No one cares, but here is what I think of Avatar…
My husband and I had a 3D movie extravaganza date last Friday. I took the day off and while our son was at daycare, we decided to catch two movies. First, Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3D, lunch and then Avatar in 3D. We hadn’t been to the movies in almost a year since we had a baby last April, so we were overdue.
Alice in Wonderland was fun. I loved the costume design and was thoroughly creeped out by the looks of Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter. I didn’t enjoy Anne Hathaway as the White Queen because I just don’t care for her as an actress. Her role in this film just reinforced my feelings. I felt she was the weakest actor in the cast. On the flip side of things, I thought Helena Bohnam Carter was fantastic as the Queen of Hearts.
I am not in anyway a digital effects expert, but I found the weakest CGI was found on Crispin Glover’s character the Knave of Heart. The character is very tall–mostly notably in the legs. From what I have read, Glover was on stilts during the filming of his scenes to help give him that tall, long look but CGI was used too round out the visuals of the character. I feel like that character never looked grounded as he moved–he didn’t feel heavy enough to me which totally brought me out of the movie. Now this could have been intentional to add to the wacky world of Wonderland, and I hope it was. I hope it was a choice and not animators being so overwhelmed with all of the other visual effects that they half-assed the Knave.
But anyway…
On to Avatar.
Let me first start by saying that my expectations for this film were low. The more something is hyped in the media, the less I want to be a part of it.
And I dislike James Cameron.
And I didn’t like the looks of those blue creature things.
Overall, I was rather unimpressed with Avatar.
Yes, the technology behind creating the film is amazing. I will definitely give you that. However, the script written by James Cameron himself was predictable and boring. The characters were stereotypical and stale. The only character I even remotely cared about was Nytiri because she showed convincing emotion. There were a few decent actors in the cast–like Sigourney Weaver and Giovanni Ribisi, but still they were awful. The characters had no depth because the script sucked.
And it was long. So long that one dude in the fourth row was snoring, loudly, for the last hour of the two hour and forty minute movie. And we were seeing this film at 1pm.
So yeah for me, Avatar gets a big ol’ thumbs down.
And one more thing that bothered me about Avatar: It takes place in the year 2154, right? Why the hell is Sigourney Weaver’s character smoking cigarettes?!
Okay. I’m done.
Knock, knock…
My husband teaches graduate students. As part of my job, I work closely with his students. Last week, one of them approached me as I was working in the shop. He looked like he had a question.
Me: “Hey, what’s up?’
Student: “Knock, knock.”
Yep, he walked right up to me and told me a knock, knock joke–old school.
Like elementary school, old school.
And I feel for it hook, line and sinker.
And it made my day. I instantly felt like a six year old again. That was a good feeling.
My love hate/relationship with the South
I have been living in northern Florida since August of 2006. A lot of people don’t really consider Florida “The South.” My house is only about 15 miles away from Georgia’s southern border–quite a ways from the theme parks, sandy beaches and retirement communities that most people think of when you mention The Sunshine State.
Life here took some getting use to. There are definitely good and bad parts to living here.
GOOD:
- I never have to shovel snow or scrape ice off of my car.
- There are LOTS of amazing Mexican restaurants around. And we love Mexican food!
- My drive to work is gorgeous. We live just beyond the city limits–just off of a canopy road. Old oak trees laced with Spanish Moss reach over the road for miles. I also get to pass a goat farm, bulls, chickens and roosters and at least five churches on my way to into the city each day.
- We have lots of really great city parks.
- Really great produce–citrus, peaches…
- We aren’t too far away from the Gulf of Mexico.
- I swear that the Publix grocery store near my house has the nicest employees of any grocery store anywhere.
- People use “sir” and “ma’am” as part of their regular vocabulary because they were raised that way. It’s nice.
- Lots of great Southern cooking: cheese grits, barbecue, biscuits…
- Cute little tree frogs that stick to our kitchen windows at night in the summer.
BAD:
- No real change of seasons. My body still has trouble adapting to this.
- It gets hot. Hot AND humid. This is terrible for a person like me who hates wearing shorts or sleeveless shirts.
