Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

Like  Naomi  just mentioned in one of her posts, I miss you guys!  Logically, I know I've been able to blog at a more reasonable, healthy (probably) pace, but I just feel like I never get to post or comment!  Sigh.  Oh, the woes of the school year;)   Anyway, I just had to let you all know that for the next week or so, I'll be even more absent.  I'm going on a road trip with my parents and my younger brother, so…yeah.   It's a cool location, though;) Let's just say Sarah Whitting would be proud *wink wink*

The lovely  Heidi  has nominated me!:D Thank you, Heidi! The rules : 1). Thank the person who nominated you, as well as link to their blog. 2). Answer the 10 questions provided. 3). Come up with 10 more questions that relate to food. 4). Nominate at least 5 people. 5). Let those people know they've been nominated. Heidi's questions : 1. Your thoughts on cheese?   Cheese is nice:) 2. Favorite pizza?   Green pepper and cheese from Domino's.  IT IS SO GOOD. 3. Have you always had a “traditional” dinner (i.e. turkey and all the fixings) on Thanksgiving?   Pretty much, but wouldn't you know it?  I don't care for Thanksgiving fare (HA!  I'm a poet, and you did not know it!) that much.  I like cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, but that about does it:-/ 4. Favorite Thanksgiving dish to prepare?   See above;P   5. Your favorite breakfast?   Bagels from Mr. J.'s (have you had Mr. J.'s? ...

Today I want to review one of the most darling movies I have ever seen, Letters to Juliet .  (And I do intend to start posting more original and diverting things than just continual movie reviews, I promise.)   This movie is just so…*blissful sigh*  It's utterly satisfying, wholly delightful, and nigh on to perfect. Sophie Hall is a sweet, ambitious woman who dreams of becoming a published writer for The New Yorker, at which she works as a fact-checker.  While in Verona on a "pre-honeymoon" with her fiancé, Victor, Sophie stumbles upon the Secretaries of Juliet, a group of women who collect the notes heartbroken young ladies leave at Juliet's House.  These secretaries then respond to all the letters they can, giving advice and solace as they are able.  Sophie is interested and begins helping them, as her lovable but slightly self-absorbed fiancé is preoccupied with his passion as a chef.  After finding a dusty old letter hidden behind a brick in ...

Here are zee answers!:) #1: "I'll get that arrow, pretty boy, and I'll do it with my shirt on."   Answer:   Mulan (Yao) #2: "Oh, what I'd give for a hundred years, but the physical interferes--every day, more. O my Creator, what is the good of the strongest heart in a body that's falling apart?"   Answer:   Evita (Eva Peron) #3: "Forgive me. Where are my manners?" "You know, I've been wondering that since the day I met you."   Answer:   Letters to Juliet (Charlie Wyman and Sophie Hall) #4: "No matter how loud you shout, you will not drown out the voice of the people!"   Answer:   Amazing Grace (William Wilberforce) #5: "Sweet, loving angel of all things merciful!"   Answer:   Penelope (Jessica Wilhern) #6: "Yes! I love her! I love her with every breath I breathe!"   Answer:   Belle (John Davinier) #7: "Let's go steal the Department of Defense." "Is...

Ivy has tagged me!   Thank you so much, Ivy; I love tags:) 1.)  A movie that kept you up all night Hmm.  This is a toughie, 'cause there's more later about movies that made me scared and thus kept me up…oh, I know!   The Sound of Music . :)  This marvelous piece of cinema has kept me and my family up past midnight almost every New Year's Eve that I can remember.  It's tradition;)  Along with opening stockings while watching, instead of at Christmas.  (Yes, you may now all be jealous of our awesome New Year's habits.) 2.)  A movie that made you scared to sleep Little Dorrit .  *shudders*  Just…no.  Rigaud and Ms. Monotone (I don't remember her name) FREAKED THE EVERLIVIN' DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME. I don't really like Little Dorrit . 3.)  A movie that made you go to sleep I'm usually pretty good about keeping awake during movies, actually…but Fiddler on the Roof MIGHT have seen me nodding off the...

'Ello, loves!  Because I don't want to keep throwing movie reviews at you, here's one of those random life update posts.  (And, Ivy, I am planning on doing that tag eventually!) {Listening} To the 2013 Romeo & Juliet soundtrack.  The above track, "Wedding Vows," is one of my favorites ever.  I just…GAAAAHHHHH.  I mean, that soprano !  I can usually hold my own as a soprano, but GOOD GRIEF.  She just…soars.  (That sounds cheesy.  But it's true!)  Honestly, this entire soundtrack just does something to me.  It's so ethereally beautiful and uplifting and mellow and exciting and all the goose-bump-inducing things that a movie soundtrack should be.   {Reading} Trying to complete  The Bookshelf Project .  Progress is slow, but fairly steady.  At the moment I'm at the very beginning of The Last of the Mohicans  following a failed attempt to start The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , aft...

I walked down the hill, asking the Lord, "What do You wish to show me?" Worried I'd missed His timing, Concerned there was somehow now nothing He could reveal  in this gathering gloom-- Then I rounded the bend, and I saw. The full majesty of an October sunset shone forth, Advancing from a distant peak as from Mount Zion itself. The firmament shot through and suffused with holy fire, The pavement of the dwelling place of the Most High  awash with His glory. To the left, falling into a quasi-display of the Northern Lights; To the right, eddying into flawless brushstrokes of pink and lilac. And with the sight came a surety: God is. God loves. And then there's this, because everyone should have the chance to see this picture.

The 2000 movie version of Lorna Doone is one of those movies that my parents and my older siblings used to watch and quote and laugh about, back when I was still too young to see it, and when at last I did get to watch it a number of years ago, I wasn't quite sure what I thought of it.  (I think I was about eleven or twelve then, though, and I was easily creeped out, so that might have had something to do with it.)  I enjoyed it, but it also seriously disturbed me.   NOW, I quite like it--probably love it.  I don't watch it very often, because it is a haunting, not-easily-forgotten story, but whenever I do, I enjoy it. However, as Miss Dashwood put it in  her review  (which is impossibly clever and scarily accurate, plus just an all-around great review of LD),  "I really, really liked this movie. However, I can never resist poking fun when there's something around to poke fun at, so I may make a few jokes at the characters' expense. This does no...

I watched the classic Western The Magnificent Seven the other day, and… It truly was magnificent, and I think what I most appreciate about it is that it wasn't melodramatic (as older movies can tend to be), and it wasn't unnecessarily tragic.  Realistic, yes, sad, yes, but with a gentle ending that exhilarates you in a quiet, happy way.   Quick overview of the story:  three men from a poor Mexican village enlist hired gun Chris Adams to help them redeem their town from the oppression of Calvera, a hypocritical bandit who glibly robs them of all their resources and kills any who oppose him.  Chris in turn puts out an "advertisement" for backup and, in the end, seven hardened cowboys arrive at the village as a reinforcement for the townspeople.  Individually and as a group they begin to prepare the village for Calvera's next raid, and in the process become attached to those they are protecting.   The movie fulfills all the criteria of a...