madameblogalot

The Prestige: Wow! What an interesting movie! This show about magicians at the turn of the 20th century and their obsession with the perfect prestige was a bit confusing at first but in the end it was a good show with plenty of plot turns. I did figure some of it out before the end, but all in all an interesting show and I will rate it as a HIT.

The Great Divorce: I had been wanting to read some C.S. Lewis works and was able to get my hands on this one. I did not really enjoy the “story” though I did find the last few pages of the next to last chapter to be interesting. For the majority of the book I would rate it a MISS but since the one bit had some interest I will rate the book as neither a HIT or MISS.

Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters: This is daughter’s book for an English project. She has read it twice and said she just didn’t “get” the last chapter-even after reading the book twice. I told her I’d read it and see what I thought. I actually enjoyed this book, except for the language (WHY do they do that, especially in kids/young adult’s books!) And I liked the ending. The author left it a bit ambiguous, making it a great question in the reader’s mind. I think I “got” it, at least as far as my guess as to how it ended. And I liked the twist upon twist upon twist. With that last little twist added in at the end. I will go ahead and rate this one a HIT for older teens or adults wanting a fun, quick, quirky, easy read.

Four Blind Mice: I tried a new author this month. The book was fine, not outstanding. I liked the story (language and violence disclaimer) good enough. So I guess I will rate it as a near HIT.

Wintergirls: Haunting. Very descriptive imagery. This is a very real look at a pair of girls who struggle through the winter wastelands of eating disorders, and I hope it can be helpful to girls (and guys) who are in the midst of disordered behavior. A very thought provoking book. I can’t really call it a HIT in the sense of “enjoying” the book. But I think it does rate as a HIT in the way it deals with the subject.

Having an older teen, one who is stuck in the middle of the teen years and keeping a toddler everyday, I started thinking about how much these ages are alike. At first I thought I would say that teens and toddlers are in the same world only on opposite ends of the spectrum. But I think they are pretty much going through the same things-physically, emotionally, and mentally. I mean, we can see a toddler’s body growing and changing, and for the most part that is the same with teens. It is harder to tell the emotional and mental changes going on inside a toddler, but again, maybe not any harder than it is to tell with teens! I mean, they are both figuring out who they are apart from Mom, Dad and other family members; who they are in their own right, in their own community, and they are adamant about expressing their individualism. The mental changes and growth going on within toddlers could probably be said to be about even with teens. Even though a lot of people might think that there is nothing going on in that space between a teenager’s ears, there is plenty of observation, thought processing, reflecting, stewing, percolating and making pronouncements and assertions about the world in which they live. I guess the one advantage that toddlers have over teens is that most people think they are still “cute”.

…I finished my first ever Olympic distance triathlon. What a day! We had record temperatures and a pretty sizable wind. We also had to cross the Kemah bridge, twice!

While I am pleased that I finished and happy with my swim time I did not feel too good about finishing third from the bottom of my age group. But, that just leaves me with something to strive for-either getting faster and stronger, or being happy as a back-of-the-packer!

Our distances included a .93 mile swim in the South Shore Marina, a 25 mile bike ride (which actually turned out to be 28 miles) and a 6.2 mile run. I dropped my inhaler on the bike portion and decided not to stop and pick it up. BIG mistake!! First off, I had a really really hard time on the run without it and ended up wheezing and painful at the finish line. Second, I had to replace it, which I did not know was going to cost me $40! (The one I dropped was a sample.)

But, all in all, my times were pretty good for me, pretty close to what I expected. I was really thankful to a teammate of mine, Rik, who earlier in the season cycled with me one day. We ended up doing the last portion of the race run together. He pushed me a bit faster than normal and while I paid for it in wheezing for a bit, I was really happy and loved seeing the race photo of us crossing the finish line together!

