'Ello Polly

Hey Universe, it's me, Alice. Just wanted to let you guys in on a little idea I got goin' on. Here goes.

1. When your phone runs out of battery, don't call it dead. Dead things can't be revived. Everybody should say, the phone is out of fuel.

2. Answer to world peace. Kalzones (misspelling intentional). And custard. Danish kalzones made from the best dough ever, white sauce and a bunch of vegetables. Custard is vanilla, with caramel and pretzels. Sounds strange, but it is the best thing ever.

3. Top Gear every night. I don't know about the rest of the world, but that would make me pretty happy.

4. Free Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolates for everybody. Seriously, its foolproof.

5. Recess for kids. Last I heard, recess was headed out the backdoor and thats just wrong.

6. High heels that are comfortable for more than 17.3 minutes. I know thats a big one, but give it a shot.

7. No more Transporter movies. They are just lame. The only possible redeeming factor is he drives an Audi. But still.

8. Another Harry Potter book. Come on, you know you want to....

9. You should drive on a driveway and park on a parkway.

10. Finally, go share some good karma with Fatty. He needs it.

Thanks.

Yesterday I saw the Secret Life Of Bees.

I had started to book earlier that day ( I was about 10pgs in), and my friends had invited me to go. I decided to see it, despite the fact I hadn't finished it. You cannon possibly understand how that pained me, but I persevered. :)

The movie was very well made; good acting, cinematography, score (I found that was one of the most enjoyable parts), story line, ect.

My favorite character was definitely May Boatwright (played by Sophie Okonedo). I won't spoil anything, but the fragility she displayed was beautiful.

Today, I took my book to work & polished off most of it, finishing it at home. Sue Monk Kidd is truly gifted at word craft - within a paragraph I completely understood the tale she was spinning, and what a beautiful tale it is.

Its got tragedy, comedy, examples of entrapment and examples of release. My copy (which is actually my moms copy, but I digress) is full of Post-It notes, marking my favorite lines or most touching moments.

Those who haven't read the book should pick it up, and those who have should read it again. Also, the movie stays very true to the book. You do miss a lot of Lily's (the main character) thoughts, but overall its remarkably on par with the novel. I would highly recommend it.

Quick question: Can you read a book more then once, for enjoyment?

Personally, I have read almost all my books at least twice & I know that I have read one book upwards of 5 times. They are books I love ( thats why I bought them), so I like to re-read them. Its comforting, and its fun to pick up whatever you might have missed the first time.

But just about everybody I talk to rarely reads any book more then once.

What say ye?

Yay or Nay?

Everywhere you go, you will find someone who is either pro or anti to technology.

"Nobody talks face to face anymore"

"Never before has this much information been instantly available"

"Writing good old fashion letters with pen and paper is dying away"

"You can talk to anybody anywhere on Earth, quick as you can blink"

I straddle the fence on this issue, but one definite pro for me: Every time I do something on a computer, a non computer literate person thinks I just solved the ancient human dichotomy (chocolate or vanilla?).

Case in point - I was transferring some documents onto a Mac from a portable USB (the little stick thingy), and used Expose to locate the Finder window I wanted.

Expose is a Mac thing (to the best of my knowledge), where you hit a button on the mouse and all of your windows share the screen. So if you have 10 windows open and you don't want to minimize until you find the one you want, just hit the side of the mouse & ta da, all everything is there.

Now, the man who owned the portable USB had NEVER EVER seen anything like that. Ever. Which is probably why he had me hit the Expose button 3 more times, so he could see what I was doing, because he thought it was the coolest thing since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine aired.

Its so funny how you do something like that, or even just burning a CD, & somebody who has little to no computer knowledge thinks you just re-invented fire, sitting right there at your desk.

No matter what faction you fall into (pro or anti), you have to agree there is some pretty cool perks in the technological world.

This is a piece I did as an English assignment, a looong time ago. I found it while looking for another file, and I remembered how much fun it was to write.





MOVIE REVIEW FOR
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
A pretty girl. A handsome, brooding boy. A pirate who appears to be drunk at least half of the time. A ancient Aztec curse.

Makings of a flop? Not with Johnny Depp at the helm. Along with Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and Jack Davenport, Depp leads (in every sense of the word) the cast of Pirates, one of the most entertaining movies of that summer.

The way Depp trapezes around almost gives you vertigo, although that might just be the residual light headed-ness from laughing at almost everything that comes out of his goateed mouth. While the rest of the cast does their job well (Knightley especially, Bloom questionably), Depp really shines through.

