Frame of Reference

I've been putting off updating for a little while. I recently finished the book Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts and I wanted to really formulate a well written review. However, I find that virtually impossible. The book is so large and covers so many themes. Suffice it to say I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to everyone with a fair warning that it comes in at almost 1000 pages and some of the narrative gets pretty deep. I've never read a book like it though. It was eye-opening and awe inspiring. This weekend was a blast! I think I'm turning into one of those weekend warriors. All business and laziness during the week and then as soon as the weekend comes it's full throttle fun. We went white water rafting. Since we are experiencing a drought the river was a little low. It was so much fun though. Whenever we'd get stuck on a rock everyone had to jump out and push. We tipped down one falls and lost two people. I put sunscreen on but nose and knees got burned anyw...

I had a wonderfully exciting weekend and I just have to throw a shout-out to Heidi for getting the Cranberries stuck in my head. Loads of thanks chica. Friday --> Work just dragged on and on. This only supports my theory of time warps and wormholes. Well, not -my- theory. I didn't come up with it, I just support it! That evening we watched Sybil. Wow! Very disturbing and heart-wrenching. For it's time it was wonderfully directed and Sally Field just blew my mind. I highly recommend it. I don't think young kids should watch it however, there are disturbing images. Really, really disturbing images. I had the tornado dream again. I'm starting to think I should keep track of these things. Write down when I have them and what happens before and after the dreams. Just an idea. I don't know. Saturday --> Had a 5 am wake-up call. I biked the Cades Cove loop with my boss and his family. It was approx 11.1 miles. I was feeling it! I was also extremely glad that his ki...

I've returned from the 'grand' state of Oklahoma a changed person. Some might think this a drastic statement since I was only there for 5 days, but considering the company I was in and the experiences I had, it -is- a true statement. My eyes were opened to the amount of suffering my family endures. I'm sure it's not just my family. It just seems that comparatively speaking my family seems to have a lot of 'bad luck'. But what amazes me is everyone's strength and will. No matter what happens to them in their day to day lives they continue on and they find happiness. Even myself. Maybe it's just a part of human nature. Maybe the cliche is true (What doesn't kill you makes you stronger). I don't know what it is exactly. I just know that sitting there and looking around at my family I was impressed. I was proud of our 'clan'. We may not be the richest or the most talented and gifted. We may not be where we pictured ourselves....but we can...

That's what my bosses are doing today. They make us work on Memorial Day and then question why we aren't busy. But hey, why should I care? I'm getting paid to sit here and read. It's just that sometimes I can't help feeling I'm stuck in a Saturday detention. Doesn't help that half of the employees called in 'sick' today. Maybe I'm just jealous and bitter. I did have a wonderful weekend though! We went to the lake on Saturday and couldn't have asked for better weather. Had a BBQ, soaked up some sun, went home and slept. I watched Trainspotting while I unpacked some more boxes. It was disturbing to say the least and the baby, TRAUMATIZING. Johnny Lee Miller is absolutely adorable though. On Sunday we went to the theater and saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End . I was a little 'iffy' about it because I had read it was over 2 1/2 hours long. The second one wasn't very good in my opinion, but I decided to give this one a ...

Well, my mother is still alive. We thought she was a 'gonner' for sure. I was even beginning to think about which songs I wanted played at her funeral. Thank the heavens she saw the doctor and got everything taken care of though. I think she might just stick around for a few more years. I subscribed to the blockbuster mailing list thing so that I could have a chance to watch all of the "GREAT" movies that our local blockbuster just doesn't have anymore. Last night though I watched a more recent release, "Catch and Release" starring Jennifer Garner. It wasn't that great. I would give it a 1.5 out of 5. I think that Kevin Smith really carried the movie. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE Jennifer Garner, this just wasn't an exciting character. My favorite part of the movie is when Jennifer's character paints her room a light blue color. Kevin Smith walks in: "You painted the room.....It looks like a TAMPON BOX!!" I snickered. I...

: Random Thought of the Day : Idle Hands are the devil's playground. Isn't that what they say? What is an Idle Mind then? Must be something much more dangerous than simply having idle hands. I rented " My Own Private Idaho " a couple of nights ago. It's pretty trippy. I looked it up and it's supposed to be based on a William Shakespeare play. Isn't everything nowadays? I didn't like the dialogue. During the scene in the abandoned hotel when they were directly quoting Shakespeare, I felt it really took them out of the movie. My favorite character was Scott played by Keanu Reeves. I was intrigued with the notion of a 'rich boy' slumming with every intention of going back to his privileged life. River Pheonix's character was almost too apathetic for me. True, he showed emotion and I even felt sorry for him...but he was just too listless and blase about his whole situation. I don't think anyone who falls asleep in one city and wakes up in a...

We have a dry erase bored in our office and sometimes I get in a goofy mood and draw things on it. All appropriate of course, I mean..I do work in an office surrounded by children. Yesterday afternoon I was doodling during a slow period and I ended up drawing a Zombie squirrel. It was nothing exciting. A 1st grader could have drawn it. It was just two circles with arms sticking out and a huge tail with zombie eyes. *shrugs* I thought it was cute. You wouldn't believe the stir this critter caused. I walked in this morning and everyone is asking me why I drew a zombie squirrel. It was funny at first but after the 5 th question I was getting pretty irritated. Why the freak does it matter???? Is a zombie squirrel -SO- outlandish? My goodness. I watched "Stomp the Yard" last night. It was very entertaining, but not that much different, story wise, from " Drumline ". I would recommend it just for the incredible dancing though. Wow!! I also finished reading "Sacr...