Disney's The Lone Ranger Movie Premiere!

   

     Last night, my daughter and I attended the local premiere for Disney's The Lone Ranger movie, starring Armie Hammer & Johnny Depp.  I received the tickets from a local radio station, WTIC 96.5 FM, and since K & I are such big fans of Johnny Depp, we couldn't resist going!!
     The showing was for 7 pm, we arrived at 5:45 and still were #114 & #115 in line!  Make sure you go good and early if you ever attend a movie premiere at your local theaters.  There was a sign suggesting that we should have been there at 5:15!  Luckily we didn't stand in line too long before they started letting people in.  The line moved along fairly quickly too.
    Once past that ticket taker, we met up with another line - first to be searched with metal detectors, and then to leave our cellphones with attendants outside the actual theater room we'd be in.  I had never seen that done before, but I totally understand why they did it - this way, there would be no spoilers out there for a movie that doesn't come out until July 3rd.  Being the smartphone addict that I am, I'll admit to some separation anxiety & withdrawal symptoms, but I obviously survived them. Once that was all accomplished, we were let into the theater.
    Another unusual thing for me, was that there were none of the "previews" you see before a movie.  Again, understandable, this was a Disney premiere - they don't want to suggest other movies for you to see.  Just something I wasn't used to I guess (can you tell I don't get to go to the movies all that often?)
    Okay, the movie began, after a "nice" warning from the promoters that no one should have their cellphones on them, no recording, etc.  To be honest, knowing some of the Lone Ranger story, I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but Disney did it up wonderfully!  Having an unknown to me actor playing The Lone Ranger was good - no expectations for him to have met or not met.  Armie Hammer made a goofy law man, but once he took on the persona of The Lone Ranger, he was great!  I have to say though, Johnny Depp stole the show, as I'm sure he was meant to.  He was unrecognizable as Tonto, yet we still knew who he was, and I loved how he brought out his humor in a movie where I expected none.  (I don't know why I wasn't anticipating any, especially with Depp as the actor.)
     I am unsure why, but the movie also brought out things I never knew about The Lone Ranger, or maybe it was just some Disney magic storytelling. Whatever the case, we thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and the time flew by.  There is a little time shifting in the movie, and for either setting, you really feel like you are in that time frame.  I loved the outfits for the women in the movie - so authentic and fitting.  The characters were fantastic - some you love to hate (they really played their parts well) and others you cheered on even if you weren't sure you should.  So many great laugh-out-loud moments too.  I'm already quoting lines from the film to my daughter & friends (too bad the friends have no idea what I'm talking about.)
     All in all, we had a great time seeing this movie, and I really would love to see it again and again.  I think the rest of my family would enjoy it too.  I wouldn't hesitate to take my younger kids to see it either (they are 8 & 9) - yes the Wild West has some violence, but really not as much as many of the movies out there today.  Disney did a very good job with this legendary story, and as always Johnny Depp made another character his own.  

*Disclaimer - All thoughts expressed here are my own.  I received nothing in return for this review.  The movie pass was provided from a radio station promotion, and not by Disney.

Proud Mommy Moment

     

Tonight is another one of those proud Mommy moments - my older daughter graduated high school!  She's not my first to graduate (that was her brother in 2007), and she won't be my last (I have 2 younger children as well), but tonight's honor is all hers!  She IS my first child to graduate with National Honor Society honors (both NHS and French NHS), and she will be my first to go to college out of state.  I don't think I have the words to describe just how impressed I am with her achievements.
     Yes, I had tears in my eyes - fabulously happy tears mixed with wistful tears.  So happy for the young woman who has excelled throughout school and is going on to bigger, better things.  At the same time, sad for myself, to lose one of my best friends (don't say that to her, you'll just get the teenage eye-rolling).  I honestly will be so lost without seeing her every day, talking to her all the time, going shopping or getting lunch together almost every other day.  She will embrace the change and flourish in her new surroundings (Boston, MA!)  On the other hand, I will miss our goofy giggling, our sharing tv shows, our time together.  Empty nest syndrome before the nest is even more than half empty!  (My older children would call that pathetic.)
     Why is it so different with her?  Her older brother not only graduated high school, but went off to the US Marine Corps, and while I missed him greatly, I didn't feel this panic & sadness that I am feeling with her.  Maybe it's because he is my son from my first marriage, so he spent many weekends at his father's house. I was used to letting him go.  Except for the occasional sleepover, or a band trip during high school, she has rarely been away from us.  Certainly not this far away either,  a 2+ hour drive.  Yes, I have already travelled to her new destination a few times.  I know my way there and back (and have duly warned her of that fact.)
     To tell you the truth, I am more than a little jealous of it all too.  I graduated high school (back in the stone ages if you ask my kids), but never went on to anything else.  I went back to my mom's house, got a job by the end of the summer, and never went to college.  I will admit, I am completely envious of everything she has ahead of her - a new bustling city, so many choices of what to do with her schooling, her life, and her future.  I guess I'll sit back and watch her blossom & bloom, agonize that I am not making her decisions for her any more, and keep my fingers crossed for her.  I know she'll have those inevitable disappointments in her life, but I've watched her grow, and I know she'll rise above them & go on to more and more successes.

Adrift

     One thing you may not know about me is that for several years I wrote poetry.  Looking at it now, I can't even say it was good poetry, though people have liked it (they may have just been humoring me at the time, I can't be sure. LOL)  Well, today I got the urge to grab my pen and dabble at bit.  Here's what developed:

ADRIFT

Floating, hovering aimlessly
No destination, no anchor to hold me
Drifiting away with nowhere to go

Hazy & dreamlike, doesn't seem real
Like being half asleep but can't wake up
Which way to turn, I don't know

Each step feels heavy
Like walking in mud or on clouds
Don't want to lift my legs

Sleep envelops my soul
I'd rather dream
The effort to move, overwhelming

Keep my eyes closed, afraid to see
Just feel the breeze, but not the pain
Too easy to fade away and forget I existed

The sunshine heats my skin yet hurts my eyes
Head full of thoughts
Longing to be free on the wind

Trapped in my own cage, one I built myself
Locked and bound in a tiny cocoon
Counting down to nothing, no transformation ahead

Just nothingness, sameness, endless cycles
No purpose, no worth, no answers
Moving towards the wall

Blank empty stretches of wall to wall white
No color, no changes, no hope

The urge to spin tempered by the urge to collapse
Again, unable to decide which
My mind screams in confusion

I should be happy with what I have
I should embrace it all
Yet I don't, I can't

I want more, I want less
I want to know what I want
Too much is never enough

And the floating continues...
One day I'll reach the sky
Or crash on the rocks