Goblet of Fire & Order of the Phoenix

We enjoyed the heck out of the last 2 films and even finished on time. It amazes me that the movies keep getting better and I can't wait for the next 2. And Luna - so magical! Cake and presents during the break, plus some wizard inspired rock talk courtesy of The Mudbloods. A fablous day and one of my very favorite birthday celebrations of all time. Huge props to Laura J., who made it through her first movie marathon in flying colors, even after a 6 am run. Big thanks to everyone for the food, company and "well mannered frivolity." Here's one last photo of me in my Harry Potter t-shirt and birthday ribbon from Topher & Carolee:

Prisoner of Azkaban

Yep, this is still one of my favorites. Beautiful cinematography and such fabulous attention to detail. Here's Laura, Topher and Carolee in full "cuddle down" mode:

The Chamber of Secrets

The kiddos are clearly getting older, Chris Columbus is more assured, and the CGI is cooler (esp the Quidditch). We're all stuffed on the delicious snacks, including: apple scones (homemade by Sandy), Topher's healthy goodness muffins, fruit and veggie tray, 3 different sandwich loaves (again, thank you, Sandy!), Laura's hummus and tzatziki, and Carolee's chocolate muffins. I can't eat another bite, until it's time for cake. Here's a photo of Carolee, Yamila and Brecken around the table during the first break:

The Sorcerer's Stone

Was as fabulous as I remembered. We marveled the whole time at how young and tiny they all looked. Having technical difficulties, so I think I'll post all the photos at the end.

Happy Harry Potter Day!

Technically my birthday was Thursday, but today is the day we're celebrating. I've convinced 15 of my closest friends to join me for an all day Harry-Potter-a-Thon - we're an hour before starting and I'm literally giddy with anticipation.

I'll try to blog about it throughout the day, but as you can see we're on a pretty tight schedule:

Movie Start End Break
Sorcerer's Stone (2001) 9:00 AM 11:32 AM 0:28
Chamber of Secrets (2002) 12:00 PM 2:41 PM 0:19
Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 3:00 PM 5:21 PM 0:39
Goblet of Fire (2005) 6:00 PM 8:37 PM 0:23
Order of the Phoenix (2007) 9:00 PM 11:18 PM

John organized everything and made the awesome chart and will I'm sure be keeping us on schedule. Sandy was cooking all evening yesterday and has arranged for others to bring treats to share. Oh, and then there's the Earthquake cake from Schlotzksy's which is my absolute favorite:

They called me Ma'am at the Tattoo Parlor

Yesterday marked 6 months exactly since I picked out my ink, so I headed over to True Blue in the afternoon with my tiny drawing in hand. The studio was brighter and cleaner then I'd expected, with loads of awesome artwork on the walls and rockabilly on the stereo. Lee (who it turns out did Jen's neat Warhol banana) was behind the counter playing on YouTube, where he repeatedly watched this admittedly pretty cool video of a dog attacking a shark. The super cute artist Briza exclaimed "it's so small!" when I showed her what I wanted, but after that she was very sweet about me being old and kindof lame. In the span of the 45 minutes or so that I was there, they called me ma'am twice and referred to me "as this nice lady" another 3 times. (sigh)

I was a little nervous, but went through with it anyway. It actually didn't hurt at all, I was more freaked out that the sound of the needle reminded me of the dentist. The prep took a little while, but after all of 5 minutes of actual needle time, I was bandaged up and sent on my way.

I like how it looks, and I like having it. We'll see how I feel about it once I get used to it, I guess. It's somewhat hidden (on my back between my shoulder blades), so right now it's kindof like wearing super fancy a-team underwear. I know it's there and I get to decide who to show it to.

The Year of the Handstand, Continued

My 30th year was supposed to be the year that I learned how to do a free standing handstand as part of my yoga practice. (I like to set goals for myself each year - run a marathon, do a triathalon, etc - and as I get increasingly devoted to yoga the handstand seemed like a good idea). I adopted a more serious practice, started going to more Ashtanga and advanced classes, and hired a personal trainer to help with strength/balance issues.

So here I am 4 days before my 31st birthday. Probably loads closer to my goal, but it still doesn't feel anywhere close. Mandy's advanced hatha class today was generally really fun and inspiring, but when we were paired up to work on handstands, I was a bit dismayed to be paired with a gorgeous and amazing yoga teacher who I'm really intimidated by. She was helpful and not at all judge-y, but I still kindof felt like a loser.

Craft Services

Just finished what is hopefully the last night of shooting for our submission for the Rewind Kindly Filmmaking Frenzy. Even though I'm not in this one, or hanging out in a sweltering shed reeking of creamed corn, this has taken a lot out of me. Longer shoot and too many cooks in the kitchen, basically. Plus I'm just tired lately and fretting that I don't have enough time to do the things that I love to do. Lord help me if I ever have kids.

The one part that I do get a kick out of is my self-proclaimed role as head of craft services. I've been more into cooking for the last few years, but between no-spenduary (which I should probably explain at some point) and mostly working from home I've been going overboard with the home cooked meals lately. Tonight was Spicy African Peanut Soup, salad, and a tofu chocolate mousse for dessert. Good stuff.

Meet Miss Hannigan

Miss Hannigan and I were feeling mopey today and since I work from home on Tuesday she's been sitting at my feet looking up at me with her best mournful eyes, the ones that accuse "why are you just sitting here when we could be out playing?"

Despite the slightly cold and wet weather I ducked out of work a few minutes early to take her for a run in the park at the new Mueller development. She's actually the perfect running partner cause she loves to sprint then take periodic stops to smell stuff (leaving me a few moments to catch my breath). She looks back at me with the biggest grin on her floppy face, and it's so much fun to run full out for those moments that I imagine I have the same goofy smile.

