Hungering for a better choice...

So Lions Gate announced some cast members for the Hunger Games' sequel Catching Fire today! Among them was the character I was most looking forward to seeing on the big screen, sexy little Mr. Finnick Odair!

Who'd they choose? This guy....

Excuse me if you can't hear me over the sound of tires screeching, but what the FRENCH?!? This is NOT Finnick! With sea-green eyes, a glorious tan and a beautiful swimmer's body, Finnick is (what would be) a California boy! This guy is British and he looks it! Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not Finnick!

Here's further evidence:

He's wearing a scarf for chrissakes! Finnick does NOT wear scarves! I just don't get it. Say what you want about the casting they have done thus far, but I think it's spot on! Donald Sutherland is just the President Snow I envisioned. And Seneca Crane??? Forget about it! He's perfect!

I even got behind some of their stranger choices, like Liam Hemsworth as Gale and *ahem* Lenny Kravitz as Cinna (???). A lot of people criticize Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss, but I say pshaw! With the exception of my beautiful, but sadly too-young niece, Kayleigh, there is no more perfect Katniss. Just look at her!

But I just can't get behind the Claflin-guy or whatever his name is as my darling Finnick! This has to be the worst bit of casting since, what??? Oh yeah.......

Let's get charitable!

OK, those of you who know me, know I try to help others when I can. But I can't always do it myself. Sometimes I need the help of my friends! I have a lot of opportunities coming up where my friends can help me help others. I don't want to be chasing people down, asking for money all the time, but I sure would like some help. Take a gander at my list... Maybe there's something going on that you would like to help me with??? Come on, people! Let's get charitable!

Coming up first is the Gently Used Purse Sale for the Child Advocacy Center! It's next Saturday, Aug. 25, from 9 am to noon, at Max Abbott Middle School. Admission is only 5 bucks and there's tons of cute bags (I've seen some) for sale! Like this one: 

Y'all can see that Kate Spade label on there, right? Cuz I can!

The Child Advocacy Center is near and dear to my heart. They do great things over there for abused children and they could use some help too. Plus, PURSES people!

In September, I'll be walking in Cape Fear Valley's Friends of the Cancer Center Ribbon Walk and Ride. 

The older I get, the more cancer is touching me. It took my dad. It took my friend Angel. My sister had a bout with it, and my friend Kim's mom is currently kicking the shit out of it!

The walk is on Saturday, Sept. 15 and I need people to sponsor me. This is exercise people, so you know I take this seriously! Here is the website if anyone wants more information: http://www.ribbonwalkforcancer.org/

Please let me know if you're interested!

If purses aren't your thing, and you have no interest in fighting cancer (WTF people?), you can still help me out by coming to the Blue Jean Ball and bidding on my chair. Everyone likes to sit, right???

The Chair-ity Auction is part of the Child Advocacy Center's annual Blue Jean Ball where party-goers can bid on one-of-a-kind chairs decorated by people of the community. One of the chairs this year will be created by yours truly (and whoever I can get to help me)! So grab your best blue jeans and boots, pack up your pardner and do-si-do on over to the Blue Jean Ball on Oct. 6 to bid on my chair! It's for a great cause!

OK, so there you go. An entire post about me with my hand out. But I'm just trying to help some of those around me. ANd I'm ready to feel the love and support (and the green y'all) of those that love ME. Won't you help me help others?

MHRM 6100 + Week 8

My last week of my first class in the Human Resources Management program.... I vow not to make this my last blog post though! I've wanted to do this for a while; I've GOT to keep going!

For the last time we are to talk about Tuckman's model of team development  and where our class fits in the model.

If I'm 100% honest, I don't think we've moved a tick since week 6! Everyone is still very agreeable with one another. Every post begins with "I agree with you!" Though it can be followed by some challenging questions, which I like. Still, I find we are holding strong in between Storming and Norming. Storming is the stage where team members start to disagree in order to get their ideas across.  In the norming stage, team members may disagree but they are able to get past these disagreements and work together (Chaneski, 2009, 34).

I think the use of technology has definitely supported the class throughout the course. I love the way the Blackboard makes it so easy to share a link to illustrate a point and last week's use of PowerPoint presentations made each person's thoughts incredibly clear and easy to understand.

A project charter is like the definition of the project - what is trying to be accomplished, who is taking part, what are their roles, etc. Knowing what is expected of us, as clearly stated in the syllabus will definitely help us stay a team and move forward through the degree plan together. If the class stays together through future courses, I think we will eventually completely break through the Storming and Norming stages and be comfortable in the Performing stage of Tuckman's model, where we function as a cohesive unit.

References

Chaneski, Wayne S. (2009, August). The stages teams go through. Modern Machine Shop. 82(3), 34-36.

