secret life of bees

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Book Challenge update…

March
12. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, 336p
I enjoyed this book but there were a couple of things that bothered me while reading… first, time seemed to move excruciatingly slow. There were pages and pages describing multiple events and it seemed as if weeks had gone by. Then all of a sudden the author would reference time and it turns out only a day had passed. Very minor but it was really jarring for me. My second issue was the way Lily and Zack were allowed to interact. I mean, it was the 60s and if I remember my history lessons correctly, black boys couldn’t even so much as *look* at a white girl for fear of inciting anger from the community. So I thought it was a bit unrealistic to have Lily and Zack working as a team and making trips downtown to do errands. Wouldn’t that have caused a stir? Regardless, I’d still recommend this book — I ended it feeling very hopeful and optimistic for Lily and her journey.

Wow, March was a pretty bad month for me as I only read 1 book! Eeek.

Just some random news that amused me…
It looks like Cookie Monster, my favorite Sesame Street character EVER, is going… healthy??? It seems like they’re going to make him eat fruits and vegetables and cut back on the cookies. !!! Hehehe.

OMG. I consider myself a Britney fan but I don’t know if I would be able to stomach watching this. I can’t stand that awful, awful Kevin Federline. What were they thinking by signing on for a reality show? They’re definitely NOT Nick and Jessica.

100 Days til Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

america hates me

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Spoilery entry for AI, Lost…

I think America hates me. There is just no other reason to explain tonight’s results episode of American Idol. ARGH. WHO is STILL voting for Anthony?!? I still can’t believe he was safe. It’s like Jasmine from last season all over again.

Lost was so upsetting. I like Boone! *sob* They couldn’t have killed off Hurley? Or maybe Charlie? I can’t even think about it right now because it means that I no longer get to see Ian Somerhalder on TV every week. *lights a candle for Boone* Oh, and this episode reminded me that I should probably find out what blood type I am. You know, just in case.

Anyway, quick meme stolen from Nicola —

Name 4 books on your bookshelf:
1. The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd (which I finally finished and will comment on soon)
2. Princess Diaries – Meg Cabot
3. Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
4. Sex and the City – Candace Bushnell

Name 4 DVDs in your collection:
1. Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea
2. Ocean’s Eleven
3. Mean Girls
4. Office Space

Name 4 things on your walls:
1. Finding Nemo calendar
2. dried roses that Rob gave me
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie poster
4. LA Lakers banner

Name 4 things in your closet/wardrobe:
I’m boring and only have clothes, shoes, and purses in there… nothing exciting

Name 4 real life stores you shop at regularly:
1. Best Buy
2. Target (LOVE)
3. Banana Republic
4. Barnes & Noble

Name 4 things in your bag:
1. iPod
2. cell phone
3. keys to my desk drawer at work (I have petty cash and SF Giants tickets in there!)
4. BART train ticket

top 9 on ai

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Wow, tonight’s showtunes episode of American Idol was TERRIBLE. I don’t think I liked a single performance. My predictions for the bottom three are Scott, Anthony, and Nikko (this pains me because I love him but I don’t think he’s really that popular with the public) with Anthony saying farewell. *crosses fingers*

TV ships meme

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Hopping on the bandwagon…

1. Post a list of 10 TV shows you watch/ed (current or cancelled).
2. Have your friends list guess your favorite pairing from each show.
3. When guessed, bold the line & write a sentence about why you like that pairing.
4. Post in your own livejournal blog.

This should be pretty easy, right? Note that I only picked 1 pairing per show…

1. Dawson’s Creek – Pacey/Joey (guessed by Jessica, Robyn, and Nicola)
My ALL-TIME favorite ship. It’s the sweetness and the sarcasm. I just love how their rough edges break down when they’re together.

2. Everwood – Ephram/Amy (guessed by Jessica and Nicola)
Colin/Amy were my original ship on this show but Ephram/Amy were the ones who stayed with me.

