About Angela Shambeda

Angela lives in southern Maryland with her husband and three rescue pets. She often talks her poor husband's ear off about various topics, including Disney, so she's excited to share her thoughts and passions with you.

Four Terrifying Marriage Proposals

While surfing on the Internet I found a list of the “scariest marriage proposals” compiled by MSN. Given that this was just before Halloween, I thought they would have a spooky vibe. Well, I was wrong, though they were certainly scary. The four real-life marriage proposals were as follows: 1) A pilot took his girlfriend up for a ride in his small plane, pretended they were crashing, and handed his girlfriend an emergency checklist. His proposal was written on the list: “initiate ring engagement procedure.” 2) A stuntman faked a car crash and his subsequent death. His girlfriend was called … Continue reading

Wreck-It Ralph Review

Disney’s done it again with “Wreck-It Ralph.” This is a movie anyone can love, and it’s definitely another one to which it would be great to bring your kids along. The central protagonist, Ralph, is actually a villain, not a hero. He’s the guy in an arcade game who wrecks a building, for the hero (and titular character in his game), Fix-It Felix, to repair. Ralph has spent 30 years as the villain, and that wouldn’t be so bad if at night, when the lights in the arcade go off and the denizens of the games go off the clock, … Continue reading

Meeting the Neighbor Dogs

I’ve blogged before about my neighbor’s dogs, the ones she lets roam free through the neighborhood. Sometimes I see them in our yard. Yesterday while I was working, I noticed one of them, the tan one, out the window. I went outside to greet it, as I always do whenever I see any of the neighborhood pets. They all, cats and dogs included, run away from me. This dog did the usual, but I thought of something: I called for it to come here. I didn’t think it was a dangerous dog, because our neighbor said he isn’t. He also … Continue reading

Searching for That Spark

Yesterday Jon and I were watching one of our television shows. It’s a fantasy action series, but sometimes it contains romance. In this episode, two of the main characters are dating. They call each other first thing in the morning, and the girl guesses what the guy is wearing. She always gets it within two tries. Cue huge groans from the couch. Our displeasure continued for the entire episode, as the couple’s saccharine take on dating persisted. I’ve always been clear: this type of romance, not my cup of tea. While Jon and I were soppier than we are now, … Continue reading

More Thoughts on the Disney-Lucasfilm Buyout

Now I’ve had some time to think about it, I have more sophisticated thoughts about the Disney-Lucasfilm buyout. The idea that I’m struggling with the most is that Disney wants to keep releasing more films every few years into infinity. One day soon, the original trilogy will be buried under a pile of new films, and I just feel so strange about that. According to George Lucas, the script treatments for episodes 7-9 are totally original; they won’t follow any specific plots from the novelized extended universe. Disney’s most likely going to follow Lucas’ scripts, but if it keeps making … Continue reading

How Pets Help Our Health

It’s something I grew up thinking, and I don’t even remember where I first heard the idea: pets improve your health. They’re especially good for the elderly or others living alone. Pets give you someone to care about and look after, bringing additional purpose and companionship to your life. Some recent medical studies, however, indicate that owning pets might have a more direct effect on our health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim that pet ownership can decrease our blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride. Their studies also indicate that rates of stress, loneliness, and depression are lower among … Continue reading

Disney Buys Lucasfilm, Now Owns Star Wars

This is probably the hugest and craziest Disney news story I’ve ever heard, and possibly ever will, I can’t think of anything bigger: this week, Walt Disney Company announced that it is buying Lucasfilm for about $4 billion dollars. That’s right: Disney will own Star Wars. The news is entirely shocking. In the past year George Lucas has announced his intention to retire from film making, or at least big-budget film making, instead focusing on smaller projects. But no one expected him to sell his company (Lucas is the sole owner), and certainly not to Disney. When one thinks about … Continue reading

Having Each Other’s Back

Today I want to talk about kind of a dumb thing I got into the habit of doing, but that I realized one day could be hurtful. Sometimes I have a tendency to make too much fun of Jon in front of others. I’ve talked to him about it and he doesn’t seem to mind, but nonetheless I want to work on it. The habit was born out of our shared college experience. The group of friends we were in playfully messed with each other all of the time, especially the boys. I kind of had to thicken my skin … Continue reading

Disney Christmas Day Parade Filming Dates

Big news first: I know the filming dates for the 2012 Disney-ABC Christmas Day Parade. This is an elusive event where the tickets go on sale and sell out almost immediately. This year I have an inside line on the taping; the daughter of a friend of mine is going to dance in the parade. They’re taping the last week of November/the first weekend in December. The big day should be Saturday, December 1. I couldn’t verify this information online, because Disney hasn’t posted anything official about it yet. They probably won’t until November. But I can guarantee that the … Continue reading

Saving Money on Frontline

This week it was time to buy more Frontline medication. I like to buy in bulk, as long as I can be assured that the meds won’t expire before the year is out. I selected 12-month packs of feline and canine Frontline and put them in my virtual shopping cart, and then was amazed at the price. $300? That seems like way more than I’ve ever paid for it before. When my husband came home, I asked him about it. Did he remember their flea/tick medicine costing this much, because I didn’t. He said no, although it was maybe $200 … Continue reading