Buzz Aldrin is my favorite Astronaut.

Buzz Aldrin is the second person to set feet on the Moon & he is not afraid of the public spotlight:

Seems like such a nice guy.

How can he not be the coolest?

Here he is, Singing out the word, "Science!" with Thomas Dolby. He's like your favorite Grandpa, rocking out in an endearing fashion at a family wedding.

He's not afraid to have fun, or to be real. In a few of his books, he shares his struggles going to & returning from the Moon. He's 83 years old & he ventures out to walk the red carpet for blockbuster premieres & says Star Trek is better than Star Wars-based solely on the ship designs.
He also punched a man for antagonizing him about whether or not the Moon Landing was real.
Retirement is nowhere in sight for this guy, how can you not respect & admire all that gumption?

Have you read his book, "Encounter With Tiber"? Even in tackling the Science Fiction genre, Buzz wants to keep things as real as possible so that one day it could become possible! Watch this short video of him explaining how his book came about.

He has dedicated himself to many space projects, & will be giving a talk on his book he wrote about getting Earth people to Mars, which you can watch on June 11th via YouTube. This man just loves Space Exploration.

Go ahead & promote your new TV series Mr. Aldrin, America loves you & we'll be sure to tune in.

Music Videos of Men standing Still.

On my commute to work, I will usually start my day off in search of a song to send to my little sister, who is currently at college at AMDA. The following are some of the gems I've found.
Coincidentally, they are all songs preformed by men standing still.

Gotta love the little kid!

Vampire Weekend is my go to band to feel like I'm back home, driving the 101 through Encinitas.

And I just really enjoy this video.

Have you heard this? It's really quite something. The isolated tracks of David Bowie & Freddy Mercury singing their parts of how they thought 'Under Pressure' should be sung. 

Read the article here, from Openculture.com. 

My husband wants a Cat.

Remember that viral video of that one cat? I know, there are millions of them, but this is the one I'm talking about:

This was my first introduction of how fun cats can be. Other than for the sake of making viral videos of cats getting stuck in jars or being terrified of the toaster, I've never wanted to adopt a cat.
In my lifetime, my family has adopted 7 dogs & now my husband & I adopted ours:

She's been a lovely dog for our apartment & I cannot imagine a sweeter dog we could own. That's because I'm a dog person. I see a dog out on a walk & I immediately wish I were 7 years old so it wouldn't be weird for me to ask its owner if I can pet it. I've pulled my car over to the side of the road to go chasing after a dog that's wandered out into the middle of the street. Dogs are sweet & goofy. Cats...are just not my thing.

If you're a cat owner, my apologies. I am trying to appreciate this feline breed as my husband will drag me over to the kitty section of our local pet store to entice me to get us a cat.
Until I give up my resolve of never owning a kitty, I share these little gems with you, if you indeed be a cat person:

Mental Floss, a must website to explore, has an article about Cats & the part they've played in history. Who knew a cat was the reason for an international crisis or for discovering a continent?
Also: This website is a great time killer--It loads a song & Cat gif.  As life hack ninja puts it, "Cats & Music, what more do you need?"

Super.

My all time favorite Superhero is Superman & I am counting down the days until 'Man of Steel' release.



Are there anymore like you back home?

Not to say I do not love & respect all other heroes (yes, even Aquaman), but Superman is the greatest in my mind. Although, many tend to disagree with my take on this manly alien & here's why:

Superman is difficult to find interesting--his story is that he is a Boy Scout.

 

 
He stands for Hope, Justice & the American Way (sorry all other countries).

This is what decent public education will get ya.

 

He can save the world, but he will disappoint us time & again because he will never be able to save all of the world all the time, every time. He still tries though.
Except to write a movie about a man who is just as an upstanding a character at the end of the movie as he is in the beginning is not what the mainstream media wants. Society wants struggle, wants pain for gain, & seeks to find flaws to overcome. Superman has no flaws. He has no inner turmoil, he even has no personality for movie-viewers to find endearing:

Even though he begins as an orphan, an outsider to the people of Earth, nothing develops along that storyline as the characters Batman & Spider-man have. This is why he does not captivate a well deserved audience.

IMDB.com lists ten reasons why humanity doesn't care about Superman  and Cracked.com agrees,stating in its article that Superman is Boring. 
 
