Long story short: I made tacos.

Driving back up to Juneau with Pint as my copilot, I relied on several books on tape to keep me awake. I normally don’t like books on tape. The act of physically holding a book and sitting with a book and becoming completely absorbed in the story… you just don’t get the same overall experience with a book on tape. But I did discover that books on tape are a great way to pass the time when you are driving. I listened to Water for Elephants, which I really enjoyed (and might have even made me cry). Of course, now it is being made into a movie with the Twilight vampire and Reese Witherspoon, which means there is a very good chance the movie is going to blow so much that I will never think fondly of the book again. The other books I listened to were Charlie Wilson’s War (liked) and Julie & Julia. Julie & Julia, hmmm.

Having very little to do at work in the summer, lately I've been watching instant movies on Netflix and Julie & Julia was one of my Netflix recommendations. Having "read" the book, and thinking it was only so-so, I didn’t really plan on watching the movie, but it just kind of happened. I think it’s a rare instance of the movie actually being better than the book. I am not a chef and the book was bogged down with cooking specifics, which I am sure some people absolutely loved, but it made it hard for me to get in to.

Because of obvious time constraints, the movie glossed over most of the actual cooking. And Amy Adams was able to make even Enchanted almost watchable. I ended up actually enjoying the movie. So of course, I had to look and see if Julie Powell had written anything else since J&J. She has. It’s called Cleaving: A story of marriage, meat, and obsession. After signing her book deal, Mrs. Powell had a two-year affair and became a butcher. Whoa. That’s pretty badass. And she had the balls to write about her affair. It almost makes me want to read her new book. Almost. Until I picture the epic mental struggle she writes about in excruciating detail. If she can churn out an entire chapter on a single piece of beef, imagine what she can do with the guilt of cheating on her ‘saintly’ husband. No, thank you.

However, after watching the movie and then reading a bit about Julia Child online I did get the itch to cook something. (And can I just say that I really think Julia Child and I would have been great friends. She sounds like a hoot. Yes, I said hoot. Deal with it.) So last night I made blackened halibut tacos with a yummy cabbage cole slaw thing. And they were good. Damn good, if I do say so. And I had fun making them. I also made soup last week and banana bread. I’m beginning to see what all the fuss is about.

Will the real Forks, WA please stand up?

"The last time I was in Forks, it was the 4th of July and they had a float on a the back of a big flatbed truck of two loggers aiming shotguns at a spotted owl in a tree."

~ Alaska resident, 35

Holy crap - a M. Night Shyamalan movie I actually want to see!!

I was reading about the new James Cameron movie, Avatar, this morning. Stories about this stupid film are all over the Internet today. I wanted to see what all the sci-fi freaks were going ape shit for but the trailer is not out until Friday, and even then only 'select' audiences will get to see it. But fortunately for me, Avatar: The Last Airbender has a very similar title and there are previews of that movie all over the web and surprise, surprise - the trailer actually looks GOOD. Plus, Dev Patel (that kid from Slumdog Millionaire) and Jackson Rathbone (I know, I know, enough with the Twishit - but it's hard to go cold turkey) are both part of the cast.

I don't get why Cameron is trying to be so secretive about his stupid alien movie. I never get why studios try to keep everything on lockdown. I am now way more excited about The Last Airbender than I am about your post-Titanic 3D alien shit. Sure, Sigourney Weaver is awesome and I will probably end up liking the movie. But you'd get a lot more people excited if you weren't so selective about who gets to see it. Plus, why would you bill your film as something that could 'change movie making forever'? Isn't that kind of setting yourself up for failure? Cuz I am expecting a LOT now and I would have been just plain excited about seeing a potentially good movie if you weren't hyping it up so GD much.

I Heart Books

I can’t hate Twilight. I can recognize the argument that Bella is not a good role model for young women, but anything that got me knitting can’t be all bad. Plus, the reason I now get to read advanced copies of library books is because I knew my way around a young adult novel, and that is in part due to Twilight.

However, I do have a problem recommending Twilight to younger girls. There are quite a few things that I absolutely hate about the story. Why, why can’t there be a good teen fantasy with a strong female role model?

