I've been reading, not writing...

More reading has probably been done this summer than any other project. Kinda sad, huh? Especially since this weather has been nearly perfect. Before you start scolding me about how I should be getting outside more (guilty), let me assure you that most of that reading has happened after the kiddos are in bed. And a lot of that has actually been after 10pm, which is officially TOO LATE.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

By now you (if you are a reader, anyway) have probably read the first two books of this trilogy. And if you haven't, you probably should, especially if you like post-apocalyptic and/or young adult fiction. Most of us in the book club were nearly fanatical about the first book, including our member E who was hesitant to read it for fear it would be "gross". I assured her it wasn't, and after reading, she agreed.

Which is odd, since it's basically about kids killing each other for sport.

The formula would look something like this: Survivor + Lord of the Flies+ The Lottery+ The Truman Show. But despite the sum of it's parts, the story is told in such a way that lets you like the main character Katniss, instead of being repelled by the brutishness. Of course, you are SUPPOSED to be repelled - just enough to hate the government that is behind the whole insanity, but not enough to close the book.

And that is the hardest thing to do. I read this first book, and the second, Catching Fire, in about 1 1/2 sittings each. The third (and last!) book, Mockingjay, came out a few days ago, and I can't wait to dig into it. And can you please tell me WHAT the point of pre-ordering a book on Amazon is if I can't get it immediately?

Of course the movie will be coming out shortly. And I'll probably be in line for that, too. I love me a good series! (As a disclaimer, I should admit that Aaron was not so enthralled, and actually preferred the Twilight series for plot AND writing style. But since he's so good with the kids and doesn't hassle me about mowing the lawn, I'll keep him around.) (Just kidding, honey. I love you!)

Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael

A couple of things right away:
1) This author has the most romantic-sounding name. I kept thinking it was the name of a character.
2) I felt like a total sucker for picking this book off the library shelf. "Hey, are you a middle-aged woman who likes Jane Austen and a good romance? I wrote this book just for you!" In fact, I almost put it back just to show it who was REALLY in charge. But it turns out they profiled me perfectly.

And it wasn't that bad. It is a the fictionalized story of the three Bronte sisters, based on letters and biographies available. Charlotte becomes the main character, since she outlives the other two ladies and publishes the most popular book of the three, Jane Eyre.

The most interesting thing about the writing was how the author told the story from a 3rd person perspective, but let us see characters thoughts, and then turned to a narrator talking about future events. Odd, but smoothly done.

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

Yeah, this is one series that's been around for quite awhile. So long, in fact, that my mother-in-law not only read them all, but has already donated them to a library...or somewhere. Several of the book club ladies are fans, so when I found Book One in a used book store earlier this summer, I grabbed it. Our trip to visit Aaron's family out West provided some lovely unoccupied time to check it out.

And....nothing really happens. There are lots of little escapades and such concerning Father Tim and his flock, but the connecting link is his flowering romance with a neighbor lady. Oh, did I mention Father Tim is 60 years old? So this is definitely NOT falling into the "bodice ripper" category...no offence to you 60 year olds out there. I don't want to know who are.

This book also spends a lot of time talking about food. I honestly never noticed this oddity of novels until I read a review of Twilight that pointed out how often Meyer describes Bella cooking dinner for her dad. WHY do we need to know what fictional characters have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Just weird.

I spent an entire day reading this leisurly little book. And I enjoyed it. Also, I find myself daydreaming about the next books that are waiting for me in the church library...

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This was a recent book club read, and since it's been on the best seller lists and every other book club is reading it, this is also old news, probably.

But the news is: It's great! This was another that I read in about 2 sittings, even with Southern dialect and alternating points of view. It takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the middle of the civil rights battles of the 1960s. We all enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, we all also had a hard time staying on topic. Instead we discussed:
- making your own vanilla extract with vanilla beans and vodka
- bear attacks in Yellowstone Park (including the fates of the bears, zoo vs. euthanasia, the possibility of the bears having a mental illness...which S. suggested would make them "bi-polar bears")
- homeschool vs tradition schooling
- uniforms, pros & cons
- popularity & how kids dress (CB declared that professors' kids were flat out of luck...)
- danger in unfamiliar locations - which was actually prompted by the book (and S's quote "There's a reason we don't carry our important papers. 'Cause they're important!")
- racial impact of Arizona's immigrant law (Wow, did this one cause dissension in the ranks!)

And another prompted by the book - and used as a distraction from the previous topic -
- beauty treatments. And breast enhancement/reduction surgeries.

Because no book club meeting is complete without some discussion about boobs.

I'm glad for a walk by myself. When I can get it.

The Salem book club met the other day at my house, since member G was an overnight guest (with her family) for a few nights. Six members were in attendance.

Our selection was Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (also the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and Burning Bright, both of which the Club has read previously.) Like the other two novels, this one explores the life of a historical person, in this case, Mary Anning. Anning was one (if not THE) first to discover dinosaur fossils.

Here are some of the highlights of that conversation:
* At the end of the book, we were all pleasantly surprised to discover that much of the book is factual!
*Mary's lightening strike becomes a metaphor for her life
* The compulsive hunt for fossils is something a few could relate to, but I had to resort to the hunt for a garage-sale treasure. I just don't like dirt that much, I guess.
* Switching perspectives was good for the tempo of the book, which was slower (but none of us found it boring!)
* Elizabeth criticizes Jane Austen for giving girls (like her sister) false hope for marriage prospects - we of course thought that was a bit harsh and misguided! After all, Jane herself never married...
* Women's independence and being able to travel unescorted was one of the side themes in the novel
* Leading with a specific trait (nose, chin, hair, chest, etc...): we were wishing a personality inventory was available, and even brought up having a secret vote for those present. Thankfully it feel through - I'm not sure I want to know that I lead with my blathering tongue!
*The religion vs. science debate at the time was a major theme, and accurate for the time. Human assumptions about God's intentions lead to a lot of conflict. At this time the debate centered around the disbelief that God would allow any of his creatures to face extinction. Interesting!

