The Hunger Games. Why starving is not such a bad thing.

Kindle and I are in the honeymoon stage. You know…that fuzzy wuzzy time at the start of a relationship when everything the other does is funny and cute. You yearn to learn every last little thing about each other. Nothing can distract you…you are all wrapped up in the newness of finally finding your soul mate. It’s totally bliss.

And then he lets you down. At first you forgive him ’cause, hey, nobody’s perfect. Yes, inside you’re saying to yourself…”I thought he totally got me. I wonder what I’ve done wrong?” The second time it happens, you start to question your sanity…”Is this the right relationship for me? Did I commit too soon?” The third time you start looking for ways to get out with your dignity intact…but still hoping you can do it without him getting all stalker on you.

You see, he introduced me to a little trilogy of B-movie-like mediocrity called “The Hunger Games.” And like a fool, I fell for it. He dangled rave reviews in front of me like ripe fruit ready to be plucked. He wooed me with words like “thoughtful” and “breathtaking.” Little did I know he had an ulterior motive. To get me hooked and get me hooked good…bless his little fiery heart.

(I’m not going to go into the plot or tell you anything about the characters…you probably already know all about it/them. And, if not, you can go to Amazon to find out.)

Somehow, he got me to download the first in the series, “The Hunger Games,” and at first, I thought he really got me. He seemed to instinctively know what type of book I’m drawn to and I dove in ready to be swept away on an epic adventure of epic-ness. Only…that didn’t happen. The book was okay. I liked the author’s writing style but like a meal at a nouveau cuisine restaurant, I came away hungry for something a little more satisfying. Maybe she just went a little to heavy on the protein (meat) and not enough on the carbs (potato.)

Not to say I hated the book. I save my hate for truly crap books like anything by Lisa Gardner and books that feature the strong, silent guy and the gushing woman who meet, butt heads, eventually have sex, she lies to him about something really asinine but in the end they get together and go off to have lots of sex and babies.

The Hunger Games was a few levels above this kind of high-brow literature (insert sarcasm font here.) The pace was good, the characters interesting and the plot believable but…it had no heart. There was no emotion…no passion. The best books envelope you in the story…you become a character, albeit kind of silent partner-like. This book left me standing on the side of the road as the story rushed past. I got glimpses of something good but it didn’t stop to offer me a lift.

“Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay”, the second and third installments in the series, continued the story of Katniss Everdeen (click here for a list of all the players) and her quest to win the Hunger Games and finally make her mind up about which man (boy) is her one true love.

In the end, I always base how much I like a book on if I would read it two, or more, times over the next ten years or so. The Hunger Games trilogy is a one more read only. So with that, I give it a warm C+.

And if you’re interested, Kindle and I are still going strong. I’ve forgiven him for his initial blunder and I think we’re both clear now on our expectations for each other. He promises to only download quality reading material and I promise to recharge his battery on a regular basis.

Today, I put down Kindle and Bill and I went to see the movie version of “The Hunger Games.” We both had the same reaction…we should have gone to see the new Jason Statham movie, “Safe.” I don’t know how anyone could get anything out of this movie if they have not read the book. As a stand-alone piece, it left you thinking you could have spent your money on something a little more satisfying. It would have benefited from some narration to get you up to speed on the story and less of the wiggly hand-held camera action wouldn’t have hurt either. It ran just over two hours and with the right screenwriter, better editing and direction, all three books could have been combined to make one kick-ass film. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and what you are left with is a mediocre movie that I’m sure is going to still pull in the big bucks for the next two installments.

The really sad part? Not one cute young actor to gaze upon. And don’t even get me started on the acting. Donald Sutherland as the evil President Snow…he didn’t just mail in his performance…he sent it by Pony Express.

(Author’s Note: if you are wondering why I’m writing about a book(s) that’s been out for ages it’s because I refuse to pay hardcover price for any book and, if you want the truth, I only heard about the books when I was reading about the movie. I’m so retro that way.)

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by ourlifedaily on May 3, 2012  •  Permalink
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Want to blog more? Don’t buy a Kindle.

I have no excuse for not blogging this past month. So I’m going to take a page out of a book by a formerly favorite author (former ’cause I don’t think he does much original writing anymore…or so I’ve heard.)

