by R.I. G-L, age: 9
The Sunrise
The sky was dark
Only one light shone
Onto the green leaves. I looked up
From my bed. The morning near.
Only I saw the light.
The Sunset
The sun was setting and into the mist I walked
Not caring about the mist
Only seeking the 7 colors of the sunset.
It was an array of colors, red, yellow, blue, violet, pink,
Purple and green. Why do I seek these colors?
Because they make me happy.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Friday, June 09, 2006
A Gray Time Was Had By All
Did I mention we went to Nantucket for our niece's wedding? The nice thing about a cloudy wedding is you don't get so many pictures of people squinting. There was one sunny day when we biked to Madaket, but we didn't make it to the beach, because an awful lot of mist was blowing in. Yet it was fun, staying in an historic cottage that was once a pig sty (we're talking million-dollar-plus pig sty now). And we left our son there.
On purpose!
He stayed on with his aunt, uncle, and grandma. By all reports he was a good guest and everyone enjoyed themselves, despite the insistent rain. But it was very sad waving to him from the ferry. His sister cried and said his name over and over, even way beyond Brant Point light, where one traditionally throws a penny in the water to ensure a return to the island. She tossed a penny while crying and chanting his name.
Anyway, he's on his way home now with another uncle, he's got a lot of them, after his first three-day excursion away from us. I'm just sitting here waiting. He should be here any time now, any minute, really. I could call him on the cell phone but I'm not.
Well I did but the cell phone is off.
What I think I'll do is go wait on the front porch.
On purpose!
He stayed on with his aunt, uncle, and grandma. By all reports he was a good guest and everyone enjoyed themselves, despite the insistent rain. But it was very sad waving to him from the ferry. His sister cried and said his name over and over, even way beyond Brant Point light, where one traditionally throws a penny in the water to ensure a return to the island. She tossed a penny while crying and chanting his name.
Anyway, he's on his way home now with another uncle, he's got a lot of them, after his first three-day excursion away from us. I'm just sitting here waiting. He should be here any time now, any minute, really. I could call him on the cell phone but I'm not.
Well I did but the cell phone is off.
What I think I'll do is go wait on the front porch.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
"Brief Strong Language": The Tyranny of the Vague
Would it be so hard to say exactly which strong words are briefly spoken in Sketches of Frank Gehry?
You think I can find that online anywhere? The site I tend to read, Kids-in-Mind (which I think is good—I once pointed out to them a homophobic remark in a movie aimed at kids and they agreed and mentioned it on their site, which personally, I find helpful) hasn't reviewed it as of this writing. Screen-It is for parents too, but you have to subscribe. I'm going to be one of those old-fashioned old people that thinks the internet should be free.
I am actually not opposed to ratings systems. Free expressionists ignore them anyway. The rest of us would appreciate some specifics.
I'm guessing the strong words about Frank Gehry are spoken by Dennis Hopper, who I noticed in the preview. But I don't know for sure because our local really-cool movie theater doesn't pick up the phone anymore and talk to you in a humanly interactive way, with a human voice. Robots don't answer questions. When they do, it's only to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't get that. Did you want to know which theaters are in your zip code?"
I would really like to take my seven-year-old to learn about Frank Gehry, even something hagiographically about Frank Gehry. This much, the laudatory nature of Pollack's doc'y, I glean from all these reviews that are neglecting to tell me what brief, strong language is in the film. Is it sexist language? Is it the F word? Is Frank Gehry called an A-hole or does he call someone else an A-hole? Is it so wrong for me not to want to hear my kids say stuff like that even while I passionately want them to think about the relationship between crumpled pieces of paper and monumental structures?
Usually a movie like Sketches of Frank Gehry, aimed at adults, is better for kids than kid movies, with their relentless fart jokes and casually cruel child characters. One day I rented Little Manhattan, didn't prescreen it, and assured my kids it was family entertainment, a martial arts friendship story. "This is perfect for us!" I said. "It's got New York and karate in it. A girl and a boy!" It opened with kids teasing each other on a playground. Then a kid in a classroom began projectile vomiting. We never found out why, because my 9-year-old son put his hands on his ears and said "I told you we should never watch a PG movie! Why didn't you watch this first?" He turned off the TV. "Don't do that again!" he said.
Someone will no doubt argue that my kids are "too sheltered" from "the real world" in which "kids make fun of each other all the time" which is "good for them" because "life isn't fair" and "being subjected to a little cruelty toughens you up" thereby "preparing you for the reality of life." I remain an idealist in the face of that kind of
brief strong language alert
f*ing fascist bull*t pessimistic condescending crap designed to ensure the planet remains populated by a bunch of a*holes. When we could be so much better. Human = the only animal that works diligently to slow or reverse its own evolution.
Anyway, if you've been to see Sketches of Frank Gehry and you can post a word list here, please do. You don't even have to use asterisks.
You think I can find that online anywhere? The site I tend to read, Kids-in-Mind (which I think is good—I once pointed out to them a homophobic remark in a movie aimed at kids and they agreed and mentioned it on their site, which personally, I find helpful) hasn't reviewed it as of this writing. Screen-It is for parents too, but you have to subscribe. I'm going to be one of those old-fashioned old people that thinks the internet should be free.
I am actually not opposed to ratings systems. Free expressionists ignore them anyway. The rest of us would appreciate some specifics.
I'm guessing the strong words about Frank Gehry are spoken by Dennis Hopper, who I noticed in the preview. But I don't know for sure because our local really-cool movie theater doesn't pick up the phone anymore and talk to you in a humanly interactive way, with a human voice. Robots don't answer questions. When they do, it's only to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't get that. Did you want to know which theaters are in your zip code?"
