Quiet and powerful

I saw “The King’s Speech” this weekend.  It is exactly my kind of movie:  quiet and powerful.  I felt so much emotional tension during the movie, never in a bad way, but just hoping and feeling for this man who struggled mightily with his role and responsibilities.  It is beautifully shot, perfectly acted, and every bit the movie that I hoped it would be.  I expect that I’ll end up seeing it again soon at the theater and will likely buy it on DVD, and perhaps watch it five times in three days like I did for a similarly powerful movie (“Doubt”) two years ago.

Princess weekend!

This is my birthday weekend, and because of football, we aren’t able to celebrate my birthday tomorrow (unless I wanted to get mightily tangled up in the 113,000 person traffic jam — no thanks, I don’t even like to be in a 12 person traffic jam!).  It doesn’t matter that much to me because I would rather celebrate on days when I’m ready and able to celebrate and can just relax and enjoy, not just because the calendar says so.   And my teaching schedule has moved my birthday celebrations around often in recent years too, so I’m used to being flexible.  So tomorrow, I’ll finish up some work for my graduate class, and Sunday will be a better day for a birthday dinner and dessert!

But, I did want to do something different this weekend so it wouldn’t feel like an ordinary weekend.  I thought about many things but landed on the perfect Sandy Plan.  I just recently (and finally!) got the DVD of “Beauty and the Beast,” after 8 years of waiting for it to re-emerge from the Disney vault.  That is my favorite Disney movie, so I’ll definitely watch that tomorrow.  But then it occurred to me that I own two other princess movies, so why not make it a Disney Princess weekend!!  Thus, after I get some reading done tonight, I will watch “The Little Mermaid” and then I’ll watch “The Princess and the Frog”  either tomorrow (will it be a Princess double feature?!) or Sunday.

Given that I almost bought myself a Disney Princess tub mat on Monday, I think I need the Princess time! 

HPS on Mystery Diagnosis

When we were in the process of diagnosing my bleeding disorder in 2002, I did a quick internet search and found information about Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome.  HPS is a form of albinism that includes platelet problems similar to mine.  HPS patients completely lack dense granules in their platelets, while I have a partial but not complete deficiency.  (My variation is usually called delta storage pool deficiency or hypogranular platelet disorder.)

In 2006, in part because of my trip to the NIH, I connected with a group of HPS patients who quickly became dear friends and I’ve since met several of them (during my trip to DC last year).  Although our medical stories are a bit different, we’re all bleeders and we all have a challenging array of medical problems to contend with.  (Some forms of HPS come with serious lung and gastrointestinal complications.)  As a person living with chronic medical issues, all you really need is to have someone who understands, and I am blessed with many friends who truly understand.

Tonight, one of the most active members of the HPS group will be on “Mystery Diagnosis” on the Discovery Health Channel (at 10 p.m. eastern time — it will be re-aired at other times too).  We’ve all been anticipating this for quite a long time, and I can’t believe the day is finally here!  The show will bring so much awareness to people who need to know about HPS (patients who are undiagnosed, and hopefully members of medical communities).  A big thank you to Karen T for being willing to share her story on this program!

Ramona

A couple of months ago, I found out that a movie of “Ramona and Beezus” would be opening on July 23, and I immediately put it on my Outlook calendar and set it to remind me (on the off-chance that I forgot, which I didn’t!).

I absolutely loved the Ramona books when I was little.  They were, in fact, the only chapter books that I loved to read.  (Even as a kid, I had a stronger interest in reading and writing non-fiction.)  I loved the spunky and unapologetic Ramona, who was different and expressive and adventurous.  She and Punky Brewster were wonderful role models of spunky, non-conformist little girls when I was growing up, and I loved them both.

The “Ramona and Beezus” movie was great.  I haven’t read the books in a very long time, but I remembered enough to know most of the plot and loved how it all played out on screen.  The little girl who played Ramona could not have been more perfect for the part, and she has your heart from the first scenes of the film.  As I sat there, I was taken off guard a bit when I realized that the parents in these stories are my age, and it used to be the girls who were my age — hmmm, how did that happen?  I wondered if others in the theater were having the same realization, as 90% of the people at this movie were adults!

It was great to relive these childhood stories and to realize what a good choice Ramona was for me as a fictional character to relate to when I was little.

Three movies

I’ve seen three movies at the theater in the past week (partly because our theaters have Bargain Tuesday, and I was on break, so why not?!).  I’m pretty sure that I was a child the last time I saw that many movies at the theater in a week — back then, we never knew when we’d get a chance to see the movies ever again!  It was the theater or nothing, as far as we knew, so I remember my brother and I seeing “Back to the Future” three times at the theater.

Anyway, I saw “Up in the Air” last Tuesday.  I still don’t really know what that movie is about, but George Clooney sure is pretty, isn’t he? 

