The Adventures of GeekGirl

The Vegan and I went to see Kick-Ass yesterday. While it was nothing to write home about by any means, I found it entertaining and enjoyed it. Oddly, we went to a crappy theater and were 2/3 people that were there. Seriously. A total of 3 people in the theater. We were able to put our feet up and do whatever the fuck we wanted. Yay!

I do think that the movie should have been called “Hit Girl” since she completely stole the show. She was a far more interesting character than Kick-Ass and actually had skills. Nicholas Cage didn’t make me want to punch him in the face, so I suppose that part was a success. The little kid that played Kick-Ass was cute, too.  That McLovin kid was ok as Red Mist. All in all, I liked all of the casting.

Should you drop everything and go see this movie? Hell no. However, if you have a few hours to kill and it’s playing go see it. Preferably in a matinee. You will be entertained. What more can you ask for?

Sunday I went to see Alice in Wonderland at the IMAX. Now, before I begin I have to confess something. I’m totally obsessed with Alice in Wonderland. I’ve watched every version available and just love the story itself.

I was thrilled to hear that Burton and Depp would be teaming up for this project. I wasn’t to thrilled that it was going to be done in 3D. I was afraid that Burton would use 3D to wow us and skip out on the storyline.

Here’s the trailer:

I’m a bit conflicted here. Overall, I loved the movie. The pacing was great, I LOVED the clothing, and Alice was portrayed as a strong woman that made her own decisions when it came down to what she needs in her life.

I just wish the story would’ve had a bit more depth. Depth how? I don’t know. I just feel like certain things were glossed over in a sense. I think the movie was entertaining, but it left me wanting more. More story, more Alice. More on the queens storyline. This is just because I’m an Alice freak, though.

The thing that I love is how Alice was portrayed. I love that she ditched that loser and didn’t marry him. I also love that she expanded her family business. The feminist bend made me happy.

I give the movie a “B”. I liked it. Hell, I’d even see it again. It was just missing something that I can’t quite put my finger on. If/when I figure it out I’ll let you guys know. With that, I say go see this movie. There are far worse ways to spend an afternoon.

Last year, I bought a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint All Purpose Soap. I bought it with the intention of using it as a body soap. Yeah. Dumbest idea ever. I watered it down as suggested, but when I started to lather up I realized that peppermint on your naughty bits does not feel great. A matter of fact, it will burn and make you cry. Honestly, I should have known better than to use a soap on my naughty bits that can also be used to wash your car.

To get rid of it, I’ve used it as a hand soap. It leaves my hands really dry, and guests complain about it, but I’m a cheap bitch and don’t want to throw it out. (By guests I mean my little sister. She had to go buy emergency hand soap while I was in Peru and she was Giositting. She then told my mom on me…My mom bought me soap thinking I couldn’t afford any. Silly mom.)

Well, I’ve had this weird stain on my counter that keeps reappearing in the grout. It’s really dark and odd. I have no idea what it is, but it seems like I clean it up and it comes back. I think it might be coffee maker related, but I haven’t confirmed. That might be an entirely different post.  When I realized that I didn’t really have anything to handle this weird stain with (I use wet wipes, but they weren’t taking care of this) I decided to give the peppermint soap a try. Imagine my shock when it took care of the weird stain without me even needing to rub it. It. Just. Disappeared.

I then tried it on my icky, dirty sink…It polished the freaking silver. From there, I tried it on the rest of my counters and did wonders. My kitchen is nice and clean with a fresh minty smell to it. Futher, no chemicals!! This might become my new favorite cleaning product. It does everything. Floors, bathrooms, dishes, laundry, cars…the list goes on. It didn’t work for my body but definitely works for everything else. Woohoo for peppermint hippy soap!

I’ve been reading up a storm lately. Fortunately, most of the books I’ve read have been quite good. When I finished up The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, I was ready to delve into something else. I wasn’t quite sure what, so I went to the bookstore and just cruised through to see what jumped out at me. I found The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I bought it because I liked the cover.  It’s not often I go that route, but I couldn’t decide on anything.

Honestly, when I started reading this book I found it a bit boring. I even put it down for a week, but forced myself to come back to it. Boy am I glad I did! It is one of the beset books that I’ve read in years!

It tells the story of concierge Renee Michel and 12 year old Paloma Josse. Renee is a very intelligent woman that is very aware of class struggles. She insists on hiding her intelligence and love for refinment from the tenants in her building. This is what I found very, very frustrating and why I put the book down. I didn’t know that class still mattered to this point. I understand class is still an issue in the US, but I sure as hell don’t understand why someone would hide that they’re intelligent and like Tolstoy.

Though I liked Paloma, I found her to be irritating too. She insists that life isn’t worth living and plans to kill herself on her 13th birthday. I liked her commentary on a lot of things, but I found her insistence that she is so much better and brighter than those around her off putting.

Anyway, the story is told around these 2 characters. The book is heavy on the philosophy of the little things around us and has many chapters that are just thoughts on random things. The book really made me think when it wasn’t making me mad and irritating me. (The author is French, so…) When Kakuro Ozu moves into the building all 3 of their lives are brought together in a nice heartwarming way.

By the end of the book, I understood why everyone behaved the way they did. I also fell in love with this book. It was wonderfully written, with gorgeous words. That’s right, I love the writing itself. Of course this is a translation, so I suppose the person respoonsible for that would be the translator. I thought the prose flowed very nicely. That’s part of why I went back to the book and continued reading. I actually had to pull out my dictionary a few times.

If you have the patience, I highly recommend this book. It will be a little slow at first. However, if you give it a chance it is well worth the ending!