Friday Five

1. In my personal opinion, "Love, Actually" is by far the best movie ever made.  It has it all - heart, laughs, cute boys, London.  I mean really, everything you could ever want in a RomCom is in "Love, Actually."  So to say that I was excited about its "reboot" for Red Nose Day, was an understatement.  And after seeing its trailer, I'm beyond excited.  Of course, since I live in the States, I'm supposed to wait until May to see the full 10 minutes.  Ugh!  
             

2. I spend a lot of time these days talking about how great Seth Meyers is these days, but honestly.  He's killing it every night!  This bit from last night on the health care bill, and SNL is beyond hilarious.  
          

3. And speaking of the health care bill - my most favorite thing that happened this week, is that finally some people in the House came to their senses and weren't able to provide enough votes for Trump and Co. to pass their ridiculously dangerous health care bill so it was pulled.  That particular bill would have hurt millions of hard-working people.  The ACA may not be perfect, but it's helped a lot of people.  And maybe, just maybe if the current administration would spend more time on making it better than trying to overturn it, they might actually help Americans for a change rather than take important things, like access to healthcare, away from them.

4. This made me smile lots!  #TeamJess

Got a prime parking spot and a welcome sign pullin in....Love you too ;) #ThisIsUs #TuesdayLoveStill. MV pic.twitter.com/cKLDpytQMZ

— Milo Ventimiglia (@MiloVentimiglia) March 21, 2017

5. "The Little Mermaid" was one of my faves when I was little.  It fell just below "The Lion King" and Aladdin." I'm not a huge Disney Nerd, but I do remember watching these 3 constantly.  So hearing they were making a live action version, I was a little skeptical.  I mean, I'm never a huge fan of just re-making old stuff.  I like new ideas and when the old stuff is so good, why try to best it?  This is probably why I'm not running a studio in LA, but anyway, that's not my point.  My point is, this week Alan Menken who is directing the movie - with Lin Manuel-Miranda providing the music - went to the press with his idea for Ursula.  His genius idea - Harvey Fierstein! An idea I geeked out about for a few hours, until Harvey took to the press to say - "Make it happen!  Your wish is my command!" which made me geek out even more.  Harvey Fierstein with the tentacles and the eels?  How could that not be anything but amazing??

Three of Me

Earlier this week, there was a hashtag going around like wildfire - #ThreeFictionalCharacters.  The goal was to choose 3 fictional characters that are most like you.  It's taken me a while but I think I finally figured it out.  I LOVED this idea when I first heard about it, but it's taken me the entire week to really nail down who I think I'm most like.  Now that I have those 3 characters, I'm fairly shocked I didn't think of them immediately.

1. Miranda, the character played by Miranda Hart in the BBC show Miranda: She's a single girl in her 30s.  She's awkward, sarcastic, unable to tell the cute boy she likes that she likes him and did I mention she's socially awkward?  In pretty much every episode there's at least one scene - usually more than one - that reminds me of myself.  Also, the cutie she's in love with is Tom Ellis whom I also think is adorable so we have the same taste in cute boys as well.  She's basically a 6'1" British me.
              

2. Dory from Finding Nemo - I have to admit I'm a bit forgetful, not to the extent Dory is, but I've been known to forget random things on a daily basis.  But Dory is also eternally optimistic.  She's a positive thinker and just likes to be around the people that love her. She's happy and enjoys life. She's helpful and is up for an adventure just to help Marlin.  She has all sorts of good qualities that I strive for, and sometimes succeed at. I also happen to think that Dory's advice to Just Keep Swimming is the best advice for anyone going through hard times.  
              

3. Donna Noble from Doctor Who - And I promise I'm not just saying Donna because she's my absolute favorite companion.  Donna is always ready for adventure.  She's lived a fairly boring life being a temp in Chiswick, and when given the chance for adventure and travel with the Doctor she's more than ready.  She's the perfect friend for the Doctor. She wants to see everything's she's missed over the years, and the Doctor is ready to show it to her. She's also completely sarcastic which is pretty much how I live my entire life.  And aside from choosing not to hug the Doctor - come on man!  who wouldn't hug David Tennant if given the chance?! - she's yet another me.
               

