Friday, March 28, 2008

Super excited for Amanda and Blair to be here!

I can't wait for Amanda and Blair to get into town tonight (or it might be tomorrow morning, I'm not exactly sure). I was talking to my mom last night, and I realized I haven't seen my sister since Christmas! Three months is too long. I'm going to try to find some time to interview Amanda this weekend, and get that up on the blog ASAP.

The whole family is going to Jersey Boys this weekend at the Orpheum Theater, and we are going out to dinner for Jessie's birthday beforehand - it should be super fun! This is one of my dad's favorite shows ever - I think he bought the tickets something like six months ago.

The other big news for my weekend is that I got a KitchenAid stand mixer this week, and I am going to be doing some test cooking with it...any requests for food? :) I'm thinking maybe some bread and maybe some cookies?

All in all, looks to be a fun weekend for Samantha!!

-SKH

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A review for the second season premiere of The Tudors

So I went to B's last night to get some dinner and re-watch the season 1 finale of The Tudors on Showtime. Little did we know that Showtime on Demand was going to let us watch the Season 2 Premiere a little early!! I was surprised, as I didn't think it was on until Sunday, but I said a little way into "Episode 11" that I was almost sure it wasn't on my season 1 discs, and wasn't familiar with the episode. (I really think I would remember them depicting a man being boiled alive!)


It turns out that this episode actually was the second season premiere, and it looks to me like this season will be as good (or better!) than the first!! I checked Showtime's website again today, and it looks like they are offering a promo for the Tudors, where you can watch the full season premiere episode for free by visiting here: http://www.sho.com/site/order/preview.do?source=tudorspromo1 I wonder if they are doing that in order to get more subscribers...I'm definitely considering!


Overall, I think this episode was well-made, and beautifully shot. The characters are well-developed, and for the most part, I think I understood what was going on. I think that people who are not as interested in this time period in history will need to watch much more closely in order to follow the storyline, as the episode seemed to jump around frequently between multiple main characters. Keeping them all straight is a task in and of itself!


I do think that the show focuses a lot of the punishment and torture that was common during this time period, and that can be very disturbing. During the two episodes we watched last night, we saw one man burned at the stake and another man graphically boiled alive as punishment...one for a difference in religious opinion and one for attempting to murder those with dissenting opinions from the King's. It would be absolutely horrible to be alive during this time - how would you ever know what the King's mood was? You could inadvertently offend him or his soon-to-be wife, Anne, and quickly lose your lands, titles, money and even your life. All for small slights!! Crazy.


The second season premiere definitely makes me want to continue watching the show, and I am interested to see how they handle the marriage, coronation, pregnancies, eventual downfall and ultimate death of Anne Boleyn. Will the show continue on after her into Jane Seymour's queenship? Or skip ahead to the reigns of Henry's children: Edward, (Bloody) Mary and Elizabeth (the Virgin Queen)? I am a huge fan of this time period in British history, so I am sure I will watch no matter what they do, but the fact that this show is very well-made makes it all the more fun to follow along!


Anyways, if you haven't seen the first season of the Tudors, I highly recommend you watch that, and then jump on the second season bandwagon with me. :)

The Tudors

If you've seen The Tudors, let me know what you think so far of season two!!


-SKH

Monday, March 24, 2008

Why Samantha is walking


So I am hoping to get a note from everyone on our team that gives some of the reason that we are each walking, but since I am me, I can start with myself. The most important reason I walk is for my sister, Amanda. Amanda is one of my favorite sisters (I happen to have two favorites, and two sisters, funny how that works out!) - that's a picture of her and her husband, Blair, when we were on vacation in Montreal, Quebec last summer.


Amanda was diagnosed with MS nearly 10 years ago (wow, has it been that long??). For those of you who don't know, multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. Check out the National MS Society's site for more information on the disease. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/about-multiple-sclerosis/what-is-ms/index.aspx

While there is currently no cure for MS (and that's what we are working to change!), there are several forms of medicines that some people living with MS are using now. When I interview Amanda on this blog, we can talk a little bit about the medicines she's taken, and get some of her perspectives on MS. Well, and we'll find out what cool things have been happening in her life lately; it's important to note that while MS is a serious disease, it does not have to rule your life.

This is actually my fifth walk this year, and each year, I've been able to raise a little more than the year previous. I'll need to continue that trend this year...as a team, we gave ourselves a big goal, and I think that we will be able to reach it!

Welcome to my world!

Well, this is the beginning of a whole new world for me. Sure, I've dabbled in MySpace blog posts, mostly spurred by my travels and travails, but have never had an honest-to-goodness blog. Does this mean I get to bug my friends to be on their blogrolls??

I've really decided to start this blog with a commercial (yet philanthropic) purpose: I am the captain of our team for the MS Walk this year, and I think that a blog might be able to share information in a better way than the MS site. However, I will definitely link to that site so that readers can donate!! (Starting...now...http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/amandajcr) We've got a bigger goal than we've ever really dreamed of, so we have some work cut out for us.

In addition to the MS Walk, I think I will use this blog to keep people posted on where I am and what I am doing. I'm guessing that my posts will often be silly and fun, because hey, that's who I am. :)

My next post will cover some details about the MS Walk for 2008, including why we are walking, when the walk happens and what you can do to get involved.

Stay tuned for fun times with me...

-SKH