Today was the first day of Middle School for my daughter. She started 6
th grade. I am hoping this year will not be as awful as last year. She is still on academic probation. She will be on until December, if she misbehaves, she will be expelled. I'm worried because Middle School is a whole new routine. Lockers, switching classrooms, different teacher for each subject. Well I made it through, she will too. It is just so different than when my son went to that school. It is a PK - 8 school, but once you hit 1st grade, you were in the 'same school'. The past few years, they made grade 6,7,8 a 'separate school', having their own entrance and floor.
The past 10 days movie watching has been all over the place. 2 movie theater movies and the rest at home.
The Last Exorcism
What a waste of money. I was expecting something on the level of "The Exorcist", but it wasn't. It was done documentary style (Like Blair Witch), however, it wasn't scary, not in the least. The ending was garbage. I do not recommend, I was disappointed.
Dear John
I read the book by Nicholas Sparks a few years ago. My daughter wanted to see it, so we got it from the library. Pretty good romance movie, predictable, somewhat. Boy meets girl, They fall in love, boy leaves girl....blah blah blah.
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Clash of the Titans (2010)
Remake of the 70s movie with better FX & costumes. Nothing new here.
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Berkley Square
The latest BBC miniseries from my list. Story of 3 nannies at the turn of the 20th century in London. These young nannies become friends, as they all work on the same block. They all come from very different backgrounds, but find common ground in their lot. It is roughly a 9 hour miniseries and great acting. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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Machete
Robert Rodriguez does it again with his 70 style exploitation type violence. Starring Danny Trejo as Machete, this fast paced action film has everything from sex & violence to a bit of comic relief. Fun movie, don't walk in expecting high art, it is not that, but a 4 out of 5 stars.
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The Little Prince
Yes, like the book. A 70s live action movie based on it. Very accurate, and cute.
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Nanny McPhee Returns
Little c, big P. A charming sequal to the original. This movie, moves up in time about 75 years. This takes place during WWII in England. Nanny comes to help children in need and in the processes teaches them something about family.
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D.O.A. (1950)
Film noir at its best. A man has discovered he has luminous poising and has only days to live. He has to find out who his killer is.
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The Back-up Plan
I like Jennifer Lopez as an actress, more so than a singer. This is a cute romantic comedy. I recommend for a light movie day.
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Mother
Korean language movie. A mother goes to great lengths to protect her mentally challenged son. This thriller has a twist, so pay attention.
Some of you are probably wondering what happened to my reading. Truth is, it has slowed way down. Currently I am reading " The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Steg Larsson. It is a library borrow, so I will be done with it before the end of 2 weeks. The queue for this book and the 3rd book (1st one too) is mega long. Although it goes fast. I was at #1,300 when I put it on the queue, but it only took about 8 weeks to get it. I'm listening to 2 books, as I posted below. " Mustaine" about Dave Mustaine of Megadeth/Metallica fame, and still listening to the Dale Carnagie book. These audio books are pretty long...around 13 hours each. I listen to about 30 min a day on most cases, although "Mustaine" is awesome. I love hearing about Dave Mustaines upbringing and his start in the music business, so I am really enjoying it, and really listening to every word said. I'm bummed because I cannot find my copy of " The Artists Way". I've had that book forever, and I know it is in this house somewhere!!
This is my completed mirror.
1. I painted the mirror gold, because it shows through.
2. I used Tacky glue to affix the various beads, old jewelry and glass mosaic orbs.
It took 3 days.
Clarissa opted for a less cluttered look.
1. Painted mirror
2. With Tacky glue affixed glass mosaic orbs, and craft rhinestones.
It is very pretty.
