Let's talk pop culture

First, have you seen The Martian?  Travis surprised me by rounding up five of his NHS students, getting them to come over to babysit in exchange for volunteer hours, and taking me to see the movie. I think it's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time and is definitely one of the best sci-fi type movies I've ever seen. The acting - across the board - was outstanding, the pace of the movie was perfect, the characters were wonderful.

I loved the disco jokes, and Watney's humor, and the Council of Elrond reference. I cried a little, I had to brace myself and grab Travis because I was so invested during the tense parts, and I laughed. It was brilliant. Matt Damon + Ridley Scott 4ever.



Second, I want to talk The Walking Dead. A friend with some kind of subscription to something brings his laptop to our home on Sunday nights, attaches it to the tv, logs in, and so Travis and I are finally able to watch the current season during the current season.

SO, let's talk about what happened last week. So SPOILER ALERT! Jump down to the songs if you don't want to know what I'm going to say!

First, I loved the conversation Michonne had with that married Alexandria guy who had gotten bit. Loved it. And all I could think was, "Rick! Rick is your Betsy!" Does anyone else think they are maybe in love? I mean, I know there's that dumbness with the hairdresser... but Rick, seriously, Michonne!

Then, if you haven't read what Cari Donaldson said about Nicholas and Glenn go read it. Her thoughts on Glenn are so wonderful. I'm going to put my favorite lines here, but there are some more great considerations so please go over and read everything she had to say.

You can read it clearly in Glen’s face- it’s not Nicholas he doesn’t want along, it’s the giant PTSD monkey riding on Nick’s back that’s not welcome. ... This was the real nature of Glen’s sacrifice- he knew that the chances were good of he, alone, getting to the feed store, setting it on fire, and meeting back up with the group; he used to be a pizza delivery guy, after all! ... Nicholas was a time bomb, and Glen deftly, so deftly Michonne didn’t even realize what he was doing, took that time bomb away from the group, and shackled himself to it.

And what happened next: All I could do for the rest of the episode, after stupid Nicholas stupidly killed himself was say "nuh-uh." I am holding out hope that Maggie is not a widow because I loved Glenn so much and I will be so mad at the show if they killed him. Seriously, there has to be a way that while the zombies were eating Nicholas Glenn scootched under the dumpster and then someone comes along and saves the day. Right?

Right?





Let's move on to music. 
Have you heard Downtown by Macklemore? I love the way they sing that word, "Downtown!" and the music in the chorus is so great. Too bad the lyrics are stupid and the verses and so poorly done. Ugh. Don't listen to it if you haven't heard it - there's some pretty dirty lyrics there and that catchy, so-much-potential-it's-even-more-disappointing chorus is pretty infectious.

But Ryan Adams' cover of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" is just about perfect. My 7 year old daughter said she prefers T Swift's version better, and I do like the original a lot, but this one is so beautiful. And I never would have called Swift's version "beautiful."



Then if you like something a little more pop-punk, listen to Tear in My Heart by twenty one pilots. I am a fan of this song (and their song House of Gold) and just wanted to throw it out there, see if anyone else was jamming in the mini van to this one.



Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - I love this song. There is language, and not just a little bit, and I know there's a chance I will scandalizing some with this choice. But that humming and clapping, and those powerful vocals, and that fabulous, old-time rock n' roll chorus is just too good. So darn good.



Then this song, which our local indie station has been playing a lot, totally fits the grey, rainy weather with the golden maple leaves blowing down, which is what Autumn is currently looking like in my neck of the woods. And that cello! Don't you just love the beauty of a deep, rich cello?




And what about you? What music are you loving right now? And is there anything I should be checking out on tv or movie trailers? Give me the scoop!

iTunes, Zombies, and 27 weeks: 7QT

1 - Let's start things off with a little Matt Maher, shall we? I love me some Matt Maher music and this song is a really powerful one for me. It's true that I'm a sucker for a good crescendo-ing bridge but this song is more than that, too.


2 - So the big news at my house is that The Visitation Project is now available on iTunes. This is kinda crazy to me because... it's iTunes, which is like legit and it's where people go for podcasts and now I'm there with Heather and Rebecca.  You can search for us and everything! Isn't that crazy? Here's what we look like when you find us:

3 - In other news around the house, we are getting really pumped because Marie Miller is coming to town!  She'll be performing at a couple of local schools and hold a family friendly concert in the evening. I know I have some local readers so if you're in the area and want to come, well you should because I promise you she is an amazing performer.