Here are my finishing times:

16th-of 19 in my age group

281-overall place (not sure how many entrants, at least 320)

40:02.2-swim time

2:28.4-transition 1

1:45:49.4-bike

15.9-average speed on bike

2:10.8-transition 2

1:10:15.4-run

11:20-run pace

3:40:46.3-total time to finish

This was my “A” race, my big race for the season. I am not sure where I will go from here but I do know it’s fun, it’s a challenge and it’s good for me. I know I will never be a contender, but I do hope that I am healthy enough to continue for as long as I want to.

Rango: STRANGE! NOT for young children (cursing throughout, unsuitable images, etc.) I fell asleep before it was over. A BIG MISS.

Unknown: This movie was another with that Inception feel. I really enjoyed Liam Neeson. I liked the story too. It was filled with enough plot twists to keep me guessing as to what was really happening. And after the movie, it made us talk it out to make sure we “got it”. My daughter watched it again the next day with my son. I give this one a HIT.

Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus: This was the assigned summer reading for my daughter’s upcoming World History class. I was not sure how to approach this book after my daughter would nearly not let me read it. She said I would hate it and it was weird. So I braced myself. It was not near as bad as I had expected. It is weird as it is a revisionist history told from an alternate reality. I don’t want to give too much away, but the ending was not what I expected, though from the title I guess I should have expected it. I am a bit ambivalent as to the storyline and not sure really how I feel/stand about the whole thing. I am interested as to how they will utilize the story in the classroom. I was surprised that by the end what role Christianity actually played in the story. I will rate this one neither a HIT or MISS and will likely continue thinking about it for a while before I decide.

Limitless: When I heard the premise of the movie, accessing the ability to utilize your entire brain, I thought this would be a good movie. The movie was weird. I did not like the way it was filmed, and I did not like the way the brain’s power was accessed. Not to mention a lot of the story itself. So all in all, I ended up rating this movie as a MISS.

Sphere: Another Michael Crichton novel. This one takes place under the ocean and involves the ideas of alien life forms and time travel. At one point I almost thought I was going to have to give a Crichton book a MISS, but I kept with it and was not disappointed. I will rate this as usual a HIT.

Tangled: A fun disney movie. A little weird. Again I don’t think for very young children but ok for older kids. For us, I’ll give it a HIT.

Rising Sun: Yes, another Crichton novel. It is so easy for me to get caught up in his stories. I really like the way he tells them and keeps them moving along. I find them intriguing and insightful and I usually learn something along the way. As I started this book I was afraid this was going to be my first MISS as a Crichton novel. I could not stand the constant bad language and the dark world which was being portrayed. But as I got further into the story I did become caught up in it. And there are plenty of twists and turns to keep things moving and to keep the reader guessing. Again, I will rate it as a HIT.

I am reading a book which was required reading for my daughter’s upcoming history class. It is a strange enough revisionist-history story. Interesting. But I decided today that I don’t think time travel is possible. I used to think that it just might be if we could figure it all out. Or maybe I wanted it to be possible. I don’t know. But after reaching a certain point in the story today, I think that I have decided that it just is not possible. I may change my mind again. And we’ll see what I think after I reach the end of this story. But….as for now I think that with time being a continuum which may not be a flow per se but happening at the same time. Not necessarily alternate realities but something I read about C.S. Lewis thinking that God is “outside time” and sees all the things happening. So, if that is true (which I am certainly not sure of) then I am thinking that time travel is not possible. But I do find it interesting to think about.

It took me most of June and half of July to finish this book. *Spoiler Warning* It’s a Christmas gift for a certain someone who I am pretty sure will read this post!!

The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, The Witch and The Worldview: I bought this book on sale as a Christmas gift for my sister. The title really intrigued me and I knew she would love it. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it as I was afraid it would spoil the magic of Narnia too much. But, after reading the table of contents I went ahead and decided to read it. While I do not agree with everything presented in the book, it was very interesting and thought provoking. It made me both sad, seeing how much I have failed my own kids in so many ways, and it also made me long for Narnia like I did when I was younger. It made me want to re-read the Chronicles, especially wishing I had time to read all seven books to my kids again before my son leaves. I will rate the book as a HIT.

