#70, 87 Done!

Busy, busy weekend! Earlier this week, I was invited to attend "A Day of Peace" on Facebook - Friday, March 4th, a day for everyone to be kind to everyone else. And I figured, what better day to try and compliment everyone? From "I love that shirt!" and "Cute shoes!" to "You look so rejuvinated!" and "I am really, really glad we met." My goal was basically to say something to everyone that would illicit a "thank you." Did I always get one, no. But it was worth it for the few people who broke out in a huge smile.

I also realized on Friday that I had the Y and K pictures I need, and I got them LONG ago (but in the limits of the project) - Yellow flower and Kitten. They're uploaded on the Lists page now. So, on Friday, I was able to mark off both #70 and #87, bringing me to 24 completed.

We went to my in-laws on Friday night. Saturday, we went shopping at a cute little town near their house with a few antique stores. We picked up a lovely new side table, and I almost completed my Buy 10 Just Because gifts - I got Julia a set of 7 Beatrix Potter books. I grew up with Peter Rabbit, Tom Kitten, Squirrel Nutkin and all those classics and I want to share them with her. I also bought my mother a china rabbit for her collection. Along with the side table, my mother-in-law sent us home with two lovely lamps and a nicely framed picture of Julia. We've got them set up now and it looks lovely. It's nice to have real furniture with some cohesion.

I finally read through I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett's latest. I hadn't read any Tiffany books before, but I'm glad I finally did. I love the Nac Mac Feegles, and this latest book incorporates almost all of our favorite characters from the other storylines in a coherent way and gives a bit more insight into events from other books. I hear he's working on another one called Snuff. I can't wait for it to come out. Along the line of "Can't wait" books, George R. R. Martin finally has a release date for A Dance With Dragons, the next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series! July 12th can't come soon enough! Hopefully there won't be so much of a hold up for the last two.

We also saw my E movie - Exit Through the Gift Shop. It's a documentary on street art that was nominated for Best Documentary this year's Oscars. What I found fascinating and what made me want to watch it is that one of the main characters and, in fact, the director, is one of the most talented, well-known, and elusive street artists - Banksy. There have been many ideas at his true identity, but nothing definite is known. His work is amazingly complex and beautiful stencilwork and prop design, usually with some kind of message or humorous idea behind it. I've been fascinated by Banksy's work since I first heard of him several years ago, and I wasn't going to turn down the chance to see his movie. While I was a little unhappy the focus of the movie was more the creation of another street artist than about Banksy and his work, he and the other artists involved made it an entertaining watch and a movie I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in knowing the work that goes behind unique graffiti.