Inkheart - Brace Yourself

The German children's book "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke opens in theaters tomorrow in a version starring Brandon Frasier. I mention this as a warning. While I have not seen the movie, I have read the book - this is NOT a children's book. Do NOT take your children to this movie, or allow them to read this book without previewing it yourself, first.

**Big Spoiler Warning - but I think you need it.**

I was excited when I found this book - I'm always hunting for something new to read, and this was a double blessing because I found it just before my sister's birthday. Instant present!

It begins very well, with an interesting premise. The father in the story has the ability to read stories aloud, so beautifully, that they actually come to life. Sounds promising, no?

This is when things take a turn toward the dark.

The man's wife is caught up in one of these living stories and sucked away from the real world, leaving him and his young daughter bereft. The daughter has no idea what became of her mother.

Now, that's rather scary, but what unfolds is down right terrifying. Enter a villain who is truly a villain - something out of an adult murder mystery - and this is no longer a children's book, or a young adult book, or even a book I'm willing to read a second time.

Sadly, I'd already ordered the sequel to the book (part of that present). It sits here on the shelf, unread. I'm not going to risk another of those terrifying scenes. I have nightmares enough, thank you.

Now, perhaps I'm just squeamish, but I don't think so. I'm not your typical Deseret Book reader and this book shocked and horrified me several times.

Hollywood usually louses up books. They ruin them in ways that make my teeth hurt. It's possible that they'll ruin this one also, but in doing so will make it watchable by children (and adults with imaginations). I hope so, but I'm not paying nine dollars to find out.


Edit:

I'd really love to hear other points of view also.
Turns out that two people, whose opinions I hold in high esteem, seem to think I'm stuffed full of wild blueberry muffins on this one. ;)

Well, one of them loved all the books and another didn't get freaked out until the second. I'm trying to cajole them into posting their comments here. Maybe you'll get a more balanced opinion.

Hey you "Twilight" movie fans!

To promote the movie in Brazil they've made an online "Twilight" game.
Apparently you play as Bella and roam around Forks High School late at night, trying to discover more about Edward.

Click here to see the site - "Crepúsculo".

I read about this in a journal entry over at deviantART. Here's more of what sunni-sideup had to say:

"And you get to be creepy! And you get to actually find a Twilight book! Because these aren't even the real characters, they are people who are BIZARRELY similar to the characters in Twilight and Edward has actually read it, and he is amazed at how close Stephenie got to the truth! I KNOW!

Anyway, you have to check it out. Just register and play! Downside: it's all in Portuguese! I can't fully appreciate the story, which makes me sad. But it's still awesome! You get to dig through Edward's locker! And see a letter written by his mother!!!"

Full text here.

Let me know if any of you play the game and/or speak Portuguese.
hehe =)

Bang and Whack!

This week started with a BANG!
Literally.

Remember that weird popping and dimming of the lights that heralded our old water heater's demise? Well, about 1 am I was lying in bed, reading (Yeah, yeah, it was a work night. But I had to finish!) when the lights did their thing again. I lay there and said, in effect. "No way. Has to be dirty power." and soon turned out the light and went to sleep.

The next morning my poor little sister tried to take a shower and found she had no hot water! She investigated and discovered black soot all around the electronics bay on the top of the water heater. grrrrrrr.....

That's right - we blew up the water heater.
Again!
Aren't we clever?

Turns out we have aluminum wiring for that circuit, and aluminum wiring and copper wiring are not happy with each other.

Now, I like to think of myself as an intelligent human being, and I'm pretty handy with electronics, but I've never come across aluminum wiring! Heck in the house where I grew up we had bare copper wires in the attic (circa 1920s). Dad just finished swapping them all out last year.

We've replaced plugs and switches, installed ceiling fans and lights and always encountered copper wire. Who knew that we had aluminum lurking in the walls?

The sorry, melted remains of the wiring, connectors and drip pan.


See that nice little hole drilled through the metal? And the spot above it where it almost melted through?
Isn't electricity fun?


I now know lots about aluminum wiring... more than I wanted to.
If you live in this area and your home is between 20 and 30 years old, beware - you might be having this fun and not be aware of it. Seems using aluminum wiring for the major appliances was quite the thing, and the resist that they used to connect the two metals dries out after a number of years, and when it does - POW!

