I love this. It perfectly shows the utter ridiculousness in the panic surrounding Netflix's price hike. (In case you're wondering, I'm still planning to cancel the dvd portion of my service come September 1. And no, I don't need a sponsor to give me $6 so I can keep the dvds.)
July 29, 2011
July 20, 2011
What should I do for my 30th birthday?
That's a question I've been contemplating for a while now ... and the day is rapidly approaching! Well, I now know what I'll be doing--first, I'll spend the day in staff in-service (not my first choice!), and then I'll head to Omaha for Women of Faith!
I'm very excited to attend Women of Faith this year--and I'm grateful to BookSneeze for hooking me up with tickets. The last Women of Faith conference I attended was in 1998 when I was still in high school. I went with my mom and a few ladies from our church, and this time I'm going with my mom again! I just reread my journal entry from right after the 1998 conference, and at the time, I said it was one of the greatest weekends ever. I'm really looking forward to another Women of Faith experience! I'll be blogging about it again after the weekend, so stay tuned! If you want to get your own tickets, you can click on the badge at the top right of the page. I'd love to see you there!
That's a question I've been contemplating for a while now ... and the day is rapidly approaching! Well, I now know what I'll be doing--first, I'll spend the day in staff in-service (not my first choice!), and then I'll head to Omaha for Women of Faith!
I'm very excited to attend Women of Faith this year--and I'm grateful to BookSneeze for hooking me up with tickets. The last Women of Faith conference I attended was in 1998 when I was still in high school. I went with my mom and a few ladies from our church, and this time I'm going with my mom again! I just reread my journal entry from right after the 1998 conference, and at the time, I said it was one of the greatest weekends ever. I'm really looking forward to another Women of Faith experience! I'll be blogging about it again after the weekend, so stay tuned! If you want to get your own tickets, you can click on the badge at the top right of the page. I'd love to see you there!
July 12, 2011
In the summer of 2007, I joined Netflix. Over the past four years, I've been an extremely satisfied customer. I've even blogged (rather dorkily) about my love for Netflix. At first, I loved all the dvd options suddenly available to me. I joined at the beginning of instant streaming, and at first, I could stream eight hours a month. Soon, Netflix removed the time limitations on many plans, and I could get as many dvds per month as I wanted (one at a time) and watch as much instantly as I wanted. Back then, Netflix's streaming library was pretty terrible, but in the last couple years, the streaming options have gotten much better. I'm at the point now where I watch much more instantly than I do on dvd. (This is how I watched Prison Break, Jericho, Parks & Recreation, Monarch of the Glen, Veronica Mars, and Dollhouse--shows that I absolutely loved but would never have tried if not for streaming.)
This afternoon, I heard about Netflix's new price structure. Now, dvd plans and streaming plans are separate, and to get what I currently have--one dvd at a time and unlimited streaming--I'll have to pay almost $16 per month. That's a hike of about 60%.
My first reaction was outrage--how dare they! I soon saw I wasn't alone. Netflix users tweeted their feelings in droves, and "Dear Netflix" was a trending topic. The blog post announcing the changes had 5000 comments the last time I checked, and nearly all the comments I read were negative.
Then, I stopped to think about it. Perhaps this isn't the smartest move on Netflix's part. Perhaps customers will leave in droves. Perhaps Netflix will rethink this and come up with some sort of "bundle." Perhaps Netflix will be just fine. But Netflix is providing a service that I can choose to have or not have. No one is forcing me to pay $16 per month. If I want to get dvds and streaming, then I'll pay the money. If $16 per month for Netflix is too much for me (and it is), then I have a decision to make. Netflix is a luxury, but at $8 per month (the cost of either dvd or streaming), I can afford it. So I just have to decide which plan I want to keep--dvds or streaming. I'm leaning toward streaming right now, but I have until Sept. 1 (the day the new price structure goes into place for current customers) to decide. In the meantime, I'll keep my eye on what's happening, but I'll also keep my sanity!
This afternoon, I heard about Netflix's new price structure. Now, dvd plans and streaming plans are separate, and to get what I currently have--one dvd at a time and unlimited streaming--I'll have to pay almost $16 per month. That's a hike of about 60%.
My first reaction was outrage--how dare they! I soon saw I wasn't alone. Netflix users tweeted their feelings in droves, and "Dear Netflix" was a trending topic. The blog post announcing the changes had 5000 comments the last time I checked, and nearly all the comments I read were negative.
