The Iron Lady

In February my Grandmother came to visit and we decided to spend some one on one time together. So we went to the movies at Canal Place, a theater that had comfortable seats and food service. We decided to see The Iron Lady, and both really loved it. The makeup itself was phenomenal, I couldn't tell that the elderly Margret was Meryl Streep. The movie was so well done, it jumped from time period to time period and although it was confusing, I feel like it was meant to be so, because Margret is confused. But by the end of the movie everything made sense.

One of the funny parts of the movie wasn't in the movie itself. The theater we were in was inside of a mall. And as Margret is driving with her daughter and talking about bombing, the screen goes blank and lights start flashing on both sides of the screen. It took me a second to realize that it wasn't a part of the movie, and that it was a fire drill. However just as people were starting to stand up, one of the attendants came in and told us that some "punks" had been pulling the fire alarms in the mall, and that the movie would start back up in a few minuets. I turned to my grandma and said "Well at least now we can see what we are eating." She laughed, and ten minuets later the movie started back up.

Overall, we both adored The Iron Lady and agreed during the credits that Meryl should get an Oscar for her performance.

Edit 2-26-2012: I am watching the Oscars right now. The Iron Lady has already won the Oscar for best makeup, now lets see if Streep wins for Best Actress.

Note: Looking like a live oscar statute with a standing ovation, Meryl Streep almost faints as she wins her third Oscar. Congrats Mrs. Streep!

Increadably Authentic

I know I haven't finished blogging about Ev's big new York bar mitzvah but I have to talk about where I was for Mardi Gras this year. My family and aunt, uncle, and cousin from Norway went to Eunice for Cajun Mardi Gras. It was at least a two hour drive, probably more, and by the time we got to Eunice for the night it was pretty late. We stood in the town square, or something like that, and people were standing around under a balcony drinking and having a good time. On the balcony were a bunch of people throwing cups, hats, shirts and most of all beads.

The next morning my aunt, uncle, cousin, dad and baby sister got up early and went to Mamou and Eunice for the scavenger hunt type thing. They ran around, begged for food, and tried to catch live chickens. My mom and I slept in and then drove together to Mamou. We parked outside of the family dollar, and saw this on the door.

Some things you will only see off the beaten track. Right off the parking lot was a field of dandelions, so I stopped, not to smell the flowers but to make a wish.

My mom and I caught up with the rest of the family, who were standing talking to a man with a stand about the origins of the festival. We caught the tail end of it but it was still a pretty cool shpeal. 

After talking to the man, my dad got some of his yummy popcorn balls. I am not normally a fan of that kind of thing, but they were yummy.

My dad seemed to really love it. We moseyed on down for a while, just enjoying the scenery and decided to get some hats. My baby sister and cousin got baseball caps, and I got a cowboy hat. The other two almost did, but couldn't find one that they liked. 

I think I fit right in don't y'all? The town was so interesting, full of life, music, dancing, and good food. At one point the parade rolled through, full of horses, and "floats" which were basically flatbeds pulled behind trucks. Beads were tossed, my aunt even caught one from muses. 

Little bit of local color, a birds nest, and my dads head

Afterwards we went back to Eunice. The parade was over but there was live music and good food. We all laid on the grass and listened to music. It was so picturesque and authentic. An experience I will never forget. 

Trip

Hello from the Grand Central Station Apple Store!

Slogan

Well, here I am in the Big Apple. You know how I said I was going to a bar mitzvah. Well its my cousin Ev's. Not only is he a fantastic singer but he is very very smart. If fact he and I are eating fortune cookies right now. Mine had two fortunes in it, how weird is that? Something about self love and wisdom in young beautiful people. Wait what was I talking about. Oh yea Ev.

After the friday night service, which was amazing by the way, we went back to his house to eat, and he decided to check out my blog for the first time. And I, taking advantage of his incredible brilliance, asked him to help me find a slogan. We tossed around a few ideas and finally came up with Always Done Never Finished. Ok when I say we, I mean Ev, I basically ate and vetoed.

NYC

I am currently sitting in the air port in my home town on my way to New York for a Bar Mitzvah. Gotta love free wi fi!

There Has Got To Be More!

I never really knew much about life in America in World War II. Great Depression, sure my Grandma grew up then and I have heard stories of when she grew up. The 50s well of course, its been portrayed and stereotyped in every TV show. But as far as life in America during the second world war, the extent of my knowledge stopped with the American Girl books.  Louise's War by Sarah R. Shaber, changed that slightly.

