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.