January

January is typically a good month. We start a fresh year, it's the month of my birthday, the weather is awesome (not too hot, not too cold). This January has been no exception. I haven't been particularly busy. But I've had a photography job here and there, I've gone to Disneyland a few times, I've applied for a couple part-time jobs and and I've been slowly finishing some things in the house. So it's all good. Things are good.

Even just this week has been lots of fun. On Monday, I got to attend a taping of The Ellen Degeneres Show. It was a long day with a lot of waiting, but when the show finally started, it was awesome! We even scored with the swag since it was her birthday show. Very exciting.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon painting. I actually got my inspiration from another painting I saw and figured I'd give it a shot. Here's how it turned out:

It's pretty big and I have no idea where it will go, but I've had that blank canvas sitting around for awhile, so I'm glad I finally decided what to put on it. I hate how the Eiffel Tower turned out, but am not quite sure how to fix it. So the weirdness of it will just have to add to the character of the painting. Haha.

I also just found out that DMB announced their summer tour!!! It's MONTHS away, but it's time to start getting excited. I think I'm honestly a little relieved each year that they announce it, because you're never sure when they'll get tired of being on the road. And I'm not ready for it to end!

So here we are almost to the end of January, but 2010 is looking pretty good so far. Pre-tty, pre-tty good. Now if Conan can get back on TV sooner than later, life will be complete.

Avatar 3:D

I went into this movie with the expectation that A) The visual effects were amazing and B) The story SUCKED. Well, I agree that the visual effects were amazing, but the story did not bother me as much as I thought it would. I mean, yes. It's been done. (Although I do feel like the futuristic spin on this worked.) And yes. It was predictable. And yes. The dialogue was a little cheesy. But heck, I still enjoyed myself. Much more than I anticipated. I loved watching closely and trying to figure out where James Cameron drew his inspiration from. The Navi's look like cats - their ears were my favorite. The plants all look like something you'd find underwater. It was cool! I know I'm like one of the last people on earth to see this, but if you haven't, you should check it out. Just for the sake of seeing the biggest movie of all time. Don't miss it in the theater. It just won't be the same on your TV at home.

All that being said, I do NOT think it should win the Oscar. Like not even close. They will announce the nominees in a week or so and obviously, it'll be on there. But much better movies have been made this year. (i.e. INGLORIOUS BASTERDS!!!!!)

The Weather Report

Well, after all that bragging to my friends & family about how great the weather has been in LA, we finally had our first real storm! Rain, thunder, lightning, tornado warnings (!?!) It's so exciting! The last time I remember it raining this much was probably about 5 years ago when we were living in Glendale. We lost power and husband was working nights, so I was a big baby about being home alone in the dark. I don't even remember what I did to pass the time, but everything was back to normal by morning.

It's been so long since the last storm, that these galoshes have been in the closet since I bought them in '07. They finally made their debut today and quite enjoyed being outside. I'm loving the wintery weather for now and I'm glad it will be around for another day or so. After that, I'll gladly take the 70 degree January we were in the middle of.

Book of Eli

Laaaaaaaame.

Well, in all fairness, I had no idea what I was getting into. This is not normally a movie I'd go see on my own. But all of our friends were going, so we tagged along. And nobody else hated it nearly as much as I did. The cinematography was dark and gray - just a little too over-done. There were a lot of really unrealistic fight scenes. Everytime Eli got attacked, we knew he'd defend himself easily, so there was nothing to worry about. The dialogue was cheesy and predictable. And the only saving grace for me was the interesting twist at the end. And some decent fore-shadowing, now that I know the twist. Honestly, within the first 10 minutes I knew I wouldn't like this movie, so I just really couldn't get into it from the start.

Denzel was still nice to look at, but when Mila Kunis made her entrance? Well, it was a bit laughable for her to do a role like this. She was the token hot chick. More power to her, but how can you take her seriously?

'Nuff Said

It's Complicated

You know you love a movie when you're sitting in the front row and it's still enjoyable. Any other time, I would've gotten my money back but I was looking forward to seeing this and I was glad we did. Of course, my love for Alec Baldwin fueled me wanting to go to this movie, but the rest of the cast was great too. It was a very original story-line and had enough funny bits to get you through the two hours. But I will put a warning to the gentlemen out there - this is a romantic comedy. My husband did not enjoy it as much as I did. He felt the dialogue was really cheesy and it was way too long. I completely disagree, but there ya go. Had to be fair...

I really hope I am as fabulous as Meryl Streep when I'm her age.