A Study of Opposites
Today was a great Saturday. I did two completely opposite things, and loved both of them.
We started the day getting all prettied up and going to a wedding. It's always fun getting dressed up, listening to romantic music, watching two sweet people commit their lives to each other, and eat yummy cake and mingle with people you don't see often enough. Janae was a completely gorgeous bride, and Ryan was a dashing groom. There was also a pretty awesome maid of honor! :)
After the wedding, we came home and got un-dressed up. I put on a big sweatshirt, ratty jeans, and slippers. This is a classic college football viewing outfit. I've already blogged on my love for college football, and today was a great day of wasting the daylight inside watching game after game. OU won big, but I'm still a little scared of Texas Tech and Ok State! Boomer Sooner, boys! Get it together! I hope we can continue to improve. Texas and OK State was an awesome game, but I wish Ok State could have pulled out the victory. Ohio State and Penn State was completely boring for 3 quarters, then in the last 2 minutes, it turned into a game! So sad the Buckeyes couldn't pull off the upset.
We humans are complex little creatures. We love sweet, romantic flowery weddings and hard-hitting, smash mouth football with equal fervor.
Random Picture Time!
I haven't posted pictures for a long time, so here are a few random ones that I've taken over the past month.
Is there any dog on earth cuter than him? Nope! Also, please notice my lovely, colorful, and STILL ALIVE flowers in the background. Victory!
This is a card I made for my friend, Morgan. Guess how old she is!?!?!
This is a card Morgan and I made for our newly pregnant friend! We're so excited for her :)
I had to take a picture to honor my morning power hitters. Where would I be without coffee, soymilk, splenda, and oatmeal? Still in bed! hehe. I've found the perfect blend of morning happiness for my stomach. Try it sometime!
Brevity is Wit
It's been a blah book week. I love to read fiction, and I always have to be in the middle of a book. This week, I'm struggling through
The Life of Edgar Sawtelle, and I'm not sure why. It was raved about in Bookmarks Magazine, it's Oprah's Book Club pick, it's up for several national book awards, so why don't I love it as much as everyone else? I really enjoy the setting of the book, and the characters are endearing, but I'm at a really dry part in the middle of the novel, and I can't seem to find much motivation to finish. I hate it when writers do this. They start their novels with a bang, they develop an interesting plotline, then it seems to flatline in the middle. There's one consistency among each of these flatlining novels: they're too long.
I have a strict brevity rule that I use for books and movies. If a movie is longer than 2 hours, it had better be an epic story brilliantly written. If it's not, it breaks the brevity rule. 3 hours is too long to be sitting watching a movie, no matter how epic it is. Sorry, I know that a lot of people disagree with me, but I don't think a movie should ever be that long. You know that Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan could have cut a few of those fighting scenes, or that Lord of the Rings could have cut...a lot. SNOOZE!!!
For books, I think that they should all be under 400 pages. Anyone can tell a brilliant story in under 400 pages. If a book is over 400 pages, it had better be an epic retelling of some unbelievable historical event. I'll also give a pass to Leo Tolstoy or Henry David Thoreau, because I'm in love with them. Either of them could write a 2,000 page novel about dust and I would read it. Other than Leo and Henry, if an author is writing a book longer than 400 pages, it is too long to be fully enjoyed. Brevity is wit, get to the point!
I notice the irony about my complaining about brevity while writing an extremely long blog post about it. Maybe I should make a brevity rule for blogging. Maybe not, because I'm sure I would break my own rule!
OKC Thunderrrrrrr!
In keeping with my current tradition of blogging a few days behind, I thought I'd share my thoughts about Oklahoma City's newest plaything: our NBA team! Hooray! I love the NBA, so I was way excited when we got the Sonics. Sure, maybe the whole deal was a little shady, but I'm happy regardless. Tuesday night was the first home pre-season game, and I was ready to go get a peek at my new boys. Kevin Durant looked good, and I give him props for playing a fair chunk of time in a pre-season game. Usually the big stars of the team sit a lot of time out to avoid injury, but not KD. I also liked Johan Petro, he's a hustler! (in a good way..haha)
Justin and I got season tickets, and here's the view from our seats:
So we got there, got all settled in to our comfy seats, then the greatest thing happened. The man with the seats next to us (remember...season tickets....as in, we're next to him every game this year) enters. With three beers and a mouth full of chew. And a moustache and a rattail. Now I swear that I'm not an elitist jerk, and I don't judge people based on looks. Usually, even grown men with rattails. I'm sure there are a lot of quality people who for some reason like one strand of hair running down their back. So none of this would usually bother me (too much), but then he opened his mouth. He opened it loudly. I am sorry to say that I have tickets next to the most obnoxious heckler the world of sports has ever known. I'm not even kidding - it's not even funny stuff he's screaming at the top of his lungs - it's really mean personal attacks. The kind of thing that you hear and think, "Thank God I'm not next to that crazy person." Well, I'm next to him. I really hope that he doesn't stumble upon my blog, or that I don't know his kid or anything, because frankly, I'm sorta scared of him. If he can come up with insults about professional athletes on the fly the way he does, I don't even want to think of what he would say about me!
I swear, we are going to be on TV or in the paper at some point this year because of our lovely neighbor. The really scary part of this story is that he was yelling and screaming this much at a PRESEASON game...just think of how he'll be in a game that actually matters! I shudder at the thought. I'm going to make a small sign that reads "I'm not with him---->" and hold it up anytime he screams profanities at the refs or the other team. It will have to be small, because he can't see me hold it up. I'm scared he'll spit chew in my face or something.