Bride of the Monster (1955) Edward D. Wood movie starring Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson (as usual). Typical B-Grade movie, even worse because it was by Wood. I usually find his campy movies pretty entertaining, but this one, not so much. 2 out of 5 stars WarlockJulian Sands stars in this 1989 movie about a Warlock who travels 300 years into the future to escape his fate back in Puritian America. He arrives in LA to wreck havoc while in search of the Devil's Bible, but he is followed by a witch hunter who is determined to get even for what the Warlock has done to him 300 years ago. As cheesy as it sounds, it was not that bad. 3 out of 5 stars. Nothing Sacred (1937) Small town girl mistakenly believes she is dying of radium poisining. And becomes the darling of the town. She manages to find love in her 'suffering'. Decent early romantic comedy. 3 out of 5 stars. Dorian Gray (2010) Ben Chaplin stars as Doiran Gray in the remake of the Wilde story. This was not my favorite adaptation. Chaplin is nice to look at, but for me the story lacked charm. For a good version of this, watch "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1976) starring Peter Firth. This new version I will give 3 out of 5 stars, just because the story itself is good. The Legend of 1900
Tim Roth plays a jazz pianist who lives on a ocean liner. He was born on this ship, and found by a worker. The worker adopts him and names him 1900, as he was found/born on January 1, 1900. This story follows 1900 as he meets different characters during his time on the ship. 3 out of 5 stars for me. La Mission
Benjamin Bratt stars in this independent film that was written and directed by Ben's brother Peter. Ben plays a macho ex-con, Che Rivera, who finds out his college bound son is gay. You can only imagine what happens. 4 out of 5 stars. This one got the highest rating of the week.
I finally went to Michael's and used my gift certificate I received for my birthday. I decided since I am so broke this year (again), I'm going to make my mother's gift. I think she'll like it.  This is a shadow box. I am going to decorate it for my mom with a picture of her mother and sister. I bought some scrapbook paper, antique looking jewelry and some antique paper decorations. I'm going to paint the box antique white with gold accents and distress it.  Clarissa got a small mirror, she plans to decorate with paint, gems and stuff.  This is a box she will decorate for her grandmother (for Christmas). She will paint it and put some jewels on the outside.  This is a mirror I plan to decorate for me. My goal is to put beads and jewels and stuff all over it. It should take forever as it is a pretty large mirror and I have to find enough stuff. I have maybe enough for only one side. But since it is for me, I can take my time.
Some time in the upcoming months I plan to start the "Knives Chau" scarf. It is a simple enough design to copy, and I think a simple knit/purl will work. For my birthday, my friend gave me a $25 gift card to Michael's, so I can buy some black and white yarn. Not sure how many skeins I will need, I want it to be long like the picture.
I still am working on my friends baby blanket, I haven't been working on it, it is too hot and I don't have a/c so yarn work takes a back seat in the summer. But things are cooling off.
It is almost time to decorate my livingroom for autumn. Scarecrows and the like. I love this time of year.
I've also been lazy with my reading. I don't have the concetration right now. I am listening to audio books however. So I'm not completley out of the loop.
Currently listening to Dale Carnagie's "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living". Pretty dry however, not as good as "How to Win Friends and Influence People". I also started listening to "Mustane", a memoir by Dave Mustane of the Heavy Metal group Megadeth. That is definetly more interesting and entertaining. This past Saturday, we went to Central Park. We haven't been all summer, and since my son is leaving this week, an end of the summer trip was in order. I think I will also go back in the fall to take some more pictures, but here are recent ones.
 Central Park Boaters
 A bit of Fall in the Summer
 Lilly Pads
 Reflections
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This is a shadow box. I am going to decorate it for my mom with a picture of her mother and sister. I bought some scrapbook paper, antique looking jewelry and some antique paper decorations. I'm going to paint the box antique white with gold accents and distress it.
Clarissa got a small mirror, she plans to decorate with paint, gems and stuff.
This is a box she will decorate for her grandmother (for Christmas). She will paint it and put some jewels on the outside.
This is a mirror I plan to decorate for me. My goal is to put beads and jewels and stuff all over it. It should take forever as it is a pretty large mirror and I have to find enough stuff. I have maybe enough for only one side. But since it is for me, I can take my time.