I went with a friend from church to see “‘The Princess and the Frog” on Saturday.  Such a cute movie — I love that Disney still makes animated musicals, and this one is full of sweet moments, drama, sillyness, and everything a good Disney movie should be!

And today, I finally saw “The Blind Side.”  I had that movie on my radar since August and planned to see it the weekend it came out in November, but life got in the way.  It is a fabulous, inspirational, and (at times) really funny movie.

I would still like to see “Invictus,” and I may catch “It’s Complicated” at the dollar theater or on video.  Seems like it’s been a great season for movies lately!

National Parks

Have you been watching Ken Burns’ series on PBS about the National Parks?  It will make you cry!  Seriously!  Of course, his team is masterful at telling poignant stories as well as choosing moving music to go along with it.  But, my goodness, between the beauty of all the parks, the stories people share about going with their families as children and now taking their own children (and they cry), and the rangers talking about how inspired they are by their workplace…it’s just amazing.  And, of course, I now want to go to every park from Alaska to southern Florida!

Movie moods

Last night, I was in the mood to watch a very sad movie.  I don’t know why, as I was in a very good mood (like a dancing mood!), but that was my wish.  I couldn’t think of a movie that I own that would be sad enough though.  *laughs*

This morning, I woke up with a strong desire to watch “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”!  What kind of mood does that movie call for?!  I haven’t seen that movie for a long while.  I knew I had a full agenda today, but I got on the library website to request the DVD and perhaps I’ll have a chance to watch it in a day or two.

I’m a movie kind of person.  I own a lot of DVDs and also request a lot of DVDs from the library.  If I’ve had a horrible day, I’ll watch something like “Because of Winn Dixie” because it restores my faith in the good in the world (such a sweet movie).  If I’m in a mood to snuggle under a blanket and be cozy, I’ll watch “Little Women.”  If I’m in a quiet mood, I’ll watch something like “Finding Neverland” or “Dead Poet’s Society.”  In the mood for something light, then “You’ve Got Mail.”

If I ever figure out what mood brought on “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!”, I’ll let you know. 

Movies, movies, movies

It’s been great to catch up on a bunch of movies this summer.  I got a slew of DVDs from the library, and most enjoyed “Doubt” and “Bolt.”  I also thought “Australia” was good (though long).

And just yesterday, in a time period of seven hours, I saw two movies that I loved!  I went to opening day of “Julie & Julia” — a funny, sweet film based on two true stories (as the opening credits tell you).  It was great to see that in the theater, where the collective laughter of the audience just added to the fun.  And then I got “Last Chance Harvey” from the library, which is a quiet, charming romantic film with two fabulous actors as leads (Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson).  Two thumbs up for both movies!

The last DVD that remains on my library list is “Rachel Getting Married,” and then I’ll probably be on a relatively movie-free streak again for awhile.  There is a movie called “The Blind Side” coming out in theaters on November 20th that I have my eyes on though.

Game shows

I remember watching a LOT of game shows when I was a kid.  During summers, we’d watch The Price is Right in the mornings, and we always watched The Family Feud.  There was also Card Sharks, Joker’s Wild, and The $25,000 Pyramid.  I also have some memories of Name That Tune and some game show that was like Scrabble.  As I grew up, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune became — and probably still are — the Kings of TV game shows.

Of all the shows, with all the prizes, my favorite of all time was The Family Feud.  It wasn’t a game of pure chance, but it also wasn’t a game show that just required knowing a bunch of facts.  You had to know how people think, what different people would say when asked the same question.  And, perhaps most important to me as a kid, it was a game that kids could understand and play along with at home just as well as the adults.  We could figure out answers to questions like “Name something that is orange” or ”Name something you’d find in your Grandma’s attic.”  I recently discovered that the latest version of The Family Feud is on ION television every evening.  It’s been fun to rediscover the show this week, and John O’Hurley (of Seinfeld fame) is a great host.

What was (or is) your favorite game show?  Did it seem like there were billions of game shows on when you were a kid too?

Little of this, little of that

Five random bits…

… I got “Bolt” last week on DVD from the library.  It’s so cute!  The first 10 minutes or so initally confused me, but after that, I was in love with the little dog and his friends!  I lean so heavily toward preferring dramas, but it’s good to laugh, and this movie made me laugh out loud!

… I did a load of all PINK laundry today.  Girl power!

… I have a kind of big meeting at school tomorrow.  I’m hoping that I get what I want out of it (it’s my education after all!), but wish me luck.

… One of my friends who is new to e-mail (yes, there are still those people out there) chatted with me online for 2 hours last evening.  That was fun!  Good to catch up, and it’s almost like talking to someone when there’s a lot of back and forth that quickly.  She’s out looking for a husband for me today.  Good thing one of us is.  *giggles*

… I have a ton of work to do the next few days, but then I’m leaving town and taking absolutely NO work with me!  Yay!