- Hurricanes!
- Tornadoes!
- Tropical storms!
- Lots of insects! Big spiders!
- I can never get good apples down here in the fall.
- Eastern European food is hard to come by.
- Terrible pizza.
- Tally is a football town and when you try to explain to someone that you don’t really care about sports, they think you are nuts.
- The arts are rather under appreciated in this town.
- I don’t like that a lot of emphasis is placed on Christianity. Christian daycare, Christian plumbers…if you are Christian, that is cool–but I think that an Jewish daycare center or an Atheist plumber would both do good jobs too.
- I really am not a fan of the Pro-Life billboards.
- I guess all in all, it is a little too conservative here for my taste.
- Sweet tea. I’ve tried to like it and I just don’t. It is WAY too sweet for me. I feel like I am drinking brown simple syrup.
- Lots of great Southern cooking is loaded with fat, salt and lard (but that is what makes it good, right?)
I know that I won’t live down here forever, but I am determined to learn how to make authentic Southern fried chicken and homemade biscuits before I leave.
It has taken me a long time to get comfortable here. I think buying a home helped. It allowed us to put down some roots, which is something I really haven’t done before.
Songs related to this post:
10 things that make me happy!
Candice over at Bookish Penguin bestowed upon me this Happy 101 award! Thanks Candice!
According to the award rules, I have to post the image above (done!) and list ten things that make me happy–one of which has be to done today. Then I get to pass this award along to ten bloggers who make me happy.
So here it goes, in no particular order:
1. My son
I love walking into his room in the morning. Once he spots me he smiles, squeals and flails about. I love to tickle him just before bath time. I love watching him grow and discover new things. I could go on and on all day about this kid. He makes me SO happy. He makes me happy everyday!
2. My Friday lunch date
My husband and I work at the same school. We have a student/staff/faculty meeting with his department on Friday mornings. After that we go out to lunch. This is particularly nice now since it is our standing “date” for the week. I did this today!
3. When I unexpectedly hear a song I love
I love it when I hear a song that I absolutely love come on the radio or starts playing in the supermarket or something. My mood changes instantly. This is especially super-duper fun when it is a song that I completely forgot existed.
4. Turtles
I don’t know why I like them so much, but I do. They are in plenty of park ponds here in Tallahassee–always sunning themselves on logs and rocks. I could watch them for hours.
5. Baking/Cooking
I grew up with cooks. My grandparents (and my great-grandparents before them) owned a mom-and-pop restaurant and bar. I use to love watching my grandmother cook. And my mom is a cook too. But I never got to cook much at home because my mom likes things done a certain way, so I didn’t get to do much. But in the last 4 years or so, I have really come to love cooking and baking. It somehow makes me happy the same way that painting does–something about the process of adding ingredients together in various ways. I really enjoy the process of creation. The eating isn’t so bad either!
6. Making my husband laugh
I am really thankful that he thinks I am funny, because if he didn’t we most certainly wouldn’t be married!
7. Painting
I love painting. I don’t have to be making “art.” I really just like the feeling of applying paint to things. I find it to be completely zen-like. I don’t think about anything. I am in the moment and in the motion.
I know, I’m weird.
8. Autumn in the Northeast
The crisp air. The smell of fallen leaves. The colors. The apples and pumpkins. Halloween! Wearing layers of clothes. So happy!
9. Unexpected snail mail from friends
I love it when someone is so moved to send something to you that they actually take the time to write something out by hand, purchase a stamp and drop it in the mail without letting you know it is on its way. This week, we got a postcard from a couple of friends announcing that they had eloped!
10. People actually reading AND enjoying my blog/blogs
Truth be told, I don’t have a huge readership. More so at the other blog than at this one. And most people don’t directly comment on my posts. But I get e-mails and Facebook messages telling me how much my friends enjoy my blog. That really means something to me. Just the fact that someone, some times someone I don’t even know, takes the time to read what I have to say and visits regularly–wow, it just blows my mind.
