Unbearable Lightness by Portia DeRossi - Review

What I Can Tell You:
Wow! I don't know of a more honest book. Portia is brutally candid and this book had me from the first page. I saw this at the library and read it in 3 days in the middle of a million things going on.

As I read this book, I wondered how many woman are in the same place Portia was. The calculating, the weighing, the stress, the anxiety, the fear. Portia sheds light on how much work it takes to be anorexic and how it affects the people around you.

A seemingly strong woman, with a blossoming career who would have known the nightmare she was living. If nothing else, this book will enforce the fact that anorexia is a disease. It is not something an individual has control over. It is not something someone steps into lightly. It is a sickness often stems from a deeper problem. Self doubt, self loathing, and insecurities manifest into something that completely overtakes an individual without them even knowing it.

My heart goes out to Portia who was unwavering in her honesty as she bears her soul for all to see. She is a beautiful person who wrote a book that she be a must read for therapists and anyone who has ever loved/loves someone suffering from this disease.

A must read.

Let's Be Prairie Dogs

This was part of the Prairie dog exhibit. You stood up in these holes and the prairie dogs were right there. It was cool but since we were alone I didn’t dare leave them in that tunnel to run up to the top to take their picture so this was the best I could do.

The Fountain - A Review

Product Description

Hugh Jackman was the reason I decided to try out this movie. Thankfully, my library had it and I didn't have to pay anything to see it. Thankfully!

The movie has some visually stunning scenes. There is Hugh; bald, hair, sitting, criss, cross, apple sauce, but to be totally honest. I had not friggin idea what was going on. Are we in the present, past, future, non-existence???? What? What? What?

So, premise as I (the amateur reviewer) sees it is, Tomas, (Hugh) spends his whole life trying to save his wife (the love of his life). Beautiful right?! Well, I think the films desire to be artistic makes it too complicated or maybe I'm just an idiot.

I give this 2 out of 5 Stars. Mostly because...of the beauty of the visuals.

Amateur Book Review - Kingdom Keepers

Amateur Book Review - Kingdom Keepers
I was supposed to start reading Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer, the 3rd book in the Twilight series but while waiting at the library for my son I spotted a book that I couldn't pass up.

Are you looking for a book to get your 10-15 year old boy interested in reading? This is the book.

Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson (check out his official site), reads like a great action movie scaled down for kids. Think Goonies and Freddy Kreuger in Disney World.

Finn Whitman is one of five teens who are holographic hosts at Disney World. Their holograph image appear throughout the Magic Kingdom giving deliving information about the many attractions offered in Disney. All is well as Finn shines as a pseudo celebrity at school but when his dreams and reality start blurring as he experiences "crossing over" he searches to find out whether the other hosts are experiencing the same. Finn meets Wayne a retired Imagineer who tells him that he and the other hosts need to meet in dream world together to fight against the Overtakers. The Overtakers are lead by Maleficent the witch from Sleeping beauty.

Finn and the others go to sleep at the same time, meet up in Disney and work together to destroy the Overtakers.

The book is fast, interesting, fun and will hold the readers attention with mentions of the kids being attacked by the Pirates from The Pirates of the Caribbean. Traveling through the Magic Kingdom in the little cars from the Buzz Lightyear ride. And when the dolls from It's a Small World come to life and start biting the teens all hell breaks loose. Pooh and Piglet walking through Disney or Tom Sawyer smoking a pipe will just crack them up.

The positives: I love the story. It is interesting to think that digital hosts are real people and can see things that are not of this reality. All of the details about the Disney theme park make this an intersting read. The story is different and what kid wouldn't want to walk around Disney after closing? A little Disney history is always interesting and educational too.

The drawback: The characters are one dimensional. We don't really get to know any of the characters and the female characters are mostly just there to balance out the sexes.

Book 2 was released in August 2008 and I look forward to getting my hands on it.

