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Sunday, February 28, 2010

February is ovah

Well, I managed to post everyday in February.  I'm glad I did and it wasn't too hard.  I think I'm getting better at this.  And, no, my topics weren't always great and on Saturdays I mostly did Quotes but I wanted to work on getting things out and making this blog a little more of priority.  I spend so much time on my book blog, tweaking and writing that I felt like I was neglecting this one.  I wanted to find a greater purpose for it but I figured out that I just wanted someone to post whatever I wanted, not just on a specific thing.  I like doing TV and movie things so I think mostly I will do that, but I also like just writing about whatever is on my mind.  And with a new look designed by me with the header by Adori Graphics, I feel really good about this blog and this month.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Quote It

Who cares what they're wearing
On Main Street,
Or Saville Row,
It's what you wear from ear to ear
And not from head to toe
(That matters)

So, Senator,
So, Janitor,
So long for a while
Remember,
You're never fully dressed
Without a smile! 

-Never Fully Dressed without a Smile

A Song I sing to Bub almost everyday

Friday, February 26, 2010

Common Sense

The other day on Twitter, the new Common Sense Media ratings system on Barnes and Noble was brought to my attention.  I also notice how many people were wholeheartedly against any ratings system at all.  Now to be fair the CSM on BandN is ridiculous.  It only points out the bad stuff and none of the good stuff.  So I agree that it either needs to be changed for a more well rounded review or taken down.  But the actual site of Common Sense Media seems fine by itself.  It gives a much better review of what happens and a breakdown of the good and the bad based on their opinions plus it gives the opinions of parents AND kids.  But the thing that was bothering me was the response of some of the commenters, that obviously CSM was censoring or that parents shouldn't be involved in their children's reading choices.

Yes, God forbid that parents take an interest in what their children are reading and watching,  Is it so terrible that parents want to be aware of what their children do.? Because it is damned if you do, damned if you don't.  The minute it seems that parents give opinions about what their kids are watching or reading then it becomes censorship.  But when they don't then they are guilty of neglect.

Rating systems exist for a reason.  Parents want to have a general idea of appropriateness.  Do all ratings systems apply to everyone?  No.  It's impossible to expect a rating system to guarantee that this one show or book will perfect for this one age.  But it's nice to have a guideline.  The nice thing about Common Sense Media is the idea that they break down the good and the bad; this is the thing to expect from this book.  Some parents will use it to censure books.  I'm not that parent.  I don't intend to censure anything that Bub reads.  I just want to know what is in it.  When I was a public librarian, I did a lot of book recommendations for young adults and I had parents say no sex, or no violence, no this no that.  Did I willingly give their child books that went against what they wanted?  No, because it is not my child and their beliefs are not my own. Did I always agree with the parent?  No, but that is not my job.  As long as they don't try to pull the book off the shelf, then what they let their kid read or don't read is not my business.  I'm just happy the kid is reading.


Other/better articles to read:
SassyMonkeyReads
Publisher's Weekly

Thursday, February 25, 2010

New Look!

Louise at Adori Graphics has done it again!  She did such a great job on The Little Bookworm that I wanted her to do the header for Annie, I think and here it is.  Isn't it just so cute?  Thanks so much, Louise!!!  You are made of win.

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere

 

While I'm not one to post pictures of my family, I love these two that I took the other day while BT and Bub were playing with bubbles.  

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

"Lighthouse" (Lost thoughts)

Sideways:



Jack comes home from work.  He changes clothes and discovers an appendix scar.  He asks his mom over the phone when he has them out and she says when he was 8 or 9 but he doesn't really remember.  She is freaking out because she can't find Christian's will.  He is late for something which turns out to be picking up his son from school!  The son, David, doesn't seem to like Jack very much.  As an aside, why does Jack, a successful surgeon, drive such a crappy car.   Anyway, Jack goes over to his mom's to look for the will and she thinks that David is scared of Jack.  When Jack gets back to his apartment, David is gone.  Jack goes looking for him and finds out that he is at an audition for the Williams Conservatory.  He goes and hears David playing  beautifully.  He meets Dogen whose son has just told Jack that his little boy is very good and Dogen says that they are too young to have this kind of pressure and that Jack's son has a gift, but Jack didn't know David still played.  Jack and David have a conversation later and David says that he was afraid of Jack's expectations.  Jack tells him the Christian told him once that he didn't have what it takes and Jack carried that around with him for life, but that David can never fail in Jack's eyes.

Island:



Jack talks with Dogen about whether the others are coming back and Jack says no. Hurley talks with Jacob who needs him to do something.  Someone is coming to the Island and he needs Hurley to help him find it.  He tells Hurley to get a pen.  Hurley is wandering around when Dogen finds him.  Jacob appears to Hurley who tells him to tell Dogen that he is a candidate.  He can do what I want.  Dogen responds in Japanese ("You're lucky that I have to protect you. Otherwise I'd have cut your head off.")  Jacob says that Hurley has to get Jack to help him to which Hurley responds that is impossible to get Jack to do something and that he just lied to a samurai.  I love Hurley so very much.  He is made of a whole lot of win.  Anyway, Hurley tries the espionage approach but Jack callls him out on it so Hurley says that Jacob told him that Jack has what it takes.  This gets a huge reaction out of Jack who now wants to find Jacob.
Jack tells Sayid about the poison and how they think he is infected and says there is someone else, but Jack doesn't say who that we see. 
Anyway, Jack goes with Hurley.  They run into Kate and there's a little something between the two of them but she runs off to find Claire.  Hurley is happy to be off with Jack like old times and they run into the caves with the skeletons.  Hurley supposes that the skeletons could be them gone back in time.  Jack sees Christian's coffin and explains how he found the caves and why he smashed the coffin.  They talk about why they each went back: Hurley because Jacob told him to and Jack because he thought the Island could fix him.
Finally, they get to the lighthouse.  Jack kicks the door open and they climb up. There is a huge sundial with writing and 3(?) mirrors.  Hurley says they are suppose to turn the mirrors and dial to 108 degrees.  He starts pulling on the chains and Jacks see things reflected at certain points in the mirrors.  He sees the pagoda where Jin and Sun were married, the church where little Sawyer was after his parent's funeral, and his childhood house.  The points of the reflections correspond to the numbers on the dial and each number has a name written next to it.  Jack is 23.  Jack gets upset that Jacob was watching them the whole time and breaks the mirrors.
Later, Jack is off reflecting on life or whatever and Jacob appears to Hurley again.  Hurley is mad as he is not big on secret plans.  Jacob wanted Jack to find the mirrors because he ahs something to do and he has to figure it out on his own and Jack can't just be told.  That is because he is a not a believer.  He has to have everything spelled out in detail and even then he just does what he wants anyway.  Jacob says that the someone coming to Island will find it another way, he just had to get them out of the Temple because someone bad is coming them.  Hurley wants to warn them but Jacob says it's too late.

Elsewhere,  Claire gets the trap off of Jin and she remembers him.  She's been out there for 3 years ever since they all left.  Right now she is living in a tent with dynamite and a bassinet (the same one that John made for Aaron?) with a makeshift baby doll and it is so gross so Claire has definitely lost it.   She patches up Jin's leg.  She also finds Justin, the nice Other, not dead yet so she ties him up.  Apparently she's been to the Temple where they burned her (like Sayid?) and she thinks they have Aaron.  She thinks this because her father and her "friend" told her.  She asks Jin if he is still her friend.  Jin looks alarmed but agrees that yes he is still her friend. She threatens Justin and she is going to kill him but Jin stops her.  He tells her Kate took Aaron off the Island and that Aaron is 3 now.  She kills Justin anyway.  Jin tries to get Claire to go to the Temple telling her that he was lying that Kate had Aaron to save Justin, but she is right.   Aaron is at the Temple.  She says good, that she'd kill Kate if she was raising Aaron.  Suddenly, NotLocke appears and Jin is surprised and says John? and Clarie rolls her eyes and says no that is her friend.  NotLocke smiles.  DUN!

So what have we learned:
The numbers that have carried us through the years correspond to the numbers on the sundial and all the candidates are assigned a number and through the dial Jacob can look at them off Island.  That is what the numbers on the cave wall meant.  Now I wonder if Jacob is the one that wrote those on the wall.  I think that was the MIB's hideout and he was marking them out as he got rid of the candiates.  He didn't want anyone to replace Jacob.
All of Jacob's viable candidates are away from the Temple now.  Sun is treaking through the jungle, Jin is with Claire,  Hurely and Jack are at the Lighthouse.  Sawyer is with NotLocke, I presume so he will meet up with Claire and Jin soon.  Sayid is tainted now so he can't be a candidate.  Kate wasn't on the cave list but she was apparently number 51 on the dial and I don't know about Miles. (oh here is the complete list) He doesn't count maybe because he came on Widmore's ship or he just isn't a candidate or he's escaped but we don't know it yet.
I'm guessing that NotLocke and Claire are heading for the Temple and that NotLocke is the someone bad.  Evidenually Claire is going to find out that Kate took Aaron and then she is going to go apeshit on her.  I wonder if the MIB really thinks Aaron is at the Temple and doesn't know that Kate took him away.  I bet he is important since he was born on the Island.  So who really appeared to Kate and told her not to bring him back?  Claire has obviously been tainted by the MIB.  She was living in the cabin with Christian who was really MIB.  She doesn't remember leaving Aaron under a tree.
I was reading somewhere (I don't remember where) and someone asked a question or said something about all the lists.  Because there were a lot of lists and Jack and Sayid usually went on the list.  But I think all the lists that Ben had were from the MIB since Ben obviously thought that the man in the cabin was Jacob and so listened to him, but it was really MIB and Ben didn't know better.  MIB was putting out the lists trying to eliminate the candidates for whatever reason.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Olympics so far

S o I'm trying to blog everday in February and I've done a fair job so far.  There are only 6 days left and I've posted something everyday.  It might not be good, but it's up.  And I had actually thought of a good topic for today and then promptly forgot about it. 