Okay, so now is the part where I nominate 10 other blogs. If I nominate you and you don’t feel like doing this, that is cool. I won’t be offended. Just know that your blog makes me happy!
This is my friend Kyle’s blog. We are college pals. Kyle is the funniest person I know. He is tall. And likes bikes.
2. Confessions of a Young, Married Couple
This is my friend Katie’s blog. Our husbands went to grad school together (actually they went to the same undergrad too, but at different times.) We both work(ed) at the same university in Connecticut. We were both pregnant with little boys at the same time. And her blog is nominated for a Bloggie!
This is my husband’s blog. It is mostly about his research (dynamic scenery for the entertainment industry) but it does venture into gadgets and technology. He will never do this 10 things thing.
4. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
This is my friend Jess’ blog. Her husband went to grad school with my husband, too. I am jealous of the relationship that she has with her sisters. And she hates traffic and bedhogs.
5. LVCave Photo and Fitness Blog
This my friend Lindsay’s blog. Lindsay and I go way back–to elementary school. She is a professional photographer as well as a fitness buff. She exercises with kettlebells. KETTLEBELLS. That is hardcore. She is my fitness inspiration.
This is my friend Seth’s blog. I met Seth in the third grade. He sat at the desk next to me. We have kept in touch all of these years. He is a new dad to a bouncing baby girl!
I don’t know Lavanna, but I wish I did. She paints while at coffee shops–quick sketches of people. Painting in public like that is pretty brave.
8. The Construction of Creation
I “met” Jessica on Twitter. I am mesmerized by her painting. She is so talented and driven.
9. mostly vegan, always vegetarian
This is my friend Miss Jamie’s blog. She and I went to a small 2 year art school together back in central NY. Someday, I will make one of her vegan recipes and not tell my husband until after he has eaten it (Aaron, you aren’t reading this are you?)
10. Bookish Penguin
Okay, it probably against the rules for me to list her since she already did this–but I like her and her blog makes me happy! Thanks for passing this award to me, Candice!
Go Katie!
So, you know my friend Katie over at Confessions of a Young, Married Couple? She has been nominated for BLOG OF THE YEAR in the Tenth Annual Weblog Awards also known as The Bloggies!!! Cool, huh?!
But she has some stiff competition and needs your votes! Please go here and vote for Confessions for Blog of the Year (it is the last category, so keep scrolling till you find it!)
Happy voting! Good luck, Katie!
Baby, it’s cold outside
I am a native of central New York state. I am accustomed to cold temperatures and lake-effect snow. I know what it is like to shovel snow into piles taller than you are. And I am use to not seeing the sun from October through May.
After graduating from college in 2001, I spent 5 years living all over New England (New York state IS NOT a New England state–just so you know. It is a Mid-Atlantic state, as my husband learned last month when I became completely offended when he innocently said “Isn’t New York part of New England?”) With the exception of a particularly cold and snowy 3 months in Boston, winter in Connecticut–where I spent the better part of 4 years– wasn’t nearly as bad as winter in central or western NY.
When I moved to Florida in August 2006, I was sad to leave the change of seasons. It still makes me sad–especially in the autumn. But for the past week or so, we have been having unseasonably cold temperatures here in Tallahassee. It was 14 degrees when I got up this morning.
Fourteen.
In FLORIDA.
I, for one, don’t mind that it is cold outside. The air is crisp and yet it is still sunny, not a snowflake on the ground. And the best part of being cold is being able to warm up. Inside all cozy in a blanket, with a warm beverage, maybe cuddled with a loved one or a pet (or BOTH!)
In short:
cold outside = good
warm inside = good
cold inside = BAD
Here is part of the trouble with cold in Florida (aside from the possible loss of lots and lots of money in the produce biz)–buildings in Florida aren’t meant to deal with these temperatures. The shop in which I work (which is kind of a dump anyway) has a rather terrible heating system. Of course, it has a horrible cooling system as well so in the sweltering 100+ degrees 90% humidity of summer, the system craps out. And as we found out, it will also crap out in winter weather too. I came to work last week to find that it was 42 degrees on the thermostat right outside my office. And it was easily 5 degrees cooler than that in my office–probably because my office is the only one in the shop up against an exterior brick wall.
