A Good Book...A Bad Movie

In case you hadn't realized it yet, I am an avid book reader. I LOVE books! There is nothing that a book lover hates more than to see Hollywood screw up a book with a horrible film adaptation. I am dedicating this post to those instances, starting with the most recent one to me: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

I was SO certain that the film adaptation of the novel would be absolutely amazing. I was so disappointed that I never got the chance to see it on the big screen and I was really happy to see it come out in the Redbox. I have patiently waited nearly two weeks for it to not be "sold out." Finally, I found it in stock and I seized the opportunity. What. A. Waste. Of. Money!

I don't think I was blogging back when I read this book. It was a pretty good read. One of the best things about it was that it actually told the story of Abraham Lincoln, only with a supernatural twist. The history in it was pretty accurate and delivery was as such that it did not bore the way non-fiction can. The only flaw with the story was that it starts out with a narrator and at the end of the novel, it never tells the reader what happens with/to that narrator. Otherwise, great read!!

On to the movie. Right from the beginning they changed the story. I'm actually not SO picky that I can't handle a little bit of change. However, they started picking and choosing the history aspects to leave in the story or scrap all together and THAT started getting to me. When an author tells a story, each bit of the story builds up to the moments that follow. When you start leaving out those bits, it brings down the quality of the story. This is the very reason I stopped watching the Harry Potter movies at the third one. You CANNOT leave out important plot points and still expect the same impact! Just don't do it!!!!!!

Hollywood: please come up with fresh ideas of your own and quit butchering the written word!

Busy Day!

Last night, before bed, I read some more of City of Lost Souls. It is getting better. I actually tore through several chapters before falling asleep. I'm about halfway finished, so maybe it's taken a turn for the better.

Today was the busiest day EVER!!! We started the day by dropping Gabriel off for his last day of Pre-K. Then, we had to head over to Evelyn's check-up at the pediatrician. The paperwork for that seemed to take forever!! She had a really good check-up, though. She can answer 4 year old questions and is in the 50th percentile in both weight and height. Now, if we could just get her potty trained!!

After the Dr, we stopped for biscuits and then headed home. We really only had about 20 minutes of time at home before we had to leave again to pick Gabriel up from school. We let the kids play on the playground for quite a while until we had to leave, yet again, for my optometrist appointment. I've never had my eyes dilated before, but they were today. I can tell you that it was not a fun experience. I really didn't like not being able to read and the light sensitivity (especially the sunshine) was awful. My eyesight has only changed slightly and I was happy to get new frames. You know, the kind that don't pinch my nose!! I should have them sometime next week. Shane's appointment was right after mine and so we left the optometrist two slightly-blinded people with two children in tow.

The balloon release

The last scheduled event of the day was Gabriel's graduation from pre-k. It was a carnival themed event. The kids sang some songs and got diplomas. Gabriel got an award for "most energetic" which translates to me as, "least likely to sit still." They released balloons and there was a small reception afterward with cupcakes. We stayed around long enough to be social with the other parents and the teachers.

Don't you just love pictures where everyone is looking all over the place?!

My best friend, Missy, came to the graduation with us, so after the party, we went out to eat at Chili's. It was nice to catch up since we don't get to see each other much. We had a great dinner and then we went home.

I had a free RedBox code texted to me earlier in the day, so we stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home to rent a movie. As much as I love getting free rentals, I do hate that everyone gets them on the same day and so you can never have a great selection unless you go right when you get the code. Either way, I rented The Woman In Black with Daniel Radcliff. Shane seems to think I have a fondness for psychological thrillers, but in reality, there wasn't much of a selection to choose from. So far, it's not too bad of a movie.

Turns out that I'm watching it alone because Shane's eyes are still dilated and he came home and went straight to bed like the kids!! I didn't get a chance to fit in my second training run for this week, so I guess I'll be trying my luck at 4 miles on Saturday morning with only one run this week under my belt. I think it will be OK, though. At this point, I'm pretty used to 3 miles...what's one more?