Reflections: Captain America

To follow up my morning of shooting, my mom and I went to see Captain America. We had to pay for the 3D version which was silly- don't bother paying the extra bucks. After waiting in line at the concession stand for what seemed like an eternity and making friends with the man behind me, I finally got a cup of tea and some Junior Mints with which to enjoy the film. I have to admit, I really liked it. I'm such a sucker for these big action movies. I can't get enough of Iron Man or Tron. I even liked Thor- ludicrously corny as it was. The only ones I'm NOT thrilled about are Spiderman. Did you know that they made ANOTHER Spidey film?!?! I will be going to see the new Planet of the Apes before I see Spidey #214. These super hero things appeal to me... I'm reminded of Heroes- I loved that show. I cried when it ended. Haha. Sad.

Back to Capt. America. I loved the costumes, the glowing blue lights, the way he can outrun a car and outswim a submarine. Now that's entertainment. I liked the girl in this one too- she was pretty but not over the top. I enjoy a story like this so much more when they don't ooze sex. Tron was delightful in that way as well. There was a pretty girl, a handsome guy, and interesting story, and barely a hint of romance. I just find it a lot easier to identify with the characters that way. What does that say about me? Haha. Oh well. I recommend this one.... I would actually watch it again which is a rare thing indeed. Captain America is patriotic, courageous, selfless, and true. Sounds good to me.

Reflections On My Rifle

Today my dad took me shooting. I got this really nice Ruger 10/22. for my birthday since one of my goals was to learn to hunt and fish by the time I turned 30. Well, today we got up early and made our way to the local shooting range. I wasn't sure what to expect. I think I've participated in target practice when I was a little kid... or on Big Buck Hunter Pro (yeah!!!)... but certainly not since I could actually remember it and not with my OWN gun. I learned some things:

• It's annoying to be where tons of people are shooting and where you have to follow all their safety rules. I would prefer to be off in the wilderness learning or maybe at some indoor shooting range where they are sectioned off better. I hate having someone's shells flying into my face.
• It WAS neat to see lots of other weapons. I got to fire a handgun and another rifle as well. I enjoyed being able to hit targets with each gun I tried out.
• If I go there again, I've got to get maybe 3 targets to put at different ranges so I can work on accuracy without waiting for them to clear the field.
• I like my gun. It's a nice, reliable little thing. One of my magazines got kinda sticky, so I'll have to work that out. It shoots almost as lightly as a pop gun- less "backfire" or whatever you call it than even a paintball gun.
• I hit my target pretty well. Mostly in the lower right corner, but I WAS hitting my target. I think I only got one bullseye..I need to work that out with my scope.
• It was nice to play with guns with my family members. Kind of memorable. Even Grampa and Great Aunt Gloria came. I will probably do this again.

Someday I'd like to try a moving target.... I know it's probably sad to those who might read this or who don't understand, but I'd like to try to get a squirrel or a bird or something. I used to be one of those who thought that was just HORRIBLE!!! But not really anymore... now I get why people do it. And I am still seeing this as a means to helping me learn taxidermy.

So we'll see how it goes. And now I'm thoroughly wiped out and gonna take a sweet nap!!

New Ideas

SUMMER. I love it. And this is a good one. For me it includes a two week road trip to Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Washington, and San Francisco, learning German, meeting my nephew, taking watercolor classes, and going to Hawaii next week! I've also been reading and watching movies and going to concerts. I come away from these big events and I realize that I actually feel like writing again. I used to have this hunger to express my thoughts on paper... and it really went away through my college experience. A year and a half after finishing college, I was really disappointed that the hunger hadn't returned. Maybe I just needed some down time to decompress my thoughts and let them wander again. Time to think and mull. I am prone to introspection, but when things are so intensely busy I lose the ability to process and plan. Don't you know what I mean?

There are few weeks left before my return to work. I'm going to try to capture some of my summer experiences in blog form. So far: Grand Canyon, Roadtrips, Seattle, San Francisco, Dolly Parton, Shane, Future of Forestry, Daniel Day-Lewis.

I better get busy. I've got so many thoughts starting to spill out. I don't want to forget.