Post by brittanydyan
October 29, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Will and I headed to Staunton (which is pronounced Stanton), Virginia this past weekend. Our second anniversary trip was overdue. We had planned to spend a weekend in Baltimore in June, but that was the season of Will’s Toe Woe, so we had to cancel. We left Bethesda at 5:45pm and started on what was supposed to be our 2.5 hour journey.
Well, we arrived at The Frederick House (bed and breakfast) at 9:45pm. Things didn’t look good when we rolled up to the check-in office and the lights were off. We rang the doorbell, and a sleepy, grumpy man in sweats answered the door, asking us what we wanted. “We have a reservation,” I croaked nearly inaudibly. Will stood off to the side, trying to hang in the shadows. The man replied, “you must be my 8 ‘o’ clock.” I said, “heh, heh, I guess we are.”
Apparently, they (Denny and Karen, the B&B managers) don’t “normally” check in guests after 8:00pm because they start their day so early (5:30am). I had read this somewhere when I reserved the place months ago, and I vaguely remember telling Will that he would need to leave work early, so we would make it. Well, I forgot. And, I felt like the biggest jerk all weekend. Denny forgave us and even seemed a little sorry that he had been such a grump. Still, I couldn’t look him in the eyes at breakfast the next morning. Will can attest to this. It bothered me all weekend. Why?
A little self introspection here: I have a really hard time dealing with people being disappointed with me or generally disapproving of me or my choices. I’m not sure if it’s an only child thing (any only children out there who want to weigh in?) or a self esteem thing or what. When ever I make people upset, I feel like I need to make it right asap. And when I can’t make it right, I rue.
Besides the ruing, we managed to have a great couple of days away. On Thursday night, we stayed around the inn and relaxed (it was nearly 10pm for Heaven’s sake!). We headed to our yummy breakfast on Friday morning and then walked all over downtown Staunton, snapping photos of its fall foliage and interesting quirks. In the afternoon, we headed over to Veritas Vineyard and Winery for a tasting. We were pleasantly surprised on entering the big, comfy, warm room with the fireplace and wine bar. We tasted, we purchased, and then we sipped on a glass of wine and devoured an excellent cheese plate while we lounged in the over-sized leather armchairs for way too long.
After taking a nap that afternoon (see, this really was vacation), we went to a spiffy, new restaurant in the area. The words that kept coming to our mouths: “Why can’t Greenbelt or College Park have anything like this?” The place had such a neat and variant style, but it all seemed to fit together. After dinner, we went to the local movie theater and saw Amelia, which was good but not amazing.
We left for home on Saturday morning just in time to enjoy the rest of our weekend doing things around the house and chilling with our kitty. It was a great trip–except for the check-in mishap:(
Pics!
Post by brittanydyan
October 20, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Life always manages to lump major events into small periods of time. Last week included my pre-prospectus meeting with my dissertation committee, a benefit concert that Will and I helped to plan for a great DC organization, and…my very first half marathon race.
Will and I drove up to Baltimore for the Baltimore Running Festival last Friday night. I was on the fence as to whether it would be necessary for us to spend the night in Baltimore, but I am very glad hotel reservations were made. The race site was a somewhat organized zoo on Saturday morning. Although, attempts were made at communicating with the crowds and administering the several races (marathon/half marathon/5K/kids fun run/relay), I can’t imagine maneuvering the streets in our car and trying to find a parking and making it the race on time.
The run was hard, but the training prepared me. I really liked the distance. I’m pretty sure I run at about the same pace no matter what distance. Of course, I was pretty sore afterward, so I took the last week off from running. Hope to get back out there this week! Here are some pics from the race experience…
Getting ready to start.
Will spotted this sign near the start of the race.
Finished! Holding my little crabby medal.
Post by Will
October 13, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Iron Man
As a kid and young adolescent, I was really into comic books. That’s not something I’m ashamed to admit and I still have somewhat of an archaic knowledge of numerous amounts of fictional characters (although, that knowledge is not as encyclopedic as it once was).
Iron Man was not a title I read often but I know I have a few issues stored somewhere back in Georgia. That said, I am pretty familiar, to an extent, of the character history and development of the protagonist, one Tony Stark.
John Favreau’s (a.k.a. D-Bob) take and presentation was a pretty solid adaptation and overall was a pretty solid film. Jeff Daniels (The Dude) also makes a pretty good villain.
Verdict: B+
Elizabeth
If there is one genre Brittany and I can generally can agree upon, it’s usually period pieces. We had already seen, not knowing at the time it was a sequel, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, months prior.
While a solid movie, E:TGA was a much more compelling film with better pacing, better acting from Cate Blanchett, and much more compelling storyline (her relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh).
Geoffrey Rush had a standout performance, in my humble opinion, as spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham.
Verdict: B-
Bobby
Emilio Estevez is best remembered, personally, for his roles in The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, and unfortunately for him, this.
For Bobby, Estevez took the pen and helm and presented us with us another “a-day-in-the-life” type films, this time centering a massive array of guests and staff at the Ambassador Hotel, the when and where Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated.
The best part of the movie was painting the different backgrounds, perspectives, and ideals of the era. Unfortunately, there was such a large amount of information to take in, figure out, and disseminate, that by the time the movie was reaching it’s peak, you were still sitting there scratching your head about which pegs fit which holes.
Verdict: C
The Cider House Rules
Does Toby Maguire ever age? I had to check the date when this movie was released (1999) as he looks the same age as he does in the last movie I saw him in (the unfortunate Spider-Man 3). This movie wasn’t exactly what I expected (Hello, Paul Rudd) but to be honest, I didn’t have any expectations or grand illusions about it to begin with. Overall, the movie was your typical coming of age tale but with different implications than your average maturation story (taboo topcis). While the acting was top notch as you might expect, I thought things were too prolonged (I mean, c’mon, hurry up and become a man already).
Verdict: B
I Love You, Man
I love a good immature, crass comedy (sorry, Mom). I also love Jason Segel. Probably best known for his time in Freaks and Geeks and currently as Marshall in How I Met Your Mother, a favorite of Brittany’s and mine, (check this out) Segel stars as slacker Sydney opposite Paul Rudd’s “bro-less” Peter. While the movie is wildly predictable and formulaic, some of the writing is extremely clever (compared to your other wildly predictable and formulaic rom-coms).
Verdict: B+
–
Even Quicker Hits
Since it’s been even longer since we sat down and watched these movies, I couldn’t really give these movies their due.
Fargo
Dark, dark comedy. William H. Macy and Frances McDormand’s accents are worth watching alone. You also can never go wrong with Steve Buscemi.
Verdict: B-
Lars and the Real Girl
I think Ryan Golsing is a great actor. I had high hopes for this film but you’re better off watching Half Nelson than this snooze-fest.
Verdict: C+
Volver
Penélope Cruz is awesome is this strange, strange film. There are definitely some sharp, sharp twists in this Pedro Almodóvar film. This was a very pleasant, very mysterious surprise.
Verdict: A-