I have hope though that the new Superman film will change all of this:

 

Director Zack Synder, writer David Goyer, & producer Deborah Snyder aim to reinvent Superman for modern day audiences. 

 

I believe they will create for Superman purpose. They create his homeland, they create his turmoil of growing up with hidden talents, his search of who he should be in our world. They create philosophical dilemmas & give him a villain to weigh his choices against.  This film creators know how Superman has been limited in the past & they have brought brilliant solutions to re-inventing this long-time hero.

I'm a fan of all movies.

I am a movie nut.
When I say this, I mean it. I'm no snob when it comes to cinema.
I'll sit down & watch any movie, most times just to see it. There's a magical suspense about the anticipation of the way a film can unfold.  Most times, for me, it's an inspirational escape--the cinematography masters allow a two hour escape into another reality. Other times though, I'll suffer through terrible films that were reviewed to be terrible just so I can say, "That was, indeed, a terrible movie".

We all knew it was going to be terrible.

Enduring all types of films is just a part of my Hollywood habit. I take the good with the bad & when the Great come along, I have to boast about them. Especially when I find bits of Behind-the-Scenes treasures I have to share them with anyone who'll listen:


Screen Rant posted about the top 32 movie scenes you may or may not know about. These are my favorite tidbits:
Harrison Ford had contracted food poisoning so what was to be a lengthy sword fight scene was remastered into a single gun shot fight. Very true to the ruggedly handsome Indy.

 

Type casting anyone? Another ruggedly perfect improvise from Harrison Ford (who in turn, hated Han Solo):

 

He knew there was a shark. That's what this whole movie is about. However, during filming this scene was the first time he ever saw the animated Shark. Naturally he said what anyone would say, right?

 

Her reaction laugh to Richard Gere's spontaneous close-snap of the jewelry box was so genuine the director decided to leave it in:

 

Bill Murray does great improvisation in his films. This scene from Caddyshack might be the most famously known:

 

Even more reasons to adore Bill Murray.

 

Photos of the few visited sets from Star Wars. This man found the location of the hidden Star Wars sets via Google Earth-Genius.

 

 

I love my coffee Sweet, like my dog.

This is Bailey--Isn't she sweet?

Darn right she is.

I've been trying to cut back on sugar. Sort of.
The Oreos & donuts we had for dessert last night would prove otherwise, however I have begun to force myself to drink coffee black-watered down a bit... I think this is called an Americano? 


Whatever you are, be a jittery one.



Whatever it's called, the first few sips always taste like dirt it's taking a while to get used to it.  I have noticed I am no longer experiencing the sugar swings I used to get when I'd drink a Carmel-Mocha. That's right, I'm fun-loving & I love sugar.













Oh well. My Soldier & I are trying to eat healthier. He's dropped near 25lbs. in time for his next PT Test--which is like what us public school kids did once a year when we had to "run" that timed half-mile & pathetically suffer through sit-ups & push-ups. I don't know about you, but I'm not bragging about my upper-body strength.


I used gym class as free time to work on my tan.

It's been an interesting journey tiresome adaptation for me to say the least--I do love eating healthier--more fresh fruits & veggies, less Jack-in-the-Box, but it's like pulling teeth it hasn't been easy as my Soldier is a picky eater.
Most health-nut recipes I've read through contain foods too foreign for us to pronounce or take too long of a preparation-before we know, it's 2030 830pm & we've finished off the bag of carrots BBQ chips we were snacking on...We're a meat & potatoes family & change is intimidating. As well as Kale.

If it wasn't for that open window, we would have died in our sleep from the methane gases.

So I've ventured out for salvation ideas so I can keep eating what I like & found this site to help keep track of what I'm eating. I enter in what weight I want to be, & this site generates a graph to track how many calories I should eat to reach this goal.
I enter in what/how much I eat & this site will break it down nicely as to what areas of foods I might need to focus on more. It's a shocker to see how food adds up! It's transformed my food choices considerably.

However, maybe you just want a basic calculator to figure things out? This link leads you to a basic calorie calculator that gives you a number to aim for & leaves the counting up to you!

Here is an article for the more reader-savvy this article explains the theory behind focusing on how many calories you should be eating.

This is my theory.

*Disclaimer*
Now I will just say that this is a time of transitioning for me & my soldier. We know we won't be perfect in changing our ways--some nights we won't make it to the gym or some lunches will be drive-thru, so we aren't beating ourselves up over the little slips & indulgences we take. Limiting our calories is only a short-term plan to get us to our ideal weight quickly & safely so that once we reach that goal, then we will work on maintaining that weight through our workouts & meals.