Other topics discussed:
* How much freedom to give kids, and at what age? CB, on how she didn't get a bike as soon as other kids: "I was a FAST runner."
* Briefly discussed the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo books, but decided they were probably a little too graphic for our group. As I said, "If it had JUST sex and violence, I might have been okay."
* Fear of ticks. I shared my shock & horror when, during my teen years, my mother stripped to her undies on the sidewalk in front of the house to do a full-body check after picking juneberries.
* CB told about open-air showers on a trip in her college years and how, "It's horrible when someone peeks." Yes, indeed! This led to two of us singing, "There's a place in France..." and if you don't know the song, neither did ANYONE else at the meeting!
* The appeal of reading books about art - fictional books. Decided it must be because it's historical and somewhat factual. Several of us enjoy the topic, and we aren't artists or even art buffs.

Book Week

Lately I realized that I can't do it all.

I know. It's shocking.

There is just NO WAY that I can keep up with 2 book clubs, my scrapbooks AND my sewing wish list at the same time. Oh yeah, and those 3 kids who keep needing stuff, like food & clean clothes.

So I've figured out a kind of system. I choose one of those hobbies and go hard core on it for about a week. Then I can take a breather and see what else needs to be dealt with.

For instance:
Reading: The last week has been panic-reading. This is no leisurely read - this is reading to be done within 3 days of a book club meeting. Last Thursday I got our book for the monthly club - which met Saturday, and I've had the book for my bi-monthly (by that I mean every other month, not twice a month, which would surely kill either me or the kids) for a couple weeks. I started reading Monday evening, finished last night at 11pm, and the group met this morning.

Scrapbooking: A couple months ago I realized that Adam will soon be one year, and his baby album is still back at 5 months. However, our FAMILY album was even further behind. So I've pretty much gotten caught up there, and now it's on to Adam's book. Right after I finish a mini-scrapbook for my grandma's birthday on Saturday.

Sewing: Between Adam's birthday party and leaving to see my family for several days, I want to sew some baby stuff - there will be 3 days. Huh.

After we get back from that "vacation", I will be passing out in front of the television.

Here are some details from the Salem Book Club - that would be, the monthly one, and the one WITHOUT half a dozen babies to keep track of at the same time:

We met Saturday at G's 1st stop on her family's tour of local homes (for those of you unfamiliar, G's fam sold their house this month and is heading out of the country for a year in August. Until then, they are staying at various vacationers' homes and visiting family around the country.)

First order of business, realizing that we must have been crazy when we chose the June meeting date, since it's only 2 weeks away and also the first night of Vacation Bible School. It must have sounded good at the time, but now it sounds insane. Will try to reschedule for the end of June - when G will be staying at MY house! I'm trying to talk Aaron into painting the guest room before then.:)

While we waited for 2 regular members to not show up (Hi IA & CB! We missed you!) we discussed some other books. G has lately read "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" which she said was a beautiful story of a girl's relationship with her grandpa. I suggested that if she liked THAT, she might want to check out "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard, which bored me to tears during a writing class in college.

Our discussion was on "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis. It's basically his take on heaven, although we agreed that it was more about what keeps people from getting there than what heaven is actually like.
- a collection of short stories, with each being a background of a character, could easily be written
- the concept of heaven and hell working backwards was interesting. 2 people could live the same life, but to one it would be hell and the other heaven... Don't ask me to explain this now, but it made sense at the time!
- Basically, the characters are kept out of heaven by their need to hold onto sins & guilt and not just let go to God. If they can just look to Him and joy instead of themselves, they would be fine.


Then of course we discussed some other stuff, like how the starting line of a marathon is NOT necessarily an accurate cross-section of America. That is because, according to one member WHO WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS BY REQUEST, "Marathoners are wacky." Having three of them in my own family, I tend to agree! I prefer my pain accidental, not deliberate. But to each their own!

Another quote, which I think is fairly accurate, is G's summary, "Books are ALWAYS better than the movie." I have only found this not true in one circumstance - "A River Runs Through It". Unless you are a fly-fisherman, the book is rather boring.

This came up when I was assessing the movie versions of "Time-Traveler's Wife" and "The Other Boleyn Girl". Neither of the movies are nearly as racy at the books. But then again, "I have some very loose standards," for movies, of course. Not in general.


ALSO, the book for my other group was "The Help", and if you haven't read it, you really should. It's not often that a book set in Jackson, Mississippi during the 60's can actually make you chuckle. Meaning, it's more fun that you would think it would be. The Salem book club will be discussing this book in August, and YES that is totally because of my insistence. I can't wait!

***********************************************

So, have you read any good books lately? What was the shortest time between you finishing a book and when it was supposed to be done? (and CB, you don't count, since obviously you are addicted to the adrenaline rush of a last minute reading frenzy.)

How do you manage your time to avoid a spouse and/or children feeling neglected?

"Doesn't Your Spouse Look Good Now?" Or, "Ethan Frome".

The Salem Book Club met Saturday evening to discuss the pint-sized classic, Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. The length was a major factor in the choosing, since our last classic choices have been Middlemarch (George Eliot) and David Copperfield (Charles Dickens), and both are what I call doorstoppers, at over 700 pages. Let's just say that the discussion of those two were somewhat limited by the number of members who actually finished them.

Five of us were present, thanks to weather and school activities taking away the others. Following are the major points of our discussion concerning the novel:

- Are there any sympathetic characters in this novel? Most of us thought that Mattie & Ethan were, but they also had their own responsibilities...
- And just who is to blame for the whole mess? Zeena suffered as well, so she can't be ENTIRELY at fault, as tempting as it is to load her with guilt.
- Ethan is just too passive. Instead of turning his back on his marriage to Zeena, why didn't they just get into a rousing argument?
- Some of Wharton's personal thoughts seem to be: "duty is suffering" and "marriage is bleak"
- G is quoted as saying, "dreams are worthless". To clarify: This was in regards to my summary of Wharton's OTHER novel, Age of Innocence. She meant, "Stop dreaming and take some action! Be a man!"
- infidelity can be emotional, and is probably more painful than a purely physical relationship (if there IS such a thing)
- Also, do NOT lose a locket around C. You've been warned.

Other points of discussion:
- HOW on earth to keep busy middle schoolers busy for the summer? Answer: drama camp!
- Quote from one disgruntled former drama camper: "All they do all day is SING and DANCE!"
- Extra cash for bus service is sooo worth it.
- Sew curtains NOW instead of four years later.
- Don't dare to look back at your younger days and be critical.
- People moving really stinks. For them, and for the rest of us who are still unresigned & crabby.

