Nancy Drew

If you had been in a theater in my hometown a few nights ago, you might have heard me mumbling under my breath during the opening credits of the movie.

"Please don't change Nancy Drew, Please don't change Nancy Drew..."

Then you might've heard my sister elbowing me in the rib cage and saying "SHHHH!!!!"

I'm not sure why she did that tho' since the only other people in the theater were in our group.

Anyway, I went to see the Nancy Drew movie. I was very nervous. Nancy Drew has a special place in my heart. I have many fond memories of curling up under a blanket or laying on my front lawn with a Nancy Drew book in my hand. I love Nancy Drew. I always have.

So, like I said, I was nervous.

But, I was very pleasantly surprised!

The script writers DID change Nancy. They made her 16, and a peppy over achiever who likes "old fashioned things".

Nancy has been a smart, but mostly serious 18 year old girl for 75 years!!

Despite that, though, the movie makers did manage to keep the overall feel of a Nancy Drew book. I can't tell you how many times I elbowed my sister.

"Of course, there's always a haunted house"

"Chloroform. The bad guys always use chloroform when she gets kidnapped"

"I love the high speed chases in Nancy's blue mustang roadster"

I think my sister wished she had sat next to someone else.

My favorite line: "I just hate it when people try to kill me. It's so RUDE!"

So, all in all, I liked it. It was pretty good even though the Nancy Drew I saw was this one.

Maybe someday I'll write my own Nancy Drew screenplay. But, my screenplay will be about THIS Nancy.

Hydrangea

My sister, the gardener, left today for a couple of weeks vacation.

She was gone for all of 5 hours when I snuck home in the middle of the day and cut these gorgeous hydrangea blossoms off her *clears throat* OUR hydrangea bush. :-) I put them on the passenger seat and made a speedy getaway!

See, I like to take our beautiful garden flowers to the flower shop and use them in bouquets. My sister prefers to leave them in the garden.

Ah well, my customers certainly loved them!

"Woe be to him who reads but one book"

In my room

There are stacks
and stacks

and stacks....
...
... of books ... this isn't even a tenth of themAnd it's not even a hundredth of my wish list...

The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

I need some more bookshelves. And a bigger bedroom.

It's always "daisy-time"

filming

Remember that screenplay I was writing a little while ago?

We filmed it last Saturday!

Here I am directing

Nicky, my wonderful DP!

Susie, relaxing between takes

Sorry, that's all I can show you for now!!

picture of the day...

My brother... and my two nieces...

sweet!

if anyone likes to write...

here's a site you should check out spentcasings

Read from the bottom and work your way up... it'll be quite the ride!!!

In honor of Grandpa

An "M&M Toast!" For Father's Day

I'm feeling nostalgic tonight...

Can you blame me???

To College or Not to College...

e... that IS the question.

It's kind of a controversial issue, so I've discovered.

I graduated from high school 8 years ago. I didn't go to college. Not necessarily because I thought it was bad to go to college. Because I thought I didn't have any reason to go to college.

But, I've been thinking lately about college. I'm not considering going to college. I'm just considering taking some classes. Maybe online, maybe clepping... something.

And I have to say the thought of studying to learn something new, and the idea of taking a class and working hard for a passing grade, and eventually (maybe) earning a degree... is rather exhilerating!

I was talking with a friend of my mom's the other day. She's a "career-woman" in the sense that she went to college, has a degree, works almost full-time. She's great at what she does. She's married now and has a little girl, and I think that she would love to be at home with her daughter all of the time. And some day, I'm sure she will. But, at one point in her life she was not married, supporting herself, and being a wonderful example in the community, a blessing and a help to a lot of people. Because of the college degree that she acquired.

She told me: "College isn't for everyone. But, I'm always in favor of education." That brought a whole new perspective for me.

Why should we ever stop learning? I'm not saying everyone should take a college course. I'm saying, let's not let graduating from high school stop us from learning.

As long as it is in my power to do so... I want to keep learning. Even if all I do is read something in the encyclopedia every week. Get interested in a subject. Check out some books at the library. Learn something.

The REAL question should be: "what should I learn first?"

Calla Lillies in Green Vase

I bought this perfect vase about a week ago...

And then I found these amazing Calla Lilles...

And then I cut some flowers from the garden....

Happy thought, indeed!

How to write a screenplay 101

• Come up with an idea (this is the most difficult step)
  
• If you can't come up with an idea for the topic you were supposed to write about.... switch topics with someone else.
  
• Get some actors (sometimes actors should be drafted and assigned before you ask them to be in your skit)
  
• Find a good filming location. (The location should be accesible to film crews)

and appropiate for your film. For instance...

• Don't shoot a film about a race in a church
  
• Choose your computer wisely. If your computer takes 20 minutes to load your homepage, you probably have NOT chosen wisely
  
• Call your big brother and ask him how to write a screenplay
  
• Put a pencil behind your ear
• Write something
• Take a break to listen to Josh Groban
• Get back to work
• Have a read through with your sister
• Laugh
• Get back to work
• Finish (this is the 2nd most difficult step)

my people

Sometimes when one person is going to get their picture taken, other people jump into the picture, too....

Sisters

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters...

Pink Regency Dress

FUN FACTS ABOUT MY LATEST PROJECT:

• 
  
  The pattern I used simplicity 4055
• 
  
  I sewed the bodice, sleeves and buttonholes all by hand
• 
  
  Susie put my hair up and made me feel like a princess
• 
  
  Stephanie took my picture

Here's the front I made some changes to the sleeves and the bodice and added a waistband.

And the back

Closeup of the back. Added some ribbon to tie :-) Also, there's no elastic... somehow in the final fitting I ended up with too many inches in the back. It was too big so, rather than tearing the whole bodice apart I just gathered it in until it fit. I really liked the detail that the gathering added, so I was happy with it.

And finally, just some fun pictures!

This one is my favorite: