it's been a while and for that i apologize. upon reaching the past milestone of 10,000 hits, i do want to thank you all for your interest in me and my thoughts and my writing. although, at least 8,000 of those hits are probably my own, so don't be taking too much credit for it. i've never really known the point of having this silly thing on the internet for the whole world to read. it is indeed rather narcissistic. but i am an introvert and this is the way we work i guess and it's probably not always a good thing but perhaps it's just a part of life. what i am trying to say is this thing is more for me than it is for you. and it will be handy when the grandkids appear on the scene some day.

we've got a lot to catch up on, so this might be a little lengthy. i don't like long posts so i will apologize ahead of time. there might be something important in the middle of it though, so if you must, break it up into little pieces and just read a paragraph at a time. ok, jodi?

first things first, i saw finding neverland last week and it was excellent excellent excellent. i'm with jamin, i dont think johnny depp deserves an oscar for this, because although he was wonderful, it wasn't exactly a demanding role. but the movie is beautiful and moving and made me want to be a writer more than ever before. and a teacher for that matter. imagination and beauty and the-love-of-life and everything. i'll admit, i was misty-eyed.

my only complaint about finding neverland is the marital problems. i don't like movies that have marital problems in them, and that little subplot kinda somewhat ruined the story for me, and i think it could have been just as effective and moving without it (your reaction, neville?). i realize it's necessary to have marital problems included in some stories, but affairs and divorces and so on in movies are more disgusting to me than drug usage or violence or cursing or sex or any of the other taboos. (it ruined spanglish a little bit for me, too.) lost in translation is one movie that didn't bother me in that sense, mostly because i didn't view their relationship as an affair at all. granted, bill murray did have a little fling with that bar-singer, and that was unnecessary too, i think, but that's all a different story.

after re-reading that paragraph, i'm disagreeing with myself. all i'm trying to say is marital problems in movies disturb and upset me, and for me, make beautiful movies less enjoyable. i do realize it is, sadly, a fact of life.

i flew home to pennsylvania on friday morning. there were only 10 people on my flight which was kind of fun. i started reading a book for honors history called "how christian faith can sustain the life of the mind" and it's a pretty incredible book that i'm really enjoying so far. i read 60 pages that morning, and for me to read 60 pages of a book in one morning, you know it must be good. it makes me want to do college all over again, or at least do more college later, or least be a life-long learner, which i guess i'm learning is what undergraduate college is really all about.

i am also, thanks to joanna, reading poetry by billy collins, which i am enjoying so very much. even if you hate or don't understand poetry, you should look into this, because by the time i finish reading nearly every poem, i have a big grin on my face. i am a beginner at poetry, but there is no better way to begin than this guy.

we had lots of snow this weekend, at least a foot. erica and my sister were both snowed in at our house which was nice, but things didnt really get too exciting.

we watched "rivers and tides" which is pretty boring but very beautiful and if you like art at all i would really really recommend it. the stuff this guy does is pretty amazing.

go eagles, huh? no choking this year, and i am proud. but the real heroes of the day were all the maintenance men at lincoln field who cleared out that foot of snow through the night. let's not forget them.

so today i am at lydia counseling center for "bring-your-fiance-to-work-day." it sounds pathetic, i know, but when you come home for the week and your fiance works 10-hour days with an hour and a half commute on either side, you've gotta do something about it. basically all it means is i'm forced to get my to-do list done, which is a good thing, and i'm forced to waste time on the internet with a DSL connection. i can handle that.

that's all for now, but here is something very important and i am gonna put it in a new paragraph so that it catches the eye:

***IMPORTANT***
please read below:

I don't think Erica and I are going to waste money on a DJ, because most of the time we hate them anyway, and they are cheezy and expensive. So we're either gonna make mix CD's or a playlist on a computer and work with that (besides the Stanley Saegar jazz quartet).

SO...if you have any song recommendations, or if you are planning on attending and have any requests, feel free to make them here.

and don't worry, once the older people leave, the new gwen stefani album will DEFINITELY be in heavy rotation.