Observations from Missy’s Window

I love my blog! I really do! It’s been wonderful to share my opinions with others. However, I’ve narrowed my focus in the past nine months and have neglected Observations from Missy’s Window.

It is with regret and relief that I say I’m closing this blog. It will remain online but no new posts are forthcoming.

Thank you to my followers and maybe I’ll see you elsewhere on the web.

For some time now, I’ve been wanting to revive this blog. However, I’ve been uninspired on what to write about. When I first began this endeavor it was to be a chronicle of things that capture my interest but it evolved into something more complex than I was able to handle.

As an experiment, I’ll try writing a weekly post about events and issues that bring me joy or concern me. Don’t expect anything elaborate; it will be more musings than in-depth analysis.

Without further ado, here are a few things that captured my interest in past couple of weeks:

Music

As a teenager, I was known as the music go-to girl. My mind was filled with useless music trivia and I kept up to date with the music scene. The past ten years or so have been less involved. I don’t have the time nor inclination to keep abreast of the new bands. I do listen to the radio but it’s rare that a song jumps out at me. Lay ‘Em Down by Needtobreathe did.

It reminded me that we are all in the same boat. We’re all weak and have failings but we have a place to lay our burdens.

Space and Ancient Egypt

The Kepler Mission has detected the atmosphere of a gas giant after just ten days of test data (calibration and data analysis software hadn’t even been completed). This is fantastic and bodes well for the mission to find exoplanets.

It’s no secret tourism is detrimental to the monuments of Ancient Egypt. Innovative technology that controls the rate of humidity has been installed in the tomb of Haremhab allowing it to be reopened to the public. If the equipment works successfully it will be installed in all the tombs in the Valley. This is awesome news.

Personal

The past couple weeks have thrown me into a time-warp. I’ve ran into and reconnected online with people from my childhood and teenage years. It’s been sorta surreal. I’ve been surprised at the positive response, the genuine delight of some of these people to see me. Why? Because I didn’t like myself back then and I can’t imagine that others did. This could turn into a convoluted self-analysis and I won’t subject you to that.

Politics

The hot topic on the political scene is health care reform. Those of you who know me are aware of my conservative views (though I think I may lean more toward Libertarian) and won’t be surprised of my dislike for the proposed government run health care. Before you say I’m an alarmist, take into consideration I’ve read the proposed bill that is now in the House of Representatives. I’ve interpreted the proposals based on wording of the bill and my own understanding of that wording.

While there are numerous areas of concern, I’ll limit myself to one this week. If you read the proposed bill pay close attention to Sec. 59B.:

`SEC. 59B. TAX ON INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT ACCEPTABLE HEALTH CARE COVERAGE.

`(a) Tax Imposed- In the case of any individual who does not meet the requirements of subsection (d) at any time during the taxable year, there is hereby imposed a tax equal to 2.5 percent of the excess of–

`(1) the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income for the taxable year, over

`(2) the amount of gross income specified in section 6012(a)(1) with respect to the taxpayer.

If I understand this correctly, our right to choose is taken away. If you aren’t insured you will be penalized with a tax. Basically you’ll be paying for insurance whether you’re covered or not. Hmmm… I won’t even go into the fact that their will be Taxes on Certain Insurance Policies.

We need changes to our current healthcare system but giving the government control would be more detrimental than helpful. I’m deeply disturbed by this subtle maneuver to usurp our freedom. You can download the full bill text here or visit The Library of Congress to read it online.

So, that’s just a few things that have captured my attention recently. I look forward to sharing my observations weekly and hope you’ll find some of it interesting too.

Forty years ago, I was nine months old. I don’t remember Armstrong and Aldrin landing and walking on the moon but I’m infinitely proud that I was in this world when it happened.

Today marks the anniversary of that historic moon walk. It was the culmination of more than a decade of hard work, ingenuity, luck and loss. When I see the footage of Armstrong stepping onto the moon’s surface and hear his famous statement, “One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind,” I get goosebumps.

We mustn’t forget Command Module Pilot, Michael Collins. Without him Aldrin and Armstrong wouldn’t have returned to Earth. In my opinion, he had the more nerve wracking job. Orbiting the moon and not seeing what my crew mates were doing would have been hard for me to bear.

I can only imagine the excitement of exploring a new world. God willing we’ll return to the moon in the near future and we might even make it to Mars in my lifetime but I won’t be one of the explorers. My time has passed. I’ll content myself to observing others. They have my encouragement, prayers and enthusiasm behind them.

Today, spare a few thoughts for the brave men who risked their lives to put mankind on the moon. Don’t forget the multitudes of folks behind the scenes who helped them get there.

Most everyone posted their favorites lists in the last weeks of December but I’ve been too busy. I guess January is as good a time as any to look back at the past year. This list is of movies that I have added or plan to add to my collection. They aren’t necessarily movies released in 2008, but I watched them during the past year. I couldn’t rate them so the list is in alphabetical order.

• Ballet Shoes (2007)

Starring: Emilia Fox, Victoria Wood, Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, Lucy Boynton, Richard Griffiths
Rated: PG


• Becoming Jane (2007)

Starring: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, Maggie Smith, James Cromwell
Rated: PG


• Death at a Funeral (2007)

Starring: Matthew MacFayden, Alan Tudyk, Kris Marshall, Peter Dinklage
Rated: R


• December Boys (2007)

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Jack Thompson, Teresa Palmer, Sullivan Stapleton
Rated: PG-13


• Enchanted (2007)

Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Susan Sarandon, Timothy Spall
Rated: PG


• Jane Austen Book Club (2007)

Starring: Maria Bello, Hugh Dancy, Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Jimmy Smits
Rated: PG-13


• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

Starring: Amy Adams, Shirley Henderson, Frances McDormand, Ciarán Hinds
Rated: PG-13


• Penelope (2006)

Starring: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O’Hara, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Dinklage
Rated: PG


• The Reaping (2007)

Starring: Hilary Swank, AnnaSophia Robb, Idris Elba
Rated: R


• Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman
Rated: R

What was deemed the cinema’s first epic?

1. Birth of a Nation
2. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
3. Gone with the Wind
4. The Great Train Robbery

Movie Monday Trivia: Edition #88

What was deemed the cinema’s first epic?

1. Birth of a Nation
2. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
3. Gone with the Wind
4. The Great Train Robbery

Give it a guess even if your not sure and check back tomorrow for the answer. Join us again next Monday for a new question.

Happy New Year! Welcome to another year of our Monthly Movie Quote. It seems like yesterday that I was launching this new feature but a full year has passed. *sigh* Anyway, I look forward to providing more quotes throughout 2009 and encourage everyone to make suggestions.

We start 2009 with a quote from Penelope starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy. Since everyone wants to make changes in the new year, I thought it would be nice to look at what we consider curses in our lives and gain some perspective from a child.

January 2009

from:

Penelope (2006)

Penelope: [telling her class her story] And we lived happily ever after – well, happily ever after so far at least.
Child #1: I don’t get it. What does it mean?
Penelope: Well, you tell me what you think it means.
Child #2: Rich people stink!
Child #3: It’s always the mothers fault.
Child #4: It’s not the power of the curse – it’s the power you give the curse.