Is it fall yet?

Everyone teases me about how much TV I watch. I admit it, I'm totally obsessed! As a former student of film and video I am so impressed by the size of the team and the effort it takes to put together a weekly installment of a show. And the writer in me loves getting invested in the stories! You can learn so much more about a character in a 13- or 22-hour season that you can in any 2-hour movie...

Every fall I wait with anticipation to check in with all my favorites and we're almost there! Here are a few of the programs I'm most looking forward to this fall. If you're not watching them, you should be!

1. Sons of Anarchy. Centered on a group of motorcycle riding gun-runners in picturesque Charming, CA, Sons of Anarchy is basically Hamlet on Harleys. And I love it!

The cast includes Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller the matriarch of the Sons. Sagal turns in an incredible performance week after week on SoA. Believe me, her days of playing Peg Bundy are way behind her! At the center of the club is Jax Teller the biker with a heart of gold. Ladies want him and men want to be him. British actor Charlie Hunnam plays Jax and he brings a perfect mix of toughness and vulnerability to the role. Where is this man's Emmy nomination, I ask you?

<------  Oh, and did I mention he's nice to look at??? 

Yeah. There's that too.








2. AMC. I could list the shows on this channel individually, but that would take up the rest of my list! Seriously, with hits like the excellent Mad Men, Breaking Bad and my latest obsession, The Walking Dead, the network has yet to go wrong with any of their original dramas (I specify drama because I am not especially fond of their new "reality" comedy, "Small Town Security." Stick to the dramas, AMC, that's your wheel house and you do it better than anybody!

The Casts of AMC's The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and Mad Men

3. American Horror Story. This. Show. Is. Creepy. And again, I love it!!!

The show's first season centered around the Harmon family. A fractured family dealing with infidelity when they move into a home known locally as "Murder House." The Harmons aren't alone in the house, and this becomes evident as strange things go on in the new home. By season's end the viewer is never sure if the character they are watching is alive, a ghost or something in between!

Maroon 5 lead singer, Adam Levine

Rather than ruin a perfectly scary and engrossing story into the ground by stretching it out season after season, American Horror Story producers have opted to make the show an anthology. Each season there will be a new cast, a new location and a new horrific story. This fall's season is set to take place in an insane asylum! And Jessica Lange and Even Peters - two season one cast members who played their parts to perfection – are returning in new roles. Soooo looking forward to it!

Oh yeah, and this guy is signed on to show up! -------->

Is it October yet???

4. Top Chef. Yep. I'm a reality show junkie. Survivor, American Idol, Big Brother. I watch 'em. But this one is my favorite! This is how a reality competition should be done. And could Padma Lakshmi please host every show? She is beautiful to look at, classy and I could listen to her talk all day. At any rate, the chefs all seem so talented and each episode leaves me HUNGRY and wishing I'd enrolled in culinary school!



5. For my last entry on the list we jump across the pond to a lovely old home known as Downton Abbey (please don't call it Downtown Abbey! LOL).

I don't normally go in for any shows found on BBC, especially anything aired by Masterpiece Theater. They all make me feel like I can feel myself growing older by the minute as I watch them.

Downton Abbey is different. It centers on the Earl and Countess of Grantham, their three daughters and their servants.

The cast is stellar. A. Maz. ing! And Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess is nothing less than a hoot! As the Brits themselves would say, just spot on!

From the cook's apprentice the the Earl's valet to the family members themselves, you will care about these people and if you don't you have no soul!


So there you are. Five reasons I can't wait for fall TV. All this talk makes me want to run home and check my DVR to make sure everything is set to record! Summer Schmummer - I'm ready for new TV!

MHRM 6100 + Week 6

School blog time! We are once again discussing which stage of Tuckman's model of team development our class is currently in.

This is a tough one for me, as I think our class is currently in some hybrid stage between Storming and Norming. Storming is the stage where team members start to disagree in order to get their ideas across.  In the norming stage, team members may disagree but they are able to get past these disagreements and work together (Chaneski, 2009, 34).

I get frustrated sometimes when I read the class discussion board because it is full if everyone agreeing with everyone else. Can everyone really truly agree with everything everyone else says, or are they just afraid to disagree? I have tried to play devil's advocate on a few posts and it has been taken well by the poster, thus proving we are moving toward the norming stage, but I still feel like some class members are hesitant to even enter the storming stage.

Maybe it's just my personality, but I just think life is more interesting when people can share different perspectives. It's boring when everyone agrees. I'd like to see more debate among the class, personally. I don't feel like we can reach the norming stage until everyone is truly through the storming stage and more comfortable sharing their true feelings.

References

Chaneski, Wayne S. (2009, August). The stages teams go through. Modern Machine Shop. 82(3), 34-36.