Sleep Deprivation Doesn't Get Easier

We're in the middle of print again at work, so I've been AWOL, I know. I'll be back this weekend with something AWESOME, though, promise.

All You Really Need to Know

Movies in five seconds. Brilliant.

My favorite:



My second favorite:

Um, That Was Random

I stumbled across something very cool this week. Well, "cool" if you're a language junkie, word geek, creative writer or all three, that is.

It's a website with a generator for random words, phrases, sentences and even paragraphs. I honestly don't know what other people might use this for, but so far I've found some of the random phrases helpful as points of inspiration for creative writing and such.

There are other interesting, useful tools on the site, so check it out at Watchout4snakes.com.

Food Or Drink? Or Food? Or Drink?

They cannot be serious.

Image: www.dinnerinabottle.com

Nick Pitera

Oh do I have a real treat for you ...

If you haven't watched any of Nick Pitera's YouTube videos yet, you really should. I dare you to view one and not feel the urge to immediately show someone else.

For your viewing pleasure, I've posted my three favorites: "Aladdin," "One Sweet Day" and "No One."

For this first one, things get really good about one minute in. Please watch at least that much. Trust me.



I told you that you'd love it. What's that? You want more? Here's "One Sweet Day," originally sung by Mariah Carey and Boys II Men.



And lastly, "No One," originally sung by Alicia Keys. Enjoy.



Move over, divas. Nick is in the house.

See more Nick Pitera videos here.

Sprinkles Cupcakes

My latest obsession: Sprinkles Cupcakes.

Lucky for me Unfortunately for the future of my figure, a shop has gone in within walking distance from where I work. How incredible, considering there are only four other locations in the entire U.S.

These babies go down soooooo smooth, and really, aren't they just so cute? Yum.




Photos: Victoria Pearson, Sprinkles Cupcakes

Movies I Didn't Sleep Through

Thanks to Blockbuster's rewards program, as well as my own amazing ability to sidestep household chores, I've come across a handful of good movies recently. May I recommend ...

1. Fracture (with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling)

Synopsis: Ted Crawford (Hopkins) murders his adulterating wife, then hands over the murder weapon and confesses to the whole thing. Willy Beachum (Gosling) is the Deputy District Attorney who believes putting the guy behind bars is going to be a cakewalk -- that is, until the entire case begins to fall apart, piece by piece.

My Two Cents: I thought this was a phenomenal movie. What I call "A Thinker." Something great about this movie was that it was skillfully subtle with its plot twists, rather than overtly dramatic. It was such a well written script: the viewer watches Crawford commit the crime and admit to it, and then the fun part is watching him masterfully wiggle out of the whole thing. But besides all that, isn't it just so much fun to see Anthony Hopkins play yet another deliciously creepy character?

2. Gone Baby Gone (with Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Freeman)

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane. Little girl goes missing in Boston. Patrick Kenzie (Affleck) is a private investigator hired by a member of the family to help the police find her. Extremely unexpected complications ensue.

My Two Cents: I took away a few things from watching this film. #1) Ben versus Casey in front of the camera = Casey victorious any day. It's clear now which brother is the better actor. #2) Having said that, Ben Affleck did a great job directing this one. Let's hope it was a career epiphany for him that sticks. #3) Human character really sucks sometimes.

3. No Country For Old Men (with Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin)

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. In Texas, Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) happens across a drug dealers' exchange that left no survivors. But, there is a big box of cash lying around at the scene, so he takes it. Anton Chigurh (Bardem) is a homicidal maniac who is after the money and will try to kill anyone and everyone standing in his way.

My Two Cents: This movie won four Academy Awards, including "Best Picture," and told an interesting story in an interesting way. But man, Javier Bardem's character freaked me the hell out.

4. Iron Man (with Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow)

Synopsis: Based on the Marvel Comics. Tony Stark (Downey) is a wealthy businessman who also happens to be a mathematical, engineering genius. His company primarily designs, builds and sells weaponry. After a near-death experience, Stark has a change of heart (literally ... just see the movie) and decides to build the greatest weapon of all -- this time, to be used for good, not evil. Of course.