Future selections:
April - JV selection, Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - book exchange at this meeting!
May - Christian selection, The Great Divorce by CS Lewis

We will need to choose books for the following genres: contemporary, historical fiction, and non-fiction. Bring your ideas to the next meeting!

Now go give your spouse a kiss.

Back to the Books

While at book club this weekend, a few of the ladies mentioned that I haven't written a summary post or email of our meetings lately. I don't know why...maybe I got lazy, or maybe too many ladies were horrified by their conversations being out-ed! In any case, permission was given for me to continue, and so I will.

We met Saturday evening with 6 members present. We discussed The Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller. (This is kind of a detour from our usual selections, and I was especially skeptical, since as a rule I avoid non-fiction and usually avoid Christian books also. Not that I am advocating these tastes, AT ALL. I wish I read more of both types of books. But I don't. Anyway, The Prodigal God is actually the subject of a Bible study at our church, so I was rather unsure of how that would translate into a book club selection. But it did! Mostly because it is easy to read (not like Mere Christianity, in my humble & shallow opinion!) and short. For those unfamiliar, the book explores Jesus' parable usually known as The Prodigal Son - but renames it Two Lost Brothers.

Some topics of discussion:

1. Most of us are "elder brother" types - became Christians at a young age, and admit to being a tish - or more- judgemental of those who don't live up to our high moral standards
2. IA said that she identified more as a "younger brother" - lived a more indulgent lifestyle until finding Christ during college.
3. All were convicted by the explanation (and main point) of the book that both the elder & younger brother are separated from the Father.
4. Lyz said that during the section on the TRUE elder brother (that would be Christ), she started by thinking, "well, of course that elder brother should have gone in to the feast and rejoiced with the returned younger brother" - but Keller goes waaay further and says that a TRUE elder would have gone searching for the younger brother after he left, brought him back, and held the party himself. This is, of course, what happens in heaven every time a lamb returns to the fold.
5. It's usually harder for an elder brother to attend the feast than the younger brother, since their pride in their good behavior keeps them from God.
6. Since it is soo easy to become an elder brother (even the younger brothers do after becoming Christians!) it is that much more necessary to remind ourselves of God's great love & necessary mercy - and also examine the motives of our behavior. Are we "being good" because then God "owes" us a pleasant life? Or are we doing what He asks and commands because we love Him & recognize His sacrifice for us? Hmmm.... it's a fine line.

Other topics covered:
- Bacon, and the benefits of cooking it outside
- the possibility of flooding in the Red River Valley this spring, and how it's all the fault of farming in a lake bed. And then building a city there, too.
- You can reminisce all you want, but if you try to recreate the experience, you will inevitably fail. Unless it involves Dorothy Lynch salad dressing.
- Family farms cause great conflict when it comes time to "divide the inheritance".
- Babies are a sweet. And a giant pain. Reflux, diaper rash, eating...and totally unreliable. You can't even predict their size based on their siblings! And then there is the whole issue of potty training...don't get me started. I'm serious.

Other books or authors mentioned/suggested:

Annie Lamott (sp?)
The Great Divorce by CS Lewis (NOT about marriage issues...)
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (none of us had ever heard of it or the author, but apparently it's never been out of print?!)
Middlesex - Which had us discussing the possibility of true gender confusion

And then we also had a book exchange, where some of us may operate under different motivations. For instance, it seems that most brought books that they truly thought others may enjoy, and Lyz simply brought books she wanted to get rid of. Too bad for N! That poor lady got a piece of smut from an airport bookstore. At Home in Mitford (by Jan Karan, the first in a series) and The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency were big hits (at least to this member). Of course, the one I ended the night with was CS Lewis & Sigmund Freud debating the topics of love, sex, marriage & God. Doesn't that sound like a page turner? Well, maybe for you.... Thanks to E for trading an Amy Tan novel with me!

The next meeting will be at G's house (again! The woman is earning riches in heaven...so is her husband) on March 13th, and we will discuss our classics selection, Ethan Fromme by Edith Wharton. This is a very short and easier-to-read novel, and many of us have copies, so if you need one, talk to us first.

Happy reading!

I'll also be wary of full moons, just in case.

Today, in brief: Up until 1:30 am last night with Adam, who now appears to be cutting a 4th tooth. Ran Ben to the potty about 15 times in 90 minutes, but he did indeed poop (entirely in the toilet, unlike several times this weekend). Leah is staying home from school tomorrow, as she has a fever and took a nap at 5pm on the couch. And then only ate ONE plain pancake for supper. This is where things stand today, and it is probably all the result of our weekend.

We took a mini-vacation this past weekend, and everyone keeps asking if we had fun. We drove 4 hours with 3 little kids, stayed in a hotel for one night, visited 3 groups of people in 12 hours, and then drove another 1 1/2 hours, plus an extra 30 min for getting lost in the dark with 3 hungry & tired little kids before finally making it to Aaron's sister's house. Does this sound like fun to you?

We need about a two year vacation from vacations.

We definitely enjoyed parts, though. We love visiting our family and friends and getting a chance to bond with the littlest ones. There was a super-fast trip to Ikea that was especially fun for me, since I was finally able to get my paws on two items that were unavailable on my last visit. SIL Lisa and her hubs Mike have a great place near Brainerd, MN and are wonderful hosts. I love solving all the problems of the world with them and letting them feed me. (Want to know what I had for breakfast both mornings? Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake. I can claim ignorance the first time, but that second meal was pretty sinful.)

But. I want to tell you this little story that tickles me every time I think about it.

That first night we stayed in a king suite at a hotel, and we put both the "big" kids on the pull out sofa. It wasn't in a separate room, just a sitting area. Adam was in the pack & play on the other side of the room by our bed. And Aaron had a Netflix movie with us.

So he piled all the extra pillows in the corner of the room against the door. He also rescued from freezing in the van the 3 bottles of sparkling pear juice purchased at Ikea, and the chocolates, too. (He thought that I should wait until Valentine's Day to crack them open, but I argued that since I bought them myself -while he was kid-wrangling- I could eat them whenever I darn well wanted.) We have headphones for the kids to use in the van, and I even had the splitter with us, so we plugged them in and then watched a movie on our laptop - and that movie? Shaun of the Dead. If you aren't familiar, it's kind of a mock-zombie movie. But the gore is real. I'm fairly sure there's been few more inappropriate movies to be watching while within 5 feet of your babies.