Have you had to adjust to a "Grown-Up" metabolism? Do you have some healthy meals that appeal to the pickiest of eaters? Feel free to share!

Laughter

Laughter is amazing.
An expression of an emotion that can be shared easier than any other.
I've been trying to get more of it into my life lately. An anonymous hate letter at work robbed me of laughter for a few days. So I searched out things to laugh about via google & found the gem of Jeff Goldblum & Conan O'Brien.
Me & My Soldier were in fits of giggles & laughter over all the videos of them two.

I love it when Jeff Goldblum is a guest on Conan. They always have such great fun together.

 

Be an infectious person, develop a great laugh:

Also, develop your brain:
Learn something new, everyday!

Sweet Caroline.

I really like living in America because, Politics aside, of the humanity we all share as Americans.

When a town has a holiday or a celebration, there will be parades, festivals of food & celebrations of good-will with neighbors.

When a town has a fire or a flood, that town will offer local school gyms as temporary shelters & its students will offer support with food, water & prayer.  The local response personnel & the National Guard will combat the elements & fight off any dangers to its community.

When a town faces loved ones deaths at the hand of evil, that town pulls closer to offer support, to mourn the tragedies & to remember.

Actions like those have happened across America. There is not one state untouched by loss, nor its tragedies gone unnoticed by its neighbors.

We've had another terrorist attack.

As with 9/11, I will always remember where I was when I heard about the Boston Marathon Bombing: A few cubicles over from me at work is an incredibly loud co-worker. I don't know her name, but I know she's recently moved apartments, she has sinus issues & she keeps the whole office informed about ongoing news events. So when I overheard her commenting, "I can't believe what's happened at the Boston Marathon!" I hopped onto Google, thinking maybe someone broke a world record. Instead, the search engine resulted in a few new-feed links about a bombing occurring near the Boston Marathon finish line.

For the rest of the work-day I kept up a steady refreshing of these news links.
For the rest of the week I streamed video reports & news conferences at my desk.
On the day they had the 2nd suspect cornered, I streamed the live feed from my phone on my bus commute home to watch his capture.
America does its best to not let danger or evil threaten its communities. We are to be good & do good as Americans.

Now that we know who the bombers are & now that theories of 'Why' are filling up the airwaves until facts can be presented, I now celebrate the good that has happened in the rest of this post:

Posts from Buzzfeed about a few immediate acts of kindness-

Post featuring the hightened level of protection after the bombing.

Post with Comfort Dogs:

Neil Diamond, singing a Red Sox's favorite:

A Lost World Returns

Sometimes I get lost in a book. When I come across a captivating story I tend to focus all my energies into the creative elements.
However, rarely do I ever finish a book. I am more of a collecter (hoarder!) as I've inherited my parent's love for books & by hunting & gathering during my mother's school's library's annual summer purging I've saved a many 'Discarded' book. With too many years of this tradition, now my shelves resemble this:



What A Mess!



Time for action, to clear my life of clutter & make the next time we move not so dreadful.

My job allows for some free time, as I wait to process orders via email, so I've decided to set aside an hour or two (or four) for reading. I'm going to wean down my bookshelves to house only the books I know I'll want to re-read as I aim for this type of bookcase:


Love how even the Games are organized by color!
















To kick off my reading "schedule", I'm starting my Mr.'s copy of the bestseller, Jurassic Park! It's quite different & very much the same as the movie, which is coming back to theaters on April 5 to be seen in 3D! I'm very excited for this as watching the T-Rex chase down & snap it's teeth at Ian Malcom (Anyone else have a crush on him?) wasn't panic enough in 2D.

"Hold on to your butts." for Jurassic Park 4!

I'm so interested to know what they'll end up talking about! Could someone make the argument for bringing Dinosaurs back to life??

Now you can have your own Jurassic Park!

How Old Are You Really?

Benjamin Franklin was a useful man. As a man of science & inventions, he believed in the American Dream & is among one of my favorite men in history. Throughout his life, Benny said a load of things, which were thought to be intelligent enough to be recorded & used to inspire readers hundreds of years later. One of my favorite sayings is this:

" If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead & rotten, either write things worth reading or do the things worth the writing."





