Lord of the Rings - the Movie
Ok, well let me first say that I've never read any of the books. None. Nor have I ever wanted to despite hearing a ZILLION times that it's the 'best book ever' or similar. *rollseyes* As a child, I spent an entire year having each Friday afternoon in elementary school be "movie day" where we were all forced to watch one of two animated films: Charlotte's Web or The Hobbit. I utterly and completely hated the Hobbit cartoon. Hated it with ever fiber of my being. So, needless to say, that being my first ever experience with LOTR or Tolkien in general, I was scarred for life. So I forged my own ground and stood fast against ever reading anything of the series.
Of course, my Love (along with all my friends) are psycho Tolkien fans and have been drooling for literally a year and change since the first preview for the movie came out. It finally got down to that time and they pre-bought tickets. There were seven of us set to go 8pm Wednesday night. I went along despite having sworn that when I first say the preview that you'd have to drag my dead body in there if I was going to attend. I admit, I was a bit curious after hearing so damned much about it as well as seeing some really pretty scenes in trailors. By the time they got me at the theater, I was at least there willingly - which is A LOT to say for my years of Tolkien hatred.
Now, the movie itself was very beautiful; there's no question about it. But...I spent so much of the movie listening to everyone around me "ooh" and "aaah" SO MUCH over a character enter the screen, or a scene of a city that I just felt so left out. Like, 'what is so amazing that I'm missing?' I really felt like I was excluded from some club. The other half of the time I kept thinking to myself how long it was taking and wondering when they'd finally get to the damned castle to destroy the ring. How the hell was I supposed to know that none of that was going to happen in this installment? I didn't know where book one ended, so I spent three hours thinking, Get on with it!! when, apparently, they got on with as much as that book had.
Sheesh.
So, I left there rather annoyed and again hateful of all things LOTR. I got dupped I suppose by my ignorance of the series and that really pissed me off. I'm calmed down a bit now and would give it a higher score then had you asked me that night. (then: about a 2 of 5; now, about 3 1/2 out of 5) The real question though is Who else is like me and had not read ANYTHING of Tolkien and went and saw it? I would LOVE to hear your thoughts.
Office Xmas Party
Not much to note about it except it was Friday evening. Nice place; Carribean, so that was different then "standard" christmas cusine. It was nice though. There were about 40 of us when all was said and done and my boss, Jim, thanked me and the new lady for our hard work - especially when she had just joined us that Monday and was frantically learning through the busy, busy haze. The sweet bookkeeper got a much deserved award (which was a surprise to all) and we had a really nice time. Everyone was in high spirits and excitedly looking forward to our 2nd Annual Holiday Party. (this was our 1st official one!) Considering we're expanding into a whole seperate area of Florida this quickly in, shows how successful we already are. It's really so great that I was able to get this job and be with this team. I'm finally really and honestly happy with my job and damn if that's not a nice thing.
Christmas Shopping the Weekend Before Christmas
Well, the only reason we had money to even go christmas shopping was a 11th hour referal bonus from our appartment complex for having two other people sign a year lease at our complex. Just so happened to come in at 5:30pm Friday, December 21st. Whoo-hoo! Of course, instead of being responsible, we said "fuck it!" it's xmas! This meant that on Saturday we braved the retail world...
Surprisingly enough, everyone was really nice. The parking lots and roads were crowded, but the stores weren't too bad. Also, everyone I was around was actually polite. Saying things like, "Thank you," "excuse me," and "Sorry" when appropriate. It was simply amazing. People were decent! We managed to get pretty much everything done in three stops and one afternoon. There were a couple assorted things we didn't get until later (my Love's gifts on the 23rd and he mine on Christmas Eve) but it went really smoothly.
The only really nasty person was someone I flat out told her I was going to mock her in my journal so here it is. At Walgreens on Christmas Day we stopped to pick up some fruit to bring to the dinner. (don't ask) As I walked down a very cramped isle, I scooted sideways past a woman who's cart was blocking most of the lane. She was bitching at her multiple and many kids so I just slipped past. Well, Little Miss White Trash says in her nasty voice, "Well EXCUSE YOU!" I start grumbling about what a bitch she is, tell her "Merry Fucking Christmas to you too" and then explain how fun it shall be to mock her before all on the net. So screw you Bitch Queen Redneck. Hope you enjoy your white trash life.
Everyone else though was great! :)
Christmas Goodies
You can see some of my goodies for yourself. But, to list off some cool stuff, here ya go:
A Logitech Webcam
A Wacom drawing tablet
the new Charles deLint hardcover, The Onion Girl
Leather gloves
mickey flannel pants (sleepware)
two pairs of jeans (can wear them to work and only had two pairs)
white gold earrings
a quill-tip writting pen set
a fuzzy, warm blanket
some socks (that's my mom for you!)
SimCity 3000 Unlimited
two $50 gift cards for Barnes & Nobles (mm...books)
and some other misc that I can't think of.
As you can see, turned out to be a wonderful christmas. We had dinner at my mom's then went to my Love's parents after that. A reverse of schedule, but it worked out really well. (normally, it's my Love's family first, then mine)
So much for a summary!
But I need to go. Been adding to this off and on for about two hours now. Doing some research and updates for our corporate website (I'm officially a webmaster - too cool, hu?) and I need to get back to that. Be well all and I'll write again when I get a moment. That at least brings you mostly up-to-date.
Out!
~ flowers bloom near Memory and Dream
at 12/27/2001 10:22:52 AM ~
~
