I shouldn't love this movie as much as I do....

It's a full on, unrepentantly romantic, two epic plot bonanza squashed into one big beautiful scenic mess of a movie, rife with cliches and the standard cast of good vs. evil characters.

And still. I'm sure about 90% of my love is for the land - that continent as depicted is one big glamour shot. The rest I reserve for the love story that manages not to be entirely trite for all it's standard hollywoodness, or the way that the legalized system of racism was not shied away from but faced with an honest, if a bit "happily ever after," eye.

So I do. I do I do I do.

This movie makes Titanic look like a teenage melodrama cloaked in historical fiction - oh wait, it was a teenage melodrama cloaked in historical fiction - and totally redeems Nicole Kidman from that ridiculous "Far and Away" debacle.

And the shot of a sudsy Hugh Jackman bucket rinsing his immaculately beautiful chest - while gratuitous, thinly veiled soft core porn - has absolutely nothing to do with my review. After all the scene was what Daniel Craig's beach shot was for Casino Royal: icing on an already delicious cake.

That is all.

Could it be, spring? Oh, no nevermind...

Spring in Seattle is like winter in Seattle. Only warmer. And wetter.

And while in some situations those two qualities would definitely be considered a good thing, in this case, they're the qualities of a tease. A tricky little harlot that offers a glimpse of sun, a hint of warm and then sends you damp and sniffling back indoors.

I love this town.

Signed,

Lets just get right to summer then, already.

You know it was a good day because

...you get to go to the mountain, even though your car is out of commission (long story, see the one about the exhaust pipe thief)
...you run into FLOML snowboarding, and your heart doesn't even flutter.
...you find yourself enjoying an unexpected companion: great conversation, laughs, and good runs. At the end of the day you can say you have a new friend. (Code name: 2Plank)
...you finish the day with a quite house, a hot bath, and Joseph Campbell.
...bedtime looks like heaven. You're convinced your pillows have gotten even softer than they were when you left them this morning.

Pretty damn delightful.

Visualize this...

and, more importantly, ME in THIS.

I know, cute, right?

Resolution #1: Blog More

Well, that one was easy. I haven't been around much lately but I suspect that has to do partly with the holidays and accompanying time crunches. To be completely honest, this blog has lost a little bit of its focus and purpose - two qualities I've been struggling with for a while. I started the blog a year ago to mark some pretty major events in my life: a move and a breakup. A year later I'm settled in, and healing nicely. I've never wanted to blog strictly to bitch about my life, or my job (too risky), or to boast about romantic conquests (cue chirping crickets) - I seem to know better what I don't want to do with this blog, than what I do.

Something else I've been noticing lately is a lot of my favorite bloggers are slowing down, or closing up shop all together. Is it inevitable, that as people grow change and their lives become different places the need to blog about them just dries up? Is it the fact that blogs have reached a peak and begun to decline - that the once abundant throngs of life bloggers have slowly fallen to the wayside until only the political, gossip and celebrity bloggers remain?

Granted, I'm not one to turn down a good celebrity gossip site, but what I genuinely enjoy about visiting blogs are the voices and the lives that are shared. People never cease to amaze and charm and delight me. There's nothing like being brought to tears with laughter by the words of a stranger, or finding slices of my own life being lived thousands of miles away. The experiences we share with each other - what we choose to share at all - says as much as the voice and perspective that we give them in the telling.

That is what I love about blogs, and why I will continue to blog with the hopes that what I share will mean something to someone else. To those who will not be blogging 2008, thanks for all the smiles, laughter and delight in the past years - and to the rest of you, let's see what the hell 2008 has to offer...

Cheers,

Rosie