Louise's War is a spy murder mystery, written in the perspective of both Louise and her friend Rachel, who is married and lives in France at the start of the Second World War. That wouldn't be so bad, but Rachel is Jewish. She writes to her college roommate Louise, who she knows lives in Washington DC for help, and what happens next can only be described as a twisting plot, and at the end I honestly couldn't believe that the book was over. Luckily with the help of Lord Google I found my way to Shaber's website  and discovered that it is a series, so I will be able to find out Rachel's fate.

Your Trying To Mend a Broken Heart by Hitting it With a Hammer

Many of you know that my baby sister is adopted. I was seven when we adopted her, and thats just what our family has always looked like. Because of that, I know that when I have a family one day, I want to adopt also. The old saying that blood is thicker then water has a somewhat different meaning for me. My baby sister is my blood, even if the blood that runs in her veins is different then mine.

I don't know my baby sisters background. We have her birth mothers name somewhere, although I have never seen it. We don't know if she is alive or not, married or not, why she gave up my baby sister. Or at least as far as I know we don't, my mom and dad might. However when illagetament children were born in the US about 200 years ago, it was put on their birth certificates. In a time where people were incredibly conservative, this being discovered could ruin someones life.

Blossoms in the Dust is the story of Edna Gladley who after emense tragedy in her personal life, opens up an orphanage and eventually works to have the records of illagitamicy removed. The movie was made in 1941, and is stunning. The acting is superb and the costumes are breath taking. I recorded it on Turner Classic Movies, which is quickly becoming my favorite channel. There are so many amazing movies that are in danger of being lost to the ages. I would recomend Blossoms in the Dust to everyone, it is both heart warming and heart breaking.

Widget!

Some of you may notice the new widget on the side bar. Its from GoodReads, and its the 2012 reading challenge. Well as much as I love the good people at GoodReads, they don't realize that some people start challenges outside of the new year. So the widget may say 2012 reading challenge but it is counting my 100 books one year challenge, from August to August.

Blind Pianist. Sounds Plausible

Many people take piano lessons when they are young. I know I did. I spent almost six years in piano and still can not play to save my life. However some kids can play really well, and a few of them are incredibly talented. Such as Maria-Theresa von Paradis, who was not only an amazing pianist but was also blind. She is portrayed in a novella called Pianist in the Dark by Michéle Halberstadt. Maria-Theresa can not see but is one of the best pianist of her age. However her parents take her to an experimental therapy to try and regain her sight. What follows is something that can only be described as Dark Romantic style writing, showing that only disaster will follow if people strive for perfection. I read Pianist in the Dark in about two hours, probably less, but it was perfect. Short but well written with a clear moral and fantastic imagery. I loved it. 

Land of the Free Home of the Brave

I was born in the United States of America, and like most Americas some of my recent family are immigrants. My Grandma Great Grandma and Grandpa on my mothers side all immigrated to the USA after World War II. My fathers side immigrated a lot farther back, the first recorded ancestor is John Rouse who came to America in 1717 from Germany, and was sold into indentured servitude by the captain of his ship.

Living in the United States I feel like I have grown up taking for granted many important things. Although rights are not 100% equal for women, it is a lot better here then some places. Our government isn't perfect, but when is one? You can not please everyone, and it is hard to find a balance. Not to say that I think that things are fine here, and I agree that we need to strive for better, but honestly many citizens should look around the rest of the world and realize that we are doing pretty well over here. I would change a few things, but change is coming and hopefully soon everyone really will be equal. When our constitution was written, the meaning of all men are created equal was that all white land owning men were created equal. But over the years, and after a few bloody and unfortunate wars, equality has spread. And in the next decade I hope to see the United States prosper and give everyone the inalienable rights to Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. It is what our country was founded upon and we need to strive harder to make those dreams a full and incontestable reality.

The Happiest Place on Earth

When I was a little girl, my family went to Disney World. I was five, and it was myself, my mother, my father, my Grandma Luna, and my Uncle Dave. Dave isn't really my uncle, but he and my father have been friends since far before I came along. And somehow I just got into the habit of calling him Uncle Dave.