I would really like to take my seven-year-old to learn about Frank Gehry, even something hagiographically about Frank Gehry. This much, the laudatory nature of Pollack's doc'y, I glean from all these reviews that are neglecting to tell me what brief, strong language is in the film. Is it sexist language? Is it the F word? Is Frank Gehry called an A-hole or does he call someone else an A-hole? Is it so wrong for me not to want to hear my kids say stuff like that even while I passionately want them to think about the relationship between crumpled pieces of paper and monumental structures?
Usually a movie like Sketches of Frank Gehry, aimed at adults, is better for kids than kid movies, with their relentless fart jokes and casually cruel child characters. One day I rented Little Manhattan, didn't prescreen it, and assured my kids it was family entertainment, a martial arts friendship story. "This is perfect for us!" I said. "It's got New York and karate in it. A girl and a boy!" It opened with kids teasing each other on a playground. Then a kid in a classroom began projectile vomiting. We never found out why, because my 9-year-old son put his hands on his ears and said "I told you we should never watch a PG movie! Why didn't you watch this first?" He turned off the TV. "Don't do that again!" he said.
Someone will no doubt argue that my kids are "too sheltered" from "the real world" in which "kids make fun of each other all the time" which is "good for them" because "life isn't fair" and "being subjected to a little cruelty toughens you up" thereby "preparing you for the reality of life." I remain an idealist in the face of that kind of
brief strong language alert
f*ing fascist bull*t pessimistic condescending crap designed to ensure the planet remains populated by a bunch of a*holes. When we could be so much better. Human = the only animal that works diligently to slow or reverse its own evolution.
Anyway, if you've been to see Sketches of Frank Gehry and you can post a word list here, please do. You don't even have to use asterisks.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Why the mysterious note?
Dear H--
The fish in the pot that isn't salmon is escolar.
Sunfrost recommended it. I had a portion.
GOOGLE BEFORE EATING.
I love you,
Red Eft
I left my husband this note. I had googled after eating, with not much time to read through all the press releases, health advisories, chefs' cautions. Escolar contains an undigestible fat. Some people vomit or get diarrhea. Sounds like the Olestra scandal, right? There was even a story of a woman who died, and her husband blamed the escolar.
That's why I wrote "I love you"—in case I was leaving the accidental-death version of a suicide note.
In the car I said, Kids, I have an announcement to make. I told them about the fish. I said, If I disappear from karate class please come look for me in the bathroom. You know how to dial 9-1-1, right?
Anyway I was fine. I guess some people are sensitive to undigestible oils and some aren't. H gave the rest of the fish to the cats that live around here. I didn't think that was such a great idea but they didn't eat it anyway.
I went to Brooklyn Reading Works a couple weeks back to hear my friend Louise Crawford read and she was great, as were the other members of her writer's group, who also read. Louise has a ton of short, racy, heady, funny-yet-full-of-longing poems she wrote while in therapy, addressed to the therapist. I look forward to seeing them as a book some day.
See Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn.
Also the whole fam went to a blowout benefit for Bill Vanaver of The Vanaver Caravan, who is recovering from a massive heart attack. Pete Seeger led us in song for Which Side Are You On, Boys? and Turn, Turn, Turn. Natalie Merchant sang a ruby-throated set that culminated in a real tear-jerker—inspired by the fact that she was a student of Bill's at Bard—when she covered To Sir With Love. And the Klezmatics rocked, with several original compositions set to lyrics by Woody Guthrie. Presented at our local historic theater, this shindig was a night to remember, and we're glad Bill's getting better so fast. Can't wait to see him onstage again.
The fish in the pot that isn't salmon is escolar.
Sunfrost recommended it. I had a portion.
GOOGLE BEFORE EATING.
I love you,
Red Eft
I left my husband this note. I had googled after eating, with not much time to read through all the press releases, health advisories, chefs' cautions. Escolar contains an undigestible fat. Some people vomit or get diarrhea. Sounds like the Olestra scandal, right? There was even a story of a woman who died, and her husband blamed the escolar.
That's why I wrote "I love you"—in case I was leaving the accidental-death version of a suicide note.
In the car I said, Kids, I have an announcement to make. I told them about the fish. I said, If I disappear from karate class please come look for me in the bathroom. You know how to dial 9-1-1, right?
Anyway I was fine. I guess some people are sensitive to undigestible oils and some aren't. H gave the rest of the fish to the cats that live around here. I didn't think that was such a great idea but they didn't eat it anyway.
I went to Brooklyn Reading Works a couple weeks back to hear my friend Louise Crawford read and she was great, as were the other members of her writer's group, who also read. Louise has a ton of short, racy, heady, funny-yet-full-of-longing poems she wrote while in therapy, addressed to the therapist. I look forward to seeing them as a book some day.
See Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn.
Also the whole fam went to a blowout benefit for Bill Vanaver of The Vanaver Caravan, who is recovering from a massive heart attack. Pete Seeger led us in song for Which Side Are You On, Boys? and Turn, Turn, Turn. Natalie Merchant sang a ruby-throated set that culminated in a real tear-jerker—inspired by the fact that she was a student of Bill's at Bard—when she covered To Sir With Love. And the Klezmatics rocked, with several original compositions set to lyrics by Woody Guthrie. Presented at our local historic theater, this shindig was a night to remember, and we're glad Bill's getting better so fast. Can't wait to see him onstage again.
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