Kidbits and Updates

Each is not a whole post, but together it's a lot of catching up:

• Last week, Sis and I went to a compass class with some of our GS friends.  And it was taught by a friend we had made at Hog Island last year!  So great to see her again.  I learned so much. I did not know how to read a compass.  Hold the compass flat in your hand, with the curved part at your wrist and the printed red "travel arrow" pointing out from your palm.  "Turn on the compass"--I know, it's not electronic--means to put the "red in the shed," i.e. move the "compass housing" so that the red part of the needle that always faces magnetic north moves into the outlined arrow or orienting lines/arrow.  Now you can tell what direction you are pointing by whatever direction and degree lines up with the travel arrow.  You reverse it to go in a particular direction.  Want to go Northwest?  Move the compass housing to put NW at the end of the travel arrow, move yourself to put the "red in the shed", and walk in the direction of the arrow.  At least I think that's right.  Sis was much better than I was.  I know there is so much more to orienteering but it was a great start.  I'll practice at Hog Island again this summer.
• We went to three orchestra concerts last week, one for our school and two where the kids from our orchestra were invited to play at other concerts to help round out the sound.  They played "Vida La Viva," a bit from "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik," "Shadows," and . . . something else.  I love hearing my kids play . . . and it was even bittersweet to hear the little ones play "Hot Cross Buns."  Sis and Bud have come a long way.  And they'll both be playing in the orchestra again next year.
• Piano duet.  Yep, Bud and I are finally playing a piano duet.  I had stopped taking piano during CPE but am starting up again for the summer.  And so we actually did some planning during Monday's lesson.  I'm dusting off "Finlandia" and "The Entertainer" (both easy piano) and then learning my part of "Vida La Viva."  Yes, the Coldplay song.  Just like Bud played in orchestra.  I know it.  He likes it.  And one of the parts is just my speed.  Only challenge is that I don't really count when I play, just play by ear to the tune I know, which makes it almost impossible to play in the right spot with a duet partner so I'm practicing counting.  Whew.  But the playing has rejuvenated Bud, who spent last night playing "Phantom of the Opera," "Prince Sidon," and other songs.  One of my favorite sounds in the world.
• Bud has had a few kung fu performance in the last few weeks, which is not our usual performance time (May and October are the big competition times; January/February are the big Lunar New Year performance times.)  He performed at Quassy Amusement Park, a small, old local park with rides and games next to a lake.  The performance went well, but the team had even more fun wandering around together and going on all the rides--swings, tilt-a-whirl, this big boat that swings like a pendulum, tea cups, another ride that flips and holds you upside down.  I enjoyed the lovely weather and riding the carousel.  Oh how I love a carousel!  Bud even rode with me towards the end of the day. 
• And he earned his Black Belt right before we left for Italy.  The school hadn't been doing belts for the team (it's more of a karate thing than a kung fu thing anyway) and so their Master gave the team the chance to earn their belts.  Bud practiced for weeks, on top of his years of kung fu, and he earned the black belt, embroidered with his school, and a beautiful plaque to go with it.  We're so proud of him!
• INDIGO GIRLS!  Last week, we all went to hear the Girls in concert in New London.  We arrived early enough for dinner (mac and cheese pizza, chix and broccoli and bacon pizza, pasta pomodoro, great salad and yummy cakes) at this great local pizza place, Two Wives--and the only men in the building were Bud and those on the staff!  Everyone was there for the concert, which always draws about 95% women.  Most of them were our age or older--and not even all of them were dykes!  Of the five others I knew there that night, only 2 were lesbians.  But they were moms of twins, just like us.  Gotta introduce the kiddos to the culture, you know?  It was great--they played most of our favorites.  We got home really late, but we didn't care.  Besides, it was Mother's Day weekend and there's not much these two moms like more than a Girls concert.
  
• Mama and I gave ourselves our big Mother's Day present:  we went to the Met museum all by ourselves, leaving the kids at home on Saturday.  I had wanted to see the Thomas Cole exhibition and it was closing on Sunday, but the kids didn't want to go.  And after three orchestra concerts, the Indigo Girls, the compass class, and a kung fu show, we decided they would probably enjoy a day at home much more . . . and we might enjoy the moms' night out all by ourselves.  And we did!  There was some traffic heading into the city on Saturday afternoon, but we talked all the way there.  The Cole show had some great pieces--Course of Empire, Oxbow River, a little trompe l'oeil with an oil sketch of a landscape, a view of Florence in front of which I no longer needed to say "I'd love to take you to Italy!"  There were also paintings by Claude Lorraine, de Loutherbourg, Turner, Constable, including cloud studies and Hadleigh Castle.  The concept of the show--Cole was influenced by European art and travels--was nothing new, but it was pretty.  We also liked the parallel show about Americans in Italy--with sketches and drawings and watercolors by Sargent, Elihu Vedder, and Maurice Prendergast.  We especially liked the Venetian views.  We enjoyed a ham sandwich on a baguette, rich chocolate cupcake, and a cup of coffee in the American courtyard, treating this trip into the city like we did Italy by taking it easy and enjoying ourselves, slowly.  The last show on our list was the French gardens show, tracing the rise of public gardens and private gardening as a hobby after the Revolution and through the 19th century.  There were still lifes by Fantin-Latour, Odilon Redon, Mary Cassatt--I loved her lilacs--and Caillebotte's chrysanthemums.  There were also many women-in-the-garden scenes by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cassatt, and Morisot, though little discussion of the trope.  There were watering cans, hand rakes and trowels, and maps of gardens, including a great panorama postcard of the Tuileries with all these wonderful snippets of people.  It was a lovely show.  I think I might be getting excited about going back to Paris someday, with the kids, once they've had more French.  As we perused the shop--I got the gardens catalogue but not the Cole (I have the one from the very-similar Wadsworth show I saw when I came back to NYC in fall 1994 to see Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard--when I stayed with Mama in her dorm, actually.  Full circle.)--I saw mention of a Visitors to Versailles show and so Mama and I trekked up to it.  Great 18th-century court costumes, dec arts, and even a room devoted to an early 18th-century visit by Siamese ambassadors from the court of Ayyuthaya who brought gifts and wore special hats. Yep, Thailand.  Circle again.  We absolutely skipped the Heavenly Creatures and the Catholic Imagination show; well, sort of.  It was spread out through the Medieval court on the first floor so we passed by the overdone fashions and big crowds on our way to other exhibitions.  It was a dramatic place to stage the show, with all the Catholic art of the Middle Ages, but I am completely uninterested in modern fashion. Give me those 18th-century court gowns any day.
• We saw Avengers: Infinity War.  Loved it.  It's past the point where I worry about spoilers; by now the details are well known.  Of course, it's the deaths that got everyone.  And we all seem to have the idea that most won't stick.  But I'm guessing they'll surprise us--it's too easy if Scarlet Witch somehow breaks the Soul Stone from the inside or Cap sacrifices himself for Bucky (and them all) and switches places with everyone in the Soul Stone.  I don't think he'll survive the next one, Cap.  And I think Black Panther, sweet Spidey, and all of those who disintegrated will be back. Doctor Strange knows exactly how it will all pan out.  No resurrection for mischievous Loki, though.  He was one of my favorites.  And I think Gamorrah will get, who I think entered the Stone as Thanos's sacrifice, will get out, too.  And all of that in time for the new Guardians, Spiderman, and Black Panther movies!
• Sis got her braces off!  She was so excited that she took a bag of popcorn with her to the appointment and had been planning her candy consumption for months.  Mama brought her a bag of jelly beans, gummy bears, Star Bursts, Carmellos, jar of caramel sauce, two bags of popcorn from Trader Joe's, and I don't know what else.  She now has a clear retainer.  And says her mouth is "soft!"  Bud will get his braces in a month (he lost his lost baby teeth later than she did)--I teased the orthodontist that he could just recycle the brackets and give us a discount. 
• CPE is wrapping up.  I have 62 hours left, a final evaluation paper (already at 10 pages), and three more essays.  Whew.  I witnessed a funny moment last week.  The priest startled a sleeping patient who then tried to get out of bed.  I fetched a nurse.  The patient kept saying, "I need to get to my business." (You could tell he meant work.)  The nurse said, "You can do your business here in bed."  "It isn't funny business!" he replied.  We all started to giggle.  The nurse said, "I can't believe you said that in front of the priest!"  The priest was laughing harder than all of us.  More on CPE later.  It's my day off!  Which means some Zentangle, crocheting, blogging, and watching reruns of "Arrow."

