Like choosing favorite films, favorite characters can be tricky: these are my top nine today. Tomorrow will most certainly be different. And though I've numbered these, I really can't rank many of them at all.
9. Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove. I want to drink whiskey with him, and hear him sing crochety old cowboys songs in the morning.
8. Princess Leia. I can point to her as a princess who takes care of her own business. Suck on that, Disney.
7. Desdemona, from Othello. Oh, pure Desdemona. Every time I read the play, I hope she wins. Every. Time.
6. Isabella from the cheesy historical romance novel Rose of Rapture. My lord, that book deserves its own post. I don't want to just hang out with Isabella: I want to BE her.
5. Inigo Montoya: Mandy Patinkin's finest work.
4. Dewey Dell Bundren. She's not a smart woman, nor an especially kind one, but she really ties the novel As I Lay Dying together.
3. Esperanza in The House on Mango Street. You should really read that book if you haven't yet. I'm part Esperanza, and part Esperanza's best friend. But with less Latina, and more Scandinavia.
2. Joel in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He's a little boring, but full of goodness, ache, and love. He appeals to me tremendously, despite the fact (or perhaps because?) he's played by Jim Carrey.
1. Fran from Strictly Ballroom. I...I can't explain Fran. She's like Ophelia and Leia and Esperanza all rolled into one Australian dream. I would totally hang out with Fran.
Howsabout you? Are you familiar with my choices? What are some of your favorites today?
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
04 December 2010
List #9: Hobbies o' Mine
Nothing too profound this snowy Saturday: just a list of some of my many hobbies. I'd love to hear your favorite hobbies, too, though I certainly don't need anymore of my own.
1. Jewelry making: I especially love making earrings, because they don't take long and they can be so lovely. This summer we made stretchy bracelets for my aunts and cousins, using stretchy bead thread. If you take your time with the knots, you'll be happier with the result. Cute, fast, and easy, just like me! (um...nevermind)
2. Quilting. You've read Languishing's award-winning Quilts of our Lives series, and I do love to quilt. It's hard for me to get inspired without a scheduled retreat or weekend set aside, because they are labor and logic intensive, and I don't have a lot of either to spare. But when I'm quilting, I'm a happy girl.
3. I make books. I can do more elaborate, formal bindings than those in the picture, and am particular fond of Japanese stab bindings (it sounds so violent! But it's not). They make lovely scrapbooks and guestbooks and journals. I taught a group of 5th and 6th graders to do that form several years ago, and discovered working with kids that age is remarkably similar to college age students, but with less swearing.
4. Crochet. My grandmother taught me to knit when I was about 10, but I lacked any semblance of patience, and it ended when I snapped my plastic knitting needles in half in frustration (Sorry, Beulah!). When I was in high school, my mother learned to crochet, and my sister and I followed suit. Mostly I make dishcloths & scarves, now: a girl only needs so many afghans, and the carpal tunnel keeps me from projects of that size. I like crocheting because, after this much practice, I can do it in the dark of a movie theater or while we're watching something at home, and not feel like I'm being indulgent quite so much. Idle hands do the devil's work, you know.
5. House plants. I have almost totally failed at this hobby, and I have a dozen dead plants in my house to prove it. But I also have a few (5 or 6, maybe?) that persist in living, and I adore the idea of healthy, happy houseplants. I just don't remember to water them regularly enough.
6. Collage: This is how many of my students spell "college." At any rate, I like to cut things up and paste things back together (which is a lot like quilting, now that I think of it). I use collage to make little trading-size cards, alter books, and jazz up my syllabus. Decoupage is my friend.
7. Card-making: Connected to #3 and #6, this was a natural outcropping. My mom and aunt and friend have a ridiculous collection of supplies, and when I can get there to play, it's a breeze to make cards. Lately, though, I've been sending Mary a card a day, which really ups the ante: I'm trying to keep things interesting but don't have access to the supply mecca. It's been fun, actually.
8, Facebook: Oh, facebook, you evil temptress. I came to this party late, but I find myself checking it time and again throughout the day, almost automatically, like looking at the clock. When I'm bored, I get irritated, and want it to entertain me. Gak.