I’m referring to Tom Clancy…the author of one of my favorite books, The Hunt for Red October (and not a bad movie, either. Sean Connery…da!) Remember Debt of Honor, a Clancy novel that once again featured the wily Jack Ryan of the CIA? The one where the United States is under attack by Japan, only not so much with weapons of mass destruction but rather with the killer idea to cripple the Stock Exchange? Remember Jack’s totally brilliant solution…after the bad guys are toast and the government and bankers are all OH MY GOD, WHAT DO WE DO NOW??? Jack comes up with the idea to start the day’s trading with the stocks value EXACTLY THE SAME as just before the Japanese attempt a sashimi on the SEC. I tell you…that Jack is one smart Irish guy.

So…that’s what I’ve decided to do here today. Pretend it never happened. The past 25 or so days of not blogging never happened. I’m in total denial and if you ask me what happened I’m going to say…what do you mean, what happened??? Nothing happened. Except…okay. I’ll tell you one thing that happened and then we’ll just continue as if nothing happened.

Years of working in advertising has left me with the ability to totally ignore ads of any and all kinds. They don’t stick. I buy what I want because I want to…not because some blonde housewife claims that I can save the world from utter and total destruction if only I’d go out and buy the toilet bowl cleaner she’s hawking on national television. I so enjoy making flushing noises when I see those types of idiotic ads. If I see an advertising campaign that makes me sit up and take notice because it’s funny and witty and, dare I say it…smarter than a five year old, I may…MAY…take note and possibly…POSSIBLY…give it a try. I think that’s happened twice.

This is not about one of those times.

This is about Bill succumbing to an ad by Amazon for the Kindle. I didn’t see the ad and have no idea what was involved but since he went out and bought one almost immediately, I think I’m safe in assuming the ad featured a woman in bed wearing something just this side of sleazy reading erotica on a Kindle.

Or something to do with baseball.

The why doesn’t really matter. It’s the how that is important in this story…damned quick is how. He saw the ad and the next thing I know he’s back from the store with a Kindle.

And now, I have a Kindle, too.

In my case, I did not see an ad featuring Karl Urban on his back in a sun lounger out by the pool covered in nothing but some sun tan lotion and sweat (although if I had, my “that’s happened twice” statement a paragraph or two back would have been a triple hat and faster than you can say “put it on my Visa.”)

No, it wasn’t an ad. It was Bill going out and buying an electronic device without three days of research and googling! He just decided he wanted one and went out and bought one. So, of course, I had to go get one as well.

And that’s what we’ve been doing. Kindling. With our Kindles. And spending our entire month’s “entertainment” budget on Kindle edition novels. I’m now trying to decide if I can forego spending money on deodorant and toothpaste so I can buy Stephen King’s new book instead of waiting until the first of May and next month’s entertainment budget. I think I’m gonna go for it…with Bill and I so engrossed in our new Kindles, who needs to smell good and have onion-free breath? I know, I know. Tapping into next month’s budget is very Ponzi-like but I know that this love affair won’t last forever…they never do. But while the feeling lasts, I’m going to pour on the sun tan lotion and make Karl Urban. Sorry…I mean make LIKE Karl Urban. You know…sitting by the pool getting all sweaty and stuff…reading on my new Kindle.

Next to the sexiest guy I know. No, not Karl. I mean Bill. I don’t know Karl. Well, I know him but I don’t KNOW him…if you know what I mean.

Thankfully Bill has a great sense of humour to go with his sex appeal. I guess after he reads this post I’ll find out for sure. :-)

I’ll update you on what we’ve been doing…as soon as I finish my latest Kindle read.

TTFN.

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by ourlifedaily on April 28, 2012  •  Permalink
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For the love of words

If you like words as much as I do, you’ll enjoy this audio feast from the great Stephen Fry.

Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography – Language from Matthew Rogers on Vimeo.

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by ourlifedaily on March 22, 2012  •  Permalink
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No chickens were harmed in the writing of this post

You know you’re in the south when you find yourself all excited about going to a chicken festival. Yes, I live a small life. But see, the thing is…they’re BURMESE CHICKENS!

I know. That totally cleared it up for me as well!  We took a drive yesterday to Fitzgerald, a small town in the middle of Georgia that holds an annual wild chicken festival on March 17th. You think with a name like “Fitzgerald” they’d be more interested in doing something with green beer but whatever roasts their wings.

Apparently in 1960 or thereabout, the Department of Natural Resources thought it would be a good idea to release a breed of chicken unknown this side of the Atlantic into the wilds of Georgia never thinking…oh, I don’t know…something along the lines of “they’ll all be dead in a year.”

The department said it was to supplement the traditional game bird population. Typical government fantasy. Turns out, the birds didn’t find a very warm welcome from all the other partridges and pheasants who were fighting for every bit of good ground cover they could find. Hunters may look stupid with their bright orange vests and plaid ear-flap hats but some of them know a thing or two about guns.

