Two days two movies

I have seen two great movies over the past two days.

Monday I saw District 9. I loved it. I can't tell you much about it as I would not want to spoil it for you. All I can say is if you like sci-fi and action... go see it. It is fantastic!

The other movie I saw was (500) Days Of Summer, which I also really liked a lot. It didn't follow the standard way of telling a boy meets girl story, but it was a lot of fun to watch and well done. Great sound track too. I think I will have to download it.

Two movies I would recommend to anyone I know to go see.

Check out Ruby's Chicky Boil-Ups podcast

Earlier this summer the guy I am dating told me about a podcast he thought I might like. He was right. I thought I would share it here with you.

It is on the Radio NoWhere site or on iTunes under podcasts - Radio NoWhere. It is called Ruby Chicky Boil-ups. She does her podcasts in themes and it is a lot of fun to listen to the songs she finds to fit her themes. She also takes suggestions for themes and songs to be played in future podcasts from listeners. It is a fun mix of music from all over the world and from all different decades put together in about a hour long podcast. Great for listening to around the house and even through some headphones at work if you are able to.

You can click the title of this blog to go to Ruby Wrights weblog to learn more about it or check out one of the links below.

http://rubywright.wordpress.com/rubys-chicky-boil-ups/

http://radionowhereuk.blogspot.com/

You can also listen to some other great podcast through Radio NoWhere as well. They are free to download and a lot of fun to listen to. Check them out sometime if you have time.

It has been a long time...

Wow, it has been a while since I have blogged about anything at all. I must admit, I am behind on my reading challenge. I have reconnected with a guy I used to know and I have been spending a lot of time with him. That leaves less time for the reading. I will do my best to catch up before year end. I may have to write a blog about what I have been up to this summer sometime...

I hope you all are having a good summer. Let me know if you have any good reading recommendations. I would love to hear them.

~Bird

Book 14: The Season

I read this book yesterday at the recommendation of a friend and I was not disapointed. I really loved it actually. A fun read.

This brings me one book closer to my goal for the year and pretty much gets me caught up to where I should be at this point in the year to make my small reading goal.

Here is a short description of the book as it is written on the author's blog.

"Alexandra Stafford and her two closest friends, Vivi and Ella, weren't much looking forward to the London Season of 1815...but, between dress fittings, glittering balls, a murder that only they can solve, and the little fact that Alex's heart is very much in danger of being stolen...this is one season that is shaping up to be unforgettable!"

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a little adventure with their romance and comedy.

a ramble about my day so far

Today is a prefect Saturday... It is warm, sunny and smells really good outside. I love days like this where you can have all the windows open in the house and just sit out on the deck and read, if you choose to. I have not gotten to that yet today.

I woke up early for a Saturday to go for a walk with my neighbor, then went to the local farmer's market and picked up a couple of things, went to the library to pick up a cd and book I had on hold and then stopped at the grocery store to pick up the things to make chicken pasta salad then cooked the stuff and now I just have to put the ingredients together and chill it. I feel like I have done so much already, but I did forget to do a few things too when I was out and about.

I am waiting to hear if a friends is going to drop by or not, but I think I will vacuum the living room and then I may just go outside and read a little.

Off to enjoy more of the day.

The Hangover

Saw The Hangover last night and it was really funny. Lived up to the hype and all. The end credits are so funny. I had not laughed that much at a movie in a long time.

Things I have watched...

I can't believe I didn't say anything about any of the movies I have seen these past weeks. I have seen a few good ones.



Star Trek was just AWESOME! I loved it a lot more than I thought I would.
















Then I saw Wolverine, which was entertaining and all, but not nearly as awesome as Star Trek. I am glad I saw it, but maybe I should have seen it before I saw Star Trek. I saw them both on the same day... so, anyway...












I liked Angels & Demons more than The Da Vince Code and I liked Tom Hanks more in this one too. I should also say that when I read the books, I preferred Angels & Demons as well. I think it was just a better story to me. It probably didn't hurt that I had just been to Rome recently before reading the book and had been to many of the places in the story. =)












Most recently I saw UP in 3D, which was a fantastic movie. I really loved it actually. It was sweet, sad, fun, scary and heartwarming. Most definatley worth seeing in 3D. Just amazing.













I also recently watched season 1 of HBO's True Blood. I am very excited to see season 2 start up on Sunday. It is a dark and dirty vampire show with a little bit different twist than most of the other ones I have seen. If you like vampire stories, you may want to check this show out. It is based on a book series written about a character called Sookie Stackhouse. I have not read the books, so I have no idea how close the show is to the books. Maybe someday I will read those.





