My favourite line is...

"And the motion of the lives around us
has been like a great bus
slowly turning onto a crowded street.
And some of the passengers
have fallen asleep in their seats,

while others anxiously search
their jacket pockets
for the notes that might wed
their ordinary lives
to something lofty and astonishing."

From the poem:

"After Our Wedding"
by Yehoshua Nobember

As seen on: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2010/12/31

My favourite line is....

"When winter is over

And all your unimaginable promises

Burst into song on death's bare branches"

From the poem:

A Short Testament
by Anne Porter

As seen on http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2010/12/29

Friends and Strangers

Schatzy and I prepared for our guests while Oma and Opa cooked... wondering if the strangers we had invited would even show up, wondering what they would be like, wondering all about them. We knew their names, we knew he was from Turkey and had referred to himself as an orthodox Christian (which led to a discussion on whether he would even eat the pork schnitzel). It was a moment of both excitement at the arrival of the guests and the nervousness of the whole notion of an instinctual invitation of a couple we had met at the Christmas Eve service. We talked about how we liked the notion of inviting a stranger to dinner and wondered if we would ever get a chance to do so again.

They arrived right on time, and they were immediately engaging. They were such a gift to our Christmas day dinner, it was so very special for us to have them there with us. And it was a series of events that even put them in that place. They had been touring California but the storms there were such that they came to Arizona seeking drier skies. They had chosen to walk around downtown and chanced upon the church we were planning to attend, they were early and were invited to return and they did. The pastor introduced himself to them, but found out they spoke German so brought them to my husband and introduced them. I was sitting far away from them, on the other end of the pew but watched them with interest and my mother leaned over and told me we should invite them to dinner... so I sent Schatzy a text telling him to do that. He seemed surprised; more at the notion and not that I had sent him a note to do that. After the service I got to meet them and was happy to see that Schatzy had indeed invited them to dinner.

The day was so very special, that kind of special you can feel in you heart. We made new friends.

When they left, one of them turned to me and said; "You always meet good people in church". Indeed.

We were blessed to also have a couple who have been wonderful to my aunt and were part of her support network when life dealt her one of those trials that seems unbearable. This couple has been together for 42 years, amazing.

And my dear friends, a couple that live close enough to us and are soon to be blessed with a baby girl. They have joined us for Christmas for what now feels like forever. They are a part of the family, and they talk of moving sometime soon which I will admit drives me a bit crazy, and I have in my head a way to plot thwarting that evil plot of theirs. My whole family thinks of them as family and they have no idea what they are in for when the baby girl arrives.

I had a marvelous Christmas spent with dear family, two mothers to be, two couples who have been together for more than 40 years, two men that keep flashlights handy at all times, several fabulous cooks, some awesome desserts and a beautifully decorated table.

This is among my most favorite Christmas's ever.

SQOTD

While at Echo Coffee...

Squink: "Mama, I just saw a person who had a stamp that wouldn't come off".

it goes by so amazingly fast

Six years. I still can't wrap my head around how fast time goes when I look at Squink.

Six years ago, I woke up at about the time I write this now... it was the official get off of bed rest day, get out of the perinatal until day, become a mom day. I had spend the night before looking at the data about what can happen with preemies at this stage. While the data was good, it was still scary. My nurses had scolded me for going there. I was supposed to be scheduled for a 6 am delivery, but there was some trouble... though I never could get my hands on why... but I will assume scheduling the parties (the OB and the neonatology team) that needed to be there was a bit problematic. I did not quite realize how many people have to be there for"scheduled" preemie deliveries. I think we fit in myself (though I had to be there), my husband, mother, my allo-mother, my OB, two nurses, and 2 neonatologists and a neonatology nurse. Wow 10 people, just realized how many of us there were in there.

Squink would go on to give us some of the most harrowing times in our lives, two weeks of his tiny body full of tubes and probes. I will say that from the moment he left that space and as his status improved in the following months that I have been blessed with a miracle. I see this little boy running and playing, saying the most endearing things, and I am happy. That kind of happy that quiets my heart and mind.

Last night he sang me a song about how Jesus was "tumbly" born (which he says is how everyone is born) in the city of "Bek Lah Hem" (which he insists is a city in heaven).

Adele - Rolling In The Deep

Just got around to listening to this... and watching.

I want to dance in a room full of flour now!



Tags: [tagname]

SQOTD

Squink: "Mom, why did you fail me?"

Said in response to my telling him that I'd left his portable game player at home.

SQOTD

We were walking to the car after school when we had the following conversation:

Squink: "Mom, you know you are like Rudolph".

Me: "Uhm, really?"

Squink: "Yeah, you are".

Me: "Do I have a shiny red nose? Is that why?"

Squink: "No, you're silly. You're a leader, that how, mama".

Me: "You may be the only one that thinks that Squink, but thank you".

Squink: "You're welcome".

SQOTD

My mother is going to Kenya for a bit and sent an email out asking what, if anything, any of us would want from Africa.

I replied asking for a doll and something elephanty, and as I was writing I turned to Squink and asked him:

"Squink, Nana is going to Kenya, what would you like her to bring you back from Africa."

He thought with a heavy "hmmmmmmmmmm", smiled and said: "I want a stone."

I have to admit, that considering my family, this did not completely surprise me.. we like rocks. However, I felt compelled to ask: "What kind of stone?"

He replied, like I had asked a stupid question, with a quick "A special stone."

I won some free stuff and a review

So, I love those blogs where you comment and that is all you need to do to enter to win some prize or something.

I hate the ones where you have to twitter and facebook an entry, did that for a bit, but it better be pretty darn special for me to do again.

So, I found out I won here. Though I got an email and it took me forever to find out what site it was from!

Thing is, I am watching my calories pretty closely now and this kind of food stuff is not on my daily eating list, nor has it ever really been. Growing up in the land of potatoes makes one very finicky over what kind of potato food stuff they will ingest.