The brainiacs at natural resources also didn’t reckon with the good people of Fitzgerald, many of whom took the birds under their wings (so to speak) feeding and nurturing the chickens over the years…long enough for them to breed, take over the town and finally, get the Department of Tourism to fund a festival in their honor.

What a way to work the government system!

Those crazy birds..they sure are no spring chickens. You have to have a bit of age under your feet to get that kind of smart business savvy working for you. Imagine how long it must have taken them to type up a grant proposal what with their tiny little beaks and all. Do you think that’s where the term “hunt & peck” comes from?

Now, normally I wouldn’t bother you with something so frivolous as a chicken festival but as I mentioned…they are Burmese chickens. When will I ever get the chance again to see real, live Burmese chickens! In Burma? I think not. Everyone (including the chickens) knows that the Burmese kill and eat all their chickens…and that’s what makes this festival so amazing. To think that a chicken had the brain power to recognize their imminent demise and to work out a deal with the U.S. government to immigrate and bring the boom of tourism to southwest Georgia…why, it’s absolutely staggering in its simplicity.

It was a two hour drive through some great looking countryside. We got there around noon and we were surprised by the number of venders and sellers of all things southern-fried. Too many perhaps as the only chickens we saw during the festival were ones in cages at one of the displays. All the others had decided to stay home, sitting out in little deck chairs sipping margaritas and making fun of the tourists.

Here I was…camera at the ready to capture all the awesomeness and all I got was one  lousy shot of a rooster and hen off in the distance in a park on the way out of town. I felt like Henny Penny crowing about the sky falling only to find she’d been hit in the head with an acorn. Looks like the closest I’m going to get to a barrel of chicken is at the local KFC.

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by ourlifedaily on March 18, 2012  •  Permalink
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The Butterfly Effect

Two days in Thomasville, GA and I think we’re in love.

Full of quaint Southern-style homes…it’s porch and veranda nirvana. Some are a little too cutsey for words but some are spectacular. I’ll take the camera out for a walk later this week for a little show & tell.

In the meantime, more snaps. I forgot the other day to include photos from our visit to the Natural History Museum in Gainesville, Florida. There was a butterfly exhibit on and even though we didn’t cough up the $10 each to enter the exhibit, there was still lots to see.

Talk about large. And I’m not just talking butterflies.

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by ourlifedaily on March 12, 2012  •  Permalink
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From one small burb to another

Tomorrow we leave Santa Fé Lake, FL. for Thomasville, GA. It’s been a nice nine-day layover and I have to say the views of the lake around sunset have been spectacular. Sorry but I totally forgot to take photos so imagine a nice sunset and bang, you’re done.

We visited Gainesville (Go Gators!), the Ravine State Park in Palatka (love that name) and today, it was  St. Augustine. I think we walked a couple of inches off our legs wandering through the old town, up and down alleys, and in and out of shops. One of the best things about the day was The Bunnery where we got our first cup of really good coffee in about two months…outside of a Starbucks.  We’re putting St. Augustine on our list of possible places to stay in the future. Lovely town with a strong Spanish influence.

I think I mentioned in my last post that we visited Epcot Center…after saying I had no interest in doing anything Disney-related, I have to say…it was okay. Nothing spectacular…partly because we somehow managed to walk around through China, Italy, Morocco, etc. and  missed all the entertainment. You know…where they play music from the country, traditional dances, blah, blah. We caught the tail-end of the Moroccan band but missed the belly dancer. And we did see Mary Poppins and Belle and the Beast. Two words: hot job. How they kept their makeup streak-free I don’t know.

Epcot Center reminded me of a really big outdoor strip mall with unique architecture and then once you’re inside, lots of things to buy…and to eat. We were happy to go (especially as a treat by David and Leslie) and I did manage to take a few snap.

We’ll be in Thomasville until the end of March. It’s a small town of about 26,000 and we have no idea what we’re going to do or what there is to do but I’m sure we’ll have a great time.

In the meantime, some snaps from our around-the-world-in-seven-hours marathon.

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by ourlifedaily on March 8, 2012  •  Permalink
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We have embraced the technology

Visited the Kennedy Space Center Monday. One word. WOW! If you’ve never been, I really suggest you add it to your travel list if you are ever in Florida. It was a long day with a lot of walking but worth every blister.

Wednesday we met up with David and Leslie, who were in Orlando for a bit of vaca from all their home building. They totally surprised us by taking us to the Epcot Centre, which was like a tour around the world but without the plane ride. Another day of walking and lots of snaps.

