I considered myself a bit late to the party when I finally made it out to see Thor: Ragnarok tonight, but the packed theater proved me wrong. Could the turnout have been affected by excitement over the recent Avengers: Infinity War trailer, or was Ragnarok just that good of a movie? (Spoiler alert: I believe this movie may have just beaten the first Iron Man movie as my favorite of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yes, it's just that good.) We begin with our hero trapped in some sort … [Read more...] about Has Thor Become My Favorite Avenger? I Think He Has
Ramblings and Reviews
It’s About Time
It's almost embarrassing how long it's been since I've posted on this blog. It's not that I haven't watched many movies, although I've seen fewer than I'd like. Mostly, I've simply found that I didn't have much to say about the movies I have watched--nothing beyond a simple tweet or two. That changed recently, starting this past Mother's Day when my oldest son gave me a copy of Stephen King's 11/22/63. He'd kept the receipt because he knew that it was likely that this book was already a part of … [Read more...] about It’s About Time
On Fame, Loss, and Digital Media
I was moved to return to this blog after an excruciatingly-long absence after reading a very thought-provoking article over at ScreenRant about the latest Star Wars movie, Rogue One. SPOILERS IN BOTH THE SCREENRANT ARTICLE AND IN THE POST BELOW. In Rogue One, which ends barely minutes before the events of A New Hope, we saw a couple of familiar characters, who were absolutely necessary in order to fully tell this part of the story. One was Darth Vader, still ably voiced by the one and only … [Read more...] about On Fame, Loss, and Digital Media
Code For Kindness
In case you didn't know, all the pictures from my blog posts for this month come from my recent Pecha Kucha talk about Random Acts and why kindness matters. Because I'm shameless, I'm going to remind you that you can watch said talk right here. (Thanks again, PK!) A little over a year ago, I had an idea of something I could do to help support this new organization I had kind of fallen in love with. I had done a couple of "acts" already, and was talking to folks about possibly joining the … [Read more...] about Code For Kindness
Every Step Matters
I'll admit, I kind of admire runners. Like, running isn't my thing. Never has been, never will be. But I have an number of friends who regularly run 5Ks, half marathons, and full marathons. Some run for various charities, some run just for fun. At least, I think some people find it fun.... (I kid!) Recently, my church has taken a more active role in the life of the outside community. Sure, we support homeless shelters and deliver food to needy families, and other things that churches usually … [Read more...] about Every Step Matters
My First Official “Random Act”
I won't be so overly dramatic as to insinuate that I wasn't a kind person before I encountered the phenomenon known as Random Acts. But I will tell you, they provide a great structure for being more intentionally kind, more often. For today's blog post, I want to tell you about the first thing I did "for" Random Acts. As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of the major events Random Acts organizes each year is the Annual Melee of Kindness. People across the world make time on that day to do … [Read more...] about My First Official “Random Act”