Happy Halloween!

Alright I give up. The picture upload tool is just not working so I'm giving up on the pictures. If you've never seen any of these movies you can google em.

I love horror movies. Mostly I find them absolutely hilarious. I also (as you may have noticed) love making lists so here are the top 5 movies that actually scared me.

#5 The Blair Witch Project-I was fine in the theatre but I couldn't sleep & I was very glad that Dave spent the night. (obviously before we were married)

#4 The Ring-Again I was fine in the theatre but I had nightmares that night about the creepy girl.

#3 The Exorcist-A friend and I watched this when we were still pretty young & we spent the rest of the evening hiding under the coffee table.

#2 An America Werewolf in London-Okay I'm not even sure this movie is meant to be scary . It's practically a comedy but I was seven when I saw half of it and was sent to bed rite after they show the first transformation. I have been terrified of werewolves ever since. I never saw the end until I was fifteen.

#1. Pink Floyd the Wall-Yeah this isn't meant to be horror either but when I was little a babysitter was watching it after I went to bed. I got up to use the bathroom and saw the part with the kids falling in to the giant meat grinder & I've had nightmares for years.

I hope you all have a great Halloween. I'll upload some pics (assuming I can get it to work) of Fiona in her costume.

Proper Nutrition

For breakfast I've had a cupcake, some cookies, and chocolate moose.

Oh & I also just dressed my friend up like a bunch of grapes. I love Halloween.




Update:Dave's chocolate moose won the baking contest & my friend the bunch of grapes won the costume contest. This is so my favorite holiday.

Stupid Blogger

Sorry folks. I've got a post all ready (in my head) and I've got pictures too but for some reason I can't get them to load in the proper order. Hopefully I'll get it to work soon. Stay tuned for further developments.

Ya Sometimes Hear Strange Things in My Office

Coming from a confrence room near me.

"Did ya bring me a monkey?"

Overheard

"dude she sucks at life!"

There Are Times When Dave Must Regret Choosing Me

I was having a doozie of a nightmare last night. If I tried to explain it I'm sure it would just sound silly but at the time it was terrifying. The thing is when I get upset in a dream and start screaming and yelling I really start screaming and yelling. Last night I shouted "Stop staring at me" multiple times. I may also have tried to hit him but I'm not sure. Luckily the cat jumped on me and I woke up enough to realize what a freak I was being.

An Attempt To Better Myself

I'm a huge reader. Mostly what I read falls in to the fantasy or horror categories with the occasional mystery/thriller thrown in. But occasionally I pick one of the classics that I wasn't forced to read in school, so I know what the big deal is and I can say I've read it.

I read Les Miserables a few years back and it's amazing. I cried at the end. On the other hand I totally get why there is an abridged version. Victor Hugo paints vivid word pictures but I don't need a whole chapter describing the entire battle of Waterloo just so you can include a paragraph where one character meets the other characters dad. I am glad I read it but it was an effort.

I never finished the Hunchback of Norte Dame (also by Victor Hugo) although it's considerably shorter. I just didn't like any of the characters and didn't care what happened to them.

I've generally enjoyed Dickens, I love Shakespeare, and I'm big fan of Jane Austin.

Yesterday I finished reading Wuthering Heights. It's well written and the story is interesting enough to make me keep reading but good lord what a pack of totally unpleasant people. Why is this considered a great romance? I didn't find it the least bit romantic. In my opinion Cathy liked the attention and Heathcliff was in love with an idea not a person. I don't recommend it.

Disturbing In So Many Ways

Okay this is hilarious but it creeps me out.

The Ultimate in Daniwear

I just got a shirt that says this but the graphic is slightly different. This is so amazingly me. The only way it could be more my style is if it was a pair of stilettos.

Sadly I don't think I can wear it to work on Halloween. I'm fairly sure they frown on that kind of language.

I Only Just Noticed

Do you remember when you started seeing neon yellow fire engines? I first noticed when I was a kid and we still lived in Oakland so this is a good 20 years ago.
It just occurred to me a couple days ago that I haven't seen a fire engine any other color that red in years. This made me wonder was there a save the red fire trucks movement? If so I'd like to subscribe to their literature because I agree with their philosophy. Fire trucks should be red.

