TWEET TWEET: twitters from orangerful

• I want to read: The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams - goodreads.com/review/show/57747605 #
• I'm #reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan - tinyurl.com/cnx4gt #
• I want to read: Counter Clockwise by Jason Cockcroft - tinyurl.com/l49cgm #
• i am hungry and there is no food here...except these gummi bears, but they are only food in the loosest sense of the word #
• New rule Hollywood - you may not "reboot" a franchise that is not over 20 years old. (I'm looking at you Tomb Raider) #
• @morganryan I got a little pink postcard in the mail today with the Dragon*Con logo. Made me giddy! #
• @TheSenator seriously? Daredevil? Well, I guess there are only so many superheroes /sarcasm #
• @jerbrown I've got my name on the request list for that book, should be amusing. #
• i need to go get cat food before Giant closes...but I really don't feel like going outside... #
• okay, I'm going to Giant before Apollo realizes he hasn't been fed and tries to eat my toes... #
• cat food on sale at Giant, 10/$4 so I stocked up. back to icon making... #

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erm, wasn't I supposed to be saving up for something? Oh well...

So, remember that dress I was talking about on Thursday? Well, I went into Kohls today to return some of the other items that did not fit and lo-and-behold, they had the dress in the story, one size down from what I bought. So I figured, what the heck, let's try it on and see if it fits.

It did. Perfectly! So I bought that one and I'm returning the other one. Also, it appears I'm supposed to wear it without a bra? I dunno, clothes are so confusing.

In other shopping areas, found a swimsuit BOTTOM that was adorable, but the stupid top was not so much. Apparently, the "tie-up" tops are in right now, where you tie it around your neck, which is all well and good if you have normal sized boobs, but for those of us that were overly-endowed, these kinds of tops lead to neck pain. And that was the kind of top made to go with the bottoms I found. I said "screw it, they're seperates, I'll buy 'em seperate!" and just got the bottoms, thinking I could wear them with my old top...except now I can't FIND my old top. Blah. I'll figure something out eventually.

I don't think the fashion police patrol our area so I might even just clash horribly with the other top I found (the bottoms are hot pink, the one top I did find is black, blue, yellow stripes....yeah, not really sure I could pull that off)

I do now have pool passes though. We've lived in this community for 5 years and we've NEVER used the pool. Its a bit silly. Hopefully Amy & I will change that over the summer, make swimming part of our weekly works outs.

Also, I signed up for Blip.Fm because juliet_demarcus was using and it looked cool. Already spamming the Twitter people with my weird musical tastes. If you're on there, send me a wave (wait, can I still say that or has Google copyrighted it?)

On Vox: book thoughts: Berlin: City of Stones & Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon History of Hiroshima

Berlin: City of Stones: Book One (Part 1)

I just happened to pick up both of these books at the same time, each of them recommended by two different friends for different reasons.  But I found it interesting to read them one after the other, since they are connected in a few different ways.

Barefoot Gen 1

Keiji/ Project Gen (TRN)/ Spiegelman, Art Nakazawa

'Barefoot Gen' is the story of a Japanese family living in Hiroshima during WWII (based on the actual life of author/artist Keiji Nakazawa).  Their father does not agree with the war or Japan's part in it.  My knowledge of the pacific front is very low - everyone tends to focus on the European front in school, books, movies etc. And even less do we hear about what life was like for the normal people living in Japan at the time.  When Gen's father openly criticizes the Japanese government (and by doing that, insulting the Emperor), his family is shunned by the town.  Abused even. 

I found some of the violence a bit shocking, but then again, its a very militaristic culture.  The father is constantly beating the boys when the misbehave, and other random people also smack them around!  Not sure if this is just a convention of the manga medium or actually reflective of the time.  Still, it happened a LOT. 

The drawings are very simple, reminding me of Persepolis, where the point was for this man to tell his story, not make great leaps and bounds in the art and style of Manga. 

I found this book fascinating and think it would be great to give to a teen who loves manga, slip a little history in there.  I've only read volume 1 but I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and seeing what happens after the bomb falls.

Berlin: City of Stones is about Germany before WWII.  Again, the focus is on everyday people, their lives, and their reaction to what their government is doing (the rumor of weapons being stockpiled even though Germany wasn't supposed to be doing that).  Again, I felt as though I learned a bit while reading through the stories, especially about the Communist party in Germany. 
The art is a bit more advanced than Barefoot Gen, but not by much.  A few times I had an issue with telling the female characters apart.  If it hadn't been for their male counterparts, I might have had issues following the story. 

If you're looking for a way to vicariously learn about history, these two books should fill that need and get you thinking about the other side that we don't really get to see in 'Band of Brothers' or 'Saving Private Ryan'...not that they were misunderstood, but just in general what was going on with the average person during those war years.

Originally posted on orangerful.vox.com

On Vox: movie thoughts: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

I really had no idea what this movie would be about.  I only knew the basic facts - Woody Allen wrote & directed, Scarlet Johanssen was invovled, and I have no problem with Javier Bardem or Penelope Cruz. 

There's probably a reason I knew nothing about it; attempting to describe it without telling someone the whole movie is pretty difficult!

Vicky and Cristina are friends who decide to spend a summer in Barcelona, both of them for different reasons: Vicky is working on her Masters degree while Cristina is bouncing back from the end of a relationship.  While there, they happen to meet Juan Anotonio, a local painter.  He invites them to come away with him for a weekend.  Cristina is very excited about the idea, so Vicky tags along to watch out for her...and things just get more complicated from there.

It was an interesting movie to watch once.  My biggest gripe was the narrator.  I felt like this role was superfluous.  I am not sure why Allen decided to do this.  Was it to make the story seem like a fairy tale?  Did he not think he was getting the information across fast enough?  I think ever thing the narrator said was portrayed well enough on screen.  I found it really distracting. 

It's a visually stunning film - and the city isn't too bad either. *ba-ding* Thanks folks, I'm here all week. 

The core of the film is about what love means and what love is for every person, and how it differs yet at the same time we all want the same thing (even if we don't know it). 

It's worth watching (though I feel like Rebecca Hall got the shaft - she plays Vicky yet she's not even featured on the cover!  Her role is pretty important.  Oh well).  A solid movie but not something I could sit through multiple times.

Originally posted on orangerful.vox.com