I have been watching the Olympics every chance I get it.  I'm big on the ice skating/dancing and I like snowboarding and curling.  I haven't watched any curling though, but snowboarding was on before ice skating so I got to watch it then.  I missed most of ice dancing last night since I was bone tired and it was impossible for me to stay awake.  It turns out that the Canadaian team won gold, and the American team I liked won silver so good for them.  The crazy Russian team that don't seem to understand cultural sensitivity won bronze and were apparently poor losers.  Tonight is the ladies' short program which will probably be on against Lost and so I will have to watch it later.  I can't give up Lost for anything, not even the Olympics.  Thank God for the DVR.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Freakin' Great

I am getting sick and I hate that.  I can't think of a good topic for today because my head is mush-like and I need to get to the store for some Zycam to stop this before it really starts.  At least it seems quiet at work today.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Potty Training

The boy is 3 years and 2 months.  We finally started potty training.  It is not going well.  It is not interested at all.  He likes wearing underwear and he knows what is going on down there.  He just refuses to sit on the potty.  I let him pick out what potty he wanted.  He wanted the truck one.  But he just doesn't want to use it.  I'm not sure if I should worry about it now or not.  Our nephew didn't potty train until he was 3 1/2 so it's not like Bub is behind for his age.  Some of the kids in his class are potty trained and some are not.  I'm hoping seeing his friends will encourage him.  When he saw his cousin using the potty he wanted to too so I guess I shouldn't stress about it now.  If I stress and then stress him out it will take even longer.  I'm just so sick of changing diapers.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Quote It

"The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones."
— Joseph Joubert

Friday, February 19, 2010

Daily Drop Cap

Irefuse to not post today.  I wanted to post something every day this month in attempt to get back into a writing groove.  Normally I post about Project Runway the day after, but I watched the men's figure skating long program for the Winter Olympics last night and didn't feel like watching it today.


B
ut I found this really cool project called Daily Drop Cap, "an ongoing project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Each day (or at least each WORK day), a new hand-crafted decorative initial cap will be posted for your enjoyment and for the beautification of blog posts everywhere."  She's got some great letters going up and I encourage you to check them out.  I'll be using them here and there.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

A Little Princess (Book Review)

S

weet, rich Sara Crew is sent to boarding school by her father.  When he dies and loses their fortune, she is made to be a servant by the headmistress of the boarding school.  But Sara combats the drudgery and hunger of this new life with her imagination.

While I've read The Secret Garden many time, I've never read A Little Princess before.  I'm not sure why except maybe I never liked it when Sara loses her fortune and everyone is really mean to her.  She is an expectational sweet child, very modest and good and wonderful.  She has a wonderful imagination and I liked that part of the story.  It is so horrible how Miss Minchin treats her and Becky, the scullery maid and Sara puts up with it wonderfully.  She is, admittedly, a little too nice and sometimes I wanted her to lose her temper, but I suppose that would negate the point of the story which is be nice and wonderful things will happen, I guess.

cross posted with The Little Bookworm

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

"The Substitute" (Lost thoughts)

*John refers original flavor John Locke in either timeline*

Sideways:

John goes home and it turns out he is marrying Helen and they have a lovingly normal relationship except for the part where he lied about going to a conference in Australia.  She finds Jack's card and urges John to call him.  The next day, John gets fired for using company time and money to go on his walkabout.  He runs into a disturbingly optimistic but still nice Hurley who owns John's company and gives him the number to a temp agency to get a new job.  (Hurley is acting very Jacob-like.  Is Jacob Hurley?)  At the temp agency, John meets Rose who tells him what he CAN'T  do and finds him a job he can do.  Rose is so very awesome.
Helen finds out about the walkabout and they have a tender moment and he doesn't want to call Jack.  He just wants to accept his life in the wheelchair.
So John becomes a substitute teacher and meets Benjamin Linus (!) in the teacher's lounge.  So I guess more than the plane not crashing has changed.  I guess Ben's dad didn't go to the Island.  I wonder if his mom is still alive.

Island:

Illana is crying and Ben finds her and lies that NotLocke killed Jacob and kicked him in the ash.  She gathers up the ash (for protection?) and says that NotLocke is recruiting.  Illana and Sun have an argument and she tells Sun that Jin is most certainly going to be at the Temple, but we know that he is probably with Crazy!Claire.  They bring John's body to the graveyard and bury him and Ben gives a very touching eulogy in which he says that John was a much better man than he will ever be and he is sorry that he killed him.  Oh, Ben, that was sort of nice.  Frank says that this is the worst damn funeral.  I can agree on that.


Smokey wanders around, see that someone is in the Other village, looks around the Island, stops, and NotLocke picks up a machete and cuts Richard down from a trap that he is in in a tree.  Richard wants to know why he looks like John and NotLocke says it is because John was a candidate.  Richard doesn't know what that means, but he is not going anywhere with NotLocke.  Then a little boy with bloody hands appears and it scares NotLocke who leaves Richard in the jungle.

NotLocke goes to see Sawyer who is drunk and who greets him with "I thought you were dead."  NotLocke answers "I am."  Sawyer calls him out on not being John because John was always scared.  NotLocke is not, however, scared, but he says he can answer the question of why Sawyer is on the Island.  Off to the jungle, they trek and there is the little blonde kid again.  NotLocke chases after him and the kid tells NotLocke that he knows the rules and he can't kill him.  NotLocke responses with the age old "Don't tell me what I can't do" sounding a lot like John.
So who is this blonde kid?  My first thought was it was Jacob and that he was telling NotLocke that he couldn't really kill Jacob, but I wonder if he meant Sawyer because Sawyer is important.  Hey, Sawyer is blonde too.  But the little kid isn't little Sawyer.  Someone else suggested that the kid was Aaron and that is an interesting thought.  I've said before that I think Aaron is important in this struggle between Jacob and his enemy.  And what are the rules?  Are they the same rules that meant that Ben and Widmore couldn't kill each other?  If so, is that just a imitation of the greater struggle going on between Jacob and the MIB?