Within minutes of the movie finishing, Ben woke up, stuck his arms straight out and moaned, "Moooommmy...sweep wif me....." and then Leah also woke up and moaned, "Lay with meeeee this tiiiiime...." I quickly got them reassured and back to sleep, but they both seemed a little too zombie-ish for me to keep from giggling.

Book Report

I've had Ms. Austen on the brain a bit lately, since PBS is showing a new adaptation of Emma. I watched the first part on Sunday night, and I like the switch back to a blonde Emma. I really liked Gwyneth Paltrow's portrayal in the Hollywood version, but this one seems to take away some of the elegantness and make Emma more childish. It's easier for me to see her as 19 or 20, and her flaws (conceit, uppitiness) are much more evident. That's not a criticism, by the way - that's my favorite part of my favorite Austen novel. I love that Knightley loves ALL of her.

Anyway.

A long time ago I won this book from Carmen at Mom to the Screaming Masses, and she had one stipulation: I had to pass it on. Well, it's taken me awhile, but now I'm getting around to it. And I'm going to do another giveaway right here on the blogitty-blog!

It's Mr. Knightley's Diary, and apparently the author, Amanda Grange, did a whole series from the perspective of Jane Austen's heros. What a great idea! It was a fun read, and although I haven't looked into the other novels, I assume that they would be entertaining as well.

Here's how to enter: leave a comment telling me your favorite Jane Austen character. You don't even have to have read the book - I'll accept a movie. I'll leave the giveaway open until next Thursday at midnight. Hopefully I'll draw the lucky winner next Friday (unless, you know, I forget.) I would love it for the winner to pass it on when they are done.

Go to it!

Mostly Odds

Ben a"mazes" auntie Kate with his maze skills. Yes, I did SO just go there. Pun-tastic.

* Remember how Ben is kinda accident-prone? Or just, "impulse-control challenged"? I have two more rather drastic examples. A few weeks ago I retrieved my hand mixer from the large drawer on the opposite side of my kitchen island. I left the drawer open, since I was coming back for the appropriate attachment, but I wasn't fast enough. Ben came charging out of the bathroom, and smacked his little forehead right into the corner of the drawer. Incredibly, while a good sized egg & bruise arrived rather quickly, it never actually bled.

Adam gazes adoringly at his uncle Aaron.

Unlike his foot on New Year's Day. He was trying to help make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches by getting the jelly out of the fridge - but dropped the jar. Aaron (I wasn't home at the time) thinks that the jar hit his foot first and then shattered on the tile, but either way, he had a cut about a half-inch long on the top of his foot, and also a bruise surrounding it. I have to hand it to him, though - he was pretty tough. After the initial drama, he was proud to show off his Diego bandaid.

* Recently I have decided that the only way for me to be interested in cooking (I mean REALLY interested, not just out of hunger or necessity) is to torture my kids. No more cooking only kid-friendly stuff that I know they'll eat - it's time to experiment. Not necessarily every meal or every dish, but frequently enough so that I'm not bored stiff with pasta or rice and a meat.

"Thanks for the paper dolls, Grandma!"

* Yesterday I went grocery shopping. As I was grabbing 2 bags of parsnips, a fellow shopper stopped and asked, "Can I ask what you are making that you need TWO bags of parsnips?"

Is this odd? Has anyone else ever been interrogated about their produce selections?

Anyway, I'm making parsnip pancakes tonight. Leah loves parsnips, although usually I just roast them. She also LOVES pancakes. Ben doesn't really like either too much, so I'm preparing for battle.

* Going along with the "trying new foods" project, I'm also giving time-outs quickly and frequently these days. It seems that a time-out given (usually to Ben) before we even sit down is pretty efficient - he hates being left out, AND he's hungry. I just make him try a few bites of the new/disliked food. But bedtime snack is a limited portion. "Oh, you're still hungry? I guess you should have eaten more for dinner!"

* Television is just the greatest, don't you think? How did people ever amuse themselves without it? Oh yeah - they were actually DOING stuff. Poor folks.

Anyway - we are enjoying new episodes of Castle (yay for more romantic tension! "He's all yours!") and I enjoyed the first of two parts of Return to Cranford on PBS's Masterpiece. Aaron refused to watch "that old stuff" (yes, I DID tell him that Judi Dench was in it AND nominated for an Oscar last year for her role. Somehow, that didn't impress him much.) and chose instead the second hour of the new Chuck.

When I went to the site for that PBS link above, I saw that the Emma that will be on after Cranford is a NEW adaptation! (With a blonde Emma! I just can't see her as a brunette, many apologies to Kate Beckinsale.) I will be doubly sure to tune in - and Sunday evenings after that will be booked as well, since Northanger Abbey and Persuasion will follow. I can't wait. *Sigh*

* Adam is definitely growing new hair, so his cue-ball-like state is slowly diminishing. He does not, however, like cereal or any solid food any better. This is not making his sole source of nutrition (me) very happy. On the up side, though, I have no reason NOT to eat a huge bowl of ice cream and/or five cookies.

Rolling is not going so well, either, but he is a pro sitter-upper. At seven months, we are getting a bit antsy for him to be able to retrieve his own toys, but the upright posture is a good thing.

So what odd things are going on at your house? What new food are you trying to introduce to your family?

Newbie

Aaron and I finally watched the new Star Trek movie. You know, the one with Sylar from Heroes as Spock? That took a bit to get over, let me tell you.

I have never really been interested in Star Trek. Occasionally, I would see a few seconds of an episode while flipping channels, and it always seemed like a foreign language to me. I never could keep track of who was good and who was bad, and what the heck was going on in the first place.