I Don't Think You Get It

Yesterday a guy at work asked Dave, "What did you say to convince your wife to have a baby?" Dave told me about it this morning and we were both totally perplexed by the situation.

Firstly this is clearly not someone who has spent more than 5 minutes talking to me. If he had he'd know that there is no way in the world to make me do something I don't want to do.

Secondly (but again he couldn't know this) I was the one who brought up the subject originally.

It just seemed strange to both Dave and I that you'd think of this as something to convince your partner of. If you don't want to have kids you probably shouldn't. If your with someone who's view on the subject is completely opposite from yours maybe they aren't the rite person for you.

Also all those things aside that's a really personal question to ask someone you don't really know.

Perhaps There is a Movement I Am Unaware of

An I just thought this was random

One Of My Favorites

Now don't get me wrong I don't think cancer is funny and I've never smoked a cigarette in my life (partly because I sing and it's terrible for your throat) but this commercial was so unintentionally hilarious that I cracked up every time I saw it during it's short TV run. I think this reaction is probably why it wasn't on long.

I Told Ya So

It's official I need glasses. I've been suspecting as much for a while. I can still see fine without them but this should help with the perpetual headaches. So ya know what this means? A chance to accessorize sweet!

Check Out My New Hair

So I died my hair on Saturday & there's a pic of it onmy other site if you'd like to see. Tell me what ya think.

Best PPE2 (read the lower blog first)

Read the previous post first. I had too many pictures for one.
She thought we were playing peekaboo so she smiled for these shots.
This guy looked like something from Labryinth. I kind love him.
More scarecrow art
I'm prinitn a 5X7 of this one and framing it.
Screenshot from the Wizard of Oz? Nope just a kind acool picture I took that Dave got creative with in Lightroom.

I hope you've enjoyed this pictorial of our morning at the pumpkin patch.

Best Pumpkin Patch Ever

Okay this is gonna be a 2 part post because it wouldn't let me put all the awesome pics we took in one. We took Fiona to a pumpkin patch in Vacaville. Dave & I agreed this was the best pumpkin patch either of us had ever seen. & now I feel like a complete jerk because I don't remember the name but we might go back next weekend because we filled the CF card and didn't get to take all the pics we wanted.
She would not smile at the camera but she was interested in eating the straw.
There were a whole bunch of creative scarecrows around. I like this guy he was just chillin'.
Twins!
I'm just kinda proud of this picture. Actually I took most of these. Generally Dave's the better photographer.
Well obviously I didn't take this one. Please forgive the ugly tank top showing I guess it's better than my gut peeking out.

Happy Birthday Kevin

Don't read this one Mom. You might want to skip it too Milla.

Today should be my brothers 29th birthday but he died when he was only 18. I wasn't sure if I should or even could talk about him here but today it seemed appropriate. He was my best friend and I miss him.
I only have a couple pictures of us together. This was at our cousins wedding. Let's see I think I was 19 so that's make him 15. This one my Mom took when she was going to some kind of reunion and wanted to show us off. I think we were 17 &13.
One time he was getting a glass of watter and he pulled the last glass out of the cupboard but it had bit of stuff stuck to it so he went to get a fresh one out of the dishwasher and he held it up like it was a treasure and said in a ringing voice,"And I have found such a glass and I said unto it you are clean and good". He was crazy that way. I still laugh when I think of that.
When he was little I used to read books to him. I started with Bunnicula and The Celery Stalks at Midnight by Debora Howe. We kept up the habit as we got older reading to each other. We read the whole Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, and The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub (he hated reading the part that makes me cry), and we read The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien which cracked us up because if you read it the right way some of the language is very suggestive. 18 years was not long enough. Sometimes I'm very angry with him for not being here and not knowing his Niece or Brother in law. But mostly I just miss him and the way he made me laugh.

