Movie Monday

72. The Shawshank Redemption.

This is a great movie. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins act in their best roles. The movie portrays, Robbins who plays Andy Dufresne, an innocent men sentenced to serve two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover. While in  prison he befriends “Red” (Freeman). Their friendship is a timeless theme and shows great compassion.  The character development throughout the movie is the best out there.

Before prison Robbins was a smart banker and the Prison Warden and other prison guards take advantage of his financial intelligence for their own good and some hard times come on Robbins character because of it. I’m not going to spoil the ending, because I’m sure some readers have yet to see the movie. I would highly recommend the movie. The story line is filled with twist and turns, and for a prison movie set in the 1940s-1960s the movie has some great historical references.

I would put this movie as one of the best from the 90’s. It is certainly one of the best on the AFI list from the past 20 years.

Movie Monday

Lets talk about Katharine Hepburn.

It should be no surprise she is my favorite actress. Since a very early age I’ve loved her movies.

My favorite: Bringing Up Baby. Katharine plays a Susan Vance, a flighty woman who comes in the possession of a leopard, Baby. She uses Baby to win the heart of David Huxley (Cary Grant). The movie is the cutest thing ever.

Next, the African Queen. Katharine plays an up tight missionary who with the aid of Humphrey Bogart she gets out of Dodge on Bogart’s dirty  steamboat. This movie is filled with adventure and its one of Katharine’s greatest.

In The Philadelphia Story, Hepburn plays love interests to both Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart (Can you say luckiest girl ever?).

As lucky as Katharine Hepburn was to be among the best leading men in the business, she fell head over heels for Spencer Tracy. Katharine Hepburn played in her real life love triangle where she played mistress to Tracy for many years. They played in nine films together and each was better than the previous one.

None of their movies, however, made the AFI Top 100, which seems like a true mistake. Their best movie together, in my opinion, is Guess Who’s coming to Dinner (In an earlier list of AFI Top 100, it was 99, and since has been removed). This movie is truly beautiful and just as equally moving. In the movie Hepburn and Tracy play the parents of a girl who has fallen in love with an African American man and they are hoping to gain the approval of both their parents. The film was release in 1967. When the movie was being film Spencer Tracy wasn’t in the greatest health, and shortly passed away after the filming. Tracy’s failing health was of great concern to Katharine and they both knew it would be there last film together. At the end of the movie, Spencer Tracy has an emotional monologue, and Katharine is by his side–her true feelings can not be hid. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is a beautiful testament to their relationship and to Katharine’s career. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The slow-moving flood

(note: sorry for the poor formatting of the text and pictures, but it’s getting late and I’m too tired to fix it)

This is my walk to work over the Red River, marking the MN/ND border (MN on the right, ND to the left). This is what the river normally looks like. (March 24, 17′)

This is what the same spot of the river looked like today, one week later. Note the relationship of the trees on the right bank to the water. I have not zoomed in or anything to alter the perspective. (April 1, a little under 20′)

The picture below is taken from the same spot on the bridge, but looking to the east (right side of the above pictures). The road will probably be flooded by tomorrow, due to a high near 50. The lower level of the parking ramp will be flooded within a week. We are getting a rainstorm on Sunday and Monday.

This past weekend Nick’s parents were in town and we went into the residential neighborhoods to find a place for them to live. We found this device in North Fargo on the river. It’s a large mechanism that funnels large amounts of sand into massive “sandbags” — each is about 8 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and act as a huge barrier. You can see the trail of black “sandbags” stretching for at least two miles. (sorry for the poor pic quality)

I almost always walk to work, but I will likely need to drive during the flood. The bridge that these pictures are being taken on is one of the first to flood. Then, even the shortest pedestrian access to my building will be closed as well. I’m not sure if the re-routed pedestrian route will be faster than fighting traffic in a car over the one remaining bridge in town.

We have, however, had good weather this week: temps near 40 but freezing overnight. That reduces the speed of the water running up here.

Your annual geology lesson

So I mentioned it last time that I use the Lake Agassiz Regional Library. The City of Moorhead doesn’t have their own system so northwestern MN is grouped together (although Fargo does, and there is reciprocity between the two).

What the heck is Lake Agassiz?

Lake Agassiz is a glacial lake that retreated from North America 10,000 years ago. It’s the reason why this area is so freaking flat, and why the area is terrific for growing crops (the soil is still pretty new and hasn’t had all the nutrients sucked out of it yet). As the glacier melted and went away, water covered a huge chunk of the upper US and lower- and mid-Canada. (Take a look at a map.)

The lake only hit part of (what is now) Minnesota. In fact, once you get 15 miles east of here, in Hawley, you’re officially up and out of the lake and on higher, hilly-er ground.

Bonus fact: all the sandbagging we do? The dirt is actually carted up and out of the ridge that lines the edges of Lake Agassiz. They just dig right into the earth, scoop it out, and fill sandbags with it.

Today I had to do traffic counts on a gravel road. That was boring.

Feeling very literary

I ended up with a huge stack of library books today.

On Monday I was very bored (despite having wedding presents to make!! eep!) so I went on Google, searched for “book club books” and went down several lists. I read very quickly, so one book a month only keeps me occupied for three or four days. I figured I might as well get a queue going and have a steady stream waiting for me.

But due to the impressive efficiency of LARL (Lake Aggasiz Regional Library), they all showed up TODAY. D’oh. I have tons of books to read now. Which is good. But I really should be working on those presents first…

As Kat mentioned a little while ago, the NYT paywall went up and a strategy had to be devised. But after settling on the Sunday-only subscription deal (and before I actually bought it), I got an email from Lincoln (the automobiles) offering free NYT access for the rest of the year if I just clicked the link. It was just that simple (although I’m prepared for spam from them, or ads featuring just them).

