To start, I hope that all of you had an amazing holiday and that the New Years celebrations will be greatly anticipated, celebrated, and (not) remembered! I had a pretty interesting Christmas holiday back home. I know that my family is a bit nuts, so that threw a wrench into all the happy fun plans (which only included one and a half bouts of mother getting upset and hanging up on us and crying... which was good for her). But all things considered it was a good holiday. I do always like to spend more time with my sister and Jared, not living at home makes me have to "spread out my time" so that everyone gets a share. Not that I like that plan, but apparently it's needed. I understand that people love to see me (and that the statement I just made is very conceited) but still, she's probably my favorite person in the world and shouldn't I have a say?
But that being said, I did get everything I asked for (and more) for gifts and hope that I returned that favor while going further than expectations... Yes, I gifted some Cutco (it's awesome and I work there, so back off, it's amazing stuff...) and some other fun goodies. I ended up getting a really nice watch and a sweet pair of headphones (thanks mom!), a Smith & Wesson .38 special that used to be my grandfathers (thanks dad!), and some puzzles that I'm very excited to start working on (thanks Tate and Jare!) along with some money (thanks gpa!) as well as other trinkets and goodies that I shall enjoy. Some lovely pairs of shoes (both confy and dress thanks to mom) that accompanied a very entertaining trip to Show Carnival that shall be remembered for a while due to the munchkin (which was me) walking around. I'm glad there weren't a lot of people in our section and those that were near probably stayed away because we were laughing so hard. My car also got a little detailing/check up from dad which is always a good thing and now my speakers should work all the time and my car got a bath just in time for the snow storm...
Which brings me to what I've been up to other than just getting fun stuff over the holiday. I suppose I could start around November. There wasn't much other than a few highlights that were pretty awesome. We'll start with that fact that I've been seeing movies in the theatres a lot more which I never used to do but now that there have been some out worth seeing it's been a lot of fun. Skyfall was A-maz-ing... I saw it twice it was so good. It was paled only by the fact that I'm a huge Twilight fan (the books are amazing and if you haven't read them then you can't argue) and that last movie, Breaking Dawn: Part 2, had the craziest ending... seriously really well done. I'm warning you now that there are spoilers ahead so if you haven't seen it and want to skip to the next paragraph. You've been duly warned. I only have one problem with what they did in that ending, but it isn't even really a problem because I'm glad they ignored it or the ending they did wouldn't have worked at all. The problem was that Alice can't see the wolves. She can't see Renesmee either. That's the whole reason that they split into two groups in the last huge fight against the new vampires and it was even explained then, she can't see them so she wouldn't be able to see their fight so they split up (which also gave them all an advantage because the newbies didn't know of the wolves in the first place so they could surprise attack). But the reasons that I was totally taken in were 1) I figured they'd add in a fight, the ending of the books was disappointing to me even as I read them, I just think she couldn't figure out how to write a huge fight scene and just ended it rather peaceably to end it 2) Alice can't see the wolves, so I didn't think it could be a vision or we wouldn't see the entire thing (as they were running all over the place) not to mention being able to see Jacob and Renesmee fighting further away or seeing them helping the vampires, any of it 3) It would be so like a director to chuck the ending of a book, and with her okay, killing off most of the main cast... 4) pigeons (that was an inside joke) 5) It was so sudden, so how it probably would have progressed, so absolutely shocking that I didn't have time to really think anything other than, "this can't be happening," that I just absorbed it as the new ending. I was completely taken in. The first viewing that they normally do of films to judge audience reactions and to tweak final releases must have had them laughing and rolling on the floor if they got what, literally, our entire theatre did. The same thing I did. I stared. Shocked. Eyes wide open, mouth in a small silent scream, heart pounding, breathing shallow... Tatam later told me that I looked like I was in absolute shock, she the same, the people around us mirroring our horrified expressions. No one had time to think, like I said, that this shouldn't/couldn't be happening and wouldn't have been surprised, like I said, if the director had thrown the rules out the window. The funniest part of it all was that when it flashed back to Alice standing there, everyone alive, her still "showing" Aro, the funniest part was the huge and loudly audible sound of breath being exhaled by every person (including me) in the theatre in a whoosh and the nervous excited laughter that escaped from most every lip in the room. The rush of relief that I felt in that moment was one that I've only felt maybe one or two other times in my entire life. It was the happiest I'd been in weeks. That's really sad, but I just hadn't had any moments of pure joy in that time and it was euphoric. I felt the aftereffects of that shock and relief for a couple hours. We still talk in nervous tones and giggles for another day. Now I will tell you that it wasn't as exciting for those of you who haven't read the books. I have a couple of friends who have just watched the movies with us and weren't nearly as invested in the lesser characters like Jasper and the wolves who are as highlighted in the films but actually are a huge influence in the books. So maybe not quite as depressing and certainly not as shocking as knowing that none of that was actually supposed to take place. But still a great movie for you just the same. But my oh my, just writing about it got my heart going. Deep breath. Annndddd...
Another awesome movie would be Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Great movie. A tiny bit slow at the beginning, but halfway through, which is a good hour in so be prepared to wait, it really picks up. But I love the way they ties in his reality with the vampire world. Also, The Hobbit. Part 1. Super long but, as always, stunning. Absolutely stunning. They do such great work. Really. I haven't read it yet because I didn't want my expectations to not be reached, but with the way they're doing it (and I have no idea how they're splitting one kinda small book into three parts) it looks like they're doing a very thorough job of putting you INTO the book. I guess I'll need to find someone who has read it or just read it myself to do a real comparison. But an awesome movie. From what I saw of it, MIB3 is also great. I saw the last 20 minutes, and the plot was pretty easy to pick out in that time, but Will Smith is funny as always and I love the way he and Tommy Lee Jones work together, and the new guy, haven't actually looked his name up yet but the younger Tommy, did a really great job of impersonating a younger more carefree Agent K. (K right?)
But now I've gotta skooch. Going to get my nails done :)
Have a great New Years!
