I am not a Rolling Stones fan, but I definitely love this picture.
As far as I'm concerned...you can't. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest may not have been an epic film, but I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. It definitely felt like the second movie of a trilogy, but I was able to get past that. Basically there was a lot of action with little to no resolution and more questions than answers.
There were a lot of gross scenes that I could have done without. Just a few examples: the cages made of human bone, Bootstrap Bill with barnacles growing out of the side of his face, Captain Jack covered in Kraken phlegm (ew!)... Maybe they were trying just a little bit too hard to "top" the first movie. I feel like they could have just as easily made it "as good as" the first movie and people would have been pleased.
Andrea and I went to see the first movie shortly after it came out, maybe even the first day (memory fails me). We were just out of college and unemployed, so a movie in the middle of a weekday was still an option. I found the first edition entertaining and fun. That's all I really expected from the second and that's what I got.
Many people have complained that the film was too long. I don't share that opinion. There was not a moment when I felt the need to check the time. Though it was a long film, it was entertaining throughout.
My favorite moment had to be the fight scene on the beach between Captain Jack, Will Turner and the ruined Commodore. Keira Knightley's ability to portray the frustration of being the only sensible person in a situation was downright hilarious. Another favorite moment occurred when Jack "paid" the witch(?) for her services...
Jack: (holds up cage with monkey) Look, an 
undead monkey. (shoots monkey who merely shrieks and continues his attempts to get out of the cage)
Witch: Payment is fair.
The bottom line is, I like Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, and Bill Nighy enough that it would take quite a dismal, unentertaining movie for me not to enjoy their performances. It's worth a watch, even if you just wait for the DVD.
There are 41 opals in this picture...I didn't count.
April 2003, 25 of my classmates and I had just finished a grueling week of homestay. It was so horrible that I jogged uphill for almost half an hour to get away from the home I was staying in. To my great delight, Dr. Arensen appeared in his Land Cruiser about halfway up the hilll we were sprinting. In retrospect, my intense joy at escaping the homestay village probably hurt the feelings of my homestay family. In my defense, though, I tried to have a good experience, but it's difficult for me to remain upbeat when I can't sleep and I'm stomach sick and forced to "go" in a squatty potty with questionable bamboo lattice work as the only thing between me and a hole filled with a rather disgusting mess. Some of my peers were sad to leave, but I was definitely the first one to say good-bye and hop in the car.
Dr. Arensen was brilliant enough to know that after such a stressful week, we would all need a little debrief time, so we drove directly to a retreat center on Lake Malawi. It was too warm in the cars without air-conditioning, so many of us rode on top of the cars (one perk of being in rural Africa) to enjoy the beautiful scenery and cool breezes. It rained on our way, we were hit in the face by thorny branches on occasion, and we got completely filthy dirty, but I remained inexpressibly happy. Upon our arrival at dusk, most of us dove straight into Lake Malawi even though there was a lightning storm visible on the horizon. This moment gave Barb Arensen a chance to be motherly and Jon a chance to tell her to stop worrying and encourage our shenanigans.
Despite the fact that I got one of the worst sunburns of my life and had to sleep in my bathing suit because I'd given my homestay family most of my clothes, Lake Malawi was one of the best experiences I had in Africa. This picture Barry took of Jamie, me, Brian, and Allie in our canoe perfectly captures my joy.
So, playing along with the Friday Five is becoming a tradition. This is my third shot at it, and I have already begun looking forward to the new edition each week. It appears this week's go is to remind us of the unbearable heat that some of us are trying desperately to escape or ignore.
1. What's the high temperature today where you are? 94 degrees Fahrenheit. It's currently 92 and feeling like 100.
2. Favorite way(s) to beat the heat: Stay indoors with the blinds drawn, eat popsicles or ice cream, and take cold showers.
3. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Evaluate this statement: Heat is bad, add some humidity to the mix and it's even worse. The statement does seem a tad silly, though, because you could have 100% humidity on a 70 degree day and no one would even complain. The worst part about the combination of heat AND humidity is the sweat that runs down your face and back instead of evaporating as it should.
4. Discuss one or more of the following: sauna, hot tub, sweat lodge, warm-stone massage. I cant get behind the idea of a hot tub, but only when it's chilly outside. Have any of you ever seen a hot tub on the balcony of a room in a ski lodge? That's my idea of a good time.
5. Hottest you've ever been in your life: The summer I spent in Maracaibo, Venezuela was pretty steamy. 100+ degree temperatures and we had to wear pants or long skirts all the time!
Non-temperature related bonus: In your opinion... who's hot? My standard answer, and one that has surfaced frequently in the recent past, is Johnny Depp. There's just something about scruffy, skinny boys with glasses and funny hats!!
P.S. For your viewing enjoyment, I've included one hot and one decidely un-hot picture.
This is possibly the saddest night of So You Think You Can Dance to date. I don't vote, so I can't be too upset, but America actually voted Allison off. Natalie is a great dancer, but I love Allison and so does Iven. Poor little Ivan and his little heart. He looked devastated.
At least I still have Benji and Donyelle to count on.
Yesterday morning, I began reading The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner. Three of Faulkner's books have been living on my book shelf for nearly four years, waiting for me to take the time to read them. It made sense to begin with the one I'd heard of before.
The first page was strange, but I thought maybe it was just a little opening vignette and Faulker would eventually begin to make sense. Ten pages in, I was beginning to lose hope, but I'm a committed reader, so I plunged ahead. Twenty more pages and I had a headache. Fortunately, my Metro ride was over, so I stowed my book and headed home.
On my walk, I was contemplating whether I should continue reading. When it comes to books, I have a difficult time giving up hope that they will get better by the end. So, I asked Emily, Adam, and MKH if they had read Faulkner. Emily hadn't, Adam did a long time ago, and MKH said to stop now before I wasted another minute of my life. Trying to follow Benjy's thoughts was actually giving me a headache! Was it worth it?
According to MKH, Faulkner is awful, postmodern junk. Not her exact words, but these sentiments were communicated by the look on her face when I mentioned his name. She also told me that since a genuine Southerner had warned me, I didn't need to suffer through to the end of the book.
Maybe I'll try some Flannery O'Connor instead. She comes highly recommended. Any of you Faulkner fans out there may feel free to convince me to finish, but I think you have your work cut out for you.
I've just finished reading Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. Whene'er I take up to read seventeenth or eighteenth century literature, I am struck by a keen desire to speak and act as the characters do.
Of course, that would become tedious after only a short while. People might choose rather to avoid me than endure my pompous speech and mannerisms. It is a pity.
For now, I will let my mind echo with sentences that bear the likeness of those penned by Austen, Hardy, and the Bronte sisters as I watch Franco Ziffereli's interpretation of the lately finished novel.
UPDATE: My viewing experience was regrettably cut short because the DVD Netflix had sent froze about an hour in. I reported the problem and a new disc is being sent right out. Damn right it is!
I haven't been sleeping well of late. Mostly, I blame this phenomenon on my constant worries about moving, but regardless of what the cause is, I'm sleepy sometimes. Yesterday afternoon, I was especially tired. As I lay on the couch reading, the sleep caught up with me, so I just let it come. Emily took advantage of the situation and snapped some photos of Bonnie and me during our afternoon nap.
She insisted that I needed to post this picture. And, while I find the up-the-nostril, glasses-askew, cheek-smashed-in-weird-ways look somewhat disgusting, since I recently posted a picture of Emily in her pajamas, I suppose it's only fair for me to post an embarrassing picture of myself.
I hope you enjoy it!
Go Navy!!!
For the first time in months, I went to the gym. It was incredibly sad! I spent five months last year working out consistently five days a week and had gone from a 12.5 minute mile to a 10 minute mile. Not spectacular, but better than I'd ever done in my whole life.
