I apologize for the lack of posting over the past week. I have had a terrible cold, which is making it difficult for me to do anything. However, I am almost finished Paradise Kiss. The review should be up before the end of the week. And since I am on the mend, I hope to have a few more posts to push out this week as well. Wish me luck!
Movie Review: The Secret World of Arrietty
I adore Studio Ghibli movies. Our DVD shelves are stocked with a variety of their titles - My Neighbor Totoro, The Cat Returns, and Ponyo, just to name a few. So when we heard that Arrietty was being released in theaters, my family was pretty excited to see it. (The constant commercials on the Disney Channel were no help either!) I didn't think we would find the time to see it opening weekend, but we managed to fit it in.
With only a 94-minute running time, Arrietty is a fairly short movie. Unfortunately, the lack of any real characterization or conflict due to the time constraints is noticeable. Most of the movie is spent showing how Arrietty and her family borrow things from the 'human beans.' We don't really get to know any of the humans. As a result, the climax of the movie doesn't bring out the emotions that it should. Instead of caring about whether a character lives or dies, the audience is forced to just float along with the story. But don't think that this makes it a terrible movie. On the contrary, it's a nice journey we are taken on. The lovely artwork and gorgeous soundtrack make the blandness of the plot worthwhile. It would just be nicer if there was a bit more meat on this story's bones.
Doomed!
I should surrender my Geek Badge. I haven't actually done anything geeky in quite a long time. No jdramas, no video games, nothing. I suppose I could talk about the television shows I've been watching but it's been stuff like the first two seasons of Cake Boss. Netflix is my crack. All of the horrible shows I never wanted to watch in the first place are right there at the tips of my fingers. And I am a curious cat. And we all know what happened to the curious cat. I am doomed.
And just to plug myself a little here: I have started a new blog where I talk about all my funky mental junk. Insecure Psyche. I hope you like it.
Ow
As I was attempting to keep my dogs from running out the front door, I smacked my knee on the doorjamb and bruised it pretty badly. I'm OK when I'm just sitting or standing but bending my knee hurts a lot. I wish I had one of those chair lifts that use new jersey electricity so I didn't have to walk up the stairs. That part is the absolute worst. Well, that and trying to step in or out of the bathtub. But I only shower once a day. I have to walk up and down the stairs multiple times. At least it's only a bruise. I should be all better in a few days. Hopefully.
Almost over
Only a few more hours left of this work week. Unfortunately, we found out today that our boss is coming back from his vacation a week earlier than his calendar says. Today has been pretty harsh on my nerves. I'm almost ready to really research small business loans bad credit (though I don't think my credit is 'bad' anymore...I think it's been upgraded to 'fair' or 'good') so I can start my own fitness studio. I'm tired of working for someone else. I want to branch out and be my own boss. I'd also like to do something I enjoy doing, considering right now I hate what I do. I wish...
I wish...
The difficulties of biking
Everyone in my family got bikes last year. However, we've never actually used them. Mostly because there isn't a lot of good biking areas where we live. That would mean trying to buy a bike rack for one of our cars. I'm not sure there are any bike racks that would fit on my husband's PT Cruiser and I think those SUV bike racks that go on the roof look stupid. That leaves us with my car. We'd have to get a rack that attaches to the trunk, though they can be a pain in the butt to use. Exercising should not be this difficult.
Who wants to clean my house?
As I have been thinking about my new furniture all day, I quickly realized that my house is a pigsty and I have no idea how we'd fit the fabulous couch into our tiny space. Even if it FIT, all the junk would quickly amass and you'd never see the awesomeness of it again. It would just be some odd-looking cushions with dogs piled atop. But I am to lazy to clean the entire house myself. And both the husband and the kid are terrible at helping clean. (It usually ends up with a lot of whining.) Therefore, I have decided that I either need a robot maid (hey, shouldn't The Jetsons be coming true soon?) or a holly springs house cleaning service. Somehow, I think the robot would be more likely. No, Roomba doesn't count. The biggest problem isn't actually the cleaning. It's the fact that we have no place to put anything. My house is very tiny and between the video gaming husband, the only-grandchild-on-both-sides-of-the-family kid, three dogs, two chinchillas, a cat, a bird, and myself...let's just say there isn't a lot of leftover space. Ooh, I wonder if I could sell everything and start over brand new. The new owners could keep all the crap. They just can't have the Xbox 360. I use that a lot.
I need some new furniture
My house quite desperately needs new furniture. Our current couch is a terribly uncomfortable hand-me-down from my in-laws. There are way too many cushions and pillows for it, which usually end up on the floor for the dogs to lay on, and they make the 'main' cushions slide off the seat. I hate it. I'm tempted to send my husband pictures of some log furniture to replace it. Granted, most of it is way out of our price range. But wouldn't this look awesome next to all of our video game systems. It would be like Abe Lincoln transported to the future! We also need a new bed. Our bed is almost 15 years old and is seriously falling apart. As a replacement? BAM! "G'nite Paw!" Though my husband would probably say that bed isn't 'sexy' enough. Since when do beds need to be sexy? They need to be functional! This would probably be more to his taste. So boring.
He might regret not buying a new bed sooner.
Baby Gifts
One of my duties at work is to approve (or get approval from higher ups) for various expenses incurred by our contracted workers. While you would that that it would be commonplace for contractors to keep their expenses down, that is not always the case. For example, one of our employees (not a contractor but he does the same type of work they do) today bought a present for one of the people working for our client. The giftee's wife had recently had a baby. Normally, we get them something small and the higher ups approve it. (I don't have the authority to approve it.) Our guy bought a baby towel for $35. Yes, a $35 baby towel. I had very similar towels when my daughter was an infant and the cost $15. People are crazy. I mean, when I was pregnant, I totally wanted at baby jogger city select stroller for my baby. There was no way we could afford $500 for a stroller though. (And, to be honest, that is pretty outrageous.) I got something just as awesome for about 1/5 of the price. Just because something costs more, it doesn't mean that it is the best. Besides, this is all stuff that the baby will grow out of in a few years. Save your money and buy something that will last a long time. It will be appreciated much more.
I wish my life was more exciting
I always feel like I should post longer entries here. The problem is....I never really have anything to say. I'm not a particularly witty person. I just don't have the ability to write things that are funny or cute or whatever. And a majority of my day is spent doing mundane, mind-numbing things anyway. When I'm not doing bookkeeping stuff, which is really really boring, I'm surfing the web for things like yomega yo-yos. (By the way, I have a weakness for light up yo-yos. Creepy spider-filled ones? Not so much. Yes, I think I am 10.) I envy people like The Bloggess or Lauren, who seem to have so much fun in life. Seriously, my schedule is like this: 6:15AM - wake up & shower 6:30AM - wake the kid up & do breakfasty things 7:00AM - drive to work (approx 1 hr commute) 8:00AM until 4:30PM - try not to die of boredom at work (I really need a more exciting job. Bookkeeping is not exciting.) 4:30PM - drive home (approx 1 hr commute) 5:30PM - pick kid up
Then on Mondays and Fridays, I teach Zumba from 7PM - 8PM. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's 6:30PM - 7:30PM. Somewhere in there I have to eat dinner and get the kid to bed. By the time I actually have time to DO anything, it's 9PM. I go to bed at 11PM so there is only about 2 hours for anything good to happen. Usually I am playing Facebook games or watching TV.
I really need a more exciting life. Unfortunately, the only way to accomplish that would be to quit the soul-sucking job. Alas, money is needed for things like food and keeping our house. Damn you, money!