Edging Past the 1st Trimester

Well, we are just about to claw our way past the first trimester with the fingernails I’m making right now.  I just love being pregnant (nausea, swollen… everything, and all) and feeling connected to this little spark of life inside me.  This is a busy week for me and my belly buddy.  Not only am I working on those super sharp baby fingernails that will draw blood on me this summer, I am also working on tooth sockets and a larynx. 

Oh, that little larynx.  The source of joy and despair.  The font of all the beautiful and terrible things kids say to their parents.  With what I create this week, I empower my child to give vent voice to his* thoughts, desires and feelings.  At 3 am.  And at all other inconvenient times of his choosing.  I give him the ability to tell me that I am the best mother on the whole earth.  (I actually heard that from TSM3 in the last couple of days.  God bless him.)  I also give him the ability to tell me that I’m fired.  (And, yes, I heard that one about a month ago from TSM2.)

Being part of creating a new life is a fascinating and sometimes mysterious thing.  I think often of how dependent babies and children are, and also how quickly they begin to assert their God-given ability to make choices and develop opinions.  It is a remarkable and staggeringly profound process.  Despite all the craziness of parenting a large-ish family (and sometimes because of it), I love being the mother of my TSMs.  Somehow the insanity keeps me sane.  Go figure.

Here’s a fun little pregnancy site for the visually inclined:  The Visible Embryo.  You can see week by week how a typical embryo/fetus looks.  Pretty cool.

 

* No.  We have no insider information to share about the baby’s gender.  Given our track record and that of the rest of Doug’s family, however, the smart money is on another boy.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: a Review

I am way behind on my blogging.  The TSMs have been doing funny things and playing with real TSMs, but instead of telling you about that today, I’m going to review a movie for you.

While home for the holidays, my sister and I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  Overall we both liked it.  It was a fun movie to watch for a variety of reasons.  The acting was good, which you’d expect from Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt and Julia Ormond.  The special effects were special — in the good way. 

It was amazing to see how believably they made both Pitt (45) and Blanchett (39) both drastically younger and older than their actual ages.  Okay, so older isn’t that big a deal, they’ve been doing that in movies forever.  But younger?  Seeing Pitt apparently in his late-teens or early 20s, was a freaky blast from the past for those of us who remember his baby face from Thelma and Louise.  And in the scene where Blanchett’s character Daisy is auditioning for a dance company she actually looks 20!  When will this technology be available to the rest of us?!  That’s what I want to know.  They’d make a fortune on the Button cosmetics and body care line. 

You’ll have noticed by now that I have not touched on the actual storyline.  That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the first thing my sister and commented to each other about the movie was: “That was a lot like Forrest Gump.”  Aside from the aging backward bit, there are many parallels as follows.   Hidden for spoilers — highlight text if you want to see:

Gump	Button
“Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you’re gonna get.” Feather Loves a promiscuous party-girl he’s known since childhood Finally gets girl when she can’t party anymore Gains a vast fortune through shrimping Leaves for years of soul-searching through running	“You never know what’s comin’ for you.” Hummingbird Loves a promiscuous dancer he’s known since childhood Finally gets girl when she can’t dance anymore Gains a vast fortune through buttons Leaves for years of soul-searching through backpacking the Himalayas (like a flashback from Seven Years in Tibet)

Not to say that everything is the same, but there are certainly enough similarities to  make you scratch your head.  Which is kind of a shame.  Benjamin Button is based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, which means that Forest Gump is probably the derivative work even though it came out 14 years earlier.  Benjamin Button is a somewhat darker tale

 

My final recommendation?  If you haven’t seen Forrest Gump, go see Benjamin Button.  If you saw Forrest Gump and you thought it all seemed too easy, go see Benjamin Button.  If you saw Forrest Gump and only like happy endings, rent Benjamin Button when it’s available.  But you should see it, either way.  It’s not a perfect movie, but I appreciated the honesty of how the characters reacted differently to challenges.

Straight No Chaser

I realize you are probably each busy with your families, which is as it should be.  But if you are as easily distracted by shiny objects (or bell-like voices) as me, then you should take a moment to listen to Straight No Chaser sing “12 Days of Christmas.”  Go HERE.  This is a holiday season imperative.  They are absolutely stunning.

Straight No Chaser is a 10-member men’s a cappella group.  Wait, get back here!  I wasn’t finished!  They are not your grand-dad’s dusty old Ivy League boys.  They are easily some of the most talented vocalists I’ve ever heard and they’ve got a sense of humor. 

Your assignment:  Go visit Straight No Chaser.  Listen to “12 Days of Christmas” and report back.  I’d love to hear what you all thought of them.  As for me, I’m off to go buy the CD…

Edited to add the following:

Most of the group’s YouTube videos have been taken down.  (Drat that record deal…)  Here are a few remaining links to (mostly) non-holiday stuff:

Straight No Chaser Theme Song

Any Dream Will Do  (funny, with award-winning choreography!)

