When I was little I used to watch Annie every other day during the summer. On the off days I would watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Occasionally, The Ugly Daschund was thrown in for variety. Anyway, our middle schoolers are trying out for the Annie musical right now so I downloaded some of the Broadway musical songs. Ah, the wisdom in the song "Tomorrow." and it just makes you feel good singing it.
Today I had a funny moment (to me) as I was working out. It was day three in my new bid for a healthier life, and I was looking out the window as the sun was going down, and I saw a squirrel. Now, the squirrels at my apartment complex are stupendous. They can scale completely vertical buildings, hanging on only to the stucco. They can also leap long distances, from building to building. And they're brave...The other night as I was sitting on my porch a squirrel jumped up on the railing, looked at me, and appeared to be deciding to attack. So I made a sudden noise, and he inched away slowly. Anyway, right when I saw the squirrel today, "Hollaback Girl" was playing on my ipod, and I had this sudden vision of the squirrel singing and dancing like Gwen Stefani. Now that would be something to see. Here's the problem with exercising for me--my mind needs something to do. Reading is great, but not always practical on the elliptical trainer.
Speaking of reading, lately I've been reading "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer. It's non-fiction, about mormon fundamentalists, like the ones who captured Elizabeth Smart. I'd heard something about this on Dr. Phil a while back (I'm a junkie), when Dr. Phil's son Jay went to this town called Colorado City, which is a mormon fundamentalist stronghold. Interesting stuff. Anna Karenina is still there, but I'm just not sure what can happen in the next 600 pages--she's already having an affair. Can it really be 600 pages from affair to death? I'm not opposed to reading that much, but it just better be something good.
Here's a funny school moment or two. Ususally I post them on my school blog, but this might be one a wider audience would appreciate. I'm not sure, but I liked it...So we're reading the Diary of Anne Frank in my 8th grade classes. In the play (and the movie), Anne gets her period. She's all sentimental about it, calling it her "sweet secret" and saying she longs to feel the pain again, to know she's a woman. It reminds me of the episode of the Cosby show where Rudy gets hers, and her mom takes her out to this big dinner, which is strange. I know very few people who really view it this way. Anyway, in class, as we're reading this, I can see all the girls making weird faces--either looking at me as if to say "is she serious?" or snickering. Now, they love Anne Frank, but they just don't see this as normal behavior. And the best part is that the boys are casting sidelong glances at the girls, and you can see them trying to figure out if this is how the 8th grade girls reacted. Ah, puberty. Gotta love it.
4 days ago
3 comments:
I vividly remember that episode of the the Cosby show, her mom called it Women's day. The first time I saw it I was embarassed because I was watching it with my mom. Then when I did receive my "sweet secret" I remember asking my mom, "We don't have to have one of those women's days, like they did on the Cosby show do we?" I was so relieved when she said no.
Doesn't it seem like somehow we should be better prepared for the big day when 'aunt flo' arrives for the first time. Seriously, I remember that day like it was yesterday- I knew it would come, but when it did I thought I was dying. Like, "THIS is what happens!?! That's disgusting!"
I think the girls are prepared, just not used to such sentimentality about it...Personally, Anne's reaction to it annoys me too. My favorite though is that the boys have NO idea what the girls are really thinking, and they're trying to watch their reactions to figure it out. Earlier in the movie Anne stuffs her bra with cotton balls, and the boys did the same thing. I actually did assure the boys at that point that not all or most girls do that. :)
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