Thor

Well, my summer movie season officially kicked off on Mother's Day when my husband took me to see Thor. And no, this wasn't an insensitive move on his part. I totally begged him to take me. I'm not a chick-flick sort of girl. I love superhero movies, and while I'm not really familiar with the Thor comic books, this one was no different. My husband is a lucky, lucky man.

Anyway, we went to see it. Now, the standing joke amongst English majors like me is that we can't go to the movies because we spend the whole time analyzing it to death. Or, if we do go, we're inevitably miserable for the same reason. I drive my family nuts because it's hard to find a movie that impresses me anymore. Usually, I can drive a bus through the plot holes I see.

But Thor definitely impressed me.

I'm shocked, really. I do love action movies, but those kinds of movies are easy to screw up. It's hard to find a superhero flick with a good plot line, good characterization, good balance between humor and seriousness, etc.

Honestly,Thor whipped all the other Marvel superheroes' asses. It even topped X-Men. I never thought I'd see the day when that one lost its title. Whereas most Marvel superheroes are torn about their power and their duty, this one was more focused on learning how to survive in an alien world. And it wasn't unbelievable like they usually are in that it didn't have this all-powerful hero fighting humans or even a super-villain. Thor, stripped of his powers and strength, faced off against humans for most of the movie. And he wasn't invulnerable by any means. Some of the funniest moments in the movie revealed just how frail he had become. I think my favorite element of the whole thing was the family dynamic, not just between Thor and his family, but between Jane and her little rag-tag band as well.

I know I'm being vague with my examples, but I'm trying to avoid spoiling it for people who haven't seen it yet.

Anyway, I walked out of the theater wanting to walk right back in. It's pretty rare that I want to see a movie twice in the theater, especially at the 3-D prices. Thor is a damn fine movie.

Of course, Batman is still my favorite superhero. Yeah, yeah, that's DC Universe, I know. But Thor is a close second.

Captain Spiers, Tertius, and Me

Long story short, today, I was worried about my reputation in my family for being tough-as-nails. But my dad said something that made me feel immensely better about myself. We're both fans of the TV show Band of Brothers, and he told me I was a lot like Captain Spiers. He referenced a couple of lines from the series:

Spiers: Well, I'd better get back to Battalion before they disappear. You want to ask me, don't you?

Lipton: Ask you what, sir?

Spiers: You want to know if they're true or not... the stories about me. Did you ever notice with stories like that, everyone says they heard it from someone who was there. But then when you ask *that* person, they say *they* heard it from someone who was there. It's nothing new, really. I bet if you went back two thousand years, you'd hear a couple of centurions standing around, yakking about how Tertius lopped off the heads of some Carthaginian prisoners.

Lipton: Well, maybe they kept talking about it because they never heard Tertius deny it.

Spiers: Well, maybe that's because Tertius knew there was some value to the men thinking he was the meanest, toughest son of a bitch in the whole Roman Legion.

Well, Dad didn't quote them verbatim, of course (I looked up the exact lines), but he said, "Katie, don't you think there's some value to people knowing that about you? You're many things, but no one's ever going to pull one over on you. And if they don't know it yet, they will."

Thanks, Dad. After a day like today, I needed to be reminded of that.

Summer Break

Huzzah! It's summer break! I just emailed my final paper to my professor, and now I can officially begin my vacation. Of course, that sounds a lot better than it really is. Grad school really has the power to make you neglect certain things in your life. So now, my poor house needs some serious TLC. I need to do my spring cleaning inside, and get the yard fixed up outside. With all the dang tumbleweeds infesting my yard, the whole place looks like God's little acre. I foresee tons of grueling work in the next few weeks.

And then....

Disneyworld!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best part is that our kids don't even know yet! In the 12 years Larry and I have been together, we've never taken a vacation, not even a honeymoon. So our family has never gone anywhere together. But this year, we decided to change that.

We're going to surprise the kids the day we go. Our plan is to create a treasure map for them that leads them on a hunt through the yard for various clues. Each clue will be something they'll need on their trip like sunglasses, sunscreen, beach towels, etc. These clues will ultimately lead them to the big clue in the house, which we will have strategically set up while they're running around the yard. The last and final clue is a sheet cake that is decorated with Mickey and Minnie surfing on a huge wave of icing beside an icing beach (we'll be going to the beach when we're down there too!). This cake will be accompanied by an envelope containing a letter that reads: PACK YOUR STUFF BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!!!!

In the near future is the 4th of July, my birthday. My favorite part of the day, besides the fireworks display, that is, is the infamous water parade in Pueblo West. If you've never been, I pity you. It's a parade, but everyone has one gigantic squirt gun fight! The most awesome part is when the firefighters drive by on their trucks and spray down everyone with their hose. Not one dry soul can be found when it's over! It's much better than a stuffy old parade.

So my summer is going to be jam-packed with pure awesomeness! I can't wait!