Friends + movie-mocking = ♥

Tonight I rediscovered the value of friendship (and cheap theaters-ugh, I hate the American spelling of this word! I shall forsake it). One of my best friends and I went to the $3 (R.I.P. $1) Theatre this evening, because I had finally convinced her to see Twilight w/ me.

Now, before you disregard this post as another Twilight-obsessed rant, allow me to explain. I am a fan of the books; I enjoyed reading them & thought they were well-written. However, I am not obsessed beyond reason, nor do I think that Edward is The Perfect Guy. He has his redeeming qualities, to be sure, as do all fictional love interests, but I find his obsessive fangirls a bit frightening. Personally, I spend the majority of my obsessive energy on LotR, and everything else is secondary. :P

But I digress. I have seen the Twilight movie thrice now, and it seems to get worse with each viewing. I just did not like the way the two main actors (Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson) delivered their lines (it was too awkward-sounding), and throughout the movie they never seemed to convey a sense that they were falling in love. Plus, the screenplay was teeming with cheesy one-liners that, while they may have sounded good in the books, did not translate well onto the screen. However, I thought that most of the supporting actors/actresses did a great job, and the music & scenery was wonderful. So basically, as I told my friend, if you just squint a little (so as to not see the bad acting) and make up your own lines, you'll enjoy the movie.

ANYWAY, so we went to the cheap theatre, and we prepared for a couple of hours of fun. You see, we decided to make the movie enjoyable by adding our own commentary/wisecracks/etc. My friend hadn't seen the movie, but she had read the plots of all 4 books (cheater, tsk, tsk) on Wikipedia, so she somewhat knew what was going on. Let me tell you, the cheap (aka poor people's) theatre is the best place to watch a movie if you want to be able to goof off during the show, because there's hardly anyone else in the theatre with you, and chances are everyone's seen the movie before, so you don't feel as bad about disrupting their movie-viewing experience. We did whisper, though-we're not completely inconsiderate. Let me just say that I enjoyed the movie this third viewing more than the other two combined, due to the constant mocking that my friend and I engaged in.

Two Words: Good Times.

I thank God for: my friends. So often I forget how much they contribute to my well-being and sanity, but every time I hang out with them, I am reminded of how blessed I am to have them in my life. Cheesy and cliché, yes, but true. So thank you, Lord!

And good night to you all (or none, whichever category you readers may fall into).
-Angela

The Weather and Lent

So, I just took a walk/jog around the neighborhood-my daily exercise. It was refreshing, but now I'm feeling the months spent sitting indoors, not exercising. Maybe I should not have run so much, so soon. Glad to put my sports shorts to good use, though. I could actually wear shorts this evening-can you believe it? The cold weather is subsiding at last-though in about three months' time, I'll be begging for winter again. Alas, that is life in the desert-y regions of the U.S., and the fate of us desert-dwellers: we complain about the heat during the summer and what should be autumn in NORMAL places-we don't really have a fall season around here; just summer and winter-then a few weeks into winter and we're complaining that it's too cold out (well, the wimpier of us, anyways-like me). The only time we really ever stop complaining is during spring, which usually consists of March and most of April, if we're lucky. But even then, we're anticipating the heat that is to come. ...Why do so many people relocate here, again? Mind you, the weather is less neurotic up north, in Payson, Sedona, Flagstaff and the like. But they get snow in the winter, and snow means reeeeeally cold weather. Too cold for a born-and-bred-Valley-dwelling-wimp like me. It's fun to visit for a day or two, but any more than that is just...not fun.

Wow, you know you have nothing significant to blog about when you spend half your post rambling on about the weather...and I wonder why I have no readers. (Actually, I don't wonder, but you get the point.)

Um..oh yeah! I do have something of some degree of importance to say! Hah.
I've decided what to do for Lent! :D This Lent, I'm going to exercise 30 min/day and read two books that I've been meaning to read but haven't gotten around to finishing:
Divine Mercy in My Soul (the diary of St. Faustina Kowalska of Poland) and A Civilization of Love-What Every Catholic Can Do to Transform the World by Carl Anderson. Maybe those two things don't sound like that big of a deal, but to me they are easier said than done, and that's the point of Lent-to drag oneself out of one's spiritual (and otherwise) complacency and overcome selfishness in order to be able to have a better relationship with God-that's how I apply it to my life, anyway. Whoever says that being Catholic is easy...is a liar. :P The no-meat-on-Fridays thing is the least of my concerns.

