HP 1, 2, 3.

In case you were wondering what we did today, there was a lot of sleeping in. a lot of sitting. a fair amount of eating leftovers. much movie watching--the first three Harry Potter movies, actually. popcorn eating. and chatting and laughing.

All in all, the perfect follow-up to an intense food-fest that went off successfully.

In fact, we pretty much looked like this all day:

I even mended a couple sweaters that had been sitting in my "need time to sit down to hand-sew to mend" pile for over a month.  So not a bad day, if you ask me :)

Hey Saturday!!

Actually, it would be better to say "Hey Weekend!!" because it was an awesome weekend all around. Saturday morning we slept in and had a leisurely breakfast of tasty spelt pancakes, eggs (not for me), fruit, and bacon! After heming and hawing a bit about what to do that day, we decided to go see Alice in Wonderland.  We headed out into the remarkably fresh (and almost warm) afternoon toward the theater.  It was a glorious day, in so many ways!

And I will be honest with you, I really liked the movie.  Admittedly, I did not go in with high hopes for a life-changing cinematic experience, nor did I expect the soft fluffy cartoon version Disney did years ago.  I knew it would be a little spooky (what Tim Burton movie isn't, really?), and relatively dark.  But I also had hopes for a fun, enjoyable movie.  And that's what I got.  There were some parts that were a little silly, but the story is a little silly anyway.  I like the actors and the variation the writers came up with, and I would definitely see it again.  

In fact, we all liked it so much, we walked by a bookstore in search of Carroll's original stories.  Happily, we found them! both stories in one volume (annotated, actually.  The layout is such that one doesn't have to pay attention to the side notes, but they are there if one wants them).  When Viv and I have finished Lord of the Rings, she and T and I will read through all of Alice's adventures.  It should be enlightening :)

See, I haven't read the books before, and that could be one reason why I didn't find the movie offensive at all.  On that same theme, though, I love (love love) Tolkien's Lord of the Rings--could be my favorite story ever.  And I also really like the movies.  But they're not the same. I don't consider the three Lord of the Rings movies to be "just movie versions of the book."  That's ridiculous (and it would be a horrible mash-up of the written story, too).  Instead, I find it's easiest for me to appreciate the movies apart from the book.  The characters happen to have the same names, and the plots are somewhat similar, but really, they're different stories :)

After visiting with Alice, we walked home in the crisp clean afternoon air, and made some soup, ate it with bread, and generally had a quiet evening together (quite welcome after a long week).

Sunday was another easy day. Mass in the morning. Lunch at home with a few friends. Lazy, lounging afternoon.  The one "productive" thing we did (relaxing is productive, no matter what other people say!) was getting my inherited silk embroidered print to the framing shop.  It will be composed to go well with this one, which my Grammy gave me in middle school:

The second print is a bit more golden, and there's more brown in it.  Viv came to the shop with me (oh sweet, tolerant seester!) and was a good sounding board for all the (manymany) options the helpful framing-guy showed me.  I'm excited to see what they look like together when it's done.  Maybe I can finally get rid of the college-esque posters on our entry wall :S

After we left the shop, print delivered safely, Viv thought it was time for a treat :) we we crossed the street to Athan's and picked out a few sweets and chocolates.  I know it's Lent, but it was a Sunday, after all :)

The Final Frontier

After a nice lunch of roast chicken and potatoes (T is teaching his FIRST LSAT class tonight, so we had a nice lunch together rather than dinner) which Taylor prepared, Daddy and I walked down to the T-station to see Star Trek. On the way, we passed this funny tree in a fence:

And Daddy got to see the sign for one of his favorite songs: Charlie on the MTA :) (You can see the words on the sign if you click on the picture below). Fun times!

And Star Trek was just awesome. I can't wait to get our own copy of the original series on DVD and watch them like Momma did as she was cleaning the house and sewing. Also, it'll be fun for T to see them and laugh at all the jokes, characteristics, and -isms that they put into the movie :) Does anyone know when the Star Trek movie comes out on DVD?! I wanna get it!

Here's a cool picture of downtown Boston, against the wall of the Aquarium IMAX.

Impromptu Movie Night

Yesterday evening, T and I had our friends Nick and Burke over for dinner and movie night. It was not a very formal affair, since T got the idea that afternoon when they all met up, by chance, at a coffee shop near campus, but we had fun. 

