Thursday, July 28, 2005

The Island Awaits

Yup... last night I went to see The Island with some friends. It was awesome. Very action-packed, with probably the best chase scene I've ever seen. I really enjoyed the movie and have every intention of buying it when it comes to DVD.

I've also started re-reading Garth Nix's Old Kingdom Series.
Currently reading:


I bought his latest book:

and decided I should read the trilogy again before proceeding to this latest book of short stories.

Massive bruise on my leg, due to sea doo excursion, but otherwise I'm fit as a fiddle. Don't know if I'll be doing that again anytime soon though. My weekends are pretty much booked from now until school starts.

Reminders to self:
- Aya's cousin's birthday is this Saturday and the party next Monday
- Next Friday is the last day to prepare the lab for the new computers
- Monday the 8th the new computers come
- Friday the 12th Dad comes
- Monday the 15th Dad leaves
- Tuesday the 16th move into dorm
- Wednesday the 17th set up floor for residents
- Friday the 19th training starts
- Saturday the 27th last day of training
- Sunday the 28th residents move in
- Monday the 29th classes begin

Somewhere in there I have to attend at least one GA meeting.
My summer is practically over.
Ugh.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Sand Castles & Sea Doos

Note to self: Never do water sports while wearing blue jeans.

Yesterday Aya, H, J, and I went up north to D's house. We saw three large dogs (one part great dane), 2 horses, chickens, cows, and smelled the lovely aroma of pigs. Played BINGO, at which I won a neat little coloring book, crayons and sidewalk chalk. We then went to Upper Red Lake... VERY large lake. I built my first ever sand castle with a moat and all. I took pictures to remember it and will post on photoblog when I find the right cord for my camera (stupid moving).
Aya and D rode a Sea Doo over from further down the lake. I had sworn against them for safety reasons and because I didn't want my back to be any worse than it already is, but when Aya gave me the; "Come on Aspen, give it a try! It's so much fun..." speech... well apparently all memory of our previous skiing expidition had been washed from my mind by the rusty water and though I was totally unprepared for such an adventure (wearing blue jeans and a t-shrit) I thought, "Sure, why not!"
And so, I went for my first ride on a Sea Doo. It was a windy and wavy day so we didn't go that fast and it was actually quite enjoyable. Then I got the brilliant idea that I could drive it. I was driving, with J behind me and managed to tip the thing over. J was saying not to let off the gas as a wave came and pushed us sideways and then I felt the thing tip beneath me, heard a splash as he hit the water and as the sea doo continued to tip with me still on it I launched myself off of it, not wanting to be trapped beneath. Somehow it hit me, just above my upper lip, and the stinging sensation lasted for a few minutes. I saw my life pass before my eyes, along with the murky red lake water, thought of my parents and friends as I kicked and flailed to reach the surface. And then I was back above the water again gasping for air. We were well out on the lake and had to turn it back over. It felt like it took forever, but I'm pretty sure it was only 5 minutes or so - treading water, remembering my life flashing before my eyes as the water surrounded me and I sunk down, unable to feel the ground and wondering what on earth I was doing out here in the first place. After we got it tipped back over J climbed on and then I tried to get up but my legs were shaking too bad so I hung on to the sides, treading water. The waves had pushed us much closer to the shore by this time and just as I saw D coming out to help us I had the wonderful sensation of sand brushing between my toes. I was able to walk the rest of the way in, which took a good while as it's very shallow for quite a ways out. Unfortunately, the motor got water in it and it had to sit out and dry while we had dinner... they blew water off the spark plugs and such... but got it started and all was well.
Dinner was yummy; grilled hamburgers, salad, watermelon, a brownie for dessert. His family really provided for us!

What an adventure.
I did like the riding part and though the driving part was very scary and short-lived, I might do the riding part again.

And yes... I managed to tip a jet ski and J will never, ever, EVER let me forget it.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

The Brothers Grimm

Woot :)
They have trailers out now for this movie. I remember seeing something about it while it was still in production and I was curious as to what approach they would take.
After seeing the trailer I must say.... they chose a very interesting route.

Also, as I love musicals I am reallllllly looking forward to Rent. It seems they have a large number of the Broadway cast returning for the film, directed by Christopher Columbus. Oddly enough one of the actors, who was also part of the original Broadway cast, is the kid from Adventures in Babysitting.
huh
You never know...

Currently reading:

Monday, July 18, 2005

Funnier than the first

In all the excitement of the new HP book I forgot to mention what I did Friday evening...

