Goodbye 2010

So not too long ago we had a lesson in Young Women on journal keeping. I am a rotten journal keeper--seriously rotten. And while I could have/should have probably made some sort of commitment about doing better, I, instead, decided it was perhaps time to consolidate the 6 started-but-never-finished journals into 1 or 2 (it turned out to be 1 and 1/2--how sad am I?). And so for about a month I diligently copied my thoughts (even the thoroughly embarrassing ones), and consolidated, and really had quite a lot of fun. In doing so, I was reminded how I used to take some time at the end of the year and write down my favorite things (books, movies, music--the New Kids on the Block played an embarrassingly heavy role in my teen life) and I thought maybe I should try my hand at it again this year.

So here goes, my favorites of 2010 (not necessarily published/aired/or whatever in 2010 but just what was enjoyed by me in 2010):

Books (I figured I must start here since books are my favorite):

Adult Fiction:

1. The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3) by Brandon Sanderson (Fantasy)

2. Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago

3. Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese

4. Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Adult Non Fiction:

1. Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy

2. Bonds of Affection: Civic Charity and the Making of America by Matthew S. Holland

3. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

4. A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen

Young Adult Fiction:

1. The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine

2. The Brooklyn Nine by Alan M. Gratz

3. Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge

4. Flygirl by Sherrie L. Smith

Junior Fiction:

1. Countdown by Deborah Wiles

2. Behemoth (Leviathan, #2) by Scott Westerfeld (Alternate History, Science Fiction)

3. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

4. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

Picture Books:

1. Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

2. A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead

3. City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems

4. Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer

TV Shows:

1. Doctor Who (love the new Doctor--but miss the old one as well)

2. Law & Order UK (we get BBC America on demand and that explains nos. 1 & 2)

3. Blue Bloods (love the family relationships--plus I love me a cop/crime drama)

4. MI:5

Movies (of which I didn't watch many):

1. The Young Victoria

2. Les Miserables-The 25th Anniversary Concert

3. How to Train Your Dragon

4. Ramona and Beezus

Music Artists

1. Pink Martini

2. Adele

3. Dean Martin

4. U2 (a constant)

Not Really the Creative One

A not-so-hard lesson to learn, but a lesson I should try to remember:

Shopping at Williams Sonoma, despite all my best intentions and wishes, will not magically turn me into a creative cookie maker.

I got roped (or roped myself--it is all a bit hazy) into making about 20 dozen cookies for my mother to give away to her neighbors for Christmas and am now just a bit tired of baking. Not only that, I am entirely kitchened out. If I never see another kitchen again.... but it is Christmas so I suppose I will just need to develop one of those stiff upper lips and endure.

Being all cookied out, of course, would be a great thing to be right now. Sadly, now that the cookies are all delivered (not a one is left in the house except those ones that fell on the floor that someone has been eating--I haven't the heart to tell them what happened to them--what they don't know won't kill them?) I have a mean cookie craving and have been wandering the house in vain in a desperate search for something sweet. How is it that I have no cookies!!!

Hodgepodge of Movie Stuff

I have just a minute to blog cause I'm rather hungry and no one is willing to cook for me tonight.

When last I left you, my friends, I was very much looking forward to going to that movie Morning Glory. Well, I've been to see it and I must say that, though I am not one to blame others for what I choose to view, someone should have warned me against seeing this mind-numbingly bad movie and I blame you. As small as my readership is, someone out there should have known better than me (and the newspaper reviewer) and warned me off it. For what it is worth, my mother and sister had this to say of the movie: "There were some cute parts." Clearly I would have been better off and entirely happier to have stuck with Joyeux Noel. Or perhaps just stayed home with my Netflix who does know me so much better than that guy who reviews movies for the newspaper

Speaking of Netflix, there is a movie that I recently watched on their recommendation that I found to be simply lovely. It's not likely to win any awards (not much drama), but it kind of makes me sigh in happiness when I think of it: The Young Victoria. This movie's absolute sweetness, brace yourself if you are familiar with London, has convinced me to completely forgive Victoria for that thing that is generally referred to as the Prince Albert Memorial.

Not only that but I'm strongly considering bumping Prince Albert (Rupert Friend--what is it with so many hot British guys being named Rupert?) into my list of 5 crushes and bumping that Hugh guy whose name I can't ever quite recall out (I mean, it must be some kind of a sign that we are not meant to be when I can't even remember the last name--that and his being absolutely gorgeous, famous, and married--it isn't Grant or Laurie...shoot, still can't remember). Anyway, I think he just might make a nice addition to the list.

And now I'm off to cook and eat and read (cause Maze Runner is due tomorrow and I still have 250 pages to read). Happy Weekend!!!

Music and Movies

I am listening to this

and this

(the packaging is just to die for)

and have this to watch

but am going to see this today instead

and as a result am feeling rather happy and full of holiday cheer.

Technology

I'm not really a great fan of technology. I hate cell phones. Hate, hate, hate them. I was a happier and more fit person back when I was living in Ireland and didn't have regular access to a car--you know back when I could eat a galaxy chocolate bar (as in the good British stuff) a day and actually loose weight. Now not only do I not often take the time (my fault mostly) to walk and thereby think and clear my head, but I am actually ridiculed (or thought ridiculous) for, you know, presuming that it is a good thing to walk to church--which is exactly five houses away from my house.

That said, I'm beginning to see some real positives about this whole technology thing.

1. I kind of sort of really love to blog and to read blogs.

2. I kind of sort of really love it when I can type sw in the google search bar and it knows that I'm looking for The Sweet Tooth Fairy.

3. I kind of sort of really love the recommendations that Netflix gives me based on the movies I watch via the Wii system thingy. They come with group categories like: Period Pieces, Feel-Good British Dramas, and British Movies based on Literature. Netflix you truly know me--plus you don't forget that I like to watch stuff like Iron Man as well.

But then, just as I'm starting to really love technology, it goes and reminds me in front of my whole family that my 4 year-old niece has better dance moves than I do:

You didn't actually think you were going to get a shot of me doing this, did you? And sorry about the video being on its side--darn technology!