Today ...

....it is raining. I love rain.

Why don't I watch Boston Legal anymore ....

....I was flipping through channels the other night when it was on and it was the Season Finale....I came in when the character Alan Shore, played brilliantly by James Spader was delivering his closing arguments and as usual it was a fantastic bit of writing and an even better delivery of the lines. The friendship between Spader's character and one of the other leads, Denny Crane, also played brilliantly by William Shatner is totally worth watching.

So, that is now on my summer viewing list, all seasons of Boston Legal. I watched at least Season 1 and maybe Season 2, but somewhere I dropped it and have only seen an episode here and there. I want to get up to date on it so it can be a permanent edition to my TV viewing schedule in the fall.

Do you watch it ?

Another movie review....

I'm in some kind of movie frenzy apparently....yesterday I went with Courtney to see :

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Starring : Peter Dinklage, Anna Popplewell, Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes

Synopsis : One year later, the Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway wondrous realm, only to discover that more than 1,300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has become extinct and Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines and is now under the control of the evil King Miraz, who rules the land without mercy. The four children will soon meet a curious new character: Narnia's rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding, as his uncle Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn son on the throne. With the help of the kindly dwarf, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, a badger named Trufflehunter and a Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, the Narnians--led by the mighty knights Peter and Caspian--embark on a remarkable journey to find Aslan, rescue Narnia from Miraz's tyrannical hold, and restore magic and glory to the land.

My Review : Well, really, what can you say about movies like this....it was fantastic. I definitely give it 5 out of 5 stars. The story was fantastic and the special effects and cinematography were amazing.

Go see it.

Thanks !

Thanks to everyone who voted for my Woot Shirt...I thought it was cool and had a chance but alas it came in at 246th ! But there were over 1000 entries so I think that is still somewhat decent.

Enjoy your long weekend, if you get one !

1. What were some of the tastes of your childhood?

Homemade ice cream, apple pie, cinnamon sugar donuts with butter, biscuits with syrup butter

2. What did you have as a child that you do not think children today have?

Some freedoms.....I don't think kids get to play and explore the way I did as a kid because we can't let them out of our sight as freely.

3. What elementary grade was your favorite?

Hmmmmm....5th I guess. Mr. Cleveland. He was a great teacher. Plus, we played free-throw basketball after school which I was pretty good at. I sang in a school program, and participated in a mock presidential election that was pretty cool.

4. What summer do you remember the best as a child?

I think all of my summers were pretty fun. We went to Daytona Beach every year and Disney World. Spent them with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins, Tom and Joey. Always fun and always full of stories we could talk about later.

5. What one piece of advice would you give to your younger self, and at what age?

Don't try to grow up so fast. Enjoy it, make friends, don't let anyone hold you back from what you love and what you want to do. Play. Have a dream. And, I'd tell myself this at whatever point I'd actually listen.

So, yeah, this is new for Friday's. And, guess what ? Not ONE single person has left a comment on ANY blog I have written in the month of May. Why don't you try this one ? The questions, by themselves are over in the comments. Click below to get there. Copy them and answer them over in the comments or in your own blog if you have one. Come on, it's fun.

Midnight Movie Night ?

OK, so sometimes when a BIG movie comes out we like to go see the midnight showing the day it is released. We had decided to do that for Indiana Jones so we went last night, or rather really early this morning. I went with Courtney, Mandy and Brian.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Starring : Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent, and Shia LaBeouf

Synopsis : Famed archaeologist/adventurer Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones is called back into action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.

My Review : I thought it was really good, even though I am exhausted today. I would definitely give it 4 out of 5 stars. Harrison Ford did a good job and looked fantastic. Of course, most of the big dramatic stunts were done by Shia LaBeouf but Indy's still got it. The story was good, but I wasn't as thrilled with the ending as I wanted to be.....let's just say I watched a documentary earlier in the week about the Crystal Skulls, which are real by the way, and the documentary was NOT on the Discovery channel but rather the SciFi channel. Overall, glad I saw it, but this really probably does need to be the last one. I think the 'National Treasure' series has taken over this genre of movie for me.

