Book Club Book Two

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This book was great and this book was terrible. The story, about a girl growing up in less than optimal circumstances (to put it lightly), was engrossing and so wonderfully written that you just didn't want to put it down. The details of the story - four children under 9 (including a 3 month old baby!) forced to ride in the back of a moving truck for 14+ hours (not counting scenic stops, wtf) because there wasn't enough room for them upfront with their parents. Living in a three room shack with no plumbing or heat but plenty of holes in the roof, scrounging for food in garbage cans at school just to have something to eat, while their father drinks and their teaching licensed mother refuses to work and instead paints at home. Having every effort to improve their situation thwarted by the very people whose job it was to provide for them - these details made you want to put it down. At least for a quick breath to calm your anger and soften your pain at the terrible ordeal of just growing up those children were put through.

In many ways this is the ultimate fairytale - after all, the author conquered a childhood most of us can not even imagine to become a successful writer. She got out. But you can never really leave behind a past like that, and while the book had very little in it about the later, adult years of her life, the little glimpses that were shared hinted at long held, justifiable and probably insurmountable resentment.

One thing I liked most about the book was that it was written from the point of view of the author as she lived through each incident. The situation was never colored by reflection or adult understanding and experience. So as the reader we were able to feel not only the child's naive perception of the occurance, but also our own understanding of her true vulnerability. As a parent, it was harrowing to read about the neglect, deprivation and downright danger inflicted upon those children by these self-absorbed, delusional people. But it was also somewhat reassuring to see that even when the parents are too lazy to repair holes in the floor, so selfish they can't bear to part with their archery set (yes. ARCHERY) or painting supplies but will force their children to leave behind all of their toys, and so out of touch with reality that they insist on leaving the doors open over night despite lecherous bums entering the house, the children will persevere. The children will learn to take care of themselves - to work hard and be smart and resilient. Makes me think nothing I do can possibly ruin my kids the way these parents should have ruined theirs.

All in all, I definitely recommend reading this book. It may not be a skip in the park, but despite the heavy subject matter it is written so beautifully that you will enjoy every minute of this terrible story. And it will make you feel A LOT better about anything going on in your life.

Up next: The Happiness Project

Push vs. Precious

First of all, I would like to reiterate what my husband said repeatedly during the Oscar telecast: having the movie Precious constantly introduced as "Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire" was extremely tedious and annoying. Oh my god, we get it, it's based on a book. Sapphire wrote it. Whatever move on! So annoying.

Anyway, it was with great humor that I noticed the book at Target - notably saying "Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire" right on the cover, along with "now a major motion picture. but then I noticed something - right next to it was the book Push. by Sapphire. Now the major motion picture Precious.


WTF?

Aren't these the same story? Is one just a book of the screenplay or what? if I was Sapphire, and I had negotiated such a great deal that my name was mentioned literally EVERY TIME the mention the movie, I think I could have managed to get a deal in there that they couldn't print a different version of my book under the film's name. Um, hello? Most books just issue a reprint with the movie pictures as a new cover - are these actually different books? If I never wanted to read them before, I'm almost tempted to now to see if they are different at all.

Almost.

American I Don't Know Why I'm Still Watching

So, is it just me or can we all agree that the competition is WEAK this year on American Idol? I cannot see any clear stand outs among this crop of contestants at all. Ok, that's not true, there are a few who are clearly better than the rest (Crystal Bowersox), but I don't feel like that is really saying much this season. Saying you are a stand out this year is kind of like saying you got the highest failing grade - whoop de doo. No one's really bringing all that much to the table, so being the best isn't the same as it might have been in past seasons.

It is kind of interesting that no one is quite as polished or professional as they have been recently. The contestants have been getting more and more polished every year - people who have worked as professional singers just don't bring the same sense of discovery and "chance of a lifetime" to the show as true amateurs. So it is kind of fun watching these contestants because they really have ALOT of room to grow - seeing the transformations and who can really build a persona and find their style and rhythm is part of the fun of the show. When everyone starts out super great, there is less room for improvement and the competition factor just turns into a popularity contest. Now there is actual risk involved because they need to improve and develop and learn how to choose the right song and sing it stronger, as well as be charming and popular.

That being said, I really hope they do it quickly - this endless bad karaoke feel is getting a little hard to listen to each week.

I Like My Expectations Low

The Hurt Locker won best Picture this year, and for that reason I will probably never see it. Okay, also because it doesn't really interest me, but also because of the Oscar. Because pretty much everytime I see a best Picture winner that I hadn't seen before the Oscars were awarded, I hate it. Crash? Blech. A Beautiful Mind? Barf. The English Patient? Gag me. (the one exception to this rule is Slumdog Millionaire which I saw after it won, and still loved. Because it was awesome). I'm sure that a lot of this is based on the fact that these movies never really appealed to me in the first place or I would have seen them before hand, but also, if they win, they should be so super awesome that they triumph over personal taste and preference at least a little. Maybe I never love them, but I should at least be able to recognize why they won; why they were considered the very best film released all year. Being an Oscar winner gives the movie prestige, and as such I fully expect it to amaze me. Which of course means I'm almost always disappointed.

On the other hand, you can pretty much always get me to watch anything that got bad reviews. Is there a movie that might have slightly appealed to me before it was released and totally trashed in the reviews? I will still totally see it. Because how bad can it really be? And honestly, I find that I usually end up enjoying these movies just fine - low expectations lead to a decent time at the movies in my book. If I'm expecting the movie to be awful, I'm usually pleasantly surprised.

Plus, it is always fun to hold any new bad movie up against the benchmark - Ghost Rider.