Then, I stopped to think about it. Perhaps this isn't the smartest move on Netflix's part. Perhaps customers will leave in droves. Perhaps Netflix will rethink this and come up with some sort of "bundle." Perhaps Netflix will be just fine. But Netflix is providing a service that I can choose to have or not have. No one is forcing me to pay $16 per month. If I want to get dvds and streaming, then I'll pay the money. If $16 per month for Netflix is too much for me (and it is), then I have a decision to make. Netflix is a luxury, but at $8 per month (the cost of either dvd or streaming), I can afford it. So I just have to decide which plan I want to keep--dvds or streaming. I'm leaning toward streaming right now, but I have until Sept. 1 (the day the new price structure goes into place for current customers) to decide. In the meantime, I'll keep my eye on what's happening, but I'll also keep my sanity!
July 11, 2011
No, I didn’t actually spend a day with Ryan Reynolds. (Insert my cousin screaming, “I love Ryan Reynolds!” in the background here.) But I did dream about spending a day with him—I mean an actual dream, not a “Wouldn’t it be nice if Ryan Reynolds fell in love with me?” fantasy.
While I used to have crazy dreams all the time (like the time someone was trying to turn me into a statue by forcing me to eat crunchy Cheetos or the time there was a bucking bronco competition in our college cafeteria), I normally don’t have them any more … or at least I don’t remember them!
Here are the factors that I believe led to this dream (which I’ll soon get around to sharing with you):
So, here goes …
I went to the mall (already this dream is quite abnormal, as I usually try to avoid the mall), where I ran into Anna, an acquaintance. She looked about eight months pregnant, and after we watched a man try to sell a very large pin art toy
(so large you could do an impression of your entire body), she said she needed to get off her feet and wondered if I’d like to get a pedicure with her. We went into a nearby nail salon, but they didn’t have two open chairs, so she got her toes done while I sat on an ottoman by her feet. I glanced down the row of chairs and saw Tonya, one of my coworkers. I waved at her, but as soon as I did, I realized it wasn’t really Tonya. I was embarrassed to have been waving at a stranger, but she didn’t even notice me. The guy in the chair next to her did, though, and he waved back. He was wearing a very obviously fake blonde moustache, but I knew who he was immediately, and without thinking, I blurted out, “That’s Ryan Reynolds!” He tried to hide by pretending to look around for “himself,” but then his moustache slid down his face so it was covering his mouth at an angle, and other people started recognizing him.
Suddenly, Ryan, a crowd of girls, my sister Val, and I were in this giant old gymnasium where some old professor was giving a history lecture—but no one was listening because all the girls wanted their pictures taken with Ryan. Finally, I worked up the nerve to ask for a picture, and I handed my camera to some girl, but she couldn’t figure out how to work my simple point-and-shoot camera. She took a bunch of horrible pictures, and then I spotted Ryan Stauffer, one of my college classmates. (I guess this was just a “Ryan” kind of dream!) I asked him to take the picture of me, Ryan Reynolds, and Val, and while he was getting the camera ready, I suddenly told everyone to go to Kickstarter and support Ryan Stauffer’s movie, Murder! A Love Story. I was quite pleased when Ryan Reynolds said it sounded cool and he’d definitely look it up. Then his manager made him leave, and I shared my caramel corn (huh?) with Mr. P (the shop teacher from my high school) and his wife. Then Val and I had to hurry to catch our boat (again, huh?), but what I really wanted to do was look at the pictures. I never got a chance before I woke up.
So why did I remember it? Because when I woke up at 5:45 a.m., I thought, “If I don’t write this down, I’m going to forget it.” And then I got out of bed, grabbed a notebook, and started writing. In the dark. But almost everything is legible!
(FYI--Ryan Stauffer really is making a movie. While the Kickstarter funding project failed, you can still check out info on Murder! A Love Story at its website and on Ryan's site. It's going to be filmed in my old dorm!)
While I used to have crazy dreams all the time (like the time someone was trying to turn me into a statue by forcing me to eat crunchy Cheetos or the time there was a bucking bronco competition in our college cafeteria), I normally don’t have them any more … or at least I don’t remember them!
Here are the factors that I believe led to this dream (which I’ll soon get around to sharing with you):
- A conversation about X-Men Origins: Wolverine (specifically concerning Deadpool) at dinner.
- A less than ideal hotel room, which made me insanely uncomfortable as I attempted to go to sleep. (Seriously, never ever stay at the Travelodge in Davenport, Iowa. It was, without a doubt, the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed at.)
- Spinach. (I don’t know if spinach is known to cause weird dreams, but I ate a large amount of it in my yummy Panera lemon chicken orzo soup a couple hours before bed … and I never eat any green stuff! So let me blame it on the spinach, okay?)
