The Twenty-Eighth One

Or:

My Childhood in Stories

pt. 1

When I was a kid I liked to sleep with people, things, and animals in bed. I loved when one of parents would stay with me until I fell asleep. I loved to sleep with every single one of my (very extensive collection of) stuffed animals (NOT dolls). I would let my dog Jenny actually sleep under my covers, sometimes with her head on my pillow, if that's what she wanted. And sometimes I would sleep with books. I surrounded myself with as many books as I could get my hands on, so there was no room for me to turn over or move at all, really, without books falling to the ground. My parents never understood. To be honest, I don't know exactly why I did it either. That's alright. Sometimes it's okay to just chalk things up to being a kid.

Let me just say that this was a very difficult assignment for me. Once I started listing books I wanted to include in the list I couldn't stop! I constantly had to cheat by going from individual books to series of books and in some cases I even had to just include significant authors. My list is by no means a comprehensive list of all the books I read throughout my childhood. In fact today's list only includes a few selections from my over-all, non-comprehensive list. Apparently, when it comes  to books, I could go on and on and on.

I have futilely tried to divide my list into different categories in an attempt to organize my post. This will work for today and tomorrow. Beyond that, I don't know.

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss was a very popular storyteller in my family. Not only were his stories often read to me, but they were some of the first stories I read by myself. There are so many stories I could talk about, so many I love, but there are two that for some reason stand out in my memory.

First: There's a Wocket in My Pocket. There's not much to this book in terms of in-depth, life-changing plot lines and character development. It's just silly, frivolous rhymes and illustrations. It appealed greatly to me as a child, because I was sort of silly and frivolous myself. At one point, I had the entire thing memorized. Be aware: don't buy the "board book". Apparently it's missing some pages!

Second: The Lorax. There are so many things about this book that I adore. It is already a story within a story; if it was read to me it was a story within a story within a story. It has never taken much to amuse me. "I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees!" He was such a charming little guy. And it was difficult to hate the Once-ler completely (difficult, but not impossible), he was making such a cool product ("A Thneed's a fine something that everyone needs!"). The Once-ler who let his greed and ambition consume him so he was blind to what was going on around him and deaf to the Lorax, who was eventually driven away from his home. Only the Once-ler was left to tell the story of what used to be a beautiful and magical place. It's like Avatar, but not in space... or 3D (so many stories to compare to Avatar. Here's three more: Fern Gully, Dances With Wolves, Disney's Pocahantas). But I digress. When I was a kid I was mostly just enchanted by the world that Dr. Seuss created. And I really wanted a Brown Barbaloot all for myself.

How the Sun Was Brought Back to the Sky by Mirra Ginsburg

I love this book. The story and illustrations have stayed with me for more than a decade. The title, however, often eludes me. Which is silly, because it truly is a book about how the sun was brought back to the sky. This was accomplished through the perseverance, dedication, and teamwork of a group little chicks and the animal friends they met on their journey. I especially love the part of the book where all the animals ride the suns rays back to their homes at the end. I could always envision this so clearly in my mind that I just assumed their was picture of this in the book, but as I sit here with the book in my hand, there's no picture of the animals riding the rays. I guess I just imagined it.

My grandmother owned this book. She lived down the street when I was a kid. I read this book all the time when I visited her. It never got old. I don't know if it is out of print, but you can definitely by a used one on Amazon. I am privileged now to own my own copy. I plan to take very good care of it.

Little Dot and Richie Rich 

I already mentioned one grandmother, who lived down the street. My other grandma lived two and a half hours away in Kansas. In her basement she had a huge stack of (not-very-well-taken-care-of but certainly-well-loved) comic books. There was Archie, Casper the friendly ghost, and Wendy the good witch. But mostly (in my memory anyway- my brothers probably remember differently) there was Little Dot and Richie Rich. I can't be sure, but this was probably my first experience with comic books and I still read them. I have graduated from the wonderfully child-friendly comics my grandma owned to ones slightly darker, but I still apparently got started early. 

Little Dot was my favorite. I loved her various Aunts and Uncles that the encountered in every story and I loved her obsession with dots, somehow it always helped her out of a tight fix. She was such a resourceful little girl.