If you have read or are reading this book, I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

The book was published by Disney, do I hear future movie????

Check out a Kingdom Keepers Fan Site

My Week In Pictures Aug 10, 2008 - Aug 17, 2008

August 10, 2008 – I took this picture of a some kind of huge bee. We had zipped up the gazebo when we spotted him buzzing around. He was the size of a small hummingbird. After looking at him lying on the table in some sort of spasms I may never kill another bug in my life. Look at those eyes.

August 11, 2008 – My son is so happy in this picture. We had been holding hands and spinning. He had crayons in his hand saying they were like a rainbow. I snapped this just as I let go of him while spinning.

August 12, 2008 at the park early morning with my kids. We like to go before the crowd. We usually go about 3 times a week and I spend 20 minutes of our time pushing my son on the swing. He loves it but I need him to start doing it himself. I am not helping him if I keep doing it for him. He just looked so sad sitting there as he begged me to push him.

August 12, 2008 at the park early morning with my kids. We like to go before the crowd. We usually go about 3 times a week and I spend 20 minutes of our time pushing my son on the swing. He loves it but I need him to start doing it himself. I am not helping him if I keep doing it for him. He just looked so sad sitting there as he begged me to push him.

August 13, 2008 My 42nd birthday. Interestingly enough there is not one picture of me this day. Not me getting my card or blowing out the candles on the mini cake I made either. Tear. Anyway…my friend Sheress and her children dropped by with their dog who was wearing a dress. The dog not Sheress.

August 15, 2008 I went and got my nose pierced. I have wanted one since college and never did it. The other day my husband mentioned that he was going to tell the mortician who embalms me to just pierce my nose, “she always wanted one.” I decided then and there that I waited long enough. I took my kids with me, my son held my hand and it took all of two seconds for the piercing, 3 minutes of bleeding which started 2 minutes after he was telling me that it was amazing that I wasn’t bleeding. Then about 2 days of a dull ache.

Ok, I digress..The picture…my son waited 3 weeks for this Blue’s Clues chair. He had to sleep in his own bed (not come in mine in the middle of the night) for 10 days. Every day that he did he got a Blue’s Clues sticker on a special calendar. When we finally gave it to him blown up (he was allowed to have it the whole time just not blown up – for 5 days it was in the box and the remainder, the box was opened but it wasn’t inflated) he was ecstatic. His face was priceless andhe walked around saying, “my chair is so beautiful.” This is him in his sister’s room playing X-Box.

August 16, 2008 – The annual Oz BBQ. This year the theme was Ozzapaluzza. It was awesome. My kids rocked, the food rocked, the company rocked, the music, what I did hear rocked and the coffee on my way home ROCKED.  My son’s Godmother Bek bartended and hosted a fab shindig which was supposed to feature Alternative music but somehow someone requested Brad Paisley’s, Tick song. Go figure. Interesting choice, since the person who requested the song, may or may not, have children who brought home some ticks, after feeding bread to a deer with the help of Bek’s cohost Ohio.

August 17. 2008 – Totally rocking the nose ring.

Amateur Movie Review - Hitman

Last weekend the Hub and I watched Hitman. I was heading off to sleep when he told me that he was going to rent Hitman which I knew was a game but not a movie.

Ummm...I was intrigued. I love to see how they make movies out of books, games or whatnot.

Not thinking I would be interested, I stood with my tea cup in hand, waiting for that moment when I would certainly walk away to the out reaches of the house to find a rerun, watch the Food Network or read a book.

It wasn't long before I was making my way over to the chair so I could place my cup on the windowsill, (we need some living room furniture).

As I watched, I just kept saying, where do I know this guy from? And this guy? And this guy? There were so many familiar faces.

It just so happens that I had just seen the lead guy in Catch and Release with Jennifer Garner.

Agent 47 (or a hairless Timothy Olyphant) is a gun for hire, genetically engineered assassin. He is hired by "The Organization" and pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military.