But my loving, wonderful husband is a fan from way back. Not necessarily a Trekkie, per say, but a fan. Spock is his favorite character, and if you know Aaron, that probably won't surprise you too much. There's no end to the number of romantic comedies and straight-up romances Aaron has sat through with me, (Let me qualify this right here. He HAS flat out refused to watch two Netflix movies with me, making me resort to watching them while scrapbooking because I DO NOT watch movies well by myself. And what were those movies? The Queen with Helen Mirren, and Dreamgirls. So you may or may not sympathize with me.) so I figured the least I could do was sit through this ONE movie with him. He even delayed seeing it in the theater until we could watch it at home together. Mostly because he couldn't find anyone to go with him at the time, I think.

So we are sitting on the couch, and I find myself getting actually involved with this movie! The plot is at least five times that of Transformers 2. And then the Enterprise starts to go into warp speed for the first time. It's one heck of an experience, mostly because it caused our DVD player to shut down completely. Twice.

After Aaron got it working, we continued on, enjoying the sparring between Kirk and Spock, and the funny mixed with the action and tension. I wasn't even bored enough to go look for goodies - of course, I had brought a selection of about four things out before we got started.

Then the Romulan drill got so powerful that it AGAIN shut down our DVD player.

Another recovery. And another blow out, this time, permanent. Accompanied by a popping sound.

After tearing the DVD player apart to retrieve Netflix's disc, we resorted to the much smaller TV in the living room. Some of the impressiveness of universal drama was diminished, but the story was still compelling. Aaron was opposed to the romance between Spock and Uhura, which we never in the "older" stories, but you know me. Any spark of sweetness makes a movie more interesting to me!

I could actually get into this Trekkie stuff. Maybe. Especially if the boys are cute and funny.

Some people use their time in weird ways.

I have been on a buying rampage tonight, grabbing a bunch of books on Ebay for a fraction of their new prices. Most of these new purchases are destined to be Thanksgiving gifts for Leah and Ben - they include a fairy tale collection, a book about dinosaurs, and a couple of joke books - so I don't have to listen to their made-up jokes, which frankly are pretty lame, rarely make any sense, and sometimes include non-English words.

While researching different drawing books on Amazon, I found this review for the book How to Draw 101 Animals. I am equally curious about how many people thought this was a real review and chose NOT to purchase the book (the comments are entertaining, too!), and how bored the reviewer must have been to go to the effort. I'm hoping, at least, that they had washed all the clothes and dishes in their house first.

Rant of a Book Snob

I finally read Twilight (by Stephanie Meyers). But I did not go willingly into that dark night! Oh no, I had to be dragged kicking and screaming by the rest of the book club who decided that it was too much of a phenomenon to ignore and chose it as our adolescent lit selection. Brief summary: Bella moves to the water-logged town of Forks and becomes obsessed with the gor-geous Edward, discovering along the way that he's a vampire, albeit a "vegetarian" vamp (only hunts animals, not humans, along with his "family"). Conflicts ensue, not the least that apparently Bella is the human version of filet mignon.

The book is not as bad as I thought it would be. That said, it wasn't fantastic, either. What it IS is compelling - as in, I got "sucked" in and read it in a couple of days. This kind of consumer fiction reminds me of The DaVinci Code - another quick, hard-to-put-down read.

Twilight is exactly the kind of book I would have been obsessed with as a teenager. Almost every teen lit heroine could fit this profile: average looks (or perceives herself as average), not a lot of friends, intelligent, reads a lot... This is (I believe) completely deliberate on the the author's part, simply because this could also describe most of the female READERS of teen lit. Bella fit this description, and yet Edward, this "god-like", mysterious, aloof boy, chooses HER as the love of his life. What girl (or woman, I'm not gonna lie) wouldn't fantasize about that?

A major point of our discussion revolved around this book as a "gateway drug". A big part of the conflict in Twilight is the sexual tension between Edward and Bella - in this book, at least (there are 3 more novels in the series), they do little more than cuddle and kiss, because of that teensy problem of Edward wanting to drink her blood. So although it's clean and moral, there's definitely a sexual element. Once girls are addicted to the sensuality of a novel like this, where will they look for their next fix? To the novels of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, whom Bella reads in the novel, which have a similar type of emotional pull? Or to Harlequin romance novels, which take the sensuality past the point of restraint?

There are lots of other points of discussion regarding this series, but I'll boil it down, in my personal opinion: Not as good as Harry Potter (by a long shot, actually), not as bad as Nicholas Sparks. If you like Twilight, read Jane Eyre.

Okay people. I read it! I did! And I don't hate myself or totally regret it. You win.

Over-Achiever

We had book club here the other night, discussing Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Overall it seemed that most of us enjoyed the point of view of an elderly man, both for his recollections of circus life in the 1930's and the insight into the lives of the elderly. What we did NOT appreciate was the, um, detailed sexual scenes.

Anyway, we joked at one point that allowing a month between books was pretty much a moot point for me, since no matter how long the book is I pretty much read it in the last four days before the discussion date. We could meet every week, and not much would change about my reading habits! Of course, that is a slight exaggeration - David Copperfield and Middlemarch of course took longer. I mean, they are 800 pages long, and I DO have 3 kids to take care of. All in all, my husband is remarkably understanding about my cramming to finish a book at the last minute. My record is finishing 2 hours before the meeting. Eeks.

Today, the kids and I had lunch at the home of one of Leah's classmates. While we ate, the girls were telling the moms about their day, and C said that if they read 12 books in one night they would get a pizza! W, C's mom, and I tried to pick our jaws up of the table, and after a few more details, I recognized the Book It! program from Pizza Hut. I assured W that they had at least a week to read the books, not one night, for pity's sake!

At home, Leah got right to work. She read 2 books and wrote their titles on her log sheet herself. Then she got a pile from the shelf and went at it. As she burned through a couple more books, I reminded her, "Leah, you know you have a MONTH to read these books, right? You don't have to read them all in one night."

And she said, "I know, but I'm GOING to!"

Well, she didn't quite meet her goal, but she's half done. And now I know how to get her to pick up her dirty laundry: pizza.

On Being Open-Minded

You've heard of this actor James McAvoy, right? He's been in a few movies lately, and people have been kind of making a big deal about him. Until recently, I hadn't seen of those films, and truthfully was a little distrustful of all the praises.

I mean, really. He was the romantic male lead in Atonement (an Oscar-nominated movie, but one that I won't be seeing, thankyouverymuch) - and he looks like this:

He is exactly what Aaron and I refer to as a "weasel". But if he's been in movies like Wanted with Angelina Jolie, Miss Alpha Female herself, he must have some Alpha Male appeal, right?