Stories from the Mouth

This, like the previous entry, is not a book. Technically, this list is My Childhood in Stories, NOT My Childhood in Books. I like to capitalize on loopholes whenever possible.

My dad worked nights, so he wasn't often there to put us kids to bed. But when he was, there was nothing I loved more than for my dad to rub my back and tell me a "story from his mouth" until I fell asleep. This simply means that he wasn't allowed to read the story, he had to make it up. I'm pretty sure sometimes he cheated and told stories like "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" or "The Three Little Pigs," but I'm equally as sure that he added his own twists along the way. I could be getting this wrong, but I don't think I allowed my mom to tell me stories from her mouth. She got to read stories to me. Dad had to make things up as he went along. Poor dad. Such pressure!

The Twenty-Seventh One

Or: My Childhood in Stories
Or: Just One More Stolen Idea
Or: Support Local Business

I had the opportunity to go home a few weeks ago to Lincoln, NE. It was wonderful. Not only did I get to see a LOT of family (including Aunts) I had the opportunity to meet up with and old friend, and of course I got to spend some quality time with the fam.

Let's get this out of the way: I love the Midwest. More than that, I love Nebraska (for all its cows and corn). More than THAT I love, love, love Lincoln. It's just such a great city. Every time I go home my family asks what I want to do. Most of the places I want to visit have to do with food (or drink): Amigos (best ranch dressing EVER) has "Two Taco Wednesday" and I was lucky enough to be there on "Five Tacos on the Fifth." There's Runza, Valentino's, The Grateful Bread/Freakbeat Vegetarian (try the Moroccan Tomato and soak in the atmosphere), The Mill (where we went to drink coffee, smoke cigars and watch people at the Farmer's Market on Saturday), and Jake's (where my brother works, we can actually, legally, smoke cigars indoors, and which has a selection of liquor the likes of which I've never seen).

But Lincoln is not only about food and family (just, you know, mostly). Lincoln has a remarkable selection of locally owned shops and restaurants (all of the one's I listed above originated in Lincoln and, as far as I know, only the food places have branched out to surrounding areas). Having grown up with this, I didn't realize how remarkable it was until I moved away. Maybe it has something to do with being a college town, but I currently live in a place that seems to house very few local, well, anything. There are quite a few restaurants and bars, but the most frequented joints seem to be the chains. I have yet to find a local bookstore and have found only one local coffee shop.

Keeping all that in mind, I do enjoy stopping in at some of the local shops whenever I'm in Lincoln. My absolute favorites are: Paint Yourself Silly (from which I own several dishes) and Ivanna Cone (where once I had a Nerds sherbert [sherbet?] and another time had a mango and chili pepper sorbet). Both shops are located in the same building in downtown Lincoln (although Paint Yourself Silly has another location I believe). The same building which also houses Indigo Bridge Books (please check it out. I love that it's local, I love that it has several events and book clubs, I love that it is dedicated to a bilingual community). Which brings me to the whole point of this post.

As I was browsing through the store I came upon a display entitled "My Childhood in Stories." Not only did have different books, but whoever (whomever?) made the display had also written little blurbs on notecards about why the books were so significant to him even as an adult. This idea made me swoon (metaphorically, of course) and I jotted down the idea for safe keeping. That said, that's what the NEXT few posts will be about. This one is just an introduction and chance for me to say: support local business! (as much as you can).

The Twenty-Sixth One

Oh Robert Downey, Jr. I have loved you since Air America. No one was more pleased than I (except maybe you... or your agent) when Iron Man revitalized your career. As an avid comic book fan, I was also pleased that Iron Man revitalized comic movies also. Along with Batman Begins and Dark Night, Iron Mand shows us that just because a movie is based on a comic book, doesn't mean it can't be a great movie. Granted, Iron Man is decidedly lighter than either of the newest Batman installments.

That said, if you liked the first Iron Man you'll like the second as well. It continues on in exactly the same vein.

Things I liked:

• the briefcase Iron Man suit.
• Mickey Rourke as Whiplash.
• Whiplash's whips.
• the old videos of Tony Stark's dad.

