Well, here it is. I've taken a plunge and started a blog. Don't really know exactly what I'll be putting in here yet, and I'm learning things as I go, as I don't know yet anything about this form of communication or how to do some of the things yet (like put photos on here). But I guess I'll figure it out! :-)

Years ago I used to send out emails to friends and families that were reviews - movies, DVDs, books, etc. I've thought about doing that again but felt that it should be in this format rather than just an email. So, with that in mind, that's at least where I'm gonna start.

Movies
I recently saw the movie Grand Torino, starring Clint Eastwood. Really excellent movie. Eastwood stars as a grisly, cranky old man, who's a sort of bigot. He's just lost his wife, he's retired, his kids are jerks (as are his grandkids) and he lives in the same neighborhood that he's been in for many years. The neighborhood has changed a lot tho in the years he's been there. And that's where the story lies. Eastwood is incredible - I can't believe he didn't get an Oscar nod for his performance in this movie. This role is totally his. The movie is stark, moving, funny and poignant. If you haven't seen it yet, you need to. It's absolutely incredible.

Last night Burten & I watched Burn After Reading. Omg, this movie was hysterically funny, a very dark comedy. There are a lot of stars in it - John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney are the main ones. It's a Coen brothers movie and if you know their work, well, then you'll know what I mean when I say they've done it again. (Some of their movies - Fargo, Oh, Brother Where Art Thou, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski.) Truly bizarre and funny. Some really unexpected moments and I laughed out loud many times. Rent it, it's worth it.

Another movie we saw recently was Hellboy II. Now I know what you're thinking - you're kidding right? Well, I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed watching this movie. I never saw the first Hellboy so really didn't know what to expect. This was a cute, funny, enjoyable movie. And there's a scene with a Barry Manilow song (I Can't Live Without You) that was incredibly funny.

Books
I am now on the last book of an incredible series of books - the Outlander series by Diane Gabaldon. There are six books in total and each one of them is HUGE - one being nearly 1500 pages long. The books are about time traveler Claire Randall and her 18th century husband Scotsman Jamie Fraser. There's a lot to give away that I won't do. Suffice it to say that the books are fun & quite exciting. I've actually learned some things too about the medicinal use for maggots and much about Scottish Highlanders (apparently quite a stubborn lot - at least according to this author). I highly, highly recommend these books. But definitely be ready for a committment. Each of the books range from about 800 pages to nearly 1500 (as noted above). You won't regret it tho.

Oh! We got another dog. Our dog Chance had cancer and it finally got bad enough that we put him down. (Our cat, Genghis, was also put down somewhat prior to that, being old and ill. He had quite a life tho. Not much of him wasn't scarred, tattered and such.) We put Chance down several months ago, back in August/September. Right after the New Year we decided we wanted to get another cat. We went to the Glendale Humane Society but they didn't really have any cats that we were interested in at the time. They did, however, have this little 6-month old, brown Terrier mix who was just as cute and sweet as could be. We brought him home about a week or so after seeing him. He's a charmer, incredibly cute and pretty smart.

So I think that's it for now. I hope to hear back from some of you - comments are welcome. And any advice you might have as to how to do things on a blog are welcome too.

L, Jill