I grew up in with Disney cartoons, far before the age of Miley Cyrus and before the world figured out that all the Disney girls ended up with drug addictions and alcohol problems. On the family trip to Yosemite, also with my Grandma Luna, we listened to the Little Mermaid soundtrack so many times that to this day I know it by heart. And much to my fathers dislike he does too. But by far Beauty and the Beast was my favorite princess. She was strong, smart and beautiful. And unlike the rest of them she didn't need a prince to save her. Not that five year old me really thought about that aspect of it all, but she was my favorite. When I was two I sat through Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, much to the amazement of my family, and when I was three I was her for Halloween. Going to Disney World she was the princess I wanted to see most.

This year my family went to Disney World again, this time it was just me, my mom and dad, and my baby sister. We went to a few parks, but over all I loved going to Disney World. As soon as I got on the parking lot tram I reverted back to my five year old self. It was lovely. We road splash mountain and space mountain, two things that I never thought I would do in a million years.


We went to the Hall of Presidents, and like a said earlier road the buzz light year ride and lot totally and were stuck for something like ten or twenty minuets. My dads game maxed out in fact, just proving that he loves gaming more then he is willing to admit.

I even got to see Belle, although it was not as magical as I remembered.

Me and Belle

My family and I also saw the daily flag retreat, which I had learned about a few days before from some of my friends at Soldiers Angels. The color guard played and the flag was lowered and given to a veteran, one of the more touching parts of the day.

All of our Heros should be honored like this

The fire works were one of the more amazing parts of the night, the way the fire works lit up the nights sky and played in time with some of my favorite Disney songs. It was magical, incredibly magical.

I also learned from a few people working there about internships offered at the parks. You stay in dorms, although the price is taken out of your pay, and even earn college credit for it amazingly enough. The people I talked to really seemed to love it, in fact one of them was on an extension of her second internship. People come from colleges all over the world and you end up meeting loads of people around your age from ever corner of the globe and have the opportunity to work in every aspect of the park, from maintenance to food to shops to character work. It sounds like the experience of a life time.

Welcome Home

On the first full day of our stay in Orlando, my family went to Universal. I was the last one up but the first one out the door, dressed in my robes and ready to go! I was filled with the same anticipation I normally have on the drive to camp, but we were lucky to go when we did. The lines were long but they would be twice as long during the summer. We got into the parks and headed over to one of the parks, Universal, figuring that it was where the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was. My Dad bought the tickets and we went into the park before we figured out that the Wizarding World was in Islands of Adventure, the other park. Luckily Guests Services helped us out with our tickets and we were all set to go.

Let me explain for anyone who has never been to Universal how the layout works. Universal as a whole is in three parts. Two parks and then a whole bunch of shops and even a movie theater. There are some hotels sprinkled in there somewhere. But you do have to pay two admissions to get in if you want to go to both parks. Or screwed up and bought the wrong tickets...

Eventually we walked over to Harry Potter world and my baby sister and I practically ran to the entrance. We ate at the Three Broomsticks that day for lunch. The food was really good for theme park food, and the butter beer was just how I thought it would be. It tasted like cream soda and happiness. Afterwards we headed over to the Forbidden Journey ride, where my baby sister decided that she didn't want to wait in the long line, and neither did the rest of my family.

That was fine with  me, I just headed over to the singles line and ended up meeting a really cool family from Puerto Rico. The ride itself was so real, I felt like I was flying and was totally swept into the ride. It was a dream come true for a Harry Potter fanatic for life like myself.

I met my family outside of the ride and my mom and baby sister went to Seussland and my dad and I waited in line for the wand experience. The line was about 40 minuets, but the woman running the cue said that it normally is about two and a half hours. We were at the front of the line for our session and were positioned right by the latter where Ollivander walks down and because of that, and the fact I was in robes I was chosen to do the wand picking, and had the wand pick me. It was reed with a core of dragon heart string meaning that I was passionate and a good leader. The wand picking felt incredibly real and magical.

After the wand picking I took off my robes and spent the rest of the day with a friend and his mother inside Islands of Adventure. He was on a college tour and spent the night over at Universal before flying home. We did the Forbidden Journey ride again and a few others, including the gigantic Hulk roller coaster. It was scary and exhilarating.

Tune in next time to hear about my family going to the happiest place on earth, Lego Land, and Epcot. Have y'all gone to any of these parks? Do you have a zany story to tell? If so, share it in the comments! Especially if the wand chose you. In that case I want to know what wand and what it means.