Things I loved:

• watching Tony Stark deal with his impending doom in a self-destructive manner, while at the same time seeing (once more) how much the people around him truly love and care about him.
• Pepper Potts with a backbone. Really, just Pepper in general.
• War Machine. Seriously, how this character came to be was equal parts heart-breaking and hilarious. Don Cheadle is always wonderful.
• Sam Rockwell. Always and forever with the Sam Rockwell. Favorite Rockwell parts: Guy (Galaxy Quest), Zaphod (Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and anytime I've ever seen him. Actor I love just as much if not more and tend to lump in the same general category of skeezy but entertaining characters: Gary Oldman.
• any and every reference to S.H.I.E.L.D. This includes Samuel L. Jackson and that guy who is the ex-husband of Julia Louis-Dreyfus on The New Adventures of Old Christine
• staying until the credits are over.
• Jon Favreau.

Things I didn't like as much but were still okay:

• Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow.

My absolute favorite thing about the Iron Man movies, however, is the fact that I really don't know much at all about the Avengers or any of its members. I know who they are (sort of) I know what they do (sort of) but I don't know more than the obvious about their backgrounds. Which means: everything's a surprise and I don't care if they get it wrong! After the X-Men and Batman movies it's kind of a refreshing feeling.

What made my night: (SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD) "Thor's like, the Greek god of storms or something." Oh people sitting behind me... read a book!

On a not completely separate, but should probably be in another post note, I read a review from another blogger who was well and truly irate at the sexism, racism and other isms that apparently run rampant in this movie. Among other things, she had a problem that the Black Widow was wearing a skin-tight bodysuit while Iron Man had a, well, iron suit (don't blame the movie, blame the artists that came up with her in the first place). She also had a problem with Pepper not being able to handle the stress after being a CEO for only a week (despite the numerous life-threatening situations she had been in- usually involving explosions of some sort) and Tony Stark's womanizing behavior (I'll give her this one, although only people who act like that anyways think it's alright to act like that... plus, I'm pretty sure Widow could take him when he's not wearing the suit). I think the woman who wrote the article needs to calm down. Not every movie out there is looking to slight the general population, sometimes it's just looking to entertain. And if we took everything that was remotely offensive out of movies we would be left with absolutely nothing, or at least absolutely nothing real. Because people and life in general have the tendency to BE offensive, whether they mean to or not. Better we know how to deal with it than be confined in a bubble of tolerance that kills original thought and creativity.

That is called a rant. Some would call it babbling. They would call it this because the point I set out to make was not the point I made  in the end. "F" for organization.

The Twenty-Fifth One

And the fun continues with...

I must say that, in general, zombies freak me out. I mean they seriously freak me out. It doesn't matter if they are moving at the speed of slug like in Night of the Living Dead (which I will never watch all the way through ever since catching the last 15 minutes) or the speed of road-runner like in 28 Days Later (which I will never, ever, ever see). I prefer my zombies with a substantial dose of humor as seen in Shawn of the Dead and, more recently, Zombieland. However, despite my aversion to them, I prefer my Jane Austen with a substantial amount of zombies. It doesn't hurt that there's also plenty of ninja action as well.

So this book is fun. Super-fun in fact. It remains true to the original story and writing style while creatively phasing zombies and ninjas into the text without it being too weird (it's still pretty weird).

As much as I like it, though, it took me a long time to finish. Perhaps if I had never read the original I would not have had such a problem, but the book still seemed to drag, especially toward the end. Like the original book, I just wanted to get to the end.

The Twenty-fourth One

A few months ago I posted a list of books I wanted to read this year. Books I already owned. Books I already started. The following is that list:

• Fluke* by Christopher Moore
• Lullaby* by Chuck Palahniuk
• What-the-Dickens* by Gregory Maguire
• Book Thief* by Markus Zusak
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• Dracula* by Bram Stoker
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies* by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
• Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters

 I happy to announce that the past couple weeks were remarkably successful in terms of reading (unfortunately, not all that productive otherwise). The list now looks like this (notice the final book was not the original list. I was bored and in an airport and it was the only one that looked interesting).

• Fluke* by Christopher Moore
• Lullaby* by Chuck Palahniuk
• What-the-Dickens* by Gregory Maguire
• Book Thief* by Markus Zusak
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• Dracula* by Bram Stoker
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies* by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
• Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
• Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

So, here we go.

