Fun with Photo Editing

Boy, did I have fun today. I bet I will hear about it when Roy gets home tonight. I'd like to point out that aside from the awesomeness that you see here, I also iChatted with Jenn for the first time, which was Awesomeness on a Stick, and I got two, count 'em, TWO loads of laundry done. A really fulfilling day.

I apologize if the lovely lads in this pic don't think they look good. I think you both look awesome. (That's the word of the day, BTW.)


I believe I was practicing my Edward-smolder here...


Hanging out in the woods, always fun...

Put in your orders now for this limited-edition framed print of...me...in my awesomeness...

So that you don't think I'm totally vain, I included a collage of some of the magnets that we purchased recently for our new white board in our office-revamp-in-progress. These are available at your local Michael's store for the low, low price of $1 each. Can't beat that.

And I'm spent.

Update: I added a vacation collage to Red Photo...http://red-photo.blogspot.com/2009/03/stay-tuned.html

Another "New Moon" cast member added..

BBC News is reporting that 20 year-old Jamie Campbell Bower has been cast as Volturi vampire Caius for “New Moon.” The British actor’s first big screen credit was Anthony Hope in Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd.” Bower might just get along great with “Twilight’s” leading man and fellow Brit, Rob Pattinson. Bower is also a musician and last year he had a small part as a rock star in Guy Ritchie’s “RocknRolla.” Maybe we’ll see a Pattinson/Bower collaboration on the “New Moon” soundtrack?

In the book, Caius is described as having shoulder-length, white hair and “paper-thin skin.” An outspoken member of the Volturi leaders, Caius threatens Bella’s life and forces a decision that shapes her future with Edward. He is also the only one of the Volturi leaders that does not possess a special gift beyond normal vampiric abilities.

If Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, comes to the screen, the calculating Caius would likely be called on again as he plays a big role in the showdown between good and evil.

News on the casting of the Italian vampires for “New Moon” continues to trickle in. Last week, I reported that Canadian model Noot Seear was chosen to play the sexy vamp Heidi and the role of uniquely gifted Jane went to Dakota Fanning earlier this month.

What do you think? Are you surprised Chris Weitz has tapped a 20 year-old to play one of the ancient vampires?

Update: I wrote this under the impression that it would be used on MTV Movies Blog again. They didn't end up needing it so I posted it here because it was already written. I will not attempt to make this a "Twilight" news blog.

My Little Bully

I was an absolute angel as a child--just ask my mom. Honor student, involved in all kinds of activities and in some cases, I was even a teacher's pet. I didn't get in trouble with my teachers (except in Kindergarden when I wouldn't stop talking to the other kids, but that doesn't really count) and I was never sent sent to the principal's office (except that one time, but I'm telling you that Kelly chick brought out the worst in me). I would never have thought that a child of mine, a girl no less, would be the kid that gets in trouble at school. And yet here we are.

It has become pretty common for me to arrive at school in the afternoons only to have her teacher pull me aside to tell me that Anna... 1) had a potty accident 2) didn't listen during --- activity 3) wouldn't help pick up toys 4) called everyone in the class "stupid" or 5) levitated her teacher as she spewed green vomit and her head spun 360 degrees. This all bothers me, but I know that there are worse problems she could have and we always talk about the issues at home and do our best to address them. So, I was pretty surprised when her teacher relayed this story recently...

They were outside playing and Anna was riding on one of the tricycles. Another girl was riding in a little car and they were approaching each other going opposite directions. They know that they are supposed to stop when they see "oncoming traffic" and the other little girl did so. According to the teacher, Anna purposely sped up and rammed the other girl head on, knocking her off the car. The other girl was not hurt, but crying hysterically. The teacher said Anna found this very amusing.

This doesn't sound like my baby at all. I was horrified when I heard this. The only thing I can think of is that she didn't realize the other girl might get hurt--I can not imagine her intentionally hurting anyone. I'm sure she just thought playing bumper cars would be fun. I wouldn't know where she gets that, considering that her father purposely rammed our paddle boat into a submarine on vacation, but I'm not laying blame, Honey.

