So don’t get me wrong, I totally love facebook. And so does this dude Julian Smith. But he made this awesomely funny video. It totally makes me chuckle. Then visit him online at www.juliansmith.tv for more really funny clips. He’s way talented!
Monday Movie: The Young Victoria
In 1838 the king of England’s health was failing, and the only heir to the throne was the 17-year-old niece of the king.
Victoria.
This gorgeously filmed and acted period piece is the story of how the young Queen Victoria came to power, the political power struggles that ensued, and the love that she discovered. The love story of Victoria and Prince Albert is stunningly beautiful.
In 2010 Jess Barnes asked me if I wanted to go see The Young Victoria with her. Of course I was interested. What’s not to love about Emily Blunt’s amazing acting in beautiful dresses in literally Victoria’s England?
And it was AMAZING!
I was completely enchanted at the end of the two hours. The dresses were lovely and flowy and satin-y. The dancing was graceful and oh, so sweet. Emily Blunt was brilliant and so believable as the uncertain young woman who grew into England’s longest reigning monarch. And the romance between Victoria and Albert made my tummy fill with butterflies.
I confess that I wasn’t quite sold on Rupert Friend as Albert when I first heard about the movie. If you don’t recognize his name, you might remember him as the awful Mr. Wickham in 2005’s Pride and Prejudice. How could I possibly enjoy him in another performance?
Well, turns out I could. He’s amazing–strong and gentle at the same time. And even though it looks like his mustache is eating his upper lip on several occasions, I can forgive that because he’s just so lovely.
According to my friend Rachel (who reads this blog regularly and can be found at A Thinking Girl’s Guide to Christian Fiction), the history in the movie isn’t exactly 100% accurate. But as you might know, I have a terrible habit of researching for my novels and then throwing it out the window for the sake of the story. It’s a bad habit to get into, I know. 🙂 But fiction is just that.
Anyway, Rachel highly recommended The Young Victoria. I’m glad I took her advice.
So take mine. Go see it!
Haiti Disaster Relief
Hi Friends,
In lieu of my normal Friday Favorite this week, I thought that I’d just make a quick comment about the earthquake this week in Haiti. I was watching CNN tonight, and my heart just absolutely breaks for the tragedy there. I saw a segment about a 15-day-old baby, whose mother had died in the initial earthquake. The baby had a head injury, and the CNN medical correspondant stopped to help the baby, who needed antibiotics, but there are none to be easily found.
CNN was also reporting that the relief effort is so disorganzied that as bodies are being recovered, they aren’t be marked or tagged. They’re beeing burried in mass graves, and their families will probably never know where they’ve been laid to rest.
Watching the reports tonight just broke my heart, and it reminded me of something that Mark Batterson said in his new book Primal. He asks if our hearts break for the things that break the heart of God? I believe that God’s heart is broken for the people in Haiti who so desperately need Him, and I pray that that’s why my heart is broken now too.
This isn’t a plea for your money or guilt trip or anything like that. I wish only to say that if God is moving you to pray, please do so. If He’s moving in your heart to give, and you’re not sure who to give to, may I recommend Compassion International. They have set up a Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund to provide necessary essentials for those in children and families in need in the name of Jesus. If you want more information, check them out here.
May God make His glory known through this diaster–whether it be through the majesty of His power that controls 7.0 magnitude earthquakes or the kindess and help given in His name.
Teaser Tuesday – The Boyfriend Game
MizB of Should Be Reading hosts the Teaser Tuesdays weekly event
Here are the rules:
* Grab your current read
* Let the book fall open to a random page
* Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12
*You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
* Please avoid spoilers!
This week’s teaser is:
“I coughed to stifle a laugh. ‘You’re like one of my girlfriends, except you like sports as much as I do. I can talk about anything with you, and we have fun and stuff.’ I nodded. ‘Yep, you’re like a girlfriend with hairy legs.'”
pg. 126 – The Boyfriend Game by Stephie Davis
– I got this book on Paperbackswap, and I confess to reading all 157 pages in one night. It’s a super-cute YA about a girl who loves soccer … and maybe the boy she practices with. It’s fast and easy, and so high school. Not that I’m so into the sports, but this was a really sweet story.
