I think I must be getting old because unlike a lot of people, I'm actually NOT getting ready to go out and party the night away until the clock strikes 12.  I'm just having a boring night with my husband and my french bulldog...and my cat if he decides to come hang out with us too.  We'll probably be watching some of the first season of Rome which I suppose is a party in and of itself.  The Romans knew how to have a good time.  I did get a bottle of Martini & Rossi Asti so I will at least have a drink or several to compensate for my lack luster partying.  I do hope that everyone has a safe and Happy New Year.  Please, Please, Pleeeeease, drink responsibly if you are going to drink at all.  If not, maybe help your friends get home by being a designated driver?  I never make New Years resolutions (because I always make them impossible to achieve) so hopefully I'll do something good in 2011 that in the end will make it a better year than 2010.  Take time and reflect on this past year.  I think that can help make some resolutions a little more successful if you can assess what you've done and maybe what you really could work on.  Anyway, have a Happy, Safe, Super Fun New Years and I hope you get to ring in 2011 in style....even if you're like me hanging out in your room watching television and having a drink while your dog snores under the covers!


Hugs,
Tiff

I just wanted to tell everyone to have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! If you are not Christian then I hope you have a great holiday whatever you may be celebrating this time of year :)  Be safe with all your celebrating and I hope everyone is looking forward to the new year ahead of us.  It's hard to believe that it will be 2011.  I remember as a kid I couldn't wait until 1998 when I'd be 16 and old enough to drive or for 2000 when I'd finally be 18 and an adult haha.  Now I kind of wish the clock would stop moving so fast because it feels like the weeks, months and years sneak up awfully fast.
My advice to you for the upcoming year and the future is:
Don't wish your time away because when it finally comes you'll wish you had spent it focusing on what was going on at that time in your life instead of waiting for something to happen in the future when it's never a guarantee.  There are so many things I am grateful for in my life but when I think back to when I was a kid I can't help but feel nostalgia and even a little bit of homesickness.  I chose the word homesickness for a lot of reasons.  After my dad died (my mother having already passed away a year and a half before him) I had to move away from everything I'd ever known and loved in my life.  It still feels like I have had two lives.  One before my dad's death and then the Second starting when I had to move to a different city, school, etc.  I was only 13 then and looking back it's sometimes difficult to believe that I lived through all of that.  But we grow up and the past gets a little more distant from us but then we look back and wish we could do some things all over again.  Of course, we can't do that so I say, don't keep wishing time would speed up because believe me, it will come and be over with a lot faster than you could ever imagine.

I've never been good at New Year's resolutions but I hope that everyone can come up with something that is achievable.  I always find myself trying to set some crazy goal and then I give up quickly on it and forget all about it.  So for this coming year, I hope I can pass along something that even one person could benefit from.  That alone would make it all worth it.

So remember, be safe and have a great Holiday Season, whatever you are celebrating.  I hope everyone rings in the New Year with hope and anticipation for something even better than 2010 has brought.

Love,
Tiff

With the semester finally being over, I figured I'd go ahead and actually write a post since it's been awhile.  I was on GetGlue rating movies and it dawned on me that I liked some pretty horrible movies haha.  Now, I'm actually a lover of awful movies, especially B Horror movies or anything with Bruce Campbell in it (because he's awesome), or old horror films that when they were first released, they scared the crap out of people but now (due to our complete and total desensitization to sex and violence) are really just hilarious to watch.  So here is a list of 10 movies that I actually like that many consider to be awesomely bad.


10.  Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
       I've seen this movie on a lot of lists for bad movies, but for some reason I actually liked it.  It may  not be as ridiculously awesome as the first one and they probably should have stuck with just one film...I mean, there can be only one, right? ;) And who doesn't like Sean Connery with a terrible fake tan? 


9.  King of the Zombies (1941)
      Ohhhh, let me count the ways in which this movie is so terrible.  I love zombie movies, although this movie isn't about flesh eating, rotting type zombies.  It's more along the lines of The Serpent and the Rainbow style zombies like you'd think of coming from Haiti.  This movie was actually nominated for an Oscar and while I"m sure it was considered great at the time of it's debut, I find it pretty laughable (and therefore amusing).

8.  The Mad (2007)
     Dear Billy Zane, where has your career gone?  Actually, I think he was fabulous in this film and quite funny.  Another zombie style movie where people become infected by eating tainted meat (a la Mad Cow Disease) and become creepy zombies.  However, one of the most laughed at scenes by myself and my husband is when a hamburger patty attacks one of the characters.  Yes, the meat actually attacks as well as those infected.  Oh boy.  This movie is definitely worthy of being on a Top 10 Bad Movie list but somehow Billy Zane seemed to make it worth my time.



