Despite not really caring, I watched the Oscars this year. (Thank you Wallers for a lovely evening.) I even won the Oscar Pool--that never happens! The dresses were okay but at this point in my life, the speeches are what really interest me. I used to think how glamorous that whole affair was but now just imagining how much effort goes into getting ready--aggh, no thank you.
Generally the speeches were sincere but they threatened to play folks off with the Jaws theme if they went long--rather ominous. The weirdest thing was that the Orchestra wasn't even in the auditorium; they were offsite in some studio. Whatevs.
Two things about the speeches: One, the British do it best: brief, sincere and not just rattling off names. And two, class acts showed humility and honoring their fellow noms, cast/crew and family because those people all deserve an Oscar themselves for helping any given award winner to the stage.
Question: What's with all the blond, long-haired dudes winning awards tonight?
Q Tarantino: you're a greasy, self-centered jackass. What you said sounds like a compliment to the writing pool you somehow managed to emerge from but it was really a self-congratulatory ego stroke. Done with you.
Shirley Bassey: Was the upper part of the dress supposed to look like "skin"? That was weird but I love that song Goldfinger.
Adele: I'm late to the party about appreciating you but I adore every time I see you accept an award.
Barbra Streisand: The entire gathering laughed when your light revealed you. A bit too over the top but I guess that's just your style. Shine on you crazy diamond.
Ang Lee: In all seriousness, I love how you said that you weren't going to waste time naming all the actors but you did have to mention your lawyer and your agent. You said you HAD to. Honesty--I don't think that gets lost in translation. It was funny and you didn't even mean to be.
Ben Affleck: Nice acknowledgement of not holding grudges and the fact that a good marriage takes work. You have definitely matured and I am very compelled to see your movie.
Daniel Day Lewis: Such a touching interplay with Meryl Streep. Very humble and sweet.
Jennifer Lawrence: When you tripped, I'm yelling at the TV, "Somebody help her!" Of course, Hugh Jackman, who just displaced Tom Hanks as the nicest guy in Hollywood, popped up to assist but you already were having another go at the stairs. Good for you, girlfriend. That's a really big, pouffy dress you're wearing. Glad you won. I like you and your sense of humor. Never change.
Michelle Obama: I adore you as First Lady and for mom dancing, but what were you doing at the Oscars?
Jack Nicholson: They saved the best for the end and you are still crazy.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Monday, February 04, 2013
Six Months
I remember when Sidney hit 6 months, we took our first airplane ride with her for our first major family vacation: Hawaii. So now that Calvin has crossed that line, I suppose we ought to start thinking about exotic destinations, right? (I laugh maniacally then stop.)
No matter how you slice it, six months is a major milestone. Calvin is sleeping through the night (mostly), sitting up (with the occasional teeter) and eating pureed foods. He can hold a bottle himself, roll over, scoot on his tummy backwards and stay standing up while holding onto the coffee table. Ken can't wait for him to start "exploring" but I can already tell he is going to get into everything in his quest for discovery. I was secretly hoping we could delay it as long as possible but resistance seems futile.
No matter how you slice it, six months is a major milestone. Calvin is sleeping through the night (mostly), sitting up (with the occasional teeter) and eating pureed foods. He can hold a bottle himself, roll over, scoot on his tummy backwards and stay standing up while holding onto the coffee table. Ken can't wait for him to start "exploring" but I can already tell he is going to get into everything in his quest for discovery. I was secretly hoping we could delay it as long as possible but resistance seems futile.
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| He started out on the round colorful mat and moved himself to where he's pictured. |
Friday, February 01, 2013
Biohazard!
On Monday this house lay in the cross-hairs of epic contagion as (1) I contracted some kind of stomach virus, (2) Sidney spiked a high temp + cough and (3) Calvin kept exploding out of his diapers with regrettable diarrhea. Ken just bunkered down in his man cave hoping to make it through. Turns out, my stomach illness was just a 24-hour thing and Calvin's deal was the unfortunate confluence of outgrowing size 3 diapers and trying new solid foods.