Well, whatever that appeal was, I missed it...until I saw Penelope. And then recently (finally! Can you believe it took me this long?) Becoming Jane. Which, by the way, I liked, but think that the scriptwriter maybe filled out the details of Austen's romance a little - I'm pretty sure her love interest was never named...Nevermind. Apparently Wikipedia knows better, but still, the movie does a bit of imagining...

Anyway, in Becoming Jane McAvoy looks like this:

Hmm, maybe he stills looks a little weasel-ish. But all this proves what a great actor he must be! Because I am now convinced that he is, in fact, a stud. And I'm not alone, since he was named the 6th sexiest man in the world. Now THAT's something to put on your resume! I know this list is credible because it's accurate: Johnny Depp is The Sexiest. (Damaging the list's cred a bit is a group I've never heard of - British- is listed at #13 - tell me, how can 4 men share one spot?)

Also, consider that Wanted was a serious action movie (oxymoron? quite possibly.) and that even in the period drama of Becoming Jane, clearly a chick flick, he has TWO WHOLE SCENES of bare-knuckle fist-fighting. One of them shirtless, which may explain its inclusion.

Anyway. My point here (yes, I have one after all this rambling and link-ing) is that although I may have strong opinions, I am willing to change them if evidence and/or experience proves it necessary. And in this case, change my mind I must:

James McAvoy IS leading-man material, and I will probably consider watching any movie he is in. It's official and on-the-record.

People, I'm actually quivering in anticipation.

Have you ever looked forward to something so much that you actually made yourself stop thinking about it so you wouldn't go nutso? I LOVE anticipation. I am the kid who knew where the Christmas presents were stashed and purposely did NOT look at them. Yeah.

That is ME now, with this movie called Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. You may have heard of it.

I am a bit of a Harry Potter fan. The height of my craze was the months leading up to the release of the last novel in the series - I re-read all of the books and found The Leaky Cauldron fansite, and a couple others. Finally, my sister and sister-in-law and I all went to the midnight book release party at the local Barnes & Noble. I may have to scrounge up the photo of us dressed at Hogwarts professors. OH YES WE DID dress up! Dudes, the book came out on my 30th birthday. How awesome is that.

After the final book was released, Entertainment Weekly had a special "commemorative" issue which dedicated TEN WHOLE PAGES to Potter trivia. I took it to OfficeMax to make some copies for my Harry Potter party (OH YES I DID! complete with butterbeer!) and then left the magazine in the copy machine! ARGH! Of course it wasn't turned in - someone stole that gem in the blink of an eye. And of course the extra copies from the publisher that I could have gotten for free were gone by the time I requested one. So I did what any sane (ha!), desperate Potter fan would do - I bought one off of Ebay for $10.

Last year when we exchanged names for Christmas gifts, the only option I gave the lucky person who drew my name was this sweatshirt. Guess what? I got it! Thanks, Jess!

Since the last movie and the final book came out 2 years ago, my obsession has tapered off quite a bit. But this new movie has renewed my devotion. Yes, I know it came out last night at midnight. My sister was there, and so was at least one other friend, who was actually updating her Facebook status while waiting for the show to start. Aaron and I are waiting until my birthday next Tuesday to go - it will be our first date since Adam arrived, and we've gone to all the other films together, too. They definitely fall into the category of movies better seen on the largest screen possible. (All the Lord of the Rings movies came out around our anniversary - isn't date planning easy for us?!)

While I'm trying to not get too worked up about this fantastic movie, I wandered over to The Leaky Cauldron and found a link to this Top 25 list. Very fun! And a good refresher for me of certain characters and what they have been up to.

A Show an English Teacher can Love.

If you know me at all and have seen this show on ABC, you have probably already thought to yourself, "Man, I bet Lyz loves this show." And you'd be right.

Unfortunately, this post is about a month or two too late, and actually is only being written because I miss Castle so so much, now that the summer programming is on. I did just check the website, and it looks like it will be back in the fall, thank goodness. Aaron and I are being left to watch Here Come the Newlyweds, which, while great fun, isn't quite the same as the snap between Castle & Beckett in my new favorite show.

Here's the description from the ABC website: Wildly famous mystery novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) is bored with his own success. Then he learns that a real-world copycat killer has started staging murder scenes depicted in his novels. Castle is questioned by NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), a bright and aggressive detective who keeps her investigations under tight rein. Though they instantly clash, sparks of another sort also begin to fly, leading both to danger and a hint of romance as Castle steps in to help find the killer. And once that case is solved, he and Beckett build on their new relationship as they look to solve more strange homicides in New York - as much fun as one can have with death and murder.

Here's the official checklist of reasons I like this show:

literary references and jokes: check (like this one: "What is this, a Mamet play?" "I keep forgetting you read plays! (devilish grin)"

romantic comedy/flirtatious banter: check
procedural crime plots: check
great supporting characters: about 5 checks
cases that aren't so in depth that I can personally relate: check

Okay, so there you go. I'm officially looking forward to fall. Somebody smack me back to reality!

Time to...Review the Queue

The Queen - This movie with Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II was nominated for two Oscars (Best Picture, and Mirren winning Best Actress) and Aaron STILL refused to watch it with me. Flat out. No options available. And so, it was the first movie that I watched on my laptop while scrapbooking. Not the best situation, but better than the wrath of Aaron for holding up our Netflix queue!

I liked it - it's definitely a character study, following the Queen and Tony Blair in the week following Princess Diana's death, and how both of them tried to deal with it, both privately and publicly.

Unfinished Life - Okay, as soon as you tell anyone that Jennifer Lopez is in this movie, they tend to shut down. But really, it's pretty good. A redeeming factor is that Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman are ALSO in it. Lopez is a single mom who returns with her tween daughter to her former father-in-law's ranch (that would be where Redford & Freemen step in).

The big strength of the movie is its themes of forgiveness and redemption. And, as I told someone else, Lopez isn't playing herself this time (Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan, etc.).

Dreamgirls - No shocker here, but Aaron also refused to watch this one with me. Another one for the laptop and scrapbooking. Beyonce is stunning in this film, and it's easy to tell why she signed on - sooo much glamour and fashion! But everything I'd heard about Dreamgirls was about Jennifer Hudson's singing, since she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress with a resume filled with American Idol acclaim - but not even as the winner!

