Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Back when the release date for Star Wars was announced, I began to consider taking the next day off from work so I could go to the midnight premiere. I haven't been to a midnight premiere since college. The last few times I've attended movies that began after 10 I fell asleep in the theater. But for Star Wars, I was willing to insert an IV drip of caffeine so I could thoroughly enjoy the first showing.

It turns out that I'm not the only one for whom midnight premieres aren't exactly feasible, and the industry is beginning to realize this. Across the country, the movie was shown at 7 PM on Thursday. A cynical person might call this a money grab (Star Wars shattered records, and I'm sure at least part of that is because of the extended opening weekend), but I was thrilled for the earlier showing that meant I wouldn't have to chug coffee or miss work.

I was even more thrilled when Zach discovered that we could get tickets to see the movie at the IMAX at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It was perfectly nerdy, and exactly the right place to enjoy the new Star Wars film. There was even something special about it being one of the few theaters to show it on film rather than digitally, not that I'm the sort of person who can tell the difference.

I wore my Jedi dress to work and was sorely disappointed by the reactions of my coworkers. Many of them hadn't even realized that Star Wars was premiering that day. One person complimented my hood, but then she admitted that she'd never seen Star Wars before. But it was all fine, because as soon as work was over I caught the train downtown.

Zach had arrived early to pick up tickets and secure a place in line. I snarfed a sandwich on my walk over because I wasn't expecting the Smithsonian to have food available. I was pleasantly surprised to find a concession stand that sold both food and beer. Our group stood in line drinking beer, talking, taking pictures, and generally getting really excited.

The movie itself was fantastic. I had done my best to lower my expectations, which worked in my favor. The plot itself was somewhat predictable, as though a fan were writing fanfiction of the original movie. But that's exactly what it was (albeit with an enormous budget), so I can't really fault it too much. The predictability drained the tension of a handful of scenes. But the movie was so much fun that I couldn't really care that much.

We ended up in the very front of the theater, so close to the screen that I had to physically move my head from side to side to read the rolling text in the beginning. The corners of the screen were outside my vision. It made for a delightfully overwhelming experience. Though I do want to see it again on a more normal sized screen, so I can better appreciate the movie as a movie and not just an experience.

This was the most fun I've had at the movies in a long time. Possibly in my life. I'm so glad the movie was as good as it was, and I'm really excited for the sequel. Here's hoping for another fun night at the Smithsonian in a few years.

August

So...August kind of got away from me

I attended the wedding of my best friends and had an epic weekend

I went camping in Arizona with my dad's side of the family and played a ton of pinochle and won three games of Scrabble (it's nice to be able to beat someone at that game).

I re-read The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear and have a ton of speculation about what's going on.

I worked a lot and got put in charge of a proposal which is terrifying, but in a good way.

I basically failed to go to the gym. Between vacations, work, metro break downs, and a general sense of laziness, I think I managed to make it four times this month. There's always next month...

I figured out how OnDemand and HBOGo work on the TV (thanks Jen!) and spent a lot of time catching up on TV and movies. I fell in love with Political Animals and had fun watching Bunheads. I was pleasantly surprised by Crazy Stupid Love (though I could have done without the babysitter's uncomfortable love triangle) and a bit let down by Bridesmaids. I think my expectations were just too high on the last one.

And now I'm gearing up for Labor Day Weekend, during which my brother and cousin are coming to visit. But I'm hoping to get back to this blog and actually post some things in the near-ish future. Especially some of my thoughts on Rothfuss' books. I have a lot of thoughts about those books.

In the meantime, I'm glad the weather is finally cooling down. I'm ready for summer to be over and autumn to be here. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is walking the dog after the sun has set. I think I'll have to switch from walks in the (not lit) park to walks around the (better lit) neighborhood.

Anyway, this has been a post to let you know that I haven't abandoned the blog. Life just got in the way. And I needed some comfort, so I started re-reading books instead of seeking out new books. Sometimes you just need a familiar story to keep you grounded when everything else in life seems to be going crazy.

Geeky Day

The fourth of May wasn't exactly Star Wars day for me, but it was still filled geekery.

After work (which I left a tad early) I went to see Kristin Cashore speak at a library in Bethesda, MD. Well, I tried to. Google told me it would take about 20 minutes on the metro and I failed to account for either rush hour or my complete lack of direction. I didn't arrive until nearly half an hour after she started speaking, but I did get to see the Q&A. Most of her talk seemed to be about the writing of Bitterblue. I recognized the end of it from some of her blog posts.

The Q&A led to some fun tidbits. Like the fact that Katsa means  peenis in Italian, or that Po means butt in German. Some of the names had to be changed for translations. And on the topic of crazy fans, someone (not at the event, this was just a story) asked if Leck had been based on President Obama. Some people just completely fail reading comprehension.

Cashore also confirmed that she wants to write at least one more book in this world. She didn't drop any other hints, but I'm excited for any news that comes next. And I got my book signed. :)

Later that night, Kevin and I went to see The Avengers. It was so awesome. I can't remember the last time I had that much fun in a movie theater. The whole audience was laughing and groaning and cheering. I almost missed Hulk's "puny god" line, because everyone was laughing so hard at the scene that immediately preceded it. I'm definitely going to have to get the super special edition feature packed DVD when it comes out. And I may even need to see the movie again in theaters.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome and very geeky Friday