THE ORCHARD, reviewed 4-19-12
Rose hips and rose thorns, tulip petals, wild plum, and bittersweet chocolate.

In the bottle, The Orchard is just rose hips. Wet on my skin, it's rose hips and a whiff of chocolate. Drying, plum starts to come through. This is lovely.

4 out of 5 stars

Today I watched a couple of DVDs I haven't seen before -- Exit Through the Giftshop and the Clash of the Titans remake. Exit was interesting. Banksy's art fascinates me, but wow does Thierry come across as OCD.

The Clash of the Titans remake was ... thought-provoking. First, I wondered why anyone would want to remake that movie, but I guess deep down, we all like the Greek myths. My first complaint was that the writers screwed with Perseus' story. His mother was the king's daughter, not his wife, and she survived the trip in the coffin. If the writers weren't going to keep to the myth, why didn't they keep to the original movie? I will admit Io was a good character to bring in. But it's weird that (*spoiler*) Perseus ends up with her instead of Andromeda. Then there's Hades. I don't know where the idea of Hades wanting to overthrow his brother Zeus came from. It certainly wasn't in the original myths, as far as I can tell. The first time I saw this angle was with Disney's Hades. The Hades of the myths was content with his role as lord of the Underworld. As much as I love Ralph Fiennes (he needs to call me), he was totally channeling Voldemort in this movie. Speaking of the gods, we barely heard anything from the other Olympians besides Poseidon and Apollo. I couldn't tell for sure who any of the goddesses were. Their costumes were neat, though. What wasn't neat was Zeus and Hades' hair and beards. I know Zeus was portrayed with long hair and a beard, but somebody overdid it. Especially with Hades'. It was good to see Siddig El Fadil as Hermes in one of the deleted scenes (I can't think of him as Alexander Siddig). Oh, and Medusa having a bow and arrow? Seems unfair. She had her eyes, wasn't that enough? I did like that she forbade any women from coming near her.

I know there's a sequel in the works, but according to IMDB, Io's gone and they've replaced half the cast. I may have to sit out that one.

One of my resolutions for this year is to do a lj post at least every other day. To that end, I'm starting with my Christmas/Birthday haul:

Mom & Dad: Asscher-cut Diamonique ring in Vivid Blue, Jackie Kennedy's Chanel paperclip necklace, keyring of Reilly's latest artwork, 2 $25.00 Amazon giftcards (spent on jewelry pieces, a book, and a CD)

Mark & Kelly: $20 Michael's giftcard (spent on jewelry pieces), silver ring with pearl and tiny clear stones, silver diamond circle pendant with chain

Bobby & Linds: Book of Kells and Camille DVDs (the Irish one is from Bobby, the Colin Firth one is from Linds ;-) )

Melissa: (I already covered this but I'm a completist) Littlest Pet Shop doll and Tempest in a Teapot

Let's go over the handmade things I gave this Christmas:

Cross-Stitch
Melissa: Ice Cream Shoppe to go with the Flower Shoppe I gave her for her birthday

Bobby & Linds: Island Trio

Jewelry
Mom: Interchangable 3 piece gunmetal necklace with white pearls, hematite, and sparkly gunmetal beads

Rachel: Labyrinth-inspired long gunmetal necklace with crystals, pearls, and rhinestones

Right now, I'd have to say jewelry designer. I love working with metal, plastic, glass, and stone to make pretty things. I love patterns. I need to work on my technique, though. Practice, practice, practice.

You won't believe what Melissa gave me for my birthday and Christmas. For my birthday, she gave me a Sightseeing Littlest Pet Shop doll with pets. Too cute! For Christmas, she went all out. She gave me The Tempest in a Teapot. She made an intricate brown-and-gold beaded teapot with a miniature copy of The Tempest inside it. Too cool!

Now I just need to finish her Christmas present.

BPAL. :-) That's my way of saying, "I have too many favorite perfume notes to name just one favorite, so I'll just name my favorite perfume company."

Yeah, I know, I haven't posted in a while. Not much to post about.