Well, I guess that is enough updating of things I have watched recently for now. I have not managed to kick my TV junkie ways yet as Burn Notice and The Closer are back on the air and soon True Blood will be on too.

Book 13: tmi by Sarah Quigley

Another book finished. This one was a fun read by an author from Minnesota. This is another young adult book. I had gone to an author event last weekend at Barnes & Noble to hear this author. One of the things that made this book fun for me to read was just the fact that it takes place in a small town in Minnesota. The descriptions of winter, the town, the way the kids were at school, the foods they prepared and ate... all very mid-western.


I am getting closer to getting caught up with my small reading goal for the year.

Book 12: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Finally I have started to get back to the reading challenge. This book was hard for me to put down once I got into it. In fact, I was up all night reading until it was done.

I am still thinking about what I read and I am not sure what to say about it without spoiling it. I am glad I knew very little about it before I started reading it. I had heard how great it was and I think it lived up to the hype. I look forward to reading the next book when it comes out. Too bad I have to wait until September for it.

Enter to win Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

If you like to read young adult books, check out the blog called Garden of Books (For Teens) to enter to win a copy of Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler.



Here is the link to the contest: http://booksforteensreviews.blogspot.com/2009/06/win-20-boy-summer-by-sarah-ockler.html

Or just click on the title of this post to be redirected to the contest.

Good luck to those that enter!

Lazy days and a bit of rambling...

Wow, it has been a whole month since I have said anything on here. I just noticed that I was going to track my progress on my walking and never got around to doing that. I have been walking each week since I made that last post on May 4. Most all of it in the mornings before work anywhere from 1-3 miles a day, so that has worked out. I don't particularly like getting up early in the morning, but I do really enjoy the walking in the morning part. It is so clean and fresh out there in the morning.

Most of all, I have been pretty lazy this past month. I have not gotten much reading done, I have not gotten into the gym much and I have just been working, walking and golfing. So much for those new year goals. =P

Today is not much different. It is a lazy rainy day. I did go out and brave the rain and horrible traffic to see an author at the Barnes & Nobel in Roseville. This was a young adult author called Sarah Quigley and she wrote the book TMI. I have not read it yet, but is looks like it will be a fun read.

Now I am back home on the couch waiting for post time on the Belmont. I am really hoping that Mine That Bird wins and the Calvin Borel wins the "jockey" Triple Crown. He was the jockey on both the Kentucky Derby winner and the Preakness winner. Should be an exicting race.

...

Rambling done for now.

My May experiment...

Last week I received a copy of a book in the mail called I Count: 10 simple steps to a healthy life. This book was sent to me to read, rate and review by the publisher in hopes that I would like it and give it a good rating/review on amazon.com. I figure since this book is supposed to help the reader incorporate healthy habits into their existing daily routines I would try to follow the steps and see if I am able to incorporated them into my own daily life.

This will be an ongoing thing over the next few weeks and I am not exactly sure how I am going to blog-track it, but I will figure that out as I go this week. Maybe I will even come up with a more clever name for it other than "My May experiment" =)

The first step for me is to add at least one 20 minute walk a day into my daily routine. I did one today after work, it actually came out to be about 25 minutes for the route I am planning to take. Going forward I am going to try to do this walk in the morning before work. I am not a morning person, so this should be interesting. I am sure it will make me feel better in the long run and help to kick-start my metabolism each day.

I will explain more of what this book is about later as I work on how I will blog this experiment.

The most exciting Derby day I have seen!

I love Derby day... they are not kidding when they call it "The most exciting two minutes in sports." Today's race was proof of that when Mine That Bird came from the back of the pack to win the race. If you missed it, you should try to find a replay of it. It was Amazing.

Check it out: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30538272/ or click on the title of this post to link to it.

Books by Their Cover is giving away free books!

Check out this blog if you like to read and would like a chance to win a free book in the giveaway this blogger is doing. Click the title of this post to link to the blog or go this link below.

http://booksbytheircover.blogspot.com/2009/05/huggles.html

Also, check out the blog. It is a good one.

~Bird

Book 11: Survival in Auschwitz

Today I finally finished this book by Primo Levi. It tells the story of the author's experience as a prisoner in Auschwitz. It tells about the time in his life from when he was arrested by the fascists and deported to Auschwitz in February 1944 and ends with the last 10 days he spent in a small building with 10 other prisoners that were all too sick to be marched out of the camp by the Germans and instead left to die before being found and liberated by the Russians in January 1945. It is an amazing story of survival and at times it was hard to read as he gives a lot disturbing detail about the daily life in the camp.