I’ll get around to a more detailed post later today or tomorrow on the space center and the visit to Epcot once we’re settled up here at Santa Fe Lake…our home for the next nine days. It all depends on the wifi. In the meantime, some snaps from the space center. Please excuse the quality…my Nikon quit on me and I had to use my iPod camera.

I did figure out how to use the video function…by accident (sometimes I’m so technically-challenged) so there’s a short video of a simulation of future Mars Rover landings. Enjoy.

Snaps from the Kennedy Space Center

—

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by ourlifedaily on March 2, 2012  •  Permalink
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It’s a small world after all

Short update. We decided to make Orlando our one and only stop for the next four days until we meet up with friends on Wednesday. It’s an hour from the Kennedy Space Center and the Astronaut Hall of Fame so that’s on the books for tomorrow and Tuesday. I can’t wait for the Shuttle Experience…you get to pretend you’re a shuttle pilot, experience the thrills of takeoff and landing…all in the presence of a real, live astronaut.

I hope they let me drive.

Between now and then, we are going to soak up the young people vibe and try not to be enraptured by discount tickets to Disney. I’ve never been, I don’t like huge crowds and Mickey gives me the wiggins. On screen he’s a manageable size but in real life? He looks like he’s eight-feet tall and I’m not comfortable being around a rodent who could eat me whole. Plus, I’ve done the “dressed in a gigantic cartoon character” outfit before and what with my slight claustrophobia and the sweating and the stinky aroma of the one who wore it before…it makes the wearer crabby.

Only someone this age could be this happy wearing a Snoopy costume.

If you must know, I was Snoopy during a Winter Festival. It was an event I was running years ago in one of my former jobs and the regular Snoopy called in sick. The experience wasn’t that bad…especially when I got used to the smell and then decided to keep the costume on, including the head, to go pick up a coffee before heading back to the office. I think this was the first time I realized there were some people on this planet who actually had a sense of humor. I wanted to rush home and pack my bags and move in with them immediately. I then crashed our board meeting and…well, let’s just say my boss didn’t see the humor (and never invited me over to his house again) but the head of the marketing committee thought it was a hoot. He made my day.

Besides sitting by the pool listening to kids drive their parents to distraction (Dad! Watch me! Watch me! WATCH ME!), the best thing about being here in Orlando is the 50-inch flatscreen television in my room, the Oscars are on tonight, I can live tweet my personal fashion advice, there’s a pizza joint in the hotel that delivers and there’s a working stopper in the bathtub.

This is my kind of small world after all.

If you’re wondering where Bill is…I’ll give you one guess. :-)

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by ourlifedaily on February 26, 2012  •  Permalink
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It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s the sun!

Slight change in plans. Instead of heading to Gainesville after Tallahassee, we ended up in St. Petersburg. Why? Because I have an innate ability to track where the sun will be shining at any given moment.

Well…actually, I sat around the pool at a La Quinta yesterday morning googling the weather for different areas of Florida and after about half an hour, found that if we hauled ass and got down to the Tampa area, chances were good we’d get some sun and 80F temps. And we did. We drove out of drizzle into sunny skies and hot & humid weather. We even managed to get to the beach before the sun set and spent an hour soaking up the rays.

We’re here in another La Quinta just outside SPB and spent the day in downtown SP. We’re totally exhausted but had a great day hitting the Saturday market, the arts district, lunch at a Greek restaurant (they have belly dancing this evening but I can’t convince Bill to go) and then we went down to the New Dali Museum where we hit the store and picked up some cool postcards. At $22 bucks each, it was too late in the day to get our money’s worth but I think we did just as well flipping through the books of Dali images.

Off to somewhere between here and Cape Canaveral tomorrow. We’ll let you know how we liked the Space Center after our tour Monday.

For now, some pics. Sorry but nothing from Tallahassee. It’s the state capital of Florida and possibly the dullest place we’ve ever been.

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by ourlifedaily on February 25, 2012  •  Permalink
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Time travel and bugging out

See? We are ahead of the pack...by exactly an hour.

Hello all! Some news and views from the ongoing adventures of Bill and Janet…time and space travelers extraordinaire. If you were looking for proof that an alternate reality exists…you’ll find it right here.