I've started Christmas shopping. Bobby/Linds and BB are done. Mom's almost done. Melissa is less than 1/2 done. Still need Dad, Mark, Reilly, Kalob, Justice, and maybe Kelly.

I just had it a week or so ago -- a Pizza Hut pan pizza with Italian sausage, green peppers, and extra cheese. Oh, and a side order of cheesesticks.

How can you tell it's October? I spend a bit too much on Halloween-themed BPAL perfume oils. But supporting small businesses is important in this economy. I also just ordered a charity scent, so that's good karma, right? :-)

I have no idea what I'm doing for Halloween. I think I'll re-wear one of my old costumes.

DWTS is going well. I'm giving multiple votes to Chaz & Lacey, Carson & Anna, and JR & Karina and single votes to Tony & Chynna and Maks & Hope. I'm thinking of giving votes to David & Kym even though she's already won twice and I didn't want to give votes to any new pros or any pros who've already won. Right now, I think the final three will be JR & Karina (who I expect to win), Tony & Chynna, and Derek & Ricki (they'd better not win, he's won three times already).

I'm eagerly awaiting Grimm on NBC (starts Oct 21) and Once Upon A Time on ABC (starts Oct 23). Fairytale-themed TV shows on network television? I am so there.

Still working on various Christmas presents. It's definitely shaping up to be a Cross-Stitch Christmas.

I just finished reading seanan_mcguire's One Salt Sea. All I can say is that the book is really good, but brutal. Toby is put through the emotional wringer. There are a lot of losses and I'm sure there'll be more to come in future books. Deaths are hard to take, and sometimes the truth is even harder. But, there are happy moments, and there is hope. If you haven't read any of the books in the series, start with the first one, Rosemary and Rue.

5 out of 5 stars!

Okay, my self-imposed break from stitching might not have to be as long as I thought. I'm hoping that if I do small projects for Christmas presents, I'll at least be able to finish those.

I'm currently reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I'm still pretty early in it. It's not bad, but I have to say it's densely-worded. Not quite J.R.R. Tolkien-level of dense, but getting there. Of course, the original Swedish version may be more succinct, I'll never know.

First Husker football game of the season is tomorrow. Who are they playing? I don't know, I just want to see if Bo blows his top again.

seanan_mcguire's latest book, One Salt Sea (October Daye Book 5), comes out Tuesday!!! If I'm not online at all that day, you now know why.

I'm so glad it's September. August was too damn long. Halloween candy is for sale, Huskers play Saturday, and it looks like the temperature will drop twenty degrees next week, all is right with the world.

I had to go to the dentist yesterday. For the past ten-ish years, the hygienists have been telling me that my oral hygiene is great and I should keep up the good work. I don't know if these people are blind or using some form of reverse psychology on me -- I know I don't brush or floss as often as I should.

Yeah, I know. Long time, no post.

First, I was busy with my stitching. In June, I hurt a muscle in my left arm. Earlier this month, I did enough stitching to aggrivate it. So now I'm not stitching for a month and hopefully, my arm will be back to normal.

The Christmas present I was working on for Bobby and Linds will probably now be Lindsey's birthday present, the birthday present for Mom that was thisclose to being done might be her Christmas present, and I don't know if I'll be able to finish Melissa's Christmas present in time. IIRC, it's around half-done.

I watched all of The Bachelorette and I'm now watching Bachelor Pad. Strange, screwed up shows, but they're good mindless television. DWTS starts Sep 19, I can't wait.

I finished Melissa's birthday present Saturday! Now I'm working on Mom's.

Got Mira Grant's Deadline Tuesday, finished it late last night. Unputdownable. Now I'm waiting for her alter ego's One Salt Sea to come out in September.

Monster High dolls currently chilling on my shelf: Lagoona, Draculaura, Ghoulia, Cleo, and Deuce. Frankie's coming sometime this week. I just need Clawdeen and Holt and I'll have all the current Basic dolls. Spectra is supposedly coming out this month and Abbey's coming out in August. Sometime soon, the Draculaura & Clawd set is coming out.

