Lolcat of the Week

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What's been holding up "The Time Traveler's Wife"? The answer will surprise you...

So I published two more reports for The Examiner today, both on upcoming film adaptations: Where the Wild Things Are and The Time Traveler's Wife. (Click on the titles to read my reports.) In writing up all I knew about those upcoming releases, I was curious as to what had delayed The Time Traveler's Wife so long. So I went digging, both on IMDB and Wikipedia.

I learned that New Line Studio had bought the rights to make the book into a film before Audrey Niffenegger had even published it (!). I learned that Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt (when they were still together) had been rumored to want the rights to the film. I learned that it was originally intended to be released in fall of 2008, after having trouble hiring both a director and a screenwriter. They cast a great actor in the principal role, Eric Bana, and a so-so one for the title role, Rachel McAdams (yep, she was in The Notebook).

So what caused the delay? Well, it's really more of a who than a what, and there are two whos involved. (Man, I sound like Dr. Seuss...) You can blame both Mother Nature and Eric Bana. You see, Eric Bana had to shave his head for a new role in the upcoming Star Trek, but then New Line asked Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams to do a reshoot of a particular scene in The Time Traveler's Wife. They had to wait both for Bana's hair to grow back and the right timing to do the scene, which apparently takes place in a meadow.

Crazy. But at least it's got a new release date: August 14, 2009. No trailer as of yet, but I will be sure to post that once it's out. To learn more about what caused the delay, read my report.

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Three films I can't wait to see

I stayed home from work today, having caught the stomach flu from my boyfriend. If you recall, he was violently ill last week. Well, yesterday was my turn. :[

Thankfully, it seems to have been only a 24-hour thing. It came on suddenly yesterday morning and though my stomach is still roiling a bit, I'm feeling human again.

I hate when I get sick on a weekend because that's my down-time. But at least Saturday was a great day. Ricky and I went to our favorite restaurant, Les Halles, and noshed on yummy steak and crème brûlée. (Pictures forthcoming; maybe tomorrow when I'm not feeling so yucky.)

ETA: OK I couldn't resist posting the pix when I saw them enlarged on my computer. ;) Here they are:
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Love him.


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No, I have no idea why I'm making that expression.


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The Happy Couple. (I love how the background's all blurry here.)


At least I got to eat well before I got sick!

After eating at Les Halles, we came back home and had fun watching videos on the web. First we saw the new series of "Full Metal Alchemist" which is being released online. (Verdict: AWESOME so far!) Then we started researching upcoming films on YouTube and IMDB.com.

Some films I can't wait to see? "Up" by Pixar; "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," natch; and the one I'm positively giddy over, "Where the Wild Things Are."

Here are some most awesome trailers:

"Up"


"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"


"Where the Wild Things Are"


Are there any films you are dying to see? Let me know in the comments! :-)

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Lolcat of the Week

Who knew tigers could have such funny expressions? LOL!
Have a great week, guys! :-D

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Book Fair/Twilight Festival Recap

So today was our Book Fair/Twilight Festival at school. My AP English Language students were in charge of representing various genres such as Young Adult, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Graphic Novels, etc. I had them make "billboards" (aka, poster-boards) with flashy pictures and book synopses.

They did awesome. Here they are with their boards:

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Romance

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Comic Books/Graphic Novels

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Poetry

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Young Adult

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Nonfiction

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Plays

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Comedy

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Fantasy/Science Fiction

Love them all. I am so, so proud of them.

The one unexpected treat today was seeing all the Twilight-related paraphernalia. I wasn't in charge of that portion of today's event, the Twilight Club was. I know what you're thinking -- why don't I run the Twilight Club?! Well, as an English teacher, I would rather promote literacy than love of Twilight -- strange but true. This is why I run the Book Club.

But back to the Twilight Festival! I think they did a great job. There were competitions in Arm Wrestling (Emmett did not show up for that, sadly), Lightning Baseball, plus they had the most awesome Human Chessboard (which you can see in the video). They also had booths set up where students could get face paint to look like vampires, plus you could buy red velvet cupcakes and fruit punch (out of blood vials, natch). It was crazy.

The pièce de résistance, however, had to be the Drama Club's production of "Twilight." Their performance was entirely based on movement and expression -- no words were spoken. And it was awesome. It presents the story from when Bella first arrives in Forks, and carries it all the way to the scene where Edward saves Bella by sucking James's venom from her blood.

The students were so much in character -- Bella had flannel! James had a leather jacket! Edward had a peacoat-like jacket and face makeup that sparkled in the light! There were also students representing the rest of the Cullens in the festival, but they didn't appear in the skit.