Fortunately we have copper wiring for the rest of the house, or else I'd be crying right now.

Many thanks to the good people at George Morlan. They sent out a tech right away who explained things and showed us a wonderful little connector that solves the problem. Oh, and the water heater got a full checkup and passed - it was only the external wiring that fried. Hot water once again sloshes happily in our pipes.

That was the bang - the WHACK was my sister and I pruning the rose bushes in the back yard within an inch of their lives. We needed to clear the way so that we can replace the poor back fence which was on its last legs last year and is reeling this year.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest you probably had the same day we did - bright beautiful sunshine but frosty temperatures. It was cold and blowing, but we enjoyed ourselves. Hacking, slicing and chopping can be very therapeutic!

Before - ah what a tangled web. Mallory says Hi.


I remember my Mother making bread. Lots of bread. Really good bread.
With seven children to feed, making bread happens a lot, but when I was older she confided to me that the end result wasn't the only reason for making the bread. Kneading dough is a great way to get rid of your frustrations. Pound that dough for a bit and things start to look better (it also makes for a lovely crumb).
I suppose I have bread to thank for not getting my behind whooped more often! hehe!

After - lovely no? Sorry about the shadow, the afternoon was wearing down.


We ended up with frosty finger tips, lots of thorn punctures and a nicely pruned backyard. Ah, the joys of a job well done!

*cringe*

I can't believe that last post!
This is what happens when I am let loose near a computer after my brain has already gone to bed.
I need a minder.
Really I do.

While I'm here I'd like to mention how grateful I am for a warm home. My sister is currently in Minnesota, freezing her teeth off in the -36 degree weather!

Air stagnation in Oregon?
A small price to pay for having all ten toes.
(Just don't breathe too deeply.)

EEP! Just 4 more days until I start my New Year's Resolutions and I'm not quite ready yet! I'd better sign off and get shaking.

Bored...

Can you believe that I'm bored? Bored?!?
It's amazing.
It's unthinkable.
It's WRONG.

Of all the incredible things to do now days, and all the things to be had (electronics, of course hehe) and all the ways to keep in touch with people, being bored must be a crime.
Dagnabit, being bored should be a crime!
(Nothing else is a crime anymore, so why not... Oops. Don't get me started.)

I feel guilty about wandering around the house.
Even if I can't find a novel way to amuse myself, you'd think I could at least clean something!

With that threat hanging over me, I found something to do - retouch old photos.
No kidding. :)

Do you have some pictures that seemed like a good idea, but somehow never quite jelled? I've an entire harddrive full of them.

Here's one that I really liked. This was taken down at Beaver Creek Park, but the sun was too far gone and the photo was too grainy. Sooo.. presto, chango! I used a little Photoshop neon edges action and voila!


I think it turned out rather well, don't you?

How about this one?
It's the wetlands near my office. It was a rainy day and the water was all silver, but somehow I messed up the shot. It had no focal point, no drama.
So, this one got the watercolor treatment and now I think it's quite a nice little impressionist painting.


Finally, a foggy night in the back yard. I redid this photo six ways. It was too much fun to stop! However, here are two of them, for your amusement. (You MUST click on them to see them full size. Otherwise the effect is completely lost.)
Golden Fog - Watercolor

Golden Fog - Ink


I hope you're having an exciting evening, with no boredom in sight!
(If it looms just threaten yourself with cleaning duties and it will slink away.)


PS. Actually, I did these photos last year. But I wanted to post and I really was bored, so I embellished. A little. Kinda. =)

Bits and Bobs

Seems I have forty things going on, so here's a smattering to amuse you.

1) Just found out about "Project 365 - A Photo Everyday for 2009" and want to kick myself! I wish I'd heard of it sooner!
The challenge is to take a picture of something in your life every day, all year.

I really need this to get my creative juices running, so I guess I'll just start now and make it Project 355. (Can I post retroactively?? hmmm...)

2) The water heater is in and purring along nicely. We purchased it on Wednesday and the wonderful guys at George Morlan (insert ad here) delivered it for only $29 and carted away the old one for free. They even did it the same day! Sears, Home Depot and Lowes can't even touch that kind of service.

We did have some fun while switching the heater out. Take a look at what we found when we pulled the old tank out from the wall. Yipes.


