Thursday, August 25, 2016

Quick Hits – August 2016

This month was heavy on the movies, light on the TV.  I did finish one of the TV series I started last month, so that review is below, but the second is still mid-season.  I included extra reviews in the movie section to make up for the missing TV spot.  I was excited to jump back to my childhood this month and indulge in a triple feature movie series that I somehow never watched before.  Additionally, I included a current childhood film that tore my heart to shreds, a young adult novel that also ripped my heart apart, and a great new novel about friendship.  Overall, I had a fantastic entertainment month, enjoying almost everything I consumed, even if through tears in some cases.

Warning:  Although I tried not to delve into plots too deeply, there are potential spoilers in the reviews below.  Read at your own risk.

TV Series:  Supernatural:  Season 10 (2014-2015)
Maybe I have just overdosed on Supernatural, but I found Season 10 a bit boring and too long.  I really just wanted to be through it and on to the next thing.  This season has three major storylines.  First, Castiel and Sam work hard to find a cure for the Mark of Cain that currently adorns Dean’s arm.  The mark turns Dean into an angry, destructive person who I do not much like to watch.  The process of trying to cure Dean has also brought whiny, sneaky Sam back out who I also do not much like.  The whole situation causes a lot of fighting between the two brothers, and was a big part of why I just wanted this season to be over.  Second, Crowley’s witch mother Rowena is apparently still alive.  She starts causing trouble for Crowley as well as the Winchesters.  I initially found her very annoying, but she provided some bits of fun in the season so I have reconciled myself to her.  Third, a new enemy called the Styne family has turned up.  This is an organized mafia-type family with deep fingers in the occult, who the Winchesters run afoul.  I do not like them, but as a show adversary they are nice change of pace from the past few seasons.  One final thing to mention, the show killed off another secondary character that I really, really liked.  I understand some character turnover, but it seems like as soon as anybody interesting becomes involved they take them out in a gruesome way.  It is becoming a bit old.  This season was not terrible, but it was definitely not my favorite.  Some good episodes to watch include Fan Fiction (silly fun), Ask Jeeves (an episode reminiscent of Clue), and The Werther Project (actually had a plot twist I did not see coming even though I should have).

Movie:  The Little Prince (2015)
My husband picked this movie for us to watch on a family night with my stepson.  I had little expectation going into it, but came out of it knowing this will be one of my favorite movies ever.  It is a combination of stop motion filming and computer animation which creates a really beautiful, easy way to distinguish between The Little Prince material and the backdrop story added for the film.  It is an emotionally powerful story weaving a flashback narrative of loss against a little girl’s desire to just be a kid in a grown up world.  The movie themes cover imagination, friendship, loss, regret, love, and much more.  My stepson enjoyed the animated story, but I think the movie’s subtle layers will have a much bigger impact on adults.  There is such depth to it, I think I will need to watch it again and again just to be sure I understand it all.  Grab your tissue box (you will need it) and watch this movie.  I highly recommend it.

Movie:  Back to the Future Trilogy (1985, 1989, & 1990)
Every once in a while, I dive back into the past to watch those iconic movies of an era that I have never seen.  Back to the Future is something from my childhood that everyone I know has seen and loved, but I somehow missed watching.  Home sick from work one day, I took advantage of it being on Netflix streaming.  Once I watched the first one, I just had to see Parts II and III.

Back to the Future:  This was fantastic.  I cannot believe I waited so long to see what all the hype was about.  In 1985, old Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) builds a time travel machine using a DeLorean.  His teenage friend Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) accidentally gets sent back in time to 1955.  In the past, the DeLorean breaks down, so Marty looks up a younger Doc Brown to help fix it.  In the meantime, he interacts with both his parents who are teenagers in high school.  Notably, he teaches his father a little courage, which changes the future for the better.  This movie stands up to time surprisingly well.  The story is a lot of fun while never going too over-the-top cheesy.  The acting is fantastic, with Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd hitting the perfect notes.  The effects while dated are not distracting from the story.  I would definitely watch this again for old (new?) time’s sake.