It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday

Teen Sensation Medley

Sitcom Medley (especially the last one!!!)

Carol of the Bells

The Golden Rule, Reinterpreted

We’ve all been taught the Golden Rule.  And up until this week, I believed I had passed it on intact to my oldest terrifying space monkey.  As it turns out, he has his own spin.  Here’s how I found out:

TSM2 came screaming into the family room.  When I got him calmed down enough to speak coherently, he told me that his older brother, “kicked…[pant] me… [pant] in… [pant] the… [pant] stomach… [pant pant pant].”  It really is amazing how much information a child can convey whilst in hysterics if he thinks it will get his brother in trouble.

Well, I can’t have my kids kicking each other, can I?  So I call TSM1 into the family room.  He saunters in, completely oblivious to the trouble he’s about to be in.  Or maybe he just doesn’t care?  I could not for the life of me read his expression as anything other than casual. 

Me:  “Did you kick your brother?” 

TSM1:  “Yes.”

Me:  “Why did you kick him?”

TSM1:  “He kicked me first.”

Me:  “What should you do if someone hurts you?”

TSM1:  “Mom.  I was following the Golden Rule.”

Me (a smidge confused):  “Um…  What do you think the Golden Rule is?”

TSM1:  “Treat other people how you want to be treated.”

Me (light dawning):  “Ah.  I see.  The rule means that you should treat people how you would like to be treated.  It doesn’t mean that how they treat you is how you should treat them.  Do you understand the difference?”

TSM1 nods.

Me:  “No matter what, you are not allowed to hit your brothers.  Are we clear?”

TSM1 (fuming):  “Fine.”

I do think TSM1 has a promising future as a lawyer, though.

Tags ‘n’ Stuff

I got tagged weeks ago and then again today (sort of) to post six/seven random things about myself.  In no particular order:

1. My youngest TSM calls me by my first name because TSM2 taught him to do it while I was doing a weekend writing marathon for NaNoWriMo.  It would be annoying if it weren’t so stinking cute!

2. I am both a morning person and a night owl.  Seriously.  But I am completely useless from 12:30 to 5pm.

3. I used to bellydance.  Not for money or anything; just for fun and exercise.  And our teacher made us do a public “recital.”  Yes, there’s video proof.  *shudders*

4. We found out this morning that some jerk stole our credit card number and bought tickets to an NFL game in California over the weekend.  My credit card has been tainted by professional sports, people!!!  And yes, we’re doing all the fun identity theft stuff now.

5. I refuse to put up any Christmas decorations until December 1st.  If you celebrate something for too long, it ceases to be a celebration.  Plus, you miss out on fun stuff like Halloween and Thanksgiving, that is not one but two socially sanctioned holidays of gluttony.

6.  My dream vacation is to see classical sites in Greece, Italy and especially Turkey.  Ooh, and I’d love to go to Petra in Jordan.  (That’s the city carved out of the cliff face.  You saw it in the 3rd Indiana Jones movie, and others.)

and the bonus for E~

7.  I am also a toe shaver.  At least in warm weather.

 

Kathleen, Stacey, Valerie, Amy and Diana you are officially tagged.  You are supposed to post six random things about yourself and then tag 6 other people.  (I didn’t tag six because all my other regular readers have done this already.)

I was going to write more, but as advertised I don’t do afternoons well…

Nothing Clever

As advertised, I have nothing clever to say today.  This might be due to the pregnancy-induced insomnia I’ve been having.  There’s just nothing more fun than being too queasy to sleep and too tired to do anything useful.  So what did I do last night?  I held the couch down and consumed two hours of mind numbing, creativity squashing TV.  Bottom line, I lost a few brain cells and I want a nap like a junkie wants a fix.

NaNoWriMo Win!!!

Don’t get *overly* excited.  All it takes to win is to finish.  But I DID IT!!!  I actually wrote a 50,000 word novel (rough draft) in 30 days.  I created 175 pages of text out of thin air.  And believe me, by the end, the air in my brain was getting pretty darn thin!  (See what I mean?  That actually sounded good in my head, though now I realize I’ve just called myself an airhead…)

If I weren’t sick to my stomach, I would demand to be taken out for dinner and feted like the literary Valkyrie I am!

Twilight Review (spoiler-free if you’ve read the book)

The book-turned-movie finally (!) hit theaters at midnight Friday.  Here’s what I thought in a somewhat unconventional order.