Timothy Olyphant is sexy, if you like the quiet, bald, bar code tattoo, deadly type. He is a hitman with a heart. Is this based at all on the game? He smiles, sarcastically jokes and saves mistreated women all while trying to save himself. Arrgghhhhh...

The other guy who looked so familiar is the equally sexy Dougray Scott who I saw recently in Desperate Housewives last season, or was that the season before last season? He played Susan's married (but wife is dying and has been in a long term coma) boyfriend.

The movie was just ok and the violence was scaled down. There was flying blood and brain but really the blood scenes were super quick.

My Little Love Bug

We Played Unstable Unicorns For 5 Hours

The 411:

With the kids homeschooling for the past two months we have spent a lot of time together. They spend most of the morning and some of the afternoon doing homework then they either get on a computer game (in my son’s case) or an iPad (my daughter’s case) and zone out. We have been going for walks, playing pool or ping pong as well as watching too much Netflix and Disney so when I received Unstable Unicorns on a cold, rainy Spring day I said “hey guys, let’s unplug and play.”

We read and re-read the instructions. We were confused. Then we searched out some video reviews after 3 we decided to jump in and see where it went. The first two games which I won (I was the first to get 7 horses in my stable more on that later), we learned more about how to play, heading back to the video reviews and a game play video a few times (the one we watched was not being played according to the instructions). By the 4th game we had it down and were a little obsessed. It was fun and we were very competitive.

There are a few things you must do before starting and it does depending on how many people are playing. You shuffle the “white” covered Baby Unicorn cards and hand everyone a Baby Unicorn card. This is the start of your stable. The winner is the first to reach 7 unicorns.   Place the remaining on the table. Then you shuffle and deal out 5 “black” covered cards to each player placing the remaining next to the “nursery” where the Baby Unicorn cards are placed. Next to the cards will eventually be another pile of cards called the discard pile. Make sure all these piles are near everyone because you will all need to be able to access them during the game.

There are 4 phases to your turn and it will depending on the cards in your hand. Beginning of Turn Phase, Draw Phase, Action Phase, End of Turn Phase. There are also 5 types of cards in the game. Unicorn cards (to which there are 3 different types), Magic Cards, Downgrade Cards, Upgrade Cards, and Instant Cards.

It took a few games to get into all the ins and outs of the rules and to see that when my son left and it was just my daughter and I we needed to remove some cards (it is all explained in the instruction manual). We didn’t at first and the game ended very quickly.

It is a fun game and once we got the hang of it we didn’t stop for 5 hours. I cannot wait to be out of quarantine so we an play with more than 3 people. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

I highly recommend this game and the pictures on the cards are really cute too. We all have our favorites!

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

The 411:

Wow this book was very hard to put down. I found myself struggling between rage, sadness and humiliation. As a child of abuse I wanted to rip Jacob Strane's heart out. He disgusted me and made me angry. 

For all those who who during this "Me Too" Movement that we are in ever wondered why did she/he not tell someone...this book answers why. 

Vanessa is a young girl sent to school away from her parents I do not remember why. Mr. Strane, one of her teachers is a deviant bastard who romances her, defiles her and uses his power as her instructor to literally rape her having her believe it was all her doing. The subject matter as revolting as it is is written beautifully.  

This fast paced book goes back and forth between young Vanessa and older Vanessa. The author does an amazing job of forcing us to see the manipulation of an older man using mature methods on an impressionable young girl and how the garbage he feed her as a minor still sits with her years later. 

There are so many things I could hit on that really sat with me even now but then I would be typing an entire book of my own.  The title My Dark Vanessa is what Vanessa's teacher called her. He told her that she was as dark as he was. There was nothing I liked about Strane. Fortunately the author doesn't make him a victim or likable in any way.  

My Dark Vanessa is disturbing but Kate's writing is masterful because even I was angry about the direction of the book I devoured it in a few days. Reading it early in the morning before the kids woke but thought of it all day.  