So, here goes …
I went to the mall (already this dream is quite abnormal, as I usually try to avoid the mall), where I ran into Anna, an acquaintance. She looked about eight months pregnant, and after we watched a man try to sell a very large pin art toy
(so large you could do an impression of your entire body), she said she needed to get off her feet and wondered if I’d like to get a pedicure with her. We went into a nearby nail salon, but they didn’t have two open chairs, so she got her toes done while I sat on an ottoman by her feet. I glanced down the row of chairs and saw Tonya, one of my coworkers. I waved at her, but as soon as I did, I realized it wasn’t really Tonya. I was embarrassed to have been waving at a stranger, but she didn’t even notice me. The guy in the chair next to her did, though, and he waved back. He was wearing a very obviously fake blonde moustache, but I knew who he was immediately, and without thinking, I blurted out, “That’s Ryan Reynolds!” He tried to hide by pretending to look around for “himself,” but then his moustache slid down his face so it was covering his mouth at an angle, and other people started recognizing him. Suddenly, Ryan, a crowd of girls, my sister Val, and I were in this giant old gymnasium where some old professor was giving a history lecture—but no one was listening because all the girls wanted their pictures taken with Ryan. Finally, I worked up the nerve to ask for a picture, and I handed my camera to some girl, but she couldn’t figure out how to work my simple point-and-shoot camera. She took a bunch of horrible pictures, and then I spotted Ryan Stauffer, one of my college classmates. (I guess this was just a “Ryan” kind of dream!) I asked him to take the picture of me, Ryan Reynolds, and Val, and while he was getting the camera ready, I suddenly told everyone to go to Kickstarter and support Ryan Stauffer’s movie, Murder! A Love Story. I was quite pleased when Ryan Reynolds said it sounded cool and he’d definitely look it up. Then his manager made him leave, and I shared my caramel corn (huh?) with Mr. P (the shop teacher from my high school) and his wife. Then Val and I had to hurry to catch our boat (again, huh?), but what I really wanted to do was look at the pictures. I never got a chance before I woke up.
So why did I remember it? Because when I woke up at 5:45 a.m., I thought, “If I don’t write this down, I’m going to forget it.” And then I got out of bed, grabbed a notebook, and started writing. In the dark. But almost everything is legible!
(FYI--Ryan Stauffer really is making a movie. While the Kickstarter funding project failed, you can still check out info on Murder! A Love Story at its website and on Ryan's site. It's going to be filmed in my old dorm!)
June 28, 2011
I had the opportunity to attend a Beth Moore conference in Lincoln last weekend. The topic was "Knowing Better," and she split her teaching into two sections: "When 'better' is 'bitter'" and "When 'better' is 'better.'" I've dealt with bitterness in my life (and even blogged about it before, though I didn't really explain at the time that I was dealing with it), and I thought that was something I'd "overcome." God must have chuckled and shaken His head when I had that thought!
Two of Beth's four points on bitterness really hit home for me. They're perhaps not bitterness in the traditional sense of the word (I can still recall how it felt to be bitter--that ball of bile in the pit of my stomach, the tension whenever the subject I was bitter about came up--and that's certainly not how I feel in regard to these things), but left unchecked, they could certainly lead to a deep, debilitating bitterness.
Two of Beth's four points on bitterness really hit home for me. They're perhaps not bitterness in the traditional sense of the word (I can still recall how it felt to be bitter--that ball of bile in the pit of my stomach, the tension whenever the subject I was bitter about came up--and that's certainly not how I feel in regard to these things), but left unchecked, they could certainly lead to a deep, debilitating bitterness.
- When better is before. Beth made a great point here when she said we tend to romanticize the past. While I certainly had the most fun of my life in college, I know it wasn't the perfect time--but all I remember are the good things. So it's easy to look back and say, "I wish I could go back!" This definitely applies to my church experience. I attended an amazing church in college. When I left Indiana, I mourned leaving Christ's Covenant behind. For the first time in my life, I had actually anticipated going to church! Not so when I arrived home. For four years, I attended two churches at various times, and I wasn't really happy at either of them. Finally, after I prayed about it, I felt God leading me to my current church. It's not perfect--and there are still aspects of Christ's Covenant that I miss--but I'm confident I am where God wants me to be. So confident, in fact, that I just became a member! So this point for me was more of a reminder of where I've been ... and a reminder not to go back there.
