Brought to You by the Extra Swoop

You know...that one that made you think it was a "G" until that fateful day your world came crashing in and you learned it was just an embellishment.  Today for reasons unknown to me I had an urge to have a Disney princess day. Yes I sang along with every song and yes I recited the most classic lines along with the characters. I noticed a few things as well.... (N.B. I do not own the rights to any of these images.)

1. The leading male characters must not only be in touch with their feminine side enough to burst out into perfect melody, but they must be also be so in tune with their mounts that they share the same emotions.
   
   [caption id="attachment_83" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="You have HOW many jelly beans?"][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_106" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="It's ok I don't have a name either."][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_85" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="We must be tense and perhaps angry while thinking!"][/caption]


2. If you aren't a female lead--and you wear a dress--then you will be stuck in a monochromatic garb that will have little variance from your also not-as-important counterparts. In one case this really isn't fair because they have more lines and on screen time than the princess ever got.
   
   [caption id="attachment_109" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Not only that but this makeup makes us look cheap!"][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_96" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="You know...my chin has been rubbed raw from this silly hat!"][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_90" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="We're so interchangeable that in different shots that the artists don't notice they often switch hairstyle/dresses on us."][/caption]


3. You can never, no not ever, trust someone in purple. If they seem somewhat trustworthy, tell them you won't believe them until they go change their clothes.
   
   [caption id="attachment_105" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Fear my menacing pigtails!!!"][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_102" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="My powers are so strong that I can not only make fabric fly out, but also completely cover my wrist at all times!"][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_97" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="I like to color coordinate with my "friends on the other side""][/caption]
   
   On this subject I will not be stopping at three pictures!
   
   [caption id="attachment_100" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Child labor laws!?!? "][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_95" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Evil means never having to mess with your hair."][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_86" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Her freaking skin is purple!! That's a "Danger Will Robinson" if I ever saw it!!"][/caption]

The final image I will leave with you is something I found at http://angelfromanotherpin.blogspot.com/2010/01/in-villain-drag.html which is just one of the coolest things I've ever seen!

[caption id="attachment_98" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="I just wish it had been expanded to include all the girls and their villians."][/caption]

For Sale Don'ts #2

Well the houses we looked at really didn't have much selling don'ts going on for me to make a post about them. I did, however, come upon more listings with selling don'ts, so we shall not want for a theme. :-)

1. My first point is primarily for architects than it is for sellers. Though, if you do intend to sell, then you really should address the issue and not wait around for any of the builders, designers, and inspectors--all who should have addressed this issue--to fess up and fix it. A shower should not ever have a normal-sized window in it. You would be surprised how many houses I have come across that have this Well-hello-Mr. Smith-while-you-are-mowing-your-lawn-could-you-see-if-this-looks-cancerous feature. One could argue that the area wasn't originally designed to have a shower there. True, but when someone made it into one, don't you think it should have been considered? When having the job done--hopefully by a professional because I don't want to think the damage that could have been done by an amateur--one could request the window to be walled up or have the glass replaced by those glass cubes that obscure the view.  I wonder if they just thought, "Selling the house. Not my problem." It is if it never sells.
   
   [caption id="attachment_69" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="I noticed--while trimming the hedges--that you forgot to wash behind your ears."][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_74" align="alignnone" width="179" caption="This is much better"][/caption]


2. I don't have a long, lovely paragraph for the next two photos, but I do have two words: just no.
   
   [caption id="attachment_70" align="alignnone" width="179" caption="Beware the ghost of the rectangle!!!"][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_71" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Please don't say you're taking the broken rod with you!!"][/caption]


3. The following photos make me think that the owners didn't quite understand what a "hot property" meant, so they went with the smoky look. Nothing like previously-went-through-a-fire make the offers come pouring in--how punny! :-)
   
   [caption id="attachment_72" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Mixing vertical and horizontal stripes? Bold move, seller, bold move."][/caption]
   
   [caption id="attachment_73" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Now with authentic grill flavoring!"][/caption]

While continuing the search for our  first home, I will keep my eyes open for more offenders. Due to the fact that we want to buy as quickly as possible I probably should feel bad about hoping to find more!

What's Trending

I don't mean that in the Twitter sense.  Below you will find my 3 pertain to subjects that I have recently delved into for many an hour.

1. Movies: I've recently gotten into watching as many movies as I can. I spent nearly an entire day on TMC watching a collection of movies directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The majority of the movies shown had wonderful banter and charming characters. According to IMDb "...[Lubitsch] took up serious subjects and spiced them with elegance, sophistication, cynicism and witty lines - [His trademark] became known as "the Lubitsch Touch." (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0523932/bio) With a combination such as that it is no wonder that I enjoyed the movies. Of his that I've seen and can recommend are "The Shop Around the Corner" (which is what "You've Got Mail" is based upon), "To Be or Not to Be"--a tale of actors taking on the Gestapo, and "Ninotchka"--in which a loyal Communist Russian falls for a lighthearted Frenchman. If I had to choose one to recommend, it would be "To Be or Not to Be" because you've probably already seen "You've Got Mail" and you don't have to wait long at all for the quick wit to begin. Other movies genres that have appealed to me are foreign films with subtitles such as "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days" and "Amelie" and ones about the British monarchy/upper class as portrayed in "Young Victoria" and "The Duchess." The films with subtitles I find help me be less fidgety and force me to focus on the story. The historical dramas capture me as they show a world focused on strict decorum, extravagant clothing, and often for me an inside smile on how the husband curses his wife for being incapable of producing a male heir when he is the one to blame. N.B. Please review ratings before viewing--especially with children
2. Baking: Although I haven't had as much time (or money or mouths) to focus on this one as I have the first, I have enjoyed my experiments with "how-to's" that I've found online and trying them in the kitchen. For my husband's birthday I made a rainbow-marbled cake and it turned out quite nicely. All you do is make the cake according to directions, but before you put the batter in the pan divide it into several bowls and add whatever food coloring you desire. Then pour the bowls one by one into the pan and try to spread the color evenly. It won't bake in straight lines of color, but rather it will marble itself. It looks fantastic when it's been cut.
   

   

   See how evenly I cut it?
3. Eragon: I'm currently on the third book of the Inheritance trilogy, Brisingr, and I'll be perfectly honest--I have no idea if "Inheritance" should be in quotes or underlined, but I'll go with the whole if-it-sits-on-a-shelf-you-underline-it rule. Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr are a tale about a boy finding a dragon and the two of  them learning the responsibility of their friendship as well as growing up and trying to stay alive along the way. It is a well thought series that I believe can be enjoyed by anyone of any age--although younger kids my not want to sit still long enough for the hundreds of pages in each book. My only qualms with the books are that I've noticed some mistakes editing has missed and sometimes a few of the names can be confusing as to who is actually involved so I have to stop and reread or even once compare a name with another to see if it was the same person or not. I'm on page 155 of Brisingr and hopefully by the time I finish I can spell that without having to check every time. ;-) Oh and I hear the book-to-movie is awful with over 50 differences from the book and film. So, if you enjoy the series, don't watch the movie--apparently it's almost as bad as Ella Enchanted was. (Note Ella Enchanted is underlined because I will never refer to the blasphemous "interpretation" of the book when I can focus on the glorious book instead. Another rant for another time.)

This weekend we are going to look at some houses! YAY! So maybe next post I'll do some more selling don'ts.