Day 71

I'm back in Chicago.

It's funny because my trip was ever so long. I saw my cousin one last time until she maybe comes to Chicago. She was at one of the greenhouses in that are in parking lots at shopping centers. I saw her earlier this morning but it feels like yesterday for some reason.

I'm actually glad to be back. Not that I didn't have a good time. I really did like Duluth. But I've known a few other people to enjoy a vacation, but they're still excited to get back home. When I went to New York, I bought an Avril Lavigne CD the day after I arrived and waited the entire week to go home to listen to it. But I still liked New York.

I have pictures up on Facebook (of New York, but that was for a while. This time it was Duluth) and still a suitcase to unpack.

I just have to see my brother and sister-in-law to give them some souvenirs.

Currently listening: "Piano Man" -Billy Joel

Day 70

Roughly 31 days until my last post.

Today was alright. I went on a tour of some Lake Superior, and fortunately I was OK on the boat. Normally I get nauseous. After that I went to Red Lobster for lunch. I'm not big on seafood either. But it was my first Red Lobster. I had a chicken dish instead.

By the way, last night I went to my first Applebees. I love TGI Fridays and Chili's is just as good, but Applebees was fun, too. TGI Fridays is better.

I also got back together with my cousins from Friday. We went to dinner, had a good time, agte a lot of pizza, and made brief plans for one last visit for tomorrow before I leave back to Chicago.

I'm going to have to miss my friend's Memorial Day barbecue. This is their third party, and I haven't been to either one. Although, they hosted Oscar parties, and this year was their third. And my second. My first one was their second one.

I also took a lot of pictures this weekend that I'kll post on Facebook. It'll gave been a while since I had an album with the exceotion for my profile picture which upodates the album, but it's just "Profile Pictures". My other vacation album is New York.

So this was a fun weekend, got some souveniers, and exctied to get back to Chicago.

Currently watching: Income Property on HGTV. (Sometimes I watch HGTV, but at my grandfather's. I don't have cable. I just kind of watched it this weekend, but mainly using a laptop while it was on in the hotel room. I think this is the only set of three consecutive posts where my "Currently watching" was all the same thing. HGTV, but the shows were different though.)

Day 69

I saw my cousin today. Actually, she's my mom's first cousin. She has this great lake house on the side of Lake Superior. She has great views, several bedrooms, family spaces; it was great. Then she took us to a visitor district in Grand Marais. She lives in Grand Marais, which is roughly two hours from Duluth.

There were many sea food restaurants and fishing harbors and she took us to many antique shops and other gift shops.

Tomorrow is what I'm dreading. I'm going to have to blog especially about that tomorrow night.

I'm also going to try to blog on Monday night when I get back to Chicago.

Currently watching: House Hunters International on HGTV. (Although, in the shower I was singing "Price Tag" by Jessie J. then "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette, and now I have "Roling in the Deep" by Adele stuck in my head.)

Day 68

I meant to blog last night, but just like just recently, I intentionnally didn't blog. I got to Duluth so late in the evening and it wasn't really too late to blog, but too tired or something. Although I got to the hotel at 10:30 and got situated with it.

So far my trip is going OK. I saw some of my cousins today and took a tour through a very old house that kept a secret.

It was a tour of a house from, I think, the 1800's or mid-1900's. Don't remember. But after the tour, I heard that there might have been a murder in the house. There were some sets of stairs that were blocked off, but one set that wasn't, but the tour wasn't directed up there.

I read an article with my cousins and they said that there was a murder on the third floor and an article said that a woman, who was the yougest of five kids, killed her mother for an inheitance and killed herself.

I guess they didn't tell us because maybe they want the place to be more welcoming instead of driving people away.

It actaully made me want to play the game Clue. I never played it before. I think as the game goes, you figure out WHO killed someone in WHAT room with WHAT weapon. I really want to try it.

After that I spent time going out to eat and spending the evening with my cousins.

So far my trip is going OK and I head back to Chicago on Memorial Day, which is Monday.

Currently watching: House Hunters International on HGTV

Day 66

Stormy night. The thunder was thundering and the lightning was flashing and I was watching the season finale of ABC night. Every time lightning flashed, the TV kind of paused for a second and then continued. I had lit candles just in case the power went out, but it didn't.