A Case of Need: This is one of Michael Crichton’s early books. In fact, he originally wrote it under a pseudonym. I enjoyed the story, though maybe not as much as some others. I will still rate it a HIT.

Mother: While away at a small bed and breakfast, this was one of the few movies available. It was not that good of a movie and only served to reinforce the feeling of dysfunction in my own relationship with my son. I rate this one as a MISS.

Cold Mountain: Another of the few movie choices. I went into it thinking I would like it. It was a romance set in the Civil War. While I know that people were brutally slaughtered, I don’t like to see it graphically displayed or sensationalized. Nor do I like to see folk’s brutally lewd side either. Even though I know the things probably represent very human things that happened, I do not want to SEE it! Nor do I even want to SEE the sexual encounter that is to represent “true, pure love” in the story. There were some big names in the movie-Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellwegger, Donald Sutherland, a young Natalie Portman. Even so, I rate this one as a MISS.

The Source Code: This movie is tough to describe. My husband said it’s an Inception wannabe. It has elements of Groundhog Day and Knowing. It is an interesting concept-a man relives eight minutes of the immediate past in order to help change the future. The lead actors do a pretty good job. There is some rough language. Overall, I rate this one as a HIT.

The Great Train Robbery (novel): When I realized this was written by Michael Crichton I had to give it a try. This is based on a real event. I always love how Crichton does his homework on a book. This story was hard to follow at times because of the slang of the time which Crichton uses to make the story even more real. As always, I will give it a HIT.

Here is my second month’s time trails. I have only improved in the swim and that is if I did not miscount. I think my run last month was a bit faster because the little karate boys were all out doing their training run-they were motivation, like running after little rabbits. I know the bike was slower because it was a very windy day this month, but I finished it none-the-less. I do feel like I am getting stronger, even if my times don’t always reflect it. Now if I can just train my heart to work more efficiently during more exertion….

swim
16 laps
time-18:36

bike
15 miles
time-55:16
ahr-148

run
3.1 miles
time-29:08
ahr-156

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: When I saw this book for $2 at Barnes and Noble I thought I’d pick it up for a Christmas present. And since my sister has read (and I think liked the book) I decided why not read it in the meantime. I have to say that while not quite a complete MISS (there is enough humor there) it is the weirdest book I’ve ever read!

Field of Vision: This made for TV family movie was one that was a little more on the “cheesy” side where everything turned out all right in the end. I understand the message and could enjoy a movie with no “bad” stuff in it, but it was not very realistic. And was also a platform to advertise products within the movie. At any rate, I will call this one neither a HIT nor a MISS.

June looks like a short reading month, but I’ve been working on one book most of the month. Almost done with it, so will post it for July….

It has been HOT here! We are setting records nearly every week for high temperatures. When we dumped out some coolers of ice, our poor old dog just went and stood in the ice to cool off. So when I saw a blog post about a blogger who had 25 tons of wood to heat his home for three years, I must admit I was not thinking ahead of the heating bills to come next winter! I know when it cools off around here (which may not even be til after the first of the year if this summer heat wave and drought does not pass on by) then I will be wanting a nice warm house.

Since I do not like either extreme-being too hot or too cold-I like to keep things at an even temperature. That can mean too high or too low on our thermostat. But things like ceiling fans and storage heaters can help keep things more evenly cooled and warmed.

I guess my blog friend is like the ant who prepared for winter (or three!) while I am like the grasshopper who is wondering when the summer heat will pass on by!

I am frugal. Ok, I do admit, cheap. So when I found a sale at Barnes and Noble I went ahead and started picking up Christmas gifts. But in the meantime, I wanted to go ahead and read the books I am giving. I think that’s smart! At least I did not open and listen to the CD I bought as a gift!