Movie Monday – Leap Year
As promised last week, this weekend I totally went to see Leap Year, the new chick flick/romantic comedy. I went 
with Amy, Katie, Steph, and Jess Barnes, but before you go thinking that we all just gushed over the movie, let me say that Jess is not a fan of chick flicks. At all. And Steph? She thinks that romantic comedies are too heavy on the romance with not enough comedy.
But since this blog doesn’t belong to Steph or Jess, I’ll tell you my thoughts.
I loved it!
It doesn’t break any molds in the genre, but Amy Adams and Matthew Goode are delightful as Anna and Declan. Anna, an uptight real estate stager from Boston, is forced to ask Declan, a pub owner from small-town Ireland, for a ride to Dublin when the weather prevents her from getting there to propose to her boyfriend on February 29th.
Jess, who I forced to join us for the movie because she has a little (HUGE) thing for Matthew Goode, was, I think, suitably impressed with his grumpy, once heart-broken Irishman. I certainly had a thing for his scraggly beard, which isn’t usually my cup of tea. 🙂 And Amy Adams couldn’t be any cuter if she tried.
My sister was looking for a movie to see with her husband on their anniversary, and I suggested Leap Year before realizing it wouldn’t be out in time. But Hannah said she was afraid that it would turn into one of those movies where the girl is with a perfectly wonderful man, but then she meet someone else and just leaves the other guy in her dust. (Hannah’s not a fan of those flicks.) But I’m super-pleased to report that Anna’s boyfriend proves himself a most unworthy match, and I was so happy to see her leave him in the dust.
Rated PG, this is the first romantic comedy I’ve seen in years with almost no swearing, and no sex. Such a pleasure not to have to deal with those things. It’s true that the comedy isn’t as shocking as say The Proposal, but it’s sweet and oh, so enjoyable. So grab your man–or your girlfriends and catch this one soon.
Loving the goreous Irish countryside until next time. -LJ
What I can’t wait to see!
I just saw the preview for this, and now I can’t wait to check it out this weekend. 🙂 Maybe I’ll see you at the theater.
Sports Night Theology
A couple days ago I was at the gym working out on the machine next to my friend Johanna, as is our norm several days a week. We were chatting about our days at work, our recent trips to visit family, and the like. And as it often does these days, our conversation turned to the lessons we’ve learned reading a book called Radical by David Platt. The book isn’t on sale yet, but we happen to work for the publisher, so we’ve each read the early manuscript.
I won’t go into the all the details of the book–there’ll be time for that when it does release–but I will say that this is the most challenging book I’ve ever read. It’s been the cause of many in our department lamenting, “David Platt is ruining my life!” Roughly translated, that means that we’ve come across something in our lives that David’s book is making us look at in a new light. It’s convicting. And life changing.
One of the biggest areas that many of us–especially me–are being challenged in is caring for the poor and orphans. We say that we love Jesus, yet we so often ignore “the least of these.” David challenges readers of Radical to sacrifice and give to those in desperate need. But what does that sacrifice look like to each of us individually? How much is enough?
So sweating away on our ARC machines (kind of like a cross trainer), Johanna and I discussed the personal applications of just those questions. We talked about the tug on our hearts to honor God with our choices, to bring glory to His name, and love those in need. But we couldn’t come up with any firm answers–nothing set in stone for whether it’s okay to buy the new tennis shoes, video game or television in light of the blessings God’s given us.
And that’s when I remembered a scene from Sports Night, one of my favorite TV shows. In it Casey draws his boss Isaac for his Secret Santa. Wanting desperately to get the right thing, Casey asks Isaac what he’d like. A cheese grater. So Casey goes out and gets 12 of the best cheese graters he can find and lets Isaac pick. But Isaac never really cared about the grater. Instead he quotes an old monk as saying, “I don’t always know what the right thing to do is, my Lord. But I think that the fact that I want to please you, pleases you.”
Now I’m not in the habit of getting my theology from old TV shows, but I think there’s some merit to the idea that when we seek to please God, we do. When we yearn to do the things that bring glory to God, that pleases Him.