Friday Five

1. Among all the fabulous Hamilton news this week (Phillipa Soo is going to star in Amelie, the documentary is out in October, the original cast is filming the show!!!), the best news of the week was that when Lin Manuel Miranda leaves in July, his standby, the lovely Javier Munoz will be taking over the role.  Since I knew Lin would be leaving before I got to see it, this is the best possible outcome.  I can't wait to see "#Javilton"!

2. When I finally find Prince Charming, this will be the way we tell our friends and family we're having a little prince or princess.  This is by far the cutest birth announcement I've ever seen!

3. There has been some really fantastic reporting and commenting on the Orlando disaster over the last week.  Even the late night hosts have had some really insightful and kind things to say about where we are and where the US needs to be.  But my favorite quote came from Seth Myers in the wake of Donald Trump's insensitive tweet regarding the congratulations he's receiving for being right about the radicals.  Seth Myer's said:

"I'm not sure who the congratulations are coming from but maybe you should save them for the first responders and those lining up to give blood."

4. Seeing as the Tony awards were just so wonderfully wonderful, can you blame me for wanting more?  I mean, this awesome video of Sean Hayes, James Corden and Jake Gylenhaal singing a song from Aladdin is pretty amazing.  But where in the world are the other videos of all the other commercial break karaoke performances?  I need these to show up on YouTube, post haste!  Get on this theater gods!

5.  Yet another Disney animated movie to get excited about!  Though, it's up in the air if it will be better than Finding Dory (which while I haven't seen, can't be anything but perfect!) 

Friday Five

1. "The Real O'Neals": I had my reservations about it, but seriously, it might be the very best comedy to hit television in a while.  It's hilarious!  Just so good!

2. I totally could have written this list on BuzzFeed about how awesome Hamilton is.  Of course, since I haven't seen it, I have no idea if I'll even like it.  I mean, let's be honest here, everyone LOVES Hamilton so it's a good chance I will.  But I've definitely done every one of these things : )

3. Fish are Friends, not Food: This just makes me smile.  I love Bruce in Finding Nemo, so I happen to think this shark is adorable - well, as adorable as a shark can be.

4. After having today off to shop with the mama at the outlets, I've come to the conclusion that if I could have off every Friday, I'd be a much happier human being. However, I'd prefer to happen without having to work 10 hour days Monday-Thursday...

5. My new most favorite Twitter account is @Pres_Bartlet.  I know he's a fictional president created by Aaron Sorkin, but he's the most entertaining character on Twitter.  This week alone, he's chatted with Lin Manuel Miranda, spoken intelligently on how terrible Trump is (always a great way to my heart) and has shared the love for his beloved Notre Dame in the NCAA playoffs.  All the while being hilarious!  

Friday Five

1. Someone posted this on Twitter on International Women's Day and I just fell in love with it.  Such a cute message for girl power!

2. I like pink as much as the next girl, but I'm not sure why pink is the international color for girls in general. What I really don't understand is why women need a pink pen specifically for them.  Apparently Bic thought they did and proceeded to introduce Pens for her.  Yep, they're as ridiculous as they sound, however when this company accidentally received a box of them, they replied perfectly.  I love it!

3. Supernatural is getting a 12th season!  Woohoo!  I was a little worried, but the CW made my day today by making the announcement.  I have to say, the DC Con I'm attending in just a few weeks would be quite a sad affair if that hadn't been the case. 

4. Some people have a soft spot for the Disney classics, while others love Toy Story.  But my very favorite Disney movie is Finding Nemo.  I just think it's the perfect movie from start to finish.  The stories, the characters, the graphics - everything is just so beautiful.  That's exactly why I'm so darn excited to see the sequel revolving around my favorite character, Dory!  I'm pretty confident based on this trailer that it will be every bit as fabulous as the first movie. 

5. I have this dream that I won't need Match.com to meet Prince Charming afterall; that this in deed will happen to me.  Though no news yet...

Friday Five

1.  There may be a slight obsession thing happening with Hamilton, if it's in fact possible to be obsessed with a show you haven't seen yet and won't be seeing for another 8 months. Anyway, while I count down the days until I do get to see it, I've got to fill the time doing something.  Today it was read about the ridiculously awesome wall the cast has backstage where all the many famous people that visit get to sign.  So very cool!  