Squink loves them, mashed potatoes and when dinner tends to being lower in carbohydrates that he probably needs, this might be a good alternative to add for him. So I made the butter blend, and he loved it enough to ask me to pack the left over in his lunch. I say that is a pretty good review, if ever there was one. So, given the right set of circumstances, I am not adverse to trying them...

The bowl and spoon are awesome though, those are being used rather regularly and my favourite basic cookbook is a 1981 binder style Betty Crocker cookbook!

Reading

I find myself reading Dante's The Divine Comedy, and the questions that I can't seem to get out of my head are:

"Why was Virgil in hell?"

"Why was it so easy to travel from one realm to another as Beatrice did?"

Squinkism

We were looking at costume jewelry in a store... He found a cocktail ring with a heart shaped "diamond"... So, he turns to me and says;

"You know how when you're a girl and you don't have a boy? Well you buy one of these heart diamond rings and put it on. Then the boy will find you and marry you".

Me: "What if you don't like the boy that wants to marry you?"

Squink: "You take it off and they go away, then you put it on again and a new boy will find you to marry you".

OK

SQOTD

While in Indiana, where the leaves were falling...

Squink: "People think that trees die in winter, but they don't... they just go to sleep".

SQOTD

At breakfast...

Squink: "French toast is like a sandwich glued together".

Batman

Batman, originally uploaded by Christoph Schweiger.

Squink amazes me.

The little Mermaid - Redux

I really did tell someone that this was the book that scared me the most as a child and with this description, you can totally understand why... the method of describing it was rather bewildering as well.

A little mermaid that is happy with a crazy ol' sea god pop and then she becomes human and gets legs and then she is putting bro's before ho's and getting all human stupid and then turning into sea foam creeped me the fudge-on-a-toast out!

Forgive me?

Birthday memories

An internet acquaintance of mine, Andrea, is celebrating her birthday and asked people to share their birthday memories... here is mine.

I vividly recall my 4th birthday.

We were living in Madrid and I was going to a Montessori school. We were allowed to bring treats for the rest of the class. I had asked my mother to make some mint brownies, they were my favorite. On my birthday she showed up at the school with them and a whole bunch of other treats in tow. So, I was tasked with serving my classmates and there were so many treats they decided to open it up to the other classrooms. When I was serving the last class the only treat left was the brownies I had requested. I went to my mom, and lamented (complained) that I would not get any if I served those. She looked me in the eyes and proceeded to tell me that sharing was what we were supposed to do, that it was not a very nice thing to be selfish when serving others. I could tell that she was very serious. I think my eyes must have welled up because she offered to make me another batch later. which sorta helped, but not much. I had been looking forward to the mint brownies for the whole morning.

So, I picked up the pan, and walked around and served the older kids who were the lucky recipients of the treat I had wanted. I watched my hands scoop them up with a spatula and carefully place the square on a napkin in front these kids who I did not really know. And as I watched my hands repeat this movement until I served the last one... my mind was reeling with the thought that my mother must really love me to teach me the lesson about sharing and to not be selfish. Really, it was such a profound moment; what with feeling my mothers love, learning that sharing is an important part of community, learning that it was easy to have selfish tendencies. I treasure that lesson and keep it very close to my heart. When I tell it in front of my mother she always cringes and thinks it is a bad thing, but really I think ti was the best present she has ever given me.

And no, I don't recall that she made them for me later. Somehow, I think it is more powerful and special because she did not.

SIHS

"what if we, uhm, play really hard in a game and the ball goes on fire?".

SQOTD

#1
Squink: "Gas is like water and fire mixed together".

#2
Squink: "A car is like a skateboard, only it moves by itself".

Random thoughts... Of the day.

I wish that there were such a thing as a drive through house wash.

It was an image...

... that just made me gasp in beauty, so it is a screen shot on a computer I use.

RQOTD

(random quote of the day)

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees,

under whose shade you do not expect to sit."

 

Nelson Henderson

 

SQOTD

Squink: "How old are you?"

Me: "I will be 40-something at your next birthday".

Squink: "Mom, Oh No! You are not a teenager".

Me: "No, I am not. Haven't been for a while"

Schatzy: "Actually Squink, do you mean in age or in how she acts?"

Squink: "Mom, did you call yourself a teenager when you were a teenager?".

SQOTD

Squink is talking to the parents of a kid he hadn't met before, strangers.

Me; "Squink, stop entertaining people".

Squink: "I want then to meet me, that's why I'm talking to them". (granted, a whoopie cushion was involved)

I am entering a contest

I like how the symbol looks like a torpedo... but the bike looks fabulous!

SIHS

"That's not a number"
I isn't.
I am promising, it is not a word".

SQOTD

I was woken up at 3:00 am by Squink saying:

"Mom, can we snuggle hug?"

It is a nice way to be woken up at such a dreadful hour.

SQOTD

Talking with his cousin who had a jar full of bugs.

Squink: "Look, those two are stuck together".

Cousin: "They are mating".

Squink: "Yeah, they're married".

SIHS

"Well, that is white. I SAID white".

RILM

NASA, I love that you can all admit you have no idea what causes this.

Whatever THIS is, it is beautiful.

(click on the all caps this above)

SIHS

"I know how to speak Spanish.
I know how to speak Indiana way, it is "Engahlish"."
(I think the Indiana reference is about Indiana Jones)

SQOTD

We were having lunch out when Squink grabbed the little cup with a scoop of butter on it and started eating it straight.

I asked him if he knew what was in butter, to which he replied:

Squink "Bananas. Melted bananas"

SIHS

New thing, I've been meaning to do this for a while....

SIHS = Squink in his sleep

"Trains are open anytime.
With this man.
Remember."

SQOTD

I was wiggling my fingers at him when he said:

"That's like a piano with one key".

Things that make me go hmmmmm

I am sure that most have seen THIS article on how atheists and agnostics have knowledge about religion.

It did not surprise me...


BUT


I don't think this will last long. At least among those declaring themselves atheists.


I think this is because the athiest proselytizers will create an equally unknowledgeable set of followers who listen to their leaders rather than learn what they are supposedly "against". I don't see a mass group conversion attempt amongst the agnostics, though that may be wrong.