Monday at 12:30

Well I finely made an eye appointment. I've been saying I should since Fiona was born uhhh almost 10 months ago. I can't decide if I hope I need glasses or hope I don't. On the one hand I prefer not to admit I'm deteriorating on the other an opportunity to accessorize.

Someday You'll Be Able to Say You Knew Me When

I sing. I can't say I'm a singer because that would imply that I have some sort of venue for performing and at least a handful of people I can call an audience. Nope I don't do anything with my talent but enjoy it and occasionally when I'm very drunk and someone begs I'll sing for other people. It's not that I mind performing, actually I love it. I just have a hard time believing anyone actually wants to hear me. I always think they are just asking to be nice and then I get embarrassed. I used to want to have a carer in musical theatre but I'm my own worst critic and convinced myself that I'd never be good enough for that. It may or may not be true I'm not a good judge. Anyway the one person I don't mind singing to who I can tell LOVES it is Fiona. So when I was home with her last week I made myself a play list for my ipod that I could sing along with while we were playing. And today I share it with you because who doesn't enjoy belting it out if only in the privacy of your shower. Check out the ones you haven't heard & let me know your recommendations. I'm always looking for new material.

Thank You For the Music-ABBA
Rocky Raccoon-The Beatles
Mack the Knife-Bobby Darin
Something to Talk About-Bonnie Rait
All that Jazz-From Chicago
One Fine Day- The Chiffons
The Tijuana Jail-The Kingston Trio
I Will Follow You Into the Dark-Deathcab for Cutie
The Lady is a Tramp-Della Reese
The Boxer-Me First and the Gimme Gimme's
9 to 5-Dolly Parton
Me and Bobby McGee-Janice Jopplin
Folsom Prison Blues-Johnny Cash
Secret Agent Man-Johnny Rivers
Tom Dooley-The Kingston Trio
In The End-Linkin Park
Artificial Flowers-Bobby Darin
Sing For Your Supper-Cass Elliot
Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend-Marilyn Monroe
Heat Wave-Martha and the Vandellas
Please Mr. Postman- The Marvelettes
Danny's Song-Me First and the Gimme Gimme's
M.T.A-The Kingston Trio
Bitch-Meredith Brooks
These Boots Are Made For Walking-Nancy Sinatra
Take Me or Leave Me-From RENT
Dream an Little Dream-The Mamas and the Papas
Nobody's Listening-Linkin Park
Wonderful World-San Cook
Let Me Entertain You-From Gypsy
Leader of the Pack-The Shangrilas
On My Own-From Les Miserables
Santeria-Sublime
After You Get What You Want (You Don't Want it)-Marilyn Monroe
The Times They Are A-Changin-Me First and the Gimme Gimme's
Sixteen Tons-Tennesie Earnie Ford
Angel of Harlem-U2
White Boys-From Hair
You Gave Your Love to Me Softly-Weezer
Squeeze Box-The Who

I Agree

Yesterday while bored I was catching up on my friends answers to those inane Myspace surveys (by the way I'm the one that sent this one to my friend) when one answer caught my eye.

Do you miss the way things used to be?

not really things are better for me now than they were in the past. although I do miss the freedom a six year old has to throw a fit in public when pissed.. wouldn't that be nice to be able to throw a temper tantrum NOW?

To that I say yes, yes it would.

Don't You Ever Scare Me Like That Again!

Last night we got home latter than usual. It was after the time when we usually feed the animals so normally they'd be waiting demanding to be fed when we walk in the door. The dogs were there but not Vladi. I fed them while Dave put Fiona to bed and then went to the back door to call the cat. Now I'm not stupid, I know cat's don't come when called but if you call them at dinner time they usually show up within a couple minutes. Nothing I couldn't even hear the bell on his collar. I waited a few minutes while I started dinner then went and called him again. Still nothing. I checked to make sure he hadn't gotten locked in the linen closet or the guest room but nope. I went out and walked around the block terrified that he'd been hit by a car and I'd find his body but I didn't. Dave went looking for him while I finished making dinner but he didn't have any better luck. I was seriously worried by this time. We ate and Fiona started crying again so Dave went in to check her. I was getting undressed to take a shower and had just gotten completely naked when the cat came through the dog door. "Vladi" I screamed in a whisper so Fiona wouldn't hear. I grabbed him and hugged him, which really pissed him off because he doesn't like naked skin (I guess the lack o' fur creeps him out). Stupid cat I love him so.