Highlights

So much to tell, so little blogging time while summer continues and school preparations begin.

We had a MARVELOUS time with Gommie!  And, as you saw from my earlier list, we managed to squeeze so much in--and that's with a very slow Tuesday when everyone was tired and blah (both kiddos seemed to be fighting something virusy.)  I'll spare you a day-by-day description in favor of highlights, in random order.



Schooner:  It's a tie for my favorite thing we did while Gommie was here, but since I hadn't done a sunset schooner cruise with lobster dinner before, I vote for it.  We headed to the port midday, stopping first for a quintessentially New England lunch at Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in picturesque Noank.  In a series of little shacks, we picked up lobster salad rolls, steamed mussels, steamed corn, frozen hot chocolates, apple crumble, and lemon slab pie with ice cream, all of which we ate overlooking a brilliant blue Sound with lots of white sailboats.  I felt like the cast of Carousel would burst out singing at any minutes!

Then we headed to the dock in New London where the Mystic Whaler was waiting for us.  It's a I-don't-know-how-many-feet-long schooner built in the 1960s and refurbished.  With three sails and wooden decks and detailing, it felt older to me and transported me back to the great age of sail (without all the danger and hassle.)  New London, of course, was a major seaport in the country's colonial past--we even sailed by Revolutionary War-era Fort Trumbull and another fort.  We cruised out past the London Ledge light and got some great photos.  Gommie, Mama, and the kids even helped haul the sails while singing a chantey! It really was idyllic.  And the food was good, too.  There was clam chowder, lobsters, tasty grilled chicken for me and Sis, coleslaw, rolls, and cheesecake.  Even though there were two dozen or so other passengers, it never felt really crowded.  And the crew was especially helpful and nice.  I think it'd be lovely to take an overnight cruise with them.  I know Gommie had a great time, which made it extra special to be able to find something new for her.  Being on the water and dusk are two of her favorite things.  Though, she refrained from calling it "the nicest time of the day."

Cats:  Our trip into NYC was a close second to the schooner cruise, especially because I think the kiddos had never been in the city with Gommie before.  We spent the day around Times Square, which is familiar to all of us, albeit never all together.  In fact, we really did the tourist thing, quite embarrassingly (and jokingly) pointing at tall buildings, stopping on the sidewalk for selfies, and going to tourist traps!  We did not, however, wear "I (heart) NY" shirts!  Our first stop was Madame Tussaud's, where there was a virtual reality Ghostbusters experience.  The kids and Mama loved donning the proton packs and hunting ghosts, but I didn't even try (the packs were 15 lbs) and Gommie got disoriented by the VR and stopped when it malfunctioned a bit.  The rest of the place was mostly uninteresting--the kids didn't know 90% of the figures and couldn't have cared less.  We did see a few they liked--Katniss from Hunger Games, some of the Avengers, and three of the Ghostbusters women--and decided if the whole place had been geeky was statues--Doctor Who, Star Wars, Pokemon, Studio Ghibli, etc--we would have had a blast.   Gommie did really enjoy posing with Hillary Clinton, too.

We had dinner at Sapporo, our favorite quick pre-show eatery (don't forget that it's a cash-only place!)  Sis and I had our usual katsu chicken cutlet, to which she added gyoza and I added the potato salad with sesame-Japanese mayo dressing; and there was the yummy house slaw and soup.  Bud got soupy noodles (because there was enough time before curtain) and Mama got cold noodles.  Gommie got this delicious gyun-don shredded beef rice with sukiyaki sauce (I think), which I think I'll get next time.

In the time before curtain, we perused both Hershey's and the M&M store, neither of which Gommie had seen.  Then, because it was hot out and we were a little tired, we sat in the Crowne Plaza--where there was the Liberty City Anime Con!  Gommie got to see all the cosplayers!  It was the perfect NYC people-watching spot.  With seats and AC!

Then it was time for Cats.  We had great seats, second row Orchestra on an aisle; we don't usually sit that close at all, but it was great to see the elaborate garbage set and the amazing dancers close up.  And, during all the action, numerous cats ran down the aisle beside us.  In fact, Rum Tum Tugger was flirting with me!  (I had the aisle seat.)  At one point during the show, some cats pretended to take a photo of Tugger and me together.  Later, when he came down the aisle, he purred, "How do you like my fur?"  And yet again, he winked right at me from stage later.  Funny.  You're a cute kitty, RTT, but not my type.  Amazingly, during intermission, they let you up onstage to take photos with Old Deuteronomy!  We didn't know this so Mama and Sis had left for the bathroom and missed it, but Bud and I went and Deuteronomy played with Bud's hair (or, made a gesture similar to one he made in "Moments of Happiness" about memory.)  It was amazing to see the house from the stage; Bud grinned from ear to ear the whole time.  I was really sorry Sis missed it; so was she.  The show was pretty much exactly how I remembered it from when Gommie and I saw it on tour in Houston, in, oh, the early 1980s.  Though, there wasn't any "Growltiger's Last Stand" this time.  I loved it then and I loved it again.  Maybe even more sitting with my mom, my wife, and my kids, all of whom were enthralled.  We've been humming the songs ever since.  And both kids read T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

After the show (and the purchase of some pins and magnets and a eared hoodie for me), we had our requisite trip to Junior's for snacks for the ride home--chocolate egg creams, cheesecake, black and white cookie, Cel-ray soda, and some French onion soup for Bud to eat the next day.  I think we weren't asleep until 2 a.m., but it was worth it.


Food:  You know we love to eat out.  In addition to the Japanese food mentioned above, we ate at our favorite local Japanese place (after going to see Kubo and the Three Strings; more below.)  Mama, Bud, and Gommie had a big boat of sushi, while Sis had a chicken udon stir fry and I had chicken teriyaki.  There were also gyozas, harumaki, soup, salad, green tea, and mango mochi.