RILM

Things like THIS, make me happy!

Heresy

Apparently, referring to Jesus Christ as "very important" when speaking to a Christian borders on heresy.

I guess my heretical nature is once again confirmed. Of course, I also do not see heresy as something that is always a bad thing.

Of course I am accepting of all the applicable definitions for heretic when I declare myself so.

Heretic:

3.anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.(dictionary.com)

2. a person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field (Collins English Dictionary)

Oh, and for a bit more background:

early 14c., from Fr. hérétique  (14c.), from Church L. hereticus , from Gk. hairetikos  "able to choose," the verbal adj. of hairein  (Online Etymology Dictionary).

One who challenges the doctrines of an established church.(The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy)


As an agnostic, I fall into those categories by default. I am also OK with it.

RILM

I wonder what it means that when I am feeling stress or somewhat down that I read about quantum physics.

I also find it interesting to note that the higher the stress or the feeling down-ness the more complicated (to me anyway) an idea I tend to read.

Recently I found out someone I know, someone who I bear no ill will for and was close to once upon a time.. well, they violently loathe me.

So, rather than dwell on my personal failures at keeping people I have met to have, at least, non violent reactions about me I dig into physics...

Today, I went to this!

Seems fitting somehow... to contemplate the notion of scattering...

Thankfully, it also makes life so much more interesting than just thinking about how people hate you.

RILM

So, I was looking at pictures about the mine in Chile and they had one photo that was a composite of all those who were trapped.

I had much the same reaction when I look at pictures of those who have died over in the middle east fighting what some would call a war, others would call something else...  and in the end it is completely irrelevant because people are dying of things that are out side normal parameters. Granted they did sign up.. as did these miners.

But the faces, when you can see the faces of who is living in a certain situation or the faces of those who have passed away it is just so much more personal.

I think in our day in age... we need to collectively decide on whether we see faces or not, collectively. We (and I should really say I, as I am making a huge assumption) can be put into sensory overload with information that I think in some cases it just doesn't hit home until you see the faces.... by the same token, would I have heard and seen this news this quickly 1000 years ago? Oh, hell no! Is it vital to my country and life... not on a strictly basic level, no...

But when I saw their faces, it became much more personal to me.

And yes, I am in a more than normal emotional state today so maybe this just comes from that... which would be a whole 'nother piece of random minutae from my life.

oh, sigh.

Perhaps it is even about thinking how my husband is far away from me and i won't get to see him for a whole 11 days total and then there are these men who are stuck in the earth who may not get to see their loved ones for months....

Yeah, like I said.. I am emotional.

I better stop now.

I tend to babble.

and babble more so when emotional.



....




hug or kiss the people you love tonight, OK?!?!

SQOTD

Squink: "You know, babies don't know where the potty is".

Which called to mind that Squink "found" the potty in a café in Baden bei Wien which is ironic if you know what baden means.

RILM

I think it may be entirely possible that these random bits of minutiae that I come across may end up all being science related.. but who knows.

I suppose, in the whole scheme of things they really can't be called minutiae as these things really are grander than the word minutiae seems to imply.

Today, it is a NASA picture of the day.. again.

This one struck me because it looked like an eye in a peephole, and not quite what they had called it "A Chameleon Sky".. though, being NASA, I am sure that any religious reference to something like the Eye of God would be a cause for alarm from those who adhere to the teachings of Madalyn Murray O'Hair (the prophet to the pomo atheists is how I think of her) and advocate for no religious references in any government agency... I think I would advocate for a comprehensive mandate where everything has to have a reference to a religion, and follow a list much like the way hurricanes are named (but I like to provoke controversy that way). I love reading older books that have references to the Greek and Roman Goods and they mythology, to the teachings of the "ancient" philosophers, much like the way Umberto Eco or Mark Leyner write [and I am sorta horrified that I actually put those two in a class]).. and I have always lamented that there seemed to be this limit to "dead white guys" and not a more global reference, really.. some fascinating stuff comes out of all parts of the world and I think it should become a part of our universal vernacular.

But, I digress...

Here is the URL

And I have no problem, even as an agnostic thinking of this as a higher power peeking in on the universe we live in (granted, I am a theistic agnostic) because I love myths... and this image created a whole cosmology tale in my head.

Tooth fairy and other jobs I have had

Tonight, my facebook status reads:

"I just got to play tooth fairy for the first time... though I did tell him that before I was his mommy I used to be a full time tooth fairy. I don't think he believed me."

I so wish I could go into more detail about this, it is terribly bitter sweet. It was not a normally lost tooth, and that is all I will say. If you know me, email I can tell you more but it is more about my still reeling from how choices affect us and our children and even our grandchildren... and though there was no real choice in any of the generational choices involved (I really do believe three generations have all made the best of the options offered) I am still reeling from this experience in that mommies take on the weight of the world when their babies hurt.

Enjoy!

Ever notice that an awful lot of recipes in the cooking blogosphere end with that... uhm... sentence?

I am halfway tempted to try them just to see if in fact, they cause me to "enjoy".

Problem is, I can't stick to a recipe to save my life.

RILM

Yes, as a Latin American I have a taste for acronyms. I have added this new one: RILM (random interesting life minutiae)... as a place to show you things that come across my path that leave me in awe of what a marvelous place this universe is:

So, with that in mind it is very fitting that I chose to be my very fist thing that I present to you of things that I find interesting, (drum roll)  this link.

It is a marvelous place indeed.

SQOTD

"Sometimes, when you hit your head... You will think you're somebody else".

SQOTD

"Whenever you are mean, your heart gets smaller".

So, intrigued I asked: "What happens to your heart when you are nice?"

Squink: "It get's bigger. But you don't want your heart to disappear, so be nicer".

Random thought for the day

In the event of a Zombie-apocalypse I think I have enough basic skills to be an asset in just about everything... except, that is, wild mushroom foraging.

Whatever you do, in the event of a hostile zombie takeover... do NOT send me to collect mushrooms.
 

