist'. (The fact that Frank Darabont directed (Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile, Majestic) was what prompted me to check it out.)

and yes, the monsters were scary (at least to me they were scary: there were bug-type monsters. I hate bugs). I spent most of the middle part of the movie jumping up off the couch and running around the living room shrieking at the characters to "HIT IT! GET IIIIITTTT! RUNNNNNNNN!"

however, the last 30 minutes of the film were spent frozen on the couch in horror, and it had nothing to do with blood or guts or ghosts or bugs or bug-monsters or fear of the dark. this was ultimately a movie about the horrifying darkness lurking within the human soul. it was thought-provoking, grim, awful...impossible to recommend, yet impossible to deny that it was a film worth watching.

the narnicles

we went to the midnight show of Prince Caspian last night! Caspian has never been my favorite of the books (Horse and His Boy and Last Battle are my faves), but I found myself wishing that they had remained a little more faithful to it - if they HAD, they would have done a better job of introducing us to the character of Caspian, making him less of a 2D character. Instead, his Inigo Montoya accent is distracting, and in the end you kind of want the Pevensies to stay in Narnia rather than leaving the throne to this Caspian guy.

at this point, we're used to the visual translation of Narnia's beauty and magic, and so there's less of the "aww" factor this time around, which is too bad. The powers that be also seemed to feel the need to insert extra battle sequences and humor into the story, much like Two Towers. unfortunately, Two Towers' Peter Jackson is much more adept at delivering battles that get you in the gut, and Chronicles versions felt like knockoffs.

and here's the real offense: they used Reepicheep's character as a 'comedic' foil (see Gimili in Two Towers). at least they didn't give him an Alvin & the Chipmunks-style voice. (oh, and just so you don't spend the whole movie wondering like Andrew and I did: Reepicheep's voice was done by Eddie Izzard)

still, the four siblings were perfectly cast, and they do a good job of redeeming Edmund's character from past treachery, of highlighting Peter's pride, and of touching on Susan's vanity. I thought they handled Aslan's farewell to the older Pevensies well - overall I just really liked the last few minutes; the sendoff from Narnia back to 'real life' was touching.

The Magic Closet!!

Apparently our house has a magic closet. I put all of my warm weather clothes in there last fall and they all shrunk!!





...maybe if I start sleeping in there I'll shrink too!! I guess this means its time to dust off the treadmill.

You make me feel like I am home again

yessss! The Cure have announced that they will release a new single each month leading up to the release of their 13th studio album in September.

season finale season!

I love Season Finales almost more than Season Premieres! it's my opinion that in the fall, we're just so glad to have new TV that the writers tend to skate by on sub-par plots, but in the spring they are forced to up their game so we miss them all summer long!

House and Bones both had stellar Part 1 of 2 episodes this past Monday, and I'm looking forward to next Monday for the conclusions!

and The Office is ending out this season with an hour-long ep this Thursday...I can't tell A THING about it from the previews; they are being just that vague...so it should be awesome!

attention Tribe members!

now is your chance to be heard! next Thursday is a 'free week' for all groups; how should we spend said free time?

vote on the poll element to the right, or write in your suggestion here!

the 'it' girl

Ruby tagged me; here's the answers!

Four jobs I've had:
1. collation monkey at Oregon Appraisal Group
2. sweeper extraordinaire at Enchanted Forest (I think it counts, even though I quit after 2 days)
3. grass seed tech at AgriSeed Labs (probably my favorite job of the bunch)
4. secretary at Jefferson Baptist Church

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1. The Royal Tenenbaums
2. Amelie
3. Rent
4. 28 Days Later

Four places I've lived:
1. Boise, ID
2. Tigard, OR
3. Salem, OR
4. Jefferson, OR

Four places I've been:
1. Florida
2. Minnesota
3. Thailand
4. Maui

Four TV shows I watch:
1. The Office
2. Lost (online)
3. Heroes (just caught season 1 on DVD)
4. House

Four people who email me regularly (doesn’t include blogging comments):
1. my dad
2. Jake Dorr (re: Dox)
3. co-workers
4. Andrea Torres

Four of my favorite foods:
1. fresh pineapple
2. chocolate & peanut butter combined
3. taco bell (classy, I know)
4. Cinnamon Life. best.cereal.ever!

Four places I would like to visit:
1. India
2. Greece
3. Italy
4. England

Four things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:
1. swimming with dolphins in Florida next March
2. the parades at Disneyworld ""
3. summer action movies! 'The Happening' & 'The Hulk' both come out on June 13th!
4. the economic stimulus check!