Have you seen Ghost Rider? You must. I don't care if you don't want to, I don't care if you aren't interested in throwing two hours of your life away on a terrible flick - YOU MUST SEE IT. There must be a ruler against all future bad movies can be measured; and Ghost Rider is it. the absolute worst movie I have ever seen - the writing is bad, the acting is bad, the effects are bad, the directing is bad. The whole thing is a giant clusterfuck of ineptitude, laziness and failure to such a degree that it is really quite impressive. Expecially given the caliber and scope of people involved. This is not The Room (considered by Hollywood to be the actual true worst film ever made), done by unknowns with no budget. Ghost Rider is big budget with big names - it should not suck this hard.

With all that said, this weekend we rented The Box. When it first came out i thought it looked interesting - you are given a box with a button. If you press the button, someone you don't know will be killed, and you will get a million dollars. Neat premise. And then it came out. And got straight F reviews across the board. Universally panned and reviled. well, now I must see what the big deal was. How bad could it possibly be?

The answer is not that bad at all. The idea is still good - interesting and if handled well could have been really provocative about exploring the human condition. Especially with the twist-ish at the end - could have raised some really interesting questions and discussion. And while they missed the mark on making as truly clever and intellectual a thriller as they could have, they didn't completely fail.

Was there some subplot that was unecessary? Yes. Were there scenes that seemed as though they were meant to explain, but instead didn't relate to anything at all and only mdae it more confusing? Yes. Were the characters in those scenes never introduced so you didn't know who the heck they were or how they related to the plot? Yes. Were there times where we went to a new scene and the main character was somewhere totally new with no explanation as to how or why they got there? Heck yes.

Did you spend the whole movie finally feeling you were getting the hang of it only to have some random unrelated scene confuse you all over again? Yes. Did you spend the whole movie wanting to beat someone over the head for making you watch it? No.

It is hard to pinpoint just exactly who dropped the ball here. The script and acting were pretty hacky, but in themselves probably not totally at fault. the director certainly has some explaining to do, and I'm sure the editor could take some of the blame for the continuity jumps. But all in all it was certainly not as bad as everyone made it out to be. Or maybe that was just the low expectations talking.

Don't get me wrong, it was pretty bad. But it was no Ghost Rider.

How Do You Like Me Now?

I love this ad for the Kia Sorento:



I know that it is supposed to just be a daydream for the toys, but I like thinking that after we are all asleep the toys go out and live it up. Imagining some wild, seedy nightlife for the sock monkeys out there to engage in in the wee hours of the night amuses me. Which is probably sick (these are children's toys after all, shouldn't they be nurturing and wholesome?), but I find it funny.*

It's kind of how I picture all the adults who are on children's shows acting after work. They spend all day being supernaturally erky and chipper, so afterwards I always figure they hit the dirtiest bar they can find in their goth makeup and spend the next five hours cussing and drinkng and generally engaging in any no perky, non chipper debauchery they can find. Just to balance it all out you know? Otherwise don't know how they don't crack under the pressure of those false smiles.

So I'm cool with my kids' toys hitting the town after lights out - they deserve a little fun too.

*Oh, and the music is good. I like that too. (How Do You Like Me Now, by The Heavys)

LOMGST*

Almost four years ago my husband and I decided that since we were going to be home every night with a baby, we might as well find out what the big deal was about this show called Lost. Why was it such a big deal? Why was everybody talking about it?

We rented the first season on DVD and popped one in. And we were hooked. We watched the entire first season in just a few days, watching episode after episode until we couldn't stay awake any longer. It was awesome. Season 2 quickly followed and then, BAM! We were stuck, waiting and watching as the story unfolded in tiny snippets one week at a time.

That sucked. The cliffhangers! The teasers! Such frustration and demand for more more more!

Of any show, Lost is definitely meant to be viewed on DVD in marathon sessions when every nuance and secret and foreshadow can be retained in our all to brief and cluttered memories. But we stuck with it - all through seasons 3 and 4. The addiction and curiosity of where it was all going and how it could possibly wrap up were too strong to wait months and months for the DVDs to be released when we could at least get our fix on a weekly basis.

But then, in the fall of 2008 my husband up and moved away (yeah it was for a job and to start making us a bette rlife, whatever). And it just didn't feel right watching alone. So the episodes stacked up on my DVR, waiting hopefully for a weekend visit when we could sit down and watch an episode or two or five. Never happened.

So I put it on our Netflix queue,and because I never pay any attention to what is coming up, the first two discs arrived in the mail.

Months ago.

And they sat, neglected once more, until Saturday night when we finally had the urge to put one in. One episode later, my husband was headed to bed.

But I'll tell you, never underestimate the power of the magnetism of Lost. I was immediately sucked back in to the addiction, and full speed ahead I plowed through the first and second disc, and then joyfully discovered that the remaingin three discs were available for instant viewing online so my thirst for all things Lost would not have to wait for anything so silly as the postal service.

By Sunday night I had watched all of season 5.

I got caught up on the first four episodes of season 6 this afternoon, and now I sit. Waiting for the next episode to air, live, in 20 minutes.

Once again I am forced to wait while the network doles out my weekly hit in carefully measured, calculated doses.

But I don't care. I must know what happens. I must know how this all turns out, what the endgame is, how the writers have planned to end this ever since they started 6 years ago. And I am kind of glad I get to experience it live now. In real time with the rest of the world (all of whom are discussing it on Twitter every Tues - if nothing else I'm eliminating the risk of spoilers). I'm all caught up and I've been sucked back in.

I'm Lost.

*title is a commonly seen Twitter hashtag on Tuesday nights. Contraction of OMG Lost!!!**

**my bet is the only person who cares about the first * note is my mom