Wait! Don’t fret my four readers - I think I found just such a book! I was rooting around in the back of the library and found some books that were a few months older than the rest that hadn’t been reviewed yet. On a whim, I decided to go for those books. And boy am I glad I grabbed them!

Graceling, by Kristin (and she even spells it correctly!) Cashore has received my highest recommendation to date. And I don’t say this lightly but I think this book is a stepping stone to authors like George R. R. Martin and Guy Gavriel Kay. The heroine, Katsa, is strong and self-sufficient and intelligent. And the main male character is completely fine with that! A man that respects and admires a strong woman? Gasp! Graceling should be required reading for any girl that reads Twilight!

I'm such a dork

In a little over four months, my knitting has gone from having trouble with this:

To:And this:

It might not look like a lot to you, but trust me, I have improved in leaps and bounds. And yes, those are my Twilight mittens! I'm just as excited about them as you are.

I never thought I'd be a knitter, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. I know I still have a long way to go, but I like that fact that I can see progress with every project. And this is going to sound totally bitchy, but I met a woman that started knitting around the same time that I did (a little earlier even) and she is just now trying to figure out hats. Hats! (See, I told you it was going to sound bitchy.)

Hello, Werewolves!

By now, I think I have made my Twilight obsession a bit too obvious on this blog. Aside from becoming yet another full-time Twilight blog, I don't think there is much more I could do to embarrass myself by admitting how much I like the series. I am sure that I have talked about it more than is healthy for anyone over 12. And yet, here I am once again posting about it. Just deal with it.

Anyway, I just found out that one of the actors in the next movie, New Moon, is in the PBS documentary I am promoting at work right now. We Shall Remain is a five part series that will start airing on PBS April 13. It's all about Native history and it's really well done. The Wounded Knee episode made me cry.

But let's not get off topic here. Alex Meraz is going to be the 'bad' werewolf, Paul in the New Moon movie. And he is super yummy. Possibly even more yummy than my future ex-husband, Robert Pattinson. I'm pretty sure that by the end of the movie, I'm going to be batting for Team Werewolf.

Sorry, Rob. But you are ice cold and a stalker. Two things that usually are a deal breaker for me. I was willing to overlook those minor flaws for you, but then Alex came along and what can I say? I just know he will imprint on me if he ever gets the chance. And frankly, I have a better chance at actually meeting him in real life some day. I mean, I've already met some of the other actors and producers in the We Shall Remain series. (Seriously, people, you need to watch it. I almost never talk about work here, so you know it's good if I'm actually blogging about it!)

So, anyway, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up and let you all know that yes, I will keep posting about Twilight and yes, I am slightly obsessed with hot actors that are just a little bit too young for me.

The Oscars - 2009

Like most award shows, after the first few minutes the Oscars start to drag and I get impatient. I always look forward to the Oscars but it seems like every year I forget about how boring the acceptance speeches are. I watch because I love the red carpet crap before hand and the Barbara Walter’s special. She always manages to ask completely irrelevant questions and tries to make them sound hard-hitting and thought provoking. I love it!

I usually see one or two of the nominated films and just root for those. I saw Milk and Slumdog and they were both fantastic. The cinematography in Slumdog was really just spectacular. I haven’t seen The Wrestler, but if Rourke did a better job than Sean Penn I definitely have to see it because Penn was awesome in Milk.

Actually, as I start learning about the production end of things at work, it makes me even more aware of how much must go into making a movie. I am beyond impressed with the attention to detail directors have. I watched The Fellowship of the Ring this weekend and Peter Jackson is amazing. Every angle, every shot – it’s just so well thought out. The technical aspects of movie making are fascinating to me. Public television isn’t doing so great right now, so when I get laid off later this year, I am more and more convinced that I really am going to move down to LA and try to break into ‘the biz’.
Oh yeah, and my vampire hottie was there looking great, and that alone made it worth sitting through the first hour of the show. And of course Huge Jackman is always gorgeous, so that didn’t hurt either.