I served leftover minestrone soup (with turnips this time), with bread and butter (see what I mean about impromptu? I don't usually serve leftovers when "entertaining"). Few things are as great as warm soup on a COLD, windy night, sitting in a cozy house, chatting with friends. The boys had beer, of course, but I stuck with water.  I don't know why I don't like beer--I can't seem to acquire that particular taste :) 

After dinner we rearranged our living room, to have enough seating in front of the tv (we have to move the couch anytime we want to watch a movie anyway, but this time we had to move both couches), and put in The Wild Bunch, which Nick said was the greatest western of all time. I think the movie was raising the question of who was really good and who was really bad.  The so-called "out-laws" always kept their word and looked out for their own people. They were even rather noble, in their own right. The "law," represented by various groups (the railroad tycoon, the dopey, unexperienced American soldiers, or the selfish, unruley, unprincipled, trigger-happy "guns for hire"), was not noble and seemed to care little for the people they claimed to protect. 

So, although it was a good movie, with some interesting ideas I'll have to think on for a while, I can't say it was the greatest western (sorry, Nick!).  There was a lot of throaty (very "cowboy") laughing, sometimes for no clear reason, and topless women were present in abundance (I guess boobs were the thing in the 60s!). The action scenes were well-done, and even artistic for the time, but a lot of elements were left unresolved. Was "society" really more barbarous than the out-laws? Were the out-laws actually better than the "good" guys, or were they only better with regard to certain things. In one scene, Pike (the out-law leader) says, "It doesn't matter. He gave his word!"  To which is partner returns, "It doesn't matter! What matters is who you give it to!" But the only guy who survives by the end of the movie kept his word, even though he gave it to the "good" guys (who were actually the bad guys?).  So.. I dunno. Interesting, definitely, though. Nick wrote a paper on it, which I should read before casting final judgment :)

Off the top of my head, The Cowboys comes to mind as the greatest western :) and T would hold up The Magnificient Seven, undoubtedly :) 

Also, during the movie I knitted one legwarmer! Don't worry--I'll knit another one for the other leg :) I'll be busy with those this year, I think. Lots of knitting for C'mas presents. But this one only took me a couple hours, so it shouldn't be too bad :) 

Movies and Painting

I visited my friend Mandy last night (who is due to have her little girl next month! (and who is also the co-founding member of the Boston chapter of the Philosophers' Wives support group)) and we painted some Noah's ark pieces together. Since I have a (relatively) small number of paints, I was able to pack up all the necessary accoutrement and head down to her house. It was so much fun! Paining, as I grew up doing it, was somewhat a communal thing. My family usually painted (or crafted) on the kitchen table, and there were always people coming and going, ooh-ing and awe-ing over the painted (or crafted) pieces. I can't say that I've not enjoyed painting by myself lately, but it was just so nice to have someone else there painting with me! It's funny how similar she and I are, especially because our (philosopher) husband get along so well, too. On Flixter (on Facebook), she and I are soul mates! And speaking of movies, we both like to put a movie on while we're doing other things--cleaing the house, cooking, painting. Last night we watched the Sword in the Stone (yeah, I do really like that movie!) and--ELF! Yes! A Christmas movie in September. Shocking? We loved it. ("I just like smiling; smiling's my favorite.") A grand evening with a good (and adorably pregnant) friend :) Check out my Noah's ark album on Picasa

Noah's Ark

Born on the Fourth of July!

