A Happy 4th of July

On this lovely Fourth of July/Independence Day, I finally got to see the new Pixar movie, BRAVE. It’s the first Pixar film featuring a heroine, which I found a little shocking, that it took this long to create. I thoroughly enjoyed being transported into Merida’s world of whimsy, magical forest, and royalty. Merida is a princess who wants to break tradition and forge her own destiny, so unleashes a deadly spell that she must undo before it’s too late.

Though I had a bit of an issue with Merida… She was impetuous, to the point of being unreasonable and extremely rude to her very elegant and beautiful mother, the Queen, her character changes throughout the story and becomes more endearing as she is forced to save the day. Also, the visuals and songs in BRAVE were excellent, as were the quite sentimental and heartfelt message.

After the movie, my friend and I headed over to another friend’s apartment (with a rooftop terrace with a gorgeous view of the Manhattan Skyline) for potluck and games. There was a pretty good spread: Cheese and crackers; white cake with frosting; strawberries; grapes; chips and corn/cheese/veggie dip; chocolate cookies; sugar cookies with the American flag imprinted on them; corn on the cob; steak and of course the American flag cake.

After hanging out in the apartment for awhile, we headed up to the rooftop to just hang out, play some games (Catch Phrase), chat, and generally have a good time. We had a perfect view over the water and as the sun slowly disappeared, it only became more beautiful, with the sparkling lights. Fireworks started around 9:30p and lasted for about half an hour. The fireworks were wonderful- A myriad of colors, shapes, sounds to form a delightful visual display.

God Bless the USA*

I’d thank my lucky stars, to be livin here today.
‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom, and they can’t take that away.
And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up, next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

*By Lee Greenwood