The Fault in Our Stars

After "The Fault in Our Stars, " I was sitting in a restaurant trying to process thoughts. I had called mom as I was leaving the auditorium.  She asked, "How was it?" I started bawling. That should tell you something.

 It's a sweet, simple story. Sad, but lovely at the same time.

 Wilem Dafoe plays a jerk, although he somewhat tries to redeem himself at the end. Kevin Bacon is no longer my most "hated" actor.

 I cried during the parent moments, mainly between Hazel and her Mom. Got teary when "All of the Stars" played at the end. (I love several of the songs off the soundtrack.)

 Gus pursues Hazel, and finally, she lets him in. Gus seems kind of pretentious, maybe even forward, but when you think about it, what does he have left? Besides time? And secretly, I think we girls want to be pursued like that.

 There is a moment where Hazel and Gus are in the Anne Frank house, and you hear a snippet of a quote from Anne: "Think of all the beauty left in the world and be happy." That is kind of what Hazel and Gus did, with the little infinity they had.

"Thirteen is alive and well, and so am I."

Apparently Beetee hacked my blog. :)

Book Musings and More

Hi.  Here's another issue (well, maybe it's the first) of book musings.... 

Sometimes I wonder about book characters.

- Did Katniss forgive her mother after Mockingjay?  Did she forgive Gale?
- I wonder if (in The Help) "Baby Girl" Leefolt remembered Abileen, and if she grew up believing she was kind... smart... important.

I can get pretty sucked into a book- imagination-wise.  I get a picture of the setting, and that setting sticks.  For example, when reading Stephenie Meyer's "Breaking Dawn," I mostly imagine an acquaintance's house, instead of the Cullen's in the film.  This is even after I've seen the film a few times.  It's kind of interesting. 

We have a pretty strong need to defend our respective fandoms.  I guess it's kind of like high school, in a way.  And don't get us started about downing our favorites.  Case in point: Twilight.  Lately, these graphics have been popping up on Pinterest.  The "creator" takes literary/film heroines, such as Hermoine and Katniss, they saved people, helped their friends, etc.  Then there's Bella Swan... who did nothing except get a boyfriend.  Stuff like that.  Kind of drives me nuts.

(They must not have read the end of "Breaking Dawn.")

Repeat after me: They. Are. Different. Stories.  You'd like another word?  Here you go: Genres.

*Steps off soapbox* 

I'm talking to all of my fellow children of the eighties here: How would our lives be different if all the books we love now were available back in high school?  I mean all of us who are *slightly* out of the suggested range for YA (young adult) literature.  It would have been fun.  But we would have been more low-tech about it-- The Internet was just a baby when I was starting high school. 

OK, I think I'm done. 

Currently reading: "The Book Thief" and "How I Live Now."

Movie List for the summer:
- Godzilla
- X-Men: Days of Future Past
- The Fault in Our Stars
- Maleficent

The Book Thief

Last week, I watched The Book Thief on pay per view. I was looking for something to watch, and I hadn't heard too much about it. I have seen the trailer but it hadn't gotten enough coverage in the States. It should have gotten a lot more than it did frankly . This movie deserves it.

It's about a girl named Liesel who is sent to live with a German foster couple, just before World War II.  She's rather lonely; her brother dies on the trip where she's given up by their mother.  The foster mother is really... quite mean.  The father, however, is very sweet.  To top it all off, she is behind in school because she doesn't know how to read.  The other children give her a bad time, but she does make friends with a boy named Rudy.  

As time passes, the father helps Liesel learn how to read in the basement. 

Let me take a moment to say that this film, as well as the book, is narrated by Death.  Slight spoiler alert.  Also: you will be VERY tempted to write off the foster mother. DO NOT DO IT. Be patient.

Some time passes, and the War starts to heat up.  Neighbors start to be called up for war. One pivotal moment is when Liesel and her father go to a Nazi book burning.  Publicly, the father supports the Nazi Party, but you can tell he really isn't into it.  During the demonstration, Liesel knows that this is wrong.  After the burning, she is around the pile of smoldering books, where she decides to take one, and reads from it. 

More time passes, and Liesel's parents decide to take in a Jewish man named Max.  He becomes ill shortly after, but recovers.  There is a very memorable scene where the foster mom comes to Liesel's school to tell Liesel that Max is well.  

During his time in the basement, Max makes Liesel a gift of a journal from a painted-over Nazi propaganda book.  Also, Liesel helps deliver laundry that the mother takes in.  One of the stops is at the Mayor's house, where she encounters a mysterious woman who lets her read in her library.  Before Liesel meets the woman, however, her second act of book thievery is from this library.  But the woman lets her read as long as she can on her laundry trips.  

Remember how I said the film is narrated by Death? It's for good reason.  But stick with it.  The ending is bittersweet, but so worth it.  

I've been reading the book; I haven't finished it yet.  It's actually quite poetic, for a non-prose book, so to speak.

I Miss the 90s

I don't know about you, but I thought the 90s were the best Decade for Contemporary Christian Music. 

(Warning: waxing nostalgic will occur. Proceed with caution.)

I first got into it in high school, freshman year or so. That was about the time I discovered Point of Grace.  They were four women out of college, and they sounded really good. The first song I heard of theirs was "The Great Divide." I was hooked. 

The next artist I remember liking was Jaci Velasquez. She was 16 at the time, and had a great voice. Jaci's music had Spanish influences, and she released a Spanish-language album a few years later. She even went sort of "indie rock" for one album. 

CCM even had a brief foray into dance music (well, what I call dance) in the early 2000s, with the ladies' trio ZoeGirl. I liked them, but they really sounded great when they changed their sound to rock around the third album.

About my senior year I was introduced to The Katinas. They are five brothers from Samoa, and they sound great. 

Other artists I loved included Carman, and Twila Paris. 

Fast forward to now. A lot of the artists I liked have either retired or slowed down. ZoeGirl disbanded. Twila Paris has slowed down, at least touring-wise. Jaci hasn't done a lot of music or touring, due to family.  But we still have the Katinas; and Point of Grace, even though they've changed one or two hands. 

It'll be a sad day when they retire.

In short, what do I love about CCM?  The music. The voices. The message. 

T-Mobile. America's First Nationwide 4G Network.

Once You See It

This photo was taken by an employee, who gave me permission to use it. This was found by a manager at night in a NW Houston Walmart. Please... Caption this!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter

Chocolate and Peanut Butter
Possibly my favorite combination in the world is chocolate and peanut butter.

What I'm about to tell you will change your life. Ok, not really,  but it is really good.

Take a chocolate rice cake. I use the big ones, I guess you could use the small ones, if you wanted to. Spread peanut butter on that thing. Eat. You're welcome.  I got Mom to love it.

The second thing is really simple, although it does take some time. Get a bunch of regular-sized marshmallows. Dip them in melted chocolate. And sprinkles; I've also done sliced almonds. Let harden.

If you really want something fun, before you dip those marshmallows in chocolate, spread some peanut butter on the "top". Fluffernutter fans, rejoice.


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