We also took Gommie to a new German place we'd found, since we know she loves sausages and sauerkraut.  The table was groaning with a sausage tasting platter (kielbasa, weiss weiners, and something else), raclette (cheese on potatoes and pickles), big buttered pretzels, currywurst, jaegerschnitzel, chicken schnitzel, cold potato salad, steamed mussels, apple strudel, black forest cake, and I don't remember what else.  Whew!

We also got take-out from the Italian deli, with various chicken parm and meatball grinders, seafood salad, chicken cutlet salad sandwich, etc.

I almost forgot the meal her first night at a local bistro--steamed mussels in wine and garlic (the better of the two mussels she had this trip), hummus with olive gremolata, salt and pepper shrimp, homemade bread, and roasted chicken.

Other food included the best local doughnuts, my own sourdough biscuits, Sis's oatmeal lace cookies

I'm sure I've forgotten a few places--I don't think I cooked much if at all.


Movies:  As a family, we've been going to more movies this year and we saw two with Gommie.  First, the kids wanted to take her to the new Ghostbusters, which she hadn't even heard of, to prepare her for the Ghostbusters experience at the wax museum.  She laughed through the whole thing, which was entertaining to Mama and me, since we know it's not her kind of film.  I enjoyed it just as much as the first time.  I think I liked Holtzmann even more this time!

On preview night, we went to see Kubo and the Two Strings, which Bud had wanted to see since spotting the first trailer.  And then we learned that the brother of a friend of mine was the production designer.  Wow!  It was a masterpiece.  And I'm not just saying that because Sew and Sow reads my blog sometimes.  It was beautifully made--with this incredible stop-motion technique--with papers and fabrics.  Oh, the flying origami!  The original story seemed taken straight from Japanese folklore (and I loved the details of the samurai armor, netsuke, wabi sabi-like rice bowl during a meal, the cemetery and lantern ceremony, etc etc etc)  And what a story!  No spoilers here, only to say I loved the non-violent resolution.  If you go--and you should--stay for the credits; there's a behind-the-scenes bit that Bud tells me shows the largest stop-motion sculpture ever made (how does he know that??)  We talked about it for a few hours straight--over a Japanese dinner, no less.  Oh, and we even got free little pins because it was preview night.


Maple Syrup Incident:  This was on my list so I feel I must explain it.  While trying to get food on the table before Bud had to go to kung fu, I realized an entire jug of maple syrup had been de-capped and upturned in the fridge, spilling all over not only a shelf but in both crisper drawers.  UGH.  Gommie saved the day with her thorough cleaning.  And Sis finished cooking Bud's dinner while I helped Gommie.  Bud was oblivious to it all and, probably wisely, stayed out of the kitchen.


Pokemon Go!  Gommie had a thorough introduction to the VR world of Pokemon when Bud directed her around town for two hours hitting many of the best Pokestops.  I believe she even got one herself.

Clockwise from left:  Sis, Gommie, me, and me again

Clockwise from left: Sis, Gommie, me, and Bud

Gommie's new tiles.  She really likes lace, on the bottom tile.

Zentangle:  Last but not least, we did some tangling.  Gommie poured over my new books and practiced some new tangles.  And we all made a couple of family mosaics together.  I had gotten Gommie a special Zentangle "No Mistakes" t-shirt and also some little carrying-pouches for supplies that we decorated.  It really is a wonderful thing to do together.  And she's gotten really good!


Games:  The kids save a lot of their game playing for Gommie, because she is so enthusiastic about it.  They played checkers, Simon's Cat, (tried to play) Harry Potter Clue, the 5-Second Rule, and Rummy Q.  We all played Telestrations, which Gommie picked up for us, a kind of old-fashioned telephone game plus Pictionary; we laughed and laughed at some of the outcomes (including "chicken man with furry face," "narwhal with legs," "bird in a pie," etc.)  Gommie was also game to try the Wii games Fantasia (directing an orchestra) and Just Dance (like Digital Dance Revolution.)  And we all told her all about Dragonvale.  Plus, of course, Pokemon Go, as described above.

And that's about it.  Sure, Gommie went to horseback riding lessons, kung fu lessons, piano lessons (albeit in the house), and ice skating lessons, too, and there was down time swimming at a neighbor's pool, watching Olympics and such.  But, mainly, I think we squeezed in as much as we had energy to do.  And we started making plans for next time!!!

Happy Independence Day!

We're in our living room watching "A Capitol Fourth" with Sutton Foster, Christopher Jackson (of Hamilton), and others, and will later flip back and forth with the Macy's fireworks on NBC--our traditional July 4th activities!

We're not much for celebrating (being too cynical for most jingoistic patriotism--especially this election year!--and too averse to hot weather to for beaches and barbecue), but this year saw us do more than usual.  On Saturday, we attended a wonderful lakeside picnic at the summer home of one of Bud's kung fu buddies.  There was a lot of tasty food--pasta salad, baked ziti, roasted corn, my Tex-Mex chocolate sheet cake, lasagna, various catered Indian curries and dishes, a fresh fruit salad (complete with cored and halved cherries!), this great couscous salad with pine nuts and dried fruits (I hope to get this recipe later), etc etc etc--and we all had our fill.

I talked with various other guests--two women owned horses and compared notes with Sis, one couple had a new 10-week-old baby, others went to a private school that Mama and I have our eyes on, one dad had left our kung fu school a couple of years ago and had stories to tell.  A nice group.

Best of all, the kids got to hang out with some of the older kids (from 14-18 years old.)  They went swimming in the lake together, playing on the standing paddle boards and the water trampoline.  The kids were like fish!  And, while there were life jackets to be had, they didn't need them.  Mama and I sat on the dock in the shade watching them, the ducks (Mr. and Mrs. Mallard), the Canada geese, the Red-Shouldered hawk screeching overhead most of the day, the various birds flitting back and forth, and the sun glinting off of the green water while the trees swayed in the light breeze.  It was a beautiful day.  Later, the kids made music together inside, each showing off various piano pieces and singing karaoke together.  Then they hung out upstairs, exploring the nooks and crannies of the old house.

After the party, we stopped for ice cream at our favorite local place.  The lines were long, but it was worth the wait.  Black raspberry.  Coffee.  Cherry Vanilla.  Toasted Almond.  A chocolate milkshake. Mmmmmmm!

Then we went to play putt-putt!  It was a lovely little course surrounded by shrubs and a stream.  It wasn't kitschy, just some good old fun.  We were pretty wiped after that, grabbing some burgers on the way home that night.

On Sunday, Mama and the kids went to NYC for dim sum with the grandparents, while I went to lunch to celebrate the birthday of Mama Teacher.  Then, we spent the evening together watching "The Great British Bake-off."

Today, we celebrated Mama's birthday belatedly by going to see Finding Dory at the fancy theater with the reserved and big reclining seats.  It was a cute film--especially those otters and the two whales.

Which brings us full circle to the 4th of July tv shows right now, while real fireworks are going off in yards around town.

