Kathleen Kelly: Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one! It got on at 42nd and off at 59th, where, I assume, it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake, as almost all hats are.
Joe Fox: Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms.
2.) The Bookstore, which is practically it’s own character
It reminds me of the small church library that I volunteered in, years ago. The library was basically geared towards children, not just religious themed books, but all the children’s books that happened to be popular at the time. The librarian really kept up on things, she ordered the newest books and we creatively put them on display throughout the small space. We had reading aloud hours and fun holiday themed events. I really enjoyed my time there. So when I see Kathleen Kelly with a princess hat on her head, enthusiastically reading a story to a group of children, it makes me nostalgic.
The love story of the film is cute. The face-to-face banter between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan is enjoyable, but it’s really the e-mail theme that grabs me. I’ve had many pen pals through the years, and so I cherish that kind of communication.
Kathleen Kelly: I turn on my computer. I wait impatiently as it connects. I go online, and my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words: You’ve got mail. I hear nothing. Not even a sound on the streets of New York, just the beating of my own heart. I have mail. From you.
Unfortunately I’ve either drifted away from my old letter writing pals, or they now prefer to communicate in three sentence conversations via social media instead. I miss the uninterrupted honesty that letter writing fosters.
Kathleen Kelly: Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life – well, valuable, but small – and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven’t been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn’t it be the other way around? I don’t really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void.
This is probably why I’ve gravitated to the blogging platform. Here, I can send thoughts ‘out into the void’ and also have ample room to babble on to my heart’s content in the comment section.
Kathleen Kelly:The odd thing about this form of communication is that you’re more likely to talk about nothing than something. But I just want to say that all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings.
And instead of pretty stationary or cutesy stickers and ink stamps, I can decorate with other fun things instead…
fun thing
I’ve never made the connection between letter writing and blogging before. I like the thought of it though, it makes it seem more personal.
Kathleen Kelly: Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.
My daughter lives and breathes Twenty One Pilots. My mother bought her a ukulele for Christmas (the same brand as Tyler Joseph, OMG!) and she plays it daily. So it’s become a ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ mentality in our house in regards to this band. Not that I need a whole lot of persuading to listen to them, because I do really like their sound all on it’s own.
I ran across this video last night, while falling into the time suck that is YouTube. I not only instantly loved this rendition of Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ but I like the video too. The part where the crowd sings along brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. I’m so sentimental!
I have officially been nominated for the Liebster Award by SueBC of the ‘I’m Feeling This’ blog. I say ‘officially’ because the questions I recently answered in relation to the Liebster Award were a general shout out from zees muse to anyone who wanted to answer them; this time, SueBC nominated me directly.
for me? thanks!
One of the stipulations of this blogging award is that you not only answer the questions presented to you, but you then come up with a set of questions for the 5 other blogs that you nominate. Problem is, the blogs I read have either already been nominated or they don’t like to participate in these question/answer type of challenges. I can NOT pass up the opportunity to answer a blogging questionnaire though, so I will forfeit the ‘award’ but answer the questions anyway!
don’t look at me like that! I’m just tweaking the rules to suit me…
The first few questions are duplicates from the set I answered for zees muse, but I will be giving different answers this time around. I very rarely have just one favorite anything, so it’s not like I’ll be wracking my brain to come up with more answers!
Raindrops on Roses or Whiskers on Kittens? this is so hard!
1.) What is the best movie you have seen in the past year?
I never know quite how to approach these types of questions. Does it mean ‘best new release’ or just any movie that I’ve seen for the first time recently? If it’s the latter, then that would definitely be ‘The Guest’, which I wrote a little about here. If it’s ‘best newer release’, then my answer is: Doctor Strange. I really enjoy the Marvel movies but for some reason I had low expectations for this one. Benedict Cumberbatch proved me so wrong, I am very happy to say! I loved his look, I loved his accent, I loved the way I started out scoffing at the character’s selfish arrogance but grew to feel so warmly towards him by the end. I thought Tilda Swinton and Mads Mikkelsen were excellent as well.
2.) What is the most memorable live theatre and/or concert experience you’ve had in the past year?
