Puppy Continued

Pics from her first trip to Petco with Kiwi! :)

-Liz

Coco!

These are some new pics of our lovely new puppy Coco! Enjoy! Right now she is at my feet playing with a stray flip flop!

I will post more tomorrow!

-Liz

Midgets and rabbits

Friday night I finally had the chance to see In Bruges , a film that I have spoken of several times on this blog. The film finally made its way down from Boston and closer to my home and is playing at the Nickelodeon in Falmouth. Frances and I made the trek out to Falmouth to catch the last showing Friday night and it was worth it. I was already excited to go to the Nickelodeon, simply because the place is very surreal. It is quite literally in the middle of nowhere in Falmouth, which is an accomplishment considering it is on the Cape, nestled between golf courses on the way to Mashpee. The place is very old school; the theaters are small, and with only a handful of screens, they choose to selectively play arthouse-ish movies, foreign releases, and documentaries. I had been there one other time with Tabor for a class to see The Pianist and I was pumped to go back.

I snagged the above picture on the sly on the way into the building, we were being observed by the 5 employees inside. There were very few cars in the parking lot, the place is not too busy. (BTW- I love the humorous placing of the films on the right, classic.. Frances noted, "Bands Visit Jimmy Carter In Bruges! Now thats a movie I want to see!") The eager 14 year old doled out some refreshments for us, tried to push the refillable large popcorn, (does anyone ever get that?) and we went into the theater. There was only one other man in there, and the three of us were the entire audience for the film. Love it.

I really enjoyed In Bruges, it was to put it simply, VERY Irish. The jokes were Irish, the tone was Irish, the themes were Irish. Had I not spent significantly more time in Ireland than most people, I might have been challenged by the film. I do not think I would have appreciated it as much as I did since I had the background to understand what the director was getting at. I also found the film extremely clever. I really am not exaggerating when I say that this was the best performance I have ever seen by Colin Farrell...ever. He was believable. I am sure this is made easier because he was playing an Irish person from Dublin. Farrell lives in Ballsbridge, only a few streets from my old place in Dublin. I guess the part was not too much of a stretch for him on the surface. However, the circumstances of his character Ray, a hitman on the run after he ruins a job by shooting a child, we re a reach. I was impressed by his performance, and enjoyed watching him.

Ray Fiennes also spectacular. Think Nazi captain in Schindler's List but British and a hit man. It worked well.

The film was quick and deliberate, every detail was important, there was no fluff. The themes and concepts the film questions through the offhand comments of its characters are still running through my head now. The film mixed humor and tragedy seamlessly into the same moments. At times it was hard to reconcile laughing at things as terrible as they were, but the witty dialogue made it easier to see the film and prevented it from dragging too much emotionally. Did I mention there is even a dwarf in the movie? Come on who can say no to that?

Bruges is a character herself in this movie. There are so many glamorous beautiful shots of Bruges at Christmastime. It is great to see a sort of georgraphical postcard for my own vacation. If you have never been to Bruges, this film kind of makes you want to go there. If you have been, you really appreciate it more I think.

I really do not want to give too much of the film away, I really want to urge everyone to try and see it. It is open pretty much everywhere both in Europe and the US, so check it out.

In other news, I am in the process of finishing projects and course selection for the fall. So I should be busy the next few weeks.

Happy Easter!

-Liz

Good Luck Ashley!

Tomorrow my best friend in the whole wide world, Ashley Sullivan is off for the Navy. Everyone wish her luck in her latest adventure, we will all be missing her tremendously!

Myself, Frances and Ashley at her going away party on Saturday.

I am finally getting a break in my studies over Easter, so expect more relevant posts soon!

inmates and movie trailers

Today, something interesting occurred on my commute back from Stonehill.

I found myself behind a van from the Bristol County Sherrif's Department at a red light. This van was filled with inmates emblazoned with orange jumpsuits. As I paused qat the light, one of the inmates in the back window began making lewd gestures at me. Inappropriate. I proceeded to pass the van on the right, to get away. I do feel relieved knowing the man is already incarcerated, but hey, commuting is always bizarre.