While the movie is long, almost obscenely so, it has comedy, action, romance, and suspense throughout. The story centers around the curse set on the pirates , everyone has a very different view on what to do about it.

William Turner (Bloom), just wants to rescue his true love, Elizabeth Swann(Knightley) from the clutches of the cursed pirates - who think they need her blood to end the curse.

Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp), wants to get his ship back from the pirates that mutinied on him and sailed onward to - unbeknownst to them - the cursed gold.

Captain Barbossa (Rush), the head mutineer and captain of the pirate crew, wants to rid himself of the curse that they have been trying to reverse for the past 10 years.

The problem for Will is that he can only get to Elizabeth through Jack - who is a pirate, the very thing he swears he will never deal with.

Elizabeth has fallen in love with Will and dearly wants to marry him - all she has to do is escape the pirates who want her blood, and even harder, the engagement to Commodore Norrington (Davenport).

Jack knows a secret about Will that could help him get his ship back - but first he needs to "come upon" a ship that can help him get to where Barbossa has laid anchor.

Barbossa needs to lift the curse to regain normal human life - but he needs the last piece of gold and the blood of a former crew member - who happens to be deceased.

All the double crossing, lightening quick deals, and frequent "I thought you were on our side!?" does lose you sometimes, but it all comes together in the end.

The movie is very enjoyable, and it shows that it was thought out. Everything from the score (exquisitely done by Klaus Badlt), cinematography (credit goes to Dariusz Wolski), editing(Stephen Rivkin, Arthur Schmidt, and Craig Wood) and the screenplay ( the amazing Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio) is carefully constructed and plays out in a very satisfying manner.

Overall, the movie is going to be a hit. The audience will be drawn in the the big names (Bloom, Rush, Depp, along with Jonathan Pryce who plays Elizabeths father, Governor Swann), and will stay for the complete entertainment that is Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. 8.5/10

Story People

On Flickr (the photography website that I frequent), when you post pictures you add a title & description. A lot of the people who's photo streams I follow use quotes with the pictures, which is really cool cause you can find some really beautiful literary extracts that way. That is how I found Story People.

Every once in awhile, quirky and poignant quotes would be with a picture, and it was always credited to "Story People". Thanks to the miracle that is Google, I found the Story People website.

Now, I can't say I fully comprehend what its about, but as best I can figure Brian (and I think his wife helps him) is an artist, and with his drawings he affixes short stories & sayings. He also makes sculptures, paintings ect.

As soon as I found the website, I spent 3 days going through every story, some of which made me life and some made me cry. Then I subscribed to to site, so I get a Story everyday. Which makes me happy. I also wrote some out, so I have them taped to my lap top and stuck on my cork board.

Here are some of my many, many favorites:

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I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow. I wish I had a thousand words for love, but all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep & there are no words for that.


We lay there & looked up at the night sky & she told me about stars called blue squares & red swirls & I told her I'd never heard of them. Of course not, she said, the really important stuff they never tell you. You have to imagine it on your own

She asked me how I felt about eternal life & I said, would I have the same aches & pains I have now because that would factor heavily into my decision


pretty good friends considering they come from completely different backgrounds


A few said they'd be horses. Most said they'd be some sort of cat. My friend said she'd like to come back as a porcupine. I don't like crowds, she said.

He wore a pot on his head in all kinds of weather. I never learned to cook & I got it after my mother died, he said. I just know it would make her happy that I'm using it

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The Eskimo one was the first quote I found, and it is still my absolute favorite.

What is that style of writing called? Poetry? Just short stories?

Whatever it is, I deeply enjoy it.

On a unrelated note, commenting should be much easier. I changed the settings, so feel free to leave a brief hello. When you go to the comment page, click the Name/URL button. It will be the easiest.

For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn.

In the shower this morning, I heard on the radio those 6 words. I almost cried.

Ernest Hemingway wrote that, supposedly for a bet.

There is something un-nameable about it, something that is just so tragic. Maybe its the simplicity - the bare statement of the fact.

It is possible that he meant not for it to be so full of an aching feeling - he could be trying to say it was a boy instead of a girl, a gift never used because of an excess of such items.

But I (and almost everybody who called into the radio) read it as an unspeakable sorrow.

Which is pretty dang depressing for a Thursday morning, lemme tell ya. Nothing puts a damper on your day like hearing that as you shave your legs.

When I Googled it, I came across a blog in which the woman talked briefly about that. She was using it in relation to a news article, where the paper made a challenge; describe your life in 6 words.

What is your 6 letter story?

Heres mine.

"Who'd of guessed I'd be here?"

And, ladies and gentlemen, your Daily Double -

"But I kind of like it"

:-)