As promised...

Here's some more media review, because I have a few minutes.

Penelope: Sweet little movie starring Christina Ricci (I don't know that I've seen her in anything since Casper). She suffers from the family curse (to be hideously ugly) and needs to be loved/married by one of her own kind. So her folks try to get her married and don't have a lot of luck. Things get interesting when a new guy (James McAvoy) is brought into the mix. Catherine O'Hara does a great job as Penelope's mom, and Reese Witherspoon even pops up. I thought the movie was funny and had a good message. I even daresay I recommend it.

Deathtrap: This movie stars Michael Caine and Christopher Reeves. It was made in the early 80's and is an adaptation of a play. Here's the rundown--Michael Caine is a washed-up playwright glory days are far behind him. His last five plays flopped hard, and he's desperate for another success. One of his former students (Reeves) writes a play that is flawless, and Caine is willing to kill him for it. The movie is full of twists and turns (and I mean FULL of them). Some are awkward. Overall, though the play had its funny moments, both Jess and I were disappointed and probably won't ever watch it again. I don't recommend it at all.

The Watcher in the Woods: We watched this one last night. Oh, the 80's. This one was made by Disney and is kind of a "scary" movie. At this point, I'm getting lazy in the synopsis department, so I'll just send you off to IMDB. We picked it up from the library for sentimental reasons for Jess. I thought it was ok, but might be kinda creepy for little ones. The movie doesn't make much sense, though, so don't keep your expectations too high. One of the funniest things was watching the alternate endings... wow. Let's just say that special effects have come a long way in 30 years.

Cyrano de Bergerac: I didn't really enjoy reading this play in my sophomore year of high school, but I loved it this time! Witty and touching, it definitely qualifies as great literature. And it's short (for those who like those kind of books).

Also fun: we hit DI tonight, and I discovered their books section. Wow. I ended up coming home with Jurassic Park and The Hunt for Red October. And they were only a dollar each. Sweet! (Btw, Jess came home with a book called "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" [infer what you will ;)], and a pair of shoes and capris.)

That is all.

Tagged by Darin

Ten Years Ago:
I was 13 years old, and had been a deacon for a year and a half. And honestly, I can't remember what was going on in my life at that point. I was probably in 8th grade? Maybe just got my braces off? That's a good question.

Things on my To Do List:
1. Plan classes for summer and fall semesters.
2. Work in the lab.
3. Plan vacations for spring semester.
4. Get Corolla finished up (no more check engine light).
5. Enjoy the summer with my sweetie.
6. Hope our tulips and daffodils don't die.
7. Probably more stuff I can't think of right now.

Snacks I Love:
1. Cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies. And oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. And really, any kind of cookie that doesn't have peanut butter in it.
2. Fresh fruit, especially cold watermelon on a hot summer day.
3. Chocolate.
4. Ice cream. Surprise--chocolate chip cookie dough and cookes and cream are two of my favorite flavors.
5. Plain almonds.
6. Pretty much anything my mom or wife makes.

What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire?
1. I would pay my tithing (obligatory).
2. Legalize my music collection.
3. Go to med school without incurring any debt.
4. Donate some money to the College of Life Sciences at BYU. My college seems to be the furthest behind in the sciences. Blast.
5. Buy Jess an awesome serger.
6. Buy some cookies.
7. Try to find ways to use it to help other people.
8. Work as a doctor and not charge people for my services.

Places I have lived:
Utah, Peru (for 6 weeks), and Bolivia.

Favorite Quote:
"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us, ... if we will put our trust in Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers." --Pres. Gordon B. Hinkley

I also really like the quote from Robert Louis Stevenson on Julie's blog.

Tagged:
I tag Darin back.

Just kidding. I tag Darin's oldest son (first time I posted, I put the name, then Jess realized that those names don't appear on the blogs... my mistake).

Media Review and a few other thoughts

It's been a good, busy, productive week. Jess graduated with her Bachelor's degree (wahoo and congratulations!!). I'm very proud of her. I'll be following in her footsteps... in about 2 years. We finished up finals on Wednesday, and it's nice to have a little break. We're hoping to do a little vacationing before the end of June, because I'll probably be taking classes then.

