We're like a really small gang.

Beatrix and I are writing this entry from the comfort of our dining room. I happen to be sitting in the chair that Bea usually likes to curl up on and take a nap and since it is the afternoon and her scheduled napping time, she's decided that if she can't sit in her regular chair, she'll nap on my lap while I sit in her regular chair. You couldn't quite call her adaptable. There are two other chairs she could sit in in this room, but we all have our favorite spots, I guess.

I did some pinning to Pinterest earlier this weekend and was looking through some of the pins I had pinned a few weeks ago to try to make sure I wasn't double-pinning. I saw a little print that I had pinned that I forgot how much I loved when I first saw it.

It made me laugh again to see it. I don't really have friends like this so much any more because so many of my friends are scattered around and if you're going to be like a really small gang, it helps to be physically near each other. But when I was younger I definitely felt more in tune with those words. Back when my friends and I had current inside jokes and code names for things and people. Now when we get together we can joke about the inside jokes and code names, but they're not current any longer. We sort of have grown out of that phase, but it's still fun to look back on it sometimes.

Speaking of small gangs, did you see The Dark Knight Rises? I've been looking forward to this movie since the end of The Dark Knight when Batman is running off into the darkness. I'm not anxious enough to stay up until midnight to see a movie the second it opens in a theater, but sometimes I will go see it during it's opening weekend. Such as I did with this one. I liked the movie. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it knowing that The Joker couldn't make an appearance in the final episode, but it was good. The Joker aside, I liked the supporting cast better in this movie than I have in the first two. Plus, there's a better plot and character development, I thought. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was likable as usual and Anne Hathaway was a good Catwoman! I won't spoil anything for those who haven't yet seen it. If you like Batman, you'll probably like it. I'll still keep The Dark Knight as my favorite of the trilogy, though, because The Joker was still the best performance by any actor in the trilogy, I think.

Oh, and: I saw the trailer for The Hobbit movie that comes out in December! I don't go to movies very often and aside from a very few exceptions, I don't know what's coming or what movies are in the works. I didn't know there was a Hobbit movie being made?! I was happily surprised sitting in my little theater seat slurping on Root Beer and trying to get a sweet tart out of the bag when The Shire showed up on the screen. Yay!! I love that book. Happy dance in the theater seat commenced. And then they showed a preview for a new superman movie, and even though I love Henry Cavill from his great role in The Tudors, I won't go see a Superman movie. Superman has never really been my thing. Not enough gadgets or something, I don't know. He's kind of boring. Although, I'm sure Henry Cavill will be the hunkiest superman ever. Christopher Reeves was attractive, but I think Cavill's got him beat.

The Olympics begin this week! Dun dun dah daaaaah!! I'm excited! I can hear the trumpets blaring the Olympic theme song already! I've seen several news story headlines that appear to include fellow athletes attacking Micheal Phelps through interviews and things. Kind of a shame. I think one was saying he was a snob and the other was saying something about how he's got a poor work ethic. I feel like it's all so stupid. I wish the media would focus more on the good things that happen instead of the bad. One thing I learned from the Swim Trials is that part of the awesomeness of being at a sporting event rather than having to watch it on tv is that you don't get the five-minute long sob stories about how much so-and-so had to overcome to get where they are. I kind of hate that stuff. I might be alone in this thinking, but I don't care where somebody came from or what they had to overcome to get to the Olympics. I'm just here to watch them do what they do, right now, in this moment. I don't need to know who just lost their home, who grew up in a dirt-poor single-parent household, whose family members have died/are dying and/or fighting some horrible disease. I just don't care, and I get really tired of having to hear the mini-dramas before each event. Just go swim, run, tumble, and be your awesome Olympic selves! I'll cheer you on as much just by watching the USA team compete in events without having to know who has suffered what in their short lives. Just throw their name up on the screen when they're getting ready to compete and then announce the race/event/awesomeness. That's all I care to see. I don't need to see the headlines about the bickering back in their little Olympic village or why someone doesn't like someone else. It would be nice if just for once, some day, we could all just be okay with each other. Or at least, not feel the need to feed the media beast with dramatic headlines, eh?

It's Random Things Thursday!

Outdoor Jenga! This would be easy to make and fun to play at a cook-out.

Venice looking like its old and lovely self.

word.

I checked out all of Andy Grammer's songs on Spotify and I really like them all. But, this one is the one that has been stuck in my head for days now:

Go Cards!

I'm using pinterest to try to find additions to my fall/winter wardrobe this year. Such cute things, and maybe I'll find something that I just haveta have, ya know? It's possible. I don't need anything at all, in reality. But who can really not buy a new sweater when winter's coming? I mean, come on. Most people buy something for each season. Something new. It's one of the traditions of the changing seasons, yes?

I told facebook I was a web developer in order to get their profile redesign because I don't like it as it is and I'm anxious to see what it is becoming. They're making a huge move from what they've always been. I'm not unhappy with the re-design because it's very scrapbook-ish and I tend to like that. If people accept it and try to make it like a little autobiographical scrapbook, it could be neat to use now and again, but think it will be used less often than it is now due to the new way that they're heading. It will be used to highlight major events, but less of the mundane everyday things that a lot of people use it for. I find this good, personally, but a lot of people enjoy it for the mundane, everyday things that people share. It's so different and I think it's actually diminished the amount of social interaction people will have with each other. Anyway, it should be a loud week on that website. Perhaps I could have just stayed on google plus. I think maybe there will be an influx of movement to that site in the coming weeks from people who are too unhappy with this new path of facebook. I'm just not sure if facebook is about to commit suicide or if it's really starting something new and fantastic? Either way, I'm glad it's such a drastic change. I've been so bored with it for so long that I welcome this completely different track they're on. I think it could become a lonely site, though.

I'm still pretty stoked about it being fall! Officially. AAAAAAND: The Cardinals are only 1 game behind the Atlanta Braves for the wild card in the division playoffs! This. is. amazing. I had written the Cardinals off earlier in the summer, just wishing for mercy and that they'd just get the season completed. But now? We're looking good(ish). We're finishing well and we're excited again! There's a decent chance, being only one game out, that we could actually end up in the post-season! Miracles do happen. In baseball, at least.