"I've a Yankee Doodle sweetheart, [he's] my Yankee Doodle joy!" A bit from a musical I saw years and years ago. Always gets stuck in my head for the fourth of July because of the line which is the title of this post :) ---------- It's been a crazy long weekend after getting back from CA at 7 in the morning on Wednesday! Luckily, my boss was nice enough to not require my presence in the office the rest of the week, so I got a lovely two-week vacation! As it is, I got sick this weekend and had to work from home today, but that was alright with him, too. What a great boss! T went in to work for a bit on Wednesday to check in and also for an interview later that morning. After the interview, though, his boss told him to go home and sleep. It was good. Our sleep schedule was all messed up having changed timezones and taken a red-eye flight back to Boston. We slept a lot on Wednesday and Thursday. But because we slept, we were up later than usual! We went to see Hancock Wednesday night with two friends (and ate some yummy chinese food!). The movie was thoroughly enjoyable--for the first half. Part way through the film a rather complicated character relationship arose and I think the directors/writers took the story in a weird direction. I don't regret seeing the movie, and I don't think I wasted my money, but I won't see it again. Too bad--I really like Will Smith and the first half was lots of fun. Then on Thursday, T went to work some more and I faded in and out of consciousness while trying to to unpack. I must have done it, though, because we were all unpacked the next morning, just in time for our Fourth of July! We had D and M over for breakfast, which was fabulous. M is getting so perfectly pregnant, rounding out her sixth month. To me, she is what women should look like pregnant :) We had a nice time over a late breakfast, I got to use my pretty china, and we had a good, lazy conversation while we decided what we were going to do for the afternoon (we were all invited downtown to a friend's rooftop to watch the fireworks that night). We decided to see Get Smart (a weekend for movies!). I really enjoyed the film--but probably due to more reasons than just the movie. For one thing, we were much more rested going in. We also got popcorn, which is a complete rip off, but made me happy because I love popcorn :) Also, T got such a kick out of one of the previews and was laughing so hard, it put me in a properly humorous mood for a silly, parody-type movie. And surprisingly, the movie wasn't overly crude--the humor was mostly slap-stick stuff, but it was enjoyable and pretty clean. After the movie we all came back to our house. M took a nap and T and D and I got ready for dinner with several other friends. Burgers and summer corn on the cob! It was pretty yummy :) We had tea while we chatted for a bit and then we all headed downtown for dessert and to watch the fireworks. We had a very delicious strawberry shortcake! And I have to say that the first half of the fireworks show was pretty darn cool. I'm sure the second half was great too, but due to the lack of wind over the Charles River, we couldn't see a majority of the spectacular spectacle. I've posted some photos and videos of the fireworks. Enjoy!

4th of July

All in all, a grand celebration with good food, good friends, and great memories!

Of Ginger Tea and Ireland...

If I ask T to get me something at the store on his way home from work or class, eggs for instance, he won't settle for getting only one dozen eggs. Oh no, he shops just like his father :) He buys at least two dozen, maybe three or four. I guess he figures that if I'm asking him to get some, I must be completely out; and if I'm completely out, I must need a lot of whatever-it-is. So I asked him to get me a ginger root to grate into our favorite soup: coconut chicken soup. He comes home with two ginormous ginger roots... Like a good wife, I've been steadily trying to use the abundance of ginger root, but it's Lent now, so we don't have chicken soup as often as we did a month ago. Therefore, I make ginger tea. I cut the ginger into chunks and grate it into hot water (one teaspoon per cup is about right). AND! I discovered today that fresh ginger tea is delicious with a spoonful of sugar (or honey!). I had a whole pot of sweet ginger tea all to myself while I was cleaning up the house and it was wonderful. It was only more wonderful because, as I was bustling around cleaning, I had put on the movie Waking Ned Divine. If you've not seen it, I highly recommend it. Not only is it filmed in Ireland (which is beautiful), with a great (and hilarious) cast, but it's a fantastic story without any violence, sex, drugs (there is alcohol, though), or any of the nail-biting drama so common to movies these days. It's simply a delightful story. It got me thinking about Ireland and how I want to visit there someday. T is thinking about applying to a PhD program in Ireland (well, Ireland and one school on just about every other continent... except Antarctica, I guess). Everything about that small island is intriguing to me.. the music (both their instruments and their voices), the mythology, the people, the language, and the accent! I can totally see us living there for a year or three while my husband goes to school. I'd love to have little Irish babies who says "mummy" instead of "mommy" :) Just a thought, though. Part of being a philosopher's wife is the joyful six-year-old-ness of your spouse. This week he may want to study in Ireland, next week he may want to get a law degree from Stanford in CA. Who knows what may come in the future. And since the future will be full of good byes, no matter where we go or what T finally discerns he should do, I'll leave you with these words from an Irish folk song: My dearest dear, the time draws near when here no longer can I stay There's not a comrade I leave behind, but is grieving for my going away. But since it has so ordered been what is once past can't be recalled Now fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all!