Dear Alexandra Patsavas

Dear Ms. Patsavas,

I have been hearing horrific rumors that everyone from the Jonas Brothers to Leona Lewis is going to be asked to create tracks for the New Moon soundtrack. I admire your work and I don't actually think you'd consider those artists, but I have to make it clear that asking any Disney artist to be associated with the next Twilight movie will really, really piss me off. The first movie was so successful, and I think a lot of that had to do with how awesome the soundtrack was. Actually, the soundtrack was what started my whole ridiculous obsession in the first place. Turning music in the sequel into fluff will alienate anyone over 15. (And yes, I realize I don't have enough work to do if I have enough time to read Internet rumors about the New Moon soundtrack.)

Anyway, here are my suggestions. I actually wanted "Monday" by Fair, but I couldn't find it anywhere so I added a different Fair song so you can hear what they sound like. And I don't really like Paramore, but that's about as far as I am willing to bend and they did a pretty good job with Twilight, so who knows? Maybe they'll write another new song for the movie and surprise me again.

Sincerely,
KaDonk

Confessions, Part III

Yes, I am still slightly obsessed with Twilight. I have finally put down the books, but I did preorder the dvd…

Anyway, my latest Twilight obsession is with the mittens the main character wears in the film. I decided I wanted to get a pair, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I did however find the pattern, courtesy of Subliminal Rabbit. I have always wanted to knit, but never got around to learning. So last night I decided to ask my roommate to knit me a pair. I was going to offer to buy the yarn and pay her whatever she thought was reasonable. She had other ideas though.

Basically as soon as I got the word ‘knit’ out she ran into her room and came out with a ball of yarn and needles. She thought I wanted to learn how to knit, not pay her to knit something for me. I was pretty skeptical – not of her ability to teach me, but my ability to learn. I write with my left hand, but I do most other things with my right hand. When I’m up to bat, I’m a leftie, but when I’m catching, I throw with my right hand. I can only use a scissors in my right hand. I play pool right handed and I shoot a gun with my right hand. I think I might golf left handed, but I’ve only ever done mini-golf and maybe I would do better if I tried it right handed because I am pretty bad. Ok, really, really bad.

The point is that I had no idea which hand would be dominant for knitting. But I was game to learn. And after about 20 minutes, I sort of had it down! After an hour, my rows were starting to straighten up and I was getting the hang of it! And it was actually fun. Here’s how far I got last night. I am sure anyone that has ever knit something can see that I have a long way to go, but it’s a pretty damn good start.

Confessions, Part II

I've been slightly preoccupied trying to figure out why I have been so obsessed with the Twilight series lately. I mean, it's not a fantastic book. It's not horrible, but it's just a silly romance novel. I thought I got over that phase when I was 13. The only thing I can come up with is that it makes me a little sad to think that I am never going to be the 'damsel in distress'. I'm not saying that I want to be helpless, but a little part of me can't help but wonder how my life would be different if I was someone else.

I obviously don't want to be a weak, romance novel character. But I've always wondered what it would be like to be someone that needs protecting. Or not even needs it, but inspires it. I am 5'10". I am taller than half the men I know. I've never known what it's like to have to literally look up to people. Even at my healthy weight, which I admittedly haven't seen in almost three years now, I am never going to be petite. I am not shy and I am not quiet. I'm grateful that my parents raised me to be independent and opinionated. But I think that everyone wants to be taken care of every once in awhile and I can't remember the last time anyone took care of me. At least, not as an adult. My friends and family are supportive and I am sure would be more than willing to help me out if I asked, but I doubt that I would ever ask. I'd probably hate myself if I did have to ask, to be honest. But it would be nice to have someone looking out for you sometimes. It would be nice to know that there is someone else out there that not only cares what happens to you but actually fights to make your life better.

Confessions, Part I

I went to see Twilight with my roommate a little over a week ago… and I didn’t hate it. Don’t judge me! Robert Pattinson is hot. It’s sick that he was born in, like 1986, but whatever – that’s still legal. Even worse - I got curious and got the first book. Long story short, I read the whole series, even the leaked Midnight Sun manuscript. I hope the fact that I am now reading The Kite Runner and I have The Memory Keepers Daughter waiting in the wings will keep people from thinking less of me.