Master Bedroom

I'd be lying if I didn't say that this room is my absolute favorite in the house. Like I mentioned in the last post, I've struggled a lot with where to put things (decor wise) from the last house and fit them into this new space, but this room I had vision for which made things very easy. The bed still has my heart (thank you, Ikea and the person who sold it to me second hand for $100) and the bedding remains the same. In fact, there's nothing new except one mirror. Everything else is jumbled bits from the last house, so if you've been reading for a while you should recognize pieces from past posts. I stalked this mirror at HomeSense for a week or so and watched as the red ticket got lower and lower. Finally settled at $26 and brought it home with me. Sharing a bathroom with 4 others means I had to move out "my crap". So using an old plant stand table that my Great Grandfather made, I created a place for me to get ready. Or accessorized. Even though it amplifies my vanity, this sign was a gift years ago from my Aunt & Uncle. Sarah means Princess, so I'm not, like, completely vain. It has meaning. You may remember this window from a previous post, but this window came out of a 100 year old home that my sister and her family moved into last year. I adore it. I know several people love weird pieces like this but aren't always sure how to hang them. These are the answer! Crochet heart garland by SophieBean. So yeah, that's it! I'll be back hopefully soon with more! Thanks for stopping by!

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Last year, it was reported that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie is in the works. So much to consider here. First, there's the punchline of Hollywood endlessly, butterfingeredly remaking things. In-name-only remakes that capitalize on fuzzy memories and brand recognition, while actively tossing out any element from the original that was good. Updated to current times, attitude, dim-witted humor. Other better movies, sitcoms, comic books, toys, anything the public is pre-comfortable with is lumber for the Hollywood remake factory. In recent memory, there was the abomination of the Owen Wilson / Eddie Murphy I Spy, a movie so stupid that I can't remember anything but a dull ache and then the lights of the emergency room. There was the movie no one was asking for, Get Smart, a flat mediocrity elevated slightly by the good sportsmanship of Steve Carell. And there is the other end of the spectrum, franchise relaunches that aim to de-cheese the source material, adding layers of grim mythology and violence, and don't you dare leave out the plodding origin arcs! Endless first-appearance-of, how-they-met, et cetera. Sometimes it works, like Batman Begins and Casino Royale, but mostly it's a chore, like Tron: Legacy. And there is the Steven Soderbergh factor. Attached to direct U.N.C.L.E, Soderbergh has a light and stylized touch that might be the perfect match. It was also revealed that TMFU will be a period piece that takes the concept back to the first-season roots, where the plots were a little less Adam West-era Batman Camp. (Nothing wrong with Bat Camp)...

Of the few details we know, the 1960s setting is the fact that is most interesting, and heartening for me and I imagine many fans of the show. You just can't do the same kind of spying in the iPhone era, and we don't need another series about terrorism. Bring on the tape recorders and the microfilm, the cold war (by proxy through Thrush) was good enough for Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, and it's good enough for me. Something I feel neutral about is the rumored casting of Soderbergh go-to George Clooney, who is overcast and brings an unwavering Clooneyness to his rolls. He's a genuine star but he's never not Clooney, and he might be a decade too old for the role of Napoleon Solo. As much as I hate to say that, as I'm not a fan of casting only with 24-year-olds, it's true. I wonder if George Clooney and Bradd Pitt were a way to get the studio to sign off on the period aspect. If that was the trade, I'll guess I'll take it. But who else could pull it off? Jon Hamm and Chris Pine? That was my first thought. Jon's a decade fresher than Clooney. He might not want to put another period project on his resume, but I'm sure he'd like a starring feature. Chris has the youthy appeal, proven capable in that Trek relaunch. Anyway, it would be a treat if a Man From U.N.C.L.E. flick came out and it was halfway good and not marketed to "the kids" and by kids I mean dumb action movie consumers under the age of 30 who don't remember this show. There's not a big track record for movies of this type working well. I just hope that choppy extreme action is not featured, and a 60s directorial style is used.

