True Grit Movie Review

**Disclaimer**  When I watch a movie, it's never because of who directed it or who acted in it. I watch stories being played out for me, and it means very little to me who is playing the part or who told them what to do. With that being said, any movie review I write is based on the story I've witnessed and the way it was played out.

I think Young Guns is the only other western I've seen from beginning to end, until today. Young Guns was all right but True Grit was exceptionally entertaining. The story was interesting, the characters were real enough to pull on my heart strings.

True Grit is the story of Mattie Ross, an intelligent and witty fourteen year old, and her search for the man who shot and killed her father. The story begins with Maddy making arrangements for her father's burial and settling some business. Here we learn that she's sharp tongued and quick minded and has little trouble getting what she wants with her persistence and follow through. I loved her. If I could be fourteen in the 19th century, she's the one I'd want to be. When she approaches Rooster Cogburn, the over-weight alcoholic U.S. Marshall, to enlist his help in tracking down Tom Chaney. She wants to see him hanged for the murder of her father. And she means it.
Mattie is opposed by LaBoeuf, a Texas Ranger on the hunt for Chaney because in addition to Mattie's father he also murdered a Texas senator. LaBoeuf believes that Chaney ought to be taken back to Texas for a trial and punishment in Texas; Mattie still wants him punished for murdering her daddy in Arkansas.
Cogburn doesn't want to help Mattie, says he doesn't want to be a babysitter. LaBoeuf does want to help Mattie, but doesn't want her to interfere with his month's of work finding Chaney and taking him back to Texas. And that's how an adventure happens.
This story is kind and thoughtful, but also ruthless and bare. I feel like the reality of the setting, the clothing, the dust, the poor treatment of the indians and the value of a dead body really made the story feel more powerful and the attachment to the characters seem more true.
It didn't make me cry, but it did invoke my emotions. I felt worried about Mattie, and even stupid old Cogburn.

If you've never seen a western in the theater, this is a great start. If you've not seen a western since Young Guns, this movie is a must. I feel prepared now to watch 3:10 to Yuma and the one about Jesse James and the coward Robert Ford or something like that. Go see True Grit. You won't regret it. Best two hours I spent all weekend, I'd say.

Driving on Christmas

It was decided that we needed pizza today. It's unfortunate to want pizza on Christmas; there's nowhere to get it and the grocery store has too many other choices. We ended up at Safeway, looking for pizza when the craving for Chinese food came to us. Safeway Chinese food is good for satisfying the craving but ours had just closed up their deli. Bummer. We then decided that Chinese food was our food to get. We thought for sure that there would be at least one decent Chinese restaurant open. (It happens in the movies.) We were mistaken. We drove around for about an hour trying to find Chinese food or pizza. Jack in the Box ended up messing up our order and we're home now. But that's not the point of this. While we were driving the streets of Salem Oregon - from one end of Lancaster Drive to the other we saw so many weirdo drivers... I made a list.

• Car turns left on red light from Lancaster onto Sunnyview. Granted the oncoming traffic was a bit down the road still, except for the green mini van who had to slow down... Whoa. That was close.
• Another quarter mile slips by, driver puts his head out the driver window to look at me over his shoulder and then proceeds to cut me off. Perhaps he thought eye contact was how drivers ought to signal their intentions. Good thing I have decent reflexes. Another close call.
• During this same incident of lane changing, a white car turns out of a parking lot and takes the car who just cut me off's spot in front of me.
• Driving through downtown there was more of the same mayhem. People were even throwing soda cans out their car windows.
• Another car drove into the oncoming lane for about a block before pulling up next to someone's lawn, whipping back into the street and then settling in on the grass.

 I understand that the holiday means that the police force will be light. But you have to know that the police men and women who are on patrol are probably pretty pissed off and will pull you over for anything and write you a ticket just for making them have to work.
I learned that when we drive on Christmas, we need to be extra mindful of the morons. I can't afford a new car but if I'm not watching for them, I might have to.