I do a visual inspection of all our appliances at least quarterly, but I never had any idea that this damage was back there. The wall had a corresponding mark soaked into it, so my sister cut the dry wall out and replaced it with a waterproof foam panel. She also found and disposed of a mouse who had made himself a nice tomb between the walls. Blecho!
Fortunately it wasn't Calvin the Mouse. *wink*

Dad and Holly installed the new tank and I stood around and passed them tools and garbage bags. Yes, it was an arduous task.

I like to think of myself as a very handy person who can do whatever it takes, but I was pretty much useless on this occasion. No worries, I'm sure there will be others.

3) Cleaning up after the little flood I found a paper bag that seemed to be full of old unused stationery (1950s era) and very much used Christmas and birthday cards. A perfect item for the recycling bin. However I gave it to Mom to go through since it appeared to be Grandma's stuff. (Grandma lived with us here in Portland for a few years before she passed away.)

Mom started looking, and lo and behold it was full of old family photos and letters! Whew - I'm glad I didn't toss it!


There are even pictures of me as a baby.
Here's a Christmas card with me holding my little sister Bonnie and sitting next to my little brother Scott.

What can I say? The rumors are true. I was adorable.

We spent a fun afternoon trying to identify everyone in the pictures (and wishing Grandma had labeled more of them).

Mom also found a letter from one of my great great grandmothers who was living in St. George in the 1850/60/70 time frame. We haven't been able to date the letter (someone cut the stamps off) but here is an excerpt (spelling retained):
"When we heard the word of the conferance that the word of wisdom was given as a commandment we both comenced to observe it and I feel it to be a benefit. I am determined to continue to keep it believing the Lord will not ask of us more than we can do."

That touched my heart.


4) I've been trying my hand at Facebook, and yesterday my Mom created an account for herself. We're tracking down friends and family left and right. Beware - we'll be adding you when we find you!


5) Finally, and this one really makes me laugh, the Christmas lights finally came down from outside. Sadness! But it had to happen.

Holly took them down while I was at work and she found the oddest (most odd?) thing.

About two weeks ago one of the strands of lights on the pine tree on the corner suddenly stopped working about half way up. When Holly was unwinding the string from the limbs she noticed that one of the lights was sitting in a fork of the tree. Just sitting there. Not connected.

When she picked it up she saw teeth marks.

Some little squirrel had gnawed off one of the lights and tried to hide it in his stash! She found others, of the same color, that had also been gnawed on.

Well, they do kind of look like little bitty pine cones... so....

Holly says that the first squirrel was busy collecting these shiny tidbits when another squirrel came up, noticed what was happening and flicked the first one on the ear. "You nut! You can't eat those!"

Made me laugh - except that he ruined a perfectly good set of lights.
grrr...

Oh well, I have electrical tape and I know how to use it!

When it rains, it pours

Sunday night the lights on the north side of the house gave three big jolts and my parents ran upstairs to see if I'd electrocuted myself. (I hadn't. Hadn't even been using anything powered at the time.)

We checked out the fuse box and the garage, and though we could smell something pungent it wasn't a normal "hot" electrical smell, and it went away fairly quickly. However, we couldn't' get the starter on the furnace to work.

"Great," I thought, "Just what I need - to replace the furnace."

After resetting the circuit breakers and the thermostat the starter kicked in and the furnace ran and so we figured we'd dodged the bullet.

Monday morning my mom tried to take a shower and the hot water cut off half way through. Yup - it wasn't the furnace freaking out, it was the water heater.

So, tomorrow is our Christmas (January 7th, Russian Orthodox Christmas) and we'll be running down to buy and install a new water heater.

Thank heavens my Dad is here. He's the VERY best.
It's not that my sister and I couldn't do the installation (it's dead easy) but having a wonderful strong man around is so comforting. Not to mention the fact that he's done this a dozen times.

I need to brag about my Dad. He's notorious in my family for dropping everything and anything that he's doing and coming to the rescue. In fact, once my sister was in Canada and the transmission fell out of her car (seriously, it FELL out). He jumped in the car and drove to Canada to help her. How's that for a fabulous guy?
(No wonder I can't find Mr. Right. Who could possibly hold a candle to my Dad? hehe)

So - bring on the rain! We can handle it!