Side note: This reads as a memoir. I had to keep reminding myself that this was not an autobiography but a well written first novel from a talented author.

My New Haircut by Jeffrey Turner - A Review & Video Feature

My New Haircut: Early Concepts: Shapes

Jeffrey Turner

The 411:

This is a really cute book about a poodle asking the reader what shape haircut they should get. I loved the colorful pages that shows the shape on the Poodle's head and the tail as well as the opposing page which is the same color as the shape and has tiny shapes all over it.  

Perfect toddler book with an introduction to geometry. Perfect size board book for tiny hands. 

:

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary product for my honest opinion. No monetary compensation was offered.

Old Rusty - July 2008

We both know what memories can bring, they bring diamonds and rust

I love this picture of the old car. Spending the day at a local farm with my kids I had taken enough pictures of the kids and the animals when I spotted this car. I think the rust, with the still pristine headlight, grass and flowers in the background and the old leaf burning container in the back tie in both old and new life. I see this picture like the seasons Spring and Fall.

Round and Round on the Merry Go Round

You can’t tell from this picture but he loved the carousel and wanted to go on again.

Birthday's Coming Up? Some Ideas For Your 15 Year Old! Hand Picked By My Almost 15 Year Old

My daughter's 15th Birthday is coming up next week and while she understands that it will be a very different birthday than usual I am stressed that she will be disappointed. She knows we are all under stress at this time and is mature enough to realize that as long as we are all together she has a lot to be thankful for. This doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about her gifts. 

Thankfully my daughter has an ongoing Birthday list she keeps at Amazon so I did a little shopping there earlier last month. Just a few small trinkets until we can really celebrate. 

I know many are under the same constraints as me and have been doing the drive by birthday greetings or Zoom family and friend gatherings but my shy daughter would not be into that. So here are some of my gift ideas:

The Comfy Kids! (A Review, as the product was supplied)

My daughter has been obsessed with this and does her homework, drawing and hangs outside on the deck with me in the cool hours with me. She loves the bubblegum pink and even has been using mine when she wants to bring it all the way down to her ankles. She is way getting more use out of hers than me.  She really loves the huge pocket that is perfect for keeping your hands warm but she carries her phone and drawing pencils in it. 

 It is great for sleepovers, camp outs, drive in's or as you can see wherever. 

 National Geographic's Mega Fossil Dig - Now I know my daughter is not like everyone's but she LOVES fossil dig sets. This one is great. 

Drawing Sets are great gifts especially if you have an artist on your hands. This one has everything any artist would need.

Little Nightmares has been interesting to watch her play. She is not your typical gamer but when she loves a game she loves a game.  It is cute and spooky at the same time. I watch her play every time she plays. One day she won't want to hang out with me so I take advantage when she asks me to hang out in her room. 

This Is Us is another story telling game. She was obsessed with this and is so upset that she finished the game and part 2 isn't out until December of this year. At least I already have an idea for Christmas.

Here are things that are on her wish list now

Waffle Maker - I love that she added this. How cute! I hope she plan on making me Mother's Day breakfast with this.

Plasma Lighting Ball - I have always liked these too. She has asked for one for so long. It is time to get her one. 

Mythical Creatures Playing Cards. She says these cards are so pretty. I totally agree.

Shiny Washi Tape - So many uses

Magic Temperature Lip Balm. - How pretty are these?

Beautiful Earrings 

Pretty Vintage Jewelry Box

Celestial Phases of the Moon Print

Wall Mounted Jewelry Shelf

What I realize from my daughter's wish list is that we are more alike than I thought. She isn't a frivolous girl. She isn't spoiled and she doesn't ask for things just to ask for things. I wish I could get her every single item on her list. The only one I picked up was the jewelry shelf because she is using push pins right now. She deserves this shelf. 

I hope this list makes it easier for you to shop for your teen.