Happy Independence Day!

And may we continue to be the land of the free . . . . with freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.


-=-=-=-=-
And so we finished more of our list in one weekend:

1. Putt-putt golf
2. Celebrate 4th of July--we've been invited to a picnic.
3. Celebrate Mama's birthday--we're doing it this coming weekend!

And let's add to the movie list 

    4.  See Finding Dory

-=-=-=-=-=-

From “ Field of Greens” cookbook:

Couscous Salad with Apricots, Pine Nuts and Ginger

1 cup instant couscous

1/2 cup water

1 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tablespoon vinegar (I usually use some kind of fruity vinegar, but basically anything works)

8 dried apricots thinly sliced

2 tablespoons dried raisin, cherries, currents, cranberries (whatever you have around)

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Salt

1/2 cup finely diced red onion

2 Tablespoon pine nuts

Pour couscous into small mixing bowl.  Mix water, orange juice, olive oil and vinegar in saucepan and bring to boil.  Stir in dried fruit, ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; immediately pour over couscous and then cover bowl and let sit for 20 minutes.

Bring small pt of water to boil and drop in red onion for 15 seconds.  Drain.

When couscous is ready, fluff it with fork and then add pine nuts and onion.

Countdown to Easter

Thursday:
Sis stayed home because the doctor Thursday afternoon said she had probably had the flu and was only just getting over it (strep test negative.)  We lolled around, watching "Glee," our new show (yes, there are a lot of adolescent situations but it gives us a chance to talk--about sex, pleasure, responsibility, feminism, sexism, body issues, bullying, homophobia, acceptance, etc etc etc.)

Bud came home midday (it was just a half day) and we hung out for a bit before running off to an appointment, picking up some dinner, and having some frozen yogurt.

That evening, I was gone for three hours on a night shoot for a new promotional video for the historic house.  I was very self-conscious but eventually settled into my role as narrator and costumed interpreter.  In fact, though it was in no way like a movie, I had some insight into several things--waiting waiting waiting around while lighting, set, props, etc were set up; trying to keep the same lines fresh over and over again without tripping on any words; taking direction to turn my head this way, modulate my voice that way, move a prop another way, and emote half the sentence like I did in the first take and half like the second; getting the giggles when I flubbed a line (cursing, too); becoming super self-conscious of how I looked, sounded, and moved.  But I had a great time and the video turned out pretty well.  (If I know you personally IRL and you want to see a copy of it, I'll send it to you; just email me.)


Friday:
We were kinda dull on Friday, with Sis still recovering and Bud tired after a long week at school (he was probably fighting the virus Sis had without actually developing the flu.)  We had pizza and watched Beetlejuice, which holds up pretty well some thirty years later.  The kids didn't quite get it, but nobody was scared of the ghosts or sad about the deceased.

I finished crocheting a blanket for an old high school buddy with whom I've reconnected and sent it on its way; she's having surgery and I wanted her to know I was thinking of her.  It's my usual Giant Granny Square but with a new edging called the Crab Stitch (mainly reverse single crochet around a row of double crochet.)  The colors in the photo are a little muted because it was overcast--it's actually a lovely lavender, some deeper  light green, and blue.

I did manage some shopping for the last of our Easter grocery needs.  Our final menu includes deviled eggs, pimento cheese, ham, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, cheddar cheese rolls, green peas, and Shaker Lemon pie, with Zinger Sherbet Punch.   And I got some hyacinths and hydrangeas for Ma and for me.


Saturday:
The Easter Penguin came!    There weren't any wet footprints because we don't have carpet anymore, but he did leave the kids a set of Minecraft blocks.  We had asked Bud if he thought the Easter Penguin would come and Bud reiterated that the Easter Penguin was very reliable.

The kids skipped their morning activities, both because they weren't feeling great and because Ma and Gong arrived . . . . so we went to the movies instead!  Yep, went to see Zootopia, which was funny but also a good teachable moment on race, biological determinism, stereotypes, prejudice, free will, the role of police in society--it even had a plot to incriminate the "predators" by poisoning them with toxic flowers (see recent interview excerpts with Nixon lacky Ehrlichman who said the war on drugs was exaggerated to criminalize and oppress African Americans and hippies/war protestors.)  All it needed was #PredatorsLivesMatter.

We had lunch at a new traditional Mexican restaurant which serves fresh tableside-made guacamole, lots of grilled foods (including cactus!),  lots of authentic-seeming dishes, and fresh tortillas (I know, Texans, none of that sounds special but this is Connecticut.)  Some of it was even too spicy for Ma and Gong!

The afternoon was a hodgepodge of "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown," eating apple pie, Bud trying out Gong's tai chi sword, building an Easter nest (there were flowers in bloom this year!!), making origami bunnies and frogs, and eventually saying goodbye to Ma and Gong.

We planted a hydrangea to mark the almost-one-year anniversary of the death of beloved Aunt Sis (today, btw, was the first anniversary since my emergency surgery.)  We had planted two other hydrangeas this spring in her memory, but I think only one survived the winter (and my gardening!)

Then the "work" started!  We pulled out the Easter decorations and purged some of the books and things.  We always find extra egg decorating kits--and so Sis chose plain tab Pas dye and Bud did tie dye.  I drew on a few eggs with a Sharpie and a wax crayon--see my bunny, Bay Max, and Totoro.  Lots of fun.  Then I prepped some dishes while Mama made the traditional last-minute run to the store.  And the kids and I hid some eggs and left a basket for the little girl and boy across the street.

Whew!

And it's not even Easter yet.

A Fine Philly Weekend

After a hectic week of illness and appointments, we got away this weekend for about 30-hours in Philly.  Our dear friend was being ordained a United Church of Christ (UCC) minister so we took the opportunity to get away for a day.

We drove down on Saturday after kung fu and ice skating, one of our easiest forays on the Jersey turnpike.  We got to Philly, checked into the lovely historic Morris House Hotel in the Olde City, and headed straight for ice cream at Franklin Fountain, which we'd discovered two years ago.  In fact, I think we had mostly the same thing--Bud had Ladies' Choice which had peach ice cream in a raspberry soda; Sis had a chocolate milkshake; and I had a War Admiral, which was a soda with roses, ginger, and milk.  But Mama got something new:  a Dubliner Sundae, which had Irish whiskey ice cream, with a warm whisky cake, and a Guinness-caramel sauce, all so very good.  Yum!  The Irish theme went great with all the drunk college kids and 20-somethings on pub crawls all over the area around us.  One group would stumble out of the pub while another group would stumble off the crowded bus, with lots of loud laughter, shouts, and merriment.  The kiddos were a bit surprised, so we gave them a few pointers on navigating the sidewalks around drunk folks--mainly keep an eye on their weaving so you don't get in the way if they need to puke!   We also popped into the Shane Confectionery next door to grab some sweets for the road.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed the closed Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, so dark, quiet, and completely devoid of people.  We never wait in line to see the bell and so enjoyed an unobstructed view through the window.  One day we'll do the Independence Hall tour, but this time we settled for Bud rapping the opening song of Hamilton, even though Hamilton spent more time in NYC.

