MAZERUNNER MOVIE REVIEW

I watched the Maze Runner movie and loved it. What a great adaptation of the exciting book by James Dashner. It totally captured the feeling of the novel and follows the main events of the plot. The director and screenwriters streamlined the complicated events in the book that would not translate to the screen, and the plot was so exciting to watch unfold onscreen, even more than in the book.

The movie was a thrill ride from beginning to end, and I’m super impressed, though some of the shaky cam during the actions scenes bugged my eyes. Regardless, the talented young actors nailed their performances and were just incredible to watch. They are the real deal and I’m so happy they found such perfect actors for the roles. The maze was stunning and the visual effects were top notch, which is hard to fathom considering the total budget was only $34 million.

I watched the movie with three friends (Stephenie McKinnon, Patrick Tracy, and Jake Balamis), none of whom had read the book. They all enjoyed the film. Jake was thoroughly entertained, and he loved that he didn’t know how it was going to end. The ending was almost exactly the same as the book, (except the movie seemed a little stronger to me—the way it all played out in a blow by blow sense--a gun instead of a knife worked well for me). I think enough information was given out to provide the viewer with closure, but we were shown that there is a lot more to come. This is far from over.

As we were leaving the IMAX theater at Jordan Commons we ran into James Dashner and his family. He was at another showing that just got out, (his seventh viewing of the film!). I’d spoken with James about the film in the past a couple of times, once when we watched a different movie together, and I’m so happy for him. He’s a big movie lover and goes to the cinema a lot. He loves The Maze Runner movie and said he “agreed 100% with all the changes made” when comparing the book to the movie. I do as well.

The director and writers did a wonderful job. The pacing of books is different than movies, and the book had to be changed to make it work. Overall, the Maze Runner movie was excellent and I was thoroughly entertained.

Go and check this movie out in the theater, as the big screen adds a lot to the experience, especially IMAX, which also provided a BOOMING score. I will soon own the soundtrack.

I’m excited to see Maze Runner again.

HAUNTED HOSPITAL

Here's a link to the guest blog post I wrote for the Fictorians blog.

THE HAUNTED HOSPITAL
http://www.fictorians.com/2014/09/18/haunted-hospital/

MY NEW ADVENTURE

After 17 years of working the night shift as a cardiac nurse in the Advanced Cardiac Care Unit, I am officially changing jobs to a new position in my company. My last shift on ACVU will be Tuesday night, September 16. I’m going to miss my co-workers a lot and want to thank them all for being my friends. I would have never lasted this long without you, and it’s been a tremendous honor to work with you all.

The details: On Friday afternoon, September 5 (while at Salt Lake Comic Con), I officially accepted the job as an analyst for the iCentra (Cerner) team. I had gone through two rounds of interviews and on August 25, I was told I unofficially had the job. Administrative delays—which left me very unsettled—prevented the official offer from coming until almost two weeks later.

My new manager will be Diane Rindlisbacher and I’m starting my new job on September 29. I will be helping to configure the new computer charting system (Cerner) that Intermountain Healthcare is going to start using in the future. I will also be a liaison between the clinical users and the programmers. It’s a day shift, and for the most part, a 9-5 kind of job.

I’ve been working in patient care on the front lines for 18 years, more like 21 counting nursing school, and I’m ready for a change. My health is suffering from working the night shift. I don’t bounce back as well as I used to. Also, I need more structure in my life, as changing from a night to a day schedule on a weekly basis is messing up my personal and writing life.

My lovely wife, Tammy, will also benefit from a more normal schedule. We’re both looking forward to a new life together where we both sleep at the same time and are on the same schedule. I think we’re both going to be happier.

I’m in desperate need of a change. The stress of being a charge nurse was really wearing me down. Taking care of extremely ill and difficult patients, and coping with all the sick calls from staff who are truly sick, or just mentally exhausted, has taken its toll on me over the past two years especially. Working short staffed, or even when we were fully staffed, in patient care is getting harder and harder.

I’ve sacrificed a lot over the years in both my personal and professional life, while working as a nurse. I feel like I’ve given enough and I’ve finally reached the point where I need to try something new.

My coworkers are amazing people and in my new job I’ll be helping to set up the new computer charting system that will hopefully make their lives easier. The transition for them and all of us will be a challenge, but I will fight for them and do all I can to make it serve their needs.

Thank you all for your support, and though I’m changing jobs, I’m going to keep fighting the good fight for the staff and the patients.

SALT LAKE COMIC CON 2014

 

My coolest moment was interviewing Simon Helberg, one of the stars of The Big Bang Theory on the main stage in front of 3,000 fans. It was awesome.

Here's a link to all my pics from Salt Lake Comic Con on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152747123004136.1073741897.583339135&type=1&l=bd4d7645da

 

A pic taken after the Zombie Rock Opera, where I was the MC. It was so hilarious.

Pictured are the stars: Jack Bauer, Bub the Zombie, and Jack's girlfriend, Miley Cyrus.

 Gollum stole a fish from the Weta Booth, and I caught him. Don't worry, he gave it back.

 This is the panel on adapting books to movie. The cinematic book trailer for The Golden Cord premiered here. It looked awesome, though it's not the exact final version. It'll come out around the beginning of October 2014.