Tomorrow : TV Show Season Finales - Part 1

Birthday Weekend Update

So, it has been a few days since my birthday weekend....and wanted to give everyone an update. First of all, it was fantabulous, really, it was a blast. My friend Courtney and I have birthdays one day apart....so we made it a joint birthday weekend since we share a lot of friends.

Friday [May 16th] - No Frills Grill - of course, where else ! We were joined by several friends including for Courtney; work friends, Tim, Tea (I know I spelled that wrong), Letty and girlfriend Dina. For me, Charles, my cousin Tom and boyfriend, Kurt. We played trivia and had a blast. Of course, the highlight for me was having my cousin there who has been out of pocket for awhile, it was great seeing him and it made the day for me.

Saturday [May 17th] - Joe's Crab Shack - My sister, niece and nephew came in this day in the early afternoon and we spent the afternoon running errands. For my birthday they took me to lunch and then gave me a card with $20 in iTunes gift cards....and a framed pic of my favorite piece of artwork from Mason. They bought me some hanging plants for my balcony which are a very pretty addition to my patio. We went to dinner that night at Joe's Crab Shack, where we also met some friends of Courtney's for her 30th birthday dinner. We had a great time.

Sunday [May 18th] - Putt-Putt - I bought breakfast for JoLynn, the kids and I....Burger King, woo hoo ! They had a good playground. We were going to go to the zoo on Sunday, but with all the running around we did on Saturday and the heat - we decided to go play putt-putt and video games instead (I'm 40+2 now so I can't do it all anymore) It was me, Courtney, JoLynn, Mason and Morgan and we had lots of fun. With my birthday luck, I managed to beat them, but it was pretty close all around.

As you can tell, the weekend was full of fun , family and friends, just the way I like it !! No movie last Sunday night, but there will be a MIDNIGHT movie tonight with details tomorrow.

Sunday Movie Night : Made of Honor

So, a little late in getting this posted but Sunday before last was our 2nd Sunday night movie night. I went with Courtney and Mandy....to see :

Made of Honor

Starring : Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd,

Synopsis : Made of Honor revolves around Tom (Patrick Dempsey) and Hannah (Michelle Monaghan), who have been platonic friends for 10 years. He's a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn't found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is starting to think that he is relationship material after all, Hannah gets engaged. When she asks Tom to be her "maid" of honor, he reluctantly agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and woo her.

My Review : I liked it, I give it 4 out of 5 stars. There were a lot of funny parts in it and it kept me entertained for the entire time. I did think there were some predictable parts, but aren't there always in romantic comedies ? One thing that was oddly impressive was at the beginning in the scenes of Patrick Dempsey when his character was in college, they made him look soooo young, I mean it really was amazing.

Midnight Movie review this week - check back on Thursday.

VOTE for me !!!

There is a website that sells a different t-shirt every day, called Woot Shirt....each week they have a "derby" with a theme where people can submit entries.....members vote and the top three designs get sold on the site over Friday thru Sunday.

I have submitted my first design ever to the this weeks contest. In order to vote, all you have to do it register for a free account and say, I'd want one ! - this does not obligate you to buy one in any way and these guys do not send out spam mail.

If you are so inclined, please click the link below to view my design, register for a free account and vote for it, so I can have a chance to win this week's derby !!

http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=16162

Thank you in advance.

EDITED TO ADD : Apparently, you can't VOTE unless you have bought something on WOOT before, so if you have, please vote, if not, thank you for looking anyway !!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME !!

School's Out ... and some other news !

::wipes brow::

Another semester behind me, yay. I'm really fine with the slowly but surely approach to my educational goals; so, each semester is an accomplishment. Looking back, I think this one will conclude with two B's which is just fine by me. Now, moving forward, hmmmm......a year off I think, more on that news to come. Ah, the suspense.

