What’s in a name?

I’ve been thinking about what’s in a name. Sort of Romeo & Juliet style. Like a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. What is it that makes us who we are? And do our names influence who we become?

I have an unusual name. It’s not that there aren’t other people in the world with my same name but you just don’t have five Desiree’s in your school as you do with Jennifer.  And you know what I find interesting is how some people who have unusual names either LOVE them or HATE them.  They’re never indifferent to their different name.  I fall into the former category.  Every memory I have growing up is of loving my unique name.  And even now I do like my name.  Maybe it’s because I like compliments and every where I went people always complimented me on the loveliness of my name.  That equated to MY loveliness.  Ultimately those people were actually telling me that I was lovely, well in my mind anyway.  Feed ego, feed ego, feed fragile ego.

It’s been my experience that the people who hate their unique names are almost embarrassed by the designation.  Like they’d prefer to disappear then be complimented on something they can’t stand.  And why is it that they hate the unique name?  Why would they rather be a plain Jane or Jennifer or Sarah or something. Not that there is anything wrong with those names ~btw.  Is it that inherent part of us that wants what we can’t have?  Although, in this case, you CAN change your name.  Why don’t they?  My own mother changed her name only just a few years ago.  She decided that her name didn’t suit who she was anymore, so she changed it.

So, does our name play into our personalities, behaviors, thoughts, and feelings about ourselves?  And if you change it to reflect who you are now will you want to change it again later?

My name came by way of a movie.  As I suspect many peoples name do.  The story is that when my mom was a teenager, she had gone to see the movie Desiree starring Marlon Brando & Jean Simmons.  It’s the tale of Napoleon Bonaparte and his original love Desiree.  She spurned his love but eventually fell in love with him as he rose to power.  And as wont to happen, fate / destiny / chance intervened in the form of Josephine.  If you know anything about history, then you know who he chose; the more politically advantageous Josephine.  Desiree in due time chose Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte.  Who eventually rose to become King of Sweden & Desiree his Queen.  So anyway, my mom decided on that day, at the movies, that she would name her first daughter Desiree.  And that is how it came to be that I have this name.

But back to my question, do our names influence who we become?  I think the answer is YES.  What I don’t know is if we fall into stereotypes of what people by certain names should be/do or if those people with those names are predestined to be/do/act certain ways.  There have been studies done that show people with certain names are predominate in certain industries.

What do you think?

Another Movie Review

OK, are you ready?  Here is another attempt at a movie review.  I took Honey bunny to see National Treasure Book of Secrets and I can report to you that we had a fantastic time.  It was a Thursday afternoon,  she was off school for the day, and I left the office early to take her to this show.  We got our popcorn, junior mints (an absolute must have anytime I go to the movies), drinks, found the perfect seats, and settled in.  The movie was awesome.  I was a little hesitant to take her to see this before the husband & I had a chance to see it first, but I figured it was PG and most likely on par, in terms of content, with the first National Treasure movie.  I was right.  Acceptable viewing.  There was some gunfire and a car chase.  I might have preferred that she not see these things but they were of short duration and mainly the bad guys shooting at the good guys or the bad guys chasing the good guys.  In other words, bad guys doing bad things not good guys doing bad things.  This makes all the difference.   

The remainder of the movie was about searching for clues, solving puzzles, historical facts, and figuring out the meaning of the clues & puzzles.  All things that I believe help create an analytical mind.  I’m pretty sure there was lots of “facts” made up strickly for the movie but if you’re a conspiracy theorist then maybe those things weren’t made up.  You decide.  There was even worldwide travel; Paris, France and London, England.  Locations of import; the Statue of Liberty ~not the one in New York but the one in Paris~, Buckingham Palace, Mount Rushmore, The White House, and the Oval Office.  