But Sidney looked like a wet noodle, poor thing, and I began to have flashbacks of last November when we lost a whole month to the flu with the bonus of infecting members of my extended family at Thanksgiving. After that, I vowed that I would not let illness-via-germ-hoarding-children ruin our lives for the next 10 to 15 years.
Say what you will about homeopathy and naturopaths, but I say it can't hurt. I consulted mine in early January and loaded up. Western medicine is pragmatic about "wash your hands, take Vitamin C, don't rub your eyes" which is great and everything. But what it doesn't do is pull you back from the brink or give you any defense after your 3-year-old coughs right in your face just as you are wiping her butt and you can't use your hands to shield yourself. This week especially though, I felt like a broken record saying to Sidney: "Stay away from your brother!" "Don't touch his hands!" "Use a tissue!" I went so far as to separate the kids on different floors so that she could cough, snot and watch her Disney movies on loop in the basement while Calvin bounced in his Jumperoo uninfected. A 5-month-old can't take anything for colds other than saline spray and that's pretty ineffective.
Alarmingly, I felt myself starting to slip into the clutch of cold-land. But with a combo of astragalus and echinacea in forms of a tincture, throat spray and chewables, plus extra Vitamin C, Gypsy Cold Care Tea and lots of OCD hand washing, that did the trick. Per the naturopath, I also gave Sidney some special drops and she recovered much more quickly than last time (intra-week in fact)--she's been fever-free for over 48 hours and much less nasal drainage & coughing than before. She even went to school today. So BRAVO Eastern Medicine--don't let anyone give you any crap.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Preschooler Media: Disney
As we slowly ease Sidney into watching television more regularly, we usually sit with her and share the experience. Despite having a large existing Disney collection that I amassed well before her conception, she only watches a few select movies. And when I say few, I mean three: Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh Movie and (newcomer) Cinderella.
We have also screened Curious George (series & feature film), The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, Elmo in Grouchland and Beauty & the Beast. Surprisingly, what all these have in common is "too much peril" which has caused a good deal of upset. It goes like this: crying at the conflict point in the story, then after calming down: a litany of questions about the character who caused such upset and finally: a proclamation of never wanting to watch it again. This reaction has relegated them to the back of the movie cabinet. Also because Calvin's room is Star Wars themed, she will occasionally express interest in knowing more about it. But there is NO way she'll be watching that now. If she thinks Ursala is bad, wait til she sees Jabba the Hut...
With Sidney's relatively small media preference, I have become intimately familiar with the three favorite movies. It's to the point that I analyze them to give myself something to do when stuck watching them yet again.
In principle, I always disliked the cliche ending of Cinderella from a modern woman's stand point but it wasn't until I bought this DVD for Sidney that I finally watched this movie all the way through. (It struck me as one of the few Disney movies benign enough for her i.e. nobody dies) I had only seen parts of it as a child and as an adult, wasn't enamored with it enough to add it to my collection. But now having really watched this film, damn, there is some hard core psychological (& physical) abuse, indentured servitude, an arranged marriage and some very bad singing (by the step sisters). It was that servitude coupled with abuse that made me wonder if this would also be relegated to the back of the video cabinet also. But wouldn't you know it, the only part that "concerned" Sidney was when the cat was trying to catch those mice in the kitchen. Indeed, there were some questions from her about why the sisters rip parts of Cinderella's homemade dress but still the cat remains the only area of focus.
Ultimately, the whole guise of the ball is because the king wants his son to have babies. (Because the prince is quite busy doing "something else" up to that point.) So basically Cinderella's continual purpose is to be of service to someone. I understand how she's rewarded with a seemingly better life for her ever present faith in the goodness of the world--that's an honorable quality--but it also seems like someone who just lets things happen to them rather than standing up for one's self. The nauseating and strangely endearing concept of being saved by someone (rather than making it happen yourself) has I'm sure inspired many-a feminist dissertation on how the story warps little girls' perception of relationships and self-worth. It is after all, the basis for most rom-coms.