So, today...I'm back to a 12.5 minute mile and not even a good 12.5 minutes, a sad, straining through it 12.5 minute mile. But, I feel good having started again and I am determined to keep it up. There is a free gym at work and a free gym at school and I plan on being one of those crazy people who gets up early in the morning to work out before class.
Let's just hope that I get the gym to myself for the rest of my time at WAC! It's okay with other people, but then I can't sing along to "Hips Don't Lie."
Recently, a blogger made some comments about my friend Mary Katharine Ham. I certainly don't begrudge him his opinion, but I would like to point out that Hugh Hewitt asked Mary Katharine Ham to blog with him and, furthermore, MKH was being paid to do so.
Unfortunately, after Mary Katherine linked to the post in good fun, a few commenters (none of whom were MKH, despite what you may be led to believe by the Abbot's comments below) decided to hijack the comments section of the Abbot's blog and turn it into a rather silly personal attack on Mary Katharine Ham, which involved negative comments about both the Abbot and MKH. The problem was that rather than criticizing the content of either bloggers' words, these hijackers went straight for appearances. Because of this and because he wasn't interested in blogging for the public, the Abbot decided to disallow commenting. It's truly unfortunate that the Abbot felt forced to take such a step, but it just proves that {insert colloquialism here}.
Anyway, I am here to assure you that Mary Katharine Ham is, in fact, not only "not hideously unattractive" (as one of the commenters allowed), but even rather pretty! And, here, to support my opinion, is a picture taken just last night.
See the white teeth, shiny locks, well-plucked brows and slender wrist? She's a beaut 'n' ain't no one can tell me different! Everyone, give it up for Mary Katherine Ham!!! And read her blog if you aren't put off by conservative politics (or even if you are), she's quite a funny and insightful young woman.
7/21/06 - edited to make it clearer that I was criticizing the bastardly commenters, not the Abbot himself. Though, after the words below, I'm not entirely sure why I care, especially since my readsership is about 10 people.
Another episode of So You Think You Can Dance? over and I'm not entirely pleased with the result. Benji & Donyelle and Allison & Ivan were forced to separate and dance with other people!!! Sad day because I didn't like a lot of the new pairings. Happy day because there was a lot more dancing and lot less Cat Deeley talking and Mary was NOT a judge.
The only two dancers who benefited from the ol' swicheroo were Heidi and Travis. They were HOT together. It's truly unfortunate that they had to dance with other people all the rest of the weeks of the competition.
Without a doubt, the highlight of the show was when Benji finished his solo dance with a little hiney shakin'. He is a fabulous dancer, a nice person, has a great back story that could be a made for TV movie, and that smile... it makes me melt! *Swoon* I'm still not going to vote, but anyone who might, should vote for Benji and Allison!
Now, on to Project Runway! There's supposed to be a HUGE revelation tonight...
DUN DUN DUN
Now that it's getting closer to my time to leave for "God school," as my co-worker, Vinnie, now so affectionately calls seminary, conversations more regularly turn to religion and philosophy. Given that I am a White, I tend to have a more passive role in these conversations than I should, but it's interesting to see how sophisticated a view of the Bible some of my co-workers have.
Ross is probably the most eloquent. He has attended church his entire life and still considers himself a good Methodist boy. On Friday, during a discussion of religious texts, Ross brought up Noah's flood. He noted the likelihood that the account was actually narrating a very large localized flood or that it was simply allegorical.
Of course, being Ms. Bible Major, I had heard various theories of Noah's flood, and presently subscribe to the localized flood theory. (Call me a liberal if you must...) Anyway, it felt strange to hear someone talk so freely about something that was "mine."
Yes, that's weird.