Now, Nicholas Cage, I think I fell in love with this guy when I first saw the movie Valley Girl.  You know, way back in the stone age, or 1983 for those of you over 30yrs of age.  He was pretty goofy in that movie but I like goofy so, to me he was hot.  Plus the whole rebel, punk, tortured teen angst thing, but I digress.  In this movie he is most definitely not a teen, though still quite hot.  He has such a great smile.  Not to mention his voice!  There is just something about it.  And, as with the 1st NT movie, he played fantastically well opposite Diane Kruger.  Who, I should note, looks as adorable as ever.  And good ol’ Riley, he’s back and as computer savvy as in the first go round.  Hacking into all sorts of systems, like the one at Buckingham Palace.  Boggles the mind of a naive, good girl like me, to think about what hackers can do.  I mean, he’s a good guy and he can do all that stuff.  So what can the bad guys do?  What are the bad guys doing right this very minute?  I really don’t even want to contemplate that. 

To wrap up this poor imitation of a movie review, I’ll say that National Treasure Book of Secrets was highly enjoyable.  In fact, I liked it so much I went back three days later to see the movie again with the husband!  If it isn’t too late to see this movie in theaters, then go now, quickly or you’ll have to wait until it comes out on DVD. 

Enough for now,

Ciao

P.S.  The next review I plan to do is about the movie Atonement.  Prepare yourself.

I am just sick

If you haven’t already seen this article, then take a few minutes to read this ridiculousness.  I rarely like to / actually do debate political issues with people, so you’ll hardly hear me go off.  But, since partaking of that article, I am absolutely incapable of stopping myself. Or this one.  In fact, I think the second is worse. 

I know I am not the only person disgusted with President Bush and his years of presidency.  Even those who were with Bush on the war are now disagreeing with his handling of it.  Don’t ask half my family how they feel about him & what he has done because they’ll tell you he’s awesome.  I could not disagree with them more on the subject.  Which is why I don’t like to get into debates.  No one ever changes their mind and everyone involved is left feeling angry or unheard.  You know what, life is too short to spend it arguing about issues that we are unable to resolve.  That time would be better spent enjoying each others company.

Bush thinks he can get away with spending TRILLIONS of dollars.  And he thinks this way because he has already gotten away with spending BILLIONS.  Let’s just keep throwing more money away on an almost futile campaign.  Cause, you know, there aren’t millions of Americans homeless and starving, or children getting inadequate educations, or countless men, women & children with no form of healthcare.  Who gives a F**K about them.  Bush clearly doesn’t.  He just likes the money from the skyrocketing oil prices.  Or have we all forgotten what his family owns? 

This is almost nothing next to the loss of lives.  How does he live with the knowledge that he is responsible for so many thousands of deaths?  Oh, right, he doesn’t take responsibility for that.  YES, I know people will argue that those losses are necessary to save the lives of the people in our country.  I agree with you, to a point.  And, more importantly, I respect, honor, and give thanks to those who chose to serve.  They are indeed keeping us free.  But I don’t think this war is really about that.   

When will it end??!!  At what point in time are we finally able to say, “OK, we’re done here, let’s go home.”  And who decides when were done?!  What specific things must be accomplished before we can leave?  I guess they are making it up as they go along.  We’ve got plenty of money to burn ~ it’s the American way.  I love the comment Bush makes about Congress being like teenagers with a new credit card.  Please. spare. me.  All evidence suggests that he is the one who feels as if he has unlimited supplies of money.  Hey, there are boys and girls a plenty here, too.  They’re born every day.  No shortage in that department.  So let’s keep fighting, spending money, and losing our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.  Well at least until the next election.  But we’ll be forced to wait to find out who is chosen to be our next leader.  Will it be someone ready to stop the fighting or someone ready to spend even more to feed the monster, better known as, the War in Iraq.

Enough for now, I can’t stand thinking another minute about the idiot we call a president.

Movie Review

So I just saw The Bourne Ultimatum last week.  A bunch of my girlfriends and I finally picked a day, time, and movie that we all wanted to see, at a time that we could all see it!  Miracle! 

It was AMAZING.  And I’m not just talking about Matt Damon, who I must admit looked freaking hottt.  This is the third movie in the Bourne series and I have to say that it is incredible.  Some have said it is the best of the three. 