First of all, I believe that I have previously stated how, to a certain extent, I judge the books I read by their covers. Although I give myself a hard time, it actually works pretty well most of the time. I have, however, read some spectacular failures according to this method. This includes what I refer to as The Mistake. But I won't talk about that here. Anyway. The cover to this book is amazing and chilling and beautiful and a little bit terrifying. All adjectives which I could use to describe the story as well.

I have been a fan of Laurie Halse Anderson since reading her excellent book Speak, which deals with sexual high school, growing up, losing friends, communication (or lack there of) with parents, sexual abuse, and how to deal when all these things happen at or around the same time. I have not, however, read any of her other books until Wintergirls.

Wintergirls deals with eating disorders, cutting, depression, divorce, and living up (or failing to live up) to too high expectations. Our first introduction to the main character, Lia, is when she finds out her ex-best friend was just found dead, alone in a hotel room. As we follow Lia over the next days, weeks, months, we learn about her workaholic mother, her mostly absent father, her step-mother and stepsister, her isolation from the rest of the world, her disinterest in anything/everything, and finally her descent once again into the world of anorexia and cutting.

The content of the book is ugly, but the writing style is beautiful. So intriguing that I often forgot what I was reading. Anderson does not shy away from real issues, and she does not offer false or flimsy solutions. She takes you through a process that lasts months, not days, and the ends of her books are not  happily-ever-after endings, but rather the first chapter to the rest of the story, or rather, the rest of the characters' lives. Lia is a real girl with real problems searching to find real solutions and she is surrounded by other, equally real, people who are dealing with both their own problems and Lia's.

I firmly believe that anyone who works with teenage girls in any fashion (coach, teacher, Bible study leader, club advisor, school administrator, pastor, any sort of group organizer or volunteer, etc.) should all have to  read both this book and Anderson's other  book Speak.

A couple summers ago I read Dashiell Hammet's The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon, thus turning me on to the world of mystery noir books. I'm not going to lie, I love this genre and Raymond Chandler's book The Big Sleep is most excellent... and super fun.

Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe is intriguing with his deadpan, self-deprecating approach to life. It is no wonder Humphrey Bogart was chosen to play this character. Although, I'm going to have to go back and watch the movie again, as I have no idea how closely it follows the book's story. I remember watching and loving the movie, but I don't remember a whole lot about the movie itself...

The best part of Chandler's writing is the great metaphors. He doesn't spend a lot of time making the language beautiful, but the metaphors are no less vivid. Personal favorite was found in the first couple chapters of the book (maybe the first couple pages... I don't have my book in front of me):

The General spoke again, slowly, using his strength as carefully as an out-of-work showgirl uses her last good pair of stockings.

I wish I could actually pull off talking like that, but alas! I am not Humphrey Bogart.

I loved the book by itself and for its own merits, but it often vividly reminded me of Calvin and Hobbes. I could (and probably will at some point) spend a LOT of time just waxing poetic about Bill Watterson's comic strip. (I don't like calling it a comic strip. It makes people take this trivial view of it. Calvin, Hobbes and Bill have all influenced my life greatly. There is a strip for almost every moment/event in my life up to this point. I am constantly being reminded of "that one strip from Calvin and Hobbes.) One of the great things about Calvin is that he, like Snoopy before him, has an incredible imagination (which is actually the premise of the strip, if you think about it). This imagination enables him to become other people entirely. The most famous of these characters is probably Spaceman Spiff, but my personal favorite is Tracer Bullet. The hardened private investigator who investigates such mysteries as math problems and who broke the lamp? Without going too crazy, here's a little taste of the Bullet himself:

Now, I've taken up enough of my time. I know I have a couple books left to review, but I'm stopping here... I am supposed to be working.

The Twenty-Third One

This week I have been revisiting one of my favorite directors (writers, producers):

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN

Every movie I have seen by him, I have loved. I'm just going to highlight my favorites/the ones I own. It is possible the following blurbs contain some spoilers. So, tread carefully.