Another Story of Strangness from My Work History

A couple years ago when I was a bank manager I was covering a closing shift and it was slow so the staff and I were cleaning. Money is filthy so the bank always needed a good wipe down. One of my tellers was reorganizing a cupboard where we kept the first aid kit and commented idly.

"When I was a kid I used to steal the chalk out of the emergency kit in my parents car to draw with."

"Chalk?" I asked

"Yeah for outlining bodies."

Pause

pause

"Pftttttt ha ha ha ha ha ha ha" I tried not to laugh but failed on a epic scale.

She blinked and realised how silly that sounded when she said it out loud and laughed too. Then it took us another hour to figure out what the chalk was actually for, which apparently is marking your way if you get lost.

My Top 5 Albums of All Time

Here's my logic.
#1 these were the first 5 that occurred to me, if you asked me tomorrow it might change.
#2 no greatest hits or else I'd include Bob Marley Legend.
#3 no soundtracks or compilations.
#4 these are not in any specific order.
#5 they are all albums that I can listen to from beginning to end and have stood the test of time.

The Joshua Tree-U2
Appetite for Destruction-Guns n Roses
Zofo-Led Zeppelin
Flood-They Might be Giants
Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic-Red Hot Chili Peppers

Random Thought

Someday I'd like to go to Savannah GA.

This Blog Post is Rated R for Suggestive Language

Last night when we were going to bed Dave turned on the TV and we heard

"Something unusual fell out of her vagina"

WOW Ummm what the heck channel is it on?

Not Really a Verry Good Day

Fashionable eyewear asside I need to get my eye's checked. The headaches are starting to get to me.

Things I Look Forward To

more music charts

Some of the Things That Sammy Thinks

I like the little human, she tastes like food when I kiss her.

Oh goodie it's Gambit. I love Gambit.

Mommy's home! Love me, love me, love me. Oooooh something shinny.

I like the little human, she drops food on the floor. Mmmm Cheerios.

I will protect the home from that dastardly UPS man. Woof, woof, bark, bark. What's a baby and why are they screaming that I woke it up?

I like the little human, she drops food. Mmmmm rice puff things.

It's Daddy. Love me, love me, love me.

Some random person is here. Love me, love me, love me. What, you don't want me to put my nose there?

Ooooooh a smelly creek better jump rite in.

I like the little human, she give me food. Mmmmm goldfish.

Regrets

When high school was ending I wanted to skip the graduation ceremony but my Mom insisted I'd regret it if I didn't go. Same with my 8th grade graduation dance.

It's been 15 and 19 years respectively & I'd like to state for the record that nope these have not been memories I cherished.

You Shouldn't Have

A free gift sweet!

Ummmm thanks.

Good Morning

Tell me you wouldn't want to wake up to this face every morning. Not that I did. I think the first thing I saw when I woke up this morning was the cat's butt (he likes to sleep next to my pillow).

If You're Happy and You Know It

Alright I Admit It

I'm a dork. I know there was never really any question and everyone else already knew it but I'm coming out in the open and admitting that I too know it. I'm a dork and a geek and a nerd. And if you need proof I can exhibit my geekiness by telling you episode names of my favorite shows and explaining the time paradoxes is famous sci fi movies and quoting whole scenes from shows, movies, and plays. I surrendered and sealed my geekdom today by writing a letter to an author to request they complete a book I'm interested in that they had abandoned. Yep I'm that kind of obsessed and pushy. Hi my name's Dani and I'm a dork.

Movies That Are Supposed to be Romantic but Fail Misserably

1. My Fair Lady-First off Rex Harrison is probably the least appealing leading man in history, secondly his character is a pompous windbag, thirdly he treats her like crap. Personally were I Audrey Hepburn I'd tell him exactly where he could put his slippers.

