madameblogalot

The Help: A very moving and poignant look at 1960s Mississippi, told from the perspective of “The Help”. This one is a HIT for the way the story is told.

Bladerunner: I did not even finish this movie. The original book (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) is much better. I guess the movie was a MISS for me.

Sherlock Holmes: Since my husband and daughter went to see the release of the newest Sherlock Holmes, I decided to watch the first one. About half way through my husband woke me up and said he could tell I did not like it. I said no, I thought it was stupid but I would finish it. We did not finish it that night and I did not realize it was only rented for two days so I missed seeing the end of it. I guess it was another MISS.

Arctic Drift: I felt this novel was on the hokey side and took til nearly chapter 70 before it got good. I would rate it as a MISS for me too, though I did appreciate the lack of vulgar language and situations.

Studio White: This book is a collaboration in which my sister was involved. It was interesting though maybe not quite my style. I will rate it as neither a HIT or MISS.

Sarah May Be Listening: Influencing the People Who Matter the Most: This is a small book my dad wrote years ago. I can appreciate the thoughts he is bringing to the reader’s attention, though I will rate the book as neither a HIT or MISS for me.

I have been looking for a part time weekend job since October. I have been extremely surprised at how hard it is to get this kind of job. I thought particularly at this time of year it would be pretty easy. So far I’ve only had one interview, a handful of rejections and many no-answers.

I heard on the radio the other day part of a conversation about this very fact, that there are many advertised job openings but companies are not actually hiring! It did not really make sense to me until my latest attempt at a part time job.

I filled out an application for an “off hours stocking” job thinking that would be just perfect (evenings and weekends.) Most jobs now have to have the application filled out online, so you never really get to talk to anybody. After filling out this most recent app, I immediately got an email back saying they are unable to consider my application at this time. I truly don’t know why. But the one idea that struck me is the fact that they will hold on to my app until Feb. It’s almost as if they are just trying to collect a pool of applicants that they can pull from if needed. So I am still unsure why there are so many advertised positions and so many people looking for work and so many rejected applications….

Pirate Latitudes: I found this Michael Crichton book on sale at the grocery store. Reading the cover flap I learned that this complete manuscript was found in his files after his death. I wondered why he never had it published. While reading it I just did not feel drawn in to the story. It was fine but just felt like something was missing. I thought maybe he had not really finished it or polished it and that is why it was not published during his lifetime. When I finished the story I felt that this is the first MISS Crichton novel I’ve read. Then I read the epilogue. It was very short. Too short. And too sparse. I decided that is what was missing from the story, the depth. And there was no bibliography. So it made me wonder if he had not finished his research and that is why he never had it published. Or maybe I am just not into pirate stories….

Airframe: Back to good classic Crichton. Good story. Drawn in from beginning. Another HIT.

National Treasure 2: While I missed the beginning of this one, I was happy to watch it since I had seen the first one last month. Even better, my nephew came in before this one was over so we got to finish this one together too. All of us watching, from preteen to grandparents, enjoy these movies and rate them a HIT.

Jurassic Park (novel): I held off reading this book since I remember not being a big fan of the movie. But I have to say that while this book is pretty gruesome in the killing scenes, I sped through those and really enjoyed this novel. I like the ending. I rate it a definite HIT and am hoping to even see the movie again. I also want to go back and see how the original Lost World ends.

Secretariat: A nice family movie, though my family did not watch with me. It was neither a HIT or MISS for me (though more of a HIT than not.) I did enjoy the ending and the blurbs about the real people portrayed in the movie.