My daughter’s Spring Concert for Middle School Choir. I was really impressed with the selections, particularly Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’ and Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
they did both
3.) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
Truthfully, I’ve not read anything in the past year that could qualify. I did stumble across a Twilight fanfic that I really enjoyed though, and ended up reading more than once. Unfortunately it is no longer online, so I can’t link it, but it was called ‘Because of a Boy’. The story centered around a single mother of a child with Asperger’s, who meets and falls in love with a man whose father has Asperger’s as well. It made me cry several times throughout the story, not in sadness, but more for the way the families acknowledged and adapted to their circumstances so willingly. Edward understood the little boy in a way that most others could not because he had grown up with a father who was so similar. Edward not only loved his father but he genuinely liked being around him, and so he always made time for him. On the flip side, Bella was able to understand Edward’s father in a way that he never experienced as a young boy, because his parents were not as understanding and accepting as she was. One of my favorite aspects of the story was the way that Edward’s father called him several times a day to inform him of random facts. Because of this, Edward was able to bond with Bella’s son in the same way, the two often trying to stump each other. The story really touched me because of my struggles with anxiety as a child, and just imagining how much easier things could have been if I didn’t feel like I had to hide it all of the time. That, and the fact that the phrase ‘did you know’ is one that my husband and children are quite familiar with…speaking of, did you know that ‘Google’ is a misspelling of the term ‘googol’, which is the number 10 raised to the 100th power? Dan Stevens taught methat.
4.) What is your favorite photo of the past week on your mobile phone and are you willing to share it?
My son completed his Eagle Scout rank for Boy Scouts. This photo was taken at the ceremony, of him awarding me my ‘Mother’s Pin’. It’s funny to me because I had just fumbled with the pin I placed on his uniform; I couldn’t figure out how it worked (you had to push, then pull). So when it was his turn, he didn’t know how it worked either and I had to show him.
5.) What is your favorite photo ever of your favorite actor/actress?
I’m supposed to pick just one photo? Ha! That’s not happening. I’ll narrow it down to 3 instead:
and anytime he makes the ‘confused’ face, because I love the raised eyebrow.
6.) What songs are at the top of your playlist right now?
Two different songs by Sara Bareilles. ‘The Light‘ because I think it’s a beautiful song, both musically and lyrically.
You are the air in my breath, filling up my love soaked lungs
Such a beautiful mess, intertwined and overrun
Nothing better than this, oh, and then the storm can come
You feel just like the sun
Just like the sun
and ‘I Choose You’because I find the beat uplifting and the lyrics optimistic.
‘I could live by the light in your eyes’
7.) What is the most recent TV show that you binge-watched?
The Fall: season 3. And it was so good! I was nervous, with it being the last season and the assumption that Paul Spector would probably die. It was a lot more exciting than I anticipated, and Jamie Dornan delivered with some incredible eye acting! It feels wrong to say I ‘enjoyed’ the ending but I liked the way it turned out, and I really can’t imagine an alternate ending that would stay true to the story. All in all, this last batch of episodes was one of those rare times for me when the anticipation payed off.
8.) What time of day do you usually write and/or blog and why?
I do the writing part in the morning, because it’s quiet and I have time to myself without anything distracting me. Sometimes I post directly afterwards, while other times I’ll wait and just plug in the pics and post it in the evening before I sign off for the night (so that I can’t change my mind!)
me, before I hit ‘submit’
9.) Does your avatar have special significance and if so, what is that significance?
Yes. The ‘DS’ image is a prop from the television show Lost, which is my favorite show, and also happens to be the initials of my last name (I have one of those capital-lowercase-capital surnames, so sometimes the two capital letters are used as the initial).
Dominic Monaghan as Charlie Pace
10.) In your real life, how open are you about the fact that you have a blog?
In discussions that relate to fandom, blogging or the internet, I might mention that I blog in order to help illustrate a point, but I don’t elaborate about the blog itself/what I blog about unless I’m asked about it further (which I’m usually not). It’s not so much that I’m hiding it (though I don’t exactly want to shout it from the rooftops either) but just that I don’t normally share information about myself that isn’t relevant to the conversation at hand.
I have a blog. I write about actors and movies. It’s a hobby.
11.) What are the boundaries for you in terms of how much of your real life you share on your blog?
I have shared personal stories on this blog in the past, in answer to writing prompts but I don’t refer to the people in my stories by their names, just their relationship to me; it seems like the polite thing to do. I’m pretty open about who I am in real life, I don’t blog under an alter ego because I really have no reason to. I might say some embarrassing things sometimes in relation to fangirling but generally I’m rather mild. I have thought about how therapeutic it could be to blog about more personal things, get the negativity off of my chest and out of my system, but I wouldn’t want to hurt the people I talked about. Plus, I’m afraid if I started, it would become a habit of complaining. I’ve burned my fair share of bridges on Facebook, I’ll stick to blogging about actors/movies and retweeting on Twitter instead, it’s safer!
I like how the beginning throws back to the claymation version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (in both look and story), which was my favorite Christmas cartoon as a child.
I like Buddy’s sense of wonder about everything, when he leaves the North Pole and shows up in New York City.
I like how some people appreciate his innocence, while others are completely baffled by it.
