I Am So Mean, But Who Could Resist?

First off I have to say hooray for the post just before this!  I have been on a dry spell with my reading, so I am so glad to have these recommendations!  I am so excited!  Jen, you are the best!

And now to the topic on which I was thinking about before logging onto wordpress – new photos of old classmates. 

A couple of weeks ago my high school class had it’s 5 year reunion.  I toyed with the idea of going, but then realized that there was no way I was driving 16 hours round trip to see a bunch of people who only really tolerated me during that painful period we call high school.  Ok, I’m exaggerating – I actually had a pretty good time in high school, but mainly due to my activities, a few girls in my graduating class, and a lot of other people not in my graduating class.  I don’t think any of my “close” friends attended the reunion, so I don’t feel like I missed out really.  But of course after the reunion, facebook was bound to get a flow of pictures from the event, so I made do with scanning over a few the next days after.  It was interesting to see how people had either changed, or how much they had NOT changed.  But this doesn’t really explain the title of this post, now does it?

Well, I like to think I am generally pretty nice, but every now and then I slip up and have a few mean moments.  One of these moments came a few months back when I was sitting in the engineering computer lab and I got to talking with one of my old friends from high school (she graduated the year before I did).  We were looking through a mutual friend’s photos when we came upon a photo of a certain person and could not help mocking this person.  I’ll say it, over the past 6 years since Person (I will not identify, obviously!) has put on more than a few pounds, and just in general really let go of his/her self.  Because in high school this person was cocky and overly confident, and we really didn’t like him/her we really had a good time making comments that were quite snide and mean, and we didn’t feel bad about it.  I mean, if you came across a picture of someone who wasn’t the nicest to you in high school and you thought wow, has he/she really let go of themselves, could you resist taking a few jabs at them?  I’m certainly not above it.

Well, it happened again – just a few minutes ago actually.  I was perusing facebook when I came across a friend’s photo album from a certain event and I was browsing through the photos when I came across 2 people from high school.  We were never friends, and pretty much they acted like I didn’t exist, or if they did acknowledge me, it was always to make me feel like I was below them.  Regardless of this, I realize that that was quite a few years ago and people have changed – I know I have.  So of course they could be much nicer people by now – in fact, a few of my friends from college are now friends with them and think they’re nice people, so maybe they really have changed for the better.  But even so, after seeing their picture I just couldn’t help but drop my jaw at how much physical change had happened to them.  Well, not so much one of them, but really more so for one particular person.

So in conclusion, I feel really mean, but at the same time I feel an eensy weensy bit justified for all the times they tried to make me or someone else feel bad.  What would/do you guys do in this situation?

<3, lindsayF

P.S.  Just because I’m talking about pictures, I’ll include some of myself so you can see how I’ve changed over the years.  Beware though – I only have pictures from just a few years back – my computer’s not what we’d call ancient and I’m notorious for not collecting photos of myself.

Freshman year, my first bowl trip with the HMB, on the beach in Florida on New Years Eve with a friend from a high school science camp

I never said I wasn’t a nerd.

Me in a box during the summer between sophomore and junior year.

And of course most recently, the wedding shot (psst, I’m the one in the white)

Sisters are good for only 2 things - annoying you, and applying deoderent for you on your wedding day.

Three Awesome Books

I know I promised to make more posts about all of the wonderful books I have been reading, but that hasn’t really happened.  I have been reading a lot this summer, but not very many of the books stood out as being great.  I read a lot of great sequels (Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, Skulduggery Pleasant Playing With Fire, Rumours: a Luxe Novel, etc…) but I didn’t really feel like posting about them.  I also re-read all of the Harry Potter books, which took a considerable amount of time.

Well, after a long drought, I have read three books recently that were all really amazing!  I am so excited about them that I literally attack everyone at work and talk about how great these are.  I am hoping that this is just the beginning and I keep finding fantastic books.  I have a lot of books in a pile on my kitchen table that look very promising………  So here are three great books if you need something to take your mind off work or school.