Adaptation:  Catherine Hardwicke did a pretty good job condensing an extremely long book into a 2-hour movie.  That said, I think the beginning of the movie was pretty choppy — lots of different scenes but no clear way to know how much time was passing between each.  Also, the movie doesn’t adequately cover the actual basis/genesis of Bella and Edward’s relationship.  I think that’s okay for people who are obsessed about the book like me, but I think it will be a problem for those not familiar with the story.  I’m not sure if that’s an adaptation thing, an editing thing or a must-squeeze-this-story-into-less-than-four-hours thing, but there it is.

Cinematography:  The look of the movie is beautiful, documentary-ish and a little bizarre.  It is unlike most movies I’ve seen in the last ten years (big studio jobs) and more like the few small indie movies I’ve seen.  At times it was a little irritating, but mostly the camera work made it feel like I was in a special place and like I was there. 

Script:  Generally good, with a few cheesy places.  We need to face it:  it’s just too hard to make some of Stephenie Meyer’s lines sound right when they’re said out loud.

Acting:  In general it was excellent.  Real stand out surprises for me were Billy Burke as Charlie, Taylor Lautner as Jacob, Nikki Reed as Rosalie, and Anna Kendrick as Jessica.  Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart both did very well in their roles, although a few bits were a little over the top (see ”scenes” section).

Special effects: Some were more special than others, but the one I cared about – sparkling in the sunlight – was tastefully done.  Once though, I swear I saw a wire that didn’t get blurred or CGed properly.  Oh well.

Scenes: 

First meeting in the classroom - Robert Pattinson’s initial facial expression was a bit much for me, but he sure knows how to look hateful.  Yikes.

First kiss - Jump back and kiss your man R-E-D-H-O-T!  So hot it was almost voyeuristic.

Meeting the family – Real family dynamic.  And funny.

Vampire baseball – This was even better than the trailers had led me to expect.  Watching Jasper was especially fun.  I will wear out this part of my DVD when it comes out.  (And yes, that means I liked the movie enough to buy it.)

Ballet studio scene – “Very visually dynamic,” as James would say.  But when Edward is sucking the venom out of Bella’s wrist, his expression is so intense it was almost silly.  Of course, I can’t imagine how else you could act out what Edward is feeling when you’ve got your mouth around someone’s wrist…

Prom - Yowza!  And that’s all I have to say.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I’d give this an overall 7-8.  There were things I didn’t like, but none of them were unforgiveable.  I left the theater feeling jazzed, happy and excited to be seeing it again in less than 24 hours.

Bring on the Chocolate Broccoli

Vegetation is pretty darn cool.  It grows with nothing more than dirt, rain and sun; anyone can get those, unless they live in the desert.  Even better, plants reproduce themselves.  They don’t have to get married, or pick someone up at a bar, or meet their mate via MySpace or Facebook.  On the basis of that alone, vegetables rule.

This is not to say, of course, that things can’t be “improved” upon.  Genetic engineering is the plastic surgery option for plants.  Seeds not robust enough?  Yield not large enough?  No problem.  A little nip and tuck in the old DNA and, voila, you’ve got a better, more attractive plant. 

Now, not all modifications are created equal.  Seedless plants?  Call me cheap, call me anti-progress, but I like food I can grow again just by saving their seeds.  Why should anyone have to pay for seeds, unless the ones they kept became nonviable?  That is just plain old corporate greed. 

There are, however, some advances I would pay big money for.  Broccoli that has the taste and mouth-feel of chocolate, anyone?  Rutabagas that taste like caramel apple?  Oh, yes.  Will someone please start working on gene-mod veggies that taste like candy?  Not only will you make the world a happier, healthier place, you will win the admiration, and dare I say fan-girl adoration, of mothers everywhere whose children will finally eat their veggies without complaint!

Eve House Plot Synopsis

For the thronging mass of people (read “two”) who were interested in more than a two line summary of the book I’m trying to write, here’s my first cut on back cover copy:*

In the future, women have retreated to enclaves called Eve Houses, a refuge of last resort. Life in the Eve House has a lot of benefits as long as a woman can bear children. Those with children, particularly female children have political power, wealth and social status. They have every freedom except the freedoms to leave and to choose their procreative partners.

Born a second daughter at a time when only one woman is born for every 100 men, Matrena’s life was never normal. Expected to usher in the genetic change that would save humanity, she took the ambitious name Eve when she reached adulthood. In the eleven years since her society rejoiced at her coming of age, Eve has become the butt of every bitter joke in the Eve House for not having borne a single child. After the mysterious death of a close friend, she is propelled into direct conflict with the most powerful women of Eve House.

Will Eve discover the secrets they are keeping from the rest of humanity? Will Eve survive to tell the tale?

 

* There will actually be a cover!  This year, one of the NaNoWriMo sponsors is giving every author who crosses the finish line a paperback bound copy of their novel for free. How cool is that??