- When better is someone besides me. Beth spent much of Friday night camped out on this point ... and with good reason, as she was speaking to a group of women! We're known for comparing ourselves to each other. While this isn't an area I have much trouble with, one thing Beth said really stuck out to me: "True humility is wrapped in security." False humility--saying, "Oh, it was nothing," when praised in an effort to get the other person to reaffirm us--is actually a twisted form of pride. I'd heard this before, but it was a good reminder.
- When better is the route I didn't take. Ouch! This one screams "Becky!" all over it. It's wrapped up in the idea of "if only." If only I'd accepted the offer to stay on at the publishing company where I interned in college. If only I'd gone through with my plans of getting my library science degree. If only I'd pursued another job after paying off my loans. If only, if only, if only. Here's the thing--I am basically happy with my life. Of course there are things I wish were different, but over all, it's good. I like my job. I love my students. I enjoy being able to see my family all the time. But when I start dwelling on the "if onlys," I become discontent so quickly.
- When better is what you should have known. Can I get an "amen"? "I should have known better than to ..." Or how about this one: "I did know better, and I did it anyway!" I could completely identify with this, as I tend to continue to beat myself up over things I've done or said--sometimes even years after the fact! Here, Beth pointed out the difference between regret and repentance: regret looks back, while repentance moves on!
June 16, 2011
Many moons ago, I wrote about my love for movie scores. I've been thinking about scores again recently, thanks to a viewing of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (which has a fantastic score that I purchased after watching the movie), and I realized it's time to update my "favorites." I use the term favorites loosely, as it seems I'm constantly falling in love with a new score, but here they are for now. And yes, I do still listen to the scores listed before--especially The Lake House. That music just touches my soul, I guess. (I know that sounds incredibly cheesy, but I don't know how else to put it!)
Adam
by Chris Lennertz. Adam is an indie film about a man with Asperger's Syndrome and the woman he loves. It's a nice little film that--in the way of most indie films--didn't have the happy Hollywood ending I was hoping for. What stuck out to me most as I watched the film was the score. I don't know if that's a good thing--shouldn't the score be there to aid the telling of the story, rather than overshadow the plot? Still, I knew I needed the music, so I found it on half.com for not very much money. In the year that I've had the soundtrack, two of the songs have found their way into my iTunes Top 25 most played. (This is a soundtrack with five selections from the score and seven songs used in the film--and they're great songs by artists including Joshua Radin and The Weepies.)
Emma
by Samuel Sim. This music, from the recent BBC adaptation of Emma (which I loved), is just so happy! Every time I hear it, it makes me smile.
Finding Neverland
by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. I've never seen Finding Neverland, but I heard some of the music on Cinemix, an online radio station, and really enjoyed it. From start to finish, it's a beautiful score. It is perfect for playing at the office--or to go to sleep with!
Mr. Holland's Opus
by Michael Kamen. Mr. Holland's Opus is the first movie score I can remember noticing while watching a film. I saw the movie with my mom and cousins, and I loved the music. I decided to buy the score for my mom's birthday. So I went to the music store in the Grand Island Mall (back when music stores were cool and the Grand Island Mall actually had stores that you entered from inside the mall) and searched through the soundtracks section until I found Mr. Holland's Opus. Unfortunately, I didn't yet know the difference between "soundtrack" and "score," and what I bought was not at all what I wanted! Of course, Mom was very kind about it, but I'm pretty sure she would have enjoyed the score a lot more than the soundtrack. A few years ago, I finally picked up the score. It was as good as I remembered.
Much Ado About Nothing
by Patrick Doyle. Though I was charmed by this score several years ago (and purchased it at that time), it had completely fallen off my radar screen until I showed the film in my Advanced Reading class. As soon as the movie began playing, my love for the music came rushing back, and I've been listening to the score ever since. (If you haven't seen the movie, you should definitely check it out. I know Kenneth Branagh received more acclaim for some of his other Shakespearean adaptations, but I think he's at his best here. Also, after I watched this film with my class, I decided to watch other Branagh films, which led me to Hamlet, which led to the score, which led to this post. So if you wish I wouldn't write about music, blame Kenneth Branagh!)
Pride and Prejudice
by Dario Marianelli. While I prefer the Colin Firth version of the movie (which isn't to say this version is unenjoyable), Marianelli's score for the 2005 film is far superior to the music from the miniseries. The strings and piano, which feature prominently in many tracks, are simply gorgeous. I love the theme that works its way through the entire score--so beautiful!
