do you believe the hype?

Sources at firstshowing.net and aintitcool.com believe that this poster is a fan made one, albeit terribly impressive. I'm inclined to agree, mainly because of the supposed title of the film. The Dark Knight Returns reeks heavily of Batman Returns, circa 1992. Which I loved, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. The poster is impressive.

I'm not going to lie, when I first saw this, I got so excited. I'm so much more into the Riddler than the Joker (I know, crucify me) for the simple reason that I think that the Riddler is so much more intelligent, so much more enjoyable. I feel like while the Joker is Batman's foil (sorry to go all Lit class on you), I feel like the Riddler is Batman's intellectual match.

So while I doubt the validity of the poster itself, a small part of me can't help but hope that casting reports are 5000% true, and that the poster is indeed a leak of what's to come. In the meantime, I will satisfy myself that this movie will make up for whatever they choose to do with the current Batman franchise. Robert Downey Jr. twice in one year? Yes please!

So there you go, some real thoughts to ponder. Again, oh fans of the comic book movies, let's hope this is indeed foreshadowing because we need good comic films to be made to make up for the Spider-Man debacle and the two X-Men sequels. Oh, and The Fantastic Four... and the first Incredible Hulk... and Superman Returns...

two days down... 262 days to go.

So, as of my discussion with the Department Head today, I am officially in my last year here. I'm relieved, but also, I've been a student here longer than I've been a student in any other city, ever. Think on that. But as the title of this post suggests, I still have a ways to go. I've finished all my technical electives for my major, and have now just a handful left, after this semester. Below is my schedule this year- it's going to be busy! That's what 19 hours looks like, folks!

The classes are:
BIOL 111- Introductory Biology I
ENGL 356- Literature and Film
GEOG 202- Geography of the Global Village
GEOG 325- Geography of Europe
GEOS 410- Global Change
POLS 206- American National Government

I know, I'm taking an entry level Biology class, but the reason is that my previous advisor (who I have since abandoned as helpless) said I could only complete my degree by taking Physics, and well, I hate phys. So I decided to put it off and put it off, but in a meeting yesterday, I was told I could take Bio instead. Bring it on! I'm good at Bio, I like Bio, and I get cells. Vectors, not so much.

My Literature and Film class is an English/Film cross reference, but it should still be interesting. It's being taught by one of my old English Profs, so I can rely on the fact that it will be more English, less *film.* Because I don't want to get stuck in a film class. Gag me. It's a writing intensive course (bring it!) and it's looking like we're going to be writing papers every week. We had to write a page today on a scene from a movie we could think of where there is no way possible to write the scene and convey the same emotion. I chose the scene in The Philadelphia Story when Jimmy Stewart's character is bringing a drunken Katharine Hepburn back up to the house from the pool and he's singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" but he's drunk and can't remember the words. I think I'm going to really enjoy the class. We're reading The Godfather, The Maltese Falcon, The Orchid Thief, The Virgin Suicides, Streetcar Named Desire and Fight Club. It should be great!

What else? Zach's on day emergency right now. It sucks. He has to BE at school at 6 am every day, and is supposed to get off at 6 pm. Yesterday he wasn't home until almost 9. Seriously? I swear, he was a zombie when he got home. He came in, ate, sat on his computer for a few minutes, showered and rolled into bed. And since he's not home yet and it's 6:30, I'm thinking he probably will have the same routine tonight. God help him. Next week, he's on NIGHT emergency, which means he'll have shifts from 4 pm to 4 am. Sucks!

Lastly, I've been on a Halloween warpath. Zach and I went to Michael's and bought ourselves a bunch of stuff to go with our village display. No new buildings, but I got a hill to set Frankenstein's Lab on, and he got some cemetery gates, a new cemetery display with the Grim Reaper, and a grave I insisted on. I got the Swamp Monster and a moss mat to put under my buildings I had to put on the table. I also have completed two paintings that I'm planning on displaying during Halloween. The first, a landscape of sorts, Shiner decided to help me with. The second is a portrait, of Beetlejuice, from the cartoons. I am particularly proud of that one. I'll take photos and post them later. THIS post is decidedly school dominated.

oh happy day!

