Yawn.

Parent Teacher Conferences + Extra Work = I Am Perpetually Exhausted. I don't envy people who regularly work 60 hours per week. In fact, I don't understand workaholics at all. Either I don't find enough satisfaction in my job, or I find great satisfaction in my life outside of work (the side that includes chocolate pie and my husband). I'd like to think it's the latter.

Book: Scandalous Risks, Susan Howatch
"God is very much greater than a little book like Honest to God, Miss Flaxton, and Honest to God in fact reflects not God at all but twentieth-century man, bewildered and alienated, freed from witchcraft but enslaved by the dogmas of science, liberated by the Enlightenment but imprisoned by rationality, blessed with the power of improving his material world, but knowning too that one push of a button could bring it all to an end."

--Father Jon Darrow in Susan Howatch's Scandalous Risks

I know it's not for everyone (hence the reason Doug turns down his nose to it), but I have to say that Susan Howatch is a quintessential yucky weather book. Scandalous Risks is the 4th of 6 novels in her Church of England Series. It is the best of both worlds--eventful and steamy enough to be somewhat of a guilty pleasure read, but woven throughout with intelligent commentary on the nature of the divine and the human personality, as well as commentary on the history of the Church of England and its scandals-a-plenty. It stands as a novel on its own, but for someone who has gone through the entire series thus far, it expands the characters of previous novels in fascinating ways.

"Though I would just as soon get along without it, an humbling awareness of the complexity of moral issues is said to be a good thing. If such an awareness is, in fact, good--and if, I, in fact, have it--I have tobacco to thank for it"
--Wendell Berry

Okay, just a few minutes to be a curmudgeon. Listen here (npr, you've done it again), for another instance of Americans wanting the federal government to parent their children for them. There is currently a debate as to whether movies that depict characters smoking should automatically be rated R. Is that really a major threat to America's youth? Nevermind the fact that we as a culture are voyeristically addicted to things like graphic violence and sexuality (evidenced not just in our movies, but in, our tv shows, video games, magazines, you name it). If we ask the government to censor smoking in the movies we can feel good about doing our part to protect future generations.

Now I'm not a smoker and I can't say that we need any more outlets for showing kids the social benefits of risky behaviors. And I don't want to create the hierarchy that this vice less harmful than that vice, and so on. It's just that I find it so convenient that by censoring smoking, we can be distracted from the larger issue that we are a culture of addicts and smoking is just one of our fixes. Another convenience? Once we've successfully trained the media to raise our kids for us, we can forget the pesky task of having conversations with them. (phew!)

And while you're listening to npr and wondering what American parents will be doing with their new found free time, they'll be spending a ridiculous amount of money on the new toys at Toy Fair, the largest toy convention in the Western Hemisphere. Dolls with voice recognition? Seriously? (My favorite quote in the piece is the guy talking about the new electronic rubics cube, with lights and a beeping timer: "It creates this wonderful sense of panic."

Film: The Science of Sleep

I make no attempt to critique movies that I don't understand myself, so I will simply mention that we watched this movie this weekend. It is written and directed by the same person who did Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I loved. This movie takes the oddities of Sunshine to a whole new level. Basic premise: the main character has both a vivid imagination and a frequent inability to distinguish dream from reality. At first it is clear to the audience which is which, but as the story progresses(which switches between English and French with English subtitles), even the audience feels the lines between dream and reality blurring. I think I liked it more than Doug did, mostly I think because the imagery, cinematography, and music was so unique. Also, I was eating Pad Thai at the time, which makes everything better.

Other highlights of the weekend include previously mentioned Pad Thai, and some new wines to add to the wine rack. Over the last 6 months or so, we've occasionally opened a mystery bottle of wine that came our way via wedding gifts. (Apparently, people got the memo that we enjoy wine, as we got over a dozen bottles as wedding gifts). Some have been quite good, and some not so good. We are getting down to the last few bottles and struck out twice on Friday night with two reds that we had let age a little two long and were quite acidic. So we treated ourselves to a few new wines to try. I'm starting to keep a wine journal to remind us of the wines we like and those we could do without. Cheers!

Book: 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children age 2-12

I had to physically will myself to get over the horrible title of this book and buy it, and I did so because I'm often talking with parents about discipline strategies and this is one that has come up lately. Any title that remotely suggests there is some magic parenting tip out there does not have my attention. But several pages into the book, the author admits that there is in fact no magic to the discipline system. The book discusses strategies for stopping negative behaviors (whining, arguing, tantrums etc.), encouraging starting behaviors (cleaning your room, going to bed, etc.), and spends a few final chapters talking about strengthening your relationship with your kids. The value of the book lies in the "No-Talking No-Emotion" Rule. Almost daily I see parents and teachers negotiating, cajoling, bribing, and yelling at their kids to behave. This book replaces that method (which actually reinforces kids to keep doing what they're doing) with a system in which kids know what they need to do and know what the consequences are if they don't. Directions are clear and simple and consequences are immediate and enforceable. My favorite section were some of the ideas they had for starting behaviors, like cleaning up, getting ready for school, etc. which can take more creativity than stopping bad behaviors.

Overall, the book is very practical and has some good tips for parenting. What it lacks is what all books that are behaviorist in their focus lack, namely the premise that children are not pets--they are thinking, developing, value-seeking humans who need to learn more than just how to behave. They need to learn how to think critically and creatively, solve problems, build relationships, etc. The book does spend a few short chapters talking about relationships and responsibility, but the discussion is brief.

Yet, I can't criticize the book for being something it is not intended to be. If you want to ponder the relational/spiritual dimesions of parenting, pick up Whole Parent Whole Child, or for a good middle of the road, How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen and Listen So Your Kids Will Talk. But I would recommend 1-2-3 Magic as a highly practical parenting book, and a quick and easy read to boot.

Great American Inventors I Would Recognize at the State of the Union Address If I Were President...


First, a delightfully cynical article from Slate magazine about how Julie Aigner-Clark's Baby Einstein videos have done nothing to help America (save exploiting parents' anxiety for profit) and the confusion over why she was recognized at the State of the Union address alongside other American heroes. Though I guess it's sadly true that people who convince us to buy things that will add nothing of value to our lives do embody the American Spirit.

Now, a modest list of inventors I would like to see recognized at future addresses:

John Abdo (is this really his real name?), Inventor of The Ab-Doer

Fitness Specialists agree that ab-doing (demonstrated above) is the best workout for your mid-section. It must be noted, however, that Ab-doing is not recognized by the Scrabble Board as an acceptable word in competitive play.

Inventor of the 43-Piece U.S. Presidential Knife Set
If anyone knows who invented this, please let them know I'd like to schedule them.

George Bluth, Inventor of the Corn-Baller

Unfortunately, not legal in the United States


And finally, my father, inventor of The Pun

Film: Pedal

The free film at the Bean Cycle (a favorite local coffee/book shop of ours) this month was Pedal, a documentary chronicling the lives of bike messengers in New York City. The cinematography is pretty cool, especially as most of the interviews are filmed while the messengers are riding, with the camera person following them on a skateboard. The film balances camera shots of thrills and spills with a deeper look into the subculture of bike courriers. Many of those interviewed are strikingly similar in their personalities and excentricities. They describe themselves as outlaws, despised by taxi drivers, police, and people on the street. And they all in one way or another describe the comraderie amongst themselves as a bond closer than family.

Obligatory First Post

I've finally succumbed. Although, I suppose my timing is only appropriate. After all, I was years late getting a DVD player, years late getting an ipod. All technologies considered, I'm almost ahead of schedule.