Back to the Future Part II:  The second one is a big step down from the first.  It does not stand up to the test of time nearly as well, and it just feels like a cheesy 80s movie.  In this one, Doc Brown returns from the future (2015) to tell Marty that his child is about to make a terrible mistake and they need to stop it.  While in 2015, Biff Tannen steals the DeLorean to take a magazine with 50 years of sports statistics back to his younger self in 1955.  When Doc Brown and Marty go back to 1985, they discover the horrible world that has resulted from a rich Biff.  They go back to 1955 to recover the magazine and put 1985 back in its right trajectory.  Christopher Lloyd and Michael J Fox still are great.  The special effects are still dated, but tolerable (mostly).  The story though feels recycled, because it is extremely similar to the first movie.  Indeed, there are moments that are literally movie clips from the first movie integrated into the second.  However, I think the biggest problem in this movie is the depiction of 2015.  When the movie was made 2015 was 30 years in the future, but now it is in the past.  Because it is a 1980s depiction of the future, it is not very accurate and just feels dated.  The past and the present scenes movie-wise are much more accurate, so they feel authentic in a way the future scenes just cannot.

Back to the Future Part III:  The third one redeems the franchise, though it does not quite hit the highs of the original film.  Doc Brown was stranded in 1885 at the end of the second film, so in the third Marty goes back in time to help him come home.  The majority of the film takes place in 1885 using a wild west theme.  A lot of the story follows traditional western action films (saloon, duel, horses, etc) while mixing in the standard Back to the Future plotline (fight off a Tannen while fixing the DeLorean to get back to 1985).  Even though it is a bit repetitive of the earlier films, it still kept my attention throughout the movie.  I was especially captivated by the final action sequence on the train, and I adored the final ending of this movie.  Because this is entirely set in the past, the movie escapes the issues the second one has with such a false version of the future.  Part III makes a solid final addition to the trilogy, and I would recommend watching the series the entire way through at least once in your life.

Book:  We Were Liars by e. lockhart (2014)
This book took me completely by surprise.  It is a young adult suspense thriller with an ending  that floored me.  The novel is told from the point of view of a seventeen year old girl who had a traumatic accident two summers ago, but she cannot remember the details of what happened or much of the summer surrounding the incident.  No one will tell her about it saying that she never remembers the next day and that the doctors think she should remember at her own pace.  She spends the current summer trying to piece together what happened, filling in blanks with information gleaned from her family members as well as slowly recovered bits of memory.  It all leads to a final conclusion of the fully remembered truth about that fateful day two summers ago.  I am rarely good at solving mysteries, but none of my theories were even close to the truth on this one.  Yet once it was all revealed, it all made perfect sense.  I was emotionally rocked by the conclusion, and immediately wanted to reread the whole thing again to see the story in light of the truth.  One final note, the book can be bit hard to read because the narrative is written in first person point of view from the main character.  She is often confused and immature in her storytelling which can be a bit annoying.  However, I do think it was the best choice to lead the reader to the final impact.  Just keep with it, and the awkward prose will be forgiven.

Book:  Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam (2016)
My July Book of the Month selection was a beautifully understated book about friendship.  Sarah and Lauren have been best friends since elementary school.  The book goes back and forth between the women, now in their 30s, interspersing current events in their lives with flashbacks to them growing up. Sarah works as at a charity store dedicated to AIDs, is planning her wedding to long-time beau Dan, and having an unplanned baby.  Lauren is working as an associate editor for a cookbook, hoping to someday be promoted, crushing on the temp at work, and fulfilling her duties as Maid of Honor at Sarah’s wedding.  They have been best friends forever, but you can tell their current relationship is strained at best.  Each little scene reveals how much they try to maintain the closeness they always enjoyed, but yet somehow they just never mesh quite right anymore.  They keep secrets from each other, they silently judge each other’s choices, and they are envious of things the other has, yet neither is willing to let the friendship fizzle away.  The book is a relaxed read, which was a nice change of pace from how I normally devour books.  I was never bored, but I did not feel that insane hunger to turn pages before I had even properly read the current one.  It was an honest look at how friendships evolve over time, and how loyalty demands we keep trying even if our hearts are not entirely in it.  It will not go down as the most exciting book I have ever read, but I definitely came away contemplative on the topic of friendship and content with my time spent on reading it.