I have class with my best friend again this semester. Nuff said!

am i too early to trick-or-treat?

I'm going crazy waiting for Halloween. I'm so bad, I've been haunting Target (no pun intended) waiting for the Halloween decorations to come out. I've already started planning our decor this year. I can not wait. I've even felt the need to add Marilyn Manson's version of "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas to our blog.

I love these little Halloween villages. We've started collecting Lemax's Spooky Town collection. We have five buildings I can think of off the top of my head: My first one was the Witch's Lair, and then we have Frankenstein's Lab (duh! Literary geek, remember?), Gothic Ruins, The Inn and Blackbeard's Tattoo Parlor. They're kind of mismatched, but I love them all. We've also got quite the little collection of pieces to make a graveyard. That's Zach's thing and I let him do it, he's got Death on a Pale Horse, we've got a couple rising from their coffins, a really creepy 'beloved' crypt, headstones and a Vampire in a tree with graves. Oh! And the Night Watchman. We can't wait to actually have the space to really display them to their full potential. Which means I can't wait to have the space to build a huge display piece. A few of the things we have are pictured in the photo above. The photo below is the first piece we've added to our collection this year. I eBay'd it- we weren't thrilled with the new stuff this year, and I figured eBay might be a good source for some of the older pieces. We both loved this Haunted Tree House instantly- it reminded me of Beetlejuice.

Speaking of Beetlejuice, I have decided that a Beetlejuice figurine is the PERFECT addition to my diorama. However, since it appears that I'm the only person who's truly obsessed with Beetlejuice (not obsessed, but very nearly!), there were no figurines to add. They were all old action figures from the Tim Burton film and I had those as a kid and they're too big. So Zach suggested that I look for Jack Skellington. Well, I didn't find any little individual figures, but I found this...

I snapped it up! I love the big Jack: I've decided to find a special place for him in the house and he's going to stay out all year, if Zach will let me. If not, he'll stay out from Halloween to Christmas. I love him. The small figurines will be PERFECT with my diorama and thus, I am supremely happy.

As I've apparently started a rather figurine driven blog post, I have something wonderful to show you:

That's right, Mary Alice at Charm City Cakes posted it in her blog recently (see the links to the side!) and though they're back ordered by nearly 100 units, I'm in line and waiting-- number 92 to be precise. How many people will have an action figure of their idol? So, Chef Duff, when he arrives, will take up his spot on my desk next to The Doctor, Martha, Rose and K-9 (Doctor Who), and Iron Man. Yes, I think I still am a child.

I blame my mother. I think we both have too much fun acting like little kids, and thus, we have too much fun with Halloween. We went to Target today to get her the new Halloween Witch Barbie that comes out every year- you should see her collection! It's so much fun. And it's neat to get them out every year. She's got to have at least 10 witch Barbie dolls that come out once a year to haunt her console table. Then she brought me this sick table cloth/runner that she got at Yankee Candles-- it's black and it's spider webs. Oh my GOSH, I love the thing! It's too cool for words-- I can't wait to find the perfect place for it.

You'll notice that as it gets closer and closer to Halloween, I'm going to become increasingly obsessed. I make Zach carve pumpkins every year. Last year... I did the skull from Pirates of the Caribbean, a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde where I carved away the rind, and didn't carve straight through (I don't recommend it!), and the Grim Reaper in my carveable fake pumpkin. Zach was inspired by Sleepy Hollow, the SUPERB Tim Burton film- at the beginning, when Old Van Garret is beheaded, the scarecrow his blood is splashed on has a pumpkin for a head and Zach copied that.It was great... as you can see!

And so, I'll leave you there, this has already become a longer post than I intended. I was just so excited about the future of my little Halloween Village that I had to share. Don't worry, I'll update you as the season progresses and I find other little bits and bobs I decided I can't live without. I usually do, around Halloween. It's dangerous.

a little slice of heaven

My boys James, Lars, Kirk and Robert have released the first single off of their new album, Death Magnetic.

They've posted it on their website, you can find it here.