Random thoughts

I was perusing the pictures about the flood in Pakistan and one face (it was the hair, really) seemed to stand out from the pictures, to the point I believe I recognized him in the second set of pictures that boston.com put up in "The Big Picture"

Here are his two photos:  ONE    TWO

Here are the two sets:   AUGUST 6th        August 11th


I think it must be the fabulous hair color that drew me in and made him recognizable to me, or at least I hope I am seeing one person.. there are subtle differences between the pictures.

Who knows, but I will say I am intrigued by the whole of his face and hair...

SQOTD

I am sick and dozing in bed, when Squink comes in and asks:

"Mama, will you wake up so I don't disturb you?".

BLIOTD

I think that I need to see this, in person. From what I understand it happened in the bombing of Hiroshima,

SQOTD

Squink: "You know, if it's your birthday.. You, and the mom and the dad get two pieces of birthday cake".

SQOTD

Squink: "I am sad because you're mad or sad, mama".

Me: "Why am I mad or sad?"

Squink: "Are you mad or sad because I lost ya?"

BLIOTD

I have to go here, and therefore it is now added to BLIOTD.

SQOTD

Squink: "The "c" is half of an o, the o is a full circle".

SQOTD

Squink: "My teacher says magic isn't real. But it is. It is real".

(yes Squinky, it is real... very real.)

bliotd

How can I pass up any chance I may ever get to see the Ultraviolet Apocalypse?!?!?!

SQOTD

Said after going out with his papa to take pictures of monsoon weather.

Squink: "Mama, I was in the wind, and it almost made me flat."

SQOTD

Squink: "Yogurt is good for you. It helps your bones be strong and with fear of hikes".

Me: "Hikes?"

Squink: "Yes, if you fall in the big holes".

BLIOTD

Visit this park.

Something to do this July

I think I would be to host a canning party... like this kind!

Anyone want to join in on the fun?

SQOTD

Squink: "Did you know that everybody is a pee bomb?"

Me: "Uhm, really?"

Squink: "Yeah, if you don't go pee, you turn into a balloon and then you explode and pee goes everywhere. Did you know that?"

Me: "Uhm, now I do".

(and so does everyone else)

BLIOTD

I have posted pictures before of these, not knowing what they were but wanting to see them for what they looked like.

Now that I read this, I have officially put them on my BLIOTD.

SQOTD

Squink: "I love this world."

Me: "You do?"

Squink: "Want to know why?"

Me: "Sure".

Squink: "Because of McDonalds".

Animated Movies

I haven't done one of these in ages... so when Jordana posted hers... I kept the post hanging in my reader for a while so I could to it too.


CLASSIC DISNEY
——————————-

[X] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
[X] Fantasia (1940)
[X] Pinocchio (1940)
[X] Dumbo (1941)
[X] Bambi (1942)
[X] Song of the South (1946)
[X] Cinderella (1950)
[X] Alice in Wonderland (1951)
[X] Peter Pan (1953)
[X] Lady and the Tramp (1955)
[X] Sleeping Beauty (1959)
[X] 101 Dalmatians (1961)
[X] Mary Poppins (1964)


DISNEY’S DARK AGE
——————————-


[X] The Sword In The Stone (1963)
[X] The Jungle Book (1967)
[X] The Aristocats (1970)
[X] Bedknobs and Broomsticks [1971]
[X] Robin Hood (1973)
[?] The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
[X] Pete’s Dragon (1977)
[X] The Rescuers (1977)
[X] The Fox and the Hound (1981)
[X] The Black Cauldron (1985)
[X] The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
[ ] Oliver and Company (1986)


THE DISNEY RENAISSANCE
——————————-

[X] Beauty and the Beast (1991)
[ ] The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
[X] Aladdin (1992)
[X] The Lion King (1994)
[ ] A Goofy Movie (1995)
[ ] Hercules (1997)
[X] The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
[X] The Little Mermaid (1989)
[X] Mulan (1998)
[X] Pocahontas (1995)
[X] Tarzan (1999)

DISNEY’S MODERN AGE
——————————-

[X] Dinosaur (2000)
[X] Fantasia 2000 (2000)
[X] The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
[X] Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
[ ] Lilo & Stitch (2002)
[ ] Treasure Planet (2002)
[X] Brother Bear (2003)
[ ] Home on the Range (2004)
[X] Chicken Little (2005)
[ ] Meet the Robinsons (2007)
[X] Bolt (2008)
[ ] The Princess and the Frog (2009)

PIXAR
——————————-

[X] Toy Story (1995)
[X] A Bug’s Life (1998)
[X] Toy Story 2 (1999)
[X] Monsters Inc. (2001)
[X] Finding Nemo (2003)
[X] The Incredibles (2004)
[X] Cars (2006)
[X] Ratatouille (2007)
[X] Wall-E (2008)
[X] Up (2009)

DON BLUTH
——————————-

[X] The Secret of NIMH (1982)
[X] An American Tail (1986)
[X] The Land Before Time (1988)
[ ] All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
[ ] An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
[ ] Rock-a-Doodle (1991)
[ ] A Troll in Central Park (1994)
[X] Anastasia (1997)
[ ] The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
[X] Thumbelina (1994)
[ ] Titan AE (2000)

CLAYMATION
——————————-

[ ] The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986)
[ ] The Puppetoon Movie (1987)
[X] The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
[X] James and the Giant Peach (1996)
[X] Chicken Run (2000)
[X] Corpse Bride (2005)
[X] Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
[X] Coraline (2009)

CGI GLUT
——————————-

[X] Antz (1998)
[X] Shrek (2001)
[X] Shrek 2 (2004)
[X] The Polar Express (2004)
[X] Madagascar (2005)
[X] Happy Feet (2006)
[ ] Monster House (2006)
[X] Over the Hedge (2006)
[OMG - NO THIS IS AWFUL] Beowulf (2007)
[X] Shrek The Third (2007)
[X] Kung Fu Panda (2008)
[X] Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
[X] How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
[ ] Shrek Forever After (2010)