9. Dexter: We don't have Showtime, but we recently discovered how to run Netflix through our XBox 360, so we can livestream all sorts of things, provided our somewhat pathetic internet cooperates (which, by the way, do any of you, gentle readers, have internet through DirecTV? Any thoughts?). We'd heard about this show, and just finished season 1. I love it: it's like CSI meets Criminal Minds meets the Sopranos. What's not to like about that?
These are some of the things (besides blogging) that I do in my spare time, or in my avoid-doing-what-I-ought-to-be-doing-time, like cleaning and/or grading. What's your favorite distraction?
1. Jewelry making: I especially love making earrings, because they don't take long and they can be so lovely. This summer we made stretchy bracelets for my aunts and cousins, using stretchy bead thread. If you take your time with the knots, you'll be happier with the result. Cute, fast, and easy, just like me! (um...nevermind)
2. Quilting. You've read Languishing's award-winning Quilts of our Lives series, and I do love to quilt. It's hard for me to get inspired without a scheduled retreat or weekend set aside, because they are labor and logic intensive, and I don't have a lot of either to spare. But when I'm quilting, I'm a happy girl.
3. I make books. I can do more elaborate, formal bindings than those in the picture, and am particular fond of Japanese stab bindings (it sounds so violent! But it's not). They make lovely scrapbooks and guestbooks and journals. I taught a group of 5th and 6th graders to do that form several years ago, and discovered working with kids that age is remarkably similar to college age students, but with less swearing.
4. Crochet. My grandmother taught me to knit when I was about 10, but I lacked any semblance of patience, and it ended when I snapped my plastic knitting needles in half in frustration (Sorry, Beulah!). When I was in high school, my mother learned to crochet, and my sister and I followed suit. Mostly I make dishcloths & scarves, now: a girl only needs so many afghans, and the carpal tunnel keeps me from projects of that size. I like crocheting because, after this much practice, I can do it in the dark of a movie theater or while we're watching something at home, and not feel like I'm being indulgent quite so much. Idle hands do the devil's work, you know.
5. House plants. I have almost totally failed at this hobby, and I have a dozen dead plants in my house to prove it. But I also have a few (5 or 6, maybe?) that persist in living, and I adore the idea of healthy, happy houseplants. I just don't remember to water them regularly enough.
6. Collage: This is how many of my students spell "college." At any rate, I like to cut things up and paste things back together (which is a lot like quilting, now that I think of it). I use collage to make little trading-size cards, alter books, and jazz up my syllabus. Decoupage is my friend.
7. Card-making: Connected to #3 and #6, this was a natural outcropping. My mom and aunt and friend have a ridiculous collection of supplies, and when I can get there to play, it's a breeze to make cards. Lately, though, I've been sending Mary a card a day, which really ups the ante: I'm trying to keep things interesting but don't have access to the supply mecca. It's been fun, actually.
8, Facebook: Oh, facebook, you evil temptress. I came to this party late, but I find myself checking it time and again throughout the day, almost automatically, like looking at the clock. When I'm bored, I get irritated, and want it to entertain me. Gak.
9. Dexter: We don't have Showtime, but we recently discovered how to run Netflix through our XBox 360, so we can livestream all sorts of things, provided our somewhat pathetic internet cooperates (which, by the way, do any of you, gentle readers, have internet through DirecTV? Any thoughts?). We'd heard about this show, and just finished season 1. I love it: it's like CSI meets Criminal Minds meets the Sopranos. What's not to like about that?
These are some of the things (besides blogging) that I do in my spare time, or in my avoid-doing-what-I-ought-to-be-doing-time, like cleaning and/or grading. What's your favorite distraction?
29 November 2010
List #8: Places from fiction I wish I could visit
My travelling post made me think of....travelling. Shocking. But beyond that, I want to be an English nerd and work literature into the post as well, so here're places from fiction I wish I could visit.
1. Tolkein's Middle Earth. Duh. I guess I could try going here.
2. Alice's Wonderland. Since V's Alice obsession, it's hard not to find the place compelling. For grown up trivia, this site is entertaining. When V first saw the well-known Disney version of Alice, we had to have a long talk about Baby Jessica and how rabbit holes and wells and other dark places were not really meant for little girls to go falling into. Not surprisingly, V was terribly disappointed.