Theories of Noah's flood are probably much more commonly accepted than I know, but somewhere deep inside me, I lost a little bit of my sense of being special when he brought the topic up in casual conversation. Egotistically enough, I like to know things that other people don't know. Now that I'm an adult, I'm beginning to realize that other people know stuff. What's worse, other people know the stuff I know...
Worst nightmare come true!
My reaction to Ross's knowledge led me to contemplate my reluctance to "evangelize." I don't like to discuss religion at all with people who don't at least share my basic beliefs because it's such a contentious topic and I avoid or withdraw from conflict. Obviously, this attitude doesn't give me a good jumping off point for telling people about Jesus.
Ahhh...the conflict of personality and moral responsibility.
Another Friday Five from RevGalBlogPals. This time it's about pet peeves.
1. Grammatical pet peeve - I'm irritated by the careless interchange of homophones such as your and you're, their and they're and there. This is especially unacceptable when perpetrated by a generally well-educated person.
2. Household pet peeve - It's frustrating when the person who uses the last bit of toilet paper doesn't replace the role. I drink a lot, therefore, I pee a lot. Generally, I don't notice that the paper is gone until I'm already mid-pee. It's not a happy situation.
3. Arts & Entertainment pet peeve (movie theaters, restaurants, concerts) - Someone else who responded to the Friday Five already mentioned clapping between movements rather than waiting for the end of an orchestral piece, so I will have to go with clapping at the end of movies. Clapping should be reserved for live performers or possibly premiers, when those involved in the production of the movie are present. However, if one is in a theater in suburbia, watching with 50 or 100 other fat Americans, there is no need to applaud the recorded performance. Do you clap when you enjoy a television show at home??!!
4. Liturgical pet peeve - I've never understood the reason for repeating praise choruses again and again. If one pass at a theologically profound hymn is enough, why do we have to sing things like "mercy is falling," "famous one," and, my personal favorite, "na na nanananana." over and over and over again?
5. Wild card--pet peeve that doesn't fit any of the above categories - I can't stand the noise of chewing, especially when it's the only noise. Chips and other crunchy items are the worst. The unfortunate part of this pet peeve is that you can't really ask someone to stop chewing...
Bonus: Because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God: What do YOU do that others might consider a pet peeve? - I have probably been the perpetrator of both 1 and 2 above, but my mom always hated my habit of leaving dirty glasses scattered around the house. As a child, this often resulted in moldy orange juice and crusted on milk in the bottoms of a multitude of glasses. I'm not as bad about this now because I mostly drink water and often use my Nalgenes, but there are still times that the dirty dishes simply overflow from the sink.
Inspired by Prodigal Aspersions and 4 in the Fire, I've decided to share some of my poetry. I don't generally consider myself a poet, but once upon a time, I lived with A Girl who encouraged such endeavors. This is one I wrote near the end of my time at Houghton (slightly edited, but still raw). If you choose to comments, please be gentle.
Hello, kitty,
what are you doing up there?
Meow!
plaintive cries...
no time for questions!
I climbed here by myself
but it would be nice if you could help me down
you're built for the climb down
such a nice cat
a pretty cat
a sleek, silky cat
maybe I'll just climb up...
pet her
calm her down
Meow...
here he comes
rescuing?
no, petting
enjoying my soft coat
scratching the right spots
cooing
Meow?
I wish you'd get me down
this limb was fun for a time
but all the sweet birds left
now there's you
cradle me
climb down
Oh?
I don't think you need me
not enough...
I'll be going now
Meow!?
all that!
and he leaves without me?
kitty steels herself
rolls her eyes
blinks back a tear
and begins the treacherous climb down
headfirst descent
alone
57 more days before I head out, approximately 41 of which that involve work.
It's taken me about five weeks to work up the courage, but I am finally ready to admit it:
"My name is Kate and I'm addicted to So You Think You Can Dance."
Each week, when Wednesday rolls around, I look forward to watching Benji & Donyelle, Alison & Ivan, and Natalie & Musa dance their hearts out. Watching them move and enjoy each other and themselves makes me undeniably joyful.