We won’t all answer David Platt’s life-ruining questions the same way. But if we earnestly seek to please God with all that we are, we please Him.
Watch the video for the whole scene and see what Isaac does with his grater.
Do you suppose that the gifts of love we give God go on His shelf, too?
Teaser Tuesday – Team of Rivals
MizB of Should Be Reading hosts the Teaser Tuesdays weekly event
Here are the rules:
* Grab your current read
* Let the book fall open to a random page
* Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12
*You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
* Please avoid spoilers!
This week’s teaser is:
“Northern sentiment had been inflamed further by the publicationof Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Less than a year after its publication in March 1852, more than three hundred thousand copies of the novel had sold in the United States, a rate rivaled only by the Bible. ”
pg. 161 – Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
– A gift from my sweet friend Johanna who knows how much I love Abraham Lincoln, Team of Rivals is a study of the political genius of Lincoln. Nearly 900 pages long, this book may look intimidating, but I’m loving the history in this book. And it’s perfect to enjoy a tidbit at time. If you enjoy history, particularly the Civil War, I bet you’ll like this book too.
Happy New Year!
So I haven’t been very good about posting this last week, but I’m looking forward to some fun stuff in 2010, including the the release of my second book. Of course, there will have to be giveaways and all that fun stuff! I’m looking forward to a great year!
Praying that your 2010 is already off to a great start!
Christmas Movie Countdown – Number 1!
We’ve made it! We’ve actually made it to my favorite made for TV Christmas movie of all time. It’s only been fouryears since ABC Family premiered this fantastic love story under the tagline:
The fell in love. Then they met.
Christmas in Boston is the story of two pen pals, who started writing more than 10 years ago. They’ve seen each other through bad relationships, deaths of family members, winning science fairs, and much more. But they’ve never met. In fact, they’ve agreed to not even speak on the phone.
Now Gina is all grown up and a newspaper reporter in Boston. Seth is a toy designer in Denver. But their pact to stay pen pals is thrown out the window when Seth’s company sends him to the big toy conference in Boston–the same conference that Gina’s boss makes her cover. But they each have a secret. They’ve given the other a picture of their best friend, claiming it was really them.
So Seth sends Matt and Gina sends Ellen to meet each other. Meanwhile the real Gina and Seth bump into each other at the conference–they just don’t know who they’re talking to. Matt and Ellen add a whole lot of humor to this story of white lies that almost derail the a love that was meant to be.
I love the romance, humor, and heart of this sweet story. What girl doesn’t dream of falling in love with her best friend, which is exactly what happens for Gina. Not to mention, I might have a little crush on Patrick Adams, who plays Seth. Whew! He’s so adorable!
The worst part about this movie is that unlike every other made for TV movie, ABC Family only shows it once or twice a year. So if you can catch it, don’t miss out!
And here’s what Katie had to say: I’ve seen this MFTVCM a number of times – I’m even watching it right now to try to refresh my memory. But I’ve been trying to think of something blog worthy for 20 minutes and am coming up completely empty…how do bloggers do this?!? OK I will say this – while this holiday movie is better than the average made-for-tv fare it apparently doesn’t elicit any emotional response or sense of loyalty from me. (Are we still friends Liz?) The story is good – I like the main characters but their bffs who spend time together under the ruse that they are the real MFEO pen pals are annoying – big time.
And Stephanie says: Ahhh, pen pals who fall in love, literally the story of my life! This movie is cute but the secondary characters kind of ruin it for me. Definitely worth watching though.
Also, I asked Katie and Steph to each offer one of their favorites that didn’t make my list. Here goes!
From Katie: If You Believe – A Scroogey book editor rediscovers the Christmas spirit when her inner child (played adorably by a teeny tiny Hayden Panettiere) appears and reminds her of how fun & passionate she used to be. Lots of great moments and a little romance of course!
From Steph: I love If You Believe as much as Katie does, it’s so great! But my favorite mftvcm is The Christmas List. It’s about a bleh kind of woman who has, on a whim, writes a Christmas wish list to Santa and all throughout the movie she mysteriously gets all she wants. I love it!
I hope you enjoyed the countdown and will catch them on TV next year. Merry Christmas! -LJ