We're been going over to the park more ever since a neighbor yelled at us about being in her yard the other day. I'm trying to be understanding (maybe she had a bad dog experience, maybe other dog owners let their dogs crap in her yard then don't pick it up), but then I look at this face and I think maybe it's just that neighbor lady's heart is three sizes too small:

Okay, I never thought I'd be one of THOSE kind of dog owners, but it's a bumble-bee costume! I'm not made of stone, people.

Practice

Went to Ashtanga yesterday for the first time in about a month. Such a humbling experience. I've been working out in the mean time and would have said that I'm in pretty good shape at the moment. Apparently not. One of the things that I've always loved about yoga is that I get to use completely different muscles, and they're all making themselves known today. I'm resolved to get back into a regular practice. There are some so many beautiful things to aspire to. For example:

The rest of the weekend was pretty filled up with our most recent film project and preparations for the house remodel. Kindof one of those weekends that left me wanting a weekend, actually.

To Boston and Back

Quick trip to Boston Thursday & Friday for meetings with my team. We mostly meet virtually (since we have 1 in Chicago, 2 in Austin, 1 in DC and 3 in Boston) but try to get some face time every quarter or so. I love everyone I work with, and of course had a great time. The highlight was dinner at Sorrelina - I had an incredible butternut squash ravioli in a fig and brown butter sauce, and sampled some of the out of this world truffled garlic fries. After dinner, we headed over to Bar 10 (conviently located in the hotel where I'd later pour myself into bed). Good times.

On the plane ride home I read most of a really fabulous book called Hunting and Gathering. I've been really loving a lot of books lately (thank you, Scott Westerfeld and Rick Riordan), but I was completely swept up the story of 4 misfits living in Paris. The maudlin singer songwriter mix on my IPod (Sufjan Stevens, Feist, Ben Lee, Elliot Smith and Matt the Electrician) was the perfect accompaniment.

As a side note, I'm slowly telling friends and loved ones that I'm blogging (Hi, Laura!) and John threw a bit of a fit this morning about it because he wants me to keep posting on his blog. That was actually always my intention - this seems like a good spot for more personal stuff, assorted other postings will be at the Backporch. Sometimes I'll duplicate, but will try to keep to a minimum.

I Heart Sufjan Stevens

Earlier this week the husband and I watched Danielson: A Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise Here), a very sweet documentary about music, and faith, and family. I really liked the movie, but feel a bit guilty that my main take away was to fall in love with Sufjan Stevens, who sang a draw droppingly beautiful version of "To Be Alone with You" during the film. Albums were immediately downloaded from ITunes and he's been in heavy rotation since. I recognize we're coming a little late to this party since he's been a critical darling for a few years, but wow.

Are you there Internet? It's me Becky

I've been thinking about my intentions with this little side project, wondering why one day I woke up and that was the big day where I decided to make this foray into the 2.0 landscape. I don't want to get famous, I'm lucky enough to live close to most of my good friends so I don't really need to keep anyone updated on my daily activities, and I'm not at all convinced I have much interesting to say.

I imagine if someone ever posted a comment, it might be something like "you suck," or "you're boring." Those things are likely true. I am boring (my friends don't call me "Breakfast Becky" for nothing), I've had at best 5 truly original ideas in my entire life, sometimes I'm pretentious and I usually have a stick up my ass.

And yet.

I've generally kept journals my entire life, and have sometimes thought I'd like to be a writer. I like that with this format I can still pretend that no one is reading, but maybe secretly hope that one day I'll be blogging away and suddenly have amassed a cult following and people will buy my script for a kick ass little indie film. And I do happen to be in a very cool town, where I've finagled myself into some super fun events and assorted projects. So let's keep at it, dear readers, and see where this goes.

Fabulous Find

Found this during a walk with the dog last week. It's possibly the most boring comic ever, but I admire the effort.

Nope, Still Nothing

Still don't have any final thoughts about the year - things happened, some great, some terrible. I gained 3 pounds. I still can't do a freakin handstand without a wall. 8 is my lucky number, though, so I guess I have high hopes for this year.

In lieu of conclusions, here are a few things I really like right now - The Lightening Thief, Veronica Mars Season 1, green chai tea, Scott Westerfeld - esp the Peeps series, The Abominable Charles Christopher, working from home.

Happy 2008 everybody!

2008 rolls in not with a bang, but with a whimper

Day 5 of the cold that won't end, but I'm finally mostly feeling better. Enjoyed New Year's Eve dinner with some friends, but we were at home in bed by 10 pm. The celebration mostly consisted of Tetris, fabulous food (including dueling and practically identical salads from the 2 Beckys in attendance), and a heated discussion of the best and worst movies of the year. Continuing that thread, here's my list. Keep in mind, this is just the stuff I've seen, including numerous trips to the Alamo, this year's Fantastic Fest and the Austin Film Festival:

The Best:
Juno
Enchanted
Persepolis
There Will Be Blood
Mirage Man
Timecrimes (Los Cronocrimes)
The Orphanage
Mongol

The Worst:
Poughkipsee Tapes
Spiderman 3
Wrong Turn 2 (but I still love you, Henry)
The Last Winter
Postal (though, admittedly, a great Q&A)

Honorable mentions: Once, I Am Legend, Kabluey, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

My head is still a little fuzzy from all of the cold medicine, so I'm sure I'm missing some great and terrible movies. Took a walk with the dog this morning and tried to think about the year. Haven't come to any conclusions yet, so maybe I'll post that part tomorrow.