The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding is a British book that has actually been out forever in the UK.  There have already been three sequels published over there, but this one is just now available over here.  (The picture is actually the British cover because it is a whole lot more awesome then the American one.)  It’s about a girl named Cat Royal (which I always want to pronounce like Royale for some reason) who was left in front of the Royal Theater as a baby and has grown up in the theater.  It takes place in London in the late 1700s and the historical details are great.  Cat is loved by all the workers in the theater and spends her days roaming the streets and trying to avoid getting in scuffles with Billy “Boil” and his gang.  One night she accidently overhears the manager Mr. Sheridan talking about a diamond that he is hiding in the theater.  When he discovers her listening, she promises to help look after the diamond.  The story has lots of mystery and action as well as lots of great “Britishisms.”  I really liked Cat and couldn’t put the book down, so I really hope the other ones come out here soon.

I have been looking forward to reading The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester ever since I read a review of it months ago.  When I finally got my hands on it, I wasn’t disappointed.  The story begins on a small farm where Betty and Joe have lived a quiet life for their entire marriage.  Then Betty gets pregnant very late in life and they have Piper.  Piper is a wonderfully talkative child who happens to be able to float up near the ceiling.  Her parents keep her on the farm and don’t let her interact with other children because she is “unnatural.”  Eventually Piper harnesses her power and really learns how to fly.  She accidentally shows off her talent at the town picnic and then all heck breaks loose.  The best thing about this book was that I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next.  There was one part that was so suspenseful that I had to stop reading it at work and wait until I got home so I could scream and gasp without getting stared at.  I really loved this book a lot and I think everyone should read it!

My favorite book of all three is definitely The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante.  Not only does it have the most beautiful cover ever, it is one of those books that makes you mad, sad, horrified, and happy all in a matter of pages.  The book is told in alternating chapters between Agnes and Honey.  They both live in a religious commune that is run by a man named Emmanuel.  I don’t really want to say much more than that because it is so much better to discover what happens for yourself.  There were times when I was reading this book that I was yelling at Agnes because she made me so mad, but only because I cared about what happened to her.  The jacket flap says the story is based on the author’s own experiences, which makes it all the more terrifying and intriguing.

Well, hopefully I will keep posting about books every once in a while.  But apparently, I like to blog about cute boys and my cats a lot more.

Jen

Brendan Leonard, God of Pogs?

So as you will have read by now (for those of you who have not read, please see the posting before “Dan Radcliffe on Conan!”), the show I could not get out of my head was The Brendan Leonard Show, formerly on ABC Family back in 2003.  Thank you Jen – your sleuthing skills are Veronica Mars worthy.  I can offer no higher praise.  So I was on youtube looking for clips of the show, when I stumbled upon this beauty.  It’s not exactly from the show, but from something called Camp Jinx, which with some future research I will be able to expound more upon.  But it is an effort put forth by people, including Brendan Leonard, and it is reminiscent of the kinds of sketches from TBLS (The Brendan Leonard Show, duh).  So how many of you remember Pogs?  I remember when they were a huge hit back when I was in 4th grade, which was in…1994, a good 14 years ago.  I don’t remember the logistics of the game, just that you had a big disc called a slammer that you were supposed to “slam” into the smaller pogs.  I can’t remember exactly how it was that players collected the pogs, but I’m sure it’s probably not that complicated.  Anyhow, here’s a nice update on Pogs from a year ago, courtesy of Brendan Leonard.

Enjoy.

<3, lindsayF

Dan Radcliffe on Conan!

I didn’t catch this on TV Monday night, but thank goodness for hulu.com and youtube!  Seriously, Dan Radcliffe is adorable, and I just want to hug him and make him some supper.  He’s just so cute!  I love the interaction between him and Conan.  Watch for yourselves!

<3, 

lindsayF

Conan: “J.K. Rowling, was she all right with you…” (Conan obviously alluding to Dan’s nakedness in Eqqus (spelling?))

Dan Radcliffe: “Oh, she loved it.”

When You Can’t Remember Something…

Hey Readers!

So, it’s before noon, and I am already showered and dressed (shock!), so this is a really unusual day for me.  I’m going to be off to the library when I get this finished…I’ve decided to read some Rachel Cohn (think Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist…the trailer for the movie is adorable!).  But before that, I thought I’d get some blogging done.  Today, I have been thinking about this one show that was on ABC Family before it was ABC Family.  I think it was just called The Family Channel…or maybe Fox Family?  I don’t remember.  Anyways, there was this show on it back when I was in high school, so from the fall of 1999 to the spring of 2003, that was a kind of reality show I think, only it was about this kid.  I don’t remember his name, although I’m thinking Ryan for some reason.  Anyways, he lived in either Chicago, or a suburb of Chicago.  And basically the show just revolved around him and his friends and the crazy things they got up to.  I can’t think of the name for the show, and I can’t find it on google because I’m obviously not typing the right thing in to search for.  Does any of this ring a bell for you guys?  It’s driving me crazy!  I just can’t stop thinking about this.  OK, insert pause because I’m going to jump back over to google for a second. 

