Avatar and stew

so i started this day off with a plan to get some work done for my national boards. however that didn't happen. instead i woke up fairly early and took the dogs on a much needed long walk. link was absolutely ecstatic and was runnning all over like crazy. he plowed face first, at about 100 miles an hour, into my legs in one of his crazy sprints. didn't seem to affect him at all, but it sure hurt the hell out of me. my fat girl maci was even in somewhat of a sprinting mood. they definitely needed and deserved that walk.

after that i came in and went on the computer some and then realized that i was suppose to make my stew that i have been dying to make for the past week. so i got to that. cut up potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, & squash. threw in some corn, lentels, basil, bay leaves, oregano, salt, & garlic powder. top it off with some water, vegetarian "beef" bouillon cubes, & some tomato paste. mixed it all up and put it in the crock pot. set it for low and let it go! (i feel like that could be a ron popeil pitch) :) however, i was worrying throughout the day that it wasn't going to thicken up, so when we left for the movies, i left a crack in the lid, so that it would get some air and not produce so much condensation. this is really when i set it on low and truly let it go. :P

so that leads me to avatar. i really didn't have a strong desire to see this movie, but mike really wanted to see it. i knew people were raving about it and that it was the biggest selling movie of all time, but still i really didn't have a desire. i wasn't opposed to it at all either and knew i would probably see it at some point. but i knew it was one of those movies you should really see in the theater and it being offered in 3-D also, you can't really pass that up. :) and mike went to see new moon with me on my birthday, so i figured i could repay him with this. well as it turns out, i LOVED it. i mean LOVE, LOVE, LOVED it!!! i am pretty sure i loved it more than mike. it was amazing in so many ways. i mean it really goes without saying, that the digital animation and all the special effects and all that, were incredible. but it was so much more than that. to me the story was so well done and so heart and gut wrenching. to me it just really represented how arrogant and selfish so many humans are. the fact that humans think that they are superior to any other living thing and that they have the right to stake claim on anything they want and then take it without a thought or care of how it will effect others. i truly do believe that as humankind, that is our downfall. we are great and can do great things. however, there are way too many greedy, horrible people in this world that are willing to destroy other life in order to have what they want.

and the same goes for americans. we think we are superior to anyone in this world and think we can take anything we want from anyone. the amount of damage that america has caused in other countries is appalling. we meddle in people's affairs that we have nothing to do with and destroy their countries and kill their people. we just barge in. not a thought about it and we leave without a thought about what we have done. i hate to say "we" because i rather not associate myself with any of that, but i am an american. (and i am very lucky to live in a free country and i understand that, but i do think our goverment is completely corrupt and that we do horrid things to other countries).

with all that being said, avatar was absolutely amazing, visually and narratively. i was moved by the movie and it brought me to tears at times. i strongly recommend seeing it.

as far as my stew, it was definitely thickened when i got home. AND, it was DELICIOUS! so happy. it turned exactly like i wanted!! this was a great day. much needed after my day yesterday. now i am going to relax with mike and a few beers. cheers!!