My latest update on The Hobbit

I've been collecting information on the planning/writing/development of the del Toro Hobbit movie. And it's high time I put it out there for my distinct subset of readers who are Tolkien/Peter Jackson/cinema fans.

Here you go, from oldest to newest:

1. There wasn't much news for this past summer's Comic Con in San Diego. There was no announcement given on which actor has in the running for the part of Bilbo. What was news at the time was the looming spectre of yet another Tolkien family lawsuit.

2. Then in September, it was announced that the Tolkien family had settled their lawsuit.

3. This link isn't strictly about del Toro's work on The Hobbit, but it is related to The Lord of the Rings.

4. And then today, we still don't find out who will play Bilbo, but we do learn that del Toro will have some sort of mystery role as a background character. My money is on one of the goblins that capture Bilbo and Thorin's company while they travel through to the Lonely Mountain.

Living in a world of choices

We live in a country of overwhelming choices. I'm sure that you are not surprised by this fact. Anyone who walks into a grocery store could spend ten minutes trying to decide which cereal to buy. Even a trip to the magazine aisle in one small corner of that same grocery store could take up an astonishing amount of your time--and that is only if you wanted to pick between the many, many magazines on wedding dresses or body building.

Normally, we are glad of all of these choices. Or at least we don't think about them all that often because we have spent time learning which of the options we like and which ones we don't. Or maybe our childhood experiences led us to believe that Jif peanut butter was far superior to Skippy, so why bother dithering over one or the other. In the same way, we know that we like Kellogg's cereal and so we walk past all the stuff from General Mills--unless we happen to have a coupon or something.

But what if we actively choose to limit ourselves in ways outside the ordinary? What if we take our normal preferences and narrow the focus even farther? Suddenly, we become aware of the vast number of riches around us. Suddenly we realize how much we take for granted and maybe . . . just maybe we think about the amazing hardships that some experience every day, in ways that we don't fully appreciate.

You might know that I have been involved in a Soup for a Year challenge--something that I have concocted with friends from work. You can read about it over on the Soup for a Year blog that we are collaborating on. I noted on the initial post of this challenge that in the beginning I didn't think it would be that difficult to eat nothing but soup every day, for every meal. But, of course, once I limited myself to only soup, I realized the number of foods in my own home that I could not consider anymore. I am glad that I am not eating as much dessert and junky snacks as I usually did. But I find it hard to reject apples and toast and even a simple bowl of cereal or oatmeal.

But, if I can make this event into a small force for charitable donations for those people who don't get the opportunity to reject choices as I so often do, those people who would love to have the luxury of dithering over different types of cereal and ice cream at the grocery store . . . then that would make me feel good.

Didn't strike while the thought was hot

While driving down to Hilliard for the weekly Bible study group, I thought of lots of interesting words, phrases, story & observational tangents that might make for an interesting post.

But since I was driving, I had no opportunity to make any of it a reality.

Now I'm home again, but I'm tired and don't want to take the mental energy to see if I could recall any of it and type it into this post screen. Of course, this may very well guarantee that I will never be able to make those ideas see the light of day. If I can't expend the energy to recall them only three hours after they occurred to me, what are the chances that I'll be able to do a better job a day from now?

But I don't care.

*****

In other news, I am involving myself in the insane Soup for a Year Challenge. It's got a blog and everything. Today marks the end of day 3! Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the effort and my friends who are involved. And if you here in the WWYG?! side of my digital life have any ideas about how to make it better and make it more meaningful, please make your thoughts known to me.

Thanks.

Soup for a Year

Cleaning

The moving continues at the office. I and a few holdouts remained in our "old" positions on the fourth floor while the rest of our colleagues moved down to the second floor. Meanwhile, new people with new job descriptions began to appear around me. I plugged my earbuds firmly into my ears, shoved my nose into my work, and tried to power through as best I could.

But it was hard.