So, my niece and nephew get out of school on May 30th and I know they are looking forward to summer. My niece will be going into the 4th grade next year, I can't believe she will be 10 in the fall, they grow up so fast. My nephew will be starting middle school. He has been in the gifted and talented program in elementary school since the 3rd grade and just found out for middle school that he will be in AP Math, AP Science and AP English - the AP stands for Advanced Placement. I am very proud of him and he is very excited.

Last bit of news, I am super excited that my brother is making the trip to Texas and will arrive here on May 30th...he is mainly coming to see my niece's dance recital but will of course be staying with me a couple days and in Abilene a couple of days. He hasn't been here in awhile so we are all looking forward to having him to ourselves for a few days.

I did have a Sunday Movie night this past weekend and will give you the scoop on that tomorrow. Until then, later.

Sunday Movie Night : Iron Man

So, awhile back I said I was going to start this new tradition of going to the movies on Saturday mornings, it got me up and moving and it was never really crowded. Well, I did that for awhile and then things kept getting in the way; school, trips to Abilene, work, sleep, etc. So, now I have a new plan, Sunday Movie Night.....this is better because I work on Sundays so I am always here and can easily head out to a movie after work.

Last night, was the first newly agreed upon movie night. So, I went with Courtney, Mandy, Brian, Zachary, and Mandy's parents....to see :

Iron Man

Starring : Robert Downey, Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges

Synopsis : Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the CEO of Stark Industries which produces advance weapon systems for the U.S. military. Tony's father started the company after WWII, and after his death Tony inherited the company, worth billions. Tony lives the life as a hard drinking, rich playboy ladies man, but he is also a genius who has invented many high-tech items for the company. Tony flies to Afghanistan to demonstrate a new weapons test to the United States Air Force. On his way back to his plane, his convoy is attacked by terrorists, and Tony is wounded by a Stark Industries missile. Tony is captured and held hostage in a cave with Yinsen, a doctor who saves his life.

Needless to say, he is not impressed with how his weapons are being used and the story continues, don't want to give any more away.

My Review : I thought it was awesome, definitely, 5 out of 5 stars. Robert Downey Jr. did a fantastic job and the special effects were drool-worthy. If you are into live action comic book hero transformation, go see it....maybe twice. And, a small tip, stay all the way to the very end of the credits and you will get a little bonus scene, definitely worth the wait.

Another Sunday Night Movie review next week.

Tag !

I was talking to my friend, Charles, on the phone last night and we were discussing upcoming movies for the rest of the summer. I was looking up release dates on imdb for Dark Knight, which is the new Batman movie coming out in July, when I saw something funny.

On the page it gives all kinds of info on the movie, release date, director, writers, etc. It also lists "tags" for the movie, which basically are keywords that categorize the movie. So, for the new we have LOTS of tags but these are the first 5 that show on the main page :

Violence - Heavy Rubber - Gangster - Gadget Car - Gangster Boss

Then I went to the last movie, Batman Begins, because we were comparing actors/characters from both movies and I noticed the first 5 tags for it :

Haunted By Past - Monorail - Cave - Nipples Visible Through Clothing - Taser

How hilarious is that ? You should check out some of your favorite movies, some of the tags are hilarious.

Do you Woot ?

So, several months ago my brother introduced me to this website called Woot....basically, they sell something new on the site everyday. The item is posted at midnight, and they sell it until they run out. Some things are really good awesome deals, some things are OK and some are just things you probably wouldn't buy on-line.

In addition, they have something called the shirt woot....basically this is a daily t-shirt design. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday the shirts are 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, from a themed contest they ran the previous week. The shirts are also sold until they run out, I think they do 1000 a day. They are $10 with free standard shipping + tax. I started ordering shirts for my nephew once I determined he can wear a men's small. I'm going to try one for my niece in the smallest women's size once I see a good design for her.