Speaking of ABC night, now I'm through for the summer with the exception of The Voice. I don;t like reruns, but I'll watch them if they're on, but normally in the middle of a TV season, I would check to see if a show was new on the internet and it if was a rerun, then I didn't plan on watching it.

The Voice is the only new show I'm watching for now until next season's shows.

Also, tomorrow I'm leaving for a weekend Memorial Day trip and I'll still get a chance to blog. But I'll be explaining what my trip is like.

If I knew that state I'm going in, I'd say, but I will say that I'm going to Deluth. Not sure exactly where that is, but I think it's in Minnesota. So tomorrow night, I'll blog from there.

Day 65

Funny story. I know that I forgot to blog again last night, but that time I deliberately didn't post.

It was 12 so I knew I can still have gotten away with looking like I posted at ten, but I was ever so tired, I could have passed out. Not go unconscious, but I was tired I decided to fall onto my bed. I don't know why I was so tired, but I was.

The other times were too late, but I knew I still could have last night, though.

Currently listening: "21 Things I Want in a Lover" -Alanis Morisstte (one of my favorite singers)

Day 63

Hot and stormy day.

I went to a benefit fashion show today and that was alright. But then went to my7 grandpa's and it was so hot. The family kept complaining about the heat and imminent storm. People were fanning themselves, drinking very tall glasses of water with ice, and sweat was gathering on their foreheads.

I got home and watched some of The Simpsons on DVD, season 13 in which I bought recently, and the storm was coming and thundering and raining and lightning. My dog was pacing the room, panting heavily, and digging in the floors.

Storms are said to be for a while, or at least rain, so now I'm dreading having to go to the art gallery in wet weather.

Day 62

I forgot to blog again yesterday. I'm sorry.

That is why I find it difficult to remember to blog everyday. I don't mind the blogging if I maybe post something at least every few days.

In 2009, I was taking a photo everyday and even that was hard. I would forget. And if it was after 12 midnight, I would change the date on my camera and then change it back. There was even a few days when a switch was broken on my camera and then got it fixed, but I couldn't use it for a few days. I remember that after it was fixed, I changed the date on the camera to the day I missed and then did the few that came after that.

I did see that my cousin posted something on Facebook that has you take or find a picture everyday for 30 days. I meant to do that for April, but I'll wait until June. My birthday is even in June.

Oh, and by the way, I have a fifth clue, but I won't say it yet. I have to find the other four so I can say my fifth clue and I'll do that one tomorrow.

Day 60

I got the first season of Glee today. I'm so excited. I keep up on Glee.

I saw the pilot episode because it was aired in spring 2009, but never saw the rest of the season because I took night classes. And that was for the semester. And I started watching ABC night in mid-season and Glee was on FOX.

This time I got the 1st season on DVD and I'm really excited for it.

Day 59

One day until I'm 2/3 done with this. I decided that I won't do summer and I won't do fall again.

If I blog again in the future, maybe I'll g back to the one I created last summer for my photography which only has four posts in it. I don't remember to make my post until its after 9, sometimes I don't know what to make that post about, and I probably shouldn't create a blog called "X Days of *something*". It's catchy, but not worth it.

However, if I were to create a cookbook, I'd want to call it "365 Days of Cooking". But I don't like cooking or baking. I cook, but just for whatever. I don't want a profession in it or any restaurant jobs. And baking I really don't like.

Currently listening: "Good Life" -OneRepublic

Day 58

I counted 33 days. Starting with tomorrow's date, 5/18, and ending on June 20th. So today is 58. 58 + 33 = 91.

It will be 91! On June 20th's post, I'm expecting it to be Day 91. For example, say I forget to post tomorrow, I'll make Thursday's day to be 60. The days will remain the same even I miss one. I already missed two, but it's still the same.

I am determined to make June 20th be Day 91.

Currently listening: "Little Too Much" -Natasha Bedingfield

Day 57

Something tells me that I won't end with 85-95. There's roughly 30 days in a month and three months would be 90. I started March 21st, skipped only two days, but kept the number of days the same, and it seems like another 30 days or so.

