Inception (2010)

This is a movie the trailers could not do justice.  The idea so grand and deep and original that it could never have been done without the technology we have.  The acting so stunning you never question the idea they are feeding you and that, after all, is the key ingredient.
        Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, a thief who does his work by entering a shared dream with his victims and getting them to tell him their secrets by making the dream so real it fools their own memories.  But, this time, the secret is an idea and Cobb's job is to plant it so deeply within the subconscious of Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) that he believes it to be his own.  In the meantime, Cobb is keeping his own secrets and his widow, Mal (Marion Cotillard) buried in his dreams.  Trouble is, her dark side keeps coming out to play inside the dreams while he is working. 
       You won't want to turn your eyes away from the intelligent action or the raw emotion of this film.  Brilliant.
      
      

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

This book is anything but conventional.  Cowboys and Badlands, mixed with a 1960's small town sense of propriety, vernacular, and little boy hopes in such a delightful way that you'll want to read it out loud, word by precocious word.  In between the complicated characters, the unexpected miracles, and the suspense, you'll find a golden nugget of wisdom like, "Pride is the rope God allows us all."  Don't miss this one.

B Vitamins

Have you ever been so angry you wanted to reach through a phone and rip someone's throat out?  I mean, since the pubescent hormone rush?  You might have a vitamin B deficiency.  I know I do. 

Effects include:

emotional disturbances, aggression, mental confusion, weakness, acne, depression

I discovered this problem last year sometime when my temper raged to what I called "out of control".  Thankfully, I was controlling it.  I mean, I didn't hit anyone and this is good news, but it would rage up like a volcano and tingle through my limbs for very little cause.  I won't say I don't have stress in my life that could knock the breath out of someone else, but this is my normal level.  It didn't make sense to feel such anger.  Just as it doesn't make sense now...what makes even less sense is to be aware of this as a recurring problem, have the B-vitamin complex in the medicine cabinet and NOT take it everyday. 

Duh.

I took it this morning.  Let's see if I can get clear as quickly as last year.  As for the rest of the world, I'm pretty sure there are some world leaders and homeowner's association presidents with the same issue.  Maybe we should all be taking a chill pill.

Flipper

Tonight, my throat a little sore from the remnant cold, I scanned through Netflix to find a half-hour of something to wind the kids down in lieu of a bedtime story.  Does anyone remember what year children on television STOPPED being polite to parents?  I'm thinking about banning all TV after that year.  And when did they stop designing bathing suits as cute as the women on this show wore?  You know, the kind that give you some coverage so you can swim, but still allow you to look feminine.  Now, I can't really speak for content because my back was turned almost the whole time as I worked on another project, but my almost fourteen year old was on her way to bed because I chose to play "Flipper."  Half-way up the stairs, she stopped.  Then she sat down on the steps.  And before the end of the show, she was sitting on the couch with the five and three year olds wondering whether or not Flipper would be able to locate and recover the box of plasma desperately needed to rescue a little boy. 

That's good stuff.

Take Me Home (Book 4 - Hearts of the Children Series)

I skipped the write up completely for book three...in fact, I read it in a day.  The author, Dean Hughes, suddenly stopped playing Trivial Pursuit and started writing his characters into some portions of history (just before my own birth) that have always interested me.  Personally, I think we, humanity, but the United States of American in particular are still living with the repercussions of the late 60's -- feminism, civil rights, Vietnam, etc. 

The other thing that held my attention past all of the poor editing (check page 166, Book 3, and pay attention to the character who changes sex from male to female to male all in a few paragraphs... seriously?), is that one of Dean Hughes characters became me.  She's a girl who got married very young and, even though my looks have never been at the forefront of my personal image (I'm more of a book worm than that), I too found myself in with a marriage partner I feared the first time around.  For Diana, the fear kept growing and she grew more and more conscious of it.  She asked questions earlier, of her family, how marriage should work.  Are there arguements?  Do husbands use their Priesthood to have the final say?  Luckily for Diana, she has a mother who could talk to her about unrighteous dominion very early on.  Somehow, I was hoping she would work past the justifications and excuses and self-blame that I put myself through a little more quickly...so I kept reading.  Faster and faster through Vietnam and the Peace Corps and the awful conditions of prisoners of the East German GPR to see what her choice would be. 

Would I have gotten out sooner if my mother had ever said to me, "Beckie, I tell all of your Bishops to watch out for you and keep you safe.  I know nothing is as perfect as he makes it out to be."

And now, I've reached a point where I have to stop for a minute and just get it out.  Diana's husband just beat her and she got out, finally.  Though not to the hospital.  Not to the police.  Why is there so much shame in being beaten by someone who promised to love and protect you?  Guess where Greg went?  That's right.  To the Bishop.  And he's so damned sorry.  He's so heartbroken and loves her and their baby so much. And guess what the Bishop has done?  Called and convinced Diana "not to throw away their eternal family."

...