I scolded Anna at school and then retold the story for Roy so that he could do the same at home. But then I screwed up. Roy is in the middle of his speech about how she needs to listen to her teacher and if she ever does this again she won't be allowed to ride the bikes anymore and then he pauses and asks Anna if she understands. She looks up at him from under her lashes (she's very good at that) and says in her angelic voice, "But I was being funny." Roy starts to retort that the situation was NOT funny and I just burst out laughing. Anna turns to me with a huge grin and says, "But Mommy thinks it's funny!" Roy shot me a scathing look (he's very good at that) and informed Anna that "Mommy sometimes laughs at inappropriate times."

My problem is that I don't HAVE a poker face. If something is funny, I laugh--I can't help it. Her adorable little face, her sweet little voice, the startling conclusions that her young mind comes to...they all just make me laugh. It happens a lot lately. She is just SO cute and I attach a lot of emotions to her every movement. I just stare at her in wonder and think about the fact that I CREATED her and she has parts of me and parts of Roy. And the fact that she has grown up before my very eyes is mind boggling. I am truly in awe every time she figures something out or responds to something in a mature manner. She has me wrapped around her finger and she absolutely knows it. I can't help just grabbing her and nuzzling her cheek. I feel entitled to take advantage of this closeness now because I know that someday soon she is going to start pushing me away.

Roy commented that he never would have guessed that of the two of us, that he would be the one doing the disciplining of our child--Probably because he was a wild youth. I tried to explain to Anna that the situation wasn't funny, that I was responding to her face at that exact moment, but the damage was already done. So, I absolutely anticipate more playground violence and I apologize in advance if Anna smacks you around to get a laugh.

I'm published!!

That's right. I just got my first by-line on MTV Movies Blog! I am bursting with excitement! Leave a comment on their blog and tell them that I need to write more stories!! :)

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/03/26/runway-model-noot-seear-snags-vampire-vixen-role-in-new-moon/

Something for the guys...

Now available....Anchorman's Sex Panther cologne. "Illegal in nine countries. It's made with bits of real panther, so you know it's good. They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time, it works every time."

I'm going to make an effort to beef up my blog so that it is macho friendly. I'll scour the internet to find you the best guy stuff, so you don't have to.

Seriously, internet surfing is a full-time job. I'm just waiting for the paycheck.

The mysteries of toddlers explained

Finally, someone has unlocked the secrets to why toddlers don't do what they're told.

"If you just repeat something again and again that requires your young child to prepare for something in advance, that is not likely to be effective," Munakata said. "What would be more effective would be to somehow try to trigger this reactive function. So don't do something that requires them to plan ahead in their mind, but rather try to highlight the conflict that they are going to face. Perhaps you could say something like 'I know you don't want to take your coat now, but when you're standing in the yard shivering later, remember that you can get your coat from your bedroom."

I'm so glad they cleared that up. Now I won't have to pull my hair out every time Anna ignores me. Instead of saying, "Go to bed now!", I should say, "Hey, you can stay up and play all night if you want to, but tomorrow when I fall asleep on the couch because you were jumping on my bed so I wasn't able to get any sleep and you decide to fix yourself some lunch and you burn down the house, the number you'll want to dial is 911 and you'll realize then that you should get some sleep tonight. Although it may be difficult since we'll be sleeping in the van and it is likely to get cold, so be sure and take a blanket because you'll want it later."

My favorite line from 'Twister'/'Star Wars"

The line is originally from "Star Wars: A New Hope", but when they repeated it in "Twister" it just cracked me up because it was kind of random. You can really use it for any occasion. "That's no moon...that's a big poopy diaper!" or "That's no moon...that's a Dulce de Leche cheesecake and I'm going to eat it all!" See?

"That's no moon. That's a space station!"