I've got to try and be productive where I am while preparing for my own move (which is supposed to come over this weekend). So, starting next week I'll be reunited with my coworkers (and it'll feel so good).

Speaking of things that feel good, I left the chaos of work this afternoon to get my teeth cleaned. As I lay there, I reflected on reasons why they don't put ceiling mirrors in dental offices and to why I tend to keep my eyes closed when get a cleaning. It's just best to try and block out what is happening to you and not imagine what it must look like having someone shove their fingers into your mouth, prying back your lips like some kind of prize stallion on the auction block. Its simply very dehumanizing, even if it is necessary. So, close your eyes, relax, and let them do their job.

What a job it must be, though. I try to be conscientious to the position that they find themselves in, poking around in the mouths of strangers. I chew gum (or brush my teeth) if I can beforehand. I am conscious, if kind of powerless, to make their experience as pleasant as possible. I just hope that they can turn off the reality of the situation and treat me as a dehumanized training dummy or something. (I won't take it personally, I promise. I'll try to understand.)

After the cleaning, the hygienist tried to get me to sign up for a free whitening service that they are now offering. She claimed that it would be no expense to me, as long as I kept up my biyearly appointments. If I chose to partake, I'd get custom molds made of my teeth and they would give me two tubes of whitening gel that I must place in the molds and then wear around the house every day for an unspecified amount of time. Because I chose to decline, I never found out if the whitening gel was on your teeth for thirty minutes per day or three hours per day. Regardless, I didn't find the idea of wearing a gel-filled retainer around the house appealing. Plus, do I need it? (Well, sure. My teeth aren't Tom Cruise white. But I'm not in the appearance business.)

So, trying not to feel as if I was being given some sort of subtle hint, I declined. (Sorry ladies!) I figure all of the coffee I drink in the mornings would make it a waste of time anyway.

And, I think that is all for tonight here. Thanks for stopping by.

Apple less rotten this time?

I don't want to be too premature here, but I guess I am inviting slightly bad karma by being hopeful. But today I went BACK to the Apple store . . . again in the hopes that I might finally get to the bottom of my substandard laptop performance.

If you recall, this is my third trip on this issue. Trip one was to try and find out what was causing my iBook to suddenly cut off in the middle of things--whether I was plugged into the wall socket or sitting on the couch. The Apple Genius thought that the problem was maybe the main logic board. So, off shipped the laptop and I waited.

When I got it back about a week later, the problem was not resolved. So I took it back again and they again took my computer from me and I waited. When I got it back again, I saw that the main logic board had been replaced again but this time they also swapped out a component that conducted the electricity from the wall cord into the laptop itself. And since then, the computer has performed fine while plugged into the wall. But if I unplug, after about ten minutes, regardless of how much power the battery meter says, it shuts off. So, since a laptop is most useful when used as a portable . . . I went back for the third time.

I knew from my first visit that batteries have a finite life. And even though I was pretty certain that the battery was now the sole problem, I didn't want to pay for a new one. (Given that I've paid $300 for the initial repair, as well as gas and time for every visit.) And Lynda backed me up. Though she knew that my ability to be firm and angry about things was not my strong suit. I suggested that maybe she go in my place and put her own foot down--but she didn't.

I took Grace with me--half joking that if things got bad and if the Apple people didn't want to give me my free battery, I'd get her to start crying on cue and try to chip away at their cold, corporate, silicon hearts.

Turns out I didn't have to be a bad@ss and Grace didn't have to cry. They told me that my battery was old and they offered to replace it for me. And they said that they would do it for free. So, here's hoping that third times the charm.

I'll let you know.

*****

In other news, the Soup for a Year blog has been added to a bit over the weekend and tomorrow is the big start date. I'll try to keep you updated with how things progress by linking to the Soup blog from Why Won't You Grow?! And I'll try to prevent that blogging from making this blog suffer.

I hope y'all had a good weekend. Mine was pretty good and I'm going to find a way to not work tonight and relax a bit before conking out for sleep.