CARTOONS FOR GROWN-UPS
——————————-

[ ] Fritz the Cat (1972)
[ ] Street Fight (Coonskin) (1975)
[ ] American Pop (1981)
[ ] Heavy Metal (1981)
[ ] Hey Good Lookin’ (1982)
[ ] Cool World (1992)
[ ] Beavis & Butthead Do America (1996)
[ ] South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
[ ] Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)
[ ] Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
[ ] Waking Life (2001)
[ ] The Animatrix (2003)
[ ] Lady Death (2004)
[ ] Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005)
[ ] A Scanner Darkly (2006)


OTHER ANIMATED MOVIES
——————————-

[X] Animal Farm (1954)
[X] Charlotte’s Web (1973)
[X] The Hobbit (1977)
[X] Lord of the Rings (1978)
[ ] Ringing Bell (1978)
[ ] Animalympics (1980)
[X] Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1982)
[ ] Rock & Rule (1983)
[X] Care Bears: The Movie (1985)
[ ] He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985)
[ ] Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985)
[ ] Gobots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986)
[ ] My Little Pony: The Movie (1986)
[X] Transformers: The Movie (1986)
[X] G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Bravestarr: The Movie (1988)
[ ] The Brave Little Toaster (1988)
[X] Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
[X] Fern Gully (1992)
[X] Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992)
[X] The Swan Princess (1994)
[X] Balto (1995)
[X] Space Jam (1996)
[ ] Cats Don’t Dance (1997)
[X] The Prince of Egypt (1998)
[ ] Wizards (1977)
[X] The Iron Giant (1999)
[ ] Quest For Camelot (1999)
[ ] The Road to El Dorado (2000)
[ ] Powerpuff Girls: The Movie (2002)
[X] Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
[ ] Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon The Movie (2007)
[ ] Superman: Doomsday (2007)
[ ] Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
[ ] Wonder Woman (2009)
[ ] Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
[ ] Batman: Mask of the Phantasm


IMPORTS
——————————-

[ ] Arabian Knight
[ ] Back to Gaya
[X] Yellow Submarine (1968)
[X] Watership Down (1978)
[ ] The Last Unicorn (1982)
[ ] Light Years (1988)
[ ] When the Wind Blows (1988)
[ ] The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
[ ] Persepolis (2007)
[ ] Planet 51 (2009)
[ ] Waltz With Bashir (2008)

STUDIO GHIBLI/MIYAZAKI
——————————-

[ ] Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
[ ] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
[ ] Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
[ ] Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
[ ] Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
[ ] Only Yesterday (1991)
[ ] Porco Rosso (1992)
[ ] My Neighbor Totoro (1993)
[ ] Pom Poko (Tanuki War) (1994)
[ ] Whisper of the Heart (1995)
[ ] My Neighbors The Yamadas (1999)
[ ] Princess Mononoke (1999)
[ ] The Cat Returns (2002)
[X] Spirited Away (2002)
[ ] Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
[ ] Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (2009)
[ ] Panda! Go Panda!
[ ] Tales from Earthsea
[ ] Horus, Prince of the Sun

SATOSHI KON
——————————-

[ ] Perfect Blue (1999)
[ ] Millennium Actress (2001)
[ ] Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
[ ] Paprika (2006)

SHINKAI MAKOTO
——————————-

[ ] She and Her Cat (1999)
[ ] Voices of a Distant Star (2001)
[ ] The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)
[ ] 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)

OTHER ANIME FILMS
——————————-

[ ] Galay Epress 999 (1979)
[ ] Arcadia of My Youth (U.S. Title – Vengeance of the Space Pirate) (1982)
[ ] Space Adventure Cobra (1982)
[ ] The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
[ ] Unico and the Island of Magic (1983)
[ ] Lensman (1984)
[ ] Macross: Do You Remember Love (U.S. Title – Clash of the Bionoids) (1984)
[ ] The Dagger of Kamui (U.S. Title – Revenge of the Ninja Warrior) (1985)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D (1985)
[ ] Fist of the North Star (1986)
[ ] Neo-Tokyo (1986)
[ ] Project A-ko (1986)
[ ] Dirty Pair: Project Eden (1987)
[ ] Urotsukidoji: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Robot Carnival (1987)
[ ] Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force (1987)
[ ] Akira (1989)
[ ] Patlabor the Movie (1989)
[ ] Silent Möbius (1991)
[ ] Ninja Scroll (1993)
[X] Ghost in the Shell (1996)
[ ] End of Evangelion (1997)
[ ] Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (1998)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (2000)
[X] Metropolis (2001)
[X] Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2003)
[ ] Appleseed (2004)
[ ] Steamboy (2004)
[ ] Robotech: The Shadow Chronicle (2006)
[ ] The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
[ ] Appleseed: E Machina (2007)
[ ] Sword of the Stranger (2007)
[ ] Origin: Spirits Of The Past

ADDENDUM
——————————-

[ ] The Chipmunk Adventure (1987)
[ ] Feli the Cat: The Movie (1988)
[ ] We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (1993)
[ ] The Rugrats Movie (1998)
[ ] Pokemon: The First Movie (1999)
[X] Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)
[X] Ice Age (2002)
[X] Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
[X] Shark Tale (2004)
[ ] The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)
[X] Hoodwinked (2005)
[ ] Valiant (2005)
[X] The Ant Bully (2006)
[ ] Flushed Away (2006)
[X] Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
[X] Open Season (2006)
[X] Bee Movie (2007)
[X] The Simpsons Movie (2007)
[X] Happily N’Ever After (2007)
[ ] Horton Hears a Who (2008)
[X] Space Chimps (2008)
[X] Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
[X] The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
[ ] 9 (2009)
[X] Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
[X] Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
[X] Robots
[X] Aeon Flux

SQOTD

Squink: "You know, you have to fill up your calendar".

Me: "Oh, gosh no! I like my free time".

Squink: "Do you like four time? Or one time?"

SQOTD

Squink: "Throw-up is just yucky water".

Said after he threw up for the second time in his life.

BLIOTD

Go to this event and perhaps this one too.

