So, here are some highlights from the past month.

Early in May I took a mental health day and visited Babs, we rode our bikes at the Chattahoochee River Park, turtles were basking in the sun on river rocks and the honeysuckle was blooming and it smelled awesome. We ate Mexican food and had pedicures. In short, it was a perfect day.

I started another lace shawl (because I’m a masochist) and at this rate it will literally  take me a hundred years to finish it, but I like the challenge. I knit without life lines and with a ‘close enough’ approach to lace that would probably have most knitters cursing and ripping, ripping, ripping. I’d rather the product be flawed and my sanity intact rather than focus too much on perfection. Is that crazy? The pattern is Muir, and FREE on knitty. The yarn is pretty and I’m so scattered I can’t find the label, so I just call it “Wool Awesomeness Gifted to me by the Lovely Claudia“. (the colors are much deeper than in this crappy photo.)

I saw the new Star Trek Movie with these crazy people:

Even if you weren’t a huge fan, it was still an awesome movie. I’m not sure there is anything else coming out this summer that I am really stoked about…

I hung out a lot with this guy:

And last week I did a “favor” for Miss Foxy by posing for a wicked cool picture for her. Sure I had to bounce on a trampoline in my underwear  at night while Jeff blew bubbles at me, but what are friends for? It is such a CHORE having a mega-talented artist take your photo… (that was sarcasm, did you catch it?)

My summer is off with a bang. Hopefully there are more fun things that I’ll be able to write and I’ll have the time to post more frequently.

We had dinner at Oodles (a favorite new restaurant of ours we frequent almost weekly here in Gainesvegas) and then went to see Shoot ‘Em Up. I will try not to reveal any spoilers, but I make no promises.

This movie starts with a bang- seriously. Our dark, reluctant, troubled hero- type is very well played by Clive Owen and juxtaposed perfectly with bad guy Paul Giamatti (didn’t you just LOVE him in Lady in the Water?) Shoot ‘Em Up was unbelievably, disgustingly, almost comically, violent. Chock full of ridiculous gun-battle scenarios, cheesy lines and blood, blood, blood.

I can summarize this movie with one word. Spectacular. I slapped my forehead more than once and laughed my fanny off because I just couldn’t decide if I was offended or if it was possibly the best movie I had ever seen in my entire life. Got to save a baby from an army of gunmen? Okay. Barely escaping with your life with a newborn in tow even though there are over fifty armed men hot on your tail? Sure. Kill someone with a vegetable? Whatever, Clive, you had me at the opening scene. I don’t know what the recipe is for something like this or how it just works- but this one simply does just that. When movies go wrong, it happens most inexplicably when you (the audience) suddenly know that you were taken on a wrong turn and are now careening uncontrollably into suckville.

This did not happen in Shoot ‘Em Up. I think in this case the film had a certain irreverence that made you just buy into it almost immediately. But in saying that, I also have to mention that it was a textbook action movie- almost hyper-formulaic – at the same time. But you take any single aspect and try to recreate it in any other movie (possibly with any other director) and you lose the audience immediately and they are laughing at you instead of with you. I think that the novelty here is that this movie was so over the top – the director (Michael Davis) couldn’t possibly be taking himself too seriously- a fatal mistake- and that is where the magic happened and then there you were, along for the ride, not questioning a damn thing.

I would not recommend this movie to the following people: my Mom, my friends with children, just about anyone from my knitting group (but not maybe not their husbands) and anyone that is squeamish at the sight of blood and/or gun violence. It is definitely a great flick for a man- date (my term for a guy’s night out.)

If I were a Simpson’s character, this would be me- and actually it is pretty darn close. You too can make one here: www.simpsonsmovie.com -it has lots of facial feature and clothing options- but this site has backgrounds: www.milkandcookies.com

I haven’t seen the movie yet. I’m actually more excited about Stardust- opening this weekend. I love movies- like a lot- particularly the kind that make me feel like a little girl again- with princesses and magic and evil witches and stuff. I just can’t help it, so I’ll probably have to drag the man to see it next week sometime as I am going to the lake this weekend. My air conditioning was serviced yesterday so I slept through the night in comfort for the first time this week (yay), but alas, no Baby Bobbi Bear pattern for me yet (booo.) I know, I’m sad too. I sent a message to the company from which it was purchased and am anxiously awaiting a response.

UPDATE: Pattern only shipping is sent via a special cardboard box and thus has to be hand stamped and therefore can take up to two weeks to arrive. Um, this place is located in Maine Massachusetts, not Mars- can I get a little WTF?

It’s hot. I’m not patient and/or kind when it is this freakin’ hot. And it looks like the stealth knitting/lap o’ wool is going to the lake with me this afternoon unless by some miracle I have said special cardboard box.

Unfortunately DR Boy had the flu on Friday night and had to miss out on what was a fun (albeit late) evening- I like to go to bed between ideally between 9:30 and 10:00, so the drive home was a little exhausting for me too and WAY past my bedtime. But I got my book! Like a fool, I didn’t pre-order, and initial reports had claimed that the bookstore was completely sold out of their first two shipments. I pouted most of the evening, particularly when the kiddies were clutching their books- but alas! Salvation! The store owner had some people not show at the midnight release and there were a few copies left!

I started reading the book early Saturday morning when I got home only to realize that the 6th book must not have made much of an impression- I was mostly clueless as to what was going on. So I re-read the last 4 chapters of book 6 (I should probably re-read the whole thing- but I’m afraid to delay the 7th book too long as it might be spoiled somewhere along the way by some evil, loud-mouthed child.)

DRBoy fully recovered by Sunday and took me to see the Harry Potter movie. It was fantastic. I don’t care what people say about Harry Potter, anything that generates this kind of hype is something worth paying attention to. Particularly if it gets kids to put down their playstation and get to the reading. Do you remember books that had power and meaning when you were a child? I wept and laughed and lived Laura Ingalls Wilder for an entire summer. Does anyone else remember Ramona Quimby? Or Anastasia Krupnik? Even now, I can become so enraptured in Jane Austen’s heroines, just opening a book can make me feel like I’m going home.

So it is with Harry Potter. I think when I finish the book, which could quite possibly be very soon, I might just have a gaping void left behind when he is gone. Will J.K. Rowling kill off her main character? A boy we have watched grow up – longing for a father figure and a place to call home? Yeah, I think she will.