It is difficult to work in the cold–especially if you make your living painting things, as I do. You can’t use paint when the weather/temperature isn’t cooperating (specifics are on the back of every can) because it will affect the dry/cure time. Cold temperatures can make the paint perform much differently than it does when used in ideal conditions. And paint can freeze (I don’t think mine has, but honestly I am too scared to open a can to find out.)
I spent most of last week huddled in my office with two space heaters and the door closed while wearing 2 shirts, a sweatshirt, jeans, wool socks, sneakers and a wool hat. My feet and hands were still always cold. And items were freezing in my fridge. Frozen carrot sticks are not good.
This week is shaping up to be similar, but we HAVE to paint stuff this week so I will be hoping that we at least make it to 65 here in the shop. Without setting something on fire.
Bittersweet Christmas
In many ways, Christmas of 2009 was the best Christmas to date. When I was pregnant with my son last year at this time, my husband and I decided that this Christmas would be spent just the three of us at home here in Florida. No traveling. If people wanted to come and see us, that would be fine, but we really wanted to have Christmas day–our first Christmas as a family–all to ourselves.
It was a joy to NOT travel for the holidays this year especially after my hellish trip back to FL from NY last year. I like to go home but I don’t particularly enjoy the hassles involved with holiday air travel (it doesn’t help that you can’t get from Tallahassee to Syracuse without at least 2 lay overs.) So because we were not packing up and leaving for 7-10 days I wasn’t stressed out. It was great.
Since we would actually be in our house for Christmas and because it was my son’s very first Christmas spent out of the womb, we did a little more decorating than usual. We even purchased a new Christmas tree (yes, we have an artificial tree; please don’t judge.) This tree is actually an appropriate scale for our living room and we don’t have to prop it up on cardboard boxes draped in tree skirts and fabric to make it look nice if seen through the window from the street. Our last tree was purchased to fit in our last apartment (a decent size as apartments go and bigger than the 5th floor, 2 bedroom abode we shared with our friend David back in New Haven.) That tree was 6 feet tall and skinny–it looked a little sad when we first put in up in our house in ’07 because our living room has a vaulted ceiling. And while in storage in the attic, that tree became snack food for flying squirrels, so yay new tree this year!
My husband and I decided that we wanted to start a few family traditions of our own for the holiday. Aaron’s family always made and decorated sugar cookies, so we did that with his sister and her kids when they were passing through town on their way to southern FL the weekend before Christmas.
I decided that we all would get new pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve. This isn’t a tradition in my family, but I think it is really fun–especially since I wear yoga pants and old production t-shirts to bed. My son even had special Christmas themed PJs! With matching striped stocking cap!
I also wanted to have a really special Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning breakfast since in my family those were the meals that were the most festive. I am Polish-American and for Polish Catholics the Christmas Eve meal is quite an ordeal (you can learn all about Wigilia here) and I wanted to have a special meal that night. As you would imagine, traditional Polish food is tough to find in Tallahassee. I decided to totally forgo any Polish delicacies and go for something a little special but not too much work (so Aaron and I could spend less time cooking.) I made this with cornbread stuffing and green beans sautéed in olive oil and garlic. I even picked up some fancy-schmancy little cheesecake thingies for dessert. It was like a Christmas Eve date with my husband in my dining room while our baby was asleep.
But Christmas Eve was difficult. Lots of mixed emotions for me. I had called my brother earlier that day just to see how he was doing and to wish him a Merry Christmas early. He is 24 (7 years younger than myself) and after 5 years of working to put himself through college, he is finally graduating this spring. After an intense semester, he had just come home for Christmas break. We chatted a bit and he told me that my mom had totally cancelled Christmas. No Christmas Eve dinner. No Christmas Day breakfast. No celebration. No exchanging of presents. All because of my parents’ recent separation and the pending sale of the family home. This left my brother with nowhere to go.