I love them. I'm loving the new song. I love hearing Kirk back to the solos, I'm glad to hear they've got the drums sounding normal again... Now I only have to figure out how to pay for tickets to their show in Houston on Nov 20.

vague?

How do you like the new soundtrack?
And the reading additions on the side?
I decided it was time to mix it up. I was bored. The music is about as random as can be-- you have to excuse me. They're all random songs I've decided I love- I especially love "The Garden" by Mirah. I first heard it while I was watching the end of the most recent season of So You Think You Can Dance, when Mark and Courtney did a contemporary piece to it. Mark was my favorite, he got gypped.

Anyway, I've been totally lonely since getting back. It seems worse when I see people. Monday wasn't so bad. Tuesday I was lonely in the evening. Today I was lonely all afternoon. God knows how I'll be feeling tomorrow. I have been keeping myself occupied with movies that I don't get to watch when Zach's around. I watched Heart and Souls and Only You this evening. They're both Robert Downey Jr. films from the mid to early 90's. Wow. I enjoyed myself very much.

I was flipping through a section on a newspaper about how to live longer, and came across something about destressing your life. That sounded like a great idea, so I read the article. I swear, the people who write this crap must either be the most hated people alive, or really have no social skills. Or both. The guy basically said that if you have people in your life that cause you unnecessary stress, you should eliminate those relationships. Thinking past the natural stresses that come from being a part of a family (let's be honest), there are always factors to those relationships he suggested eliminating. I'd love to just tell the people who cause me the most stress/trouble/anger to, as my dad says, 'take a long walk off a short pier,' but you can't. But the author begged the question: "Don't you wish you could?"

God, don't I?
Don't you wonder what it would be like if you were able to only surround yourself with the people you loved?

latest desire

So, if you know me, you know I'm not too into being right up with everyone as far as technology goes. I don't care about having a BlackBerry or an iPhone, I don't need the biggest, baddest super computer, and I certainly don't need all the fancy crap that's going on with TVs at the moment. Gag me.

However, I have found one product that I think might be worth the investment, from a scholarly standpoint. It's the Amazon.com Kindle. The Kindle is a wireless reading device that allows you to download books and newspapers straight to the device, and it doesn't require an annual contract or a monthly bill because you pay for the wireless connecton when you pay for the item you want to download. Seriously, can you think of an easier way to carry your text books around with you?

If we weren't so poor, this would be on it's way to my house right now. This would eliminate the need I have for lugging around multiple books every time I go on vacation or go to stay with one of our sets of parents. It would be quick and easy for me to use in class, and I'm sure it would be any English major's dream. There aren't SO many books available right now, but I'm guessing before long, we'll see this new technology popping up in more and more classrooms.

I so want on this bandwagon. If there even is one.

meet emmy nomie pearl

Yesterday, Roger and Steph welcomed a new addition to their family:

Emmy Nomie Pearl Clark

Isn't she a doll? She's a 9 week old Boston Terrier. She's sweet, quiet and cuddly! We had so much fun going to help Roger and Steph pick her out and we think she's going to be quite the pretty lady when she's all grown up. She got her name because we noticed that the markings on her forehead resemble a capital letter 'M'-- don't even know where the Nomie Pearl came from, but it's cute! Here's some more pictures for your viewing pleasure!

fortnight's worth of photos

"If you can't treat it, eat it."

My sweet husband, me & my best friend @ the Museum

My sweetheart in the butterfly house

Inside Geopalooza! We loved it...

Me & Linds & a really wonderful quartz deposit

Fossilized snake-- too cool!

Jethro's Grandpa time.

Us on our way to Los Cucos... I HATE this picture of me, I look pregnant! It's sweet of Zach, though!

I totally love my new hair!!

Sweet, darling camper #1.

Cannonball...

The sweetheart of the summer- my absolute favorite camper. Awww...

camp memory

Yesterday marked the last day of another summer of camp at the Club in New Territory. I didn't work long at all this summer- 2 weeks only to be exact but I loved it all the same! Thanks to my favorite little camper, Joshua, I also have my favorite camp memory now...