Dinner--I know, it was after dessert, but that's how the reservations worked--was at Jones Restaurant. It was comfort food at its finest--in a swanky setting reminiscent of the "Brady Bunch" with shag carpet,  formica-like tables, and wood detailing and lamps that look just like the Brady living room.  It was a great meal:  tater tots (off menu, suggested by Mama's coworker who suggested the restaurant), fried cheese curds, fried chicken and fries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and Bud's tuna tacos, which weren't exactly old-fashioned comfort food but still very good.  We even had apple pie and Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake.  Mama also had this odd grape juice/lemonade/Sprite soda combo.  The house manager saw the kids looking at the open kitchen and invited them up to watch and introduced them to Chef Lisa.  They watched a few orders being prepared until our food came.  All in all, it was a great dinner.

That night, after some DS-playing and reading, we all slept with the urban noises around us--people emptying garbage in the alley, the subway breaks under the sidewalks, the people on the streets, even all the birds sining in the early morning.  Which we saw because it was the beginning of Daylight Savings Time.  UGH.  We'd bought 9:30 tickets to see the "Magic of Pixar" exhibition at the Franklin Institute, forgetting about DST, so we were up early.  And then, we got caught in St. Patrick's Day parade traffic, which we weren't expecting.  

But we made it to the museum in time and the exhibition was excellent!  The kids loved manipulating all the stations, which explored the story in art, modeling, rigging, surface reflections (I forget what this is called), rendering, sets, etc etc etc.  They created settings, grew grass to certain specifications, adjusted lighting, drew models in 3D, and so much more.  And I think Mama had more fun with it than they did.  We all posed with the various characters set up around the show--the Monsters, Dory, Wall-e, Buzz Lightyear, and such.  I wasn't as interested, though I had fun making the grass thick or thin, curvy or straight, clumpy or evenly distributed and I also liked playing with the simulations of water, hair, clothes, etc. in Brave.  We kept teasing the kids about how integral all the math was to the art, since they complain about math in school.  But it's fun when its CGI manipulation.  Mama thought she'd even try to see if there were programs where they can start playing with animation.  Despite all of the fun we had, I was, however, very disappointed that there were no Brave souvenirs in the shop--it was all Monsters and Cars, even though the exhibition had as many girls having fun.  Shame on Pixar and the Franklin Institute.  At the end of our visit, Sis even rode the Sky Bike above the lobby of the museum, back and forth over a net, so high up!

We headed to my favorite restaurant, City Tavern, for lunch.  And what a lunch!  Buttery mushroom toast, spicy pepperpot soup, the yummy bread basket (Sally Lunn, Anadama, and sweet potato bisucits), Franklin chicken with Lunn breading and wine reduction and mashed potatoes, chicken pot pie, seafood pasta, and a cured and roasted pork chop that looked like ham.  We finished it with creme brulee, a fig and oatmeal bread pudding with amaretto sauce, and a vanilla corn cake.  And of course, raspberry shrub!  We'll have to make our own again this summer.  There was a table near us of women in full 18th-century dress, though we weren't sure if they were re-enactors or actual museum interpreters.  And we even talked to Chef Staib again!  He'd given the kids a free DVD a few years ago and posed for pictures; he kindly said he remembered.  He's always nice to diners and the staff said he's also good to work for.

After lunch, we headed out to the 'burbs for our friend's ordination.  It was a long ceremony, much like a graduation--complete with processional of folks in robes--with lots of prayers and songs and even a sermon.   There was also communion--which the UCC seems to welcome all to participate in; we had to explain communion to the kids.  Mama and I participated, in the spirit of community, as did Sis; but Bud just wasn't sure.   It was more Jesus-centered talk than our kids have ever heard, being UU and all, almost more than I've heard (and, as a child, I spent dozens of Sundays in churches with friends, be they Southern Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, no UCC though) but then it was an ordination welcoming our friend into ministry.  We saw her a bit before and talked to both her and her wife; they were so glad to see we'd come down.  I think it meant a lot to all of us that we were there.  We stayed for a bit of the light supper--baked ziti and Amish chicken!--but needed to head out soon after.  We did manage to see our friend afterwards and give her the stole I'd made.  She put it on right away and it fit and looked pretty good (which surprised me because I made up the pattern.)  Smiles all around.

And then we headed home, in the rain, on the turnpike, listening to Divergent the whole way home.  Whew.  What a weekend!  But though it was busy, it was a nice escape.  Maybe one day, we'll actually see the tour at Independence Hall!

My SW7 Review--With SPOILERS

SPOILERS.

That's right.  Quit reading now if you don't want to know a lot about the plot of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Seriously, spoilers.

I've now seen SW7 three times, each time quite different from the others.  We saw it the first time the night before it opened, during previews, on Thursday, December 17.  We didn't take the kids out of school--in honor of when my mom took me out of school to see Return of the Jedi on its first day--as I always said I would do, because the first previews were at 7:45 p.m.  But they decided seeing it the night before was better than being taken out of school.  They promised no spoilers, just mild gloating, the next day.

The best part of waiting for the movie to start was that the theater was empty three hours beforehand and we didn't have to wait in line!  We arrived around 4:30, tickets in hand, and only stood in line a little bit before being ushered into our theater.  We waited for almost 3 hours, with the kids doing homework and reading books, eating popcorn and running down to the food court, in turns, to eat dinner.

And then the previews started.  I ignored The 5th Wave and Allegiant.  The new Rowling-penned movie, Fantastic Beasts, didn't look great; they need a stronger trailer.  The Star Trek trailer didn't attract any attention, these being SW fans after all.  But we all laughed heartily at Zootopia, with its slow-pokey sloth.  In fact, waiting for the sloth to talk was a lot like waiting for the previews to end so the movie would start.

Then it did.  More quickly than I thought, too, because there was not 20th-Century Fox prelude since SW is now owned by Disney.  Just "Lucasfilm" and then the iconic scrolling text and THAT SCORE.

Yep, I teared up.  Then, and many times more.

Where do I start?  I won't summarize the plot, mainly because I'm trusting you've seen it (and if you haven't, you probably don't care much.)  So, just some bullet points:

Remember, SPOILERS.