I told this to Kat today, and she informed me that only 200,000 people were offered that deal. That has got to earn me some current events nerd street cred, right?

Happy Belated Birthday to Us!

Our blog recently celebrated its first birthday. In true fashion we missed it.

I was busy driving back from South Dakota trying to avoid the high winds and snowy roads. I completely failed.
Katie* was doing her usually Katie* things by volunteering and quilting up a storm up in Fargo.

We hope you have enjoyed our year of events, laughs, and words of wisdom.

One year anniversary

Since I did a not-so-happy anniversary post in September, I’ll try to keep this one lighter.

Today is one year since Nick left for NJ (the day after his birthday). I’ve spent a few thousand dollars on plane tickets, but otherwise there’s not a whole lot to complain about. We talk on the phone twice a day, and use texting and gChatting for the silly stuff. And despite our occasional declarations that we might have to see each other once every 6 weeks, we still end up doing once every 4, at the most. (Between Jan and now, I saw him three times in 7 weeks!)

Anyways, what did I do with myself once Nick left? I immediately started going to yoga classes. EXCELLENT CHOICE. It killed about 2 hours a night, got me in touch with my body (cheesy, but true), and felt amazing.

Second thing I did: set up a Google Reader account. A must if you have a desk job. Makes your life more organized and up to date. I have always been a source for semi-useful knowledge, and keeping all my reading in one place helps manage it all. (Related: We’re also coming up on the one year anniversary of this blog, so keep an eye out for that!)

I’ve also learned how to cook for myself, how to find new recipes, and how to keep trying if I mess it up.

The biggest change happened a few weeks ago: I started taking up more than half the bed. You should know that the bed is only a full size. Nick bought it during his Rochester years because it was an easier size to move and he knew he wouldn’t be in Rochester for long. It’s taken almost a full year to sleep like I’m not infringing on his space, even though it’s not even big enough for me alone.

And now we’re looking at another yearish apart.  As it stands, we’re hoping Nick can head to the midwest by September, but maybe the end of 2011 is more realistic. My contract is up here in Dec, although there was a casual mention of me staying past that (a whole ‘nother story), so maybe I’m here until March 2012? July 2012? Who knows. For the first time in my life, I’m embracing the unknown and not having a plan (for now).

-Katie*

Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, so we’re officially into Lent. I’ll save everyone a speech on why we have Lent , but I will say that my favorite day of Lent is the Thursday before Easter.

Lent is the time of year when some Christians “give up” something. Typically this ends up being a junk food, a version of “my New Years’ resolution didn’t stick so I’m going to try again for 40 days now.” I usually do that too, but this year I looked for something different, and found it after polling Facebook.

I will take Gawker, Jezebel, and Deadspin off my Google Reader.

This is good in that it will force me to focus at work a little more. But I really enjoy getting a perspective on the news of the day. The sites are part gossip, part current events, part media-criticism (which is my favorite aspect of what they do), and part lefty-whining. When one of my friends had a concern about cervical cancer, I pointed her towards this article which was real, honest, and informative.

The best Lenten promise I’ve ever heard about was in this book, a memoir about a young woman converting from quasi-religious, to Orthodox Judaism, to Episcopalian. One year for Lent she gave up reading. For a bookworm grad student and future author, it was a HUGE sacrifice. And of course in the Mitford books, he gives up driving, but I’ve basically already done that. Maybe one day I’ll be able to give up something I am so attached to.

-Katie*

ohmigod, shoes

I have a new quest to find a pair of “wedding shoes” to get me through the next 2+ years of weddings. Some parameters:

– They should be a neutral (beige, off white, white, bone, etc) color. I have several pairs of black shoes, generally meant for work. A neutral color is less severe, more appropriate for spring/summer weddings, and could go with nearly every dress. (I currently own two or three appropriate dresses, but may be buying another.)

– It should have a low heel. I fall over easily. Weddings last a long time. And, to be honest, I don’t need to be another 3″ taller than my date.

– I am undecided if it should be a peep-toe or not. I’ve never owned a peep-toe pair before. But since I usually don’t wear nylons to summer weddings I could wear a peep-toe.

– Since I plan on wearing these for a few years, I am willing to spent a little more on the shoes. But not that much more.

– I generally shy away from embellishments, but may be willing to make an exception.

(I tried to select images from the web and insert them into this page, but am running into major issues, so I apologize for making you click through.)

Here are some frontrunners:

A little more pink, but I think it’s lovely. Alas, it does not come in my giant foot size.

More business-y, but inoffensive and more textured.

Not sure how I feel about this darker color, and it is pretty tall, but I’m not cutting out anything yet.

More of a yellow-y color, but the strappiness makes it good for weddings.

I am really digging this one, but am afraid it looks too “actual bride” instead of “watching the bride from the pews.”

Slightly more boring, but same problem as above.

And finally, in the “oh my gosh a girl can dream, right?” category: this beauty.

Feedback is appreciated!

And finally, Nick wouldn’t forgive me if I wrote a post about shoes and did not include this:

Waiting

Sorry for the lack of posts. Everything interesting that I do isn’t blog-ready yet, and everything else is pretty boring. Maybe the most exciting thing was a baking spree over the weekend. I made full batches of chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal scones, and homemade pretzels. Nummy. I rendered a chicken pot pie near inedible yesterday, and will attempt a pizza with homemade dough later this week.

All the excitement will come this weekend when I’m in Mpls though. I have a pretty big To Do list, which includes buying a certain kind of work sock at the Target in Minnetonka. There are Targets in Fargo and Moorhead, and they both manage to not have this certain sock every single time I go. I feel like folks in Rural America who go to WalMart twice a year to stock up on essentials.

-Katie*