2. I wasn't really voting for the Vikings to win the playoff game last week against Seattle.  But in the last few seconds, when it came down to a field goal, I'd decided it was a foregone conclusion.  Until he missed.  The poor guy, Blair Walsh to be specific, the kicker for the Vikings missed a 27 yard field goal in Minnesota and lost the game for his team. That's got to be tough to swallow.  I really felt for the guy.  However, I didn't feel as much for him as these first graders did.  How cute are they?!  I'm not sure it's easy to come back from such a career failure like that, but I'm sure these kids helped a lot!

3. First off, I've been waiting to see Zootopia for months - basically since I saw the first trailer.  Now I'm even more excited based on the ad campaign that Disney's using.  I'm not sure I agree with using 50 Shades of Grey to sell anything (most especially Disney) but I'll try to ignore it in favor of all the others.  Because the rest are adorable!

4.  After spending a long hour just attempting to register for a non-credit course on a local community college's website, my new most favorite thing is websites that are intuitive. I love websites that have buttons that make sense and actually take you where you need to go instead of taking you down a rabbit hole with every page saying the same exact thing!  Bad websites really make you appreciate Google and Facebook a lot more, don't they?  So I'm saying that the geniuses at Google are on my most favorite things this week!

5. Love the New Yorker's tribute to Alan Rickman - it's just so perfect!

"Here’s to the best damned antagonist a guy could ask for.”

Talking Trivia (&Turkey)

~ Due to the travel restriction around the world, it would seem everyone in Maryland decided to drive rather than fly to their holiday destinations.  Therefore, the traffic on MD roads increased 10 fold which is just what you want to deal with 2 days before Thanksgiving. 

~ Sitting with an entire team of teachers that have off tomorrow, stinks.  It just has to be said.  

~  According to the Trivia Master, in regards to Turkey Day:
           - People eat 13 pounds of turkey in a year 
           - There are 24 NFL teams that were created after the tradition of a Thanksgiving day                   game hosted by the Lions was enacted
           - Swanson overshot the number of turkeys they'd sell in the 50s by 26 tons, so they                     created the TV dinner so as to not waste all that turkey. 
None of these facts are particularly exciting but at least you'll have a chance to feel smart at the dinner table on Thursday.  

~ There's currently a song called "Ex's and O's" on the Billboard Chart.  Seeing as I've been listening to Christmas music for the better part of November, I've not heard this song even once. 

~ My Disney knowledge is sorely lacking, something my team judged me for quite a bit.  (Why on earth would I think that the movie Mulan - about a female soldier - would have included the song "I'll make a man out of you?" Wouldn't that make more sense if it were in Tarzan?  Unfortunately I didn't help my case when explaining I'd never seen either movie...

~ In a Clockwork Orange, someone drinks poisoned milk.  Yet another reason to not watch this movie or read the book.  I don't even want to think about people drugging one of my most favorite drinks (also, the answer to this question was most definitely milk and not absinthe like we guessed...)

~ When the mid game question is on literary characters and the novels they appeared in, it's quite helpful to have an English teacher on your team. 

~ Along with my lack of Disney knowledge, I also have no recollection of the famous poem "Casey at the Bat." What the heck was I reading and watching when I was little?

Friday Five

            

1. Batkid Begins - This is what's truly awesome about people some times.  Doing so much for a little boy to make him feel super.  Love this little guy!

2. Unfortunately this is a little too true...Disney Princesses as Thirty-Somethings

3. Because I'm going to Hay on Wye this summer, these photos are perfectly perfect.  However, what makes this village even more perfect, is the "outlawing" of eReaders.  Long Live Books! : )

4. I've already seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway once with Michael C. Hall playing Hedwig.  And I wasn't entirely in love with the production.  Hall was fantastic but the show was strange.  However, with news that Taye Diggs is playing him next, I may just have to see it again.  He's a cutie!

5. I have to say, while I was unsure they'd get the job done - Geek Squad are my heroes this week!  Thank goodness for working laptops!  I never thought I was one of those people who had to have a device on me at all times - but as it turns out I am...

Disney Does it Again

I've been seeing this little video pop up on Pinterest all week.  I've finally taken a few minutes to see what the hoopla has been about and I'm so glad I did.  It's about the sweetest little love story I've ever seen!  I'm not sure how animators can convey such emotion and heart with absolutely no voices but they certainly pulled it off.  I can only hope that my eventual love story will be as sweet...better start wearing lipstick now, just in case.