3. The Fabulon Midway in Geek Love. I love me a good circus sideshow, and the Binewskis did it up right. In a horrific, godforsaken sort of way.
4. Yoknapatawpha County. William Faulkner created not just an imaginary home, or neighborhood, or city. He made up a whole damn county. And it's a spooky, creepy, southern mess of a county. And I love that it's a whole mini-universe (ps: I hate Wikipedia. But it's the best link I could find today).
5. Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory: another nod to one of V's obsessions, I have long loved the idea of the factory from the original film. The chocolate river (Augustus!!), the golden geese eggs, the fizzy lifting drinks...Gene Wilder....Awesome.
6. Oz. What child doesn't dream of waking up in a magical land full of witches and munchkins and flying monkeys and talking tinmen and scarecrows? It's certainly why I so love the book Wicked, and Son of a Witch, and the one about the lion that's been on my nightstand for months because I don't have time to read anything but papers. Of course, I believed for YEARS that the Wicked Witch of the West lived under my bed. (And she was married to the Incredible Hulk). But I still would love to go over the rainbow.
7. The cave from the Goonies. Even if Sean Astin isn't there to kiss me, it would be an awesome place to play. Remind me to bring along someone with lots of life-saving inventions strapped to themselves, though.
8. The island where the Swiss Family Robinson lived. Alternately, if that's not available, I'll take the island in The Blue Lagoon. For both, I would like to get to the island after the characters have all left, because otherwise I'm just a tourist, and not experiencing the island like I want to (plus, Christopher Atkins creeps me out). At the same time, I hope they leave behind their lovely buildings and machetes and coconut and banana trees. Yum.
9. The Addam's Family house, from the TV show. I love the greenhouse thing, and the nooses, and the gables, and the decor, and....well, all of it. The one(s?) in the movies are quite lovely, too, but the original one makes me giggle.
Howsabout you? Just like on my movie list, I'm sure you, gentle readers, will come up with 15 places that make me hit myself and say "How could I forget THAT?". Bring it on. Let the headsmacking begin.
1. Tolkein's Middle Earth. Duh. I guess I could try going here.
2. Alice's Wonderland. Since V's Alice obsession, it's hard not to find the place compelling. For grown up trivia, this site is entertaining. When V first saw the well-known Disney version of Alice, we had to have a long talk about Baby Jessica and how rabbit holes and wells and other dark places were not really meant for little girls to go falling into. Not surprisingly, V was terribly disappointed.
3. The Fabulon Midway in Geek Love. I love me a good circus sideshow, and the Binewskis did it up right. In a horrific, godforsaken sort of way.
4. Yoknapatawpha County. William Faulkner created not just an imaginary home, or neighborhood, or city. He made up a whole damn county. And it's a spooky, creepy, southern mess of a county. And I love that it's a whole mini-universe (ps: I hate Wikipedia. But it's the best link I could find today).
5. Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory: another nod to one of V's obsessions, I have long loved the idea of the factory from the original film. The chocolate river (Augustus!!), the golden geese eggs, the fizzy lifting drinks...Gene Wilder....Awesome.
6. Oz. What child doesn't dream of waking up in a magical land full of witches and munchkins and flying monkeys and talking tinmen and scarecrows? It's certainly why I so love the book Wicked, and Son of a Witch, and the one about the lion that's been on my nightstand for months because I don't have time to read anything but papers. Of course, I believed for YEARS that the Wicked Witch of the West lived under my bed. (And she was married to the Incredible Hulk). But I still would love to go over the rainbow.
7. The cave from the Goonies. Even if Sean Astin isn't there to kiss me, it would be an awesome place to play. Remind me to bring along someone with lots of life-saving inventions strapped to themselves, though.
8. The island where the Swiss Family Robinson lived. Alternately, if that's not available, I'll take the island in The Blue Lagoon. For both, I would like to get to the island after the characters have all left, because otherwise I'm just a tourist, and not experiencing the island like I want to (plus, Christopher Atkins creeps me out). At the same time, I hope they leave behind their lovely buildings and machetes and coconut and banana trees. Yum.