Sawyer, in the meantime, runs into Richard who warns him off from NotLocke and says he wasn't everyone dead and runs away in fear.  Immortal Richard is afraid of NotLocke.  That must mean something because he has been around for a long time and knew both Jack and the MIB in the way back.  Sawyer chooses to stick with NotLocke for some reason.  After a harrowing climb down a cliff, they end up in a cave.  Don't drink the potion, Sawyer!  The locket's a fake.  Oh wait.

NotLocke approaches a rock table with a scale and a black stone and white stone in balance.  He picks up the white stone and throws it into the ocean and says it was an inside joke.  A joke of EVIL!  So I guess that makes it clear what side NotLocke is.  He reveals the LIST scratched on the walls and ceiling of the cave and says it was the list that Jacob made and the only names not scratched out are:
8 Hurley
23 Jack
16 Jarrah
42 Kwon (Sun or Jin)
4 Locke
15 Ford
and we get a flashback to all the times that Jacob touched each person.  NotLocke scratches out John's name.  It seems that Jacob was the protector of the Island and he was looking for someone to take over and all the names are candidates for the job.  He touched all of them and lead them to the Island.  NotLocke says the Island doesn't need protecting, but he says it with a little desperation.  It obviously needs protecting from him.  He says Sawyer can do three things: 1. do nothing,  2. accept the job and become the new Jacob, 3. get off the Island with NotLocke.  Sawyer says hell, yeah to number 3 and DUN CREDITS!

So who is NotLocke really?  I had said god, probably Egyptian, but now I wonder.  He indicates that he was human before and Jacob trapped him on the Island.  That seems off somehow.  I can't think why Jacob would do that except that NotLocke intended to do some real harm to the Island and that was how Jacob could stop him.

Also Kate was not on the list even though she was brought to the Island and touched by Jacob.  But most of the list are men so maybe Kwon refers to Jin and not Sun.  Like the only replacement for Jacob is a man.  And who is the little boy?  And who can't be killed?

If the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is 42, then the answer to everything must lie with Jin or Sun or their little girl.   Interesting.  She was conceived on the Island so she must be special somehow.  And that goes along with Aaron who was born on the Island.  "Littleton" was on the cave wall but crossed out.  What if it referred not to Claire but to Aaron who I assume has his mother's last name.  But since Aaron is off Island, he cannot be a candidate.  So Claire was brought there not for herself, but for Aaron and Jin and Sun were brought there not for themselves, but for their baby.

Oh and apparently NotLocke is stuck looking like John.  Why?  Because Jacob isn't around anymore?  Does this mean no more Christian Shepherd and randomly appearing former dead people.  So is safe to assume that Hurley really did talk to Jacob? For a season of answers, I sure am using a lot of question marks.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Throw Me Something, Mister!

I know most people don't celebrate the great holiday of Mardi Gras, but it is a big deal down here in Louisiana.  I'm not sure what we are doing on the actual day itself, but we are going the Friday before to my father-in-law's parade and then we will try to hit the little parade that rolls through our little town on Saturday.


Monday, February 15, 2010

Love Story...

Ever wonder how I met my wonderful husband? No.  Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway.

I became friends with a girl, Britt, in the summer of 1999 when we were both on the orientation staff together and started hanging out with her a lot.  One of BT's best friends from high school, Lou Lou, was Britt's roommate.  We were friends and I was at their apartment all summer long, but it wasn't until the end of the summer that I met him.  We managed to miss each other all summer.
One day Britt and I were getting ready to go take yearbook pics and I was ironing our shirts when BT came over to hang out with Lou Lou.  We talked a little and then went our separate ways, then later Britt and I were hanging out with some other friends and BT and Lou Lou were about to go out and BT came to talk to us while she got dressed.  We had been drinking a little (a lot) and we were very giddy and though it was hilarious that he was wearing overalls and that he was so short (he is only 5'3" while I'm 5'1").  I remember standing next to him to measure heights.

The next time I saw him was at a Greek event (Britt and Lou Lou were in the same society) called "Yell like Hell" a spirit event.  And he was trying to be funny and it was cute and I kept saying later that night to Britt that it was a shame because obviously he and Lou Lou were destined to get married but that he was so cute.

And then the next time I saw him was on a friend's birthday on October 22.   We all went out to a club and we were both a little bored and I was sitting across from him and I kicked him under the table.  So we started flirting and that was that.  We were an unofficial couple and then we were just a couple.  And six years later almost to the day, we got married.  So here we are, 11 years after the kick, married with one son and two dogs and there is very little I would change about any of it.

Olympics today

I'm trying to watch the pairs figure skating but they keep cutting away to other things.  I like skiing and all, but I'd rather watch the figure skating.  And Bub won't let me watch it too much because he is not interested.  I got him to watch a little because of the lifts and the throwing.   The only thing that is going to stop me is Lost on Tuesday.

BT likes curling in the winter Olympics so he set the DVR to watch that. *eyeroll* Whatever.  I mean I like it too but I doubt I'd tape it. 

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!