2. Grease-I know I'm alone here but the misogynistic idea that the nice girl has to change herself for the guy is not appealing to me at all. I'm not much of a feminist but I find the message of you'll be happier if you slut it up a little insulting.

3. Pearl Harbor-Okay with the exception of the effects everything about this movie sucked A**. Pretty much by the end I was hoping all the main characters would die horrible painful deaths and I was disappointed that my wish only came true for one of them.

4. Shakespeare in Love- I like a happy ending or a really good tragic one. This just left me flat. And even though it's been 10 years Dave will never forgive me for making him go see this. I'm sorry but in my defence I have picked much worse movies before.

5. Moulin Rouge-I love Baz Luhrman. I love Nicole Kiddman. I love Euwan McGregor and John Leguizamo. I wanted to like this movie so much but it just never quite clicked for me and again I like a happy ending and the tragedy seemed contrived.

6. Pure Country-Up there with Pearl Harbor for the cheese factor and do you realise that the 2 main characters never even kiss. Not once! Even at the end when it's certainly implied that they kiss they freeze frame inches apart. Sorry again Dave. I know you love this movie but romantic it is not.

How 'bout you? What movies fail to do it for you.

Food Poisoning

Home from work today. I'll resume posting on Monday.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

I listen to books on my i-pod while I work so I can't in all honesty say I read this series but I have listened to it twice now and have an opinion I feel the need to share. There are 4 books in the series; Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

I decided to check these out on a whim as they were being billed as the next Harry Potter and they're about Vampires which, well lets just say that's very me.

I get the Potter comparison they're both in the fantasy genre, aimed at the same market, the first book starts with a relatively simple premise but by the end of the series the story has grown and and matured as (hopefully) the readers have. On the other hand these are no ware near as well written. The series is more serialized than one story from start to finish. The dialogue (although it improved in the later books) was frequently contrived.

There were a couple things that really bugged me and distracted from the story. First I think the author used the phrase "a little smug" at least once ever chapter for all four books, she occasionally mixed it up and said "smugly" instead. These characters also seem to "chuckle" a lot. Personally I don't want to spend that much time in a world of smug chucklers. Please someone buy this poor woman a thesaurus, while you're at it buy the Costco pack of em because it seems the editors may need one too. You'd thing someone would have pointed out the repetition (of coarse maybe it was worse before and this is toned down). There were also one or two times that the wrong word was used or wasn't even an actual word but those may have been the narators fault.

Another peeve of mine was that occasionally the characters behaved in completely unrealistic ways and I don't mean the supernatural stuff. Here's an example (spoiler alert skip this part if you plan to read them latter although this is not integral to the plot) if you are the father of a teenage daughter I don't care how much you like a particular boy if said boy kisses your daughter against her wishes and she's clearly livid about this (the anger was written very true to life) your reaction isn't to laugh and say to the boy "Way to go kid". Nope nu uh. The Dad gene means your first reaction when someone forces unwanted physical contact on your daughter is to kick his ass, the second reaction once logic has steeped in is to possibly press assault charges (particularly if you happen to be a police chief, hello), the final result is most likely warning the boy that if her ever touches your daughter again he will regret it for the rest of his life and possibly contacting the boys parents to let them know they need to give him a refresher course on "no means no". Sorry the author is a parent, she should know that one.

All those complaints aside I really liked the series and here's why. The story is awesome and well told (if not well written). The characters are likable and compelling, you want to know what happens to them and you want them to have a happy ending. I will also give the author full credit that she balanced the potential cheesiness of the supernatural with the mundane lives of the human characters in a way that made everyone seem interesting. The story embraces it's fantasy elements without veering in to melodrama.

I also have to give her props that this is the best explanation I've ever heard for why a victim becomes a vampire.

To summarize I recommend the books to anyone who likes horror or fantasy, you just have to ignore the English 1A errors. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie of Twilight that comes out next month as it will be missing the smug chuckler factor and I'm hoping it does well enough that they will complete the series on film. I think it will translate beautifully.