The director is the same as the second movie and you will find the filming style to be exactly the same.  Gritty, rough, edgy, almost as if it were filmed with a hand-held camera and the camera guy was running right behind the actors as they were all dashing about.  Speaking of that, there was A LOT of chase scenes, in many diverse countries.  The chase scenes in Morocco were particularly entertaining.  We had to stifle our laughter after a couple comments were made by those in our party. 

The film was exciting, thrilling, and semi-suspenseful.  A couple of the scenes had pointless dialogue (in my opinion~ but isn’t this whole post my opinion?!).  Just wait till you see the end of the “breakfast” scene with two of the CIA folks, brilliant dialogue.  Though from a number of articles I read prior to seeing the film, it sounds as if they were working without a script for most of the movie.  And, really, who am I to say what’s good or bad dialogue.  It’s not as if I’ve ever written a screenplay.  Or written anything other than a few poorly worded blogs.     

I will say that this movie did what I wanted.  It answered questions.  And Jason Bourne finally got the answer to his questions; who am I & why the hell do I go around killing people for no apparent reason.  But (and this is fairly typical in Hollywood these days), they left it wide-open for another in the series.  This might not be a bad idea.  Hell, I’ll see Matt Damon in just about any movie.  So if they want to put together another one of these films, then I’ll pay $9.50 to see it, in a heartbeat.  Lets make the studios & actors even richer!

Julia Stiles is back in her role.  Though this time she sides with Bourne and it makes you wonder about the future of their “relationship”.  Actually it makes you wonder about the history of their “relationship”.  Of which Bourne has no recollection and the film does not delve into.  There are some similarities to the first film in terms of Bourne’s relationship with Marie after they have started running.  The whole scene when she cuts & colors her hair in a ratty bathroom, of an even rattier (is that a word?) hotel.  Duplicate scene in this movie right down to the look exchanged between Stiles & Damon which really makes you wonder if there will be a repeat sex scene.  I won’t tell.  You’ll just have to see it to know for sure….

OK, now on to the fight scenes.  CREATIVE!  They actually have a fight scene occur in a tiny bathroom.  And interesting use of all available items.  Again you’ll get it when you see the film, pay close attention. 

So, I’ll wrap this up the same way I started it.  Matt Damon looks freaking hottt!  The movie is amazing & I recommend you go see it!  Let me know what you think after you see it….

Enough for now,

Ciao

Everything I can’t have

I was listening to a song yesterday and the lyrics were quite interesting (at least to me).  The gist of the song was, “I want everything I can’t have”.  In fact, I think that’s the title of the song.  So I got to thinking about why it is that we, humans and in some case animals, want either something we can’t have or want something that someone else has.  Is it greed?  Is it envy?  Since the behavior isn’t exclusive to humans, perhaps it is more basic, more intrinsically hardwired and not one or two of the “7 Deadly Sins”. 

More often than not I find myself making comments like, “I wish my hair would grow faster like her hair” or “I love her car, I wish I could have one like it” or “my life would be better / I’d be happier if I had a body like hers”.  I know I am not the only one that does this, everyone (to some degree) wants what they can’t have or what others have.  It just struck me as one, of the many, oddities of human behavior that can cause major problems or disruptions in one’s life.  Miles of credit card debt, anxiety, jealousy, divorce, etc.

Why are we not satisfied with what we have?  Why do we want what others have?  Like what we have isn’t good enough…. For some people this may be the case.  There are many, many people who have nothing and are happy to be alive yet live just at or above the poverty level.  Then there are those that aren’t happy with their multimillion dollar homes, cars, planes, and general super rich lifestyle.  And then there are some that are in the middle; they have a nice home but want a bigger/better one, or have a nice car but want a better one.  Is there something inside us that compels us to want to improve our situation?