I just finished Leviticus in the Old Testament, and to be honest, it wasn't the most uplifting of books in the scriptures. I did learn some good things from it, and was also impressed by how important doing things the right way is. If the Lord specifies how he wants things done, then we need to do it his way. And that's all there is. No ifs, ands, or buts. Or butts. :) On to Numbers (really only the first part is boring--the census. After that there are some really good stories).

Last Tuesday we went and saw the Spiderwick Chronicles at the dollar theater with Alan and Lindsay. I had a blast and really enjoyed the movie. I found it fun and engaging, and surprisingly intense. Freddy Highmore did a great job playing two different characters. It's sort of billed as a kids movie, but you might want to preview it before taking your kids. Yeah, it was that intense. It made me think of Jurassic Park, minus the bloody, dinosaurs-eating-people parts. Here's the rundown: these kids find a book after moving in to their great-uncle's old house. It contains information about the magical creatures all around. The bad guy (an ogre) wants to get his hands on the book so that he can find and kill all of the other creatures. It's up to the kids to figure out how to defeat the ogre. Good times.

Others media to be reviewed soon: Penelope, Deathtrap, and hopefully Cyrano de Bergerac.

And a hearty congratulations to Nate and Melissa (my cousin and her new hubby) who were married today.

Disappointing

I made a decision a while ago to re-read a lot of the books that I had to read for English classes in junior high and high school. I re-read The Chosen by Chaim Potok last summer, and I liked it so much that I read the sequel. I've found that a lot of great literature is a lot of fun to read (especially when you're not forced to do it for a class).

I started Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger this past week, and was somewhat shocked at the level of profanity. I hemmed and hawed and kept on reading. About half-way through, though, I decided that enough was enough. Several swear words per page was starting to get to me, and "great literature" or not, I decided that it wasn't worth my time. With all of the other great books out there, why bother with something that I didn't really enjoy?

So today I dropped Catcher in the Rye and started Cyrano de Bergerac, and I'm already very pleased with my choice. It's a play about an amazing guy with a really big nose who's in love with a lady who likes a good-looking guy who's really dense. It's funny, it's witty, and it's quality literature. And even better now that it's for fun.

Sorry

My apologies for the spam comments after some of my posts. I delete them as soon as I find them, but unfortunately, sometimes there is a small window of time before I can do so. Beware of links, especially if you don't know the person or if their comment seems like gibberish. If a couple of days go by and the comment is still there, it's probably safe (meaning I left it after looking at it). I have taken the extra precaution today, however, to require word verification for comments on my blog. This hopefully should translate to no more junky comments. Sorry, mama, about what happened this morning--it shouldn't happen again.

Sick.

I took a dare tonight, and it was a foolish idea. Jess and I were just taking our Vitamin A/D and cod liver oil capsules, and Jess dared me to bite into it. It's something that I had contemplated before, but never actually done. Now, the dare itself wasn't enough to get me to do it--I don't often succumb to dares, because they are often silly (or stupid). But she said she'd do it, too. So we both popped one in and chewed on it for a minute. Those things took a couple of good chomps to get through to the juicy middle. And once you do... wow. It's like a fish-flavored Gusher. We had already brushed our teeth and everything, and then we had to do it again. Sick.

More Nintendo Goodness... and one other really important thing!

Jess and I have now begun playing Tetris Attack for the SNES. I was hesitant but hopefully that she would enjoy it, and not only is she liking it, but she's starting to clean the floor with me. The idea is simple--colored blocks rise from the bottom of the screen, and they can't get to the top. You can swap any two blocks that are side-by-side, and if you get three of the same kind in a row, they disappear. Get more than that, and you drop more blocks on your opponent.



Best. Puzzle game. Ever. I probably have played this game more than any other single video game in my whole life. That's a sobering thought.

And that other thing...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET WIFEY!!! I know that it was a week ago, but I figure a late tribute is better than no tribute at all... right? ;) I love my Jess, and am very happy to have her as my own. We've had some adjustments to make, but life is great! Jess--you're the best! You're so supportive and loving and wonderful. Thanks for being a part of my life and loving me! I love you lots!!!

Revelations

One would think that after seven or so months of marriage that I would know my wifey pretty well. Turns out that's not the case. I recently discovered that Jess loves Super Mario World, an older game for the Super Nintendo. In one sitting, we played for something like an hour and a half. She's good! And she got so into it that I couldn't help but sit back and laugh. All told, it was a tender bonding moment for us. Video games bring families together.