Anyway, she was amazing. I never would have guessed that she was such a newbie to Hollywood - and her character is pretty central, at least to the conflict of the show.

Twilight - Yeah, yeah, I watched it. I figured it was easier than suffering through the book, which I have a kind of personal boycott against. It was pretty predictable, and a little over-dramatic, but okay overall.

Quantum of Solace - WHAT the heck was the plot about? We were pretty lost. After the movie was done, we tried to piece things together and make sense of it all, but still came up a little empty. Oh well, hopefully the next Bond movie is better.

Run, Fat Boy, Run - This one starts the series of films added by Aaron without my approval. Most of them have been okay, and this one was probably one of our favorites. I especially laughed during the scene where the blister gets popped. Yeah, it's pretty much as gross as it sounds - and the blister is REALLY BIG. I felt like I got more out of the movie because of my brothers' running experience. Thanks, boys!

Rachel Getting Married - This was a rather depressing one. But interesting because it's such an intimate look at 3 days in the life of a family with plenty of issues. I liked being able to sympathize with both "sides" - Rachel, the older sister getting married, who's wrapping up a graduate degree in psychology, and her sister Kym (Anne Hathaway, in an Oscar nominated role), out of drug rehab for the weekend.

On the one hand, I can sympathize with Rachel - she's been putting up with Kym's crap her whole life, and really does deserve to have one weekend where everyone revolves around HER for a change. But on the other hand...Kym's had a WHOLE LOTTA issues, and weddings are pretty much one of the most stressful family situations - all kinds of baggage comes out under that kind of pressure, even for mostly normal families.

Henry Poole is Here- The low point in the queue. Aaron thought it was going to be a comedy, and it wasn't. Not really even the so-called "black comedy" kind, which I've never really gotten anyway. (I think it means that it's not laugh out loud funny, but also not a tragedy? That sounds right - in Shakespeare a play is considered a comedy if not everybody dies - not if it's truly funny.)

Penelope - Probably our favorite on this end of the list! Christina Ricci is so darn cute, pig nose or not. Also, I never really got James McAvoy as a romantic lead (Atonement? Never saw it, but still didn't get him in that role...) but NOW MY EYES ARE OPEN. Also, I just read that he plays Jane's love interest in Becoming Jane, which I also have yet to see. Mostly because I have a feeling I'll be watching it on the laptop while scrapbooking.

Lars and the Real Girl - Okay, yes, it's about a guy who buys a life-sized sex doll and then falls in love with her, pretending that she's real. But no, there is no perversion other than that. In fact, the doll "stays" at his brother and sister-in-law's house to make things extra chaste. It's another movie that makes mental illness a little more relatable.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Three hours of my life went into this movie. I love Cate Blanchett, and of course I don't mind looking at Brad Pitt either (even though he was really only THE Brad Pitt for about a third of the movie...). And I freely admit that I cried. Watching him physically as a kid but mentally elderly just did me in. Hormones. We'll blame it on hormones.

But as my brother Aaron pointed out, Pitt pretty much the same expression throughout the entire movie...poor guy. He never looked really elated or anything...just rather sad throughout.

This was yet another Oscar nominee, for Best Picture. It seems that this portion of our queue has been fairly recognized by the Academy - but we are still waiting for the big winner, Slumdog Millionaire. Netflix keeps telling us it'll be a "short wait" and sending us other movies - and yes, we know we could have gotten it from the video store about 3 months ago. But hey! We've been busy watching people run a marathon with 3 weeks (total!) training, girls fall in love (and lose their pig snouts!), families reconcile with each other, and a vampire fall in love with a very pale girl from Arizona. We've been busy!

My Bookshelf

Lately it seems that everyone is asking me how I'm doing, in that overly concerned voice that makes me kind of crabby. Maybe because it's mostly coming from my mom and mother-in-law, the two women who I most want to think of me as capable, not fragile. I finally told Mom the other day that if everyone is so worried about me overdoing it at home, they should hire me some housekeeping help!

Well, today I think DID finally overdo it. This afternoon (morning was Bible study time with friends) I did 3 or so loads of laundry, cleaned 2 bathrooms, and vacuumed the upstairs (3 bedrooms and those 2 bathrooms). I also finally got most of the extraneous stuff moved out of our bedroom and back into either the kids' or baby's room. Ahhhh. The bedroom is almost just ours again - at least for another 4 weeks or so, when Mr. Magnus moves in!

My reward to myself for getting all that done was finally unpacking my books into the bookshelf that has been ready and waiting for several months.

I am sooo excited to have this little reading area in our bedroom - which I'll never use, because I'll read where Aaron is, and we hang out downstairs. But it's still a little peace of calm for me, just to know that if I really wanted to, I could curl up here and select any old book.

(Those would be 2 cardigan sweaters and a blanket draped over the back, not dirty laundry. I save the dirty stuff for the floor of our closet.)

And what books would be on these shelves? Well, that was kind of the reward part - I love sorting through and organizing these old friends. All the adolescent lit. is in it's own shelf in the basement, and there are various bookshelves on the main floor with different books, mostly the larger hardcovers. But these are the ones I've read, and reread. Most of them, anyway - I would say generally the top 2 shelves, and some of the bottom shelf.

If you really want to see all the titles, you could probably enlarge the photo or something, but I'll tell you that there is quite a few Agatha Christie, a few volumes of Miss Jane Austen (the full collection is downstairs), The Good Earth trilogy (did you know there were 3 of them?!) and another more famous trilogy - The Lord of the Rings.

And yes, I did get rid of a fair number of books, too - some that I've picked up at garage sales without knowing anything about them, others that are duplicates, and a few that I read but just wasn't that impressed by. And I finally gave myself permission to not have read anything by D.H. Lawrence or Moby Dick. And that, my friends, is a load off my bookshelf.

A Brief Lesson on Tudor England

Book club met Sunday night to discuss The Other Boleyn Girl, by Phillipa Gregory. You know, that book that was recently turned into a movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. THAT one.

