May the odds be ever in your favor

I bought the first book in the Hunger Games trilogy a few months ago on a whim at Marshalls. When I got home, I settled down on the couch and started reading. I didn't sleep that night because I couldn't put it down. I read it cover to cover in one night and needed more. I went to three different Marshalls stores the next day in search of the last two books but only found one so I paid FULL PRICE for the last book in hardcover (which is unheard of, for me).

I finished the series in record time. The story was engrossing, original, and thoroughly enjoyable. I loved and felt for the characters. I needed to know more about them. And when I heard that there was going to be a movie made based on the books, I was so excited to see it!

On Monday (almost a week ago!) I was talking to Anne and realized we both wanted to go see the Hunger Games, so why not double date at the Dine In theater? (Check out Anne's blog! She wrote a great review of the Dine In experience! :) We went online and saw that the showing we wanted to go to was already half filled. We decided instantly to buy tickets and STILL couldn't get four seats together.

Fast forward almost a week to today. Excitement levels have peaked. I did my nails for the occasion.

Ring finger on FIRE!!!

I was so excited, and the movie did not disappoint. It satisfied those who loved the books and was still accessible to movie goers who hadn't read them. I loved it. It's rare that a movie lives up to its literary counterpart, and I believe that this movie succeeded in that. The last time I was this excited about a movie/book franchise was when I read the Harry Potter books.

I can't wait for the next two movies. Now I have to go re-read the books!

End of a nerdy era

Tonight (at midnight) I will be at the movies watching the final installment of the Harry Potter series. I was 19 when I first heard of Harry Potter. I was watching the Rosie O'Donnell show and she was GUSHING over this story about a boy wizard. I had to get it. This was the first series I ever bought all in hardcover, and I devoured them. I couldn't wait for the next one! It hooked me from the start.

J.K. Rowling is an amazing writer. Her writing style is simple, but she doesn't talk down to her readers, like so many other books for young readers. I felt like I was growing with her characters. And the fact that Harry was born the same year as me helped me connect with the stories. (I'm aware that this entire post makes me a huge nerd, but I embrace it.) I worked in Barnes & Noble for most of the book's first run, and the excitement around the book releases was always overwhelming. The release party for the last book was amazing. Kids were dressed up, the line for the book at midnight was the entire length of the store. And this was for a BOOK!!! A BOOK!!!!!!! As a book nerd, that brought me so much joy.

I watched the movies with the same excitement I had for the books. For the most part, the movies did the books justice. I went to the midnight showings for all except the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

So tonight, when the lights come up at the end of the movie, I'll be sad. This is the last piece of the Harry Potter phenomenon. The only thing left to wait for is the DVD release. And I know I'll be anticipating that as soon as I leave the theater tonight.

Television! I've not missed you!

I haven't had cable since 2003. That was the year I graduated college and got my own apartment, which meant that cable was WAY too expensive for me on my own. I've always been a big reader and watched a lot of DVDs so I didn't really miss watching TV.

Until yesterday.

I'm currently house sitting, and the house has CABLE. And DVR!!! And ON DEMAND OMG!!!! I spent just about all of yesterday watching TV. It was never ending. I watched Law and Order: SVU, Extreme Home Makeover (it made me cry), Whale Wars, How It's Made, some random wedding cake show, Extreme Couponing, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Say Yes to the Dress, and a show about killer crocodiles.

I realized that much has changed since I had cable. When did all those channels show up? There's a channel for everything! I don't remember there being more than 60 channels. There was only one MTV and it played videos. There was no cable box or special remote! I feel so old. "Back in my day...!"

I spent most of today reading to cleanse my brain. I'm going to be alright.

Movie magic

My cousin called today and we made plans to go see the midnight showing of the final Harry Potter movie (IN 3D!!!!!!!!!!!!). That got me thinking about my greatest movie experiences.

I love movies. I have Netflix and watch at least 4-5 movies a week, whether it's new or one from my DVD collection. I recently rewatched the LOTR movies (the extended versions, of course). And here is where I expose my geeky-ness. I have the movies in 3 separate formats. Original, extended, and special edition extended. Just wait until I upgrade to Blu-ray. Oh yeah.

