I Want to Know These People!!

How much fun is this?!!

I Just Knew It!

This has actually happened at my house...HA!!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Go Michael, GO!

Michael Phelps is doing it again at the FINA worlds in Rome this week! He's got plenty of races lined up and is doing great in the prelims. I'm just waiting for today's live stream to come up. You can watch all the swimming events and recaps at www.universalsports.com

Here's one of Michael's swims:

http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?db_oem_id=23000

Long Ago Love

I always sleep with the t.v. on. I KNOW it's not good for me, but I do it anyway. The weird thing is, I have to have something interesting on to watch or it bugs me. There are a lot of nights that I wake up, don't like what is on, and start flipping through channels. I always start with the movie channels, since most everything else in the wee hours is infomercials. Last week while I was channel surfing, I noticed that one of the movie channels was showing the 1968 Franco Zeferelli version of Romeo and Juliet. Of course, this is the version that English instructors use to torture most Freshman. As most of you know, I'm not typical. It never was torture for me. In fact, I fell in love with Romeo and Juliet. I spent many teenage waking hours pining for Romeo, reading the play, watching the movie, listening to the soundtrack, making notes, watching other versions, etc. Unfortunately, Romeo became my model of the perfect guy, which at 14 you don't realize may cause problems. Let's just say that I went through a teenage obsession phase.

Suddenly in that early morning, I found myself wide awake and mesmorized by the story once more. I had really forgotten just HOW GOOD it really is. The film is just beautifully shot and the locations were gorgeous. It was shot in Technicolor. I LOVE Technicolor. Say what you want about digital, but it just doesn't compare to the colors and the richness of Technicolor. Not to mention the costumes. Oh the costumes were masterpieces. It also has two of the most beautiful stars in the leading roles. What young, teenage girl hasn't dreamed of being Juliet? Anyway, that late night showing rekindled one of my past loves. This past weekend, Casey bought me the DVD and the soundtrack. I no longer have my worn out VHS copy, and I'd lost my original vinyl soundtrack album along the way through moves somehow. So, I've been enjoying my past love over this last week. As you all know, I HAD to do research. I needed to know about the stars, where they are now, what internet goodies are out there, etc., and I found that I've had a lot of fun in the process. I've also re-read the play this past week as well. Both Juliet (Olivia Hussey) and Romeo (Leonard Whiting) are alive and both doing well, and say what you will, I think they've aged rather gracefully. No one looks 17 forever. There are still legions of fans around the world that love the film and keep it alive for new generations. That's the great thing about technology today. It keeps long, forgotten loves alive and well into the present, so I can obsess over it for years to come.

Oh yes, and what's the new thing about Romeo and Juliet today? Well, there's a huge debate that Leonard Whiting and Zac Efron look alike? Being old school, I sort of see it, but no. What do you guys think?

Romeo and Juliet (Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting) 1968:

Romeo and Juliet (Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting) 2003:

Technology

Last week, Casey and I finally got new phones. We had known that we had an upgrade coming for a few months, and actually put time into our selection. This was the first time in nine years we decided to actually PAY for a phone, instead of taking the free phone offered. After much debate and testing, we finally decided on the iPhone. Lucky for us, we waited until the new iPhone 3Gs was released. So after several weeks of waiting and tracking packages, they finally arrived. Casey, who is the ever typical male, was going to activate and get both of the phones running. This was despite my pleas to just go to the local store and have them do the activation and plan changes for us. This task required several hours over several days on hold with AT&T. Finally everything was set and running. Then over the past weekend, Casey discovered that he could not send or receive text messages. Guess what we did yesterday? We WENT to the AT&T store. They double checked everything, made the necessary changes, and had us running smoothly in less than five minutes. Let's just say the iPhone has been a LEARNING experience for Casey.

In the past week, in addition to struggling with activation and whatnot, we have spent a considerable amount of time accessorizing our iPhones. Since we've never paid for a phone before, we wanted to make sure that we kept them in good condition. Casey is NOTORIOUS for breaking cell phones. We went out and purchased several things to prevent damage. I got a soft gel case to protect from scratches and also some screen protectors too. Casey got online and ordered an Otter Box. Hopefully, it will defend against his type of abuse. We also purchased a car charger, a radio transmitter for our music, armbands, and I got a Nike+ chip to monitor my runs. I never knew this could be so complicated! Hopefully, we're through setting this up for a while.