BLIOTD

Go to Paradise Gardens

SQOTD

"I see the hole where time goes".

Squink said this about a hourglass, but it was rather profound to hear
(especially before I realized what he was referring to).

SQOTD - Squink wisdom

"If you put a big chunk of ice down your pants, it will make you go
fast".

SQOTD

Squink: "Mama, can you turn off the music? I'm too tired to listen
right now".

Driving home after playing with the cousins.

BLIOTD

Get to a Grunion run

I <3 Sunday

Because it gives me the perfect venue for theological discussions.

Today the themes were:

• Adam & Eve (more specifically the concept of Eve's role in terms of our human existence). Exploring this issue allowed me to look at this as a parable and I ended up considering that Eve was a victim of Patristism (and by this I mean male religious scholars). I think the parable has been misinterpreted and I think that Eve was actually heroic (please don't smite me if you disagree) in choosing to eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
• The rite of baptism. more so, though, on the purpose of which this ritual serves. (it was an offshoot of the concept below) but worthy of mentioning on its own. My thoughts here are that it acts as a means to seal the individual with a community by creating and extended metaphorical family and thus establishing a covenant with God.
• Original sin. I have trouble with this concept, so I explored its meaning to other religions... it seems to be pretty Christian in nature. There are two schools of thought 1) that it is the genetic (of sorts) inheritance from the "sin of Adam" or that it 2) refers to a general state of sinfulness. My tendency is to think that if God exists, we would be perfect creations and as such that even our imperfections make us perfect (which aligns with how I see sciences like biology, chemistry, physics and such to be so magnificent that they are perfect in design).

There is nothing like some light philosophical ponderings on a Sunday morning... I suppose I should clarify why I even feel  that I need to share my beliefs (or possibly non-beliefs)... I call myself an agnostic, and more specifically I lean toward agnostic theism. I find thinking of these things to be profound and helpful in my understanding of the world in which I live.I don't focus on the Western religions, I look at everything based on what gets discussed around me on any given Sunday. I've explored many issues, many ideas, many disciplines. I wanted to keep a record of my thoughts, so I decided to put them here, open wide for anyone who cares to share an idea (hopefully with a generous and kind spirit) with me as I ponder these notions. I hope it works out OK.

One thing further on my agnosticism.... I once asked someone I profoundly respect if they believed in God. They replied to this question by saying "I don't worry about things that are untestable". I don't know that I can say the same, I enjoy thinking about the concept too much.

Annual family prom picture

Yes, I "edited" out the name of the school...

SQOTD

Squink: "Mama, when I get old like you, I can walk on water".

The Science Fair and my bucket list

When I was in about 5th or 6th grade, I decided to try and enter my schools science fair.

To be very frank, the fact that I was encouraged to try something like what happens to carnation in colored water seemed fruitless and uninteresting. I knew what would happen and I knew why. I wanted to be challenged.

Perhaps it was a clue about my strong interest in biology and social sciences, but, what I chose was to investigate survivability... specifically desert survival.

My hypothesis was: Armed with the right tools and or knowledge a human being is capable of surviving in the desert for a reasonable period of time.

No, this is not a test tube or physics project... but I was interested in what mechanisms would help prolong a person's survival should they be lost in the climate in which I lived.

I have a family that will not take even a small road trip with out provisions in place to help provide water and sustenance should there be a horrible circumstance and we do, indeed, get stuck in the desert.

So, I employed the scientific method as I went about my project.

• First, I set up my hypothesis.
• Second, I formed a conjecture. I stated what I knew to do (make sure you have water when being placed in a position that you could become stuck in a desert) and thought about what other things needed to be in place for survivability to occur. those, in general, were: how to procure more water (you can't carry a city water plant with you), how to identify and find nourishment in the harsh clime (what was available to eat so that calorically we could sustain our bodies), how to devise an action plan for getting to safety.
• Thirdly,  I deduced my predictions; namely that there were means to get water from a desert, there was readily available nutrition and that we could indeed devise a plan of action to get our bodies to safety.
• Lastly I tested this. 
• I researched condensation to identify a way to procure water and came up with a plan to help use the available resources to help provide more dihydrogen monoxide. ;-)
• I researched desert flora and fauna to identify possible food stuffs, and set out to see how easy these items were to identify
• I looked at what the research said about traveling to safety and had to come to conclusion of developing an action plan.
• I built a miniature condensation trapping mechanism that one could employ and measure what water amounts it was able to get.
• I cited all of my sources.

This kind of project was outside the norm of what any of these folks had ever seen or even expected to see at a science fair. To be very frank, at that time, I was told that this was not a science fair project, but was a research project (I really want to know however, what the difference was in the case for a 5th or 6th grade science fair project). I was devastated. I could see how there was real science in there, why couldn't these adults see it? I knew there was academic rigor that was sustained through out my entire experience with the project. I was curious, I did not know something, I set out to identify what the research said and to see how it applied to those of us living in Arizona. The failure to see through the lack of carnations in colored water was somewhat devastating at that age. I felt like a failure, and decided that maybe women are just supposed to play stupid. What a sad thing.

Thankfully, I got over it. I suppose I have to thank my slightly odd high school science teacher who let me play dumb when he knew I was more aware of what was going on. Really, in hindsight, no teacher would get away with what I could get away with in his class;
I sat ON the tables, not the chairs
I got to draw pictures instead of working on experiments if I could deduct the result correctly.
I got to play my Depeche Mode tape in the film projector they had (you know the one that has a tape player and you turned to the next slide when it went "beep".

I was his teachers pet, I got away with everything in that class, and I actually had this teacher for two straight years. But the key was that even if I acted like a doofus in class, he and I would actually have some interesting discussions outside of class. And sadly, it was through that bizarre experience that I was able to allow myself to think of science as something I enjoyed. Though yes, I was and still am somewhat haunted by that first science fair experience.