I guess improving oneself is a good thing.  It pushes us to learn more (finish college perhaps?) or work harder (get a promotion?) or give one’s time to charitable causes that help others (Habit for Humanity?).  But what if there is nothing wrong with the house or the car or the husband that we have?  I believe the old saying, “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side” is absolutely correct.  That new house may be bigger and/or better (in your estimation) but it will undoubtedly cost you more in mortgage payments, property taxes, water & electricity, and general up keep.  The same can be said for the bigger and/or better car.  In terms of the husband (and I don’t speak from experience on this one ~ I have the same husband for the last 12 yrs & hopefully many more), I can only imagine that you would probably just be replacing one set of bad habits for another one and possibly getting someone worse.

So at what point do we stop upgrading, or stop wanting what we don’t have, or what we can’t have?  It certainly is a challenge in this particular society when every t.v. station, newspaper, and magazine spew advertisements all over us for things we probably don’t really need.  A wise friend of mine told me that for many of those that don’t have the money, there is no choice or trigger within the brain that says I want “this thing” or “that thing”.  This is not true for *all* people with no money, as no ONE statement about anybody or anything is rarely true.  But generally, no money means it’s just not an option.  In a way it takes the stress of choices ~ do I or don’t I buy this thing for myself or my child ~ out of your hands.  You just can’t because the means aren’t available.  I won’t say this is the perfect answer (having no money) but perhaps having just the right amount is the answer?

I think that daily recollections, a sort of counting of our blessing - if you will, of all the things that we DO HAVE needs to occur; so that we can remind ourselves of ALL that is wonderful in our lives, whether that means being grateful for the house or car or husband or type of hair that we have, and not taking those things for granted or undervaluing them.  Appreciate them!  Realize that what we have IS enough and we don’t need to have what others have or wish we had those things that we can’t have.

As another wise friend said, remember that the person that you think has the better car, house, husband, hair, body, or whatever, may be miserable and you just don’t know it….

Enough for now,

Ciao

Movie Review

OK, so I took the ”movie review” idea straight from my cousin’s blog (thanks cuz!) but I am going to do a review of Leonardo DiCaprio, I mean, Matt Damon, I mean, The Departed.  Yeah, that’s the one, sorry, got a little side tracked by thoughts of gorgeous guys….  Many of you probably know that this movie won a couple of Oscars, including Best Director for Martin Scorcese.  I have to say that he earned it.  The method used to film the movie was perfect.  True, it was very bloody and slightly gory, but I’m a woman so that judgement might be a feminine predisposition (I’m not saying *ALL* women mind the blood or gore ~ I’m referring only to me), it was just a smidgen on the lengthy side but given the FINE actors that were in this film, I could have cared less if the movie was 5 1/2 hours long! 

Since the movie won Oscars, the movie theater in our town was re-playing it on one screen for one night at 8:55pm.  So the husband and I got our niece to watch the kids in order for us to go.  Yes, I know the movie is now available on DVD for the same price or less than the cost of two adult tickets ($18!!) at the theater, but there really is nothing like watching a movie on a really big screen in those awesome high-back chairs that rock, with the arms that go up or down depending on your preference.  We were the only two people in theater until about 5 minutes before the movie started; thereby spoiling my husbands dream of “something” happening for him.

Anyway, we got our popcorn, a couple of drinks, and Junior mints (my favorite).  Spent the gross national income of a small country and waited for the guy who rang us up to go over to take our tickets (did I forget to mention that it’s a very small theater?).  He looked at the tickets and had to go ask the two other theater workers if they were actually showing this movie again!  Dude, obviously, if we have tickets with the name of the movie on it with the proper date on it and it’s from YOUR theater, then you are showing it again!!  Moving on… luckily we were pretty early for the movie and there was no real worry about the movie being sold out and all the seats being taken, so the delay was no biggie.

Now, about the movie, it was long (as stated above) and it started in the past, roughly the 1970’s, but moved fairly quickly through the years to current day.  Matt Damon goes through the state police school and rises quickly to detective.  See the thing I love about Matt Damon is that he looked amazingly innocent when all the while he was working on the inside for Jack Nicholson’s character (who is the crime boss).  Leonardo di Caprio also goes through the state police school but does not rise so quickly because his entire family is a who’s who of criminals.  He is such an incredible actor! You can feel how much he wants to be the good guy, but they (the people in charge of the undercover detectives) want him to go deep undercover as a bad guy in Jack Nicholson’s inner group. 