I truly want Benji and Donyelle to get married and have babies. They may be a little young, but I'm all for starting a family early in life. Alison and Ivan would have the cutest children imaginable. And Musa and Natalie are just totally HOT! It will be a sad day when they stop dancing as couples.
Unlike American Idol, there is some variation in the judges from week to week. Nigel is always there to provide commentary reminiscent of Simon Cowell. After all, he is the executive producer. He's not as mean as Simon, but he's no slouch with the insults.
Mary is an almost permanent fixture, but mercifully, not quite since she sometimes choreographs. She has this awful habit of screaming when she likes something and spends far too much time laughing her awful laugh. Her other favorite thing to do is pretend she's completely slamming a performance and then she pulls the old switcheroo and says it's the best thing she's ever seen. Problem is, she does it like five times each show, so it's not funny anymore.
Anyway, it's such a fun show! Way more fun than American Idol because there's more variety. More fun than Project Runway because dancing is easier to understand than couture. I know it's another ridiculous reality show, but it's well worth a watch.
Emily has this endearing habit of bringing a gift for me whenever she goes out of town. It's sort of a joke and a fun way of saying, "Thank you for feeding my very hairy cat."
Recent gifts include a sample bottle of Herbal Essences shampoo, a cowboy finger puppet and a book called Get In Touch With Your Inner Buddha, which can be purchased at WalMart for a mere $4.96! The book is full of "wisdom," none of which seems particularly buddhist, but it's funny and there is a tiny plastic Buddha whose belly you can rub right in the middle of the book.
To accompany the book, she took this photo of a large Buddha statue somewhere in Atlanta, which I told her I would blog!
This is a boring picture, but 60 more days until I go to seminary is a very scary and exciting idea!
I got this from a new blog I've been tracking.
"A Short meme for what was for many a shortened week:
tell us about five noteworthy Short things in your life.
(Be liberally imaginative.)"
1) My mother (5'3")
2) My grandmother (5'0")
3) My first and only romantic relationship (2.5 months)
4) My first blog post
5) My hair
There will be a "jubilee" when I leave this I'm all packed and ready to go in 63 more days!!!
Shopping in Tanzania was a harrowing experience at first. You see, I have a rather difficult time haggling with people in English and they wanted to me to it in Swahili. Anyway, the prices were so "cheap" in my mind that I couldn't imagine why I would insist on paying less.
To my great delight, I found that any attempt to speak Swahili automatically endeared every Tanzanian in a hundred mile radius to me. So, despite the language barrier, I was usually able to stutter out a nice long greeting and work the shop owners down a few shilingi. During my twelve weeks in Tanzania, I spent about $200 and let me tell you, that was profligate spending, folks!
One of my favorite shopkeepers was the little Maasai woman who sold beaded jewelry. Whenever we American students went to her with a special order, she would slip in a few extra bracelets and sometimes a few rings in with our order. Foolishly, when I returned to America, I gathered all these bracelets together and gave each and every one away to Brian Baney. We barely new each other, but he was hot and in the room while I was handing out gifts and I was a silly girl.
Since my stay in Africa, four of my close friends have gone to Tanzania. Several of them have brought me beaded bracelets, shown in the picture above. There used to be a green and white one from Kyle, but it broke a few weeks ago. One day, I will fix it. The blue and black one is from Tim and the others are from John and Rebecca.
These bracelets make me happy. They remind me of one of the most wonderful times in my life and some of my best friends. Win-win!
Every couple of months, one of the attorneys at my firm asks if I'm sure I don't want to be a lawyer. They always ask in such a way that the question sounds like, "How could anyone on earth with half a brain not want to be a lawyer?" I always laugh and tell them I considered it for a long time, but eventually (some time in high school) abandoned the idea.