9. The Addam's Family house, from the TV show. I love the greenhouse thing, and the nooses, and the gables, and the decor, and....well, all of it. The one(s?) in the movies are quite lovely, too, but the original one makes me giggle.
Howsabout you? Just like on my movie list, I'm sure you, gentle readers, will come up with 15 places that make me hit myself and say "How could I forget THAT?". Bring it on. Let the headsmacking begin.
07 November 2009
Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen...
Lately, I've been working on several dozen projects at once, as usual. But none of them are particularly photogenic, so I find myself stumped with what to blog about. And then I remember there is no photograph requirement for blogging, except the ones I've developed for myself, so here I am thinking out loud again.
1. V's into telling stories. Constantly. She wants me to tell them to her, with her parameters: it usually involves Toy Story+Star Wars Garbage Chute Scene+Princesses+Will and V. This sounds cute and all but it really gets tiring to constantly think of new variations on this story. Recently I had everyone get trapped in ToysRUs, which was very popular, but has led to demands of trips to ToysRUs. I must remember to be careful where those characters end up.
2. My job: As usual, it takes up great heaps of time and energy, which is fine. But I am teaching a new course in the spring (Environmental Literature) and another next fall (Humanities of World Cinema) that I've never taught or taken before, which is much harder than re-teaching courses I'm already familiar with. I'm in the process of gathering input from colleagues, but I'm also trying to ask friends and family, too. So I pose this question to the blog: What non-English movies have you seen that impressed you, and why? And what elements (books, movies, youtube clips, etc) should I include in Environmental Literature? I'm interpreting the course to be about both the world environment of weather, tsunamis, floods, and global warming, and the environments we're raised in, and the environments we create for ourselves. I've chosen a book of essays by Leslie Marmon Silko, a book of writings (poems, essays, fiction) about the midwest called Inheriting the Land, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, because I'm an optimist. But I'd still like at least 2 more books, maybe as many as 5 more. Again, because I'm an optimist.
3. My hoarding hairball. I'm trying to figure out why I am more comfortable in a home packed to the gills with stuff, why I love acquiring things as much as if not more than using them. And how to translate this into a living situation that doesn't drive my partner and daughter and me completely crazy.
4. The new V television series, and Flash Forward, both of which are breaking my brain a little and making me happy at the same time.
5. Putting the blog into a book form, for my own records, for when the apocalypse comes and devours the internet. I'm working with BLURB, and am on page 83 of 290. It's tedious, mostly because I have so many photos that the software can't really handle it. So I'm going a page at a time, adding in the photos as I go.
6. Putting the zine into book form. This is an ongoing project, one I've been working on for over 2 years. Languishing the Zine started publishing in 1996 or 1997, and technically hasn't stopped yet. The book form has over 120 pages of very small type. Several months ago, I said to Tenessa (who is 34 today!) that I didn't know where to start editing 120 pages. She laughed at me, since she's a book editor, but I noticed she didn't offer to take it over for me. Unlike the blog book, this book will be available for purchase. Eventually. The other thing slowing me down is I'm missing some issues from 2002-2003, and I can't hardly print a comprehensive book missing two whole years.
As you can see, I'm busy with non-photographable pursuits right now. I welcome your advice, mocking, and open scorn. Sharing these things with the blog world makes them more real, so now I better go get to work.
1. V's into telling stories. Constantly. She wants me to tell them to her, with her parameters: it usually involves Toy Story+Star Wars Garbage Chute Scene+Princesses+Will and V. This sounds cute and all but it really gets tiring to constantly think of new variations on this story. Recently I had everyone get trapped in ToysRUs, which was very popular, but has led to demands of trips to ToysRUs. I must remember to be careful where those characters end up.
2. My job: As usual, it takes up great heaps of time and energy, which is fine. But I am teaching a new course in the spring (Environmental Literature) and another next fall (Humanities of World Cinema) that I've never taught or taken before, which is much harder than re-teaching courses I'm already familiar with. I'm in the process of gathering input from colleagues, but I'm also trying to ask friends and family, too. So I pose this question to the blog: What non-English movies have you seen that impressed you, and why? And what elements (books, movies, youtube clips, etc) should I include in Environmental Literature? I'm interpreting the course to be about both the world environment of weather, tsunamis, floods, and global warming, and the environments we're raised in, and the environments we create for ourselves. I've chosen a book of essays by Leslie Marmon Silko, a book of writings (poems, essays, fiction) about the midwest called Inheriting the Land, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, because I'm an optimist. But I'd still like at least 2 more books, maybe as many as 5 more. Again, because I'm an optimist.