"See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"

When this movie first came out I remember a lot of friends going to see and coming back disappointed. They couldn't believe he showed the alien! It would have been way scarier if the aliens were never shown! My friends went to see this movie expecting an alien movie. With all the horror/slasher movies that have been inundating movie theaters for the past decade or so, Signs fell well beneath a lot of peoples expectations, because what they wanted was just another horror/slasher flick. I would have been disappointed as well.

What I like about Signs was everything my friends did not like. I like how the premise was not the story. Just because there are aliens in the movie, doesn't mean the movie is about aliens. It is about so much more than aliens. It is about a family floundering, trying to find their footing after facing a devastating loss. It is about ordinary people finding courage in extraordinary circumstances. It is about losing your faith and finding it again. It is about miracles.

The main character, Graham Hess (played by Mel Gibson), loses his faith when he loses his wife. The above quote is said by him during a conversation with his brother Merrill (played by Joaquin Phoenix). Afterwards, Merrill claims to be a "miracle man" and Graham, despite having been a Pastor of some sort, emphatically declares, "There is no one looking out for us. We are all alone." And the story progresses from there.

"We can move towards hope, that's what's beautiful about this place. We cannot run from heartache."

and

"Yes, I have risked! I hope I am always able to risk everything for the just and right cause."

I couldn't decide which quotation best summarized what I believe is the primary theme of the story. I lean strongly toward the first one.

Again, after this movie came out there was an uproar among my friends for the same reason as with Signs. They wanted a monster movie, and what they got was a movie about people. That is what I find most spectacular about Shyamalan's movies, not the cinematography (which is beautiful) or the music (which is always, always perfect) but the fact that he seems to understand people; he truly seems to know peoples' reactions, motives, what causes them to rejoice and despair. His movies reflect this understanding and The Village is no exception.

By the time this movie came out I knew Shyamalan well enough to know there is always a twist. I can honestly say I did not see this twist coming. Joaquin Phoenix's character Lucius said it best when he pointed out to his mother (Sigourney Weaver) that "there are secrets in every corner of this village." These secrets lead to questionable decisions on the part of the elders, the ones in charge. They are secrets with the intent to do as the first quotation above states, to run toward hope and away from heartache. Their secrets keep them secure in their decisions until circumstances have them questioning themselves and risking everything.

Outstanding performances here by everyone, Phoenix (who I fell in love with in Signs), Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, really everyone was beautifully cast.

"You know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world. To not know why you're here."

I say I love Unbreakable I get one of two looks. Either the person has no idea what movie I'm talking about, or the person is incredulous that I actually like it. But I don't like it, I love it.

There are so many levels to this movie. There is the theme of self-discovery, good vs. evil, reconciliation, and love, be it romantic, paternal, platonic, whatever. All of this is set to the backdrop of comic books.

First of all, as a comic book fan myself, I love that they play such a vital role in the development of both the main characters, David Dunn played by Bruce Willis and Elijah Price played by Samuel L. Jackson.

That said, there are so many different relationships to explore in this movie. You have the strained, almost broken relationship between David and his wife Audrey (Robin Wright Penn), the relationship between David and his son (Spencer Treat Clark), the relationship between David and Elijah, and the relationship between Elijah and his mother (Charlaynne Woodard).

The confidence and strength of his mother helped to shape the person Elijah would become and Elijah in turn opens David's eyes to his own potential, to what is missing from his life. With David's new found self-awareness he is able to open himself up more to his family. I find it so interesting how greatly his relationships suffer simply because David does not know his place in this world. I also find this incredibly true to life, once again an insightful look at how people operate.

The Twenty-Second One

Three movies I can watch and watch and watch and never tire of (aka. the default movie list):

The Princess Bride

The best thing about this movie: it's absolutely, perfectly cast. The actors and actresses truly inhabit the characters they portray. Everything about this movie is delightful. Including the book it's based on. Reading the book only made me appreciate the movie more.

Pride and Prejudice

I know some of you are thinking, "But wait! That's not the BBC miniseries!" And you would be correct. I love this movie even more than the miniseries. It includes all the best dialogue (the only part of Jane Austen's books I like) with some of the most beautiful cinematography I have ever seen. It is beautiful and fun and entirely charming.

Die Hard

If this wasn't a list of three, I would go ahead and add all (even Live Free or Die Hard) to the list as well. Love this movie. John McClane doesn't get old, ever.