Well, that walk tired me out, and I need to get some sleep in order to take notes in class tomorrow morning with some amount of comprehension. So, I shall bid thee, dear invisible audience, adieu.

¡Buenas Noches!
-Angela

Lots of Gibberish (aka a Long-Awaited Update)

Well, I'm alive. :-o


Here I sit, using my new laptop (a generous Christmas gift from my parents, who were probably sick of hearing me complain about being stuck doing hw on the family desktop computer in the dreary corner of the family room day in and day out). It's an HP Pavilion, 14" screen, Core2 Duo processor, 4 GB RAM, 350? GB storage (I think). Now, normally, none of that would make much sense to me, but trying to shop for this thing has broadened my knowledge of computer properties [albeit infinitesimally]. Here's what it looks like. Originally I had gotten (bad word choice, I know) a Gateway, but it kept freezing and the store we bought it from was no help, so we just returned it, went to a different store and found this one. My only complaint is that the lettering on the keys is difficult to read in certain lighting, but I guess that's just an incentive for me to learn to touch-type (I know, I'm in college and I still haven't figured that out-what can I say? I didn't pay attention during computer class in junior high).

Aaaanyways...it's been way too long since I've posted, and I didn't have much motivation (and had half-considered deleting this thing) until I read a blog that I like to follow, which I hadn't read in a long time (due to the fact that I haven't been online much recently). Anyway, it inspired me to start bloggng again, even though I don't think anyone reads this. It's kinda therapeutic, y'know? And since I've stopped writing in my regular journal (it depresses me, for some reason-bad memories, maybe?) I think posting here will be a nice change of scenery.

So, what's new in my life? Well, I'm in my 4th semester of community college already (I can hear the judgemental thoughts forming in your head-believe me, community college is much better than it's commonly portrayed!)-only one more semester to go after this one until I transfer to a university. Of course, with all the budget-cutting drama that my state's universities have been discussing, I dunno if there will be a university for me to go to (joking, but they are considering closing the campus nearest to my house).

I'm taking less credits than last semester (13 instead of 17-definitely a relief), but I'm not overly fond of a couple of my classes, especially anatomy *twitch* (I am terrible at science) so that's a bummer. And I keep worrying about getting a job, because I want to save up $ for a variety of possibilities. But I've never had a job before (pathetic but true) and I'm a little nervous about trying to find one now. I'll probably wait until the end of the semester, to save myself from unwanted/unecessary stress.

What else..? Oh yeah-it's Lent again! It always takes me by surprise. I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing for Lent (see, I procrastinate in my spiritual life as well! ¬_¬) but I want to do something proactive this year (i.e. doing something rather than giving something up). I had thought about cleaning my room as a penance, which desperately needs doing (I envy those people who keep their rooms nice & tidy) but I don't have much time to do it during the week, and I want to choose something that I can do every day. I've always wanted to read St. Faustina's published diary (called Divine Mercy in My Soul) but I never get around to it. Maybe I'll do that...we'll see. Next time I update my blog (which will be soon, I swear!), I'll let you (O nonexistant readers) know what I've decided.

Well, I must be off to do my homework and other necessary things.

'Ta Lue!
-Angela

"This is [My] Life"

Have you ever had one of those days where a song just keeps reverberating through your head?

It's been one of those weeks, actually.



Even when I was praying after Mass today, the lyrics came to mind. It's really a very beautiful song (and I'm a sucker for soul-stirring songs).

Although I do not own any of Switchfoot's cds, I really like their music, or at least all the songs I've heard on Youtube and their Myspace page. I love songs whose lyrics can be taken as Christian or just plain inspirational at the same time, and Switchfoot's songs do just that.

...methinks I need to buy me some cd's.

(:

In other news, I'm getting back into the rythm of the school year. I love, love, love it. <333 Although I'm going to have to curb this procrastination issue if I want to stay sane all semester.

God bless!

WYDSYD08!

This article nicely summarizes the essence of WYD08:

"Catholic and Cool in Sydney"

More commentary by me later.

Children: Joy > Cost

My inbox gets filled up with way too many forwards. Usually I delete them without even bothering to open them, because after awhile all forwards start to sound the same: cheesy and rather pointless. But since this one had "children" in the title, which is a subject I've been giving quite a bit of thought to lately, I decided to give it a try. Well, it turns out it was worth it! Here it is:

The Price of Children

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.

It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:

* finger- paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay on Mother's Day and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:

* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits. So one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!

Although I imagine that parenting is indeed a cross at times, like all suffering, the blessings that come from it are more than worth the "price."