Wow, two posts in one month. I'm getting better.

I'm officially obsessed with Monster High dolls. I now have Deuce Gorgon & Cleo De Nile, Ghoulia Yelps, and Draculaura is coming. Rumor has it that there will be new dolls out in June, so maybe even tomorrow. I finished the first book and am reading the second. The books are getting better, but I think the cartoons are more fun.

Had to have a chipped filling redone last Tuesday. Was not happy. Will be even more unhappy if I have to pay for it.

Happy Book Release Day to Mira Grant (seanan_mcguire)! Deadline (second of the Newsflesh trilogy) came out today. Speaking of Seanan, my collection of Toby Daye-inspired perfume grew by two today. Reviews pending.

I'm thisclose to being done with Melissa's birthday present. I should be done by the end of the week. Then I get back to Mom's birthday present.

You know, I can remember the days when I used to post at least once a day. Whatever happened to those days? These days, you're more likely to find me on Twitter, but I still like lj for when I have more than 140 characters to say, however infrequent that is.

Anyway, Melissa's birthday present is now her Christmas present since there's no way on God's green Earth I'd get it done by her birthday. The kit for her birthday present is on its way to me.

The "Rapture" is this Saturday. I'm Catholic, we don't believe in the Rapture. We believe in the End of Days. Completely different. Anyway, I'd have an end of the world party if I had enough local people to invite.

I am totally in love with Monster High. I am collecting the dolls, right now I only have Cleo De Nile and Deuce Gorgon. I'm thinking of getting Ghoulia Yelps next, mainly because she's Cleo's friend (read servant). Then maybe Frankie Stein. I'm also reading the first book. I wish the author would make the book more like the cartoons -- no mortals.

Saw Thor on Friday night with Mark and his girlfriend Kelly. Good movie. Unsatisfying ending, but that's what next summer's The Avengers is for. The end credits scene is worth sitting through seemingly endless credits. Chris Hemsworth is hotter than the sun. And Loki is a very sympathetic villain, my favorite kind. Cute too, in a Snape's-younger-brother kind of way. Kenneth Branagh did a good job with this movie. You can see commonalities between it and his Henry V. Good trailers. Want to see Green Lantern but not Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens but not Super 8.

Sorry, my hands are usually holding a needle and embroidery hoop when I'm not working. Yes, that means I'm still working on Melissa's birthday present. Counted cross-stitch starts from the center and you work your way to the edges. Melissa's present is a rectangle -- I've reached the top edge, the right edge, and finished the top right corner. I'm currently working my way to the bottom right corner and the bottom edge. With luck (and maybe a few 48-hour days), I'll be done on time.

The cherry tree outside my backdoor is about a week or two away from blooming. I await this every Spring now. If I had a camera (or a phone that takes decent pictures), I'd show you the progression from naked tree to full bloom. Maybe next year.

I need to post my review of seanan_mcguire's Late Eclipses, but I can't seem to find anything to say without spoiling a lot. Give me another week and maybe I'll get a coherent, spoiler-free review together. Can I just say for now that it's damn good?

Saw the 12th Season Premier of Dancing With The Stars Monday. It was good to see Chris Jericho on my TV again -- he's been gone from WWE for months (he's between contracts with them). He said he was really nervous and it showed -- he was very stiff during his cha-cha with Cheryl. But next week is the quickstep (my least-favorite dance). It's another high-energy one, so I'm hoping he'll do well. I just hope he can pull off elegance when/if he gets to the waltzes.

The sky is blue, the robins are chirping, and Late Eclipses is in my hot little hands!

Yes, Seanan McGuire's 4th October Daye novel is out. I'll do a book review/plea to get everyone to buy it and its siblings as soon as I'm done reading. At this rate, that could be as early as tomorrow.

When it comes to music, I'm still stuck in the '90s. Oh, I don't mean artists, I mean format. All the music I listen to comes from CDs. I've got hundreds of them (I need more CD wallets). Now that I have a new computer, maybe I should consider upgrading to an iPod or a MP3 player.