In the Darkest Night

Kel Andrews has spent the last year living with nightmares and flashbacks. Unwilling to share what happened, he's withdrawn from his family and the Gineal council has removed him from his position as a troubleshooter. But when a woman shows up asking for protection from a demon, Kel reluctantly agrees to help and finds himself facing an unexpected adversary, one he doesn't know how to fight. My Review: I was disappointed in this book after liking The Power of Two, by this author. This book is forgettable. I read this, what, last month? And already. Patches in my memory. That means it wasn't that outstanding. I never know how to proceed with these types of books. Didn't hate it. Didn't love it. It was okay, the parts that I recall. Even then I don't want to say it was okay, because that might imply that I kind of liked the book. I could read it, I suppose. It didn't hurt too much to finish it, but I would never read it again nor would I recommend this book to other people. This book contained lists, and I am starting to hate lists. You know the kind. The whole big check list of qualities you like in a stranger you just met. "Good, she's got boobs and a va-jay-jay, she'll do. Even if she acts like a 12-year-old boy with a disciplinary problem." Of course the "good qualities" aren't even that. It's usually feistiness and/or stubbornness (and the ability to not show emotion and "remain calm" or as I like to call it be unstable or a creepy psycho). Oh, and straight men apparently like husky voices. Man voices. "You sound like a man when we're in the dark together, baby!". Wouldn't recommend this book. But I, personally, will try to read other books by this author since I did like her work before (this book).

Book Review - My Forbidden Desire

The My Series, Book 2 via Carolyn Jewel. Title: My Forbidden Desire. Author: Carolyn Jewel. Genre: Paranormal Romance. Distributer: Forever (June 1, 2009). Portrayal: Torn Between. Alexandrine Marit is a witch in mortal peril. An insidiousness mage desires the effective, recondite talisman that supplies her enchantment, and the main individual who can keep her alive is a dull and unsafe monster called Xia. With his furious ill will to witches, he's barely the perfect bodyguard. Yet as days transform into nights, she can't deny the white-hot ardor between them. Longing and Temptation: Xia detests witches. They oppress and hardheartedly murder his kind. At the same time he's been requested to secure Alexandrine, who, amazingly, has a soul he respects and a body he aches to have. With the mage and his colleagues shutting in, Alexandrine and her defender must believe the enthusiasm that can unite them. On the other hand danger losing everything to the adversaries who can wreck them both. My Review: Meh. I truly don't have any enormous grievances or compliments for this book. I sort of wish I could simply essentially state my emotions in one sentence and be carried out. I even had some difficulty concocting a few lines for my Goodreads audits. I'll attempt to say one thing I like and one I didn't! That being said, generally speaking, the book was not so much remarkable.

I sensed that I could be perusing any average book by any less than impressive very impressive essayist. I simply wasn't blown away. What pulled in me to the book was the story. I can just like an adoration story that begins with some compelling abhorrence going on. Notwithstanding, I sort of like more stuggle when a character concedes attarction to somebody they thought they couldn't ever like, even a little bit. However he really despises her. I think I didn't prefer how rapidly Xia got over his disdain an individual he connected with the most exceedingly terrible time of his life, somebody he needed to kill. What I truly didn't love about the book was the movement between the two characters, I am almost certain the two mains "became hopelessly enamored" inside three days. I like myself some unreasonable sentiment, yet not that far out. I truly can't wrap my head around it. I never truly developed to like or think about poor people, poor and quite pitiful principle characters. Terrible stuff befell them and after that should feel frustrated about them, or something. Rating: 3/5. I would propose this book to PNR addicts. On the other hand aficionados of the creator. I would recommend getting this from the library (or utilized) in the event that you ridiculously need to peruse this.

