Jan 8, 2005

New year, new opportunities. How many of you have kept your resolutions the first 8 days? Just curious of course.

Yesterday was my birthday. I am 24 now. It is strange and amazing to think that I have been married two and a half years, out of highschool for five and a half. Time moves quickly.



Märia bought me an iMac for my birthday! It took me completely by surprise. She and her mother just came in from shopping, and asked me to help them carry in some stuph from the car, and sitting in the trunk was an iMac box. This page is now being made exlusively on the Mac, using Nvu, iPhoto and Homepage. Nvu is an html editor sponsored by Linspire. iPhoto and Homepage are Mac products, part of iLife suite. I am totally enjoying my Mac, you guys need to head down to an apple store and take one for a test drive. They are very nice and very knowledgeable at the apple stores, and you can sit and play on a Mac for as long as you want.

My other gift came from Pam and Russ, Märia's parents. They bought me the movie Luther. Check it out on DVD if you see it somewhere. It is the story of Martin Luther's struggle with the Catholic Church, himself, and in some cases God. I cannot comment on the historical accuracy of the movie, but I can say that it is moving. You will not believe the actor's/writer's ability to insert wit and jokes without making it feel blastphemous. Those looking for a Catholic bashing movie might as well pass this one over. It is quite respectful of the Catholic faith, considering the subject matter. It tells the story of a man questioning the doctrines of the Catholic church without passing judgement as to whether he was right to question them.

Another movie that we have seen this last week is The Phantom of the Opera. Everyone has heard the music. Well, you havn't. I mean, when I heard it, I recognized every song, but I was caught up in the story by these modern versions in a way that simply was not possible with older renditions, or a live orchestra. We saw it, and plan to see it again in theatre. We purchased the soundtrack, and will probably get the extended edition soundtrack as well. The music is that good. And do not believe the critics. It is hard to find a good review of this movie online. The movie "experts" all seem to feel like this was a movie that should not have been made because it somehow takes away from seeing it on stage. I love stage theatre. It was a huge part of my life in highschool. A story is a story, whether it is told as a book, movie, ballet, play, or song. This was a story that has long needed to be told on film, and this film does it wonderfully. Please go see it.

Let's see, what else? Christmas was great. I went to Texas to see my family. We had a good visit. Grandma fried us up some great fish and Grandpa made his wonderful breakfasts with bacon and saltpork and sausage and good old country gravy. Unfortunately I cannot handle southern food the way I used to be able to, and my bowels are still not quite in order. They feel all tied up in knots. You can see the pictures of Christmas in the gallery. So far they are the only ones I have put up. =) more to come though. This should be an easier page to keep up.