When it comes to books however, I'm all about the new media. Paper books I have, but I also have audio books on MP3 CDs and now ebooks. Yes, I plan to have a few books in all three formats. I like to have all bases covered. :-)

I bought myself a Valentine's Day gift today -- a Kindle.

Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are. I didn't want to join the ebook revolution. I really didn't. But my apartment is small, too small for the number of books I have. So, buying the Kindle was out of desperation.

I'll still buy paper books, but the majority of my new books will be ebooks.

Let's see. Had a serious discussion about sales tax with Dad over Burger King. Then went to my Physician's Assitant to get a prescription for the sweet, sweet drugs to combat the allergy-triggered sinus infection I've been dealing with for what feels like months. Antibiotics and Allegra, ho!

I can't believe I had to pay $87 for 5 antibiotics, 30 Allegra, a box of Mucinex, and a box of Aleve. Rip. Off. At least the Allegra 30-day refills will only be $5 a piece.

When I got back here, the first thing I noticed was the smell -- I thought it was new wood, but I'm now convinced it's glue. The second thing I noticed was that my warm-weather comforter was no longer running along the bottom of my sliding glass door. It turns out the "window guys" had finally come to weather-strip that door and my bedroom window. Now it's not so frickin' cold in here. Hooray for modern technology!

I then dropped by the apartment manager's office to get a package -- Zombiesque, an anthology edited by Stephen L. Antczak, James C. Bassett, and Martin H. Greenberg. Yes, I've read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (both the novel and the comic book), but what made me buy this book was the story Gimme A "Z"! by Seanan McGuire. Besides writing the awesome October Daye urban fantasy series, she writes the kick-ass Newsflesh political zombie trilogy as Mira Grant. Gimme A "Z"! is the perfect gateway story for anyone new to Seanan/Mira.

Seanan is also a prolific singer/songwriter. I have 4 of her CD's (three are available at CDBaby) and I just love them.

Happy Belated 7th Birthday, Reilly! I hope you got my card.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Still working on Melissa's birthday present. I'm hoping to have it done in time, but it's not definite.

1) How am I doing on this year's resolutions?

Buy fewer books, DVDs, CDs, and cross-stitch patterns/kits.
I haven't bought much lately. I do have some books coming in that I pre-ordered months ago. I did start reading one of the books in my TBR pile today -- Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson. I'd seen the Lifetime TV movie during the holidays (it's saved on my DVR) but now I'm finally actually reading the book. So far, the book is actually better than the movie. That's unusual, since I normally think that whichever version I encounter first is superior. I did get one new CD recently, The Green Children's "Encounter." It's good, and I used points at Amazon, so I only paid 2 cents.

Swear less.
I'm trying.

Exercise more.
It's been too cold in my apartment to get on the treadmill. Hopefully, maintenance will fix that this week.

Write at least one story.
No time.

2) What cross-stitch project am I working on?

Melissa's birthday present. It's slow going.

3) Who's my crush du jour?

Adam Copeland, WWE's Edge. I read on WrestleZone that he plans to retire next year. I hope he reconsiders, he's one of the best all-around showmen in the WWE.

4) What shows am I watching?

Besides WWE's RAW and Smackdown and TruTV's World's Dumbest, I'm thoroughly enjoying NBC's The Cape and Syfy's US version of Being Human. My DVR, on the other hand, can barely keep up on Monday nights. (I haven't told it about Dancing With The Stars restarting in March.) Thank God for the encore episode of Being Human.

5) What shows am I looking forward to?

WWE Tough Enough starts on USA in April. Also that month, The Borgias starts on Showtime.

I love tea, but I've only used bags. Republic of Tea also sells loose tea, so I decided I might try that. To that end, I bought a tea duckie at Cracker Barrel last night, mainly because it's cute.

Note to self: Do not cut open tea bag to use in infuser. Bag tea is too fine and just makes a mess.

Bobby and Lindsey's Christmas presents came! They gave me the Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 DVD and the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies comic book! I read the book in one day. Obviously, Linds has seen my Amazon wishlist.