So, I have always had a secret desire to be a judge at a science fair. Interestingly enough, a friend that I went to high school with is an 8th grade science teacher. And offered me the opportunity to be a judge at her second Science Fair. Finally a place to put my Biology and Anthropology college degree as well as my years as a medical student to good work. I got to be that judge. So, I went into this experience wanting to recognize rigor, scientific and academic rigor. I strongly believe I did that. I LOVED the process. I loved being able to talk to the kids and ask them questions to see if I could find out how much their curiosity was at work here.

And best of all, I got to cross that item "Judge an Elementary School Science Fair" off of my bucket list.

Thank you Miss Dayna, it was truly an honor.

Bucket lists (BLIOTD)

I have compiled those 100 things about me, and even went so far as to add a second hundred things about me... but this, this is a slightly different version of that.

The previous ones were mostly about the path I had walked

This one is about the things I want to do. They call them A Bucket List for some reason, though I am inclined to think it is something to do before you "kick the bucket".

For a few months now I have been carrying around a list on my phone where I can jot down the ideas as they come to me.

Sadly, it is still rather short.

Here is what I have so far:

• Visit a lighthouse (Inspired by a friend who sent me a picture of one)
• Go to Tunisia
• Knowingly hear a sonic boom, and recognize it as such.
• View a maritime Aurora Borealis (meaning while I am on the ocean, someone once told me that it looks like the light bounces off the surface of the ocean)
• View any Aurora Borealis
• Visit the Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali 

So, what prompted me to tell you I am doing this... I realized, recently, that I had two things coming up which I was so excited about doing that they too belonged on my list. So, here are those:

• Be a judge a science fair  (more about why this is crossed out on the next post tomorrow)
• Stay in a yurt

So, I have decided to start making these dreams a little more public.

In addition to the SQOTD (Squinky quote of the day), there will now be BLIOTD (Bucket list item of the day). And for the record, I am taking suggestions... and I am not limiting myself to falling on either side having 100 items... So, tell me; what, based on how you think you know me,  should I consider adding to my all too short list above?

Guinea pig interchange, or what are we having for dinner...

A Squinky conversation

The other day, as Squink and I are heading home he tells me

"Mom, I want a guinea pig"

so I answer

"Oh, yum! we eat those where I come from"

and he says

"No mom, I don't want one to eat"

so I ask,

"What do you do with them if you don't eat them, they are so yummy to eat"

he says

"You take them home and put them in a cage"

so I ask,

"And then you eat them?"

"No"       he says,

"you take them out every once in a while and play with them"


so I ask again

"And then do you eat them?"

and he is started to get frustrated with my insisting on eating them

so he says

"NO MOM, you don't eat them in my Arizona!"

SQOTD

For no apparent reason while in line at In-n-Out:

Squink: "Freaked out teacher".

SQOTD

Squink: "Mama, do you want to know how to be beautiful?"

Me: "Of course."

Squink: "With hairspray. But if you spray it on your body you'll be
frozen".

Something I probably have no business writing about

That would be about the Sudan.

I have never been there, I am not that familiar with their cuisine, I know some of the basic customs, and I know a few of its former citizens and well... that is about it.

I became completely invested in its future.. at least as much as this Colombian-American girl living in the southwestern US can get when I met one person from there. He was a lost boy, you know one of those Lost Boys of Sudan. He has moved away, and I don't get to see him as regularly as I did before... but he had a story that moves me to tears even when I think about it...

As he walked for months on end, alone, after having lost his family to the brutal massacres by the government troops... he said that he had been taught a song by some missionaries and would sing that song as he walked, and walked, and walked.... and walked...

and walked...


and walked,...


and walked...

and walked (OK, I know you get the picture). That song was Jesus loves me... and so he sang that song to himself, he said... to help him feel less lonely.

Now, I don't presume that it is a great tale about the power of religion. I am a mere mortal and can only say that I am humbled by that story. It makes me ask myself what I would be doing if I were in that situation. If my family had been brutally murdered, if I had no destination to go to but knew I had to move least the same people that killed my family kill me... I think I too would sing a song about someone loving me, even if I had no concept of who that person was.

Click here to see some pictures of Sudan and about their first election and what prompted this post.

Attempt #4 or I'm starting to think I drink way too many soft drinks.

Attempt #4 or I'm starting to think I drink way too many soft drinks., originally uploaded by Blair Necessities.

~ Sent from Blair's iPhone

SQOTD

(btw - SQOTD means "Squinky quote of the day, checked search keywords
on the blog and saw that 8 folks had searched "what does SQOTD mean")

Squink: "I can't run anymore, I'm tired and my nose hurts".

Sometimes it is the little things

Like the little things that mean a lot.

I love orange, a lot. So when I found a blog called How about orange. . . I thought I had found a long lost friend. Really, considering how most people loathe the color is it any wonder?

And it so when I opened my feed reader and read, I was struck by this post about paper roses from straws.

I thought it was indeed a good idea, to make something little and insignificant yet pretty and beguiling. So, I decided to try and teach myself to make paper roses each time I came across a straw with a paper wrapper.

I did not watch the tutorial, but I did look at the picture to try and understand how to do it... and here are my first three attempts... (btw below are close ups of my original pictures)

Attempt #1



Attempt #2



Attempt #3



I will try to keep my collection updates in a Flickr set here

The Man From Snowy River

The Man From Snowy River

I was about 13 when my father took me to see this movie for the first time. He spoke about how it had one of the best horse back riding scenes in it that he had ever seen. Boy was he right!

I grew up as a weekend rancher girl, had my own horse and rode rather well... I think was on a horse alone starting when I was about 5.

This is nothing in my family, my father is often recalled as the boy who rode his horse to school... which conjures up images that are erroneous. He rode his horse to school in a city, tied it up in a near-by park, and he apparently did this in high school. My father's people love horses...

My mother rode horses too, she was good and as a matter of fact I think I realized I had a really cool mom when she took me to a trick riding class she took and I got to see her ride a horse in all sorts of fabulous ways.

Needless to say, I love horses. I always have... I always will. And am rather proud I still have a good seat even though I rarely get to ride them.

