1. Apollo 18

    January 2, 2012 by sassenach

    Apollo 18Just watched Apollo 18. M and I wanted to see it when it was in theaters, but we never got around to it. It was pretty good, I think. It was kind of a typical horror movie in the vein of Blair Witch (with the “found footage” gimmick) and Paranormal Activity (in fact, there’s one scene in particular that looked exactly like something from PA and it kind of weirded me out in the same way).

    The movie has pretty crappy reviews but I liked it well enough. Can’t say I’d watch it again but it was okay. Actually, I was more impressed by the music–can’t call it a soundtrack, really, since apparently a real soundtrack for the film was never released. The music overall is pretty sparse, but there’s a beautiful, instrumental version of “We Three Kings” (the Christmas song) that plays over the credits and I really like it.

    Category: Movies, Music | Tags: | 1 Comment

  2. Extraordinary Claims

    January 1, 2012 by sassenach

    343/365

    I somehow managed to stay up until midnight last night! I’m definitely getting old though, because it was difficult and I just wanted to go to bed. M and I watched Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper to help keep me awake.

    We spent the first day of the new year with my family. My parents’ house has become a gathering place for all special occasions–birthdays, holidays, and the like. My sister and brother-in-law were there, too. We always start out by eating the yummiest of food (Filipino food FOREVER) and then we sit around the dining room table chatting.

    Inevitably, the conversation turns to the paranormal, haha. For some reason, my family loves to talk about their ‘personal experiences’ when it comes to ghosts. I always feel left out because I’ve never had a definite experience and the questionable one I did have was most likely something from a dream-induced state. I used to be a HUGE fan of the show Ghost Hunters–I watched faithfully and bought into it, but over time I’ve changed my perspective about the supernatural/paranormal. My family isn’t very scientifically-minded (and that’s not intended to be an insult or anything; it’s just a fact). I’ve become more skeptical as I get older and, in recent years, have been introduced to the awesomeness of people like Carl Sagan. It’s really interesting how drastically our beliefs can change over time.

    oh! I forgot to mention that I completed my December blog-a-day! I didn’t miss any days, woohoo! I’m going to try to keep up with my consistent blogging in January. And I’ll hopefully post about more substantive things…maybe. Sometimes I just can’t muster up any deep thoughts. :D And when I do write, I *still* feel the urge (even after all these years of blogging) to censor myself sometimes…because I think what I really want to write will sound silly or weird or…something. I don’t want to overshare all the time, but I do want to write more honestly, if that makes sense.

    I’m off work tomorrow and Tuesday (EXCITE!) and I’m planning on getting some secret knitting done and relaxing in general. I hope your 2012 is off to a great start!

    Category: Deep Thoughts, My So-Called Life | Tags: , | 3 Comments

  3. Goodbye, 2011!

    December 31, 2011 by sassenach

    One of the cool things about doing my Year in Pictures project is that I have a visual journal of 2011. My memory seems to get worse with each passing year, so it’s nice to have an easy reminder of everything that’s happened.

    This post was inspired by Manda and Moni.

    January

    Bust of Poe

    M and I visited the Poe Museum in Richmond, VA.

    February

    Snow in Motion

    It snowed. A lot! A crazy amount of snow for Virginia Beach, to be honest.

    March

    48/365

    I started getting into fitness and losing weight. (sigh) I've definitely fallen off this wagon. I'm kind of sad about it, actually. Maybe I'll get back on Wii Fit in 2012. Also in March: I FINALLY bought a DSLR!

    April

    81/365: Green (and other colors)

    I put the new Foo Fighters CD in my car and didn't take it out for MONTHS. Seriously, I've listened to this hundreds of times by now. It's that good.

    May

    Four Girls

    I went to Maryland Sheep & Wool with my knitty girls and kc went with us for the first time! YAY :) It was sooooo fun!

    June

    7 Days: Day 7

    I put my new Nikon to good use and participated in the 7 Days (self-portrait) group on Flickr for the first time. (Unfortunately, I missed the latest round! I'll try to join next cycle.)

    July

    165/365: Happy

    I turned 31! And after years of work-related stress, I interviewed for a new job...AND GOT IT!

    August

    202/365

    Roughest month of all (maybe ever). My then-boss killed himself. I started my new job four days later. Hurricane Irene hit (and spared us, thankfully). Spent way too much time numb, crying, numb (lather, rinse, repeat), thinking about a lot of things I'd never had to consider before.