7.  The Lost Boys (1987)
     Now, this movie hasn't really popped up on a lot of bad movie lists but when you really start thinking back to when it was in its heyday, you realize it was so terribly cheesy and yet, this is the movie that made me desperately want to be a vampire.  Mainly because I wanted to be able to fly....which might be something I STILL wish I could do today. I mean, come on! It had the Coreys in it for crying out loud (and if you're confused because you're too young to remember, I'm referring to Corey Haim and Corey Feldman)  I still can't listen to the song "People Are Strange" by the Doors without thinking of this movie. 

6.  Fright Night (1985)
     I'm sure this movie was terrifying when it first came out *snickers* but I just find it amusing.  All I can think of is Chris Sarandon as Prince Humperdinck from The Princess Bride.

5.  The Toxic Avenger (1984)
      Who doesn't love a man in a tutu that fell into toxic waste and becomes bad ass with a mop?
  Toxie is my hero.

4.  Judge Dredd (1995)
     Yep.  I actually liked this movie haha....but because it's so cheesy and awful.  Like I said, I love horribly bad movies. 

3.  Sleepaway Camp (1983)
     Yeah, this movie was horrifying.  I did NOT see that ending coming.  This was the first movie I ever saw with full frontal male nudity in it haha.  This movie actually creeped me out when I first saw it but then again, I was pretty young and probably shouldn't have been watching it in the first place.

2.  Doomsday (2008)
     From the first time I saw this movie, I laughed.  It's become a sort of running joke with my husband.  We loved it.  Mainly because sometimes there's a movie that tries so hard to be serious and bad ass that when it turns out to be awful, you end up loving it.  Although, it does have Rhona Mitra in it and I love her haha. 

and the Number One Awesomely, craptastically, horribly bad movies that are actually good (in my opinion anyway) is......*drum roll*....*and maybe some trumpets*.......

1.  Class of 1999 (1990)
     If you haven't seen this movie,well then I feel bad for you because you have not truly known comedy.  I don't even know where to begin with this one.  First, you've got robot teachers that hate kids and want to punish them in various ways.  Then you have Pam Grier's boobs melting off and then she starts shooting (obviously, she's one of the robot teachers).  Then there's lines like "Do ya trust him?" with the response "Like a vampire giving me a blow job." And THEN there is the song...."Come the day" Ooooomg.  This movie has been a running joke with my best friend for yeeeears.  I hope people really didn't think this movie was what the future was going to be like lol.  You should see the clothes people are wearing in it.  Let's just say this movie didn't make nearly as much money at the box office (it only made about $2,459,895 here in the States) as it spent on it's budget (which according to imdb.com was over 5 million dollars)....

I love how the top 2 in my list both have Malcolm McDowell in them, which means simply based on principle I have to like them....no matter how ridiculously bad they are. 

Well anyway, I have tons of other movies I probably could have added to this list because there's just so many bad ones out there that make for amusing entertainment for those of us that like to laugh at these types of things.  Of course, there are some movies that were so bad that it's actually unforgivable (*cough* Batman and Robin *cough*) so maybe I'll have to make a list for those one of these days.

Hope you enjoyed yourselves reading this. haha

Love, Tiff

Yeah, I know...It's been an awful long time since I've posted anything on this blog but I felt like I'd hop on and ramble about zombies for a few minutes.  First of all, if you love comics AND you love zombies then you MUST MUST MUST read the comic series: The Walking Dead!!  If you don't feel like reading it then you can watch the new television series on AMC based on said comic.  However, the ongoing comic by Robert Kirkman is amazing.  The characters/plots are awesome and the artwork is great (really, what more could you ask for in a comic book?).  I think that it was a good move to make the artwork in simple black and white.  It does not let the onslaught of horror, blood and guts detract from the actual characters and the story lines going on throughout each issue.  I'm a huge fan of the whole zombie genre anyway, but this comic is one of the best things I've read in a very long time (and I read constantly).  This is not just straight up zombie gore (although there is plenty of that to go around too) but there is a great deal of attention paid to how the people struggling to survive in this apocalyptic world react and change as they experience a world that no longer has rules.  So, that's my reading recommendation for the month.  Hell, you can even ask for the books for Christmas or your birthday!  Nothing says "I love you" like a gift full of flesh eating zombies!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tiff :)