3. My hoarding hairball. I'm trying to figure out why I am more comfortable in a home packed to the gills with stuff, why I love acquiring things as much as if not more than using them. And how to translate this into a living situation that doesn't drive my partner and daughter and me completely crazy.
4. The new V television series, and Flash Forward, both of which are breaking my brain a little and making me happy at the same time.
5. Putting the blog into a book form, for my own records, for when the apocalypse comes and devours the internet. I'm working with BLURB, and am on page 83 of 290. It's tedious, mostly because I have so many photos that the software can't really handle it. So I'm going a page at a time, adding in the photos as I go.
6. Putting the zine into book form. This is an ongoing project, one I've been working on for over 2 years. Languishing the Zine started publishing in 1996 or 1997, and technically hasn't stopped yet. The book form has over 120 pages of very small type. Several months ago, I said to Tenessa (who is 34 today!) that I didn't know where to start editing 120 pages. She laughed at me, since she's a book editor, but I noticed she didn't offer to take it over for me. Unlike the blog book, this book will be available for purchase. Eventually. The other thing slowing me down is I'm missing some issues from 2002-2003, and I can't hardly print a comprehensive book missing two whole years.
As you can see, I'm busy with non-photographable pursuits right now. I welcome your advice, mocking, and open scorn. Sharing these things with the blog world makes them more real, so now I better go get to work.
24 November 2008
Thankful List IV
31. V’s excitement at other people’s birthday parties
32. My little sister
33. Holiday Open House at Hornbacher’s (mmm…cheesecakes samples….)
34. Finishing grading a big old pile of papers
35. Coca-cola classic
36. My sewing machine (a Shark. Which strikes me as a funny brand for sewing machines).
37. Janis Joplin
38. Savers
39. The harmonica
40. Hosting Thanksgiving at our house
32. My little sister
33. Holiday Open House at Hornbacher’s (mmm…cheesecakes samples….)
34. Finishing grading a big old pile of papers
35. Coca-cola classic
36. My sewing machine (a Shark. Which strikes me as a funny brand for sewing machines).
37. Janis Joplin
38. Savers
39. The harmonica
40. Hosting Thanksgiving at our house
11 May 2008
Mother's Day in Eight Photographs
We went to Myra's, where Jess and Will and Mary and David and four dogs all convened for a beautiful day together. Yesterday it snowed enough to accumulate, so the plan to have a picnic in our backyard was scrapped by my mother ("Jen, it's BLIZZARDING" she insisted yesterday). So we went to her house, ate the easiest dinner I've ever provided...we bought 3 rotisserie chickens, 1 lb each of 2 different salads, Mom made jello, and Jess cleaned strawberries for shortcake. Then we spent the rest of the day chasing toddlers and dogs all over the place.
We walked to The Station (yeah, Myra lives in a town where each business/location is just called "The [insert noun here]" The Church, The School, The Station, The Bank, The Park, The Bar...) where they had free sundaes for moms, and we bought ice cream for the dads and kids too (because we're such generous moms). I adore the picture of Will because 1. He's just filthy, which illustrates the excitement of the day, and 2. He looks so much like my sister. I love the picture of V because 1. she just has this look of adoration on her face, gazing on her ice cream cone, and 2. it's also obvious by the background that we're at The Station.
We had sliding (the cousins are so sweet together. They are just starting to pay close attention to each other, and today they kept saying "My turn! Now your turn!" to each other).
Then we had a little banjo
We walked to The Station (yeah, Myra lives in a town where each business/location is just called "The [insert noun here]" The Church, The School, The Station, The Bank, The Park, The Bar...) where they had free sundaes for moms, and we bought ice cream for the dads and kids too (because we're such generous moms). I adore the picture of Will because 1. He's just filthy, which illustrates the excitement of the day, and 2. He looks so much like my sister. I love the picture of V because 1. she just has this look of adoration on her face, gazing on her ice cream cone, and 2. it's also obvious by the background that we're at The Station.