All I can think of is the first time I actually reported the abuse to a Bishop.  My ex had hit our oldest daughter so hard that she bled and had a bruise on her face.  She wasn't even two years old.  I didn't take so many pictures back then.  Heaven, he was so sorry.  He would never do anything like that again.  He promised.  And the Bishop?  He sent us for counseling.  US.  Because we needed it.  Because we had obviously provoked his temper for such a thing to happen and needed to behave differently in the future.  Of course, the husband was wrong to do that.  But, he was under so much stress from school and work and... guess how many times he went to the counselor the first time?  Three times.  He was so idyllic as a man/father/husband the counselor couldn't see why we were there.  I was so lucky to have him and the new baby on the way.  And I couldn't leave.  How was I supposed to leave with my belly so huge I couldn't see my toes?  And how was I supposed to keep my daughter from his anger except to be perfect and keep a perfect house?  It was, after all, the imperfections that MADE him lose his temper.

...

I don't know where Mr. Hughes is taking this portion of the story.  But, this is my thank you note, that he has written about it at all.  So many of the times Diana asked questions about discordance in a marriage, everyone gave her the general "we all argue", "marriage isn't perfect", "YOU have to talk to your husband so he knows how to treat you."  Guess what ladies and gentlemen?  These answers are not always enough.  You never know someone until AFTER you are married to them and that is nothing to be ashamed about.  Some things shouldn't be kept private and people who are being approached for counsel really need to be open to guidance instead of just relying on their own experience when they give it. 

And, P.S...An ecclesiastical leader is NOT always the best person to go to for advice on what is best inside your marriage.

Now that I've cried it out.  I'm going to attempt to get through this.  I am praying it doesn't take Diana the nine years it took me to get out.

Stability

Yesterday, I watched a National Geographic documentary on Magma and, basically, there is none.  Humans try to make it out like we can get some.  Even Machiavelli wrote something about the same types of people living today as throughout history.  But, you can't walk into a job, clock in everyday on time, get along with others, work hard at doing well, and just expect the job to be there at the end of the day because it is at the end of the day when it always happens.  The boss calls you in after you're too tired to go postal (not that anyone else is there to loose your sanity on by then) and tells you that you aren't enough.  Some part of something you do is just not what they were hoping for.  But they never communicate what they ARE hoping for to you BEFORE "letting you go".  It's like a whole generation of people made to study communication and interpersonal relations who think that was all just for the grade in college.  Or, maybe it isn't you.  And it isn't them.  It's just this damned economy.

So, here's what I'd like to say to the principal who just cut my husband's class load, effectively making him a part time teacher... You have made a mistake.  You looked at the Algebra book and only saw the students are "behind' instead of seeing how far they've come since the new guy plugged in.  Did you remember that he IS the new guy?  Did you remember that your bf you paid to come from out of the country wasn't even a licensed teacher and had to be deported when he lost his work visa?  Did you remember that your students lost THREE WEEKS of algebraic instruction while you looked for the right man for the job.  And when you found him, you let him flail there, mid-semester, without so much as giving him the copy code for the office printer or a handshake of welcome.  Did you recognize the relationships he's developing with the students in his class?  Did you see him learn how to help the autistic girl participate instead of sitting in the corner?  Did you notice he enriched the ESL student who speaks English by recognizing his inability to READ it and taking the time to administer his tests VERBALLY so this student would no longer fail?  No.  And it is a mistake on your part.

A mistake that may cost us another bump in our financial plan, but will cost your school a fantastic physics teacher.  Principals, like magma, have the power to reshape the way a school runs.  Little wonder your other teachers believe you are preparing to destroy it.

The City of Your Final Destination (2009)

This movie was both a visual and an auditory delight.  Family interruptions meant it took me three days to complete it, but I couldn't help but come back to it and I honestly can't wait to read the book (does anyone have it?!)

There is something slow and simple here that invites you to wander around Uruguay and really fall in love with the people.  Not because they are dazzling, extraordinary, or seductive, but because they are people living their lives in the way they chose.  The intriguing thing about the characters is they know they are odd (or believe themselves to be.)  How many wives allow their husband's mistress to come home and live with them like a "stray, pregnant kitty"?  How many homosexual men have an openly dedicated and loving relationship for 25 years when the lovers are decades apart in age?  They are languishing after the suicide of husband and brother, Jules Gund.  Almost as if they are afraid to leave their haven where they live without judgement from each other until a doctoral student comes begging to write the biography.  What sort of indignation will they receive from the world?  Possibly less than they are giving themselves living in such close quarters with each other.

Omar shakes things up in his own quiet way.  His curiosity for the author becomes an admiration for his loved ones and his life is forever changed by his visit to Uruguay.  Living his well-planned out, conventional life -- without passion for the woman he lives with or the career he pursues becomes a terribly bleak prospect in comparison to the Gund's.

Oh! And the soundtrack...gentle, bittersweet...loved it.