If there's 365 days in a regular year (regular meaning non-leap - 366), that means there should be 90 days in a season. 90 x 4 = 360 + 5 = 365. I'll have to count ahead on a calender to check for sure. I'll figure out how many days it's been on June 20th. I'll answer tomorrow.

Day 56

I watched Easy A earlier tonight. I consider it the best teen comedy since Mean Girls.

In a similar case with Black Swan, it's loosely based on the same kind of other media it often features. Easy A is based on "The Scarlet Letter", and deals with issues like adultery and some religious references. Black Swan most definitely features Swan Lake and has a similar storyline about the white swan turning into the black swan and killing herself.

I like both movies, they are well-written, well-acted, and very creative. Natalie Portman's Oscar win was worthy and the writing in Easy A was funny and witty. Both screenplays are considered original even though they're loosely based on other medias.

Currently listening: "Straight Up" -Paula Abdul

Day 55

Last night I mentioned the first time I head "She's Always a Woman" by Billy Joel.

It was four in the morning and I woke up. And the song was on the radio. All of a sudden it was playing over my dream, and in my dream was a dating montage of me and Academy Award nominee Elisabeth Shue. I'm not exactly sure why.

Not like I have anything against her. She's OK. I just wondered why it was her. That's all.

I also watched Friends With Money this evening. It was alright.

Currently listening: "Little Too Much" -Natasha Bedingfield (Something Borrowed was cute. But witty cute. Hop was adorable. I know I said that a few times already, even on Facebook. But I want to specify the difference between the cuteness. And song song was feature in the movie, too.)

Day 54

I didn't forget to blog last night. I thing Blogspot was down for a few hours therefore making me unable to post. But I didn't forget.

So now I have to skip Day 53, and make this Day 54. I hope to end with 85-95 posts by June 20th. Hence "Roughly 90...".

I saw Magnolia today. Someone lent it to me. And I'm glad I started watching it when I did. I began watching it around 9:45 this morning. I rewound a few parts throughout and paused for a few minutes, and it was almost 1:00. It was so long. It was OK, too.

This isn't one of those movies where I loved it from the start. A rare case was American Beauty. It had a good storyline and good characters with unique and heartbreaking stories. I just didn't get the scene with the frogs right away, but then found out on IMDb. But it was interesting to see how characters were connected through each other. I guess that Paul Thomas Anderson for you.

It was OK, but not something I would see again anytime soon. My brother lent it to me and I lent him American Beauty. They're not exactly the same, but they do have metaphorical storylines. And that's what I love about American Beauty.

Currently listening: "She's Always a Woman to Me" -Billy Joel. There's a funny story about this song. I'm not sure if I told it or not, but I'll tell it again anyways, tomorrow.

Day 52

Three books.

1. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I was determined to finish reading this before seeing the movie last August. It's set up in three cities, 36 stories each. The first in Italy, then in India, then Indonesia. I started the first two Indonesia stories before seeing the movie the weekend it came out. Then I was determined to finish it by the time 2010 ended. And I missed that chance. But now, I'm determined to finish by next birthday. Which unintentionally brings me to the forth clue. When I finish Eat Pray Love, my birthday will happen.

2. April & Oliver by Tess Callahan
I got this book because I had a coupon for Eat Pray Love when I got it at Borders. And I didn't want to start it until I was done with Eat Pray Love, but started the first chapter for no reason. My deadline for this one will be, let's say sometime in late June. After the first day of summer.

3. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
I wasn't in too much of a rush to finish this before the movie because I got it a week and a half before the release date. This one will be as soon as I can.

I'm not a slow reader, but more of a procrastinating reader.

Currently listening: the Wicked soundtrack

Day 51

Earlier today I got No Strings Attached on DVD. Today is the day it was released on DVD as well. I got Modern Family on DVD the day it came out, too.

I also saw Something Borrowed today. It was really cute. But not like Hop. Hop was adorable. But Something Borrowed was witty cute. I'm still reading the book and was not in too much of a rush before seeing the movie, but I'll finish soon.

I'm in the middle of three books already. I'll explain them in another post.

