Of movies and superheroes, hotels and hardbacks.

The "old folks" used to say you learn something every day, but I like to think with all the information coming at us from so many different types of media, we learn quite a few things every day.

We spent last weekend in Denver, in part to get away and lounge by a pool at a nice hotel, and in part to celebrate the Big Mister's birthday. And like every day, I did learn some things:

• It's really not that hot poolside, when the outside temp is 70 degrees. To that end, goosebumps go a long way to preventing sunburn. (incidentally, we were not the only family who figured out the posh Denver Tech Center hotels/suites are dirt cheap on weekends, thus making it a very affordable destination for chillin' and shopping at the nearby AWESOME Park Meadows Mall.)
• Teenagers can maintain "pissy", regardless what fun thing you take them to do.
• $90 jeans for girls size 4-16 (daughterhead is out of that size, BTW, but we noticed the designer name when walking by). $90?? Oh, my smoking head! 90 bucks for jeans that'll fit a little girl for about 15 minutes--unless she's in size 16 and has missed her appointment with the Pituitary Gland OR is of certain Asian descent and will never be taller than Danny DeVito. Crazyshit, dat.
• Reading a hardcover book makes me really appreciate my Reader. I'm all ebooks, all the time, from here on out, library be damned.
• Except... I did get hold of a Lori Foster for nice-n-cheap at the Borders final 10 day sale. It's paperback, though, which is infinitely easier to lug around and hold open than a hardback. (I also bought a stack of my own books for just $4 each, which might sound weird, but hey, that's much cheaper than I can replenish inventory, and I sure didn't want them coming back to haunt me on a Returns statement.)

We also went to the movies to see Cowboys and Aliens (which I totally enjoyed--the "good" cowboy isn't all that good, and the "bad" cowboy isn't nearly as bad as everyone thinks, plus I like the actress who played "13" on House, and she's in this movie). I also learned some things from the movie previews:

• There'll never be too many inspirational movies about horses, and the humans' whose lives they touch. (as evidenced by Disney's War Horse)
• Medical marijuana is an endless source of comedy (preview for 50/50)
• We can definitely have more movies with Bradley Cooper as the male lead.
• The cast of The Big Bang Theory is everywhere. Which is fine--I love all those actors; I'll just be sad when they move on to bigger and better, which'll be the end of a really funny series.
• I'd have been just fine if they'd have stopped making Batman, Dark Knight movies after, say, the first one. I've got zero interest in seeing this next, "final" one. The preview doesn't thrill me at all. Besides, I'm fundamentally against actors portraying more than one superhero. I applaud Robert Downey, Jr. and think it's awesome he's turned is life--and career-around, but he's Iron Man. Not Batman. And what the heck is the deal with Batman anyhow? Nobody sticks around for more than one movie in that role. Batman is not friggin' James Bond, for God's sake. It's bad enough running all these different actors through the role, but one who's known as another Superhero? No way. I can't imagine Toby Maguire stepping in to play Superman, or Christopher Reeves playing Spidey. One superhero per actor. Should be a law. And hey, maybe the next Bond Boy should be Bradley Cooper...
• And, most importantly of all: JON BON JOVI is in the sequel to Valentine's Day--New Year's Eve. Jon Bon Jovi, people!!! I almost had to whip out the iPhone and text my pal about it.

I'm off now to ponder future roles for Sir Bradley. And sir JonBon.

Autumn Piper

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