In other news, I have been meaning to post on this for a few days now, a new movie trailer caught my interest the other day. The trailer is below, and it is for the new Colin Farrel movie In Bruges. The movie opened at the Sundance Festival recently. I thought the film's scenery looked familiar not just because I went to Bruges in November, but also because the hideout scenes were filmed at the same hotel Lee and I stayed at! The scene where Colin Farrell and his costar are eating breakfast and reading the telegram from his boss, is the exact same place where Lee and I ate our breakfast each morning. I can't wait to see this film, its a great video postcard my 20th birthday trip. I am just surprised no one at the hotel told us a movie has been filmed there in the past year! and of all the locations in Europe, Bruges is a bit bizarre.







-Liz

General Life Update

I know it has been over a month since my last post. After urging from friends and family, I am now finally getting around to updating. It has been a crazy month. There was the holidays, and school started, and things are now just slowing down. I also squeezed in a short visit to see Lee somehow in there too.

I started a new semester at Stonehill, as a commuter. Dorm life is just not for me, and I do not miss it in the slightest. I get to eat my own food, take showers without flip flops, and I am no longer at risk of contracting some sort of skin eating virus through the bathroom of the dorm. Life is good.

I am taking 5 classes, and I have a very busy schedule. I am at school everyday Monday- Friday, my busiest day being Wednesday. The drive is approximately 35 minutes from Rochester to Stonehill, depending on traffic and Dunkin Donuts stops along the way. (One day I must figure out how many DD's there are between here and there, it must be an astronomical amount.) I like the hour and ten minutes I get to myself everyday. It gives me time to listen to my CD's, talk on the phone, and generally just think. It works well as a tool to ease into the day and decompress out of it. I am actually enjoying it. There is a certain zen to driving on 24 everyday, even if it does decrease my survival rate slightly on a daily basis.

I am taking three English classes this semester: Critical Theory, Early Modern Literature and Chaucer. Three very difficult required upper level courses for my major. So far the work has been manageable, and I am enjoying them for the most part. Critical Theory is my favorite, despite the often bizarre and unintelligible subject matter. Father George Piggford is a great professor, and he really makes the class much more enjoyable than it was in Dublin. Early Modern Literature, taught by Professor Duncan, is going well. The subject matter is around the contemporaries writing in the time of Shakespeare. It is refreshing to finally get a chance to read someone else coming out of the Renaissance, even if it means you just realize how unoriginal Shakespeare really was. Lastly, Chaucer is, well still the bane of my existence.

I am also taking my required Moral Reasoning class for Stonehill. I chose to take Jesus and Moral Decisions with Father Gribble. I really like Father Gribble as a professor, I had him for my introductory religious studies class Freshman year. The subject matter has been interesting so far, I will be sure to keep everyone updated on what my friends like to refer to as simply "Jesus class". To think last spring i was in Judaism. Now I am in Jesus.

Lastly, I am taking FA101 on Wednesday mornings. I love art. It's going well, even if I am slightly over qualified for the course. Yes, I took the courses backwards. I already completed the upper level drawing class. Some people are just wacky. It should be a good time.

That is the summary. I will do my best to update more frequently. Hopefully on more relevant things.

-Liz

Inventory and Snowstorms

I know I have been very delinquent on my blogging. Since my return from Amsterdam, I have been excessively busy: turning twenty, working, catching up with friends and family, and traveling to Rochester NY.

The long awaited Belgian pictures are here, sorry for the suspense.

Christmas is frighteningly around the corner, I still have some last minute gifts to buy and my schedule is filling up. 'Tis the season. I also have to coordinate my schedule with Lee's for celebrating and somehow find time to cook and bake my face off.

Last weekend, I visited Lee in the barren winter wonderland known as Rochester NY. The final 143 miles of my journey were through a snow storm at a top speed of 45 mph across an unplowed NY Thruway. The Red Roof Inn tried to throw me onto the snow covered street because of some stupid policy of me having to be 21 to check in. (I have a credit card in my name, what is the big deal?) But it was all worth it to see Lee for a few days. The highlight was a chance to see Brand New in concert at RIT. The show was amazing, and one person got carried away in a stretcher, my former fellow employee at the Tweeter Center, Hippie Dave, would not have approved. The show was really great though. This is a great cover of Neutral Milk Hotel. Enjoy!


-Liz