    September

    223/365

    I settled into my new job at the library and finally realized that I was meant to work in a library all along. If only I'd realized this years ago!

    October

    280/365: Muppets Collection!

    My nail polish stash grew...and grew...and....I'm still buried under it, actually...

    November

    310/365

    I had a very stressful month at work (loooong story...it's not the work, it's certain people). As always, my dogs were there to cheer me up (mopey faces aside).

    December

    322/365

    M had a birthday and we also celebrated five years together. I gave myself a break and chose not to knit for family this year, yay me.

    I’m pretty sure I’ll do another YIP for 2012 because it’s really been helpful having these photos to jog my memory. 2011 was super emotional for me, in positive and negative ways. What I’m hoping/resolving to do in 2012 is be more productive with my emotions…less bitching, more DOING, if that makes sense.

    I’m not going to say that 2011 sucked entirely because I did make at least one very big, positive life change (new job FTW!), so I’m just hoping that 2012 is that much better. :) May you have an even better 2012, too.

    Category: Deep Thoughts, My So-Called Life | Tags: , | 8 Comments

  4. Reading Goals for 2012

    December 30, 2011 by sassenach

    2011 has definitely been a year of reading for me. Unfortunately, this means that I didn’t knit as much this year, but I think I’m okay with that since I really wanted to focus on books in 2011. Back in December 2010, I set a reading goal for myself to read at least 31 books this year (11 more than I read in 2010). I’m pretty happy to say that I surpassed my goal! According to Goodreads, I read 44 titles this year. I say ‘titles’ because three were short stories, one was a novella, and four were children’s (picture) books. So if I don’t count those, then I still read 36 novels/proper ‘books,’ if you will. Not bad! :)

    Since I seem to do pretty well when I set these challenges for myself, I’m going to set another one for 2012. This time, I’m going to pick a list of books that for whatever reason, I haven’t read yet but I really want to read them in 2012. Here’s the list, in no particular order.

    Reading Goals for 2012

    1. 1984 by George Orwell – I confess, I started this once but didn’t finish it. I think I got a little bored about halfway through. I’m determined to finish it since it’s a classic and I feel like I’m missing out by not having finished it.
    2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Yes, another classic that I’ve never read. I’m sort of embarrassed to admit that but I hope to change that in 2012!
    3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith – Are you starting to see a pattern here? See above!
    4. Lord of the Flies by William Golding – Maybe I should just call 2012 the Year of Reading Classics, haha. Actually, this is another one that I started but didn’t get very far with, but I think I’m going to enjoy it a lot.
    5. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – I watched the movie several years ago and it was really great, so I’m sure the book is that much better.
    6. The Stand by Stephen King – I’ve seen the miniseries and enjoyed it quite a bit (despite the cheesy special effects), but I’ve heard some amazing things about the book. Apparently, many consider this to be King’s magnum opus, so I’m really excited about reading it. It’s quite a long novel, but I think I’m up to the challenge.
    7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – Of all the books on my list, this is one of the most recent books but one that has very positive reviews. I did attempt to read this a few years ago but didn’t get very far, so I’m going to give it another try.
    8. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese – This is one that I’m still unsure about, but it’s had such a tremendous response and almost universally good reactions. I think this one might surprise me.
    9. The Passage by Justin Cronin – If I don’t read this in 2012, I’ll probably never read it. I do want to find out if it’s as good as so many people say.
    10. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte – Yes, it’s another classic that I haven’t read! Of all the books on this list, I feel like I’m the least likely to read this one just because I have this impression in my mind that it’s going to be tougher to read. So I’m not making any guarantees on this one, but I will try.

    It’ll be really interesting to see which books from this list I’ll succeed in finishing. In the past several months, I’ve really embraced the library book and along with it, the concept of abandoning a book if I’m just not enjoying it. So many of these are classics, but I won’t hesitate to give up on them if I find them boring! My limit is usually 75 pages or so (50 pages if it’s really bad) before I give up on a book.

    Category: Reading, Reads of 2011, Reads of 2012 | Tags: | 6 Comments

  5. 2011 Resolutions in Review

    December 29, 2011 by sassenach

    I just remembered that I wrote a post in January of this year about things I wanted to do in 2011. I’m…pleasantly surprised by what I actually did!

