Guilty secret ~ I am a HUGE Dawson's Creek fan. I am talking mammoth. Love me some Dawson!
Not so secret? I love Glee. When the back nine episodes premiered last week, my husband and I went to see it in a small theater downtown with about 40 other Gleeks. He had never seen it but indulged me and now is hooked. (Last night he confessed he had rerun the episode on the DVR just to watch the songs again!)
Why do I love this show so? I call it the "Dirty Dancing Syndrome". The first time I saw DD, I got this tingle, this shiver, this amazing feeling that lifted me from where I was and transported me. It was more than magical, it was trans formative. And I am not the only one who has had it. When I talked to my friends, heck, even strangers, and I ask "Do you remember how you felt the first time you saw Dirty Dancing?", they all get this kind of far away smile and say "Yeeeaaah". Because when you have an artistic experience that lifts you out of who YOU are and takes you somewhere else, you can never quite forget it.
I have had this a few other times. Every time I watch "The Wizard of Oz", listening to "Your Song" by Elton John, seeing a Vermeer. I remember sitting in the movie "Chicago" and watching " The Cell Block Tango". My daughter was sitting next to me and at the exact same time we turned to each other and smiled because we both new this was a transcendent moment. The blend of the dark, the music, the acting all added up to a spellbound second of bliss.
Glee brings that to me on a regular basis. Weekly. (Plus all the times I rewind the episodes.) I know not everyone loves the show. Some people think it is overexposed and underacted. But for me, it is the culmination of all that the arts can bring us to and beyond.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Curfew for decisions
Yesterday I was talking to a good friend of mine who was lamenting the amount of homework that our children have at their school. Both our daughters go to an all girls school which prides itself on its academic prowess and rigorous curriculum. She was talking about how her daughter was incredibly frustrated with the paper she was writing. My friend was trying to calm down her child and was consoling her but to no avail. Her daughter was distraught because she had to make a decision when writing the paper and just couldn't decide what to do.
I told her that we have a curfew for decisions in our house. No major decisions after 10 pm. It started years ago when the girls were in middle school and I noticed that the "witching hour" had switched from 5-6 pm (when they were toddlers) to 10-11 pm as they approached middle and high school. I realized, after many frustrating tearful chaotic nights, that as the evenings wore on and the homework got more and more complicated, they would start to break down. They were tired. They were overwhelmed. And they had forgotten to make a decision about something.
Thus the curfew.
It really didn't matter what they were trying to decide. Big or small, it was that little thing that pushed them over the edge into crying frustration. They felt COMPLETELY inadequate and essentially paralyzed because they had to make yet ANOTHER decision. And they were at their limit.
Over the years, I have used it myself. It doesn't prevent me from making any decision, it just allows me to make a decision when I am not exhausted. It reminds me of that great line from Scarlett in Gone With the Wind to"think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day." Maybe she was onto something!!
I told her that we have a curfew for decisions in our house. No major decisions after 10 pm. It started years ago when the girls were in middle school and I noticed that the "witching hour" had switched from 5-6 pm (when they were toddlers) to 10-11 pm as they approached middle and high school. I realized, after many frustrating tearful chaotic nights, that as the evenings wore on and the homework got more and more complicated, they would start to break down. They were tired. They were overwhelmed. And they had forgotten to make a decision about something.
Thus the curfew.
It really didn't matter what they were trying to decide. Big or small, it was that little thing that pushed them over the edge into crying frustration. They felt COMPLETELY inadequate and essentially paralyzed because they had to make yet ANOTHER decision. And they were at their limit.
Over the years, I have used it myself. It doesn't prevent me from making any decision, it just allows me to make a decision when I am not exhausted. It reminds me of that great line from Scarlett in Gone With the Wind to"think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day." Maybe she was onto something!!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Hangin 'out
I posted this on FB:
Every once in a while I take the next door neighbor boys for lunch and a movie. I love to do it. I have been doing it for four or five years. The eldest (Alex) wanted to go see "Cars" and I told him I would take him. Tradition started. Now I take him out once and then sometime later, I will take out his eight year old brother (Wil). I always let them pick the place to eat and I buy them anything they want. It's a good time for all.
I really love spending one on one time with the young people around me. I don't really care what we do ~ I usually let the kids direct it. I have had some really hysterical times and seen some great movies I would never have ventured in without this time. (Shout out to Kelly for "Last Song"). It gives me time to get to know them a little better, to hear what is happening and you know what? It is a lovely time for ME.
I love sharing their lives and I feel especially privileged that ~ so far ~ they are willing to still be seen with me. I am very lucky in this respect and I know it.
Going on a "hangout" with my neighbor,Alex to see "How to Train your Dragon" in 3-d and Five Guys. He's 11. They use to be called "dates" (by him) when he was younger but now he is too cool and he told me that it is not appropriate to call them that anymore. Thus a "hangout".
Every once in a while I take the next door neighbor boys for lunch and a movie. I love to do it. I have been doing it for four or five years. The eldest (Alex) wanted to go see "Cars" and I told him I would take him. Tradition started. Now I take him out once and then sometime later, I will take out his eight year old brother (Wil). I always let them pick the place to eat and I buy them anything they want. It's a good time for all.
I really love spending one on one time with the young people around me. I don't really care what we do ~ I usually let the kids direct it. I have had some really hysterical times and seen some great movies I would never have ventured in without this time. (Shout out to Kelly for "Last Song"). It gives me time to get to know them a little better, to hear what is happening and you know what? It is a lovely time for ME.
I love sharing their lives and I feel especially privileged that ~ so far ~ they are willing to still be seen with me. I am very lucky in this respect and I know it.
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