I’m fighting, but I don’t think I will win this battle. You see, every single member of my family was sick at once, except me. I ended up taking care of everything and now it is coming back. I’m not feeling well at all. I am hoping it goes quickly like it did with Josh and doesn’t linger like it did with my mom and brother. Right now I have a fever and I am tired. Let’s hope the tylenol kicks in.

I have been so busy lately that I haven’t been online too much. So I think it will take me some time to read back. First though, a nap.

King Kong – Peter Jackson made me cry. I admit it, I shed a few tears during King Kong.

At first I was not enjoying the movie. It didn’t seem to flow properly and I found my attention drifting elsewhere. All of the sudden the pace started to quicken and things seemed to be going too fast. Eventually (and not too late) everything was just right. Weta again did a wonderful job. Andy Serkis as Kong was lovely. I liked Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow and Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll, but Jack Black as Carl Denham didn’t exactly feel right. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t great.

Well, I imagine I will probably buy this if only to see the emotions in Kong’s face.

Mrs. Henderson Presents – You know, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this movie when I first heard about it. Hell, I still don’t quite know what to make of it.

After getting over seeing Bob Hoskins naked, I thought the movie was interesting. I can’t say I will recommend this to anyone, but it didn’t make me want to gouge out my eyes.

Still on the list: Syriana, Munich, Memoirs of a Geisha (maybe), and Brokeback Mountain. I’m also becoming intrigued by The White Countess but I think that is just my love of the Fiennes family’s acting.

Happy Solstice/Yule.

I gave my parents sheets as my mom never seems to get to the store to buy them. I’ve gotten some gifts in the mail, but only opened one so far. It had perishables, so I HAD to open it. First we ate the spicy peanuts and then we ate some peanut butter fudge. Holy carp was the fudge good. We held back and only ate a little. I’m itching to open the other boxes, but I am trying to be strong here.

I cancelled the back ordered book from the school bookstore. I called them this morning and they said they didn’t know when they would be able to get one in. I instead ordered it from textbooksrus.com. They actually had it in stock. I will hopefully have it in time for class.

I just opened a can of cashews (Josh took the spicy peanuts to work) and the cat went nuts until I let her sniff the can. There was such a painful look of disappointment in her face.

OK, off to hopefully see King Kong. Maybe.

I’ve been trying to catch up on my movies both in the theater and in the stores.

The Chronicles of Narnia. Fabulous. Weta did a wonderful job on everything. I think there were a couple of times where Georgie Henley (Lucy) could have done with a retake, but otherwise it was extremely well done. The casting agent did a great job getting the right kids for this movie. I’m glad there weren’t too many religious overtones in the movie. It would have been so easy to turn it into a piece of religious propaganda, but they took the hard way and decided to make it something entertaining.

The Brothers Grimm – I actually like this one. I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t horrible. Maybe it was the costumes or just the fact that I love the stories. Worth a rental possibly a purchase.

Must Love Dogs – Not again. This was a chick flick, just like Under the Tuscan Sun. There were some funny moments and you just have to love Christopher Plummer. I mean, he was Georg von Trapp! Stockard Channing was great though her part wasn’t that big. I’d say it is good for a rental, but I’m not totally sold on it.

Aeon Flux – As I stated previously, being a big fan of the original cartoon made it really hard to watch it. I tried to be objective and for that reason I would say it isn’t a bad film, but there was just something missing. How could you not love Marton Csokas as Trevor. I mean he was Celeborn. Matinee or rental worthy. Maybe a purchase.

The Forgotten – I had heard about this, but was never sold on seeing it in the theater. Apparently for good reason. It was well acted, but the story in general just didn’t do it for me. It seemed to predictable. Maybe a rental.

Monster – Worth a buy. Most of this happened before me, but I remember the cases against Aileen Wuornos. This was a good movie on so many levels. The acting was great and the writing was good. This is one of those movies you just really ought to watch for yourselves.

Next up for my viewing (and hopefully this week) will be King Kong, Syriana, Brokeback Mountain and Munich.

It looks like a filing cabinet got sick on my desk and shelves. I am really procrastinating on cleaning it up. Bad, I know. The sad thing is that I made this mess last night. I’ve been trying to find paperwork and even with it filed, it is still hard to find. Perhaps I need a trip to an organization store. As long as they have one of those HoMedics Shiatsu chair massagers, I’m sure Josh will agree. He “tested” one while I went shopping for some needed office supplies. He says they work good.

High today of 62° F. Brrrrr.

I didn’t go to sleep thinking about The Constant Gardener. Instead I was still cringing from last nights Nip/Tuck. I don’t watch it regularly but I happened to catch it last night and kept getting sucked back to it.

Oh and this is kind of for future reference, but feel free to follow it if you want. I click on the Animal Rescue site once a day to click the help button. From there I finish the rest of the group. My order is this:
Animals, People, B00bs, Kids, Books and Trees. It is a little mantra I do to remember what is left to click. It works for me and takes about 10 seconds to do the clicks.

I finally got a chance to see The Constant Gardener. It was one of those movies that I knew I couldn’t handle seeing in the theater (like Munich and Black Hawk Down), but really wanted to see. I swear I just wanted to cry constantly, though I didn’t. I did think about it for the over 30 minutes I sat waiting on the front porch for the UPS guy. If I am thinking about this movie a week from now, I think it will earn a rightful place in my head as a good movie. I don’t know quite how to explain it other than it was emotional.

It was a good thing I didn’t pay for next or second day shipping for my school books. They shipped today rather than Friday when I got the email saying they had shipped and they will be arriving tomorrow. Now if only they had my final book in stock!! I have decided to give them until Wednesday. If I hear nothing by the end of business day Wed., I will call or email on Thursday morning.

I’m not going to get mushy. I just want to say Happy Birthday to my best friend and husband Josh.

A few questions for folks. Comment or email, either way as usual.

First, has anyone ever used BioFreeze before? I received a sample from a customer at my dad’s shop and finally needed to use it for my mom’s ankle. It seemed to help, but I am just curious whether anyone else has used it.

Second, I need recommendations on bike locks. I need to leave my bike on one campus while I go to another. While I am not near it, i’d like to keep it secure. I’m ready to use two locks if necessary. It isn’t an expensive bike, but I would like to come back and find it rather than have to walk home. Home isn’t that far, but it will be far enough if I have to walk it with my books and gear.

Today is a gloomy and overcast day. We had plans, but the weather seems to have taken the life out of us.

If you haven’t been following the events of “A Very Lego Christmas” over at blogography.com, you should. Scroll down some to start from the beginning. Every day Dave opens a door to his Lego Advent Calendar which gives a new piece to add to the story. It has been, um, entertaining.

Movies, let me see. I did not love Aeon Flux but that is probably because I am a totally biased Aeon cartoon lover. It was OK, but nothing like the old cartoon. Narnia was gorgeous and I am hoping to see King Kong soon. I am a Weta fan. How nice is it that they have a list of resources for the field.

Does your cat clean its litter box without using it anywhere near that time? Mine does. Maybe she gets her cleaning habits from me. It was just weird to see the front half in her box rearranging the litter while the back half never made it in.

I’ve been somewhat secluding myself. I’ve been stressing over things I really don’t need to stress over and cleaning to take my mind off of said things. I’m better now. I think.