• I loved the use of desert/forest/snow--three iconic SW settings--which immediately took us back to the original films, not those awful prequels (as Mama said, "Those are dead to us.")
• Rey.  How can I say enough about Rey?  (Do you hear that, Hasbro?  #WheresRey?)  As Leia was the perfect female hero for my generation in the newly-feminist 70s, Rey is perfect female hero for today--for boys and girls, because I agree with whatever writer (ah, here it is.) noted that Rey is as important, if not more, for boys who aren't used to seeing girl heroes, than for girls who have always inserted themselves where girls don't exist (Yep.)  The best scene?  The marketplace, with Rey insisting that she didn't need Finn to hold her hand (I laughed when he was knocked out but kept asking if she were ok.)  Who is she?  Well, everyone's talking about that (I even have my own secret FB spoiler discussion group.)  Kenobi's daughter, with that British accent? Luke's daughter, with his theme song, his flying skills, lightsaber, clothing style (even desert-planet origins), mental connection to him (the ocean with the island where she finds him which Ren sees in her mind), her memories of the destruction of his Jedi school?  Han and Leia's daughter and Kylo's sister, maybe even twin?  A vergence of the Force with no family connection to any of the above?  With Abrams at the helm, I can't imagine we'll so easily guess who she is.   But I'm glad we'll be seeing her again.  
• Diversity.  Yay for diversity in casting!  A black Stormtrooper.  A Latino pilot.  Women Stormtroopers and rebel pilots and generals.  This is fantastic.  Fan-tastic.  Fantasy worlds don't need to be all white males, folks.  The first one broke boundaries with Leia and Lando; this one went even further.
• BTW, these stormtroopers are much better shots than their forebears.
• Who is that character Max von Sydow was playing?  I love that we can't even guess at all the answers.
• BB8.  Is it a boy or a girl?  Can droids even have gender?  I liked the little roly thing with its beeps, but no more so than when it gave Finn the thumbs up.  Mama and Sis liked how it went down the stairs at Maz's, too.
• Real sets, human scale.  Just like the trailer shown at Comic Con intuited, I was thrilled to see that this was a human-scale real world, not some giant CGI fantasy (Coruscant, anyone?  Naboo?)  The original films were all about people and their own struggles with good and evil.  We're back to that.  Perhaps that makes me un-original, in the sense that this movie was very much a continuation, if not a re-hashing of the first film, um, Episode IV.  But I'm the kind of fan this was made for--the one who loves the original three films, who saw the original films dozens of time, who bought the toys, who wore the Halloween costumes, who traded the cards, who dislikes Lucas's edits of those same (Han.  Shot.  First.)  and really detested the prequels, someone who is older now and not the demographic for most movies anymore, someone who has nostalgia for childhood and children of his or her own to initiate into the fandom.  
• Oh, I got teary seeing Han and Chewie, and then Leia and C-3PO and R2-D2 and finally Luke. Yes, they've aged.  None of us are the same age we were in 1977.  Duh.  Perhaps because we've seen Harrison Ford often on film since the last film in 1983 that we weren't surprised by his age; more likely, we're more accustomed to men aging somewhat more naturally in Hollywood (like Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, etc.)  I'm disgusted by the trolls going after Carrie Fisher and so inspired by the way she's handled them (hence, my meme.)
• Leia.  I LOVE Leia.  In charge.  Making the quick, tough, smart decisions. Witty.  Sensitive.  Hopeful.  Fearless.   Always my favorite.  I've missed her.   I'm so glad she's back.  I hope her part is even bigger next time.  And even though it shouldn't matter, I thought she looked majestic.

• Loved all the insider references.  The lightsaber practice ball that Finn tosses aside.  The space chess game.  The smuggler compartments.  Trash compacters.  "I have a bad feeling about this." The woman with the little Leia-like buns (who was played by Fisher's real daughter, Billie Lourd.) I can't think of them all right now.
• I liked Maz, even if her hangout wasn't as cool as the original SW Cantina.  Though, I swear three times on that I can see an E.T.-like creature being roasted on the spit.  Seriously.  Looks like E.T. to me.  But Maz was a wonderful Yoda stand-in, kinda reminded me of Guinan in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."   I hope we see more of her.
• Oh, Han.  What can I say?  I saw it coming as soon as he was reviewing his relationship with and then hugging Leia.  I knew that Harrison Ford had asked for the character to be killed off all the way back in Empire Strikes Back.  And here it was.  I got teary as soon as he started down that catwalk. And the whole theater was still and silent the whole time, each time we saw it. Why are all the fights and deaths in such huge, cavernous spaces?  (Kenobi in the hangar bay; Luke's hand in that Cloud City vacuum; Darth Vader on that catwalk and then in the hangar bay.)  But it was beautifully done, with his touching his son's face.  I'm not sure I can buy the theory that Han had agreed to be killed to help get Ren in with the Sith and that it was all planned.  Who knows.  But I was so sad.  In fact, watching the movie the second time was even harder because it all seemed like a long goodbye to Solo, with his being featured so heavily and getting so many quips; it was almost too much (good thing I could hide behind those 3D glasses.)  The third time was easier.  Though, my dad got teary that time and that made me teary, too.  Mama didn't understand why Chewie didn't give Leia a hug as soon as he got back to the Resistance base; I know it was a moment with Rey, but still, that rang false.
• I was not one of those fans obsessed with Luke's role in the film when he was absent from the trailers.  I did like seeing him at the end, but it wasn't the most important part for me.  I loved that setting, though, even if it almost gave me vertigo to watch Rey climb those stairs.  It's an ancient site in Ireland, Skellig Michael.

I loved how engaged the first audience was.  We clapped at the beginning.  And when the "garbage" Millennium Falcon appeared.  And for each "legacy" character.  And when the lightsaber went to Rey  instead of Ren.  And when she beat him.  And when the StarKiller Base blew up.  And when Luke appeared.  And of course as the end credits rolled.  The second audience, when we saw it two days later with Goo, who finally got a day off from the hospital, in IMAX 3D, wasn't quite as jazzed.  But the third audience, with my folks about ten days later, was also clap-happy.

Of course, we all loved it.  We've talked about it non-stop--and practically all of our Christmas presents were SW.  Mama, who wasn't really a fan the first time, being only three years old, loved it more than I could ever have expected.  It makes it all so much more wonderful to have this experience altogether.  And we have photos of ourselves in front of the big SW sign each time!

And then, there is my funny SW story.  As we were leaving the theater the first night, ripe with the need to discuss it, Bud loudly said, as we passed the long line of people waiting for the first midnight showing, "I can't believe that--"  and I quickly clamped my hand over his mouth.  I could just hear him say, "they killed off Han Solo."  Can you imagine the upset and disappointment of those people? "Ten-year-old thrashed by SW mob at premier."  I've laughed about it (and retold it) ever since, because of course it's the first thing we all want to say.  Han.  That's why I started my spoiler discussion group, so we could talk about it.  It's been so odd not to see it written about.  We need the official RIP Han Solo obit!  I had actually considered warning my friends who have had recent losses about it, as a trigger event, but of course I didn't.  We haven't lost many icons from my childhood, at least none of this fictional character's stature, and it was tough.  

But I think the series is in good hands.  Really good hands.  And I love that they are black, white, brown, male, AND female, along with droid and Wookie!

Bud said, "How can I wait two more years to find out what happens next??"  I said, "Try waiting 33."

The Force is with us.  Again.

Advent Activities: Christmas-y Weekend

On Saturday, we went to the mall, our annual pilgrimage to the altar of American consumerism.  But not for the shopping.  Bud's kung fu team was doing a performance to entertain holiday shoppers.  We did do a little shopping at Hot Topics, with all its geeky Doctor Who and Star Wars stuff, more to distract Bud from his performance than anything else.

After a stellar event, and some Froyo, we watched that very traditional holiday film . . . Hunger Games.  Yep, the kids are knee-deep into the story of Katniss and Panem, plowing through the books and now starting the movies.