I enjoy Mr. Franklin's frankness. However, we can't all be remembered, & with what society is giving it's full attention to now-a-days, I think I will be okay with not being entirely remembered by the world over. However, this does not mean I should not aspire to action to be remember by friends & family.

What decidedly captured my mind to not let myself go to waste is a tri-fold of happenings:
The 1st being that I no longer get to work in the Executive Dept. at my company. I was late 3-too-many times.
The 2nd being that my job now lends me at most 7 out of 9 hours to spend my day how I want. As long as I stay in a cubicle.
The 3rd is my Mr.who is encouraging me to find fulfillment & not waste those hours. He knows I now feel as though I have no purpose & am utterly bored just sitting still.

"Many people die at twenty-five & aren't buried until they are seventy-five."-Benny Franklin.
I stumbled upon this quote a few days into adjusting to my new position. It made me panic a little as I am soon-to-be 25+2. I had a very difficult time letting go of 25, as I felt 25+1= being old; that my youth was now gone & adulthood bombarded with responsibilities is what my life is to be held captive by. As my Mr.still has a year of Graduate School to go, I am the Bread Winner & I have been feeling trapped.

So I made myself a schedule for how best to spend my work hours. There are only so many (few!) good TV seasons on Netfix & Hulu to watch.

The first 2 hours of work is filled by processing all the work that came in overnight, typing up notes-if needed, watering my two plants &...cleaning up my desk area. There's a nasty cruddy cold going around, & I'm determined to Purell the germs away from my desk area.

Then I complete a Bible study for the next hour or so. I've currently started actively engaging myself at church & am now a part of two study groups. Being social at church has given me an outlet as now at work my dept. is tucked away from any flow of foot traffic.

Next, I practice Typing. This, like sewing, is a skill I GREATLY desire, but have not actively sought out to learn. Now I can.

Lastly, I have decided to learn a language with my Mr. We are practicing French, because he said no to ASL (which I'm re-learning on the side anyways.).  My boss & two co-workers leave at 3, so I have the perfect atmosphere to be able to practice the nasally pronunciations of the French language.

In between all these mini-classes, I take stretching breaks & walk the 5 flights of stairs at my company, and I also eat mini-meals.  My company has great incentives for getting into shape-which right now includes 2 Alaska Airlines tickets-so I've greatly changed my eating habits & learned to watch&record my health.

There is still quite some time left to fill, as I process my work right away, do you have any ideas on how I could productively spend my time?-once all my work is finished of course.

Sometimes I tend to phase out.

Like the moon I tend to ebb & flow throughout my social circles. Although, instead of a few days shy of a month, I tend to take three times as long to rotate as the moon does. I've always been this way-sorry to all my friends!--I hide away around Halloween & spring back out just after Valentine's day.

I have invested in a special lamp to simulate a sunrise, sunset & beam happy vibes into my subconscious, all to encourage me to be productive, however the engineers of this lamp placed an off switch easily within reach so that lazy bums, like me, can "turn off the sun" and sleep the day away. There are some things that you cannot rush. However today I feel good! I feel shiny. I feel like talking to the world again.

Speaking of the World, wasn't that meteroite in Russia kinda funky?--all of a sudden, BAM! you're living a little closer to the reality of Deep Impact or Armagedon. Or getting to be Han Solo navigating the asteroid field. & anyone see the made for TV movie, Asteroid? There's a reason why it only got a 4.7 star rating on imdb.com.

Now, you might be thinking, what in the outer-world!?? How come no one noticed this was going to happen? Did the Atari missed this one? Apparently, even in this day & age, we still are not good enough to best the whole galaxy. Thanks Copernicus, the universe wins again. The Economist notes that NASA should put forth the engergy & effort to better protect our world, however, what are the odds that our galaxy's flying rocks will start to flock to Earth? Uh-Oh.


An Astroid is a realatively small inactive body of rock, carbon & metal, & it happily orbits the sun.

A Meteroid is a small particle from an asteroid or comet. Like a child or stepchild of an Asteroid.

A meteor is when the rock actually enters into the Earth's atmosphere & burns up.

 A meteroite is what Russia experienced-something out of this world that lands on Earth.
This meteroite that hit Russia weighed about 10-tons, at 33, 000 mph & it exploded 18-32 miles above Russia homeland.

 

 

I'm hoping NASA will find the All Spark.