Four friends I'm tagging:
1. Shannon Duke
2. Danae Jones
3. Heather Sexton
4. Crystal Kelley

Ironman lives again

So, Ironman isn't my favorite kind of movie ever, but these kind of blockbuster (ie: Transformers) movies CAN be entertaining, if they don't suck. (ie: Pirates 3)

However, Robert Downey Jr is a great actor - and not only that, but he also manages to be one of those actors that you enjoy watching on-screen, AND would totally hang out with off-screen, if it weren't for the consistent constant cloud of drugs and alcohol following him around like a supernatural tormenter...

Anyway, it turns out that this personal experience has perfectly equipped him to play Tony Stark AKA Ironman - a playboy riddled with and ultimately destroyed by his weaknesses.

It's a fun flashing-lights-and-gizmos kind of movie, probably more appropriate for a July release than April.

oh, and Jeff Bridges is in it too...just try not to think of him as "The Dude" whenever you see him on screen. it's impossible!

this is how much Mitch loves me...

...he was willing to sit through two hours of this:



Mama Mia at the Hult Center in Eugene last night. I love musicals, and he doesn't. So, the compromise: went to see Ironman (very testosteron-y) at midnight on Thursday and then went to see this (not so much with the testosterone) at 8pm on Friday.

Happy Us Day!

Happy 10 year anniversary, Mitch(ie)!

You are totally the cheese to my macaroni!

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.

apparently I post about movies way too much. But I like movies. Plus, really, it's all I've got. I am embarrassingly uneducated about political issues. No one wants to hear me bitch about my job (not even me!). I am ever-unsuccessful in my attempts to run more than 3 miles in a week, and therefore I cannot triumphantly post about that. I never remember to take pictures of ... anything. I don't go snow camping or have a baby tell nap stories about...and I'm not campaigning mercilessly for a scooter to the chagrin of my spouse. although maybe I should...

anyways...here goes the movie freakout TM Katie. It cannot be helped. I tried all last week to post on...not movies. and thus...did not post. drumroll please...

According to AP, Guillermo del Toro* and Ian McKellen have reached a verbal agreement that he (Ian) will reprise his role as Gandalf in 'The Hobbit'!

I love Gandalf! (he'd kick both Dumbledore and Merlin's asses!) and Ian McKellen plays Gandalf like nobody's business!

* random aside since I mentioned Guillermo del Toro in the above post: have you seen Pan's Labrynth yet? you know, the creepy-looking subtitled 2006 foreign film? it's usually super-cheap at Hollywood video...like $5 or something ridiculous. I really should just dedicate a separate post to the awesomeness of that movie. Mitch made me watch it actually, I thought it looked like all my worst nightmares. And it was definitely dream-like...you know those dreams that are kind of creepy and you can't decide if it's a nightmare yet or not, and then it suddenly becomes awesome! yep, it's like that. only infinitely better because you can buy it and own it and re-experience the awesomeness whenever you want! also, the soundtrack is amazing, and finally: it's violent enough that guys are like "dude, that's frickin' sweet", and the little girl's so cute that girls are like "ohhhh, she's sweet", and it's totally redemptive and beautiful at the end so everyone's like "Katie was right, this movie was SWEEEET!"

"like being punched in the eyes by pure awesomeness"

...

dang, when did I become such a sucky blogger?

here is my attempt to atone for lack of posting:

yeeeeeah!

the internet is the next big thing...

does anyone else have ritual websites that they visit everytime they get online? mine are (in order - yes, I check them in THIS order...ocd much?):

1. http://www.yahoo.com/ (it's my homepage, homeboy.)
2. http://www.relevantmagazine.com/ ('slices' on the right hand side of the webpage are always entertaining and sometimes even informative)
3. http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/ (I like the snarky reviews of TV shows, regardless of the fact that I do not watch most of them...)
4. http://www.tomatonation.com/ (really entertaining writing)
5. blog stalking! (yes, this means YOU! lately, http://www.lewisandruby.blogspot.com/ is my favorite. lots of updates...)
6. if I have time, I then usually head over to http://www.amazon.com/ to see if any books, movies, or music are calling my name
7. if I have even more time, I may also head to http://www.abc.go.com/ or http://www.nbc.com/ or www.fox.com/fod/to check out their full episodes online.

08 elections

http://www.thismayhurt.blogspot.com/

vote for mitch! mitch = strongest.

new addition

while the tall blue ranger will forever hold a special place in our hearts, we now welcome into our family the white dodge with a spacious backseat and a smooth ride! yes, it gets crappy gas mileage, but Mitch does not drive car. Mitch drive truck. truck good.