Leelou Blogs
Just a note to say Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!  I hope you have a lovely day regardless of if you plan to celebrate it or not.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Harriet the Spy (movie)


In 1996, Nickoledeon made a movie starring Michelle Trachtenberg as Harriet and Rosie O'Donnell as Ole Golly.  And I sat down to watch it after listening to the book. This is a fairly accurate and a good representation of the book.  There are a few chances here and there, the biggest being that after Harriet's friends start their club and spill paint on her (instead of ink) she gets back at them in various ways like posting an embarrassing picture of Sport and messing up one of Janie's experiments.  She does some mean stuff in the book, but not quite like in the movie.  And Golly comes back instead of just writing to her.  But the tone is right and Michelle Trachtenberg does such an excellent job of portraying Harriet.

Side note: I've heard that Disney is doing a new version with Jennifer Stone from Wizards of Waverly Place and I just cannot fathom that.  She is way too old to play Harriet and I think it is going to be awful.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Run for Your Life, er, "Run for Cover"

Mila complains that no one was happy for her last challenge. Maybe it's about jealously she says. Maybe it's about you walking into the room singing "Top two, top two." Ass. Anthony is just happy not to be at the bottom.
Challenge: Create a look to be worn by a celebrity on the cover of Marie Claire
Heidi is the celebrity. They act happy, but I don't know if they really are. At least she won't be pregnant by then.
Interesting that some designers use the little computer notepads and others use regular paper notebooks. Let me say now, that I really don't care about this challenge. It seems so blah. I don't know, but so far nothing is really so great about this season. It's better than the last one though.
Every time I see Anna Marie I think how she looks like Jewel Staite. It's weird, but one of the models looks like Uma Thurman and one looks like Maggie Gyllenhall. Celebrity look-a-likes abound!
Tim comes in, tries to encourage the designers. The designers don't help him since none of them seem to know exactly what they are doing. Apparently they didn't hear earlier about using patterns because everything seems to be too much for a cover. Well, except Anna Marie seems to have a "cooler" look. Emilio's looks interesting. Jay is using white which is so stupid for a cover unless they use a colored background. Does Marie Clair do that? I don't know, don't read it.

Judges: Heidi, Michael, Nina, and Joanna Coles (Editor-in-Chief, Marie Claire)

Runway:
Amy - strapless, multi-colored print asymmetrical dress with a giant fabric corsage
Seth Aaron - pant suit, shiny
Jesse - green ruffled dress with plunging neckline
Anna Marie - blue tank, short, silver vest, meh
Anthony - blue ruffled dress with one shoulder, pretty color
Janeane - has no confidence in her dress. I agree. silvery white fitted dress
Mila - short, with lots of cleavage, and a arrow type pattern
Emilio - red dress with a cool criss cross around bust and lacing. I like it.
Jay - huge dress with one shoulder, white striped. It looks like a nightgown.
Jonathan - oh, no. gold hot pants romper with flowy sleeves. I can't even...no.  How did this not make the bottom 3, I don't know?
Maya - blue and tan dress, high collar
Ben - yellow brown, teal, interesting

Top 3:

Ben
Anthony
Emilio though they make him cut the straps off, and take the model's ponytail down. It looks much better.

Bottom 3:

Anna Marie
Janeane
Mila

Winner: Anthony (!) (I love him! He is my favorite.) He makes everyone laugh and they all seem genuinely happy for him.
Out:  Anna Marie.  I figured it since her outfit was so off base.  Aw.  She was nice.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Harriet the Spy (Book Review)

Harriet loves to write in her notebook.  She takes notes on anything that she sees and writes down all her thoughts.  But when her notebook is read by her class and they see some of the things she thinks about them, they decided to start a Spycatcher's Club.

I read Harriet the Spy along time ago and, though, I thought it was good, it was never one of my re-reads as a kid.  There are so many elements that made me uncomfortable that I could never bring myself to read it again.  Some of that still hits home as an adult.  When I was a kid, I also felt sorry for Harriet.  Her classmates read something that was private and made her miserable and they turned on her so quickly without giving her a chance to explain.  They played mean tricks on her.  And she is so sad after the loss of her nurse, Ole Golly, which adds to her general misery after being ostracized at school.  So I could never stand to read about her depression.

As an adult, I see all of that and I still feel sorry for Harriet.  Because she really was depressed. But the thing I wonder about are the adults of the story, specifically Harriet's parents and Ole Golly.  I really wonder if they thought Ole Golly could leave and Harriet would just move on.  I'm assuming that Ole Golly did most of the caretaking and so it would be like your mother just one day saying Bye.  Have a nice life.  I mean I know Golly loved her and was sad to go.  I can see more of that now that I'm older.  But Harriet is not the most mature or introspective child and so she couldn't recognize the depression that followed Golly leaving.  And the adults really did nothing to help that.   And then to add to Harriet's misery her friends find her notebook and turn on her.  They really don't do too much to her, but then ignoring her I think is the worst.  Harriet though cannot understand why they are mad and if she would have just ask an adult I think they could have explained it to her.  Also her parents take away her notebook which was the worst decision they could have made.  I was glad when they finally took her to a psychologist because she really should have gone much earlier.