Oh and by the way, we LOVE LOVE LOVE our iPhones. They've been worth every bit of frustration.

Summer Pictures of the Gang

Our local Wal-Mart has done a store reset. They've got LOTS of stuff on clearance, including doggie clothes. So, I snatched up some new stuff for my gang at the $2.00 price. Here are the results:

Molly

Shingo

Indiana

Daisy, who is too grumpy for that kind of nonsense!

Jack

2009 Book Reviews

All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's taken me a while to catch up on my reviews. I read this book, shortly after the release date. In my opinion this is the BEST book, so far, in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I love that Eric is playing a major role now (yes, he's my favorite vampire). I like that we get to know the human Eric and some details of his former life. He obviously loves Sookie very much, but SO does Bill. Who will she end up with? This book is a must read for adult vampire fans!!

View all my reviews.

2009 Book Review

Stargazer by Claudia Gray

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
What can I say, I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE this book. Now that Bianca has asserted her independence from her parents, I love her even more. Now to see, if she will decide to feed or not. I can't wait for the next book! Claudia Gray is a fantastic writer. This is a must for lovers of YA vampire fiction!

View all my reviews.

2009 Book Review

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Melissa Marr does a fantastic job on her third book in the faery world. This is the sequel of Wicked Lovely and centers around Seth and Ash. There are several characters from Ink Exchange in there too! Thoroughly loved it, even though it ends in a cliff hanger. Can't wait for the next one!!

View all my reviews.

Mine

Mine is a fantastic new documentary about the rescue and adoption of the thousands of homeless pets resulting from Hurricane Katrina. The documentary is by Geralyn Pezanoski. It basically chronicles the heartwrenching stories of owners who were rescued or evacuated and had to leave their pets behind. It also chronicles the families that either fostered or adopted the animals and what happens, when they want their pets back. You can find more information on Mine at: minethemovie.com

Watch the preview:

Post Trip Recap

Casey and I had a great time on our mini vacation. Wednesday, we just took our time getting down to Atlanta. We stopped and had lunch at the famous Marietta Diner. Casey had the sauteed chicken dish and I had the tri color tortilini with alfredo sauce. Afterwards, we were VERY stuffed. Then, we continued down to Perry, Georgia. Our hotel was about 30 minutes away from Cordele. We spent the rest of the afternoon and night relaxing out by the pool. The hotel was very nice and they had a really nice pool area too. We stayed out by the pool, until nearly 10 p.m.

The next morning, we got up and headed the extra thirty miles down to Cordele, Georgia. We went to visit my dear friend, Linda. We got there mid morning, and I finally got to meet Linda's Rat Terrier, Dixie. Casey had picked out a really cute food bowl to take to Dixie.

It was so cute, and Dixie really liked it.

It was great meeting Linda and her Mom. Linda is SUCH a sweet person, and I love her. We had such a good time! Linda is the one, who drew the beautiful sketch of Indiana.

It was so nice to finally meet in person. Linda and I met on a Rat Terrier forum that she runs called www.lovearat.us We talked and really got to know each other, and I got to know Dixie too. In fact, Dixie and I shared some morning coffee. That's Dixie's thing. She LOVES coffee, so I let her lick my cup after I was done.

We all decided to go out to lunch. We went to this really good Mexican place there in Cordele. We had a nice long lunch and great conversation. Afterwards, we went back to their house and visited more. We finally had to leave and head back to Atlanta. I really enjoyed our visit, and I can't wait to go back on fall break and during Christmas break too!

Me and Linda's Mom, Della:

A shot of us together:

Vacation 2009

Casey and I are on a short vacation this summer. We're not doing anything big, because we've got another cruise booked for next summer. Anyway, we drove down to Georgia today. We're on a way to meet a dear friend, Linda, and her family. We're about to turn in at our hotel. But first, here's how I spent my afternoon:

More from the road tomorrow. Night all.