As for Mary Poppins, I have often mused that Bert and Mary must be "doing it" given their undeniable chemistry. But that "practically perfect in every way" schtick always bothers me. She's so not practically perfect. Mary puts Bert down all the time to make herself look better. Meanwhile all Bert wants to do is help her and be there for the children--he's such an affable guy! And make no mistake, Mary Poppins is one jealous b**ch. She becomes so unhinged during "Jolly Holiday" when Bert lists all the other women's names. It makes me want to smack the sooty mustache right off of her face. (Did you notice that when they are doing the chimney sweep dance up on the rooftops and she powders her nose?) I'd like to give a shout out to Up Yours, Downstairs Podcast that usually evaluates Downton Abbey episodes but did an in-depth look at Mary Poppins due to it's Edwardian backdrop. It inspired my critique. Anyway.
And lastly Winnie the Pooh...that dude has food issues. Seriously. Always eating honey. Always in search of honey. Always hungry for honey. How does that bear not have diabetes? And the others, Piglet: Co-dependent. Eeyore: Depression. Rabbit: OCD.
Definitely need more media in the rotation...
We have also screened Curious George (series & feature film), The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, Elmo in Grouchland and Beauty & the Beast. Surprisingly, what all these have in common is "too much peril" which has caused a good deal of upset. It goes like this: crying at the conflict point in the story, then after calming down: a litany of questions about the character who caused such upset and finally: a proclamation of never wanting to watch it again. This reaction has relegated them to the back of the movie cabinet. Also because Calvin's room is Star Wars themed, she will occasionally express interest in knowing more about it. But there is NO way she'll be watching that now. If she thinks Ursala is bad, wait til she sees Jabba the Hut...
With Sidney's relatively small media preference, I have become intimately familiar with the three favorite movies. It's to the point that I analyze them to give myself something to do when stuck watching them yet again.
In principle, I always disliked the cliche ending of Cinderella from a modern woman's stand point but it wasn't until I bought this DVD for Sidney that I finally watched this movie all the way through. (It struck me as one of the few Disney movies benign enough for her i.e. nobody dies) I had only seen parts of it as a child and as an adult, wasn't enamored with it enough to add it to my collection. But now having really watched this film, damn, there is some hard core psychological (& physical) abuse, indentured servitude, an arranged marriage and some very bad singing (by the step sisters). It was that servitude coupled with abuse that made me wonder if this would also be relegated to the back of the video cabinet also. But wouldn't you know it, the only part that "concerned" Sidney was when the cat was trying to catch those mice in the kitchen. Indeed, there were some questions from her about why the sisters rip parts of Cinderella's homemade dress but still the cat remains the only area of focus.
Ultimately, the whole guise of the ball is because the king wants his son to have babies. (Because the prince is quite busy doing "something else" up to that point.) So basically Cinderella's continual purpose is to be of service to someone. I understand how she's rewarded with a seemingly better life for her ever present faith in the goodness of the world--that's an honorable quality--but it also seems like someone who just lets things happen to them rather than standing up for one's self. The nauseating and strangely endearing concept of being saved by someone (rather than making it happen yourself) has I'm sure inspired many-a feminist dissertation on how the story warps little girls' perception of relationships and self-worth. It is after all, the basis for most rom-coms.
As for Mary Poppins, I have often mused that Bert and Mary must be "doing it" given their undeniable chemistry. But that "practically perfect in every way" schtick always bothers me. She's so not practically perfect. Mary puts Bert down all the time to make herself look better. Meanwhile all Bert wants to do is help her and be there for the children--he's such an affable guy! And make no mistake, Mary Poppins is one jealous b**ch. She becomes so unhinged during "Jolly Holiday" when Bert lists all the other women's names. It makes me want to smack the sooty mustache right off of her face. (Did you notice that when they are doing the chimney sweep dance up on the rooftops and she powders her nose?) I'd like to give a shout out to Up Yours, Downstairs Podcast that usually evaluates Downton Abbey episodes but did an in-depth look at Mary Poppins due to it's Edwardian backdrop. It inspired my critique. Anyway.
And lastly Winnie the Pooh...that dude has food issues. Seriously. Always eating honey. Always in search of honey. Always hungry for honey. How does that bear not have diabetes? And the others, Piglet: Co-dependent. Eeyore: Depression. Rabbit: OCD.
Definitely need more media in the rotation...
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