HTC HD7 Review

When I first became a cell phone user, I was into the newest phones but when phones got smarter, I stayed away, preferring the newest and greatest in phone devices. I guess I thought they were too complicated and too clunky for what they were. I was into compact, sleek and if it had a slide up screen, I had to have it. Then, I tried a Windows 5.0 device because it looked familiar and had a stylus. Text messaging was becoming a part of my life and this one had a full keyboard. It was all right, for what it was at the time, but now, its almost completely useless. Cell phones have evolved quite a bit in the past 5 years, and my taste in devices has gone with it. After the Windows device, I tried a Blackberry which I loved. I even had one of the very first Android devices on the market and went back to my Blackberry for the love of it. (I never cared to try an iphone because I'm really not an Apple fan, but that's another blog.) There were more to follow, I upgrade yearly. I couldn't bring myself to switch away from the Blackberry simply because it worked right every time I wanted it to, and they make a darn sexy phone these days.
But after years of loving my Blackberry devices, I have finally made a committed switch. I just got my first Windows Phone 7 device - the HTC HD7. And I love it more every time I touch it.
AT&T made a commercial about the Windows Phone 7 device and how it's supposed to be a phone to free you from your phone. That's a load of bull. I can't stop touching it. It's that amazing.


I've never trusted a touch screen phone before, I'm honestly still a little afraid of my Zune and it's touch screen, because I consider myself to be rather twitchy and fidgety and not likely able to press a precise place on a touch screen. But I was willing to give it a shot because this screen is enormous. It's a 4" screen but it looks bigger because of how it sits in the phone. I'm able to touch the screen fairly accurately and there's a great auto correct function in the messaging fields that is also very helpful. The smiley button is convenient, but I don't get to see the smiley's I'm sending. If ever you receive one that isn't polite, I'm sorry. And sometimes, I get a little lag when I turn the screen from portrait to landscape.
Another big gripe that I've heard but am not really suffering from is the lack of copy and paste. I don't care, but if this matters to you please consider yourself warned.


I'm already a Zune user and XBOX gamer so I was glad to see that I can finally integrate these accounts into one device. It also has access to XBOX Live Games and I earned achievements while I was playing the free download of Flowerz. FUN! I almost dropped the phone when I heard the familiar "bleep-bloop" because it happened so suddenly. Speaking of sounds, it works well and sounds great when I play the music through the AUX port in my car stereo. There's a cool sound enhancer app that really livens it up. And if it's running through your car stereo, it automatically turns into a speakerphone that lets you hear your caller through your cars speakers. The speaker on the device itself will allow your caller to hear you. That was fun to learn. You won't, however, be able to download or use a custom ringtone on the phone until they put out an update to fix it, which I'm sure that Microsoft is working on right now. (Right, Microsoft?)
The Windows Marketplace is all right. It's not as huge as Android, and it's lacking a few basics, like a decent e-reader app. I did find a few fun apps, and there's always the basic Facebook, Twitter, Fandango. We also found a Subway app that allows you to order your sandwiches and then go get them. COOL! I didn't try it out, but I might someday. The Netflix app is also cool and it might be exclusive to the HD7. I haven't seen it advertised on any of the other Windows Phone 7 Devices. Please correct me if I'm wrong.


Overall, this phone is amazing. I'm not too challenged by the touch screen and it's really fun to use. It's also simple, like the Windows 7 Operating System. The phone is sleek and comfortable, but big enough to make watching movies and browsing the internet comfortable. I don't have a rating scale, but I do have to say that it's better than a Blackberry but still not quite an Android. (I know that the Android device is superior in its diversity, but the frequency of the updates, and the lack of functionality between them turns me off completely.)

Why I Love the Twilight Saga

Ha! That's right, I said it. I love the Twilight Saga, but not for the same reason that the teenager girls do. In fact, they're part of what I love about the series.

I read an article while I was on my after work Twitter clicking called If 'New Moon' Was 10 Times Shorter and 100 Times More Honest. It was hilarious. It basically broke down New Moon to its most basic ideas and used the actors names instead of the characters. So Kristen and Robert talk to each other as if they were the actors, not the characters. He refers to her as having "dull angst". She basically calls him a creepy old pervert when he asks her to marry him. And it's because of articles like that one that I love Twilight. They remind me that it's okay to appreciate the series, as long as I remember how ridiculous it is. And I like the idea of day walking vampires.