So as the season progresses, check the Oklahoman sports section for me and Justin with grimaces on our faces, because we'll be in there someday. If not us, someone from Element Fusion. Justin will have to warn them all about him so they can mentally prepare!
Beyond that, I'm pondering signs for opening night. "Roar, Thunder" or "Can you hear the Thunder"....which do you prefer? Any other lovely ideas? I'll bring my camera so that I can get some better shots than the iphone shot above.
Go Thunder!! Hooray!
Coming Out of the Closet
Hah! Did you like my shameless attempt to entice you to read because of a juicy title? That was my intention, anyway. Are you wondering who's coming out of the closet, and which closet? Good, that was my plan. Muahaha :)
Well, I am coming out of the "superhero" closet. That's right, folks, I have a superhero ability. I discovered it a few weeks ago, and I am finally brave enough to go public with it. I can.....injure myself while sleeping!!! That's right, how heroic is that?!?!?! Sure, some superheroes can fly, or have super speed, or can do other cool things, but the ability to injure yourself when you sleep, (or "sleep mutilation" as those of us in the hero community call it) can be really beneficial in certain situations. Say you're in high school and you want to miss gym class? SuperSleep time! Or say you're fed up with work, and you'd like to get some sick leave? Superhero Erin to the rescue!
I discovered my super ability when I injured my shoulder while sleeping. Apparently I sleep with my left arm above my head, and it's torn a weak spot in my muscle. It hurts, I have to take medicine, and I have to go to Physical Therapy for it. Go Go, Super Powers! Unfortunately for me, this is the 2nd time I have injured my shoulder sleeping. When I was younger, I broke my collar bone because I fell out of bed. My parents or I should have recognized the super skill it takes to accomplish a broken bone while sleeping, and it would have saved me a lifetime of denial concerning my super sleep. Sometimes the price heroes have to pay for their abilities is steep, and for me, that price includes Physical Therapy and a stupid new "ergonomically correct" pillow. Oh, the sacrifices we make for heroic greatness.
So, my friends, I shall try to use my new found heroism for the greater good. Please, next time you see me, try not to treat me any differently. Really, we're more alike than we are different. Except for my awesome new ability, I'm just an average person. I know that there are a lot of people out there seething with jealousy, wishing "I wish I could injure myself while sleeping," and to those of you out there, I say be patient. You never know when you might be bestowed a superhero power of your own. Until then, keep sleeping safely!
Creepy Crawly!
My poor little lonely, neglected blog. I'm not too sure why I haven't blogged lately, because a lot of blog-worthy things have happened in the week since I've typed out my usually mundane life. Here are a few highlight:
We went camping last weekend. I didn't take any fun pictures, because we went to the Wichita Mtns. in Lawton (like we always do), so the pictures are starting to get pretty redundant. However, there were two noteworthy differences in this Wichita camping trip:
1. We went on a hike, and we let Buckley lead the entire way back. He didn't miss a step! There were at least 5 decisions he had to make, and he didn't even hesitate! He led us all the way back to our exact campsite...little smarty dog! We were pretty impressed.
2. I saw.....a tarantula....in. my. campsite. I wish I could tell you that I was kidding, or that I'm exaggerating, it wasn't really that big, but unfortunately for me, I'm not kidding, and it WAS that big. And fat. And hairy. It was dark, and I saw something scurry by our campfire (maybe 4 feet away!) Justin looked, and by the time he said what it was, I was already about 20 feet away! Now, for the record, I hate it when animals die needlessly. Really hate it. I don't like to eat meat, hate to see roadkill, would never go hunting, and close my eyes when I'm watching nature shows and the predator kills its prey. It's just too sad for me. However, when there's a tarantula encroaching on my campsite (I know, I'm encroaching on its home, but I had to SLEEP there!), it must die. Justin didn't want to kill it, but after much deliberation, the poor little guy had to go. I'm sorry, poor spider up in heaven that you had to die because I'm a chicken, but I wish you wouldn't have gotten so close to the campfire. Ignorance is bliss when it comes to spiders and camping.
Rag and Bone
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A Glimpse of Holliday Family Movie Viewing History*
My dad loves to watch mystery movies and figure out the ending before it's revealed. We love to watch my dad watch mystery movies, and we anticipate the moment when he pronounces the ending halfway through the movie. He's pretty good at it, so when he gets stumped on those rare occasions, we deem the movie that tricked dad to be a quality mystery movie. Unfortunately for me, I didn't inherit my dad's sleuth ability. I'm just not observant enough, I guess. I love watching movies like Rear Window and The Usual Suspects, but one of the things I love about them is the gasp of surprise when the plot twist is revealed. Good stuff!
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How This Relates to Rag and Bone*
Rag and Bone is a mystery novel by Michael Nava, and is the last in a series of mysteries starring Henry Rios. The good news is...I FIGURED OUT THE ENDING! Yes, it's true! Unfortunately, it would be awful of me to write out my proudest mystery moment, because I can't do so without ruining the mystery for everyone, so you'll just have to take my word for it. According to the Holliday family mystery rating scale, I'm sure that the fact that I figured out the ending before it was revealed would equate to a low ranking storyline. However, I liked it. It was entertaining and fun to read. Maybe I liked it a little more because it gave me hope that I could become a mystery figure-outer like my dad. Probably not, but at least I'm on the map now with one victory under my belt.