My Two Cents: I was skeptical that this movie was going to be anything beyond amusing, but in actuality, it wasn't so bad. Not the best Marvel Comics adaptation, by any means (because those would be the Batman movies), but still, the screenplay was nowhere near as bad as I expected. Honestly, I believed this was going to be like Transformers, part two. Just one major concern, however ... Does it worry anyone that this film makes Middle Easterners The Bad Guys? Is that politically correct in this day and age? It's reminiscent of the Cold War, when Russians were suddenly The Bad Guys in every other film. Are the children of this generation going to grow up automatically prejudiced against persons of Middle Eastern descent if filmmakers keep casting shadows over them? I see a danger here.

5. Michael Clayton (with George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack and Tilda Swinton)

Synopsis: I don't think it's possible to sum up this movie in only a few sentences, but let me try. Suffice it to say that Karen Crowder's (Swinton) employer is doing something illegal. Michael Clayton's (Clooney) employer is the law firm that represents that company. When the law firm's top litigator suffers a sort of mental breakdown and runs away, Clayton is responsible for bringing him back. But it's just never that simple, is it? Once Clayton learns the company's terrible secret, a hit is put out on his life, and he has to find a way to expose them.

6. Atonement (with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy)

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Ian McEwan. Briony Tallis, younger sister of Cecilia Tallis (Knightley), accuses her older sister's lover, Robbie (McAvoy), of raping a guest in their home. Even though he's innocent, the court finds him guilty according to Briony's false account, and he is sent to jail, and then to the battlefields of World War II. The rest of the film revolves around Cecilia and Robbie's attempts to clear Robbie's name and reunite.

My Two Cents: If you hear that this movie was "visually stunning and extraordinarily powerful," it's not just a cliched review, this film was truly something special. The storyline really stayed with me, long after I left the theater. In fact, the plot was so engaging, that I had to buy the book. I'm a huge fan of reading books that were adapted into movies, and I can't wait to see what this story looks like on paper. It's next on my reading list.

7. Leatherheads (with George Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski)

Synopsis: Somewhere in the 1920s, Dodge Connolly (Clooney) recruits a star college football player and war hero, Carter Rutherford (Krasinski), to save his rapidly deteriorating team. Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) is a newspaper reporter out digging around for a story that will prove Rutherford isn't as polished as he looks. The two men vie for her affections while changing the face of football, all while Littleton gets closer and closer to finding what she's looking for.

My Two Cents: This movie could be described as charming. While it didn't make me feel as though I'd just had a raucous good time, it was cute in its own right. It kind of reminded me of Some Like It Hot, and I think that's what the director (Clooney) was going for -- something of an old (old, old) school romantic comedy. Let's put it this way: I wouldn't run out to rent it tomorrow, but if it happens to come on HBO the next time you're flipping through the channels, it would be worth watching.

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral ... or Boat?

Forget kayaking.

Now I wanna do this ...















Yes, that is a pumpkin. It's a huge, hollowed out pumpkin.

Apparently this is something they like to do in Maine.















Kinda makes you wonder what they do for Halloween, huh?

Kayaking Photo: www.empire.state.ny.us

Scarlett Johansson "Sings"

I definitely like to give people credit for putting themselves out there in the public eye and being brave enough to open themselves up to criticism. But let's face it, sometimes we have to know our limitations.

On that note...

Scarlett Johansson has apparently put out an album. Now, I like her and her work well enough. But I'm not sure what "her people" were thinking with this one. In her single "Falling Down" (a cover of the Tom Waits' song), I could swear she is singing the same note over and over again. And also, I have to comment on the song's video's "storyline," where the camera follows Scarlett around for a whole day, where she frowns a lot as she is having her hair and make up done, attending meetings and receiving flowers from adoring fans. Hasn't the "feel sorry for me because I'm famous" bit been played before?

And while I do believe that it must, honestly, be a very unique challenge to being so recognizable everywhere one goes -- and sure, oftentimes probably very lonely -- I also believe that playing the pity card in these situations only, unfortunately, annoys people. It's like if a really skinny girl keeps going around and complaining that she "just can't seem to gain any weight! Ugh!" I mean, people are eventually going to tell her to shut up, right?

Anyway, I'll let you judge for yourselves.



I still like the girl, and I will still go to the theater to see her movies. But I'm just not sure I could ever sit through a whole album of that.

Scarlett's album Anywhere I Lay My Head will be released May 20.