4 - So there's a couple of things I would love to see, one of them in theatres now and others coming soon enough.
The Martian
Sherlock Special
Mockingjay Part 2
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

What's looking good to you? Anything I'm missing on this list?


5 - And speaking of zombies, Travis and I are finishing up the latest season of The Walking Dead on Netflix. (Like literally, I'm watching the season finale as I type) I've always followed Cari's recap posts on the current season for two reasons:
#1 so I stay up to date on what's happening.
#2 I need all the surprises taken away so I don't have nightmares.
Don't you just love it when Morgan says, "Because all life is precious, Daryl." Love.


6 - I'm 27 weeks pregnant, you guys. Twenty-seven weeks. That's almost 30 weeks, and 30 weeks is almost 40 weeks, and 40 weeks is baby-birthing time. This kind of math is making me nervous.


7 - In case you didn't know, Kelly has some great stuff going on to celebrate Seven Quick Takes. There's a few gift packages you could win (and one of them includes a Basic blog consultation from me). Since Kelly is the one who is keeping this 7QT party going do stop on over and give her some love: comment, link-up, you know. :)

Seven Quick Takes

1 - JJ Heller and her husband wrote a new song for those of us who are trying to get our acts together.


2 - Speaking of which, thank you for the overwhelmingly supportive response you gave me to my post about my health. A lot of you suggested PCOS and thyroid issues as the culprit and you may be right. I left many, many viles of blood at my midwife's office earlier in the week with high hopes that the more extensive lab work will show something that my primary physician's lab work didn't.


3 - Are you praying for Paul Coakley? Oh man, am I ever. When I first heard his story from his very good friend Mary the first thing I thought was, "Fulton Sheen, you need to get on this." And then I saw that the Coakleys are specifically asking for Blessed Margaret of Castello's intercession and so I thought, "Fulton Sheen, you need to talk to Margaret up there! Let's get this job done!"

Then I got an email from a woman I know; she's the mother of my friend Maria. She was reading Mary's blog and saw my comment on the post about Paul. She emailed me and told me this:

4 - Also, Maria's mother and father have in their possession Fulton Sheen's traveling Mass kit. (I know, shut the front door, right?) 

This has all the prayers on it... in Latin.

When they travel they take it with them and offer priests to celebrate Mass using it. Last summer they were in the area visiting their daughter and brought it to my house. It was amazing. If my kids weren't running around like crazy and I wasn't incredibly afraid that they'd ruin something I probably would have cried. 

They had no idea how cool it was, but I was sneaking kisses.

And just to show you how much they didn't get it, the boys insisted on getting out their play mass kit and having them take pictures of it. 

5 - Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations for the Sheenazing Awards. Over 250 came in! The voting will begin next week. It'll be fun! 


6 - In case you haven't heard the sad news, Netflix is getting rid of The Walking Dead, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and Doctor Who. Guys, I love all three of those shows. Zombies, ponies, and time traveling aliens - three of my favorite things. 

They better bring Endevour back. 

Here's some other shows I love, if you're looking for suggestions. 


7 - Okay. I know a lot of people don't watch videos that are embedded in blogs. BUT! If you grew up in the 90's, or remember the 90's, or are just interested in pop culture trivia you really, really, really should watch this video. 

"Closing Time" - it's not about what you think it's about. 

7QT - steak pie, an ugly chicken, and walkers

I don't mean to be a jerk, I just always forget to link back to Jennifer. Sorry! A thousand apologies. Thank you for hosting, Jen!


1 - This song is good for my heart.


2 - For dinner last night I made steak pie with neeps and tatties. Travis and I ate it on our Scottish honeymoon and loved it. Last night's meal was free of soy, wheat, egg, and dairy, and it it just didn't taste as great as it could have.


3 - So what I'm really saying is: I need a good soy, wheat, egg, and dairy free pie crust recipe. If you can help please leave a recipe or a link in the combox.


4 - Look what I found in the Target dollar bin!

The cute sign! It's so cute! Which, consider this a little sample of something coming next week on the blog. 

