Cliff Notes

Sleep is a low-level, unprotected command?

Seminary started on Monday, and I have a great class. We're two days in, and yes, I am tired. The newness and anxiety that goes along with it are killing my Zzzzzz.

I figure exhaustion will eventually kick me into sleep moode because this is how the past few nights have gone: Saturday night (Sunday) I woke up at 3am and never got back to sleep. I did catch a quick nap before church. Sunday night I slept fitfully and woke before 5am. Last night I tossed and turned in a state of agitated semi-slumber. I again woke myself up by 5am.

On the way to Anna's school this morning I was unconsciously on autopilot (but not unconscious) until she asked why I'd turned onto the slower street we never take. Why indeed?! So when I got home from taking Kate to school I decided a nap was in order. Maybe fifteen minutes later my phone rang. When I went to answer, the caller had hung up...

Resistance is futile.

*Yes, dear trekkie friends, the photo is actually from the Star Trek:TNG episode called "The Best of Both Worlds." But I needed to assimilate.

I blogged a while back about The Help. In the end, I said it was good, not great. That was a concession both to the engaging style and overwhelming popularity of the book. The book and movie (I haven't seen it) may cause people to consider someone else's experience for a moment. Maybe for the first time -- so that is a good thing, right?

My post made an attempt to acknowledge my issues, which were hard to articulate. But a comment on a blog I enjoy led me to another two blogs that helped me figure out why The Help bothered me. And then I felt a little ashamed for copping out about my feelings. I couldn't figure out how to link to the first, gentler blog. But if you can handle a strong rejection, check out Bernestine Singley's "Sniffing Dirty Laundry: A True Story from 'The Help's Daughter." It's written from the other side of the story, and as you can tell from the title, it is not sugarcoated. There is language.

I hope you read it and are bothered a little.



PS Here's a book recommendation from Dr. Singley: the series about "Blanche White, the black-maid-turned-detective in Barbara Neely’s outstanding series of the same name... Now that your book club has devoured ‘the help,’ how about recommending Neely’s books to them as the rest of that story."
...Has anyone read these?

This Week's Forecast

We missed the 100-degree streak record by two days. And I was okay with that, since we actually got a little rain, but a lot of people were disappointed. Especially because right after we got that rain we went right back to 100 degrees.

Buffett to Congress: Don't 'coddle' me By Aaron Smith @CNNMoney August 15, 2011: 9:20 AM ET

Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, wrote in an op-ed piece published Monday in The New York Times that taxes should be raised on Americans who make at least $1 million per year.

Technology is amazing!

Calling all tech friends: I'd like a little projector to use in seminary (so I don't have to be the early early bird and wrangle a huge TV/dvd cart from the library) for dvds and images from my macbook pro.

I need a cheap one that is idiot proof and works even when the room is not completely dark -- because eventually the sun will rise.

Please share your small / pico projector suggestions in the comments section below.

Mason Graham's love of this show (and the super cool party his mom blogged about) inspired me to check out an episode. Then another. And another.

I've been preparing for seminary, with online training and in weekly 6am meetings. I've also been studying the Old Testament as a whole to get my head around the history (!) and find general themes like covenants, sacrifice, etc. that will come up throughout the year. I'm reading Isaiah for Airheads by John Bytheway. It is nice and basic, if you know what I mean.

Last week I created 25 visual prompt cards for scripture mastery. First I Googled images I liked, printed, cut and mounted, laminated and cut again. (Have you noticed how laminated stuff looks better? Some of my pictures look like little Polaroids... Google that if you need to.) Yes, it took several hours, but I will use them all year long. And I'm a visual learner.

I have also been working on learning the books of the OT song, which requires singing at the top of my lungs. It is better that way. One day I spent more time than I would have liked with a Sharpie and a dodgeball, marking it with the 25 mastery citations. Next time I'll find a smooth ball.

On Monday, after a particulary prep-intense weekend, I felt like I needed to step away from the Old Testament. So I watched six episodes of psych on hulu.

Then John came home and I watched a couple more with him.

(I got some laundry done, too.)

This is what happens when I don't check out movie reviews before going to the theater.

I'm thinking that if I'd seen this poster I would have known better.

Crazy Stupid Love is PG-13 but trust me, you don't want your teen to see it because it is the kind of wrong presented as quirky but normal. I expected a classic romantic comedy but this crazy stupid movie has very little to recommend in the love department.

Apparently, a lot of people really like this movie. There are some likeable performances and a very few winning moments, but the movie's tone is all over the place as are repeated crude attempts at humor and situations that would a) never happen in real life or b) would be creepy and obviously inappropriate. People around me laughed anyway.

The reviews I read (after the fact) were disappointingly forgiving. But "Movie Mom" nicely summed up my reaction to the movie in general and the most specifically egregious moment in the film: a 17 year old girl gives a 13 year old boy photos of herself in the nude. Really?!


Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/moviemom/2011/07/crazy-stupid-love.html#ixzz1TqDc244m


Got popcorn? Check out one of these:
Dan in Real Life  Return to Me  Stranger Than Fiction  The Young Victoria  

While You Were Sleeping  Emma

PS In the beginning I thought Ryan Gosling was going to help Steve Carrell get his wife back -- nice, romantic comedy appropriate. Like Hitch. But it was more like he was helping him get back at his wife. Not nice, not romantic or good comedy.

I've been signed up for Groupon notices for a few weeks, but nothing grabbed me until today's Studio Movie Grill deal. I thought I'd take the plunge and order six, utilizing the additional deal code for my first purchase, and have a fun (cheap!) group date option for couples or kids. I hit "buy" and filled in my order but a pop up told me I had to sign in first. I thought I had done that, then another pop up told me I had to verify via email blah blah blah. At this point I had several screens open and the clock was ticking and I had to run the girls to the orthodontist so I hit something and ran off with the girls for their appointment.

When I got back I found that I had not been successful in my rookie attempt and the deal had sold out (yeah, I figured it would go fast). Waah.

I have to say that so far I'm not loving the Groupon. There is a lot of random stuff. Some stuff looks okay but is more than ten minutes away and I'm just not motivated. Last week they had one for the local go-kart place. Not that I want to go round that track anytime soon (yes, we're still in the 100s) but I looked into the details in case I could use it later this fall. In the fine print: 1 per visit. Hmmmm... half off one out of four tickets minimum for my family doesn't exactly knock my socks off. There's no love in that fine print.

Are you listening, Groupon?! Half off of everyone: good. Half off one per visit: lame! Unless we're talking something solitary like a pedicure or massage, I am not going to bother with that kind of discount.

And what did you do with my movie tickets?


Update: Groupon took down the SOLD OUT sign (I must only use my powers for good) and I was able to purchase my six tickets. Gripe off.