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

I remember watching the original Willy Wonka, Gene Wilder. I enjoyed the movie, especially as a young child, and dreaming such a beautiful magical place existed somewhere in the world.
However, I also remember the darkness of the film, which for some reason became more apparent to me as I grew up.

This new Wonka seemed a bit lighter... definitely funnier... I was a little surprised actually. I really wanted to see this movie and I either love or hate Johnny Depp's movies (more love than hate), but I wasn't really sure if I'd like it. Tim Burton is a bit of a hit and miss for me. However, I was really quite pleased with the remake.

Also.. for fans of the show Lost I found this article which tells you how to find a teaser trailer for next season of lost. There's not much to the trailer (heavy emphasis on teaser), but if you follow the directions you can see it. Mostly I just wanted to know if it worked.... seemed a bit far-fetched to me, but it does work and the website for Oceanic Airlines is cool. Neat way to hide a trailer.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

She did it again

Read book6, and wow.....



WOW

Need to read it again I think. And maybe again after that.

Got it about 2pm yesterday and read a bit yesterday. Got up this morning and read some more and got to a point where I couldn't put it down. Only took me a day really to read it all. Once I got to a certain part I was hooked.

Don't really know how to respond about the book at the moment, other than to say WOW, because I'm still processing.

Lots happened and lotsa new things came up. Many things were solved and many more new questions brought up and left unanswered.

Yep.... she did it again.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Home is where?

big, Big, BIG news!

My parents are in the process of buying a new house.
A House....

Maybe that doesn't have much affect on other people.

Consider this: My parents moved into our house/home over a year before I was born.
Translates to 28 years ago.
Elm Street is the only 'home' I've ever known.
Of course home is really wherever my parents are, but my 'home' has always been the same place and I'm really, really sad they are selling it.
There are a lot of reasons for them to move and I understand and support them.
But AHHHHH! My house!
/sigh

hehehe
Mom was describing my choice of bedrooms - and since I woke her up when I called it was pretty funny trying to follow her - but I chose the one which faces South (like my old bedroom) and it faces the back yard so I can watch the puppies.
The new house is a 3 bedroom 2 bath with a big den and a living room, a 'chefs dream kitchen' and a big back yard, 2 car garage.... it's a corner lot.... it was built the same year I was born and it's a brick house. That's all I know for now, they've promised to send me pictures as soon as they can.

Big changes inc!

Speaking of changes, I think I've settled on my blog look for the time being - at least until I have finished the OBLC website. I thought I was done and then my supervisor asked me to add several things.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Tub Thumping

Chumbawamba... there's a band I'd almost forgotten about.
I hear all sorts of things on England's SkyWave Radio.

Speaking of... Heard from one of my British friends the other day. He's doing well and as far as he knows so are the other 3. All four of them live in or around London.

4 days to HP!
/bounce

One month til Dad comes.

Hmmmm...

You are in my head, swimming forever in my head
You are in my head
Tangled in my dreams, swimming forever (swimming forever)
Swimming forever
Swimming forever

Radio, The Corrs

Negative thoughts have been filling my mind lately.
Time to: 'Inhale the positive and exhale the negative'.
Once I give into the negative thoughts they have a tendancy to sweep me away. Make me pissy and irritable and not very fun to be around. I hate being that person and life's too short to waste dwelling on unpleasant things. So I'm not going to.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Fantastic Four

Went to see it yesterday and I loved it.
Great mixture of comedy and action.
Very entertaining.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Dude, seriously... never again

Very little sleep last night - lay awake for a couple hours (itching like crazy), slept a bit, woke up, restless.... etc all night. Finally gave up at 6am and got up (an hour early) with a new spider bite. Not sure how much sleep I wound up getting, but it wasn't enough. Freaking bugs.
/grumble

On a happier note, only 10 More Days to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
/bounce

I've been very busy at work. I'm preparing the lab for 36 new computers, which means I have to update other computers around the department with the ones going out of the lab. (like 50 computers I have to switch around). Should be fun!

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Remind me not to do that again

Semi-miserable 4th this year.
Instead of going to our usual town to see their beautiful fireworks display... we were talked into going to somebody's cabin - accross the lake.
Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of the lake - far away = very tiny fireworks. Plus, being by the lake = zillions of skeeters = 4 layers of Off..... yeah... The nasty little buggers ate me alive. I finally gave up and just kept the spray bottle next to me and sprayed around myself every 5-10 minutes. Add in the rain and cold... plus the very drunk people who kept throwing fireworks into the fire we were all sitting next to.... It was mostly miserable.
I left after the third batch of fireworks being thrown into the fire I was sitting 3 feet from.

Oh well. Valuable lesson learned.