Yesterday was the kids' annual December holiday piano recital, which went off swimmingly with Sis playing "Hedwig's Them" and "Shake it Off," and Bud playing "Home Fried Potatoes" and something which title I forget ("Stepping" or "Swinging," something.)  They went first and second and were glad to be done, sitting quietly through numerous Christmas, pop, and classical songs and waiting patiently for the snacks at the end, including my orange poundcake, which was popular.

We headed home, counting Christmas trees as we went--we count all season and are up above 90 spotted on the roof of cars from the nearby popular tree farm.  We have an artificial tree, because of the cats, and have decided to put it up on the last day of school and making a celebration of it by staying up late decorating the house.

On the way home we also saw a holiday bazaar in an historic building and stopped to look around.  I picked up a Bucilla Christmas ornament kit exactly like the one my great-grandmother made for Aunt Banana and me when we were little, with kittens and mice in stockings.

And I took some photos of decorated doors on historic houses in the area, which really capture New England Christmas for me.  Makes me doubly glad we'll be doing Christmas by Candlelight at Old Sturbridge Village soon.

But first, we watched . . . Catching Fire.  Such cheerful holiday fare.

Summer Fun: Our Movie List Update

We watch a lot of movies, especially for people who pretty much never go to the theater (maybe once a year, maybe.  This year it was Minions.)  This has been the summer of re-watching all the Marvel movies.  Yes, I know, violent.  But in that fantasy/sci-fi kind of way.

Tonight, we watched Back to the Future.  It aged pretty well in 30 years.  Yep, we're now the future--except that's the second movie--and no, we don't have hoverboards yet.  The first one goes back to 1955.  The kids enjoyed it enough.  Sis was particularly surprised that the young female lead now plays the mom on "Switched at Birth."  And neither one of them could comprehend the inside joke about Huey Lewis and the News. (They also didn't realize there were cars in the 1950s.  Sheesh.)

I was looking at my old list (trying to find a movie for Labor Day weekend) and realized we've seen many of the ones on our original list a few years ago.

Still a lot of good ones to see.  And we'll have to watch the movie Matilda before we go see the Broadway musical in November.

• Andre*
• Addams Family Movie
• Adventures in Babysitting
• Adventures of Tintin*
• Anne of Green Gables
• Babe
• Back to the Future
• Beetlejuice
• Beethoven*
• Big
• Black Beauty*
• Black Stallion*
• Brady Bunch: The Movie
• Caspar*
• Castle in the Sky
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Clash of the Titans
• Clue
• Dark Crystal
• Dr. Doolittle*
• Dolphin's Tale
• Escape to Witch Mountain
• ET
• Fern Gully
• Finding Neverland
• Flash Gordon
• Flight of Dragons
• Flight of the Navigator*
• Fly Away Home*
• Footloose
• Free Willy
• Ghostbusters
• Golden Compass*
• Goonies
• Gremlins
• Harriet the Spy*
• Heidi
• Home Alone*
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
• Hook
• Hugo*
• Incredible Journey*
• Incredible Shrinking Woman
• Indian in the Cupbaord*
• Iron Giant*
• Jaws
• Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer*
• Jumanji
• Jurassic Park
• Karate Kid
• Labyrinth
• Ladyhawke
• Land Before Time*
• Last Unicorn
• Legend
• Matilda*
• Miracle Worker
• Mrs. Doubtfire*
• Muppet Movie
• Muppet Treasure Island*
• Nauiscaa of the Valley of the Winds
• Never-Ending Story
• Newsies*
• October Sky*
• Parent Trap
• Paulie*
• Pee Wee's Big Adventure
• Perfect Game*
• Pharlap*
• Pollyanna
• Popeye
• Princess Bride
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Sandlot*
• Secret Garden
• Secret of Kells
• Secret of NIMH
• Secret of Roan Inish
• Secret World of Arietty
• Short Circuit*
• Slipper and the Rose*
• Song of the Sea*
• Space Camp
• Spaceballs
• Spirited Away
• Stuart Little
• Superman
• Swiss Family Robinson*
• Tale of Princess Kayuga*
• Time Bandits
• Tron*
• War Games
• Water Horse
• Whale Rider
• Where the Red Fern Grows*
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit*
• Willow

Pulling a Gommie

When I was in junior high, Gommie did something that meant the world to me then and still resonates quite a bit now:  she took me out of school, during the day!, to see Return of the Jedi the day it opened.  I went to first and second period, if memory serves, while she went and stood in line for tickets.  As she told it later, someone even approached the long line and asked what it was for and she asked (or thought) if they'd been under a rock!?!  The hype was phenomenal and I was a huge fan.  And I saw ROTJ in its second showing on the first day and LOVED IT.  She knew I would and she was game to take me out of school and go with me, embracing the craziness of it all--those were the special gifts that have stuck with me three decades or more later--generosity, fun, embracing the experience, support, and encouragement.  That's the kind of parent I want to be.

And so we pulled a Gommie tonight.  The Hobbit:  Battle of Five Armies opens tomorrow and we'd long told the kids we'd take them to see it,just like Gommie did for me, possibly even pulling them out of school.  But with Mama using up her days off for the holidays, we weren't going to be able to see the film during the day.  So, somehow, Mama learned about an advanced release showing today.  And got us tickets.

Except we didn't tell the kids.  I even rushed them through dinner and told them we all had to go to Home Depot with Mama.  We even pulled into the movie theater parking lot and told them ha! ha! we were going to see Penguins of Madagascar since the Hobbit wasn't opening yet.  And then . . . we handed them tickets to the Hobbit!  Bud actually didn't believe us and was a mite disappointed that we weren't going to Penguins . . . until it dawned on him that we were going to Hobbit tonight.  And then the cheering and dancing began.

Which is all very well and good because, it being the culminating film of the series, with sadness and death of some major characters (for which we were prepared) and a violent battle of five armies, it wasn't super cheerful.  But we liked it anyway and did managed to laugh at the funny bits and amazing stunts.  (Cos Legolas always has the best moves.)  And I loved the morals of the tale--friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, courage, love.  As Thorin Oakinshield says in the movie, ""If more of us valued home above money, it would be a merrier world."  That's all I'm going to say. No spoilers, we warned the kids about talking to their friends.  Only gloating that we saw it early. 

We got home late, almost 10 pm, and we'll all have trouble getting a move on in the morning, but it was well worth it.

Thanks, Gommie.

Swept Away by Gone with the Wind

A month or so ago, Mama suggested a very unusual and special date night.  "Let's go see Gone with the Wind" in the movie theater."  While I have seen the movie dozens of times, starting in early childhood--I was even Scarlett O'Hara for Halloween (in Gommie's billowy white prom dress) and read the whole 1045-page book one summer (it's very different from the movie--Scarlett has a child with each husband, for instance, and you learn all about her parents' courtship)--and Mama will tell you that my conversations are regularly sprinkled with GWTW references and quotes, I had never seen it on the big screen.

