Malori Reviews All Sorts of Stuff

Still no pictures on my blog - for some reason my blog is being very stubborn, and I have tried to figure it out, but no luck. Jon hasn't been able to check it out for me yet, so you get a picture-less blog once again......sorry!

AUTUMN IN THE VALLEY

I love autumn. I am not a huge fan of summer (especially down here in the valley) because I prefer to be cold, and I prefer the outfits in the autumn and in the winter. I like bundling up and wearing sweaters and dark colors. Well, today while I was watching the TV, I realized that the rest of the country is beginning to celebrate autumn. They are starting to wear deep reds (that's the new autumn color - apparently) and sweaters and scarfs and boots......and how does the Greater Phoenix Area notice the change in seasons? We went from temperatures over 100 degrees, to "a nice, cool 95 degrees" - that is a direct quote from the news today. Hold on, a nice, cool 95? What about 95 degrees is nice and cool?? It is supposed to be autumn! We are supposed to starting to wear sweaters, and be chilly, and yet, I see girls at school in their tiny shorts, tank tops, and flip flops!! This is not autumn!!!!!

The sad thing is that we won't be able to "experience" autumn for another month or two at least! Then, we don't ever "really" get to experience winter. I will admit, this is one of the things I really miss about the White Mountains - I miss seasons! Especially autumn!


SO, I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER

A friend of mine on Facebook told me that I had to watch this movie - I had no choice. So I immediately got on netflix, ordered it instantly and watched it. When I reported on Facebook that I had watched the movie, I had a request from my dear friend Rachel to review it on my blog - so here goes.

This is a funny movie. I laughed more than once. My favorite part was when the main character (played by Mike Myers), who is a freelance poet, is performing his poetry in a little club. It is hilarious!!!!!

****spoiler alert****

Ok, is it just me or is the title kind of misleading? I mean, he doesn't actually marry an axe murderer. The title should have been "So, I Married a Lady Who Has an Axe Murderer For a Sister" but you can bet I did not see that coming. I mean, I thought the sister was weird, but I never thought she was the killer! Man, talk about a surprise!

The Mom and Dad in the movie were also very funny. I especially liked watching Jon watch the Dad because he laughed so hard!

It is a funny movie, and you should watch it - just a good movie when you need a laugh. Not too dumb, but not to smart either -the perfect mix.



BOUNTIFUL BASKETS

I ordered my first Bountiful Basket a week or so ago. I had heard about it from my Mom-in-Law and thought it sounded like a pretty fancy thing, but never got around to it. Finally, after my cousin got one and raved about it, I decided to take the plunge. I got online and ordered.

$15 and a couple of days later, we woke up early and headed to our pick-up spot. I'll admit I was kind of nervous because I had no idea what to do - but it was so painless!! We showed up, gave the guy our name, he pointed us in the direction of the baskets, and we got our stuff. So easy!!

For those of you who haven't heard of it, here is the deal - you get 50% fruit and 50% vegetables in your order. You go to a pick-up spot with a laundry basket of your own and meet with the volunteers who point you to some baskets - you transfer the produce into your laundry basket and you're done! You get a ton of stuff for only 15 dollars! We got probably a dozen grapefruit, grapes, tomatoes, corn, bell peppers, romaine lettuce, and a bunch of other stuff - it is a great deal!!

You really need to check out the website bountifulbaskets.com to get the full picture, but I definitely recommend it!!


PASTOR TERRY JONES

Pastor Terry Jones is the Protestant Pastor in Gainesville, Florida who has decided, and convinced his 49 parishioners, that it is a good idea to burn Quorans on September 11th. I'm sure you have heard about this and have formed your own opinion on it, but as this is my blog, I am going to tell you how I feel about it.....

I think Pastor Terry Jones is a complete hypocrite. How can a person say that he is Christian - preach Christianity from a pulpit - and do something so hateful? Doesn't Christ teach us that the most important commandment is to love one another? How is burning a book that is so sacred to somebody a loving gesture?

He says that it is to protest Islamic Extremism.....hmmm.....how does it make sense to protest extremism with something so extreme? And, how does it make sense to do something that will hurt regular Muslims, you know, the non-extreme kinds as well? How will something so offensive bring peach and love and unity?

This pastor is not only giving himself a bad name, he is also giving our country and Christianity and bad name. The world is in an uproar over this, and all they see is "an American, Christian Pastor burning a bunch of Quorans" - they don't see the millions of people who are also American Christians who disagree with this insanity!

I normally don't agree with Hilary Clinton, but I have to make an exception because, regarding this issue, she said that it is unfortunate that he is making it look like the United States believes that this is the right thing - because we, as a whole, don't. She explained that he is a pastor with a small church in a small town in Florida and the entire world is under the impression that he represents the American way of thinking. She made clear that this is not the way that we as a whole think.

Now, I have to say that I don't like that he is doing this. I think it is hateful and horrible and dangerous - but, I do love the freedom that we have to say what we think and express how we feel in this country. Granted, he will have to deal with the public backlash, but the government has no right to tell him to stop. I don't agree with what he is doing, but I think in order to remain free we have to take the good and the bad that comes with our first amendment rights.....and that means letting this crazy guy burn Quorans on September 11th.



MATH

I am taking a math class this semester. It is not any kind of fancy math, it is only intermediate algebra (MAT 121), but I haven't had a math class since I was a junior in high school (that has been 6 years) and I am extremely out of practice (I have a test tomorrow and should be studying, but I have been studying all day and needed a break before I start burning math books instead of Quorans!).

Here is what I think about math. I have gone 6 years of my life without figuring out the slope of anything. I haven't needed to find the vertical intercept of a single thing, and never has anybody asked me to plot any points on a graph. Now, I understand that some people do these things in their jobs or in life - but I am not one of these people, nor do I ever plan on being one of these people.

And, if by some crazy chance the situation did arise where I was asked to do one of these things, I would simply call someone who did know how to do it, and they could walk me through the very rare situation, and I could move on with my life.

So, why am I paying money, spending a lot of time, and getting pimples and gray hairs over this stuff??!!

Don't get me wrong, I am not really complaining because I am really, really excited to be back in school - I am just really not understanding this math stuff, and am not really sure why I am racking my brain trying to understand it!

Still, I have to learn it to get through the class, and I need the class for a degree - so I better just get back to studying.......

Wish me luck tomorrow!!