I love the wretchedness of Bella Swan and the horrendously overbearing Edward Cullen. They're perfect for each other. They swoon and fawn and gross me out all day long. I wish that it wasn't such a devestating thing for the teenage girls to find out that real love, and real men, aren't really like that, and most women are damn glad about it too. Real love is easier than constant attention, and it's more rewarding than being dead together forever. When I read the books, I had to keep telling myself that they were 30, not 17 and 109 years old, so that I could turn the page. I didn't like Romeo and Juliet because they were only 14. Regardless of the era, I think that there's just no way that you know that you're willing to die for someone when you're 14, unless they're one of your siblings or parents. I mean really. What if you're wrong and this magical, wonderful person isn't worth dying for? Do you have any idea how pissed your parents are going to be? I think that people need to experience life and get to know themselves before they make any kind of commitment to another person, but maybe that's just my backwards thinking in action. (It's my blog, I can say what I want.)

The way that the world revolves around Bella and Edward is funny to me as well. It's like they live in this bubble of blind people. Obviously, there is something wrong with Edward and the rest of his family. If the kids are all adopted, why are their eyes the exact same color? I have a sister with blue eyes, one with brown and a brother with brown. My eyes are brown. We're related by blood and we have different eye colors. These vampires are related by blood too, but they're supposed to be adopted by the Cullens, not inbred weirdos. And they're ghastly pale, sickly looking. Edward looked particularly ghoulish as he stepped out of the dark alley in Volterra too. There are poodles and little old ladies wishing that they could find whatever whiteners the Cullens use on their skin.

I feel bad for Stephenie Meyer's husband too. He's got a wife with an image of "the perfect man" that is nowhere near what any real man could be. I hope he doesn't try to measure up, or that if he does, that it isn't killing him. It must be exhausting to always have to profess your undying love to someone. He's like a pull string doll. Pull the string: Bella I love you. Pull the string: Bella, Marry me. Pull the string: I love you forever. If Edward was smart, he'd realize that Bella is just lucky to be there and doesn't need to be fawned over all the time. Shoot, they'd probably have an even better time with each other if they weren't always wrapped up in some talk about loving each other forever and making her a vampire. I don't know how she can stand it. No man can be that attentive, and its a good thing too. I hope that this isn't how the teenagers think that a man is supposed to act. I'd be so annoyed if my every move was monitored, watched, coddled or otherwise controlled. The part when Edward took the distributor coil out of Bella's truck to stop her from going to the reservation to see the stupid werewolf (don't get me started on my hatred of the werewolf. Pansy.)would have made me so angry, I wouldn't have spoken to him for days. I'm so glad that I don't have an Edward. I will give him credit for his thoughtfulness though, but he's too thoughtful most of the time.

Well, that seemed more like a rant than a profession of love, but I do have to say that I like the books; the story is nice if you remind yourself that their not teenagers. And I look all over the internet for funny articles about the series. I found another good one at theoatmeal.com. Enjoy!

Practice Procrastinating

I'm supposed to be practicing for the job interview I have on Wednesday morning. I've got to put on a presentation that will last for 15 minutes. The work is done; the power point is spectacular and the speech is nice and engaging. I just can't get myself to practice it all the way through for some reason. I stop as I'm going to look at something else and then I pick up and go back to it. This time, I stopped because I wanted to add a black slide for the pause. I need to learn it all. I'm afraid I'm going to end up knowing the first three slides really, really well but I won't know the last half at all.
And how on earth am I supposed to concentrate on practicing the speech when there are so many more exciting things to do? Is this a sign that my speech is boring? Or is it because I am too stressed out about the prospect of failing that I can't bring myself to prepare? UGH! Why are life goals always so darn hard to achieve? Not to say that being a trainer for a cell phone company's customer care is what I always wanted to be, but it is close - I'll get to teach someone something important. And in a small way I get to leave my mark on the world. It brings me a lot of satisfaction. I'd love for it to be my real job. But here I am ticking away at my keyboard, rambling about not being prepared and procrastinating… totally defeating my own purpose.
I guess I'll get back to it. My fingers just needed a stretch. Now, I will FOCUS and get my presenting on.