You know what, forget this, I am a terrible movie reviewer.  I just want to talk about Leonardo di Caprio & Matt Damon and say how *HOT* they looked in this movie!  LdC (I’m tired of spelling it out) was so amazing.  You could see, sense, and feel the tension and anxiety he was under and going through.  I know I could anyway.  Plus, he really had the bad boy look working for him.  Oh, yeah, there was this one scene that showed him in jail and he was doing this arm workout and he looked really bad boy goooood!  MD looked clean cut and “I’m such a good guy”; he really can play this type of character well.  For those of you who saw the movie ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’, then you know what I’m talking about; the complete sociopath hidden under such a smooth exterior.  Well, isn’t that generally a description of sociopaths anyway?

Ok, so there was this psychologist who meets MD’s character and was immediately drawn to him and his “I’m so cute and such a good guy” act.  She agreed to go out with him and shortly they were in a relationship.  In the mean time, she met LdC’s character through his required therapy sessions.  Needless to say, she was attracted to him as well.  Over time she began to distrust MD and fell for LdC.  She got to have sex with both of them!!  Not at the same time, obviously, (sickos) but both of them none the less.  Lucky Bitch!  If I was her, then I would have had sex with both of those guys too!  Wow!  The scene with the psych and LdC was awesome.  The sexual tension between the characters was palpable.  His vulnerability, her confusion about her relationship with MD, and their attraction to each other was too much to ignore.  When I get this movie on DVD I think I will watch and replay that scene about 1,000 times.  They needed each other so badly; to save each other, so to speak.  I’ll save you Leonardo!!!

Anyway, my recommendation is this, see the movie.  It’s really gory, bloody, and full of action, tension, anxiety, suspense, and realism.  Plus a couple of unexpected plot twists.  If you enjoy all those adjectives listed above, then you will very much enjoy this movie.  Oh, yeah, and if you like **HOT GUYS**, then see this movie too!  Enjoy! 

Enough for now,

Ciao

I have an opinion about…

Myspace. I love it! I love the fact that you can find people. I’ve found old high school friends, current friends, FAMILY (who knew that my cousins from GA were on myspace?!) well I do now! My cousin’s wife found my sister who then told her about me. So then I find out that my cousin (as in the husband to the wife that found my sister) and his sister are also on myspace. Now we have a chance to chat easier and more than ever before. I read a blog the other day about a guy whose ‘long lost cousin’ found him. See how its bringing families back together? HA, love it.

Ok, so my husband has a *real* opinion about myspace. He doesn’t like it. “It’s for teenagers and people in their early 20’s, no one older than that is on it”, he says. “I’m sure all the statistics will show that the majority of people who are on it are all in that age range”. Well I can say, from my personal experience, that the searches for classmates show there are lots of people from lots of age groups on myspace. I wish I knew the stats, and I’m sure there is someplace to find out what said stats are, but I haven’t taken the time to do the research. I attempt to explain all this to him but see the “I’m not even pretendingto listen to you” look on his face. Fine, whatever. (Dehh, mini two yr old tantrum) You can have your opinion and I can have mine. This is how we generally settle a large percentage of disagreements (read: arguments).

There is the thing about myspace being just slightly addictive. I know everyone will agree that it is a black hole of time.When you log in it may be XYZ hour and then 52 hours later you realize that you better log off and go to bed or back to work or take the kids to school or whatever you probably should have been doing in the first place. But during those 52 hours it’s a blast sending messages and bulletins to friends, searching for people, or searching for some cute graphic to add on to those messages and bulletins.

Another thing that I love; all the options for design and personalization. How much fun is it to be able to select colors and schemes and music all in an effort to show the world who you are or what you’re about. Look at me, look at ‘my space’, I’m really cool can’t you tell from this page I created?! Lets not forget about the videos, both movie and music variety, that you can add on.

All right, I think that’s enough for now.

Ciao