Member C had recommended the book with the warning that it, "May have a bit of sex in it." Um, yes. But I was prepared for that. After all, aren't ALL stories about royalty full of sex? Not really a shocker to me. And it wasn't nearly as smutty as the Harlequins I read in high school.

Anyway, we ended up giving ourselves a history lesson in the process, as we used C's laptop and Wikipedia to figure out exactly when Henry married his ladies, and how they all passed away. For the record, that would be:

Katharine of Aragon - divorced (mother of the future Mary, Queen of Scots)
Anne Boleyn - beheaded (mother of the future Queen Elizabeth I)
Jane Seymour - died (mother of the short-lived King Edward)
Anne of Cleaves - annulled
Catharine Howard - beheaded
Catharine Parr- survived him (which seems to be no small feat!)

In addition to not being very creative in naming their children, it seems that women were little more than chattel or a form of currency: they did as their fathers and/or husbands told them to do. Which is why the "other" Boleyn girl, Anne's sister Mary, is the narrator of this book. Not only did she have the chance to be the Queen (she was a lover of Henry's, and the mother of two of his children) but she had the good fortune to marry a man who wanted her to have her own mind. She chose to leave the court and the infectiously gluttonous lifestyle promoted there.

Okay - enough of the heavy stuff. We also covered public vs. private education, childbirth stories (never very far from ANY discussion involving women, by the way), how allowing princes/kings to be indulged usually leads to their own undoing (as also seen in Imperial Woman, a previous club selection), and whether or not it is really Chairman Mao in his tomb, or some wax figure of him.

Also, we discussed whether or not C's cat was preparing to bite my foot, after some very in depth sniffing, and then a bit later, an extra large "yawn" taking place uncomfortably close to the foot in question. I am a cat lover, but I DID move my foot to a more protected position. Namely, under my rear.

Our next book is People of the Book, which member IA has been pushing for about 6 months. Okay, okay, we get it- it's good! We'll read it! And discuss it May 17th, at IA's house. Be there or be square. (Ed. note - Oops! We'll meet at member LJ's house. Sorry, Noel, for the panic attack!)

(Oh wait. We are in a book club. Most of us have been "square" for the better part of our lives.)

The 81st Oscars

I'm a fan of the Oscars. I may not watch the whole shebang, but I usually try to catch some of it. This year I was excited to see what Hugh Jackman would do. I was not disappointed! (If you want a more thorough and professional review, go here. And yes, I totally missed the intro, which according to this source, was awesome. Shucks.)

Here are some observations in no particular order - well, until the last section. Next year, I'll livebog it!

-Did anyone catch the closeup of Angelina Jolie while Jennifer Aniston was presenting? Meee-ow! Actually, she looked disappointingly normal. And also later, in another close up of Angie, her ginormous emerald? earrings and ring?

- I love the concept of the awards following the making of a movie. It actually made the sequence make sense.

- Where are the colorful dresses? The first several I saw were pale gold or silver...Thank you Amanda Seyfried for wearing red! Can't wait to see what the Fug Girls have to say about all this...

- Heath Ledger won for supporting actor. His parents and sister accepted the award, and while the camera panned the audience, there were an awful lot of tear-filled eyes. Tough act to follow.

- The musical is BACK! And that montage - live, onstage, starring Hugh and Beyonce, directed by my man Baz Luhrmann - was incredible. I love musicals. Have I mentioned that before?

- I am actually enjoying the presenters. They are goofy. Especially Will Smith. Also, I really liked Tina Fey and Steve Martin. Like, when she was looking at him, and he turned and said, "Do NOT fall in love with me." And she's all, "No, but, um..." and the clips roll. I tried really hard-for um, 20 seconds- to find a clip of their bit, but the only one was kinda crappy, so you'll have to take my word for it. Go look yourself in another day or so.

- I also love montages. Especially the one dedicated to the romances (on film) of 2008. Very cool. But then again, I'm a big sap. This we know.

- One of the subjects of a winning documentary not only made a coin disappear at the podium, but then followed it up by balancing an actual Oscar on his chin! Now THAT is show business, folks.

- Bill Maher bugs me. Way to use your 30 seconds of Oscar time to promote your own (non-nominated) film AND anti-religion views.

- The ads are even kind of great. The Coke ad - um, I watched every second of it. The Jimmy Kimmel live spot with Tom Cruise? Pretty genius. I missed all the Super Bowl ones, so this kind of makes up for it.

- Slumdog Millionaire seems to be sweeping so far, and they just got director! The guy just did a Tigger jump!

- I love how they are announcing the nominees for the top awards. Having past winners speak directly to the nominees makes each of them a winner. Especially Anne Hathaway, who was lucky enough to draw Shirley MacLain. Dude, I'm almost crying, sitting at home with my hand in the popcorn bowl.

- Kate Winslet's hair? Odd. Dress? Gorgeous. The shampoo bottle thing? Very cute. Also, her whistling dad!

- Nobody tell Dad that Sean Penn won an Oscar. At least he gave a funny self-depricating speech.

- Aaaand it's Slumdog! What an underdog (hehe!) on top story. Good grief, I think everyone involved in the movie is on stage!

What has Aaron been doing this whole time? For the last hour he's been watching with me, but most of the day he's been painting - ceilings in the entry, hallway, and Leah's room, and then two different options on the new door frame.

No, you can't have him. He's all mine.

Now to lighten things up.

Sorry the last couple of posts have been rather heavy. So I'm going to rant about something totally random that's been bugging me for awhile.

These Jared jewelry ads. They drive me nuts.

First of all, you have the name. "Jared" does NOT speak to me about beautiful diamonds and gold. It's totally unconnected name, like calling your car dealership "Fred". And it's not "Jared'S" as in, "the jewelry store owned by Jared". Nope. Just "Jared".

AND, their ads are really annoying. I tried to find one on YouTube for you, but all I found were even MORE annoying parodies! Crazy, huh?

Anyway, my favorite Jared ad to hate is the one where the roommate asks the other, "How did last night go?"
And the lucky girl says, doing a crossword puzzle, "Just a minute. What's a 15 letter word for marriage proposal?"
"I don't know..."
"He went to Jared!"

That newly-engaged girl must have the stupidest roommate on the planet. Who would miss that HUGE hint of the puzzle clue?

Jared seems to be trying to build themselves as a big buzz word. It's not working on me.