We were sitting in the pool, me on the stairs and he next to me because his dad had forgotten to pack his floatie, and one of the other children was asking me why my hair was pink and blue. I've taken a lot of ribbing from the kids, counselors, bosses... you name it, they've said it. Until yesterday afternoon. After said questioner was finished Joshua came over and sat next to me, put one hand on my shoulder, the other on my arm and said:
"I think that pink hair and blue hair are very pretty in brown hair."
That was the sweetest, nicest thing anybody could have said, and it came out of a sweet 4 year old that frequently failed to put together coherent sentences.

And that is my new favorite camp memory... a sweet compliment from a sweet little boy. I hope he's back next year and just as cute as ever, complete with adorable big bro and sis!

a real quickie

Hello faithful readers!

I wanted to let you know the Clarks have not dropped off the face of the earth: we've just been incredibly busy. To catch you up:

Lindsay came to town-- HOORAY!
Lindsay went home-- BOO!!!!
Zach's doing so well at Brazos Bend
I'm so happy to be back at the Club, if only for two weeks.
My dad's back from Qatar
The Olympics have started and will consume my free time
I'm missing yet ANOTHER UFC... and I'm not happy about it.


I have pictures to share from Lindsay's visit. I have a lot to say, a lot to fill in but haven't quite got the time. Tomorrow I'm going to see Steve to get my hair done at noon and I'm very excited. I should hopefully have more pictures to show you then too... I have Monday off so I'll try to get an update in then. I've missed you, blogosphere!

sweet little nothings

Well, the Clarks are in Sugar Land for the next couple weeks. Zach's been at Brazos Bend Animal Hospital for three full days and really is enjoying himself. He really likes Doctor Ping and is anxious to get to work with Doctor Ross. He's so impressed by the professionalism of the staff and the high standard of care that the clinic maintains. I'm happy to see him so very happy in a clinic setting, because if you know Zach's more recent clinic experiences, he's not been totally happy. I just hope and pray that Zach's time at Brazos Bend turns out well. Or even better, God willing. I would tell you more, but Zach's having to be very careful about patient confidentiality, since NOW some of my faithful readers may know some of the clients/patients. I'm so incredibly proud of my husband. He's learned so much already, and still has so much to learn, but he's so wonderfully cheerful about his future and is so comfortable in the profession. I think being a Veterinarian is not for everybody, clearly, and that it truly is a calling. I am just so happy to see Zach reaching his goals- what more could you want for your loved ones?

I'm going back to the Club for a couple of weeks. I've certainly missed Ivy, Mandy and Angela... my brother told e my favorite little twins are moving away this Sunday. I'm so disappointed... well, one of the twins I don't mind moving so much, but the other I do! I'll be happy to be out of the house for those two weeks. My brother has SO graciously decided to give me his hours for Tuesday-Friday next week, he'll work the Monday (bowling-yuck he can have that) and then he'll work for another girl he was scheduled to work WITH on Thursday and Friday. That would be lots of fun. I'm anxious to see all my old friends at work again- I have been an employee of the Club since...gosh, at least February of 2003! I miss them.

So plans have changed a little bit- I'll be moving back home on the 17th to prepare for the next semester, and to alleviate some of the crowd at my in-laws. Zach's cousin Justin, his wife Jennifer and her daughter Lindy are moving in with all of us next week- so that'll push the occupancy up to 7. Ow. Then Justin's two boys we're not sure about because their mom is currently in Germany- that lucky girl! If they're coming too that makes 9 of course and I think that with me and my dogs and cat and snake leaving, that'll help a lot. Zach's considering moving in with my mom for that week- his last day is the 22nd, to further alleviate stresses on the house. I know my sweet mommy would LOVE to have Zach stay with her, and Bradley might even be convinced to stay a while longer in town! Or if my family's in Kansas, then my mom will have someone to watch the house.

So that's where we are right now. We're keeping busy and eagerly waiting for my dad's return on the 8th. And even more, the OLYMPICS are my favorite, so that starts the 8th as well. I told Zach it's going to be nice for two weeks to always have something good to watch on TV! Well, that's all for now, look for an update after things... happen! Missing my sweet, parched, dry plot of land!