So, when my father took me to this movie... I was caught up in the cheesy love story... remember I was 13... until one point... when the lead character rides down a rather steep mountain side. I got chills watching that 30 second or so scene. I know what it is like to ride a horse both up and down hills and mountain sides.. the steeper they are the more concentration is required. It can be tough. I rode my horses on the Andean mountains... I get those steep hills.

But in that scene, the lead character just takes his horse bounding down the side of the mountain, he stays seated, leaning back, hand gripping the reigns... and my breath stopped then... and stops each and every time I see it. It is probably one of the most magnificent scenes of horsemanship I have ever seen, and as such, the movie remains a favourite to this day.. for that 30 or so second scene.

Here is a link to that scene... key in at about 2:20 if you haven't seen it before.. and give it about 40 seconds and go full screen.

SQOTD

It is about 90 degrees out...

Squink: "I need a sweater. The kind that makes you stop sweating. For
when the sun is out and you look out the window."

SQOTD

"Today is a no school day because it's nice Friday."

SQOTD

Squink: Mama, to find Jesus... You have to follow the sun.

SQOTD

Squink: Mama, there are sure a lot of white cars out there.

Me: I suppose there are.

Squink: Why do people buy so many white cars?

SQOTD

Squink: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11... 98, 99, 100, 1,000,000!
Mama, I counted to a million!

Me: You missed a few numbers there Squink.

Squink: No, I didn't!

An international whosiwhatsit?

SQOTD

Squink: Mama, can I help you get rocks out of your lard?

Me: Uhm, what?

Squink: Can I help you get rocks out of your lard?

Me: So, how do you do that?

Squink: You take rocks away from where plants grow so they grow better.

Me: Oh, you want to help get rocks out of our yard!

Squink: Yes, I want to help you get rocks out of your lard!

SQOTD

Squink: Mommy, I think you can make your birthday a different way.

Me: What kind of way should it be?

Squink: I say December 50.

Me: Well, December only has 31 days, so it can't be that way.

Squink: Yes it can, I'll make a machine and it's the law.

(engineer in the making?)

SQOTD

Squink just handed me a book and asked "Will you read me the copyright?"

I replied by reading "Copyright two-thousand and two-thousand and six; Kidsbooks LLC"

At this point he interrupts me and says:  "No, I want to know how old it is?"

SQOTD

S: Mama, You need to be a teacher. I told all my friends about you.
Me: What did you tell them?
S: I tell them that sometimes you're mean, and sometimes you're good. And sometimes you are a little bit scared... of machines. And then I tell them that they can over to my home,

SQOTD

S: I want to try salmon mama.
Me: Why is that, Squink?
S: Because they swim in the water and have a country. See, I learned
about them.
Me: You sure did, but what country do they have?
S: They have Norway and lox.

formspring.me

What YouTube video made you laugh recently?

this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpV5InLw52U

Ask me anything

SQOTD

Squink: Mommy, when you hit your head your memories get out very
easy. Then they go on top of a mountain.

Me: What do they do on top of a mountain?

Squink: They start to moo like a cow.

SQOTD - E-I-E-I-O

For reasons I do not need to get in to, Squink and I had the following conversation this morning:

Me:        How about McDonalds for breakfast?

Squink:  Oh, can I get an Old McMuffin?

Squink's letter to the world!

Hdvdvdvxv vvsvd. Nfbdbd. Bdbd d dvdb x s bad svsvs. Be ev en ehh DBS

formspring.me

What do you think has contributed to making you such a compassionate person?

I don't know that I am so compassionate, I think I tend to be quite the opposite. If I appear to be so it may be because I have lived places and seen things most people in this country have no clue even exists on this planet... but those things tend to make me more of a defender and protector than compassionate, as I tend to think of compassionate as being able to see two sides and be gracious to both. I am usually not.

Ask me anything

SQOTD

I took my mom to meet Schatzy, Squink and Schatzy's parents, Oma &
Opa, at the airport upon the in-laws return to Austria.

As we walk up to them in the waiting area, Squink runs up to my
mother, takes her by the hand and leads to Oma & Opa and asks;

"Nana, do you know these people?"

formspring.me

HI HOW ARE YOU?

Sadly, at this particular moment... I am sleep deprived.

Ask me anything

formspring.me

What is your favorite iPhone app?

P Tracker Lite, which may be more information than you want to know.

Ask me anything

formspring.me

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/ModestyBlaise

A letter to Squink

Dear Squink,

You turned five your last birthday. You have become a little boy, and are so grown up with a generous spirit and a very kind heart. I don't know where you got it from, but I am blessed to have you there to remind me to be a nicer person.

Five years ago, in the week before you were born... I was laid up in a hospital infuriating some doctors with my stubborn refusal to be induced earlier than I was ready for. However, the news at that time has in a way haunted me... I was in a luxurious first world hospital taken care of by the most amazing set of nurses and doctors (yes, even the one who I upset so much he never came back to visit me) while clear across the world were earthquakes causing horrendous devastation. I remember on the morning of your birth, before I knew when I would be taken to the delivery room... I was reading about them, unaware that the worst was yet to come.

Of course, I had the news on my lap top which was my third most constant companion following very closely behind your father and your Nana. As I read about the damage that they were anticipating I suddenly realized that mothers were going to lose their babies and that babies were going to lose their mommies... and of all the crazy moments I had with you during my pregnancy with you, this one was the single dark moment that has haunted me these past five years. I stopped reading that news... I could not continue.

So today, I happened upon a pictorial essay about that event five years ago... and I started crying when I realized how:

1. Right I had been about those mommies and babies losing each other
2. I had failed to follow up on this story because it had upset me so
3. How lucky I still am that you are alive, and well, and an incredible little boy.

Here is a link to those pictures I saw today, I don't know if it will be around when you are old enough to find this space and read about the most randomest of things to pass since just before you were born. But I am sure you can look up the Indonesian Tsunami and particularly Baby 81... realize that there were many, many more... and that there were mommies who lost their babies too. Honey, we are so blessed!

Someday, I would like to take you there so we can see what remains of that fateful time when you were born.

I love you Squink!

Mama