It's kind of hard to see in the video, but in the scene where Edward reveals his sparklepire self to Bella, the sun, which had been partially obscured by clouds, decided to lend the actors a hand and it shone directly on Edward. I swear to you, I had chills running up and down my arms.

Here's the video. (Sorry for the blurry quality -- this was taken using a digital camera!). Close-up pictures of the student actors are after the vid.




Pretty, Pretty Peektures
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Edward and Bella.

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Mike Newton and Jacob Black (love Jacob's shirt!)

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Alice and Jasper (love her expression!)

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Dr. Carlisle and me. :-p

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James and other random nomadic vampires

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Edward gives Bella's would-be attacker the stink-eye.

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Bella confronts Edward.

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Edward "makes" Bella dance.

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Edward fights James.

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Aww...


How did you like the video/pictures? Let me know in the comments!

Have you had a chance to check out my Examiner Book Review of Twilight (the book) yet? Read it and please comment on the site!




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My Very First Book Review on Examiner

OK, so as you may or may not know, I am the new Miami Book Reviews Examiner. That's right, I officially have two jobs now -- I am an English teacher and a (wanna-be) journalist.

I just posted my first article on the site! Guess which book I reviewed...?

Twilight, duh. ;-) Unfortunately, the Twilight Examiner post was already filled, so I had to settle for the Book Reviews post. I think I got a pretty sweet deal, though.

Please read my review! And comment on the actual site (and here, too)! Let me know what you think of my review. I value your opinion.

I decided to review Twilight first not just because I love it, but because I figured it would attract attention. This is actually a paying job, but my paycheck is dependent on the amount of hits I get. So click now and click often! :-D

Let me know too if there are any books you'd like me to review. I can't wait to get started on my next piece...

Click here subscribe to my mailing list and be notified when I publish my next Book Review!

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I am an incurable romantic (and other truths).

I am an incurable romantic. You know this if you have ever chanced upon my Twilight blog. You may not know that much of what I read (and I read a lot, about 1-2 books a week) is romantic in nature. The same goes for my film-viewing. If it weren't for the boyf, I would watch solely romantic movies. Thanks to him, I have come to appreciate action films as well -- no go on the horror/suspense categories as of yet, though. I try to convince him to see a romantic film with me every now and then, however, and he's pretty receptive I must admit.

So in my combing other Twilight-related blogs for news of the upcoming sequel, "New Moon," I chanced upon the following trailers for this new short film called "The Summer House," starring the main actor from "Twilight," Robert Pattinson. I have a feeling it is right up my romantic alley. Here are the trailers:

The Summer House (trailer)



The Summer House (extended trailer with music)


I first saw the extended trailer with music some time ago and had forgotten about it, thinking it wouldn't be released or whatever. I even fell in love with the song that plays during the second trailer; it's called "Into the Night" and it's by the Motorhomes. They're a pretty decent band.

I would be over the moon if the film came out and I honestly never expected it to, but according to recent buzz in the Twi-verse, it might be coming out soon.

Contrary to what I thought when I first saw the extended trailer sometime in the summer, it will not be a feature-length film but rather a short. Its IMDB page cites its run time as 12 minutes (!). That's short, but what I have seen of it so far intrigued me ... I really want to see it! (And no, this desire has nothing to do with a certain floppy haired actor with the initials R.P. :p)

I also found out that the film has its own website. It's quite rustic and charming and it has quite a bit of information about the film. Here is the synopsis:
The Summer House is about a moment in a young girl's life. A turning point, a time for decision: to go back, or go forward?

Jane (17) is in rural France visiting her aunt Priscilla during the hot summer of 1969, the year of the Moon landings. Also staying at this beautiful 19th century chateau, a sleeping beauty of a house, are her aunt’s old flame Freddie Porteous, a charming Englishman, and his wife Marie Pierre, a French woman of great sophistication and beauty.

Jane has left behind an unfaithful first love. Several letters have pursued her, letters decorated with hearts to tempt her. The author of these letters, Richard (18), turns up uninvited. Jane is unaware that her situation is provoking tensions among the older generation, she catches whispers of unspoken somethings at the heart of Freddie and Priscilla's relationship and she finds Marie Pierre’s allure and passion unsettling.

Jane looks to her role models for advice but Priscilla, Freddie and Marie Pierre have become wrapped up in their own giddy feelings about what it was like to be 17 and in love. At a party to celebrate the moon landings Jane is transformed by Marie Pierre from English mouse to sophisticated woman. Wanting to impress and suspecting Richard might be at the party she holds her head high.

