Geek Peek Seeks Tweak: Go Get Those Goggles, Cowboy

We all know that things aren't always what they seem.  For instance, lots of people think that guys who wear glasses have more brains than brawn.  But this sticker from Tools Plus that arrived with the husband's new sander or whatever suggests otherwise.  He saved it for me because he knew I'd like it.  And I do!  The bespectacled mop top of a cartoon man seems to be saying, I don't always sit around reading Lord of the Rings; I can work a power saw better than the more manly Property Brother.  Just don't tell my mom.   

I too received a mailbox surprise associated with eyewear.  A pair of children's sunglasses!  Now, I didn't know they were for children.  I ordered them from Zulily without questioning that small, heart-shaped sunnies with tiny pineapples printed on the back would be intended for anyone older than ten.  

But once I realized that they wouldn't fit on my face, I decided to wear them around my neck -- as a necklace!  Yes, some wire and rainbow beads later I had a one-of-a-kind accessory that looked as if it'd come from a claw machine or -- where else? -- a Jersey shore tee shirt shack. 

Because like those beloved '80s toys-turned-Michael-Bay-movie-mascots known as Transformers, anything has the power to become something else.  And -- yes -- be more than meets the eye.  

Well, except for gauchos -- the pants, not the South American cowboys.  

Those will always be awful.

Little Lion Lady

Each spring brings that great, age-old debate: are dandelions flowers or weeds?  Now, if you've been reading this blog for awhile, then you know where I stand on this.  Dandelions are firmly flowers.  Consider the evidence.  They're yellow and cheerful and look like small suns.  They pop up their heads at that pivotal time as the world's shedding its winter coat.  Finally, and perhaps most convincing of all, they're plant Transformers.  Just when you think that they're at death's door, they swap their golden petals for cotton candy crowns.  True, people aren't bringing bouquets of dandelions to dinner or wearing dandelion corsages to prom.  But there are few things sweeter than a little kid offering one up as if bequeathing a diamond.  

That's why the dandelion, or as I like to call her, the little lion lady, reigns supreme in my heart -- and on my lawn.  

She may have a name that sounds like Mumford and Sons.  But her roar is all Katy Perry.

Movie Moment: Captain America: The First Avenger

Before I get started here, I should say that Blogger appears to have run amuck again, having shunted my Etsy mini, followers, profile, listing, and archive widgets from their proper place on the lefthand side of the screen to the bottom of the screen. This happened once before. I think it eventually fixed itself, but this time I want to check out a couple of quick-fix sites I've bookmarked to see if I can't get a handle on it.

Now, on to the movie.

When I first heard about Marvel's Captain America feature, I instantly visualized Captain Planet, that green-haired, gray-skinned, musclebound recycling crusader of the mid-1990s. Why I confused some comic book hero wannabe with one of the classic Avengers I'll never know. Imagine my surprise when I spotted a star-spangled Chris Evans on the poster in the theater lobby!

Captain America, as it turns out, is about World War II and ninety-pound weakling Steve Rogers's (Chris Evans) burning need to enlist. But his small stature and laundry list of health issues get him rejected time and again, regardless of the many hometowns he claims. Then a kindly army doctor (Stanley Tucci) overhears him explaining his plight to his best friend, who just happens to be a strapping solider, and bends the rules to put him in uniform. Yet as with all stories of struggle, Steve's problems have only begun. He endures boot camp, the derision of his fellow soldiers, and the head-shaking doubt of the colonel (Tommy Lee Jones). Still, Officer Atwell, a.k.a. pretty Peggy, has taken a shine to his underdog determination and diamond-in-the-rough chivalry. Then the good doctor hurls a grenade onto the practice field, sending all the soldiers scattering save the intrepid Steve. It's this act of courage that finally earns him the respect of the colonel and the coveted spot as the guinea pig in a top-secret experiment headed up by none other than Iron Man's dad, weapons engineer Howard Stark.

After receiving the usual injections and electrodes and whatnot that figure in the plots of comic book adaptations, Steve emerges as a tall, muscular hunk of man worthy of Peggy's affections and the army's toughest assignments - the first of which turns out to be dancing around in a red, white, and blue suit with a troupe of chorus girls in an effort to hawk war bonds. Again, Steve suffers through adversity in true Marvel coming-of-age fashion until a chance opportunity at greatness propels him to hero status, launching the story into the blazing-gun, bomb-bursting territory of which boys young and old are so fond.

As always, this (the violence, that is) is where I began to zone out. I do remember a rather creepy villain in the image of a red devil. And something about Peggy promising to teach Steve how to dance. Then, just as I was in danger of nodding off, the story segued into a surprise ending starring Samuel L. Jackson and whispering, "Sequel!"

I probably have no business weighing in on movies that I didn't pick and aren't my cup of tea. But Captain America isn't bad as such films go, and the (gentle) 3D effects didn't make me sick, unlike the rollicking roller coaster ride that was Transformers. The bf was somewhat indifferent, also having had no prior knowledge of the original story. Still, a movie is a movie, and a good time was had by all.

Movie Moment: X-Men: First Class

I've been watching a lot of movies lately.

The most recent was X-Men: First Class. I wasn't too keen on seeing it. It was the bf's pick, and while I enjoy the occasional Marvel movie adaptation, I'm more of a Spider-Man kind of girl. Nevertheless, I'd seen all of the other X-Men installments, so it was kind of interesting to find out how some of the mutants came to be who they are through the lens of this 1960s-era prequel. For example, the smoldering go-to-hell Mystique (in this version Jennifer Lawrence) was once a scared little girl hiding her blue scales and red hair. Beast (Nicholas Hoult) was a glasses-wearing nerd, and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) began on the side of the mutants before killing his mentor (a menacing Kevin Bacon) and crossing over to the dark side. All that and we find out how Xavier (James McAvoy) becomes wheelchair-bound, too. Despite the convoluted, somewhat drawn-out plot, these kernels of information provided the kind of human interest necessary to keep my interest in a movie barraged by explosions and guns. The 1960s fashions helped, too. At least I didn't fall asleep like I did during Transformers 2 at the IMAX a few years back. With Transformers 3 out in theaters, I may want to stock up on Coca-Cola . . .

Movie Moment: Avatar

The bf and I went to see Avatar this Saturday. Let me begin by saying that this isn't my kind of movie. I like romantic comedies, stupid comedies, dramas, and indie flicks. Basically, everything but sci-fi and action (well, and horror and courtroom dramas). So, I was expecting to fall asleep, as I did during Star Trek, Transformers, and Terminator: Salvation. But I didn't. My interest was held, I think, by the gorgeous colors of the mythical planet of Pandora as well as by the storyline. In a nutshell, a paraplegic ex-marine is chosen to learn about the denizens of Pandora by walking among them as a clone. As part of the Avatar program, his objective is to earn their trust so he can convince them to give up their sacred tree so that the humans can harvest some resource for profit. But he ends up falling in love with their leader's daughter, and as a result ends up identifying more with her people than his own. As you may predict, craziness ensues, ending in a series of somewhat gratuitous battle scenes. Interestingly enough, the bf didn't like the movie as much as he expected because he thought there would be more fighting. I, on the other hand, found it kind of enjoyable (again, high praise from me for this genre) for precisely the same reason. And therein lies one of the fundamental differences between men and women. Also true to form, I needed the bf to explain some of the technical and plot-related points afterwards. As someone most comfortable with character-driven tales, both on screen and in print, this was nothing out of the ordinary.