We walked home across the field that, when I was a child, held our family's lumberyard. Well, it had been a lumberyard (we pronounced it "lumbry-yard," by the way) but my grandfather, dad, and uncle had bought it and had been using it as a giant garage when we were born. It's a lot prettier (and safer and less rat-infested) now that the lumbry yard's gone.
When we got home, Shaun went out shopping for gifts (because he usually plans ahead like that), and said V had told hm what she wanted to get me on two separate occassions, so he was confident in his excursion. I thought maybe there would be Coca-Cola, or a Backyardigans Video, but V felt strongly that for Mother's Day, I should have Birthday Cake. So Shaun had the DQ write "Happy Birthday Mom" on my cake, and V and I each enjoyed a piece. At first I thought he'd just bought a cake on sale, since my birthday is 2 weeks away, but he explained that V had been very specific that I should have not just cake but birthday cake.
Best present ever.
Second best present ever? Shaun got me the book Bonk by Mary Roach. A few years ago for my birthday he bought me Stiff, and I adored it...Bonk is her latest venture. I love Mary Roach: she has a way of writing that is fascinating, informative but not dry, and laugh-out-loud funny. My only complaint about Stiff was that it was not comprehensive enough, because apparently I want to read more about death than just over 200 pages. I'm just starting the foreword on Bonk, but already I'm so excited to read it I can barely imagine having to still grade for the next week before I can really sink into this book.
So there's our day. We are so lucky to get to spend a whole day with both my Mama and Shaun's parents, not to mention my sister and her son and four crazy dogs. And birthday cake.
And a banjo.
Hope your day was swell too.
06 April 2008
That one time when we did that crafty thing
I was beyond thrilled to get this book by my favorite blogger, Amanda Soule, this week. She has inspired me many times, and this lovely book is no exception. At Ms. Soule’s suggestion, I sat down with my 2 7/12 year old daughter to do some painting. Here is a transcript of yesterday, our first formal attempt at family creativity.
Me: Hey, you wanna do some painting?
V: Painting! Yay! Yes! Let’s paint!
Me: (glowing at her enthusiasm) Okay then! Let’s put down some newspaper, and lay out some wooden dolls and a couple of blank wooden boxes, and some small plates for pallets, and some brushes, and a damp cloth to wipe our fingers, and turn on the lights, and set out all 30 bottles of paint.
V: (rocking back and forth in her chair excitedly) Yay! Painting!
Me: I know! Cool, huh. So, what do you want to paint first?
V: This one! (she selects the biggest wooden doll form, which is okay, but it’s, erm…the most expensive, and one of only 2 that I ordered special from the internet)
Me: (Remembering Amanda’s chapter on “Using the good stuff”) Cool! What color do you want to start with?
V: Blue! Yay, painting!
Me: Right! Blue! (Pouring a quarter size dollop of blue metallic acrylic onto the aforementioned plastic plate) There you go!
V: (giggling as she blobs blue paint on the head of the Expensive, One of Only Two doll figure)
Me: Um, hey, do you wanna spread that around at all? It’ll dry faster.
V: (ignores Mama completely. Continues blobbing)
Meanwhile, I’m carefully painting 6 other figures, and trying to use up some of the metallic blue paint before she puts all of it on this poor doll figurine.
Me: You can paint that box, too, babe. I thought maybe our dolls could use those boxes as little houses.
V: (Smacking her paintbrush absent-mindedly inside the wooden box) I made a butterfly!
Me: Wow, that does kinda look like a butterfly.
V: I’m done now. I want some cheese.
Me: What? We’ve only used one color. And it’s only been 4 minutes since we started. What do you mean you’re done?
V: (louder) Cheese, please.
Me: But you painted that cool butterfly…
V: (much louder): CHEESE!
Me: If I give you cheese, will you paint some more?
V: No.