Dizzy from dancing and emboldened by champagne Jane ventures out to the Summer House. Curiosity has got the better of her. Is there a dalliance between her sensible aunt and charismatic Freddie? Instead she is confronted a repentant Richard. He wants her back. She is impossibly tempted, but repelled by his crude attempt to force her.

The romantic ideal of young love becomes crushed by his rough desire and by the giggling arrival of Priscilla and Freddie. Jane is forced to face the disappointment of reality. Troubled by Richard’s motivation and by the apparent immaturity of Priscilla & Freddie, she burns the unopened letters and drops them into a deep well. Her world has changed, expanded; a more complex fairy tale is emerging…

Interesting, no? It also cites that the film is based on a book, but apparently it is only available in the UK. Woe...

Hopefully the Twilight fervor will convince the publishers to bring the book here! If you are interested in learning more about "The Summer House," you can visit its site here.


In other news, I received my score report from the ABCTE today and yes, folks, I officially passed both the Professional Education and English 6-12 tests! (These are teacher certification exams, without which I'd be unemployed) YAY! I've been a nervous wreck since I took the exams (almost a month ago), literally tearing my nails to shreds as I waited for my scores... So I'm happy that's one less stress to worry about.

But now I'm worried about something else, something even more important -- the boyf suddenly became ill this afternoon while I was relaxing at his house with him. He seems to either have contracted some stomach virus or developed a bad reaction to something he ate earlier in the day. We don't know yet and will have to just wait it out. I felt bad leaving him (no, we don't live together), but I had to come back home to get ready for work tomorrow. Plus he lives with his family, so I know he's not alone. He's sleeping now -- hopefully when he wakes up tomorrow, he will feel better.

It wasn't until I met him that I realized you could be so affected by the status (emotional, physical or otherwise) of somebody else. When he hurts, I hurt. It is a visceral thing, a connection that nothing or no one else can break. I know I am truly blessed by his presence and often consider myself the luckiest girl in the world. So please say a little prayer for him tonight. I'd really appreciate it.

I think I am going to jump in the shower now, maybe make myself some hot choc, and curl up with le chat and watch a film. Possibly a romantic one. Possibly even "Twilight." ;)


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Lolcat of the Week

I love the expressions on both of the Lolcats in this pic. The black cat's spooked look is funny as all heck, but it's the look of utter determination on the orange cat's face that does me in. ;-D


funny pictures of cats with captions

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These are my fears.

This post was inspired by Mistress Elsha's post on her 5 fears. (Be sure to check out her blog, she's the awesomeness!)

So these are my fears, in no particular order:

SPIDERS
'Nuff said, really.



DRIVING
This is a white-knuckle fear for me, so much so that I do not own a car or possess a driver's license. True story!



HEIGHTS
My knees quake, I tremble like a leaf and I get queasy whenever I'm walking near a precipice or looking down a steep cliff. And yet, I heart roller coasters. I think I'm more scared of heights when I'm standing, though.


THE DARK

Yes, I sleep with a light on (a very dim light). I can only sleep in the dark when I'm not alone. I think this fear is related to my fear of ghosts (see below).


DEATH (AND DEAD PEOPLE!)

Like most people, I am afraid of dying and of losing my loved ones to death. This is mostly because I am afraid of not knowing what happens after we die. My faith helps comfort me a bit, but still ... (shudders) It sucks not knowing. I am also intensely afraid of dead people, aka ghosts. I belong to a family of seers, people who regularly see ghosts. I myself have never seen a ghost and I regularly pray to God to never let me see one. I promise one day to blog about the ghosts my family has seen, including the one in my very own house. (shudders)

So what are your fears? Let me know in a comment!

ETA: I wrote a poem on Protagonize about my five fears, which you can read here.

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I'm a big kid now.

I never thought you could outgrow Disney World, but our recent trip there has me rethinking the matter.

This was a seriously last-minute trip. Financially, we were thinking it might be better to stay home and enjoy the pleasures that Miami has to offer, pleasures we don't take enough advantage of, honestly. But a friend had recommended we try priceline.com (he recently got a great price on a hotel) and so we did, not thinking anything would come out of it.

If you've never used priceline.com, you basically get to choose the price you want to pay, whether for a hotel, flight, rental car, whatever. They can either refuse or accept your offer, but if they accept it -- you have to pay it. So don't give an offer unless you plan on honoring it!

