Les Miserables

So last night I was lying in bed listening to Les Miserables and it almost brought me to tears. The music and the words are so touching and meaningful. It just hit me. I was listening to Fantine sing I Dreamed a Dream. Some of the lyrics are “He slept a summer by my side. He filled my days with endless wonder. He took my childhood in his stride but he was gone when autumn came. And still I dream he’ll come to m, that we will live the years together. But there are dreams that cannot be and there are storms we cannot weather.” The performers do such a wonderful job of emoting. The story itself is one full of love, loss, triumph and tragedy. It plays on so many levels. From the rise of Jean Valjean to the demise of Javier, the finding love between Cosette and Marius to the hopeless desires and unrequited love Eponine has for Marius. It is a moving story and I was struck again with this realization.

It takes me back to high school when I did a book report on Les Mis. I never read the book…shoot it is like 1200 pages, but I knew the story. I’d sing the words of the songs to myself and write down the plot from that process. I got an A+. J I remember when my sister Kara did a dance to On My Own, I’m pretty sure it is my dad’s favorite dance of hers…ever. Kara may wonder why but it really isn’t a big mystery. It was a moving song and beautiful dance strung together seamlessly. Duh. The first time I went to see Les Mis I was maybe 13 and I went with Justin Wilde and his family. Paul, Justin’s dad gave me a brief summary of the plot line and off we went. I may have drifted off a bit during the 2^nd half but we had just come from a camping trip.

Mariokart Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

When I first went in with my roommate to purchase a Nintendo Wii, my first question was, “when does Mariokart come out?” That day arrived and it was worth the year long wait.

What a fantastic game. I love it.

The game came out Sunday morning at midnight. So we waited at Wal-Mart for the clock to strike twelve. We rushed home and played a few games. The next night we invited a bunch of people over to play. (You can play with up to 4 people at one time.) Everyone got a turn.

Monday rolled around and last time I checked I didn’t have a job. So I woke up and got to playing it. I literally played all day. A day has never passed so quickly. I think that is a bad thing because you can sit down and play for hours and not even know it.

Well let me tell you what…I knew it on Tuesday! I almost burned my eyeballs off. I have never seen them so bloodshot in my life. I felt bad for doing that to myself. Clear Eyes and Visine couldn’t get the job done. Terrible.

It doesn’t help that we are able to project the game on to an 8-foot screen with a hi-def projector. So Mario and Luigi are literally life-size. It’s awesome. Another new feature is that you can play online again up to 11 other racers from around the country or the world. So there I am screaming at some Japanese guy who ran into a guy from England and knocked me off the track. Of course they can’t hear me but the emotion and passion are real as ever. It feels good beating an international field of gamers who are probably just little kids. I guess its better to think that I am racing people my own age. I am comforted in knowing that at least you play people who have a similar ranking as you. So regardless of age they are supposedly the same skill…but that doesn’t really settle the soul either.

I love it. If you have one and play online ever, get at me and we can be friends and race each other online. AWESOME!