I felt terrible. If only I had known that my mom was doing this, I would have gladly paid for a flight so my brother could spend Christmas with us–so he could finally see our house and meet his only nephew. My brother said that he would probably head over to his boss’ house for dinner, so he wouldn’t be totally alone–but my heart broke. I felt like a jerk.
Later that day, I called my mom. It went as well as expected. She said everything was fine, just “different.” My mother doesn’t tell me much–ever. Even though I am 31 she is still trying to protect me from things, always with the aim of not making me “worry” or not getting me “upset” because I am “sensitive.” But her hiding things from me is what ultimately pisses me off.
And last but not least, I called my dad. I put him off until the end because I knew that would be the hardest phone call to make. And it was. He was a little weepy, probably a little tipsy, and we talked about Christmases past– when my extended family wasn’t fighting over petty stuff, when my grandmother, great-uncle and great aunt were still alive, when my aunt and uncle weren’t divorced, when the family business was still thriving, when my parents were still together.
We also spent time talking about the current holiday and how it is a big adjustment for all of us. My dad said several times, “I just don’t understand why this is happening.” That was hard to hear. I do understand why it is happening; I don’t understand other factors in the situation however. But I don’t think it is my place to tell my father why my kicked him out and it certainly isn’t a good topic for a Christmas Eve phone call.
But after the phone calls, I felt better. I missed everyone, but I had Christmas morning to look forward to; my own family’s first Christmas.
My son is 8 and half months and has no idea what Christmas is. Or what presents are. Or why that big pointy thing with lights is now in our living room. All he knows is that he has more stuff to chew on. And that we stayed in our pajamas all day and watched Star Wars.
Though it was difficult, it was the best Christmas I have had in a long, long time. And I think it is only going to get better from here.
I have talented friends: Lindsay
My friend Lindsay is a professional photographer currently located in Buffalo, NY. She has started selling prints of her work on Etsy. So if you are in need of some wall decor or greeting cards, you should check out what she has to offer!
Moving forward
Last week, my counselor said that she had determined that I am done with my sessions. She thinks that I have successfully learned to deal with my parents’ separation–which was my goal for counseling. I can say I definitely feel better about it, but I know that I still have a long way to go.
I don’t know how I am going to feel once I return home to NY to see another family living in the house my brother and I grew up in. My parents had that house built and we moved in when I was 6, a year before my brother was born. I kind of wish that when I was home for Christmas last year that I would have taken the time to properly take in my surroundings–just to savor what was there so I could remember it.
But, to tell you the truth, that house was in many ways no longer the house I grew up in anyway. I hadn’t had a bedroom in that house since ’03, once I finally scored a grown up job (with benefits and everything!) in Connecticut. My brother moved into my room and my grandfather moved into my parents’ house. My parents started sleeping in separate rooms, so when I would return home for holidays or summer visits, I slept on the couch or the floor since there wasn’t a bed left for me. Sometimes it was hard for me to deal with the fact that I just didn’t have a place there anymore. I somehow didn’t fit.
A family with 3 kids–all boys, I think–will be moving into our home in January. My mom is currently packing up the house. Yesterday she called to ask me what things I wanted her to keep. Apparently she came across a lot of items from my babyhood–items I didn’t even know she kept (she isn’t very sentimental.) She still has the outfit I wore home from the hospital 31 years ago. I would like to have that. I may never use it for my own child, but it is would be nice to have a tangible reminder of how much I have grown and how far I have come.
In lots of ways, being over 1000 miles away from home has been a good thing for me–especially now. I feel badly that I can’t physically be there for my parents, but I also know that if I was there things wouldn’t be any better. The distance seems to add a sense of numbness to the whole situation. Sometimes that is good. Sometimes I feel like I should be feeling *more.* After the initial shock of my parents’ decision, I mourned a little. But just a little. Now, for me, is more about figuring out how to support my parents emotionally at this time while not taking sides. They both feel very differently about the separation and I want to be there for them without letting my opinions get in the way.
This Christmas will be very different for sure, but at least I now have my own little family and the opportunity for all new traditions here at home in Florida.
March for Babies