Oh, and by the way. I'm going to give clue #3 about when my birthday is. I mentioned what the other two are, but I didn't refer to them as "clue # X". Clue #1 was that it's in June. Clue #2 is that it's not on Fathers Day. Here's clue #3: It's on an even number date.

1. In June.
2. Not on Fathers Day this year (actually, it'll never be on Fathers Day)
3. The date is an even number.

Day 50

Today was Godmothers Day. Actually it was just a regular Monday, but with my Godmother, Nancy. She's nice. I like her a lot.

We went to dinner and had to wait a half hour for a our food after ordering it and it came at the same time as our appetizers.

My dessert was the best. I love Key Lime Pie. I don't get it much, but I know I can get it frozen from the grocery store. Probably at a good price.

It's official. I didn't mix up the gifts. I knew that since Borders wrapped them for me, but now it's even more official. After my Godmother got the pie book, she now has to invite us over. However, the pies are for chilly days, but nights in summer can be cold. In Chicago, at least.

Speaking of summer, I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to blog through roughly 90 days of summer. It gets pretty hard. I don't remember to blog until night, but late at night. Actually not too late at night. When I mean night, I mean around 8 or 9, but I always end up posting after 10. Even after 12, because for some reason, blogspot thinks my posts are about two hours posted behind. Right now it says the draft autosaved at 11:21 PM, and it will probably think it was pasted at 9:21 PM. I'll check and then edit to see how accurate I am.

It is kind of an advantage. I can post after 12 and it will say I posted a little after ten.

Currently listening: "Price Tag" -Jessie J feat. B.O.B.

EDIT: I checked and blogspot thinks it was posted at 9:15. And I actually like that mistake. If I forget after 12, it'll bump my post back two hours.

Day 49

Happy Mothers Day!

I took my mom out to breakfast. We had to wait, like, 25 minutes, but the food was really good. My dad came with and then laughed at something funny while sipping. And I had a skillet. It was really good and I had at least 4-5 bites left and I wasn't even done. And he laughing spitting his water all over my food and I wasn't even done. It was really good. But we left and that was that.

Oh, and I didn't switch the gifts. My mom got the Italian cooking and a pin that I got her. Which reminds me, I still need to get that photo.

So tomorrow on Godmothers Day, I'm going to give my Godmother the pie cookbook. And a card. And there's a restaurant called Mothers Day that I've never been to. My mom has and didn't like it, but maybe my Godmother will be willing to go. It'll be up to her, but she likes a Bohemian restaurant near my house and Thai food. I don't care for either one, but she already knows that. Although, she doesn't eat pasta or bread, so we can't go to my favorite Italian restaurant. Although, I think Mothers Day is a brunch-y place a la Dennys. The other restaurant, Egg-stacy, which is what is called, is also a brunch-y place as well. I had been there before, but on a regular no-name day.

Again, Happy Mothers Day. I'll also blog on my birthday as well as Fathers Day. Fathers Day is the day before my last blog post for Spring. Summer will have to be decided for.

Day 48

Excited about tomorrow.

I'm going to take my mom to brunch and then family is going to come over. I'm not looking forward to the food though. Mu uncle is going to make Chicken Terriyaki, which I don't care for. And then there will be veggie hit dogs and veggie hamburgers. While I am a vegetarian, I don't care for vegetarian meat.

OK, I won't go into now, but I'm not 100% vegetarian.

But anyways, I think moms are cool. They know every little thing about everyone in their family.

And I just checked my calender, Father's Day is the day before my last blog post. My birthday is still imminent, but it'll be before June 21st.

Tomorrow, I'm going to stylize my blog post. Like I did for Easter. Maybe a red or pink color with a more fancy font.

Currently watching: Saturday Night Live, host Tina Fey

Day 47

1. The artist who does the elaborate work is named Deborah. She is the most flashy woman I've ever met. Always sporting big jewelry, funky outfits, she looks like a gypsy. One of the many things she does are broaches. I bought one of hers for my mom. I'll upload the picture when I get a chance. And that's after I actually take the picture. Bit Deborah is the best artist in our art gallery. I went to her house for a Fourth of July party last summer and I can see where she gets ideas for her art. She's a collector of many old-timey knick knacks. She's really fancy.