Who knew there were two time zones in Florida? Apparently not us and we didn’t discover this fact until yesterday. We went for a drive last Saturday and came across Seaside, a planned community to the east of Destin, Florida. A bit too planned but lovely nonetheless with lots of younger people, kids and a strong showing by the stroller brigade. I came across a hair salon that looked like it had possibilities…most of the ones I checked out in Panama City Beach looked a bit sketchy. I was too late to go in to make an appointment so we drove back on Monday, got an appointment for Tuesday afternoon then spent an hour on the beach before the rain returned…again.

Fast track to yesterday where the sun looked like it was going to show its face in between rain showers. My appointment was for 1pm and we left it a little late so we had to boot it up the coast and arrived with a few minutes to spare. Bill dropped me off and headed off for a walk on the beach and I hit the salon.

I walked in, said hi and that I had a cut booked with Rebecca for 1pm. (It’s been 18  months and it was time.) The girl at reception said great and if I wanted to come back in an hour, Rebecca would be back from lunch. I said…”Wait…what!?!” She looked at me like she wasn’t sure if I was going to be a little problem or a big problem. She said, “Well, it’s noon and she’ll be back for an hour.”

I’m rarely at a loss for words…at least inside my own head…but this one stopped my cold. “Are you telling me we’ve spent the last two weeks one hour ahead of everyone else? That explains so much!”

Turns out that Ft. Pierce is in the Eastern Time Zone. Panama City Beach is in the Central Time Zone. Since we arrived in PCB, we’ve been one hour ahead and never clued in. If I hadn’t decided to get my hair cut who knows how long before the penny dropped (if it ever.)

Getting up at 6am to make a coffee and sit on the balcony to see dawn (I’d say sunrise but no) and be sitting there an hour later and still pitch dark. Finding a beach-side restaurant around lunch-time and being told they were closed and to come back in half an hour. Wondering why stores were still closed when we went to the mall…the list goes on and on. This is the first time we’ve never known what the time (real time) was and it’s kind of freaky that it took so long for us to clue in…I blame it on delayed shock from the boat sale.

Somehow I managed to spot Bill in the crowds before he made it to the beach, we grabbed a coffee and sat around thinking up all the things that seemed just a little off about the past two weeks. Then, I went and got my hair cut and it looks fab. Very edgy and way shorter but not as short as I used to wear it…I say it looks fab but I’m not sure if after being on the boat that I’ll be willing to commit the time to make it look this good every day. (It’s a day later and it still looks good…that’s because I haven’t washed it yet…continue reading to find out why.)

We had a good chuckle while driving back to the condo yesterday afternoon. It’s too bad you can’t capture those giggle moments in a jar for the times when you need to find the funny side of a situation…like when we got back to the condo to find cockroaches in the bedroom. ON THE BED. Actually, ON THE BED.

Eww. Ick. OH. MY. GOD.

It's family time in Panama City Beach!

My skin crawled, I screeched, and babbled incoherently for Bill to come do something. He made a gallant effort to help the bug meet its maker but, sadly, failed miserably. He used my flip-flop instead of his Teva sandals and the little bugger just bounced and scurried under the bed.

We called the condo agent to let her know and to see what could be done. It didn’t really matter what she came back with…after we spent the night sleeping on the sofas in the living room, shivering and flinching, we woke this morning and decided to bug out. I mean there was no way either of us would get one wink of sleep in that bedroom…and going into the adjoining bathroom and turning on the light…ick.  We left the light on all night. We’ve seen bugs…big bugs…in our travels, snakes, lizards and assorted other creepy critters but never once were we as freaked out as this. It’s because it’s inside, in a condo, and you know where there is one, there are many.

Double eww.

Plus, the weather’s been crappy and more of the same was in the forecast. How many times can you wander the malls or watch really bad television? When we realized that friends were going to be in the Orlando area next week, we decided to head back to the east coast so we can go visit the Kennedy Space Center, do some sightseeing and meet up with them for a day next Wednesday before heading up to our next rental in Santa Fe Lake.

Yes, it will cost us a bit more but here we are in Tallahassee, the state capital (didn’t know that either) for the low, low price of $61. Tomorrow, we going to check things out and move on to Gainesville on Friday. Then, it’s on to Cape Canaveral to check out all things space and ending our little mini-tour next Tuesday in Kissimmee. We never made it to Key West because of what was going on with the boat but we’re really happy we’ll see the space center and it’s possible…just possible…we may see some sun.

Now for all this to work out we have to make double (make that triple) sure we changed our watches correctly because we’re back in the Eastern Time Zone, we’re hungry and it would be beyond believable to head out for something to eat to find all the restaurants closed…an hour ago.

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by ourlifedaily on February 22, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by ourlifedaily on February 22, 2012

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