A Christmas Carol Train Tour

My family and I went to this yesterday. The Dummy brought his girlfriend, of course, and I brought my Monsieur. When we got there, my dad drove around for awhile trying to find parking, and then he just dropped us off by the train station and drove further down because there was no parking close by. When we got in line, we were told by an employee that the wait would be approximately 2 hours. And it was hot and there was absolutely no shade. We spent the time outside playing "What am I thinking?", and it only took us about a half an hour to get indoors. [I wish I had been smart enough to bring an umbrella, everyone would have appreciated it, but we survived.] When we got inside we were taken to a room with yet another line, and this was probably the worst one. It was hot, sweaty, and smelled horrible. There was no air conditioning and tons of screaming little kids. We had fun there too, though. Once we got out of that room, we got into a quick line that had carolers and the end of it. That job must have been awful, standing there in those hot costumes singing the whole day. Once we got out of that line, which we were only in for about 5 minutes, we got in the line that took us up the stairs to the line directly outside the train. We moved pretty quickly, then there was an issue inside the train and the line stopped completely. I don't know what happened, but after about 45 minutes they took a woman out on a stretcher and put her in an ambulance. Although we were standing out there that long doing nothing but waiting, we had fun anyway because that's what we do. And it wasn't hot up there, there was a nice breeze. Once we got in the train, the first thing we saw was a room with a few costumes and pictures. There was one black dress I wanted sooo badly, but of course I couldn't have it. Then we went into a room with digital pictures on screens, and it was pretty boring. We got in a room with masks and little buildings and things, examples of models they were working on for the movie. Then we went into the room with the costumes the actors wear during the filming. It was half a costume and a big mirror. It was...interesting. After that was computer with a game and the "face morphing", which was their biggest attraction. It was pretty fun to do, everyone did it but the Dummy's girlfriend [I'm not sure why she didn't do it...probably some weird 'girl' reason]. After that, we went outside and went into this inflatable theater thing and watched the Christmas Carol trailer in 3D, which was awesome.

So I'm still very unsure if the line was worth it. 2 hour wait for about a half an hour on the train. The trailer was very cool though. I think we should have skipped the train line and gone directly to the trailer line, and then gone home.

Rag Doll

I found these shoes at a thrift store the other day, and so after all the rain stopped I decided I'd wear them to work. I love them. I feel so much like Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas it's completely ridiculous. It could also be the somewhat rag-like lacy mourning over-dress I've got on, but these shoes complete me. There's no way I could wear them everyday, but they'll be very nice for summer days when I feel like wearing nice shoes [which is most of the time], but I can't because it's so dang-blasted hot outside!! I like how shiny these shoes are too, because I can wear the rattiest skirts and dresses I have but they'll look presentable with these shoes. Well... somewhat presentable. I do have a concern, though. The bottom of the sole of the shoe is itty bitty. I really want to have my ankles when I die [or get raptured], and I'm worried these shoes won't let me achieve this goal. However, the somewhat unstable way I walk in these helps with my Sally-ish appearance.

City Bites

I went with my Monsieur and the Dummy to City Bites for lunch today, cause I've wanted to go there for a really long time. City Bites sounds like the kind of place vampires would hang out at, and when we went in I thought it looked like the kind of place vampires would hang out at too. Obviously the way the restaurant is decorated is just as important to their marketing plan as the taste of the sandwiches. Anyway, I ordered a California Chicken Wrap on jalapeno and cheese bread. After placing my order, I stood by the pick-up counter and looked around the place. The ceiling tiles are painted black, and I believe blue, pink and yellow. There were road signs all over the walls, and on one wall there was a mock construction worker's arms being smushed by a sewer cover [he was holding a 12" City Bites sandwich, I found that pretty funny.] There were one-way mirrors on the outside of the bathrooms. You could see out, but no one could see in. I was too much of a chicken to go in there. :) We sat down and waited for them to make our sandwiches, and when we got them I was very pleased. My only problem was I didn't read all the ingredients and there was avocado on my sandwich. Other than that it was delicious. ^_^

