Aug 29, 2012 |
As always, I’m writing this the night before it’s supposed to post. I do this because I like knowing when I wake up that it will already be posted. It makes me feel like I can mark something off the To Do List, and all I did was open my eyes.
I also like it because it gives me a few hours to let it simmer and if I discover I need to make a change, I can do so before it posts. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, it also gives me the opportunity to put it on hold if I have an idea for a more pressing post.
Because I’m writing this on Tuesday night, I’m wondering how the world will be different when I wake up. The Republican National Convention is taking place. Southern California has been rocked by hundreds of earthquakes in the last three days. And Isaac has been upgraded to Hurricane status, threatening to make second landfall within the next fifteen minutes.
I’m hardpressed as to decide which is my most important news story tonight. Although Isaac is winning out. The Convention and the earthquakes I can continue to read about online or catch on headlines later. I’m watching Isaac and The Weather Channel live. It’s so very surreal. Especially because it’s seven years to the date of Hurricane Katrina, and because it’s my beloved N’awlins.
As much as I can fathom, I’m going to try for Sweet Dreams tonight, and hopefully the world won’t have changed too much by the time you read this.
Be sure to check out the links I’ve added to this week’s post. They’re reruns, but worth the notice. Thanks!
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Cheers!
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
What’s the Word?” Wednesdays is a link-up that allows other bloggers and readers to share whatever they want to talk about. Think of it as a virtual coffee date with some great friends. What’s going on in your world?
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Aug 28, 2012 |
There’s a movie coming out soon. A new teen movie. A new angst-ridden, teen movie.
Based on the angst-ridden, teen novel of the same title.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Apparently, this book comes highly recommended for the teen scene. The popularity of the movie’s female lead, Emma Watson, stems from her long-running popularity as Hermione in the Harry Potter films.
The movie is rated PG-13. That’s to be expected: any teen movie should have themes above the G-rated crowd. But in reading reviews of the book, I’m surprised it’s not rated R.
Dot’s been asking to buy the book, so I did my parental due diligence and Googled reviews everywhere I could find them: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, blog posts… everywhere.
The overwhelming support of the book has me a bit befuddled. I always read the very negative reviews first, and then read the positives. Nearly every negative review read the same: This is not how teens act or speak. This was obviously written by an adult pretending to be a teenager. It was disjointed and hard to follow. Very surfacy. Not a lot of depth.
Now, I can understand some critical reviews are harsh, and I’m willing to put up with bad writing for the sake of learning what not to do.
But the more I read, the more appalled I became at what passes for a “remarkable” story of “high school life”. And I decided to peruse the book myself to make sure I wasn’t overreacting.
By Page 21, I cited too many innuendo and descriptions (and yes, bad writing), to expose my daughter to such material. I prefer not to rehash it here out of respect for my mother who reads my posts, and for others who feel the same way.
You can’t unring a bell, and I certainly don’t need my 17-year-old daughter’s bell rung in such a blatant, sexual manner.
Whatever happened to the fascinating, gripping, wonderful storytelling of old? Dickens, Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle. Certainly, even with some suggestion of Sherlock Holmes’ drug use, it wasn’t blatant or casual. And he suffered consequences.
Apparently, to be a successful Young Adult writer, you just need a gutteral mindset and a few cuss words.
To be fair, I had heard that the ending makes it all better. That the conclusion of the book has a great message. But does that make it okay to expose our young readers to such material in hopes that they won’t be affected by it, because, after all, it’s the end result that matters? If that’s so, they why is society always saying things like, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey…”
It reminds me of the Brownie Parable:
Children were imploring their father for permission to see a movie rated PG-13. They gave him their best reasons: their favorite actors were in it. Everyone else was seeing it, even some church members. It was only rated PG-13 for a few little things: The suggestion of sex (just innuendo, nothing was really shown). The language wasn’t that bad (only a few curses, and just a few misuses of the Lord’s name). The special effects were amazing (a building full of people were blown up, but only one building). After listening patiently to their pleas and reasonings, the father simply said, “No,” without an explanation. The children kept asking. The father simply kept saying, “No.”
Later that same day, the father offered his children some special brownies. “What makes them special?” They wanted to know. He matter-of-factly replied he’d added dog poo. But just a tiny, tiny bit. The rest of the ingredients were exactly as the recipe specified, and the brownies had been otherwise perfectly prepared.
The children refused to eat the brownies. Their father pretended to be shocked. After all, these were their Grandmother’s recipe, with that one small, minimal addition. How could such a small bit affect the whole? They would never really notice. Still, the children refused.
The father set the brownies aside. He told his children the movie they wanted to see was the same as the brownies. They wanted him to believe that just a little bit of wrong-ness wouldn’t affect them; that the ending justified the means. With the brownies as an example, they were able to see how even just a little bit of dog poo can ruin something great. The father further told them that Satan tries to enter our minds and homes by deceiving us in just this way, by telling us “just a little” won’t hurt us.
He asked his children why they won’t compromise eating a brownie, but they’d compromise what they accept as “entertainment”? The children had no answer. But they never asked again.
The movie will be rated PG-13 by the MPAA: “Rated PG-13 on appeal for mature thematic material, drug and alcohol use, sexual content including references, and a fight – all involving teens”.
After many notes on IMDb.com about the book’s content, there was this disclaimer:
“NOTE: All of this will most likely be toned down (and I’m assuming some will be removed from the movie) due to the PG-13 rating.
Stephen Chbosky (screenwriter/author/director) also said he was trying to focus less on the sex aspect when it came to the movie.”