We gave an offer to a hotel near Disney, not really thinking they would accept it, and they did. And just like that, we had to pack our bags and go! This was Wednesday night. We were extremely surprised that the hotel accepted our offer -- I truly don't think we expected they would and I think we were also already resigned to staying home in Miami. So yeah, a big surprise. Maybe even a little disappointment, truth be told.

Thursday morning, we went to Magic Kingdom, where we spent the entire day. The amount of people was overwhelming. I don't think I'll ever go to a theme park during Spring Break again! As you'll see in the pictures below (especially the first one), it was a literal sea of people. You couldn't walk without almost bumping into someone. Seriously unreal. So we had to Fast Pass all the rides. We did get to go on Space Mountain twice, which is a big deal because they're closing the ride down in a few weeks to give it a complete overhaul. It won't reopen till 2010. We also hit the Haunted Mansion (my personal favorite), the Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and I think that's it. The lines were way too long for rides like It's a Small World and Peter Pan.

The boyf and I weren't too disappointed that we didn't get to ride the attractions we missed due to long lines because we were there not too long ago. That's the downside of living near Orlando, I guess. You can get sick of Disney World.

So yes, I think we outgrew Disney World this vacation. It wasn't just the insane amount of people and having to jostle our way around the park -- I think our taste for theme parks has changed. We've become rollercoaster junkies. The lack of thrilling rides in Magic Kingdom was a disappointment for us. Mind you, we knew what we were getting into, and sure, we could've gone to a more thrilling park like Islands of Adventure. But we're waiting until their newest ride, the Rockit, opens. And I cannot wait for that...

Here are some peektures of our last-minute trip along with the obligatory comments:

Look at the amount of people. Jeez. Well, at least the castle's pretty! :-D


Ricky and I enjoying the Mass Transit cars. (Gah, I need a tan...)


A new addition to the park -- a Winnie the Pooh tree! (If you squint, you can see Piglet.)


Ricky and the Winnie the Pooh tree.


Random picture from the Tom Sawyer ferry.


Ricky on the deck of the ferry. I am ridiculously proud of this picture for some reason. I love how the sun peeks over Ricky's shoulder.


Saying good night and good-bye (again) to the Magic Kingdom.

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These are a few of my (current) favorite things...

Etsy
While I love buying from big companies like Target and Amazon.com, I also try to help out the little people whenever I can. And I've discovered, thanks to online stores like Etsy.com, that sometimes it's the handmade things that are the best and last the longest. What I like about Etsy is that they have such a wide selection of the most random things. Need fingerless gloves? No problem. Are you obsessed with butterflies, like I am, and want to buy nothing but butterfly-covered objects? Look no further. They truly have almost everything. And the prices are pretty good, too. Here are some of my favorite sellers on Etsy, mostly jewelry related:
Twizzlers
So lately I am obsessed with Twizzlers, especially the strawberry-flavored variety. It's funny because I normally am not one for gummy, chewy candy. I didn't like Twizzlers much as a child. I tried it again recently, though, and now I am craving it nonstop. Twizzlers = love.



Quilts
I personally do not own a quilt, but I have always wanted one. I love how they exude that down-home, country chic that I love in furnishing. If I could sew at all, I would probably make one, but since, alas, I cannot sew, I will probably end up buying one someday. Simply Shabby Chic makes some particularly fetching quilts for Target. I am currently in love with this one. (Boyf, take note. My birthday's a scant six months away, you know...)



Tori Amos
Now, I know it's not accurate to call this singer a current favorite thing, not only because she is obviously not a thing but because I don't just love her currently. I've always hearted this singer, from the very first time I heard her in middle school. I was either in 7th grade or just starting 8th grade. The song was "Silent All These Years." The lyrics were my rawest feelings set to music. Made beautiful. I'd never connected so viscerally with music before. Who was this sprite-like woman with the blazing red hair and the voice that could cut straight to my heart? I ran out and bought her album, Little Earthquakes, immediately. On cassette. (Yes, I am that old.) More than 10 years later (told you I was old), I am still in love with her music, still wondering what draws me so to her.

Here is the video for her first single, "Welcome to England" off her new album Abnormally Attracted To Sin, which comes out on May 19. To learn more about Tori Amos, go here.




Last Minute Trips

There are few things better than last minute trips. Some of my most favorite trips with the boyf were the ones we decided upon the night before. We've planned many memorable trips this way... Disney World! Key West! And while Tokyo may not have been planned at the last minute last year per se, it was still pretty spur of the moment. And I loved that trip, every second of it. This week, we might be going to Disney World again since I'm currently on spring break and I'm in a Mickey mood. We might be visiting Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. But we won't know till the last minute, natch. ;-)

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