2. I was recently trying to jokingly think of movie titles with a gender reference in them and alternate the gender. And I thought of The Godfather. Called it The Godmother. And it gave me an idea for an unwritten pitch. After a woman has a baby, her two friends vie for the chance to be Godmother. That simple. I thought it wouldn't work out because if it was Mother's Day themed, I'd have to write an entire feature-film in two days. Nothing is really stopping me, but if I keep writing after Sunday, it doesn't feel festive anymore. And I know I could write it into a short film, but every time I do that, I always end up making it feature-length.

Currently listening: the Rent soundtrack

Day 46

I got my Mother's Day cards. I found a fancy one in Borders for my mom, but at Walgreens this afternoon, I had so much trouble finding religious ones. I found only two in general and they were different. I picked one out that was more sentimental.

I also got my mom a second Mother's Day gift. She's going to get the Italian cookbook (I made sure of it), but yesterday at the art gallery, I found a pin that one of our artist's made. I'll explain her in tomorrow's post.

But this pin was two wine glasses (little tiny fake ones that she made. Not made from crystal or glass) attached to a little picture of a bundle of purple grapes. My mom loves bundles of purple grapes, but red ones eat. I think I'll take a picture of it and post it tomorrow.

I'm saving tomorrow's post for two topics. The first one will be the artist that made the pin. And the second is a Mother's Day themed pitch for a movie I jokingly thought of.

Day 45

I got my two Mother's Day gifts. One if for a Godmother. At Borders, I found an Italian cooking cookbook for my mom and a pie baking book for my Godmother. Unfortunately, they were the same size after they were done being wrapped, I'm still confident to gift the right gift.

Although, it wouldn't be the end of the world if the gifts got switched, but it still wouldn't be right. I'm sure that my Italian heritage mother who does not like baking would like a pie cookbook and my baking Godmother probably won't like an Italian cooking book because she's not Italian. As a matter of fact, she's Irish.

Come Mother's Day, I know that the gifts won't be mixed up. Looking through the wrapping paper under very bright light, I read the words "regions of Italy". And I knew the pie book was smaller by comparison, but after wrapped at Borders, they were nearly the same size.

Next Monday, I'll try to remember to post that I got the gifts right.

Day 44

Nothing much to say. Went to the art gallery this afternoon for a meeting while working in my regular routine.

Some days of the week, I go to AM/PM for a fountain drink and sometimes chips, then two buses to the art gallery, with a fifteen minutes of Burger King in between buses, then to Caribou Coffee before going to a local clothing store to see what they have new, and then the art gallery.

Only this time wasn't in the morning. It's usually around noon for that routine.

I am into routines. I like schedules and planning, and occasionally I'll be spontaneous. If it involves an extra errand that takes an hour or two, I don't like that. But if I was walking down the street and stopped into a coffee shop, then that few minutes is OK for small spontaneity.

Currently listening: the soundtrack to Rent. Watching The Voice tonight made me want to listen to the Rent soundtrack for some reason. And I mean the 2005 film version.

Day 43

I've been trying to sing along with music from The Sound of Music. I know the music a lot. I've always known the songs. But not the movie. I saw it for the first time last summer.

But I can't yodel. Every time I sing the "Lonely Goatherd", I always purposely mumble over the yodeling parts. Which shows that I can't anything with my tongue. I can't turn the ends up to look like a hot dog bug, I can't pronounce certain words (I always put an "n" in Pretzel, sounding it like "prenzel"), I can't get my tongue pierced; I can't do anything with it except turn it sideways. It's probably because I always bite my tongue whenever I talk. I've bitten it so much, I'm lucky to not have bitten a piece off of it.

Great, now I'm tightly closing my lips to make sure I didn't jinx anything. I always do that. If someone talks about getting work done on their body, I always make sure that the same thing doesn't happen to me. If I see a video of someone getting hit in the crotch, I always close my legs unsure of why it hurts so much, for a man at least.

It's not like I'm insecure or secure. I just don't want anything to fall off my body.

Day 42

Here are some Top Ten Lists I created. Something tells me that I mentioned about posting them in another post. And I said I'd do it later. I'll show you now.