Coraline

So I finished Neil Gaiman's novella Coraline at 10:03 a.m. today. The time really isn't important, I'm just putting it in here because I know the exact time and I find that intriguing. I'm not sure what I like better, the movie or the book. The movie was much more colorful [Coraline had blue hair!], and the other mother seemed to take more time to get Coraline to like her. The book, however was much deeper, and Coraline actually worked out in words that getting everything you want is boring. The game she played with the other mother in the book was more frightening, I think, than the game in the movie. My one problem with the book was the fact that the other mother created a "better" world for Coraline, but once Coraline got there, it seemed like she didn't try to impress or please her. In the movie she had Coraline coming back again and again, even wanting to become a part of the other world for a little while. But in the book Coraline didn't want to have anything to do with it; she found it interesting but she wanted to go home. The cat was just as amazing in the book as he was in the movie, I was thrilled about that. And though I liked Wybie, he would have been totally unnecessary in the book so I'm glad he was just a movie addition. And the corridor was a lot freakier in the book than the movie. I think hidden things that you never see and never find out what they are are deliciously terrifying.

HB

Or "Holy Body". This is an absolutely AMAZING Christian band from Kanta-Häme, Finland. If you've ever heard Nightwish and liked them, you'll like these guys. If you're like me and you were completely obsessed with Nightwish, then you became a Christian and since Nightwish pulled you away from God so you had to give them up, this band will be like.... peanut butter ice cream from Coldstone Creamery and a glass of ice cold milk topped with Oreo cookies to you. They're that good. You can check out their MySpace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/hbmetal

The Witches

I just finished reading Roald Dahl's The Witches, and it was excellent. The witches were horrible, child-squelching creatures that tried to kill children any way possible. It was a wonderful read, very light and easy, and I found the illustrations hilarious. I could just be being biased, since I love Roald Dahl and all his work. I don't think I am though, I think he's just a genius. You could let your 1st grader read this book and they'd be captivated for hours, but you could sit down and read it yourself and still be just as entertained. And I think you would enjoy it even more, since adults grasp the concept of death a bit better than children.
And Fantastic Mr. Fox is in theaters November 13th, 2009! Mark your calendars!

I'm shivering with excitement.

I have 4 books waiting for me at the library right now, and my amber-glazed fingernails are dancing with anticipation. What's waiting on that shelf for me is:

-The Witches, by Roald Dahl
-Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
-Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
-Amphigorey also, by Edward Gorey

Ooooooh I can't wait. I'm not sure what I'm going to read first, but I enjoyed reviewing Gothic Charm School so much that I think I'll review every single one of these books!
I'm rather excited about The Witches, because I've seen the movie [it terrified me when I was younger, and for good reason!] and now I'm finally reading the book. I think that might be my first reading choice....

Gothic Charm School

I just finished this book about 10 minutes ago, and spending the past 3 days on it was soo worth it. It was funny and entertaining, and it was written by a 'real' goth with a 'real' job. It was very down-to-earth and realistic, and her style is sooo amazing. I love real-life cartoon characters. ^_^ She addresses all the issues 'normal' people deal with when it comes to Goths: Are they all depressed and suicidal? What about dangerous murderers? Do they think they're vampires? Are they Satanic? Are they all witches? Is Goth a cult? The way she answers is humorous and gentle, and she gives Goths and other interesting creatures advice on how to deal with those sorts of questions [as well as people touching them and their clothes >.<], along with fashion advice on things such as weddings, family gatherings, and other such social fiddle faddle. This was definitely worth reading, I recommend it to everyone.

Gothic Charm School by Odotta on Polyvore.com

Sunday I'm in love

That's the day I get to see everyone I can't see during the busy work week. And food is always the most delicious on Sunday.

Defacing the Bible

I don't know if any of you have heard about this, but there was a museum exhibit in Glasgow that had a Bible people could write their names and such in. And of course, people abused and defaced the Bible. Which is ridiculous. I don't go to gay pride parades and shout "God hates fags!" because not only is that wrong and totally non-Christian, but it's rude! What gives them the right to abuse and deface a major part of my religion?

Read the story here: http://realchristianity.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/stop-defacing-the-bible-please-sign-the-petition/
Sign the petition to stop defacing the Bible here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopdefacingbible/

Done did it.

So I did what I normally don't like to do and I watched Coraline before I read it. How delightfully wicked. :) I've requested the book from the library, it's not ready for pick up yet but it will be ready soon, I can feel it. I'll blog my review on the movie and the book when I've finished it. ^_^

This reminds me, remember that D.I.Y. shirt tutorial I talked about a couple weeks ago? Yeah. I still haven't gotten around to having the time to do it. But I will do it, soon. As in sometime before the year ends. Or maybe not. :)

They finally shut her up... by Odotta on Polyvore.com