I like the mishaps he gets into
and the way he fixes things without even realizing.
I hated making snowflakes in school but I loved making paper chains!
I laugh and smile so much throughout this movie but I always, ALWAYS cry at the end. When the crowd is trying to power Santa’s sleigh with Christmas Spirit by singing, the camera focuses on a little baby; the sense of innocent awe as the sleigh takes off into the air just makes me lose it! It’s only a few seconds long but I can’t resist tearing up!
‘The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear’
I loved Christmas time when I was a child. It was all about magic and love and believing in things that you couldn’t see. I was able to revisit that sense of wonder when my kids were young. The past few years, holidays have been such an ordeal for me, so stressful, so much spite and bitterness on display in my extended families; it just makes my heart hurt.
tension.
It makes me want to nail our door shut for two months straight and find that magic again, with just the four of us. I can’t do that, but I can watch Elf to recharge my senses, so that I can brave the gatherings with a smile on my face.
So it seems the Liebster Award questionnaire is going around again. I participated in this a few years ago withmusic related questions. I always find it fun to answer questions, of any kind, so when zee’s musesuggested her readers answer a set, I thought “why not?”
because I have things to say, dan it! (that was a Freudian slip but I’m leaving it there)
Zee is a friend from the Richard Armitage fandom but I’m going to pepper my answers with Dan Stevens gifs, because they’ve been accumulating on my hard drive with no occasion for me to use them. I hope she doesn’t mind.
mind? IKR
1.) What excites you at the moment?
Dan Stevens.
those eyes
that… everything
2.) In one sentence, what depresses you at the moment?
In one year, my son will graduate High School.
yesterday he was 14, today he’s 17. there’s sorcery involved, I’m sure of it!
3.) Cats or Dogs? piccies please.
cats.
4.) What tv series did you love in your youth?
Mork & Mindy
5.) Who is your favorite actor/actress no longer living?
Jimmy Stewart
6.) What is the best movie you’ve seen so far in 2017?
Logan
7.) The top three theatre/concert experiences you’ve ever had.
B-52s, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Lollapalooza
B-52s because it was a small turn out & it started to rain, so they invited those out on the lawn to move into the pavilion & then encouraged us to stand on the seats and just have a silly good time.
Rocky Horror Picture Show because I went several times and it was always late at night (Midnight showing) so everyone I was with tended to get slap happy. Drinking over caffeinated Jolt helped as well, I’m sure.
Lollapalooza because I got to see Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam in the same concert, while also being totally grossed out by people shoving nails up their noses and swallowing fire on the side show stages.
not really but it was memorable!
8.) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
see, here’s the thing…
I can’t remember what it was called. I know it was a romance novel about a psychic that saw a little boy & his dog lost in the wilderness. She connects him to a bachelor rancher, convinced that he’s his son, but the rancher doesn’t believe her until a story hits the news about a senator & his family missing due to a boating accident, and the Senator’s fiancee just so happens to be someone this rancher had a long term relationship with. Anyway, my Mother-in-Law left it at my house, so I read it, and it was surprisingly good.
9.) What is your favorite photo of the last week on your mobile phone and are you willing to share it?
I don’t have a mobile phone. I share one with my husband and only use it to text my son when he’s late for dinner. If I tweak the question to apply to my laptop though, this is the latest pic I saved:
I was bored and so on a whim, I typed my very small hometown (population: 500) into Google Images and found this pic of my favorite thing to play on at the playground when I was young. The internet is a wonderful thing.
10.) my favorite dessert?
cake
11.) Favorite Richard Armitage pictures
At the end of Zee’s post she hinted that her questions from the last Liebster round never got answered and so maybe someone would feel moved to do so this time around. I picked 5 off of that list.
1) A gift you regifted (and how quickly and why?)
A one piece hat/scarf thing from my Mother-in-Law.
It was very soft and pretty but not my style at all so I regifted it, just a few weeks later, to my friend. Because she actually dresses like a woman instead of a 15 year old boy, like me.
someone who will choose comfort over fashion every.single.time.
2) Balin or Oin?
Balin
because he looks like Santa Claus
3) Do you REALLY want to see the Silmarillion done in movie(s)?
Yes, so I can finally understand what’s going on.
me, pretending the timeline doesn’t confuzzle me
4) Mozart or Haydn or Beethoven? (Cross your eyes if you can’t tell the difference)
Who’s Haydn?
Zee, the music teacher, being so done with me.
5.) Your New Year’s Resolution list
seeing as how it’s May and not January, my ‘Summer’ to do list is:
-lose 30 pounds
-organize my photo albums
-Iron all the shirts (some have been in the basket for two years and counting)