Harriet as a character is funny and insightful and brutally honest but she is also a pain in the neck and shouts too much and is very sassy.  In other words, she is very much like a lot of 11 year olds.  I think she was a good friend to Janie and Sport and out of all of the kids those two should have given her a chance to explain.  But then, I guess, when your best friend says mean things about you, you would take it the hardest.  Though someone needs to explain to the children that we all have uncharitable thoughts about others at one time or another.  Harriet just make the mistake of writing them down.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

"What Kate Does" (Lost thoughts)

I was less impressed with last night's episode than I'd hoped for.  This happens a lot with Kate episodes since they don't reveal all that much except Kate always makes good and dumb decisions (but then that goes for all of them really). 

So flash sideways:
Kate steals a cab with the pregnant Claire and once the cab driver escapes, Kate makes Claire get out.  She doesn't noticed the almost 9 months pregnant belly.  Then she gets out of the handcuffs and finding that Claire's bag is stuff with baby gear goes back and gets her.  It turns out the the adopting couple is spliting and can't take the baby.  Who lets a heavily pregnant woman fly from Australia for an adoption for no reason?  Also shouldn't they have come to her?  Anyway, Claire goes into labor and Kate takes her to the hospital where Dr. Ethan(!) stops the labor.  Claire gives Kate her credit card and I guess that's it.  Although, Claire does call the baby Aaron in a moment of panic.

Island:
Sayid dead, Sayid not dead, confusion all around.  Sawyer escapes and Kate follows, of course with Jin who wants to look for Sun.  JGH burns Sayid and pokes him with a red hot poker and RHM (name Lennon) says Sayid passes the test.  Then he says he lied.  Whatever.  JGH, whose name is Dogen, gives a pill to cure the infection in Sayid, but Jack won't give it to him since he doesn't know what it is in it.  At first I thought Jack was doing his "man of science" thing, but I think it was really about having no trust in the Others and how Jack always seems to make the wrong decision.  Jack actually tells Dogen that he doesn't trust himself, so how can he trust them?  Jack swallows the pill but Dogen makes him cought it up.  It was poision.  Sayid has been claimed by the darkenss which will eat away everything that made him Sayid.  Dogen says it happened to Claire.  So she was with the MIB/Not!Locke/Christian(? I guessing) when she walked away from Aaron and was seen in the cabin!

Jungle:
Asshole Aldo and Justin go with Jin and Kate.  Kate almost sets off a trap and it is discussed that it must be one of the old Rosseau traps.  Justin thinks it is someone else, but before he can tell Aldo shuts him up.  Aldo is an asshole so he is destined to die.  Aldo is still mad at Kate for knocking him out when she rescued Alex's boyfriend.  Whatever, dude, hold that grunge. Kate knocks him out again and she runs off for Sawyer where they share a teary moment.  He wanted to marry Juliet and both blame themselves for her death.  Kate wants to find Claire to reunite her with Aaron.
Jin, meanwhile, runs into Aldo and Justin.  Aldo wants to shoot Jin and just as he is about to, the two Others are shot by a wild looking Claire!  So Claire is the new Rousseau! DUN!

Nothing really gets answered this time and very little information comes out.  The flash sideways are offering anything right now and the old timeline was a little stagnant.  I really enjoyed seeing Claire again and when they finally explain what happened then we will get some answers.  I'm guesssing that when the ash circle was broken and the MIB got out, then Claire got out too unless she is the one that broke the circle.  When was she infected?  I'm assuming before she abandoned Aaron. 

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Dollhouses

My son likes to play with dollhouses.  He likes to play with dolls and pretend to cook.   He walks around in my heels sometimes.  He likes to watch Dora the Explorer.  He is 3 years old and I let him to all these things.  Because I cannot imagine taking away a doll and saying "No, you are a boy.  Boys do not do these things."  I will not take any of these things away from him.  And to my husband's credit, he will not either.  I want Bub to grow up well rounded.  I want him to be nurturing and understanding.  I want him to be willing to cook and clean.  But I also want him to be masculine.  I want him to watch sports and mow the lawn.

At our house, BT does all the cooking and he cleans up the kitchen afterwards.  He started doing the laundry and he mows the lawn and does the yardwork.  I clean the house and keep track of everyone's stuff and if someone is sick I take care of them.  These are jobs that we assigned ourselves, some out of pleasure for the task, some because of what our gender has demanded of us.  And that's okay.  These are things we have to do to live in a comfortable life.  And I want Bub to have that life.

I can't understand parents who pigeon hole their children into one role.  Men do this and women do this and that is that.   Why would you limit your child like that?  What if you son wants to be a cheerleader and your daughter a football player?  Why would you, as the parent, tell them no?  Don't be the one limiting your kid.  Society will do that enough in life.

So on any given day, I can play cook with Bub.  He can "help" me clean and play with his aunt's dollhouse.  Then we can run around and play golf and baseball and we can all take turns playing with his dad's new Nerf gun.  I wouldn't take away these experiences for anything.  Because one day he just won't want to anymore and I'm taking what I get now.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Who Dat!!! Believe Dat!!

One of the greatest moments in Louisiana history happened last night. The New Orleans Saints, who never won anything before, won the SUPERBOWL!!!  It is the most amazing thing.  We believed and it happened.  Thanks to the Saints for making the dream come true for New Orleans and the state of Louisiana!!!
WHO DAT!

@fuggirls awesomesauce. on Twitpic

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Award!