5 - Have I ever shown you the ugly chicken thing that was left at our hold house? I was oddly attracted to it and kept it, even bringing it to our new house. It's still a little ugly; and now it hangs in our dining room.

6 - I love this picture of JP, drinking from a straw, like a BOSS.

7 - Now that the last season of The Walking Dead is on Netflix Travis and I are making our way through season 4. Last night they lost the prison and just about everyone died.



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Eight Images That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About This Blog

Jennifer Fulwiler posted a hilarious list of the ten images that best represent her blog and what she writes about. She encouraged other bloggers to do the same. 

Challenge happily accepted.

I went through the pictures from ye olde blog and found the ones I thought were the best representations of what I write about. So here goes...

{ a good example of this sentimentality }

{ read this }

{ this and this are my two faves on this topic }

{ Not necessarily the ones above, but I do get geeky about things. Like Lost, Doctor Who, and Sherlock.}

{ Peter Mark }

 { Most related post }

{ zombies in general }

{ and I love it and hate it }

Jen was right, it was a lot of fun to do this post. Let me know in the combox if you wrote one too.

Seven Quick Takes

1 - If I had money I would actually buy this album when it drops next week. I love me some The Head and the Heart.

2 - For those of you who watched and enjoyed The Lizzie Bennet Diaries you'll be happy to know the same team has done a series called Emma Approved. I'll be saving them up so I can plow through them all at once.

3 - Since it's October I was craving fallish things. The weather hasn't been cooperating so I had to take matters into my own hands and make something pumpkin-y. Pinterest came to my aid and I made Joyful Momma's Kitchen's pumpkin scones with a maple glaze. They were delicious! Make some right now.

4 - So.... The Walking Dead... I just buzzed my way through the whole of season 3 so that I can... I don't know, wait another year until season 4 is on Netflix. I know what you're thinking. "Hey Bonnie, do you really think you should be watching that show any more? Remember how you couldn't concentrate enough to even pump gas because you became so preoccupied by the zombie apocalypse? You could barely even sleep at night you were so scared and worried about what you would do and how you would save your children in a world full of walkers. What are you doing?"

And my answer:
Yes, it is true that I do keep a pair of knitting needles in my car so I can stab a zombie in the eye should the world ever come to that. However! The show The Walking Dead has become much more about the survivors than the zombies and I'm interested in those characters. Especially Herschel and Darryl - I love those two men. Plus, Woodbury and the prison are not locations similar to my life so it seems more like pretend. (What?! It is pretend you say?! Well I say I will be prepared because I am taking all kinds of mental notes, friends!) When Rick, Glenn, Carol and the rest were on the run, holed up in homes and the farm, driving through the country or city and passing all kinds of walkers, well, that was just a little too close to my imagined reality and it freaked me out a bit.

And then there's this:

5 - It's funny the things you celebrate when you're a parent. For example: JP had become a little backed up. A week and a half ago he had a poopy diaper and then nothing but a couple of sharts for the next week. He was super fussy and I was super confused because he's only getting breastmilk - what is there to constipate him? Anyways, the doctor said to give him 1-2 teaspoons of prune juice a day until he had a BM. Three teaspoons later and JP pooped! It was at dinner and we all cheered. The next morning he pooped again and I called my husband to tell him. The next day he pooped again and my mom and I applauded.

And now I think he has allergies like his brothers so boo to constricted diets but yay to pooping, happy babies!

6 - Speaking of pooping, happy babies.: A HUGE congrats to my friend Kathryn! She's pregnant with her 6th baby and I'm so happy for her. If you haven't yet, head on over and read all about her exciting news. And then, even though she hasn't said it, please say a prayer for her, her husband Scott, and their new baby. Their baby #5 was a NICU baby and I know that once you experience the NICU you are forever afraid of it.

Kathryn, I'm praying for peace in your and Scott's hearts and for a healthy baby. Also, I'm hoping for a girl.

7 - Yesterday the kids and I were driving to the grocery store in a neighboring town called Washington. L, who is learning Spanish at school, asked me how one says "Washington" in espanol. I explained that you would just say "Washington" because it doesn't translate. Ben then said, "Washington. HEY!!! I just spoke SPANISH!!" He was so proud and excited -it was awesome.


Many thanks to Jen for hosting! You're the best, Mrs. Fulwiler!