Ken is the partner who is most persistent in this request. Yesterday, while asking me to check a tax bill for a client, he came at the question in a new way, "Have you ever considered using your powers for evil instead of good and becoming an attorney? You could go to night school and Georgetown and work here where you already have your foot in the door."
Fortunately, Ken has a sense of humor, so when I laughed at his question, he laughed with me. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell him exactly why (even if I chose to become an attorney) I would never work in this office again.
Please leave your name when you comment, just in case you're someone I know and especially if you're saying "I LOVE YOU!"
Thank you.
Management
...days until I'm free to leave the heat and humidity and uninteresting winters of DC behind me!
Other than the cutest one of John and Rebecca ever included with my last post. 
I saw Rebecca and John yesterday for the first time in seven months. As always, it was a good time just hanging out and being friends. To me, the best friends are the ones I can do nothing with. Rebecca gave me three mixed CDs and three bracelets from Africa!
We didn't do nothing all day, though. We saw a matinee of The Devil Wears Prada. I liked the book, the movie was rather meh. John, Rebecca, and I gave it a B-. I thought it was more like a C, but I was outvoted on that one. If you want to see it, I would recommend waiting for the rental.
After the movie, we headed to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. It was really hot and humid so we walked around a bit, but the majority of our time was spent deciding where to eat and eating at Pizzeria Uno. I also managed to get my roommate the BEST birthday gift ever!!! I can't tell you what it is because she reads this, but there will definitely be pictures once I give it to her.
One regret was taking the Metro rather than just driving. Our Metro experience was much like the one I wrote about on Friday, except that there were about ten different offenders rather than just one group. Unfortunate.
Anyway, I wish I could see my beautiful friends more often. Thanks for the terrific day!
During the summer, children past 4th grade sit in the sanctuary with the adults because there is no Sunday School or nursery for them. This leads to some wonderful parent-child moments that sometimes distract me from sermons and songs, but are too beautiful not to notice.
This morning, a little blond boy was occupying himself by drawing on some paper that his mother had given him. He had quite a stack, so when he noticed that his friend a few seats down (another blonde boy with a permanent, charming smile) didn't have anything to play with, he walked over and gave him a few sheets of his paper. The recipient of the paper was so excited and grateful! The giver went back to his mother and she gave him a high five...so precious.
Another little boy with dark hair and glasses was sitting contentedly on his father's lap and, at one point, during some of the liturgy before communion, they were having a staring contest...IN CHURCH!!! I love it. Then, during the staring contest, the little boy, with this look of complete happiness and love on his face, reached up and adjusted his dad's glasses. Again...so precious.
Third and final moment. We started reciting the Lord's Prayer and the paper recipient's much older brother leaned over and started saying it in his ear. P.R. started saying it along with him and when we all got to the end, he had this incredibly intense look of satisfaction on his face.
Kids + Church = WONDERFUL FUN!
I went to Wendy's to get some chicken nuggets for lunch. When asked what size I wanted, I ordered medium, without a second thought. At the window, there was a cup sitting on the ledge. It was HUGE! The cashier handed it to me...I thought there was some mistake, but there was no one else in line behind me...
Upon returning home, I Googled Wendy's and found quite a few articles outlining their recent menu changes. They have done away with the Biggie and Great Biggie size designations by merely getting rid of small and renaming the other sizes. Medium is now small, Biggie is now medium, and Great Biggie is large. A medium is 32 ounces!!! It's a good thing I've developed a taste for diet soda.
Obviously, people must use common sense when ordering fast food, but really...32 oz. = medium? The picture at the right shows a comparison of a McDonald's medium and a Wendy's medium. I wonder if they will sell more because people will feel less guilty ordering a medium or large than they would a Biggie or Great Biggie? As for me, I will order small at Wendy's from now on.
Some articles if you want more information:
Reuters - Wendy's says bye to Biggie, adds new large drink
NPR - Wendy's Biggie Portion Gone in Name Only
CBS News - Wendy's Tosses Biggie Size