Despite this, erm, mediocre beginning, I feel good to be trying new things and letting go of my ideas of right/pretty/good a little bit. In fact, we painted again today, this time for about 7 minutes. If we keep this up, by May we’ll hit 40 minutes easy! As to the book, I am only halfway through it, but it’s already been worth the price: we’ve never had a weekend with so little TV. In a few months, I hope V’ll be up for embroidery, too: that’s one of my favorite sections so far, and includes, for those over 3, some burlap in an embroidery hoop, a blunt needle, and some thick floss in 5 inch stitches. Sort of a “no rules” approach that I would’ve loved as a kid. In the meantime, I gotta work on making her some sewing cards. Plus, sewing is a lot less messy than metallic blue paint.
Me: Hey, you wanna do some painting?
V: Painting! Yay! Yes! Let’s paint!
Me: (glowing at her enthusiasm) Okay then! Let’s put down some newspaper, and lay out some wooden dolls and a couple of blank wooden boxes, and some small plates for pallets, and some brushes, and a damp cloth to wipe our fingers, and turn on the lights, and set out all 30 bottles of paint.
V: (rocking back and forth in her chair excitedly) Yay! Painting!
Me: I know! Cool, huh. So, what do you want to paint first?
V: This one! (she selects the biggest wooden doll form, which is okay, but it’s, erm…the most expensive, and one of only 2 that I ordered special from the internet)
Me: (Remembering Amanda’s chapter on “Using the good stuff”) Cool! What color do you want to start with?
V: Blue! Yay, painting!
Me: Right! Blue! (Pouring a quarter size dollop of blue metallic acrylic onto the aforementioned plastic plate) There you go!
V: (giggling as she blobs blue paint on the head of the Expensive, One of Only Two doll figure)
Me: Um, hey, do you wanna spread that around at all? It’ll dry faster.
V: (ignores Mama completely. Continues blobbing)
Meanwhile, I’m carefully painting 6 other figures, and trying to use up some of the metallic blue paint before she puts all of it on this poor doll figurine.
Me: You can paint that box, too, babe. I thought maybe our dolls could use those boxes as little houses.
V: (Smacking her paintbrush absent-mindedly inside the wooden box) I made a butterfly!
Me: Wow, that does kinda look like a butterfly.
V: I’m done now. I want some cheese.
Me: What? We’ve only used one color. And it’s only been 4 minutes since we started. What do you mean you’re done?
V: (louder) Cheese, please.
Me: But you painted that cool butterfly…
V: (much louder): CHEESE!
Me: If I give you cheese, will you paint some more?
V: No.
Despite this, erm, mediocre beginning, I feel good to be trying new things and letting go of my ideas of right/pretty/good a little bit. In fact, we painted again today, this time for about 7 minutes. If we keep this up, by May we’ll hit 40 minutes easy! As to the book, I am only halfway through it, but it’s already been worth the price: we’ve never had a weekend with so little TV. In a few months, I hope V’ll be up for embroidery, too: that’s one of my favorite sections so far, and includes, for those over 3, some burlap in an embroidery hoop, a blunt needle, and some thick floss in 5 inch stitches. Sort of a “no rules” approach that I would’ve loved as a kid. In the meantime, I gotta work on making her some sewing cards. Plus, sewing is a lot less messy than metallic blue paint.
13 December 2007
I Like You Too, Amy Sedaris
So Amy Sedaris has stolen my book idea. Seriously. Well, maybe she just wrote the book I wish I had written. Anyway, it was my first Christmas gift this year and I've already read it. All 304 pages. And a lot of it is a cookbook. Who reads a cookbook? Me, I guess. I found her humor exquisite, the photographs glorious, and she made me crave some serious cheeseball.
I highly recommend this book, but it is not for the prudish (she explains some interesting hygiene tips) or the people who honestly aspire to be Martha Stewart (she cares for googly eyes a great deal). Look at the photo above: do you find this kinda pretty, kinda silly, and does it kinda makes you wonder where you put your kohl eyeshadow and your strappy heels? Then this might be the book for you. It's certainly the book for me: I swear she is my long lost big sister. It was a wonderful, exhilarating 304 pages, and I'm gonna read it again, probably before Christmas. After that, you can borrow it if you like. But I am gonna need it back for that cheeseball recipe.
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