I used to go to lots of midnight premiers. I stopped when my body couldn't manage to go to work on Friday after getting home from the movies the night before at 3 am. I guess I can't hang like I used to.

The best movie experience I've ever had was the midnight showing of the last LOTR film. I saw it at the new (at the time) theater at Jersey Gardens. This was the first and last time I ever went there. I was with my friend Larry and some of his friends. We got in line around 10pm and were no where near the front. It was madness. People were dressed up in costumes, yelling to their friends. It was like a big party. I've never felt such excitement.

When the film began, there was silence from the audience. We were all excited. We were unified in our geekdom and adoration of these films. And we were going to enjoy the crap out of every second of this final film in the trilogy.

The theater itself was awesome. The sound in there was amazing. When the Nazgul-birds screamed, it actually hurt. (I would like to point out here my insane need for accuracy. I actually looked up the proper name of the screaming bat-dragon creatures that the Nazgul flew. I am a nerrrrrrd.) The audience cheered, gasped, laughed, cried. It was a beautiful thing. Now all I have are these DVDs. Sigh.

Summer reading list

I've been rereading books that I already own and love. It started when I reread the entire Harry Potter series in anticipation of the last movie. (Except book 6. I can't find book 6. If I lent it to any of you, please give it back. It's driving me crazy.) I also watched all of the movies again because I'm a geek that way and I have the time.

After I finished the HP series, I began reading all of Neil Gaiman's books again. He's my favorite author, and the 10th anniversary edition of American Gods (my favorite book) is coming out on June 21. I finished Anansi Boys and Neverwhere, and started Good Omens last night.

Other books on my to be reread list:
Smoke and Mirrors
Fragile Things
Stardust
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
A Suitable Boy
World War Z
Sacred Games
Fight Club
Haunted
Stiff
and whatever else I dig up in the boxes that currently house my book collection.

Anyone have book suggestions?

Knowledge Junkie

Hey everyone! Sorry I missed a few days. Two things caused the delay in posts:

1. I had one of my life killer headaches. (It's still not completely gone.)
2. The new issue of Mental Floss was delivered.

When the new Mental Floss arrives, all other activities must halt until I've read it from cover to cover, at least twice. It's random knowledge at its finest. I feel as though my internal random information generator has been restocked.

I started reading Mental Floss when I worked at Barnes & Noble. I was a music seller (aka music snob), and could name a song from a customer's bad singing in just seconds. Looking back, that was the best job I've had so far. It's where I was happiest. My coworkers were smart and quirky. I still talk to many of them, and it's been almost 10 years since I worked there. Maybe it's the headache talking, but I miss that place.

Web site addiction

I realize that my last few posts have been super girly, and to my male readers: I apologize. I'll make it up to you.

I spent most of my day today reading articles on the web site Cracked. I am fully and completely addicted to this site. I end up clicking every article in every article, ending up with insane amounts of open tabs. As I write this, I have 17 tabs open of just Cracked articles. I actually avoid going on the site because I know if I do, I'll end up wasting my entire day on it. It's a serious problem.

I have the same problem with The Hairpin. But not as severe. With The Hairpin, I subscribed through Google Reader and am able to weed out the articles I want to read. I had to stop myself from adding Cracked to my Reader or I would never stop reading.

Kitty come home!

I saw on Facebook that someone I know has lost their cats. This got me thinking about Wesley, who passed away in 2004. He was an outdoor cat and would be gone most of the day. I always wondered what he did when he roamed. It seems some researchers in Illinois wondered the same thing. They fitted 42 cats with radio tracking collars and tracked their movements for two years.



Apparently, cats who have owners wander around a much smaller area than feral cats. I would have loved if they fitted the cats with teeny cameras, so we could see what they were doing. I'm guessing napping. In sunbeams.
As I type this, Maya has come over and lain across my left arm between me and the laptop. I'm guessing someone wants attention.