Adam
by Chris Lennertz. Adam is an indie film about a man with Asperger's Syndrome and the woman he loves. It's a nice little film that--in the way of most indie films--didn't have the happy Hollywood ending I was hoping for. What stuck out to me most as I watched the film was the score. I don't know if that's a good thing--shouldn't the score be there to aid the telling of the story, rather than overshadow the plot? Still, I knew I needed the music, so I found it on half.com for not very much money. In the year that I've had the soundtrack, two of the songs have found their way into my iTunes Top 25 most played. (This is a soundtrack with five selections from the score and seven songs used in the film--and they're great songs by artists including Joshua Radin and The Weepies.)
Emma
by Samuel Sim. This music, from the recent BBC adaptation of Emma (which I loved), is just so happy! Every time I hear it, it makes me smile.
Finding Neverland
by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. I've never seen Finding Neverland, but I heard some of the music on Cinemix, an online radio station, and really enjoyed it. From start to finish, it's a beautiful score. It is perfect for playing at the office--or to go to sleep with!
Mr. Holland's Opus
by Michael Kamen. Mr. Holland's Opus is the first movie score I can remember noticing while watching a film. I saw the movie with my mom and cousins, and I loved the music. I decided to buy the score for my mom's birthday. So I went to the music store in the Grand Island Mall (back when music stores were cool and the Grand Island Mall actually had stores that you entered from inside the mall) and searched through the soundtracks section until I found Mr. Holland's Opus. Unfortunately, I didn't yet know the difference between "soundtrack" and "score," and what I bought was not at all what I wanted! Of course, Mom was very kind about it, but I'm pretty sure she would have enjoyed the score a lot more than the soundtrack. A few years ago, I finally picked up the score. It was as good as I remembered.
Much Ado About Nothing
by Patrick Doyle. Though I was charmed by this score several years ago (and purchased it at that time), it had completely fallen off my radar screen until I showed the film in my Advanced Reading class. As soon as the movie began playing, my love for the music came rushing back, and I've been listening to the score ever since. (If you haven't seen the movie, you should definitely check it out. I know Kenneth Branagh received more acclaim for some of his other Shakespearean adaptations, but I think he's at his best here. Also, after I watched this film with my class, I decided to watch other Branagh films, which led me to Hamlet, which led to the score, which led to this post. So if you wish I wouldn't write about music, blame Kenneth Branagh!)
Pride and Prejudice
by Dario Marianelli. While I prefer the Colin Firth version of the movie (which isn't to say this version is unenjoyable), Marianelli's score for the 2005 film is far superior to the music from the miniseries. The strings and piano, which feature prominently in many tracks, are simply gorgeous. I love the theme that works its way through the entire score--so beautiful!
June 15, 2011
It has been a long running joke in our office that the business manager talks to himself. His office is situated just off the main office entryway, and throughout the day, we can hear him talking. It's frequently difficult to discern if he's talking to one of us secretaries or to himself, and it has taken me years to learn it's safer not to respond to him--if he's really talking to me, he'll say it again!
Tom is now on vacation, and I'm using his office while he's away. I've learned a very valuable lesson: what goes around comes around, and it's now my turn to be mocked. Tom's office seems to have some sort of sound amplification properties because everything that I say can be heard by people in the main office. Throughout the day, my mom has often burst into giggles. Why? Because I've said something--quietly--that she heard. And apparently, I talk to myself a lot more than I ever thought! I'm now hyper-conscious of what I say. I feel like I'm stifling myself.
To top it off, apparently the magic office amplification doesn't work both ways, and I can barely hear the people in the main office. When someone talks to me, I respond quite loudly, thinking that because I can't hear them, they can't hear me. My volume makes my mother laugh even harder.
When Tom returns, I'll probably still chuckle when he says something to himself ... but I'll be chuckling with compassion, as someone who has been there!
Tom is now on vacation, and I'm using his office while he's away. I've learned a very valuable lesson: what goes around comes around, and it's now my turn to be mocked. Tom's office seems to have some sort of sound amplification properties because everything that I say can be heard by people in the main office. Throughout the day, my mom has often burst into giggles. Why? Because I've said something--quietly--that she heard. And apparently, I talk to myself a lot more than I ever thought! I'm now hyper-conscious of what I say. I feel like I'm stifling myself.
To top it off, apparently the magic office amplification doesn't work both ways, and I can barely hear the people in the main office. When someone talks to me, I respond quite loudly, thinking that because I can't hear them, they can't hear me. My volume makes my mother laugh even harder.
When Tom returns, I'll probably still chuckle when he says something to himself ... but I'll be chuckling with compassion, as someone who has been there!
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