3. American Dreams – Sam/Meg
4. 24 – Tony/Michelle (guessed by Jessica, Robyn, and Nicola)
He committed treason for her! That’s love, people!

5. One Tree Hill – Nathan/Haley (guessed by Jessica
I’m not completely loving them right now (stupid Haley!) but I do love their story. How he only went after her to make Lucas angry and ended up falling in love… Aww.

6. The O.C. – Seth/Summer (guessed by Robyn and Nicola)
I don’t know if it’s the prettiness or the playful banter, but they always make me smile.

7. Alias – Syd/Vaughn (guessed by Jessica and Robyn)
I know they’ve kinda fizzled out in the last season or so but… they’re so pretty! And they have such an easy chemistry with each other.

8. Smallville – Lex/Lana (guessed by Robyn)
They have so much potential! And they have far more in common than initially meets the eye. (Or maybe I’ve just read too many of Christie’s fics. Hee).

9. Felicity – Felicity/Noel

10. Friends – Chandler/Monica (guessed by Robyn)
Chandler and his dry wit. Monica and her neuroses. Fantastic.

Guess away! Yay, thanks for guessing! 🙂

spring forward

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I hate losing an hour of sleep because of daylight’s savings time. It’s evil.

Some memes…

Friday Five —

1. What’s the one movie you’ve seen more times than any other?
Anne of Green Gables or the sequel Anne of Avonlea
2. If you could turn one book, comic book or other print story into a feature-length movie, what story would you pick and why?
Mmm, maybe the Shopaholic series?
3. Who would you cast?
I’d love to see Kate Beckinsale or Reese Witherspoon tackle Becky. And maybe Andrew Lincoln or Jude Law for Luke.
4. What one movie would you like to see “updated for the year 2005”? (ie, a remake)
I have no idea… umm, nothing for now, I guess.
5. What one movie are you most looking forward to this year?
Can I pick 3 movies? 😛 Batman Begins (Katie Holmes and Christian Bale!), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The War of the Worlds (Tom Cruise!).

The Fannish Friday Five —

Name your five favorite little-known actor or actresses.

I’m loosely interpreting this question to be actors and actresses who aren’t household names… yet.
1. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
2. Gary Dourdan
3. Parminder Nagra
4. Dule Hill
5. Reiko Aylesworth

jrm on tv

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I am still in shock about Jessica being voted off American Idol. I didn’t see that coming at all. She was ROBBED. America, you are killing me!

And then Meg leaving with Chris on the season finale of American Dreams?!? What was she thinking? What does she see in Chris? I never found his character to be the least bit likable. I so wanted to slap some sense into her… except that I was in near tears while she was shooting the commercial for Jack (so bittersweet in hindsight) and saying farewell to Rox. *sniff* I will be so upset (SO UPSET) if this episode turns out to be the series finale. Don’t let me down, NBC.

So then I’m watching CSI tonight and what do I see? A commercial for that TV movie about Elvis Presley starring none other than Jonathan Rhys-Meyers!!! SQUEE. He looks gooooood. Oh yes, he does. See here. *sigh* I’m counting down the days until May 8.

top 10 on AI

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I can’t believe it’s only 10pm (which is normally pretty early for me) and I am *so* sleepy. UGH. Waking up at 6am is really doing a number on my schedule.

Quick American Idol thoughts… LOVED Vonzell. She didn’t really grab me in previous weeks but she is slowly but surely becoming a favorite. Plus, I just love her personality. She’s always smiling and giggly but she doesn’t seem fake at all. Aww. Also loved Nikko. I can’t believe how much he sounded like Tevin Campbell. I’m so happy he got the chance to come back — he’s been rocking lately. Let’s see if I can predict the results correctly again this week… my picks for the bottom three are Anthony, Scott and Nadia with Scott saying farewell.

PS – Many thanks to everyone for the Congrats! All the kind words mean a lot. 🙂

grey’s anatomy

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I just got a promotion! Complete with a nice little salary bump. SCORE. This and the fact that Rob just accepted a great new job offer of his own makes me a very happy camper. Too bad I now have to start work at 7:30am. *dies* I thought 8:00 was bad enough. I don’t know how the heck I’m going to drag myself out of bed an extra half hour earlier.

