These days, I am all about "Mirrormask." I don't know why, but I have been thinking about this movie a lot recently-- loving the look of it, the story, the originality-- and then there is a song on the "Where's Neil When You Need Him" compilation by the Cruxshadows called "Wake the White Queen," and I played it yesterday while I was painting trim in the bathroom and then again this morning on my way to work.

Something's up with Mirrormask; I have to figure out why all the sudden I am on this kick for a movie I've really, really liked for over a year now, but never gave it this much dedicated thought until now. Hmm. Well, either way, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend checking it out (provided that you are cool with fantasy, strange images and cats with human faces, among other things. If you're more of a "The Departed" person, notthatthere'sanythingwrongwiththat, you might not love it like I do, just be forewarned).

I really enjoy the Bobs.


So anyway, Thanksgiving was nice. We didn't do much cooking since we picked up a prepared meal from the grocery store the morning of, and just spent some time doctoring up the stuffing and green bean casserole before my Mom came over to join us. We just didn't have it in us to make an entire Thanksgiving dinner this year... poor Greg is cooked-out after all the homecoming chili and wedding rehearsal dinner food. And I am STILL afraid of turkey gizzards, so my hands were tied. But really, the dinner turned out pretty well and we all stuffed ourselves appropriately. I loved how mellow the day was, overall, and how we actually got the dogs to stay away from the dining table as we ate. They looked SO HUNGRY and DESPERATE and PLEASEOHGODPLEASE GIVE US SOME FOOD! But they were well-behaved and stayed in the doorway for the most part; Hailie doing a super-adorable thing where she peeked her face around the corner so we only saw part of a snout and one pleading brown eye.

Greg and I saw Casino Royale on Friday afternoon, and it was pretty good. It was my first Bond film. I have never seen anything with James Bond in it; mostly because the usual Bond-reliance on gadgets, fancy cars and beautiful women seemed to get in the way of any storylines that might have lured me in. But, this year I read a decent article in some magazine talking about the new movie, and how Daniel Craig is more of a 'gritty' Bond and the story actually mentioned the plotline before what models of cars were being touted in this movie, and my interest was raised. Greg wanted to see the movie, and because of this article I'd read, I did, too. I'm glad we did, because it was kind of fun and I really loved Judi Dench. M seems like the type of character I'd want to play if I ever go back to acting again.

I could have done without the graphic nuts-being-pummeled scene, though. Christ. Being a woman, I obviously don't have little fellas of my own, but I swear I could feel phantom balls-pain while watching that scene. The theater was SILENT as every person in there froze and clenched up in phantom balls-pain along with me. I don't even recall the obligatory, "OOOHH!" that some guy always seems to yell out when there is any scene with anyone being hit in the nuts. So you know this scene was bad. I'd go so far as to say it's somehow grosser and more tortuous than the crap they did in "Hostel" or "Saw." You just don't tie a naked dude to a chair with the seat cut out and slam him repeatedly in the scrotes with a knotted rope. No, sir.

Well, other than eating turkey and watching Bond get his balls whacked, we did other stuff this weekend, too. On Saturday we took a grueling (for me) hike up the mountain formerly known as Squaw Peak with Hailie and Indy. I am SO out of shape since I've skipped out on going to the gym for over two months now. But it was so nice outside, and the trail is pretty fun, so there we were.

I thought I was about to develop asthma right there on top of the summit we reached. My lungs were tight and breathing was so hard I was wheezing. I felt nauseous. But once I got moving again, I was fine. Still...hiking kicks the SHIT out of me. I love it. And I must say, I loved hiking with the dogs, too. Indy helped pull my slow ass up the mountain, all while assisting me in keeping my balance. This was the very first hike we've taken him on, and he seemed to love it. Hailie is a great hiker, too-- she is an excellent climber of rocks and seems content to jog alongside Greg rather than pull him down the trail like a maniac. I was just having a blast watching the dogs sniff and explore their surroundings, and having Indy actually make eye contact with me when I called his name when we were alone on the trail. He's getting better.

We did other stuff, like go furniture-browsing for possible dining room tables and watching "Scrubs" (see new blog quote above) on Comedy Central and staying up late to watch "The Venture Brothers," even though it was a repeat last night. It was a decent four day escape.

Now, I am wishing for something totally random: Pop Rocks. Strawberry. I haven't had them in so long, and I feel like having them right now. This too shall pass, as they say.

Time to go. This quote is for the Venture Brothers fans out there:
The Monarch: "What a dick move!"