…….

Nope, couldn’t find anything relevant to what I’m thinking about.  Am I insane?

<3,

lindsayF

Manning Summer Fun

I am not embarrassed to admit that I have a huge crush on the Manning brothers (all three of them, that includes you Cooper!).  The last two Superbowls have been pretty amazing for me.

I have been lounging around on the couch all day today after calling in sick cuz I was feeling yicky.  Well, as I was casually watching the Olympics tonight, I saw this adorable commercial that made my whole day and gave me energy to get through the rest of the week.

Jen

If Only I Could Be This Funny…

I promise this is my last Twilight related post for a while, but I had to let everyone know about an extraordinarily hilarious take on “Breaking Dawn.”  I read it at work the other morning and was laughing so hard that all my co-workers had to come over and see what was wrong with me.  I don’t agree with some of her opinions (she does hate on the book a little bit) but it is so funny that I love it anyway.

Click here to discover the hilarity and make sure you are in a place where you can laugh loud and long without disturbing other people.

I discovered this little gem through Bookshelves of Doom which is one of the blogs that I read all the time at work.  The blogger is a truly cool librarian who always has something witty to say about what is going on in the world.

Okay, I am off to read a book that is not Harry Potter or Twilight related but very good all the same.

Jen

What??! How??! Who??! GRRRRRR!!

So I get a phone call from my sister tonight, which is always an exciting thing…and she says, “oh my gosh, you haven’t heard, have you?” She basically tells me that the worst thing in the whole world has happened ………………Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince will be moved back to July 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently the press release from Warner Brothers admits that the reasoning behind this is that summer is a better time to make money. What?? Splutter, what?? Are greedy production companies forgetting to pretend that their actions are motivated by anything other than immense greed and the need to swim around in big roomfulls of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck????

My initial thoughts about the situation were blocked by utter rage and disbelief, but now I am thinking that something HUGE went down either at Warner Brothers or behind the scenes of the movie and this is all just a cover. This announcement literally came out of NOWHERE. The trailer already came out with the fall date on it. The next issue of Entertainment Weekly is talking about fall movies and it will have HP on the cover. A decision this huge doesn’t just come out of nowhere at the last minute because of MONEY. I honestly think that we will never know the true cause of this move, but it has to be about more than just money. They mentioned something in their press release about the writers strike, but I don’t see how that has anything to do with anything.

Well, this news just ruined my whole night………….I am going to watch a little Penelope to make myself feel better.

Jen

In Defense of “Breaking Dawn”

It is hard to ignore all of the kerfluffle fans are having about the fourth book in the Twilight Saga. I am actually getting pretty sick of hearing about it myself. I had some issues with the second and third books, so I was fully prepared to despise this one, but come on people, it is AWESOME!!!!

For those of you who haven’t finished it yet, please stop reading now, but for everyone else, get ready to hear why I love it…….

…

…

1. Bella rocks!!!! I have spent a lot of time recently complaining about how much I hate Bella. Now I know why she was such a wimpy human character………she was born to be a vampire! I love how she is now the most intimidating member of the Cullen family. Way to go girl!

2. Charlie was allowed to stay part of Bella’s family. This was the thing that I was most worried about, the main reason that I did not want Bella to turn into a vampire…so when Ms. Meyer came up with a way to solve this problem I knew I was going to love this book. And of course, it was Jacob who came up with the ingenious solution, because Bella and Edward were too wrapped up in each other to realize how simple the answer was.

3. Seth Clearwater!!!!

4. The action revolved around so many different characters instead of just Bella and Edward. I loved all of the interactions with the Cullens and the werewolves and also the introduction of so many new vampires (Garrett anyone??).