So, this weekend, we went for date night . . . to the 4-hour movie.  And it was magical.  First, they showed the film in its original aspect ratio, which is square!  Also, the film wasn't played nearly as loudly as modern pictures.  But the big screen and the immediate attention it demanded allowed us to notice several things--like the cat lounging under the sundial at Twelve Oaks, all the various musical themes of the film's score, the use of silhouettes throughout the film, panoramic vistas, the parallel narrative arcs of the first and second parts (mainly the death of Mrs. O'Hara in the first part and Melanie in the second and the crisis each spurs on), the rapid-fire dialogue, and more.

Of course, seen through the lens of early 21st-century liberal thought, we couldn't help but be disturbed by the elevation of a murderous, immoral, cheating, wife-beating man to heartthrob (or his murderous, immoral, lying, drunk wife to heroine) and the characterization and caricature of the film's African Americans.  It didn't help that the audience laughed every time Mammy talked and cheered when Rhett hauled Scarlett up the stairs to be raped--about which she was smiling and singing the next morning!  That is to say nothing of the glorification or mythologizing of the Old South.

Still, it's a gorgeous, well-paced, expansive film, the stuff of my childhood (and gauging from the sold-out theater, many others').  And I think I'll be quoting from it even more now.

Summer Fun: Movies We Can Watch Together

 With a tv downstairs and a summer of evenings ahead, we've made lists about playing games, cooking together, and also watching movies.  But what movies?  Always in search of new ones to enjoy together, I asked my FB friends today and searched around Pinterest.  Below are the movie titles (in alphabetical order) I compiled, more on the older side than recent, like The Lego Movie or How to Train Your Dragon, mainly because we see those when they're out or catch them on dvd not long after, so I don't need help remembering them.  And it doesn't include some of the obvious ones like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Miyazaki films, or Disney movies.  Of course, there is no way we'll see them all (and some I don't necessarily want to see), but it's a good reference when searching Netflix and Amazon Prime.  (FYI, almost everyone who sent suggestions knows that my kids are going into fourth grade and have seen all of the HP films, as an idea of where they're at--i.e. older than stuff like Rugrats but not quite 16 Candles.)

UPDATE:  I'm continually adding new films to this list as friends recommend them.  And I included the How To Train Your Dragon 2 image because we saw it today and really liked it, even with the SPOILER sad part.

*Indicates I haven't seen it.

• Andre*
• Addams Family Movie
• Adventures in Babysitting
• Adventures of Tintin*
• Anne of Green Gables
• Babe
• Back to the Future
• Beetlejuice
• Beethoven*
• Big
• Black Beauty*
• Black Stallion*
• Brady Bunch: The Movie
• Caspar*
• Castle in the Sky
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Clash of the Titans
• Clue
• Dark Crystal
• Dr. Doolittle*
• Dolphin's Tale
• Escape to Witch Mountain
• ET
• Fern Gully
• Finding Neverland
• Flash Gordon
• Flight of Dragons
• Flight of the Navigator*
• Fly Away Home*
• Footloose
• Free Willy
• Ghostbusters
• Golden Compass*
• Goonies
• Gremlins
• Harriet the Spy*
• Heidi
• Home Alone*
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
• Hook
• Hugo*
• Incredible Journey*
• Incredible Shrinking Woman
• Indian in the Cupbaord*
• Iron Giant*
• Jaws
• Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer*
• Jumanji
• Jurassic Park
• Karate Kid
• Labyrinth
• Ladyhawke
• Land Before Time*
• Last Unicorn
• Legend
• Matilda*
• Miracle Worker
• Mrs. Doubtfire*
• Muppet Movie
• Muppet Treasure Island*
• Nauiscaa of the Valley of the Winds
• Never-Ending Story
• Newsies*
• October Sky*
• Parent Trap
• Paulie*
• Pee Wee's Big Adventure
• Perfect Game*
• Pharlap*
• Pollyanna
• Popeye
• Princess Bride
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Sandlot*
• Secret Garden
• Secret of Kells
• Secret of NIMH
• Secret of Roan Inish
• Secret World of Arietty
• Short Circuit*
• Slipper and the Rose*
• Space Camp
• Spaceballs
• Spirited Away
• Stuart Little
• Superman
• Swiss Family Robinson*
• Time Bandits
• Tron*
• War Games
• Water Horse
• Whale Rider
• Where the Red Fern Grows*
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit*
• Willow

Frozen Fun

They played Frozen this evening, acting out the whole thing.  At one point, they were Christoff and his reindeer Sven.  Guess who was who?

Yep, Sis had the reins.  The beanbags were the sled, two jump ropes together were the reins, and Bud the reindeer had shoes on his hands.

Otherwise, Bud was Elsa and Sis was Anna, singing their respective songs.

Bud was also an amazing Olaf, doing great comedic gestures.

It was wonderful.

Continuing their current obsession, Sis read the whole movie novelization in one sitting, while Bud continued drawing his favorite characters.

And through it all, I perfected my skills with our new wireless SONOS music system (I had been pointing my phone at the system like a remote control to make it work; Mama laughed at me for being "so 20th century!)

Now I just wish it would snow!  They could make a great Olaf snowguy or an ice palace.

Olaf to the Rescue

Here I've been thinking on the feminist implications of Disney's Frozen, the incongruity of the upending of the rescued princess trope and the waspish waists and tight dresses, and what it all means for my daughter and my son.

And all the kids can think of is Olaf, the funny snowman!

We were riding in the car to Sis's gymnastics class yesterday, with their little friend, and they were all atalk about the movie.  They could all recite the different Olaf bits, "I think we lost the Marshmallow Man . . . oh, look out for my butt!"  They were laughing hysterically.

The friend did mention how surprised she was that the prince said he didn't love Anna, also surprised that there wasn't a wedding at the end.  I asked if a wedding was the best thing that could happen to Anna.  "Yes," the friend answered.  "NO!" mine chorused.  Though, they agreed that a marriage could be a real highlight, but that there were other good things that you could do in life.

So, I asked what they thought about the sisters not getting along and how that would make them feel--the little friend thought not talking to her sibling would be great--he'd stepped on her head earlier in the day!  Sis and Bud couldn't quite fathom that kind of separation.

And then it was back to Olaf.

Truly, I think I might be relieved.

Summer Fun 2013: Baking Blueberries

We're having a lazy Pajama Day today, starting with a morning viewing of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn ("Mom, sometimes the romance parts are BORING," Bud decided.  They both think Olivia de Haviland sounds like Princess Leia--"are they the same actress?" Only two generations apart!) and now moving on to, you guessed it, more reading of Harry Potter.  Sis will finish book 6 today, no doubts.

Even though only one kiddo will eat this, I made Blueberry Poundcake this morning, a nod to Blueberry Muffin day earlier this summer and blueberry picking, both of which we didn't get to.

Blueberry Poundcake
This is the recipe for the pound cake.  It is really for muffins so just bake for about an hour (checking) if you do the bread.

1/2 c butter

1 c sugar

2 eggs beaten

1/2 c milk

2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 c fresh blueberries

cinnamon/sugar topping (taste fine with or without)

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs mixing well. Stir in milk.  Combine dry ingredients and add to mixture- stir to combine. Fold in blueberries.  Fill greased muffin tins and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (optional) and bake at 375 degrees for 20 min.

Enjoy!
MIss J.D.

Note:  I also added a teaspoon of almond extract.