My question is: If the novel is too graphic for the PG-13 crowd to watch, what makes it okay for them to read?
Now, I’ve had all “the Talks” with Dot that a Mom’s supposed to have. We talk about drinking, drugs, sex, good behavior and rewards, bad behavior and consequences, questions, differences of opinions vs. Right or Wrong, what Society expects of her compared to what her family expects of her… and many other topics. Dot and I talk. A lot. And for that I’m thankful.
Because when she asks if she can read this book, she trusts I have a good reason for disappointing her when I say, “No.” I just can’t expose my teen daughter to a world where dog poo is an acceptable ingredient.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Aug 28, 2012 |
Dot: “Errrr!… I just parked a car in my brain.”
Me: “I noticed.”
Dot: “I think I should get the brakes checked.”
Me: “You need to get something checked.”
Dot: “That’s mean.”
Me: “Says the girl who just parked a car in her brain.”
Dot: “That wasn’t mean. That was just insane. Oh, look. I just crashed.”
(Complete with siren noises).
Yes. She’s a college student on overload.
And it’s only Day One. I’m thinking it’s gonna be a fun year.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Aug 27, 2012 |
I woke up feeling sick this morning. I mean, really sick. I should have expected it: my dreams for the last few nights have been bizarre. I don’t mean creepy. I mean Willy Wonka meets Flashpoint in an Atlantis-setting kind of weird. Yeah. That kind of weird.
So as I’m sitting here trying to think up something profound to write for today’s post, I’m also inundated with horrible news stories from around the world. Tropical Storm (soon to be Hurricane) Isaac, a plethora of earthquakes, and of course all the political thrills going on.
The news reports and even my Facebook wall read more like something out of a movie. And that is what has inspired this post.
My Top Ten Disaster-Type Movies, in no particular order (except #1):
10. JAWS. Sure, it’s not a natural disaster in the Mother Nature sense, but what’s more natural than predator vs. prey?
9. VOLCANO. Tommy Lee Jones. The “It Can’t Really Happen Here” syndrome that makes you wonder… what if it did happen here?
8. SUM OF ALL FEARS. Sort of a cross between natural disaster and political thriller. With Ben Affleck. Any questions?
7. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. Either the original with Frank Sinatra or the remake with Liev Schrieber. Not a disaster movie, you say? Maybe… but it’s a great political thriller, so I think that qualifies.
6. KNOW1NG. Who doesn’t love Nicolas Cage, even when he’s rejecting what everyone else seems to know… until, that is, he has no choice but to believe.
5. 2012. John Cusack drives a limo and flies a plane, just to save his family from the end of the world. I call that a tad romantic. Or cheesy. You decide.
4. ARMAGEDDON. Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck (here he is again!) save the world, with a bunch of misfit oil-riggers and a little romance.
3. SIGNS. I guess this one really does fall under the “It Couldn’t Happen Here” category… or could it? Just because you haven’t seen it, doesn’t mean they’re not out there…
2. CONTAGION. Aside from one of favorite reasons being any FLASHPOINT actor (here, Enrico Colantoni), this movie really brings it to the table. Everything, that is, except the vaccine.
1. THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. Sure. You keep making fun of those who speak of Global Warming
*Honorable Mention: THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. While the remake with Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas is outstanding, nothing compares to the original with Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine. A rogue wave, survival of the fittest, and a plausible plotline. If anyone asks, this is why I’ve never taken a cruise.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Aug 26, 2012 |
It’s been a while since I’ve done my five mindless minutes of writing, so here I am.
Dot helped her best friend move into the Dorm at his college. They both start classes Monday. She has a four-year plan: get her AA at the community college, then transfer to the University for her BA and nursing degree. I’m so proud of her! And her friend’s studying to be a Marine Biologist. How incredibly brainy is that?! These “kids” amaze me.
We’re watching “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. I do so love this movie. I love how Paul Varjak falls in love with her near the beginning, and she’s so tormented she doesn’t see it until he leaves her. And that music! “Moon River…” Ugh. Melts me every time.
I finally have a plan for the front yard, and I’m so very excited. Because as soon as the cooler fall and winter weather come around, I’ll be able to get started. First, I’m going to “uproot” the sprinkler lines and cap off the drip-lines that I don’t need. Then I’m going to pull out the two rose bushes, the five lilacs, and the Orange Blossom Shrub in the corner. Of course, I’ll rake and weed and level as I go along.
In the spring, I hope to be able to plant Skyrocket shrubs along the South fence, a cluster of sunflowers in the corner near the driveway, and a patch of grass where the front window flower bed currently is. Perhaps I can trim down the two trees also, or I might have them removed completely and put in something entirely new. I like Liquid Ambers or Chinese Pistache. Or even Olive trees. Those are lovely, too. I definitely want something that will add color to the yard. Right now the ground is consistently sandy and the the growth is consistently dull green.
Wherever I don’t plant anything, i hope to lay down some rockscape. I haven’t decided on the color yet. Something light and grey; or something that grabs the eye like woodchips or rusted brick. Decisions, decisions!
I wore a Baseball cap today. I rarely wear hats. In general because I used to keep my hair short like a shaggy pixie cut, and hats served no purpose but to make the ends stick out uncontrollably. Now that my hair is past my ears, I can pull it back in a clip or ponytail and it still hangs low beneath the hat. So I still look feminine. So I know it’s funny… but I wore a baseball hat today and it made me feel pretty. So I wore it all day long, and in fact, still have it on.
Well, my five minutes are up but not the movie. So farewell until we meet again. Paul Varjak is calling my name.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