Overflow:
TV Special:  John Mulaney:  New in Town (2012) – Yes
Movie:  The Secret Life of Pets (2016) – Yes
Movie:  Irrational Man (2015) – Yes
Movie:  Hello, My Name is Doris (2016) – Yes
Movie:  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) – Yes
Book:  Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice (2002) – Yes
Book:  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997) – Yes


See you next week! 

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Who Uses So Much Lip Balm?!

In one of my recent subscription boxes, I received a scented lip balm.  I tossed it in the drawer where I keep all my lip products.  Then, it struck me that I had tossed quite a few lip balms in there over the past year.  I wondered just how many I actually owned at this point.  So, I sorted through the drawer and pulled them all out.  I had a whole box full of them.


In total, I own twenty-five lip balm products.  I included all moisturizing lip items, including some tinted balms, but nothing that would be considered a lip gloss or a more opaquely colored lip product.  I have only actually purchased five of these myself.  The rest I have gotten as gifts from other people or in subscription boxes.  Most of them are from well-known brands like Chap Stick or EOS, but several of them are from more obscure companies such as Crazy Rumors and Moody Sisters Skincare.  I have plain ones, scented ones, tinted ones, all natural ones, medicated ones, well-loved ones, and unopened ones.  When I spilled them onto the ground, they made quite an impressive pile.


I have no idea what I am going to do with them all.  It seems like a waste to keep throwing them in a drawer and not using them.  Although I have not run into any that are bad yet, I know they will not keep forever.  How can I possibly go through that much lip balm?  I wear lip balm all the time, reapplying it multiple times a day.  Yet, I have only ever gone through a couple tubes of product in my memory, including a few I just lost.  There is just no way I will ever use all twenty-five tubes of product.  In reality I only use the eight shown here.


EOS Visibly Soft Lip Balm Coconut Milk (farthest left) – I keep this one on my nightstand.  While I have heard that many of the EOS balms dry out your lips, I have never had any problems with this particular one.  It is thick and creamy on my lips.  It also has a very pleasant, subtle coconut scent.  My only issue is that the bulky shape makes it awkward to pack in things, and so it remains at my bedside.

Mary Kay Satin Lips Lip Balm – I use this in the mornings when I get ready for the day.  It has a gel consistency, no scent, and is very hydrating.  This is probably my favorite of the lip balms presented.  Bonus:  You can buy it in a set with a Lip Mask too, though I do not like the mask as much as the balm.

Malin+Goetz Mojito Lip Balm – This is the one I keep in my gym bag and use when I get ready for work at the gym.  It has a gel consistency and a light minty scent to it (sadly no tingle on the lips from it though).  I like this one fine, but I prefer the Mary Kay.

Aquafina Flavor Splash Lip Balm in Wild Berry – I keep this one at my desk at home.  It is a thin stick, which I like less than the more standard tube size.  Plus my cap does not stay on very well, so it would be a bad choice to keep in a bag of any sort.  The balm itself is soft and moisturizing with a fairly strong berry juice scent to it (reminds me of Kool-Aid).

Chap Stick Medicated – This is one of two lip balms in my purse.  It has a strong medicinal scent to it, and it tingles when applied.  I mostly use this one in the winter when my lips are super dry from the cold air.  It is the standard of lip balm for a reason, and I definitely rely on it for the tough lip days.

Jershey Shore Sun Mongongo Nutrient Dense Anti-Aging Lip Conditioner in Mandarin Green Orange Ginger – This is the second lip balm that remains in my purse.  It has the fanciest sounding name, but it is probably my least favorite of the ones I regularly use.  It has a tendency to feel a bit too thick and greasy on my lips.  It does have a pleasant citrus scent that I enjoy.  It is 100% natural and certified organic if that is important to you.

Vaseline Lip Therapy Advanced Formula – I keep this one in my desk at work.  I tend to wear lip gloss or lipstick at work.  However, this is nice to give my lips a bit of moisture if my colored products are drying them out.  It is straight Vaseline, so it is a gel with no color, no scent.  It is nothing fancy, but it gets the job done for me.

Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm in Grape Vine – This is a tinted lip balm that I use when I do not want to wear makeup, but want to add just a touch of color to my face.  I do not find it to be particularly moisturizing, although it definitely is not drying either.  It gives me a very sheer purple color, just enough to darken the lips.  The best part about this product is the scent, which smells like concord grape juice.  Divine!

Does anybody want some lip balm?  I have a few spares I can donate.


See you next week!

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Shenandoah National Park Trip

I have read two books about hiking the National Scenic Trails, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  Each time I read a book like this, I immediately want to make the trip myself.  As wonderful as that sounds, it currently is not possible for me to attempt it.  For one, I do not think it feasible to disappear from my life for six months.  While I could consider quitting my job for an experience like that, I do not think I can walk away from my family responsibilities as easily.  Second, I have to admit that I am not in National Scenic Trails hiking shape, and I am not brave (or stupid) enough to just go without some knowledge and preparation.  While 2000+ miles of hiking might be out of my reach for the moment, there is nothing stopping me from hiking on a much smaller scale.  To that end, I planned a small day trip to Shenandoah National Park at the end of July.

In true Ella fashion, my trip started by going completely off-kilter.  My plan was to drive to the North Entrance of the park, getting there close to the 9:00 when the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center opened.  I would look at the displays in the visitor center and hopefully get a chance to the see the short film that they have there.  Then, I would hike the Fox Hollow Trail which starts near the visitor center.  Afterwards, I would drive down Skyline Drive for 25 miles or so, stopping at the various overlooks along the route.  When I arrived at the Elkwallow Wayside, which is a little grocery store/eatery, I would stop for some lunch.  Finally, I would drive back to the North Entrance and proceed home.  I figured I would be completely done by mid-afternoon.

Instead I started late because I ran some errands prior to leaving.  I made a stop at Walmart to buy a small hiking backpack so I could carry a few supplies with me (ten hiking essentials here http://www.wta.org/hiking-info/basics/hiking-101-part-2-selecting-clothing-and-gear, although I only had eight).  Then, I went to the bank to withdraw money from the ATM but got delayed when my bank card was rejected due to inactivity.  As directed by iPhone maps, I arrived at the Thornton Gap entrance, even though I swear the North Entrance was closer to me.  To accommodate the new location, I decided to just flip my schedule around.  I drove up Skyline drive 25 miles, stopping at all the overlooks on the right side of the road along the way.  Once I arrived at Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, I went in quickly, but opted out of looking at the displays or watching the movie.  Instead I headed over the Fox Hollow Trail, because it was already past noon and pretty hot outside.  Afterward my hike, I sat on some benches outside Dickey’s Ridge Visitor Center, ate some peanut butter crackers, and waited for my energy to return.  Finally, I drove back to the Thornton Gap Entrance, stopping at some of the overlooks on the other side of Skyline Drive.  I did briefly consider stopping at Elkwallow Wayside before heading home, but decided I was too hot, tired, and not hungry.  I did not get home until around 5:00.

Despite the misadventures, I had a really nice first outing for my new hiking hobby.  My trip can be broken into two big sections, driving Skyline Drive and the stop to actually hike.  The big tourist draw to Shenandoah National Park is Skyline Drive.  You proceed at a relaxing 35 mph along a twisty road that winds its way through the mountains.  The wildflowers and trees are allowed to grow right up to the road edges, enveloping you in a peaceful green canopy.  Every mile or so there is an overlook, supposedly 75 in total, but I only stopped at a few.  Some of the overlooks have a small display that provides some park history or points of interest.  Every overlook has spectacular views, none quite the same as the others.  I stopped at almost all the ones between Thornton Gap Entrance and Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, only skipping one due to construction and a few at the end due to an approaching storm.  I had one interesting encounter with another person during my drive.  A woman asked me to take a picture of her playing her cello at one of the overlooks.  In return, she took a couple of me.  I took pictures at every stop I made, so I shared some of my favorites below.