Anyway, I checked out that new ABC show, Grey’s Anatomy, tonight. It was a little predictable for a medical drama but I liked that it came from the point of view of female interns. I love the sarcastic Christina (Sandra Oh) and insecure Isobel (Katherine Heigl) already. (Hee, I totally laughed when KH introduced herself as Isobel or “Izzy” — Roswell shout-out or coincidence?) How long the show will last is anyone’s guess but it was at least entertaining. I’ll take it over Boston Legal, that’s for sure.

ABC has really been kicking butt with the new shows this season.

oc renewed!

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I totally called the results on American Idol!!! MWAHAHAHA.

The O.C. has officially been renewed for a third season! YAY! I also came across this great cast interview/panel hosted by The Academy Television Arts & Scienes called The O.C. Revealed. It’s pretty long (about an hour) and the interviewer asked some really random questions but it was fun to see the actors and producers interact and speak about their characters and the storylines. Two things that I remember in particular — Josh Schwartz commented on wanting to keep Alex around (Olivia Wilde) but she had some offers and they weren’t ready to make her a series regular. Huh. I liked Alex but I can’t even imagine how the dynamic would have changed between the teens if she had stayed on. Also, Peter Gallagher mentioned that there was more response to the Sandy/Kirsten/Rebecca storyline than the kiss between Alex and Marissa. I’m not surprised. I think fans really love Sandy/Kirsten’s marriage. Anyway, check it out if you have time.

Now for some American Dreams comments…

Guh. Chris returned. *sigh* After watching the really sweet scene of Meg, Rox, Sam and Luke hanging out and listening to the Rollingstones in the parking lot, Meg had to go home to find Chris at her doorstep. %$#@! I can’t believe next week’s episode is the season finale (possible series finale as well) and they’re going to be devoting time to his relationship with Meg. I’m really disappointed.

I am incredibly jealous of this girl who won the grand prize in the Godiva Valentine’s Day promotion. She received 52 boxes of Godiva chocolates and 52 pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes. Can you imagine all the gorgeous shoes AND the year’s supply of chocolate-covered strawberries? *dies*

top 11 on AI

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Spoilery 24 and American Idol comments ahead…

24
Not Dina!!! She was the best new character this season. But they didn’t show her body, right? So I’m holding out hope til then. Very little hope, though, because Marwan doesn’t really have any reason at this point to keep her alive.

As for the rest of the episode, it wasn’t up to snuff with the beginning of the season. The storylines are getting a little cheesy and unbelievable. Weellll, *more* unbelievable than normal. I mean, Jack acting as Dina’s hostage to draw out Marwan? Totally was not going to work. Come on, Jack! And CTU drawing back when Jack and Dina went into the tunnel? Very stupid move. The tunnel switcheroo is so the oldest trick in the book. Come on, CTU! I expect smarter twists from you.

Tony and Michelle were giving each other googly eyes the entire episode. It’s just a matter of time before those two crazy kids get back together. I can feel it. So as one relationship looks to be warming up again, another is slowly circling down the drain. I don’t see Audrey and Jack surviving the day, what with Paul in surgery and facing possible paralysis. Eeek. Poor Jack, he hasn’t had much luck with the ladies these past few seasons.

And yay for the return of Chloe! She’s so awesome.

American Idol
Really great performances tonight. But seriously, was Paula drunk? Cause she was all hyper and yelling and pawing at Simon. So weird. My favorite performances were Jessica, Carrie, Vonzell and Nikko. They were fantastic. I also enjoyed Scott (so dramatic when he tossed his glasses to the side) and Anwar, although I didn’t think they were at the top of their game (particularly Anwar — he normally picks great songs for his voice). My predictions for the bottom three are Anthony, Mikalah and Nadia with Mikalah getting the boot.