TOP TEN IN GENERAL:
1. Chicago - my #1 favorite movie. (see "Currently listening")
2. 2012 - I didn't want to see this based on when I first saw the trailer and I
ended up loving it when I saw it. I was on the edge of my seat - literally.
3. A Lot Like Love - a very good dramedy. It's meant to be a comedy, but ti has touching moments.
4. Juno - This is the first movie where people really knew who Ellen Page was as opposed to X-Men or Hard Candy
5. Little Miss Sunshine - Witty and dramatic. Unique storyline and clever characters.
6. Love Actually - Liam Neeson's and Emma Thompson's best performances.
7. Sleepless in Seattle - The perfect romantic comedy
8. The Devil Wears Prada - Meryl Streep. What else?
9. Julie & Julia - Like two movies put into one. Two stories about two married women who take up cooking while adjusting to new lifestyles. Also, it's Meryl Streep in her one of her funniest performances as Julia Child
10. Easy A - The best teen comedy since Mean Girls.

Fun Facts:
While Little Miss Sunshine and Juno have Best Picture nominations from the Oscars, Chicago is the only one that won.
While Diablo Cody said she was inspired from her own pregnant friend to write Juno, Julie & Julia is the only biographical film.
Sleepless in Seattle is the only '90s released film.

TOP TEN ORIGINAL SCREENPLAYS
1. American Beauty - I saw this movie once and fell in love with it. Rarely does that happen because I normally see movies more than once to see if I really love them. American Beauty just had it.
2. Easy A - Partially based on The Scarlet Letter, it's still original in some sense.
3. Little Miss Sunshine - Funny storylines and characters.
4. Juno - Ellen Page's best performance
5. Love Actually - The plot is intertwining which adds a uniqueness to it.
6. The 40-Year-Old Virgin - Hilarious. All the way through. Catherine Keener makes this slapstick comedy to be a romantic comedy.
7. Sleepless in Seattle - The best romantic comedy ever.
8. Moonstruck - Witty script with emotional scenes.
9. S1M0NE - No movie can I think of was about a man digitally creating an actress with major Hollywood buzz other than S1M0NE
10. Shakespeare in Love - Still historical fiction, but Gwyneth Paltrow's character goes to great lengths to be in a play where her gender is not welcome.

Fun fact:
This list was created intentionally for American Beauty because I saw it after making my Top Ten list because I didn't want to bump anything down.

TOP TEN BEST ACTRESS OSCAR WINNING PERFORMANCES

1. Mary Poppins - Julie Andrews created My Fair Lady's Eliza Doolittle on te stage before she wasn't wanted in the film version which got her this role in one of her movie debuts. The Best Actress win shows her confidence and determination after her My Fair Lady rejection.
2. The Blind Side - Sandra Bullock's best performance. Right under this is Miss Congeniality.
3. Coal Miner's Daughter - Sissy Spacek really captures the life of Loretta Lynn who picked Spacek herself to play her in this movie.
4. Walk the Line - Also in a country singer performance, this is Reese Witherspoon's best performance as June Carter
5. Moonstruck - Cher is funny in this, but it does have it's touching moments.
6. Erin Brockovich - Julia Robert's character really shows the trouble and disgrace that Erin Brockovich had to deal with.
7. Million Dollar Baby - My favorite Hilary Swank performance. Playing a female boxer that proves that no one will bring her down.
8. The Reader - Kate Winslet, through prosthetics, really shows aging from a young woman to 70-years-old and deals with the most dramatic love story out of her other performances.
9. Shakespeare in Love - Like I said before, Gwyneth Paltrow goes great lengths to play a character where her gender is not accepted.
10. As Good as it Gets - Helen Hunt plays a single mother who won't even let Jack Nicholson get her way.

I don't have a Top Ten Best Actor winning performances because I haven't seen enough films. Although, Kevin Spacey for American Beauty would be at the top.

Currently listening: the Chicago soundtrack. I love this movie ever so much. Nothing tops it, but something might eventually. As of now, nothing. I can't think of another movie that I love more than this. In my first top ten list, American Beauty would place between 4-6. I don't want to add it because Easy A was so good that it made it in but placed at number 10.