The whole point of this trip was to hike, and so I hiked the Fox Hollow Trail.  I have not gone hiking in the woods in several years, and I have not done much ever as a solo hiker.  As such, I thought it would be prudent to start out very, very easy to make sure I reacted to the situation well.  I wanted to know I was physically capable of hiking on unpaved paths, and emotionally ready to be on my own in the wilderness.  I picked an extremely easy path at Shenandoah.  Fox Hollow Trail is just over 1 mile long, designated as easy by the park, in very close proximity to Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, and popular among visitors.  I am glad I started with this one, solely due to the afternoon heat in which I hiked.  I had plenty of water with me, but I was hot and exhausted even after just that one mile.  I was physically very capable of the hike that I took.  Mentally, I felt calm walking through the forest mostly on my own.  I saw 4 people coming in the opposite direction at the very start of my hike, and nobody the remainder of the time.  I can definitely do this in the future.

The Fox Hollow Trail is a pretty little loop that goes down a slight hill from the road and then back up again.  It covers area that was previously farmland owned by the Fox family.  In addition to the wildlife, Fox Hollow Trail offers several points of interest to the hiker.  There are huge rockpiles that were created by the farmers as they plowed fields.  Next is a little cemetery for the Fox family, showing a few old tombstones in a little enclosed area.  Further down the path there is supposedly a millstone very obviously along the path, but I never saw it.  Before you head back to the visitor center, you will cross a little stream (it will not even wet your feet) and pass by a large old sycamore tree that has been there for a hundred years.  I took a few photographs during my hike which I included below.

Overall, I had a very pleasant time.  My plan is to continue to incorporate hiking into my routines.  Shenandoah has over 500 hiking trails according to the park literature, so it offers many opportunities for me to have new adventures over the next year or so.  My next trip though is likely to be in Pennsylvania.  I am making a trip to central PA to visit some family at the end of August.  My hope is to stop in the Gettysburg area for a day or two on the way home, which offers some hiking opportunities as well as history lessons.  With a little perseverance, I can increase the length and difficulty of my hikes over time.  Maybe someday I will even tackle part of the Appalachian Trail.

Trip Spending Total:  $33.63  – Park entrance fee $20.00, Fox Hollow Trail guide $1.05, souvenirs for me and baby T $12.58.

See you next week!


 Little Devil Stairs Overlook (I loved this tree!)

 Range View Overlook

 Jenkins Cap Overlook

 Signal Knob Overlook

 Gimlet Ridge Overlook (I think)

Fox Hollow Trail (5 photos)
    


Thursday, August 4, 2016

Blah, Another Update – Front Room August 2016

It is time for another update, but I do not really have much progress to report.  As expected, my work schedule kept me from doing much in the front room.  At the end of the month, I chose to do some needed house chores like cleaning the bathroom instead of anything related to my project.  My husband did complete some work on one weekend, but he had a work trip at the end of the month that ate away a big chunk of his time.  Anyway, the comparison pictures are below, July 1st on the left and August 1st on the right.

The only work I personally did in the front room this month was to clear out the desk and move the remaining stuff along the wall in the office area.  Everything was distributed between the basement, the master bedroom, and my stepson’s room temporarily.  The remainder of the work on the room was completed by my husband.  He tore apart the now empty desk and hauled it away to the dump.  He painted another large section of the wall.  He also replaced the drywall tape, spackled, and sanded the remaining large wall.  Finally, he installed the new doorbell chime.  One more positive note, I continue to be happy with my paint choice and definitely can see how much brighter the room will be once it is completed.

Next month, I will try to get back on track.  I have made my husband commit to setting aside the next free weekend (which is two weekends from now) to finish all the painting.  We have the last large wall and some miscellaneous areas around the stairs to finish.  Also, the ceilings, doors, and baseboards need to be painted.  Then, the burden of work passes back to me.  I need to figure out my furniture configuration for the office side of the space.  I think I will feel so much better once I get some shelving in here and can start unpacking some of these boxes that are filling up all my free space elsewhere in the house.

I am considering if I should stop writing this as a monthly feature, seeing as half the time I do not make much progress from one month to the next.  I was hoping that the monthly reports would keep me motivated and focused, but I feel like I am wasting everyone’s time saying the same thing over and over again.  Would it be better for me to do something more sporadic, or even just before and after the project is completed?  I will see how I do next month.  If there is no progress, maybe I will just skip this feature until I have something to share.

See you next week!