My first award for this blog!  Yay!  Heather from Butterflygirlms Rambles On gave it to me.  She is so nice.  Heather makes free layouts for Leelou Blogs and she is super talented and now she uses her blog as a personal blog.  I've enjoyed reading it a lot.

I'm going to share my favorite blog designers.
Leelou Blogs, of course! esp. with Heather's designs going up now
Beautiful Blog Designs
Smitten Blog Designs
Sweet Cheeky Designs Blog
Cute Links for You
Aqua Poppy Designs
Shabby Blogs
Almost Ready Blogs even though she is not designing anymore

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Quote It

"I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond. "
— Mae West

Friday, February 5, 2010

Eat Your, I mean, "Design Your Heart Out"

Last week Ping was out.  I'm disappointed about missing posting about that epsiode because I really wanted her gone.  She only also interesting for her crazy clothes.  She herself was boring.
Heidi looks like she just had some morning sickness or something.
So this week the challenge is  Create a signature dress for the Campbell's Address Your Heart Program.  Red must be prominent and Campbell brand must be present.  The models are women who have been impacted by heart disease.  Jay's lady makes him cry.  They have amazing stories.  Anthony's mom had heart surgery so he and his lady cry together.  I don't know how the Campbell's fabric is going to work out because it is going to look stupid unless used just so.  It's a one day challenge.  Most of the designers are struggling with making dresses for people who are not stick thin.  Ping would have just draped some crappy fabric and called it a dress.  Moving on...
Tim = harbinger of doom, etc. The designer are freaking out by the non-proportional non-size 2 women.  Stupid designers.
Has anyone ever wanted to use the Bluefly.com wall erroneously like on purpose?  Doubt it.

Judges: Heidi, Michel, Nina, Georgina Chapman (Designer and Co-founder of Marchesa)

Runway:
Jonathan - long multi-tiere dress tied at the waist with the Campbell's fabric, I like the high neckline a lot. The bust looks weird though.
Emilio - short cocktail dress with emprie waist and the Campbell's fabric at the top of the waist, shiny polka dots, eh
Maya - knee length, gold fabric that wraps from right breast to waist that is sort of heart shaped, lot of ruching, Campbell purse
Anthony - red bottom and vest, Campbell pattern top, eh
Amy - long flowy dress, Campbell tie under bust,
Jesus - short, tight dress that is way too young for his lady. Campbell fabric down the side, rhinestone straps, very The Body Shop or something cheap
Anna Marie - oh sweet baby girl, no.  knee length dress with a flowy bottom and a v-top with sheer?/nude fabric under.  It just looks so wrong.
Jay - long strapless dress with Campbell fabric in a very subtle roll at waist, layered sweetheart top, very cute
Jessie - knee length red skirt, white jacket, Campbell rose brooch thing, cute, model seems to like it.
Ben - long dress with high slit, halter top, gold belt, Campbell fabric is a subtle lining at the edge of slit
Mila - long red dress with Campbell white star cutouts and Campbell fabric trim halter top, eh
Jeneane - mid calf, spaghetti straps, white ruffle detail with Campbell rose, bottom layer of off white with the same fabric at top, almost like a dress on top of a dress
Seth Aaron - black bottom, red top, Campbell bell belt and edging on cross over top, model likes it


Top three:

Mila - fun and classic, job well done
Amy - beautiful, elegant
Maya - something interesting, nice shape, draping

Bottom three:

Jessie - boring
Jesus - Michael's face is like oh, honey no.  Cheap.  He needs to learn to edit.
Anna Marie - top is a no, makes her look broad

Winner: Amy! Very good, her dress was really great.

Out:  Jesus!  Thank Goodness because he really didn't do that well.  Cheap, tacky, tight, shiny = all the things Michael, Nina, and Heidi hate more than anything.  The dress can be ugly as hell as long as it doesn't look cheap.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Social Justice Challenge - Water

2010 Social Justice Reading ChallengeI had planned to participate in January's Social Justice Challenge theme, Religious Freedom, at the Intern level, but unfortunately I didn't complete an action step. C'est la vie. I will do better next time.



This month's theme is Water. And I will try to participate at the Volunteer level (read at least one of the recommended blog posts, essays or shorter novels; complete an action step) or try again for the Intern level.

Here are the questions they are asking this month.


1. What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you think of Water as a social justice issue?
 I assumed it had to do with providing clean water to third world countries and that maybe not everyone knew that in some places clean water is hard to find.

2. What, if any, exposure have you personally had to a water shortage?
Not much, just during hurricanes when water and electricity are off and it can be hard to find water.  But the situations have resolved themselves quickly for my family.  It was important though after Hurricane Andrew and especially Katrina that water be provided to the shelters because there were so many people in there.

3. What potential action steps can you think of that relate to this month’s theme of Water?
Well, I think it is a good idea to make others aware of water shortage facts and issues so blogging about it is a good idea.  There is also http://thewaterproject.org/ if you are able to give donations of any kind for clean water in Africa.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

"LA X" (Lost thoughts)

There were two timelines going on in this episode.  One where the plane didn't crash and everything proceeds as normal.  Boone talks to John about his "walkabout" and revels that his sister didn't come home with him and I assume that means they didn't sleep together.  Jack saves Charlie's life as Charlie almost chocks to death on a heroine ball he was trying to sallow, and then later Charlie tells Jack that he should have died then.  So I guess Charlie was always meant to die at some point or another. *sob*  Kate escapes from the Marshall and hijacks a cab with Claire in it.  Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley don't do much in this part of the episode, but Desmond shows up randomly.  I wonder if this is an alternate universe, a "what could have been," or just a fantasy.  At the beginning of the episode we get a pan down to the ocean and down into it and we see the Dharma shark and the village and then the giant statue foot all under water.  So I think that this is what happens if Jack was right and the Swan is never built.