The Advantages of Operational Leasing

The advantages of this type of long term leasing consist of the fact that the payments are deductible, representing 100% financing and not 70% like in the case of financial leasing, the tax payment is performed by the supplier, the implicit cost is lower, the warranties are settled and, longer the renting period is, lower the final acquisition price is. As you may notice from these few listed advantages, the operational leasing is a simple and convenient alternative both to long term leasing and to car purchasing. A famous rent-a-car company is also Touring Rent Auto with car rental Romania that supplies a large variety of services, that also include this possibility of operational leasing. The offered cars are Dacia Logan sedan or station wagon as well as minibuses, motor coaches or bantam cars (SUV, 4x4), so that you can choose something that is the most suitable for your field of activity that needs a car.

American Exceptionalism & Pop culture Sentimentality

There - I’m not even going to write the post. It just writes itself from the title. Having said that, I am recently divorced, off my meds, living in a ditched camper shell next to a trailer home in a rural area, I am unemployed & without health insurance, sponging off of my elderly parents (oh, sorry, did I say that out loud? I meant to say “helping out my etc”), and I listen to this song and sing and scream and laugh and cry almost every day. I have no stance on this. Just offering it up for you to deconstruct at will (although there’s a merry little discussion to be had on how it’s easier in America for a single/divorced white male to be poor than for just about anybody else, but I’m not gonna go there right now thanks).

Book Review - Lily

McDade Cycle, Book 1 by Cindy Bonner. Title: Lily. Author: Cindy Bonner. Genre: Historical Romance. Hardcover: 350 pages. Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill; 1st Edition (October 1992). Description (taken from News-Bite): Loosely based on historical events and possessing a simple, frontier-legend plot-farmer's daughter and dashing outlaw fall for each other-this sensitive, winning western a la Larry McMurtry might easily attract fans outside its genre. The year is 1883. The town is McDade, Tex. Narrator Lily Delony, 15, can't stop thinking about 18-year-old Marion Beatty, kid brother of three notorious ruffians known as "the Beatty gang." Marion begs Lily, "Don't judge me by them over there" - meaning his robbing, murdering siblings - and she trusts him, risking her reputation to sneak out with him at night. When McDade's citizens organize a posse to rid themselves once and for all of the Beatty gang, Lily is torn between loyalty to her respectable family and love for her gun-totin' Romeo. First novelist Bonner credibly conveys her heroine's sincerity, bravery and naivete as well as rugged Marion's charming-yet-dangerous persona. Even readers who ordinarily shun shoot-'em-up, rough-and-ready novels will sympathize with the lovers and become caught up in this exciting story. My Review: I read a lot of western-y books back in the day. Little me enjoyed reading about my country's history. Something about early Americans trying to survive hard weather, trying to get by without much, is very fascinating.

I believe that the thing I liked most about the book was the setting descriptions. Not that there were tons, I credit my imagination. I have a set of brain pics that pop up when the book is about "the west," etc. Anyway, I like books with cowboys and farmers. So, I was kind of hoping I would like this better than I did. I was tolerant of the first 50 pages or so, but I started to get annoyed when the only development between Marion and Lily was that Lily was finding out that she really did not know her lover-boy all that well. The thing I hated the most, and it is magnified by the fact that I read a review about the second book in the series, is that Marion is a big ol' d-bag. I hate him. He is a liar. A drunk. A gambler. A thief. A rapist (okay, maybe he's only a semi-rapist). And probably a killer too. I was so frustrated at how Lily easily believed that she was in love with Marion. The second book (spoiler) tells how Lily lives with and sorta-kinda-maybe falls for Marion's brother, who turns out to be a decent, loving and caring provider to Lily and her spawn of Satan... um, I mean Marion's kid. And still she goes back to her jerk-wad man in the end. (end spoiler) I couldn't really think about finishing the book after I learned that. I asked myself, "Why bother?". Rating: Did not finish. Side Note: The reason I put the ya in parenthesis is because this book wasn't initially aimed towards young adults... I am basing this assumption on the fact that the old covers look like romance covers for adult books. So I could be wrong. I recommend this book to people who like their boys very bad, and who like old west-y type books.