    1. Read more books than I did last year. (See +11 in ‘11 Challenge.)
      I actually did it! I read 44 titles this year, according to Goodreads. My goal was 31. I’ll make a separate post about my 2011 reading.
    2. Related to the above: clear out at least one row (level? shelf?) from my To Read bookcase.
      haha…no. This didn’t happen. In fact, I think I probably acquired more books. Well–actually, I just remembered that I sold a bunch of books to the used bookstore, but then I wound up buying more, so I feel like I probably broke even in the end. My stash isn’t a whole lot bigger, but it’s definitely not smaller, despite the number of library books that I read this year. I still bought some books, so this goal definitely wasn’t met.
    3. Blog more often, at least every other day.
      I didn’t do a good job of blogging this year overall, but I’ve done really well during my December blog-a-day! I haven’t missed any days this month so far. I still want to blog more in 2012, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up with one post per day.
    4. Sew more. I sewed hardly anything last year, and I really want to make the freakin curtains that I’ve been procrastinating making for months.
      Weeeell…I didn’t sew more throughout the year, but I did make those curtains I mentioned! Kitchen curtains & spare room curtains.
    5. Pay off at least one of my credit cards / Control my spending better.
      Sigh. I did REALLY well for the first half of the year and didn’t use my credit cards AT ALL…and then it was downhill from there. Obviously, I need to work on this still.
    6. Take more pictures!
      I definitely met this goal! As of today, I’ve uploaded 337 of 365 photos in my Year in Pictures project. I only missed one day, but I’m going to keep going until I have 365 total. I think I’ll probably do another YIP for 2012 since it’s nice to have that kind of structure that keeps me on schedule.
    7. Go to Maryland Sheep & Wool festival. This will be my second time going.
      I went and had an awesome time! This year was extra special because kc went with us :)
    8. Visit the Poe Museum.
      I went in January and it was really fun! I want to go back sometime, but I’ll probably wait until they have another special event going on.
    9. Find a new job. I “resolve” to do this every year, but THIS TIME I MEAN IT. No, really.
      ZOMG, I actually did it! I got a new job in August and while it has its ups and downs…if I’m being honest, I have to admit that I’m happier at this job than I was at my previous one.

    So I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to, but that’s all right. New Year’s resolutions can be such a weird concept–they can either give you something to shoot for or just set you up for disappointment. But judging from this list, I feel like they’ve helped me to focus on the things that I really want…so I guess that’s a positive thing! Now I need to think of my resolutions for 2012… :)

    Category: My So-Called Life | Tags: | 2 Comments

  6. Divergent by Veronica Roth

    December 28, 2011 by sassenach

    Divergent by Veronica Roth Like many of the books I read, I chose to read Divergent because there seemed to be a lot of hype surrounding it. Well, I’ve finally read it. While I wouldn’t call it one of my favorite books from this year, I will call it a very enjoyable book. But it’s not like it changed my life or anything.

    Do note, however, that it’s very formulaic: dystopian YA, teenage girl, love interest, etc. But that’s what I like, so…yeah. :) It’s an interesting mix, though–kind of like The Hunger Games meets The Matrix meets Inception…if that makes sense.

    It took me a few chapters to get into the flow, but once the story picked up, it became a real page-turner and I stayed up a bit too late to finish it. There’s one part toward the end that felt a little hokey and slowed the narrative for me, but other than that, I don’t have many complaints. In fact, I really appreciated the presence of strong female characters (and some that are pretty badass in general). Lastly, I was surprised that the author ‘went there’ toward the end–I don’t want to post any spoilers, so I’ll leave it at that! I plan on reading the sequel when it comes out.

    Category: Reading, Reads of 2011 | Tags: | No Comments

  7. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

    December 27, 2011 by sassenach

    The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin I liked this book more than I probably should have, haha. And by that, I mean that it’s very similar to Twilight (so if you didn’t like that, absolutely don’t read Mara Dyer). This one doesn’t have vampires and werewolves, but it invoked the same kind of emotions/feelings in me that Twilight did, if that makes sense.

    Also, the book surprised me somewhat–early on, I thought the story was going to wind up being super predictable and lame, but it kind of veered off into this unexpected territory and that was nice. Also, the plot became pretty suspenseful at times, to the point where I really didn’t want to put the book down because I had to see how it would end. So that was nice, too.

    oh, and sorry to bring up Twilight again, but Mara Dyer has some pretty steamy scenes in comparison. There’s a lot of innuendo and raunchiness at times, which I was kind of surprised about because this book is recommended for 14+, but as an adult, I found it entertaining. I’ll be reading the sequel once it is released.

    Category: Reading, Reads of 2011 | Tags: | No Comments

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