The other timeline is where all the OMG moments come in.  So in this one everyone is apparently back to our time now which is 2005? to them.  I'll have to check on that.  Anyway, they are all at the blown up Swan hatch and Juliet is under the rubble and Sawyer goes down for her and she tells him that she blew up the bomb to save him and they kiss and she dies.  *sob sob*  Sawyer is angry at Jack, but he lets them go off to save Sayid and he and Miles bury her and Sawyer makes Miles found out what the last thing she was going to say was.  "It worked."   I don't know what that means and neither does Sawyer.

Jacob appears to Hurley and tells him that he is dead and that Hurley needs to take Sayid to the Temple to save him.  So even though Sayid is clearly dying they wait around forever and then bring him to the Temple where they are captured by some people who live there.  Hurley gives them the guitar case that Jacob gave him and there is a giant ankh with a list inside and the Head Japanese Guy (HJG) asks all their names and I guess that they are on the list, because they take Sayid to the spring which is red looking.  They drown Sayid and then are confused when he is not healed.  Sayid is dead. *sob*  Jack is horrible crushed and confused and doesn't know what to do.  Meanwhile, Hurley tells HJG and his RHM (right hand man) that Jacob is dead and then they all freak out and start spreading ash and preparing to keep "him" out.

In the meantime, Ben is looking for confused and regretful about killing Jacob, but NotLocke doesn't care.  He sends Ben out to fetch Richard.  Ben tries to take control of the situation outside and acts like he just didn't murder their god or anything.  Richard knows better and flings Ben at John Locke's dead body.  Ben is confused.  Then Jacob's bodyguards or whatever go in and NotLocke tells them Jacob is dead and they try to shoot him and he disappears then the Smoke Monster comes and kills them all except Ben.  NotLocke says "Sorry you had to see me like that."  OMG OMG so NotLocke is the Smoke Monster!!! WHAT!!!
Finally they go outside and he greets Richard and says "Hello Richard it's good to see you out of those chains."  Richard stares at him and says "YOU?" and NotLocke says "Me" and hits Richard *sob* and then picks him up and tells everyone else he is very disappointed in them.

Final scene: there is a scuffle and then Sayid sits up and asks what happened.  DUN! Also YAY he's alive.

I'm assuming that the Man in Black/Jacob's enemy is NotLocke here.

The fact that NotLocke is the Smoke Monster answers some questions but brings up more.  I figured that might be the same when Ben went down that hole and saw the hieroglyphics and was confronted by both DeadAlex and Smokey and then Locke shows up right after.  It was how he manipulated Ben into killing Jacob.  So I wonder when John first saw the Monster and said he saw something beautiful if that was when Smokey picked John out.  And he checked Eko out too but Eko was strong and John was weak and that's why he picked John.  Also when was he let out of the cabin.  John first went in Season 3 to the cabin and there was the line of ash that stopped whoever was inside from getting out.  It was assumed Jacob, but is obviously NotLocke.  Although Smokey was roaming around so is that the brawn and NotLocke is the brain and so Smokey could never really do anything but look for someone to set NotLocke free. And finally someone broke the ash circle.  The MIB "became" NotLocke after Ben killed the real John.  So when was he set free?  Did Ben really think it was Jacob in the cabin?  He doesn't seem to know what is going on anymore.  But Richard knows something.  He knows who NotLocke really is.  I think that Richard was on board the Black Rock and that is when he came to the Island either as a slave so literal chains or NotLocke meant "chains" to be his debt and servitude to Jacob.  We find out that NotLocke just wants to go home.  I still think that Jacob and the MIB are gods.  I had said previously that I thought it was Sobek and Set, but someone said Osiris and Set and that fits too.  I"m guessing NotLocke is heading to the Temple now.  Maybe that is the way home.

Different thought:

Why didn't Claire want Aaron brought back to the Island?  Is it because he is important somehow in the struggle between Jacob and MIB?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

LOST!

Whoo!!! Lost is back on tonight and that means I'm going to get back to posting my Lost thoughts.  I had sort of started doing recaps, but I don't know if I will do that or just go back to impressions and thoughts and theories.  But I'm super excited because it is the last season and it will hopefully be epic.  I can't wait to find out more about Jacob and Not!Locke and what happens to everyone.



Monday, February 1, 2010

Spam

This morning when I checked my e-mail, I found 120+ comments had been made overnight on this blog.  All of them spam which is just so great.  I've been deleting them this morning and now I have enabled word verification on all posts and comment moderation on post 15 days or older.  Not that I get so many comments, but I don't want to have to do that again.  It is frustrating because Blogger only allows comment deletion one comment at a time.  They really need to work on their comment system because you can't edit comments either.  I hate deleting and then starting over when I mess up on a comment somewhere and I'm sure others do too.