Ok, so it's been awhile since I've posted anything but I had to find a way to get the energy to get up and not sweat too much.  This summer is definitely a hot one.  I'm from Cleveland (and lived in the Snow Belt no less)  so heat for me isn't exactly my favorite thing.  That coupled with the fact that I'm technically a winter baby (March 10th...even if it is at the end of the season)...I don't do well.  My pasty white skin and tendency to have my face turn into a mask of freckles certainly makes matters worse.  I think this explains why I chose Soccer as my childhood/high school sport.  It was usually not as hot and mostly played in the Fall.
The best thing to do for all of this crazy heat and humidity would be to make sure to stay hydrated (and no, partying it up drinking alcoholic beverages does not count...it will make things worse!)  and to slather yourself in loads of sunscreen/sunblock.  Just remember to reapply frequently.  Don't just put it on before you leave home and expect it to last through swimming, running around sweating, etc.  You'll pay dearly for it.  Seeing as I'm the type of person who ends up looking "Lobster Chic" I definitely know the importance of this ritual.  In fact, you should be doing it even when it's not summer time.
Now, the only problem with loading yourself up with tons of SPF and covering up everything else is that you don't get enough  of that all important Vitamin D.  Trust me when I say this, it is SUPER important.  I had just gotten over Iron Deficiency Anemia when my doctor looked at me and told me I was still looking awfully pale.  I had to laugh because I've always been pale.  However, he made me get the dreaded blood work anyway because he just wanted to rule it out.  Apparently, I really was severely deficient of Vitamin D as well.  So much so that the doctor's office called me right away (instead of the usual waiting until my follow up appointment).  Yuck.  So then I feared I'd have to go force myself to get a little bit of sunshine.  I did take supplements but in reality, just 15 minutes in the sun helps your body make tons of that stuff naturally.  So while it's very important to wear sunscreen to help keep your skin healthy, remember you do need a little bit of it to help keep yourself healthy.
Personally, I still have to take supplements but nothing feels better than getting a little bit of natural sun.  I find that I sleep much better at night as well.


Anyway, I hope everyone has a great summer and enjoy it while you can.  We'll soon be complaining when it's too cold.  :)

Hugs,
Tiff

   Since it's Father's Day I figured I'd take the time to remember all the wonderful memories I have of my Dad.  He died when I was 13 but there's many great things that come to mind that I remember about him.  All of my friends, as well as my brother's, loved him.  I don't think he had an enemy in the world.  I know I hated seeing him upset or angry because it wasn't a frequent occurrence and he was much more fun when he was smiling (which is did often).  I can remember falling asleep to music coming from the basement just about every night.  He was a drummer/musician and he let anybody who needed a place to jam to come into his studio to use any of his equipment.  At the calling hours after his death, there were so many people there to pay respects that the line was just about out the door of the funeral home.  There were plenty of people I didn't even know but it was amazing to see (even if it was a very sad day).  To know that many people loved my dad was something special to learn.  I knew he had many friends and he loved his family, so it was a tiny bit of reassurance when I knew that he wouldn't be with us anymore.  I can remember all the times he'd take us to the beach to swim in Lake Erie or we'd go crayfish hunting in a river close to home with our dog, Thor.  My dad was a goofball.  He loved when he had the chance to do things with us.  He was always excited when he could afford to take us places or buy us something cool for our birthday or Christmas.  Even though he didn't have much money, he managed to make our childhood pretty awesome.  Even after my mom and dad divorced and my mom moved out, I never heard him say anything bad about her.  In fact, he completely ignored the whole "every other weekend" rule the court gave for us to see our mom.  If we wanted to go see her, it was done.  He never thought it was right to keep us from seeing her.  For that, even now I have so much love and respect for him.  I see so many people have such ill feelings toward their ex spouses.  It's nice to look back and not see that in my memory of my dad.    I also recall the last movie that my brother and I saw in the theater with my dad was the movie, The Lion King.  It's little memories like that which keep him alive even after all these years without him.   To this day he's still my hero.
    So make sure you take the time to appreciate your father while you can and cherish those memories if they're no longer living just like I find myself doing on a daily basis.  Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!!

You ever feel like screaming?  I'm sure just about everyone has at one point in their life. Unfortunately, that doesn't go over well when you live with other people (or have neighbors).  Stress seems to permeate into every possible aspect of life anymore.  There's all kinds of suggestions for dealing with it online, or in books.  I wonder why it is there has to be books on it in the first place.  When there's a whole section in bookstores for self help and how to deal with things like stress it says a lot about the culture we live in.