Anyway, both sites are really kinda neat, you should check them out. Now that I've explained it on my blog, you'll probably see me blog when I buy something.

Here are the links :

http://www.woot.com/

http://shirt.woot.com/

Oh, and I bought today's woot, a DVD recorder for only $59.99 - great deal.

By the way.....

.....in regards to the cat. I know my birthday is coming up and everything, but please, no one get me a cat as a present. If I decide to get one, I have to be ready, pet deposits, etc. and I also think pets are kinda personal and you have to pick one out yourself, not get one as a gift. So, please no LIVE presents for my birthday.

Should I get a cat ?

I go back and forth. I am not going to get a dog because personally I don't think it is fair to have a dog in an apartment and I think it would be too noisy with me working at home.

But, a cat, is fairly low maintenance.

Give me some pros and cons. Here are mine :

Tracy, You are not ______. I love you !

Why does that make me feel all warm and fuzzy when I answer the phone and one of the sales reps immediately says that to me ?? I don't know. It just does.

Sorry, ______.

OK - this was fun

There is this website that basically is a slogan generator. You can put in your name or maybe you have a catch word or nickname you use. Here are a few of the slogans it generated for me that I loved :

• Because Tracy is Complicated Enough.
• All Tracy, All The Time.
• Got Tracy?
• I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Tracy.
• When You've Got Tracy, Flaunt It.
• All You Need is a Tracy and a Dream.
• Got a Tracy? You're in Luck.
• Tracy: The Other White Meat. [lol]
• I'm Cuckoo For Tracy.

and the best one....

Lipsmackin' Thirstquenchin' Acetastin' Motivatin' Goodbuzzin' Cooltalkin' Highwalkin' Fastlivin' Evergivin' Coolfizzin' Tracy.

Go generate your own slogans......[warning some may be a little R-rated with your name in them]

The Advertising Slogan Generator

Have fun !

Quit your bitching and moaning......

...it's a credit card machine.

"Can you make the font bigger?"

"Can you put another space between the state and zipcode?"

"Can you stretch the letters out so they are easier to read?"

"Can you make the tip line longer?"

"Can you add our webpage address?"

"Can you make the total bigger and add more space for the signature?"

Just run the DAMN credit card, get an approval, have the customer sign it and wait for your money - it doesn't have to look beautiful. You and the customer are going to look at it for a lump total of about 60 seconds.....sheesh.

Have a nice day.

Headline of the Day and more

No, this is not going to become a daily feature of my blog. Sometimes when I am working there is a lull between calls so I check on the internet for today's happenings. I saw this headline today on Yahoo! News and just had to post it.

Research: Vitamins may increase risk of death

I don't know why, it just made me laugh. Do a search in your favorite news engine and check out the articles on this new research.

So, last night was a new episode of my show Criminal Minds....love that show. It was awesome. I'm not going to do a recap here this week but I can't say it enough. If you have never seen this show - go rent Seasons 1 and 2 this summer and 3 when it comes out and start watching it next year. It is a great show.

Every week, after the show, there is an amazing fansite that does an on-line chat. They arrange to have the WRITER for that night's episode in the chat and we can ask them questions, it is really fun and interesting. Well, last night, we got a surprise....there were TWO writer's in the chat and TWO of the MAIN cast members. The chat was joined by Matthew Gray Gubler who plays Dr. Spencer Reid and also Kirsten Vangsness who plays Penelope Garcia. It was a wonderful added extra and they actually were filming and took a break to talk to us. Very nice.

No real details to give you on what was said, but they answered lots of questions and MGG stayed with us for a little over an hour before he got called back to the set. Oh. I will say this, the funniest thing MGG said when asked about future projects was that he was working on a sequel that sounds like [and I am doing this from memory] - Palvin Pand Pa Phimpmunks - hee hee.

Sometimes I feel like a big dork for spending time in TV show fandoms....and sometimes I feel really lucky. Smile.