5. Jacob got his own section!!! How can you not love this guy with all of those amusing chapter headings.

6. Jacob ended up happy. I was worried that in order for Edward and Bella to be truly happy together, Jacob would have to be eliminated, but thank goodness that was not the case. Even though it was a little icky at first, I loved the idea of Jacob and Nessie. Now they can all be a happy family together!!

7. The relationship between Jacob and Edward was classic. I love that these two finally became friends. When Edward called Jacob “my son” at the end, that was when I really sobbed.

8. No big fight at the end. I am so sick of the big end-of-the-world battle to end a series. I really am a pacifist and was happy that no one died (except of course that one chick, but I didn’t really care).

9. The bed frame and the pillows………ah wonderful.

All in all a very enjoyable book that has given me a whole new appreciation of the entire series. After seeing Stephenie Meyer in Chicago at the Breaking Dawn Concert Series, I know that she is a kind, funny, adorable woman who doesn’t deserve all of this flack just because some people are upset Jacob didn’t die.

Jen

What Lindsay’s been up to …

Hey guys,

It’s Lindsay.  I don’t even remember the last time I posted.  So what have I been up to?  Well, lots.  Last week I was down in Mexico Beach, Florida with my new-ish inlaws.  We went to the beach, we collected lots of shells (like, WHOLE, UNBROKEN shells!), we sat on the beach, we got pummeled by the waves (which were super rough, probably due to the tropical storm over by Texas), we snorkeled in the bay, and I even went on a short fishing trip with the guys and caught a 25″ sea trout that I named Cougar (don’t worry readers – I neither touched nor ate him, though other people did).  And I slathered on SPF 60 every day before going out in the sun, and I still managed to get a little burnt.  

Besides that, I’ve been job-searching (nothing new there), reading a ton of awesome YA books (again, nothing new there), and held out for almost a week on reading Breaking Dawn (I read it on the Friday after it came out, so I held out for 6 days).  OMG It was SOOOOOO good!!  I’ve heard that other people hated the book, but I just don’t understand how they could!!  I mean, I got pretty much everything I wanted!  Plus more!  And Stephenie Meyer tied everything off so cleanly that I don’t even think I have any questions left!  What are your thoughts?  I know Jen loved it, but have yet to talk to her about it (co-NGT/B’ers Amber and Jen, and frequent commenter Jill, are in Chicago at Terminus, and got to see Stephenie Meyer!  I am sooo jealous!).  I can’t wait!  

Hmm, in other news, I’m sure we’re all aware that the Olympics have begun.  Did you see that opening ceremony?!  Wow!  The Chinese really went all out and further.  I don’t think anyone could find any fault with the performances – I know I was amazed pretty much every single second!  And then that basketball game between China and USA – again, amazing!  And then last night that 400 M relay with Team USA just edging Team France out for the gold (and shattering the world record BTW!) after the French team had said that they were there to smash the Americans!  That was just beyond awesome.  I hope you all saw it.  Or if not, I hope you all go and watch a replay.  It just made you want to scream!  On a slightly bad note, the woman’s gymnastics team did not get of to such a great start.  It wasn’t terrible, but they did finish second to China in the qualifying round.  It was so sad because Chellsie Memmel (I’m not going to look up correct spellings for anyone, so bear with me) only got to do the uneven bars, as well as Sam Preczek, who injured her ankle in between practice and the qualifying rounds, so she was only able to compete on uneven bars also.  So sad.  I wish both of them would have been able to compete on everything – especially Chellsie Memmel…but maybe she’ll still be around for 2012?  I hope so.  I like her.  Of course Shawn Johnson was my highlight of the gymnastics last night…she’s just so small and cute and she’s always smiling!  How could you not love her?  Well, actually I’ve seen a lot of hate towards her on the web, and all I have to say to that is – she’s 16!  Good grief give the girl a break.  And who cares if she has a boyfriend, or might dress inappropriately at times?  Have we not all done the same thing?  I know people think that I’m a great role model because I dress conservatively, love school, read a lot, and try to be nice as much as possible.  But I’ve done a few things parents wouldn’t want their kids doing.  But guess what, pretty much all of us have done a few things we wouldn’t want out in the open.  All right, I’m done defending Shawn.  But seriously, can’t we all just love her for being as good as she is?!  

Well, that’s all for now – I’m off to return materials to the library, check out True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet by Lola Douglas, and then go see what it takes to get a Tennessee driver’s license.  

Ciao!

lindsayF