Worth It - Waste It

This weekend I didn't get to watch as many movies as I usually do, but I did get a lot of reading and writing done.

Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star - this is the second in the Fablehaven series. If you have not started to read the series yet, I recommend it. I believe it to be a very creative idea for a stories. The characters are enjoyable even when evil. This one does a good job of making you not totally aware of who is fighting for good and evil until it is absolutely necessary to find out. Kendra is now blessed with new powers which she continues to learn throughout the story and since no one is able to compare what happened to her in the first story - there continue to be surprises which I am sure will surface in future stories. Thankfully the third in the series is out Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague but the fourth in the series doesn't come out until April 2009. I have also picked up his new book and it is the next I am starting on - The Candy Shop War. Brandon Mull could easily become one of my favorite writers.

I made quite a bit of work towards finishing Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. I started the book several years ago and got about halfway through. An old classmate of mine has re-perked the interest for me to finish it. I am enjoying it, but there is so much sarcasm and Biff basically claims to have invented just about everything (I think he just discovered matches, lol). For some reason it is a lot to take in - I think it will become one of my car books to read when I am on the road and possibly waiting for friends and/or appointments.

Now I have not been on a good run of movies lately - in fact, have been more than a little irritated about them. I recently watched The Sasquatch Gang and while I realize that I only have myself to blame - they are promoting it as made by the same people who make Napoleon Dynamite, so I had some hope of enjoying it. I didn't.

Last night I considered going to see The Happening as I love M Night Shyamalan's stuff and Mark Wahlberg - so it was win, win, right? Well, I made the mistake of looking at the yahoo critiques/users ratings and saw that it is getting a C by the critique and the Yahoo users are giving it a C-. Well, that and some article on Yahoo's home page saying 'nothing happens in The Happening,' swayed me to reconsider.

So I stuck in movie which I have been wanting to see called Breakfast With Scot. It's a gay themed movie which is absolutely delightful. The story is great, the actors are spectacular. The message is wonderful and the feeling I got from finishing that movie was very happy and peaceful. This one is a movie I highly recommend and give 5 stars to as well.

Reading and Watching

I am about 3/4's the way through the second Fablehaven story by Brandon Mull (and loving it). I tend to read it over my lunch hour. I was planning on finishing it last week, but got sidetracked when the new Odd Thomas - Odd Hours came out. I love that character. I actually had it as a book on tape. I have to admit that the first and second books are still my favorite, and while I enjoyed it, it was not one of my favorites. However, I did love the end. I won't spoil it, but I loved the end. I want to finish the second Fablehaven book, to get to the third which I also have - seriously good books people. I also picked up some new books to read - and tried reading the new Stephanie Meyers book, The Host. I am having a hard time getting into it. I think I thought it was going to be another vampire book, that was written specifically for adults and it isn't. I think I know the direction it is going, but am still unsure. I am not enjoying it as much, so I have put it off for now. I have several others I could be reading that I will focus on at this time instead.

I have been catching up on some of my shows that I tape throughout the year to catch up on during down time. No movies have been grabbing me that I have to see them right this minute - there is still a couple of tear jerkers which I haven't had the heart to watch yet, but I will. And I have also enjoyed a new show that I have never watched before - Step Up and Dance - on Bravo. I love it (if I am honest I probably watched it more for the two straight guys which I have true crushes on), but I am enjoying the show. I can't stop listening to Rhianna's Umbrella ever since they had the challenged to learn part of the background dancers' steps. I am thinking that those kind of things would be a great wieght-loss program (don't you) practicing the dances from musicals and music videos? I have said it before, but have never tried it.

My weight-loss group met last night and I was the biggest loser for the last 6 weeks - we are doing another 6 week challenge, so I have to up my game, maybe creating my own exercise program with some of these dvd's is the way to go (I have always wanted to move my hips like Shakira in Hips Don't Lie - now's my chance!!!)